by Chris Hechtl
“Aye aye, Ma'am.”
“So, we saved fuel? Or did we burn more of it?”
“More, but we went faster so we spent less time in hyper. And if I can tweak the software, I might squeeze out that other 7 percent. If so I can say we'll save enough for an extra jump, Ma'am. A short one, no more than three parsecs, but…” he spread his hands.
“Fine. But run any changes past me and the eggheads before you tinker,” she warned, holding up her index finger. He nodded dutifully and then crossed his heart. She snorted. She knew he didn't mean it; in the excitement of the moment, he'd dive right on in anyway. It was one of the things she liked about him; he didn't mind diving right in and getting his hands dirty. And he didn't mind a big project. “Fine,” she said and went on her way.
<|>-^-<|>
“What's up?” Captain Ride asked Doctor Jed as he came into the wardroom.
He paused, then looked up in confusion. “Huh?”
“Doc, did you mean to come here?” she asked. He looked around then nodded. She pursed her lips and then sent an implant signal to the life support computer. It was obvious from his ruffled hair, stains on his uniform, and…smell, that he hadn't had a shower in a while. “Been up all night again, Doc?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I think I found something,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow in inquiry. “And?” she asked when nothing more came out of him.
“Well, that's, I'm…ah…”
“Spit it out, Doctor,” she said, leveling a cool gaze on him.
“Sorry, I'm holding an internal conversation with Doctor Blithers,” he said.
She snorted. There were four head science geeks on the ship; they were supposed to each take a shift. But they usually ended up waking each other just before an arrival; then debated each other into knockdown shouting matches over one thing or another. The last big row had been about naming an asteroid of all things.
Blithers and Jed were the worst. They usually spent half the time in transit arguing about one thing or another instead of taking their place in stasis. They were…well, like two brothers or two gossipy wives who loved to bicker.
“And?” she asked. “Are you two arguing again? Don’t' tell me I'm going to have to separate you again,” she sighed in exasperation.
He shook his head. “It's not that. We found something with the hyperspace sensors. We're testing a new configuration. It's…well, Doctor Blithers doesn't believe it is real. I think it's something you should know about,” he said, appearing dazed.
“And?”
“It's something under power. Moving near our exit point,” Doctor Jed said. The captain looked up at him in surprise, then waved a hand. “Show me,” she said.
“I'll be glad to,” he said, taking control of the wardroom's holographic controls.
<|>-^-<|>
“All right people, based on what the two resident geniuses have come up with, we've got a potential ship under power near our exit point,” the captain said, briefing her bridge crew. “So be on alert,” she warned.
“Are they sure it's real? Not another phantom?” Lieutenant Aspers asked, shaking his head.
“It's real.”
“Just our luck if it is. Most likely it's one of the other explorers who got lost. Someone who fell through a wormhole or something,” a rating grumped.
“Or an alien,” another said hopefully.
“Like the ones that destroy…”
“Enough people,” the captain interrupted with her command voice. “Focus on your duties. Time to emergence?” she asked pointedly.
“Um,” the rating checked his readings carefully. “Five minutes and six seconds, Ma'am,” he reported.
“Better.” Her thumb stabbed down on the intercom. “All stations, this is the captain. Prepare for hyperspace emergence. We have a potential vessel on the other side of the hyperwall, so be prepared to go to battle stations or jump out if we have to,” she warned and then closed the circuit.
“Battle stations? Seriously, Skipper?” Lieutenant Aspers asked, turning to her. She locked eyes with him for a moment. After a second of tugging wills, she won and he looked away. “Aye aye, Ma'am,” he said.
“How do they know it's there? I didn't know anyone could see through the hyperwall!”
“It's an experimental technique,” the captain said.
“So, it may be a phantom?”
“Or something else. But I'm not taking any chances.”
“Do we have any specs on it, Ma'am?” The sensor rating Pyotr asked.
“It's smaller than us. Under power, we've observed one course change. It's got a larger mass shadow than it should considering the size.”
“Size…” the rating said suggestively.
The captain frowned and then tossed him the link to the file. “Here, look it over,” she said.
“Thank you, Ma'am,” he said, opening the file. He frowned. “A probe of some sort? At that size they'd have to be tiny…”
“A crew of leprechauns,” a rating joked. He looked at his station as the clock cascaded down. “One minute to exit, Ma'am,” he reported louder.
“Very well,” the captain said with a nod.
<|>-^-<|>
“Captain, whatever that thing is, it is real, and it is artificial,” the sensor tech said, looking up in concern. “Do we need to be worried about it?” he asked.
“It could be a science probe,” Doctor Blithers said. He seemed to be smarting a bit, but still game, not sullen like the last time he'd been proven wrong. Captain Ride snorted mentally. The last time he'd been proven wrong Doctor Jed had sweetly reminded him that sometimes being wrong was the best for a scientist; it meant they still had something to learn. Blithers had snarled at him to shut the hell up and stormed off to sulk for a week.
“Ah, bliss,” she murmured.
“Ma'am?” Lieutenant Aspers asked.
Captain Ride waved a hand. “Nothing, nothing. Do we have any specs on this thing?”
“It's dark, Ma'am, a gunmetal color. A cylinder shape, more of a spindle, with four wings on the rear, possibly solar panels?” the rating said. A holographic image of the vessel appeared on her screen.
“Definitely a probe,” Doctor Blithers murmured. “Scientific in nature no doubt.”
“Or a sentry,” the rating said. The doctor scowled blackly at him. He spread his hands. “Well, it could be, doctor. From its course and speed, it looks like it was holding station on this part of the star system,” he reported, looking at the captain.
Captain Ride nodded, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. She netted her fingers together and cracked her knuckles, making Doctor Blithers wince.
“Must you do that?” he muttered.
“It's good for the joints, doctor,” the captain replied absently.
“Captain, the…probe is about the size of a capital missile. It's sending out some sort of active scan. We have just been swept,” the rating said.
“Probe is looking a lot less likely,” Lieutenant Ashers murmured. “My credits is on sentry,” he said.
“Don't jump to conclusions,” Blithers growled, crossing his arms and doing his best to look imposing and all knowing. “We don't know anything for certain yet,” he warned.
“No, but we do need to take precautions,” the captain said.
“Can we send a tug out? To capture it and bring it aboard? See if it has a message?” Doctor Blithers asked.
“I don't even want to have that thing anywhere near my ship, Doctor,” the captain said.
“If it is a science probe, it could have a message like the old Terran probe Voyager did,” the doctor said, eyes lighting as he looked at her.
“Keep scanning it but get our shields up,” the captain said. “Caution is the better part of valor and all that,” she said, waving a hand. Lieutenant Ashers nodded.
“Warmongers,” Doctor Blithers grumbled.
“It pays to be cautious when investigating something that can
blow up in our face, doctor. After all, it doesn't do to get killed and not be able to report all the neat things we've found, right?” she asked whimsically. He drummed his meaty fingers against his wide belt but didn't reply.
She sniffed and turned away. His counterpart was in the science lab, going insane over the readings they were bringing in. And since, technically, this was Doctor Jed's show he had the lab to himself; he hadn't invited his colleague to join him, which was why the doctor had invited himself onto her bridge.
<|>-^-<|>
“So, what do we know?” The captain asked two hours later. She'd just gotten a report from engineering. The ship had stood down her hyperdrive, and the engineering crew were now switching over to sublight mode.
“It is alien, not Terran. It's active, it has some sort of…computer mind. I hesitate to say artificial intelligence, it looks like it is just following a program,” Doctor Jed said. She nodded.
“It is approaching our position, but it is slow. Sublight speed is a tenth of our speed. We can evade easily,” Lieutenant Ashers reported.
“Come on people!” Doctor Blithers said. “It is a probe! Why do you have to automatically think the worse!”
“As I said, doctor, it pays to be cautious. I'd rather be cautious then get bit. Besides, if we're wrong, all we've lost is a little bit of time and maybe embarrassed ourselves. I'd rather have egg on ourselves that way, then burned eyebrows,” Captain Ride said, with a slight bite to her tone. Doctor Jed winced on the holo emitter. “As I was saying, any sign of a warhead?” she asked, turning to the sensor officer and then Doctor Jed's image.
Both men shook their heads no. “No, Ma'am, it has a powerful reactor, but no…”
“Ma'am! We're getting a communication from the probe!” The communications rating said, looking up in surprise. She held a hand to her ear but then winced. “It's data, Ma'am. I'm buffering it.”
“Interesting,” Doctor Blithers said, looking over the young woman's shoulder. “See? An attempt to communicate?” he asked. “Surely a sign of peaceful intentions?” he demanded.
“Or an IFF interrogation,” Lieutenant Ashers replied. “We are in alien space doctor.”
“True,” Doctor Jed said before his colleague could reply.
“Decrypt that if you can. See what you can do with it,” the captain ordered.
“I'm no linguist, let alone an xenologist, my good lady,” Doctor Blithers said, spreading his hands apart.
“We're taking samples of the code and attempting to decipher it. It's not binary, some odd format,” Doctor Jed replied.
“The…alien probe has stopped moving, Captain. She's gone dark; her power and drive have shut down,” the sensor rating reported.
“She's out of power. Old,” Jed suggested.
“Let's not jump to any conclusions,” the captain said.
“Captain, we should bring it aboard. Take it apart. See not only what makes it tick but get an inside look at her creators,” Doctor Blithers suggested.
“Don't you mean it?” Doctor Jed reminded him. “And may I also remind you it is alien? We don't own it. The creators may be a bit upset with our tampering with their hardware.”
“How do we know that without looking? We can always apologize,” Blithers said stubbornly. “If they are reasonable people, it won't be a problem,” he said expansively.
“IF,” Doctor,” the captain said.
“We're not going to get much more here, Ma'am,” the sensor tech said. The others turned to him. “We can't see past her hull; it's shielded.”
“Armor?”
“No, most likely radiation shielded,” Doctor Blithers said.
The captain frowned, but noted a few of the hesitant nods from her crew. She had to go along with him as well but didn't like it.
“Anything from the inner system?” The captain asked, momentarily changing the subject.
“It's dead, Ma'am, a white dwarf as expected. No asteroid belts, a few rocks but nothing there. No habitable planets,” Doctor Jed reported. The sensor tech nodded slightly.
“Very well,” the captain said, seeing them practically salivating in eagerness. “Find a way to disengage that thing's power supply and any potential self-destructs. Do an initial assessment outside my hull before I authorize the next phase,” she said.
Doctor Blithers scowled; but Doctor Jed nodded. He cocked his head. “I've got work to do then,” he said and cut the connection.
<|>-^-<|>
It took two days of probing before the captain was convinced it was safe enough for the thing to be brought on board. They brought it on board with a tug, letting it drift in the number two boat bay. Work crews watched it come in, coming out of the dark and into the lights of the bay. It seemed to drink up the light, like some dark creature.
“My boys and girls are looking forward to this,” the chief engineer said, rubbing his hands together. The captain looked over to him and then snorted softly. “I'll bet,” she teased. He shrugged. “Go play with your spanners. But make sure…” She warned.
He waved hand. “I know, make sure I'm home by supper. And all my chores are done,” he said.
“Not quite what I was going to say,” she said. He stopped and cocked his head. She shook hers. “Bill, look, we don't know what that is, other than a probe of some sort. So be careful. There might be booby traps; anything is possible. Remember, safety of the ship,” she warned, holding a cautionary finger up. He nodded, now sobered.
“You do have a way of taking the fun out of things,” he groused. She smirked at him. “Serves you right. And remember, this is Jed's show.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I know,” he grumbled, leaving the compartment.
<|>-^-<|>
The captain watched for a while before other duties pulled her away. Chief Newman didn't mind nor did the two head scientists or the volunteer engineers in their space suits. They ran scans over the device, noting the pitting on the hull and taking samples. They ran a spectrograph to determine her age; then carefully, centimeter by centimeter documented her hull. When that was done, they then took a quick break for lunch. The engineers made mock-ups of tools to open her up using their on-board 3D printer. When the tools were done, they argued about how best to tear the device apart. The tools broke right off, so reluctantly they broke out the plasma torches and set upon her, carefully cutting the bezel around her sensor array away. That had unintended consequences.
<|>-^-<|>
“Captain! This thing in the boat bay!...it just sent out a pulse! Hyper pulse, like our ansible but alien! It either just sent a distress signal, or it just let someone know we're here!” the communications rating reported, now sounding worried.
The captain scowled. She didn't like the sound of that. It not only told her someone had tripped a trap, but also that the aliens who had created the probe had tech comparable or possibly even superior to their own. “Any hope on breaking that code?” she asked. The young woman shook her head. The captain pursed her lips. “Thought not,” she sighed.
“Ma'am, it must have broadcast our location,” Lieutenant Ashers said. “I think we should be ready for trouble,” he said.
“Good idea. But hold that thought a minute,” the captain said, opening a channel to the boat bay. “One of you gentlemen want to tell me what the hell just happened? According to Irina our ship is ringing like a rather loud bell.”
The line was filled with static and noise. “Hello?” she demanded, frowning. After a moment the line clicked closed. “What the hell?” she demanded, turning to Irina, the communications rating.
“Ma'am, it's…” she shrugged. “Internal communications are all messed up. So are our sensors. The computer is running slow.”
“Get someone to run diagnostics. Send a runner if you have to,” the captain ordered. “This is no time to have issues,” she growled, wondering if it was whatever the probe had sent, the data they'd gotten from it, something one of the eggheads had done…or whatever the hell Bill was doing with h
er drive. She scowled. She needed to check on that; this was no time to have drive issues either!
“Ma'am, DCC reports major damage to the boat bay. They are trying to get a work crew in now. But initial reports are it's a total loss.”
“Casualties?” Captain Ride asked formally, voice dropping into a professional clip as others on her crew gasped in shock.
“Initial report is total. But they aren't sure. They haven't gotten inside yet, and our internal sensors are down.”
“What the hell happened?” the captain demanded.
“That probe blew the hell up, Ma'am,” Lieutenant Ashers growled. “The computer reinforced the fields around the boat bay a microsecond after that signal and before we lost contact with the boat bay. DCC has thermal probes outside the compartment; it's an inferno in there,” he reported.
“Damn,” a rating whispered.
“Order them to vent the bay to space. Get it under control,” the skipper ordered.
“But the people…”
“Are dead or about to be,” the captain said. “The ship comes first,” she said. Lieutenant Ashers nodded and passed on the order.
<|>-^-<|>
Five hours later the news was mixed. Bill, Bithers and Jed were dead. The butcher's bill was heavy; half her engineers had been in there with them along with half the like-minded scientists. Most of the planetary people had sat it out. She closed her eyes. She'd miss Bill, miss him sorely. She'd already ordered a funeral service the following day along with the waking of his replacement.
She frowned thoughtfully. It might be a good idea to swap the whole shift. Most of Bill's people were in mourning; they were barely doing their jobs. Each shift was also a team; they didn't swap in and out easily. She shook her head. No, if she ordered them into stasis it would be cruel…and it would only delay their grief. They needed to work their way through it. They'd have to.
The one piece of good news was mixed. Due to the late chief's modifications, they had control of the drive. That was about all though; whatever was bogging the computers down was still in there. Apparently, it had stumped all the computer geeks too.