“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” He spat, his voice tinged with a palpable tension.
“Are you being serious?” Maggie asked glancing over at him, an unfamiliar look of genuine concern in her eyes.
He wanted to tell her the truth, but his own comedic facade which he showed the world took over, “No.” He shook his head and the fake smile appeared again. “You know me Hot Rod, am just talking shit.”
“Good.” She pronounced, as she turned her attention back to the probe, “Initial sweep is complete, information is coming up now.” She paused for an instance, “All looks good, the hull appears to be intact, no obvious breaches, reactors still online but running on minimal power.”
“What about life signs?” he enquired attempting to mask the fear in his voice again.
She cocked a sardonic eye at him. “No life signs, so you can stop worrying about the space zombies.”
“Well that’s something.” He answered, not calmed by the news.
“I am getting some strange energy readings though.” She said tentatively.
He frowned slightly, “What kind, I thought you said the reactor is only running on minimal power.” he barred his eyes, allowing his mind to seek out the material. His synapses fired and the neural link responded. The energy readings sparked to life and he studied them closely.
Maggie shook her head. “It is,” she broke off to study the figures more closely. “I haven’t seen anything like this before, it’s probably just some residual background radiation or something.”
The implant facilitated Brad to see the energy sauce as a wave of colours, of various tones and hues, wrapping around the outline of the leviathan. He had never seen anything like it before, it could be background radiation, but to him it seemed like some kind of living creature. The way it flowed and receded like waves lapping against the shore. It seemed to pulsate and swim, as if it was constantly moving over the surface of the ship.
Something was definitely wrong with this ancient vessel, he knew it in his gut, but there was nothing that he could do now, he was a pilot and he didn’t get to control where he was sent.
He smirked and attempted to shield his own consciousness from the truth. “Well I’m sure it’s nothing and as for the space zombies, I bet they are just hiding, haven’t you seen a horror movie before, this always happens, they arrive at the cabin, ship, hotel, old mansion in the woods and everything seems fine, so we let our guard down and then bam!” He exclaimed his hands exploding upwards. “They jump out and its say goodbye to your precious, tasty brains.”
Maggie leaned towards him, “Yeah right.”
“Just wait and see,” Brad pulled the flight stick back and banked the drop ship so that they could finish their pass over the Eclipse one.
After a few minutes Maggie asked tentatively, “You got that feeling?”
“What feeling?” Brad replied not taking his eyes from the floating leviathan.
“Like were walking on someone’s grave.”
Brad glanced out of the view screen, he wanted to scream the truth at her, but that wasn’t his way. So once again he forced his true feeling down and scrutinized the ethereal outline of the Ark ship in the gloom. He wondered what secrets it held. What it had seen, after all these years in unknown space and what it could tell them? Panic and terror, clawed at his intestines, like a rat attempting to escape its cage. Once again Rebecca was before him, she sneered as she pointed towards the craft, beckoning him towards his destiny and his death.
Back within the troop hold Daniel analysed the banks of monitors in front of him. It was becoming clear that the Eclipse One hadn’t suffered any major hull breaches or a serious reactor meltdown. It was still conceivable then, that not only could it still be pressurized but that its life support systems could be functional and so the atmosphere breathable.
Yet as he studied the scans more closely he could see that the vessel was running on minimal power, which meant the temperature within most of it would have dropped to well below freezing. Not that it really mattered unless the crew had decided to procreate, as otherwise they would have all been well into mid two hundreds by now. It was still possible though that some or all of them had managed to get to the emergency stasis pods, not that it may have been that much help as the technology when the craft was made was still in the earliest stages and would seem prehistoric by today’s standards.
He lifted his eyes away from the screens and surveyed in awed silence as the haunting colossus glided past the porthole. He felt his stomach plummet, as an almost primal fear, which was hardwired into his very DNA, reached up a frigid hand and grabbed hold of him. He traced the violent outline of the hull, which was bestrewed with antennas and concaved dishes.
“Now that is certainly one ugly ship,” A voice sang to him.
Daniel turned to find Corporal Vanessa “Phoenix” Cruz, team two’s second in command, her gloved hand moving over the crucifix that always hung over her armour.
“Sure is,” he nodded and shifted back to the ancient leviathan. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, not even in the history vids, I know all those old Ark ships look crazy now by our standards, but this one is different. It’s like some kind of surrealist nightmare given form. It looks like some kind of animal loosed into space.”
She favoured him with a broad and warm grin. “Those are some big words captain; I would have gone with something simpler and straight to the point. I think it’s like something straight from the pits of hell.”
Daniel observed her in stillness, she fascinated him, her features appeared morphed through the curved glass, yet still her light copper skin gleamed. She had discovered religion shortly after surviving a horrific drop ship accident that had killed all the other members of her team. She had, it was said, simply risen from the ashes, which had given birth to her nickname.
“You ok Captain?” She asked tentatively, her voiced soft and laced with sadness.
He nodded, half-heartedly, “Yeah you know me.” He was careful not to use her handle, which he had grown to realize she tolerated rather than enjoyed. He was all too aware of living with the guilt of surviving, when others had not.
Vanessa didn’t reply for a minute, then she shifted slowly to look at him. Some people may have noticed simply her features, perfect as they were, high cheek bones, plump lips, gleaming jet black hair, curls of which framed her face perfectly. For him though it was the eyes that still struck him, it wasn’t just the colour which made him think of liquid caramel. It was what was behind them; pain, fear but above all compassion and tenderness.
“I do,” Vanessa spoke the words slowly.
He beamed, “Just not sleeping much that’s all.” He paused attempting to cover the lie. “It’s just this mission, its messing with my mind.”
“You’re lying,” she pronounced with a broad grin.
“You do know me too well,” he retorted, he held no defensiveness in his voice. He didn’t like lying to her, but he couldn’t let the guise he showed the world drop, not even to her.
For an instance she just fastened him with her gaze, giving him the space and opportunity to talk to her. Yet when it became clear that wasn’t going to happen she spoke, “Well I’ll let it go for now, as we’ve all got bigger problems here, like where that big nasty bitch has been for more than two centuries and why has it come back now?” as she spoke her hands gripped the crucifix tighter.
“Does that help?” he pointed towards the cross. Organised religions in all the disparate forms still flourished even though the Sci-corp had attempted to bring most over to its own brand of faith and science. More recently they had begun to pass laws attempting to control them and had even started to put to death some of those that preached.
“Sometimes,” Vanessa replied, “Most of the time, I think it just makes me feel better that’s all.”
“Well sometimes that’s just what you need.” Daniel said as he peered back out through the porthole, as the Eclipse One floated
past and only the darkness of space was left. He wanted so much to talk to her, to talk to anyone about what was happening. It was like an animal trapped within his mind, clawing and desperate to flee its confines. However he took in a deep breath and buried his true feelings deep inside, he had a job to do today, maybe after all this was finished he would take some leave, put the bottles aside and finally face the demons that haunted him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
In the cockpit, Brad was continuing to recheck the data he had received in a vain attempt to put off the inevitable. Eventually he had to give in and keyed the communicator in his helmet, “Troy this is Exodus requesting permission for final approach?”
There was a brief pause then a low voice crackled back, “Exodus this is Troy, we’ve got a lot of static here, but the request is granted.”
For a while Brad didn’t say anything, the hairs on his neck still standing up, he knew something was wrong; he knew he should just turn the ship around and fly anywhere that wasn’t here. It was true that you could say a lot about him and most people did, but he was a good pilot and he had his orders.
“Ok then,” he said more to himself.
Maggie glanced over at him, “You don’t have to worry I’m going to be keeping my hand on the emergency jump button.” Her voice had taken a more serious tone, as she too was becoming more aware of the situation they now found themselves in.
He peered over at her and beamed, both at that instance telling each other without words that everything would be alright.
“Well then we better get this party started,” he jested.
She chuckled slightly, a timid release of tension. “You always know how to show a girl a good time.”
“Come on who else takes a girl to a ghost ship at the edge of known space, now that’s goddamn romantic.” He smirked as he took hold of the flight stick and began to bank the drop ship towards the Eclipse One.
In the troop hold, red lights began to flash and the pilots’ drawl of a voice broke the silence. “We’re on the final approach, so hold onto your breakfast,” there was a pause then, “Good luck and good hunting.”
Daniel turned and signalled to his troops, who began to prepare themselves. He swung round to Vanessa. “Well here we go then,” he wished he could of thought of something more poetic or at least meaningful to say, yet that had never really been his gift.
She gave him sly grin, “Here we go Lone star.”
“I’ll see you back on the barge Vanessa.”
“I’ll hold you to that Daniel,” she retorted before she strode off to join Bill and team two.
The atmosphere was beginning to turn, as each marine began to ready themselves for what was to come. Some just stood in silent contemplation, others laughed and joshed; while some including Vanessa offered a prayer to which ever God they believed in to watch over them. Part of him wished he could still believe in some higher power, which would look over and protect you. His own faith had been stripped from him long ago and now all he had was himself and his troopers.
He took in a slow, languid gasp of the sharp, processed air and then set off towards the airlock. Like always he would be the first to enter the bowels of the colossus and he would be the last to leave. It was part of the unwritten rules that you leave no soldier behind.
For an instance he was back with Bill, in the heart of the terrorist ambush, the smell of cordite and burnt flesh filled his nostrils. He thought he was going to be sick, he felt his guts churn and he could taste bile in his gullet. He took a minute and appeased his mind, simply concentrating on his breathing. The last thing you wanted to do in an all atmosphere suit was vomit, he had seen it a couple of times before, usually with rookies who were taking their first steps into the bleakness of space and it was never pretty. It didn’t matter how much you cleaned them either, you could never get the stench out of the suits.
He could feel his own body, begin to brace itself for combat, his heart began to rumble within his chest while his muscles and sinews tensed. He brought up the assault rifle and pulled it in tight against his shoulder. If he was honest he had never really liked guns, not as a child when his father had taken him hunting, or even at basic training. He had grown to accept them as an obvious necessity, instinctively he ejected the magazine and checked it was full before slamming it back in. His gloved finger moved lightly over the trigger and he clicked the safety catch off. He sealed his eyes for an instance and once again saw his sister, her beaming toothless mouth set wide.
Abruptly a loud clang reverberated through the chamber, as the drop ship attached itself to the drifting leviathan. The next few seconds seemed to him to last for hours, as the emergency light turned off and they were left in shade. He was a child again and standing outside his sisters door, the rifle in his hand replaced by a teddy bear. He felt base terror crawl into his intestines, while shadows undulated and flowed around him. In his mind he knew they were just his troopers, yet part of him gave them a different and more sinister meaning. Then a green light began to flash and once again, the boy was replaced by a man.
“O.K. Marines, remember your training.” Daniel said calmly into the implant housed within his throat. “This is a simple mission, we’re going to be in and out, if any of this crew is alive we’re going to find them, get the black box then we’re gone,” he paused attempting to keep his voice steady and his feelings in check. “We’ve all heard the ghost stories, but all that bullshit stops now. We’re Marines and we have a job to do, first team on me.” He wished he could say something more, something better, like in all those movies, where the commander gives a rousing speech to his troops, yet sadly this was not a film and he didn’t have the words. “I’ll see you all back on the barge.”
“On the barge,” a cacophony of voices replied almost in unison.
The soldiers split themselves into the two fire teams and readied themselves, armaments were drawn and checked and then brought to bear on the airlock. When the locking systems were secure, the green light was replaced by a purple one and with a loud hissing of escaping air the circular door rolled open ominously.
“Lights,” Daniel ordered activating the high powered torch on his own gun, almost instantly cones of light tore forward into the almost crushing darkness. They illuminated rusted metal and clumps of filthy ice.
“Ready,” he ordered. He took one final breath and then stepped foot into the Eclipse one, almost instantly he wished he hadn’t, something reached out to him from within the gloom, something ancient, something that had been waiting for them for over two hundred years. Here on this ship of death, the graves yarn and the dead do not rest easily.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
COMBAT INFORMATION CENTRE (CIC), THE EARTH FORCE DESTROYER "TROY", TRAVELLERS GATE.
The vast combat information centre (CIC) was situated at the front of the destroyer and controlled every aspect of the immense ship. If you were to see if for the first time, without any understanding or training you would think it was some kind of madness given form. Each of the vast walls was covered with computers, holographic keypads, displays and screens. There didn’t appear to be any free space left as if the original architect had miscalculated and had to shoehorn everything in at the last minute. Everywhere you looked an iridescent sea of coloured lights flashed on and off, in some kind of triumphant praise to technological advancement. While hundreds of earnest men and women in various uniforms, ran around, barking orders and commands to each other.
To Commander Josh Cuskette though, this was home, he had been on warships since he had run away to join Earth. Force at seventeen, it was the only life he had ever known or if he was truthful, ever wanted. He bit down nervously on the unlit cigar that always hung nonchalantly from his lips, stood up from his command chair and pulled himself up to his full height. Even now in what some would call the twilight of his years he still cut an imposing figure, something that was useful for any officer.
In front of him the immense holographic screen, known to comma
nd staff as the TID (Tactical. Information. Display), showed thousands of individual pieces of strategic information. To the untrained eye it would appear almost meaningless, just a collection of random symbols and numbers. Yet to him it was like a perfect snapshot of what was happening at that exact moment in time, on and around his vessel. He could see the drop ship Exodus had made contact with the Eclipse One, while his own fighter squadrons had set up a quarantine zone around the whole area.
His attention was drawn down to the two clear, Perspex capsules that sat just below his raised command platform. Inside which two gleaming, metallic androids lay. Nimble steel fingers raced over the screens that made up the lids of the “Coffins” as they had been nicknamed by the crew.
The synthetics were in charge of all the tactical functions of the Warship, from the various weapons systems, radar, communications, engines, shields and even down to control of the waste system. Even though the orders were still given by humans, it was clear to him that the two machines could easily run the craft on their own, although he wasn’t sure, what they would choose to do, without human commands.
The programming they had was immense and too complicated for an old war horse like him to truly comprehend. Yet the tortured romantic within him, liked to think that if they just stopped giving orders, the androids themselves would steal the ship off to some quiet world and start a life together. The very idea brought a smile to his face. In truth though if the robots didn’t receive any instructions, this would mean that something had happened to the human crew and they would immediately make for the nearest jump point and return to home base.
“Right let’s get this party started shall we?” He said is his usual relaxed twang.
“Yes sir,” his second in command Peter Hurl replied curtly.
The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1) Page 10