The Circle and Star

by John Foster

  “Hey Captain, you’re up early” observed Martin, the last of the night watch.

  West turned to him and smiled. “Sunrise is a beautiful time of the day and I fully enjoy it.”

  Martin turned to watch the sun grow on the horizon and for a moment held his gaze there. “Yep, reminds me of the mornings in Tucson when I was a kid, got to watch the clouds skip and then rush away as the morning heat rose.”

  West gave a little laugh, “We’ll need to move the ship soon if Theo gets the alien ship ready for launch.”

  “You think he can get it up?” said Martin.

  West gave him a quizzical look, “Don’t let him hear you say that. He’ll get it up as you put it and take us with him.”

  Martin nodded his head good-naturedly. “I’ll take my leave now Captain, it’s my bedtime.”

  West nodded and watched Martin walk slowly back to the ship and then up the ramp and out of sight.

  West raised his arm and spoke into his HDA, “Dickens, have the ship ready for takeoff at 10:00 hours. We’re going to test the atmospheric stabilizers. Let me know when you’ve finished the diagnostics. Out.” West turned and walked to the back of the ship and found Curt with two others of the security crew at the cargo ramp unloading additional supplies and equipment.

  “Morning Captain,” said Curt turning to see West approaching.

  “Good morning, how’s the exploration going in the alien ship?”

  “Fine, I think we’re making progress on deciphering the script on the walls, although we still haven’t been able to penetrate the hub of the ship, or for that matter, find any doors into it.”

  “Okay, we’re going to test the stabilizers today and see if we can fly the Paradig to another landing site over by the red building. We’re counting on Theo to give us an alternative to get off this planet.”

  “Yeah, Theo is all over that and scratching his head trying to figure how to access that hub but Volkum is only partway through the examination of the outer walls of the hub so possibly today we’ll find an entrance.”

  “I hope so, it’s only a matter of time before the Sovar or the Soshi take an interest in what we’re doing and I have the feeling it’s not going to be a welcoming party,” said West.

  “Right, we’re doing our best and I’ll let Theo know about the ship moving,” said Curt who then turned to help move more equipment into the sled they were using.

  West continued to the back of the ship where a ship’s hoist was waiting for the next replacement piece of skin that they would apply to the stabilizer. Once the skin was crafted onto the outer hull, they would do the final test of the electronics and then power up and do the short hop off the square. Once that was done they would be able to lift off when they had secured the weapon that the aliens had used.

  Madison had turned her full attention to finding out what the weapon was and where it could be hidden in this vast city of buildings and the greater underground complex. The aliens had miles and miles of tunnels and chambers below ground. Some of the buildings went as deep as the buildings were high. They had realized that they could spend a lifetime wandering through the maze of buildings and complexes and their only hope was that the weapon was at the spaceport or at least close by, and deciphering the script would cut their time finding it. Unfortunately, it was painstakingly slow and the language was particularly difficult as it became more technical. They had initially thought it was going to be easy but realized that most of the language they had encountered was more for travelers seeking specific information about the city they were in or the next destination. The language of the ancient one’s science was a more difficult nut to crack and also more difficult to find.

  “Captain? We’re ready to do the pre-flight test for the stabilizers,” said Dickens who had approached from the cargo ramp.

  West turned to Dickens and thought of the times he and Dickens had spent together back on the space platforms of the mining colony of Jupiter and Saturn. They had always had a rocky relationship and it had only gotten worse as time had passed. West couldn’t really pick a point when the relationship had moved from a close relationship to that of one tinged with animosity.

  “Okay, I’ll be right up, you’ll be pilot. I’ll get the hoist back into cargo,” said West.

  Dickens nodded and then turned around and walked up the ramp into the ship.

  They would leave the anti-air platforms in place for the moment as they could still cover the Paradig in a limited fashion from where they were. In the interim, West activated half of them to start moving themselves to the new landing site. They couldn’t move fast but they would probably be there by mid-day. West turned to the hoist and activated it, pressed a button and the hoist retracted itself into a compact box with wheels and then programed it to return to storage. The box moved and started to the ramp. West followed it up the ramp and then walked to the bridge but stopped in to see Madison. She was busy at her station and had Debbie working next to her doing some scanning of scripts.

  “Hey, how you guys doing?” asked West, peeking in from the door. Madison and Debbie both looked up and Madison smiled at the sight of him.

  “Just wanted to let you know we’re going to move the Paradig to a new spot if the stabilizers work properly.”

  “You think it will take us off the planet?” asked Madison.

  “Possibly, but if it doesn’t then we’re in real trouble. I’d like the alien ship as backup if at all possible. In any event, we can’t really leave without the weapon in our possession.”

  “What if the weapon isn’t here?” asked Debbie.

  “Then we’re truly out of luck if that’s true,” said West.

  “It’s here. I’m sure of it,” said Madison looking at Debbie. I’ve found references to what is referred to as “blue spot” which I think is their reference to Terra and its oceans. They seem to have been there a lot and were doing a lot of different experiments mostly in reference to the solar system dynamics and gravitational pull of the entire solar system. The funny thing is that there’s never any reference to a weapon or war, or even minor hostility to anyone else.”

  “Hmmm........ that’s odd. Why would they develop a planet buster without any enemy in sight?” asked West his eyebrows knitted in thought.

  “Maybe the enemy came at them suddenly, without warning,” said Debbie looking hopeful.

  “It would have to be something like that because frankly they don’t seem to be preoccupied with war or even conflict for that matter,” said Madison.

  West’s HDA buzzed and he looked down to the message scrolling out on it. “I’ve got to go to the bridge, see you both later,” West nodded at them, turned, and left.

  Dickens was in the pilot’s chair and talking to Leda. Dickens gave that forced smile look when he saw West. “We’re ready to go Captain,” said Dickens.

  “Okay, sound the pre-flight warning to the crew,” said West to Leda who nodded in affirmation.

  The alarm sounded, West took one last look at the exterior monitors to make sure no one was in the immediate area, and the then gave the order to take off. “Pilot, you may start engines and initiate the flight,” said West.

  “Aye, Captain. Pre-flight all checks out and starting lift off.” The ship rumbled and then moved ever so slightly, then rose smoothly into the sky, dust and sand kicking up around it as the planetary thrusters were activated.

  “Ship’s handling well, no wobble or problems. Proceeding to the new landing spot,” said Dickens.

  West had his eye on the rear stabilizer and it looked fine. He realized that it was a little late, once they had taken off, to start worrying about its airworthiness. He smiled to himself thinking that it was the Captain’s lot to worry like this.

  The ship moved slowly and turned as it should and then moved towards the red building to the new landing site. West could see a line of weapons platforms moving in a line towards the landing site.

  “Captain, we’re picking up distant targets over th
e horizon coming in our direction,” said the sensor operator.

  “Dickens get us to the landing site. Looks like we’re gonna have visitors.”

  “Roger that,” said Dickens, his voice nervous.

  “Security, raise the shields and prepare for aerial defense,” said West into the microphone.

  “Roger Captain,” said Samson, a member of the security detail.

  The exterior monitors showed the hull shimmering from the shield activation and the weapon blisters rose up and pivoted, looking for targets. West doubted the shields or the weapons would do much to stop any serious attack since the Paradigs’ main defense was flight not fight. They would stand a better chance on the ground with the weapons platforms surrounding them. No missiles that he was aware of could penetrate the fusillade that those platforms could generate. Beam weapons were a different matter altogether. At least now they were prepared. The whole incident made West realize that they were being watched and that any ship use triggered a response from the Sovar. They wanted us on the ground and as long as we are looking they were being left alone.

  “Security, activate the on-ground weapons platforms to fire on the on-coming ship or ships.”

  “Aye Captain,” said Samson.

  Immediately, West could see the line of marching platforms deploy in a staggered formation, stabilizers extended like legs, and the weapons pods started rotating. They would be synced to the ship to provide unified control of all weapons.

  “Captain, a new group of ships is coming into the atmosphere and they are approaching the first group which looks like more Sovar fighters,” said Samson.

  “Dickens, get us to the new landing site and pronto,” said West leaning forward in the command chair.

  “Aye, Captain.” The ship shot forward, all hesitation gone as Dickens moved the ship in a straight line, and then pivoted the ship over the landing spot to land.

  West leaned over to the distance sensors and watched a second group of circles approach the first group. “Soshi?”

  “Captain, the second group is engaging the first. Looks like a nice little barroom fight,” said Samson who was clearly relishing the thought.

  The ship settled down in a flurry of sand and dust. “Non-essential personnel prepare to take refuge in the red building’s tunnels as soon as we secure from landing. Take supplies and weapons with you,” ordered West over the loudspeaker.

  An alarm blared and then quieted.

  Everyone was watching the distance scanners as a battle took place a thousand miles away. Dickens had walked up next to West and stood next to him watching the scanner too.

  “It’s obvious that the Sovar are watching us Dickens and we’re not safe in the Paradig right now. I’m ordering the crew out to the tunnels where we’ll be safe until we get the alien ship operational and find the weapon. They can’t reach us with their beam or missile weapons in those tunnels and we can fend them off for a little while down there.”

  “I’ll have the weapon platforms continue to move to their new perimeter around the landing area,” said Dickens.

  “Good. I’m going to make sure we get everyone off the ship that doesn’t need to be here,” said West. And with that, West got up and moved off the bridge heading to Madison’s’ work station. When West got there, he found Madison and Debbie loading equipment into a small air cushion trolley. They both stopped and looked up expectantly. West said, “Just checking ladies, I’m going to visit Theo in the alien ship. Find a room down there and set up, we may be there for a while. Don’t leave anything here that anyone could use to find out what we’re doing.”

  They both nodded but looked grave as the implications of that last statement sank in and hurried to pack up their information sticks and load them on the trolley.

  West then went to Samson’s control room near the engines and looked in the door.

  “We’re going to move non-essential personnel off the ship and into the tunnels on the ancient ship,” said West.

  “If it pleases you Captain, I’d like to remain aboard and man the defenses,” said Samson.

  West smiled, but then said, “We’ll probably have to disable the ship and leave it rather than have it fight out a battle with either the Soshi or the Sovar. It would be destroyed in any shooting Chief and you’re too valuable to leave here,” said West.

  Samson looked disappointed. “You mean just leave the ship sitting here?” said Samson.

  “Yeah, that’s what I mean, it will probably save the ship and lives of the crew if we abandon it,” said West.

  “You’ll stay here until we set up down below. I’m counting on you to do your job here Samson, and that means getting everyone off, and that includes you my friend, in short order,” said West.

  Samson looked like he was going to argue, then sighed, and nodded.

  West took a last look at him and turned away and walked down the ramp to the entrance to the red building. The weapons platforms were moving into their new positions and several were actually climbing some of the adjacent buildings to take position on top of the nearby structures. He didn’t know they could do that. He looked at the size of them and realized that at least one of the smaller ones could fit into the ancient ship tunnels and provide some protection to his crew in there. West pulled his HDA out and called Samson. “Chief, I want you to send one of the smaller weapon platforms to the inside of the red building and hand it over to Kal on duty there for deployment in the alien ship. Have another couple deploy in front of the red building entrance,” said West.

  “But Captain if you do that you’ll cripple the Paradig’s defenses,” pleaded Samson.

  “Samson, didn’t you listen to what I said earlier? We can’t realistically defend the Paradig on this planet, it’s only real defense is to run, anything else is asking for it to be destroyed and possibly our chance to leave here alive.”

  “But Captain,” said Samson but West cut him off.

  “No argument, we don’t have time, do as you’re ordered,” said West impatiently.

  “Aye Captain,” said Samson but clearly wanting to argue more.

  West went down the cargo ramp and paused to watch Dickens orchestrate the move of the crews’ few possessions to cargo lifts which were then transferred to the quarters within the alien ship. Satisfied that things were going as planned, West proceeded to the shaft and grabbed a spider grip line and slid 100 feet to the temporary landing that had been rigged by Cesar to facilitate the transfer of cargo and personnel to the alien ship. West landed with a thud, nodded to Kal and her security team standing at the entrance with heavy beam rifles and then entered the ship passageway.

  “Captain on deck,” yelled Kal and her team saluted.

  “That’s not necessary, but I appreciate the thought,” said West.

  “My pleasure, Captain. Is this your first visit to the ship?”

  “Yes, about time I got to see our new temporary home.”

  “Do you think we’re actually going to have to abandon the Paradig?”

  “I hope not, but I’ve got to keep our options open.”

  Kal nodded her head. “Theo and his team are down the corridor at the end,” Kal said pointing down the passageway.

  West nodded and then walked off the temporary landing and stepped aboard the ship. The doorway hummed as he walked through and West paused to see what was happening and could see that a faint reddish amber color suffused the light around the entrance. West looked around.

  “Sir, that’s never happened before,” said Kal looking up at the doorway.

  “Never?”

  “No, sir.”

  West paused a bit and then entered the passageway. The lights were no longer lit with globe lights but were illumined with the ships’ own lighting system, presumably powered by nuclear reactors buried within the ship somewhere. West shook off the feeling that rose up as he thought of the dreaded reactors and walked down the corridor to the hub. His soft boots not making a sound as he moved. There was a faint smell
of age that he had encountered in tombs before and wondered where the cemeteries were for these people. He thought of all the opportunities that were here but what he couldn’t investigate. Anything that didn’t involve finding the weapon and getting it back to earth was on the back burner he thought regretfully.

  Theo and Curt were standing watching Volkum with his tunnel rat at his feet looking at the walls of the hub. West noticed that the amber light that had started at the entrance was speeding up as he walked down the corridor and he noticed script had started to appear on the walls as he walked along the passage. It seemed he was triggering the response from the ship. Kal had said she hadn’t noticed the amber light before.

  “Hey Theo, how is the examination going?” asked West as he looked left and right at the walls and corridors.

  Theo turned to look at West and then noticed the script starting to appear on the walls and even the ceiling in some area.

  “Good heavens, now what’s happening?” asked Theo as the script started to appear and then spread across the walls of the hub.

  Both Volkum and Curt stepped back and watched as the amber script started to appear, and then what appeared to be the outline of a doorway started to appear.

  “I stepped into the ship, and these amber lights started to come on and then I saw script appear all over the place,” said West, now also watching as the patterns continued to appear.

  Theo stepped to the wall and felt one area of script and it seemed to be three dimensional. “Interesting,” said Theo.

  Madison and Debbie carrying data pads and sidearm pistols approached from the entrance of the corridor and ship. “Where did all this script come from?” asked Madison, looking around.

  “I think West triggered something when he walked in,” said Theo.

  “Yeah, it’s my special touch,” said West looking at the hub walls and then back at Madison.

  “The ships’ aware that you’re here,” said Madison looking at West.