The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1)

by Justin Alexander

  Josh glanced in his direction, Peter, was a short man, whose wiry frame could barely fill out the uniform he wore, a mop of dishwater blonde, greasy hair was swept back, from a face that contained little warmth or even basic humanity. He was a career officer, borne to the right family and with a silver spoon planted directly in his ass. To go along with it, he was about the most boring and drab man that Josh had ever met. Yet sadly he could do little about it, command officers didn’t get to choose the second’s for a ship, which was a natural, built-in safe guard, as the weapons systems that any destroyer possessed could easily level a city or perhaps even an entire planet.

  “All systems are online and Bob and Martha are ready.” Peter continued, without shifting his gaze from his control screens.

  Josh could see Peter’s eyes closed and watched in fascination as his head seemed to shake and weave, as the neural implant fired information across his synapses and neurons. Josh had never liked the idea of a computer in his mind and so had refused every offer of a similar mechanism.

  “Bob, how are we doing today?” Josh asked one of the robots, the nicknames had been the fleet’s idea, another way to lessen the natural distrust that people had for synthetics.

  The android didn’t pause from its duty, and when it spoke its voice was piercing and loud. “I am functioning at one hundred percent efficiency commander, all systems are online and within normal parameters.”

  Josh turned his attention back to Peter, “I thought we were going to do something about that voice system?” He asked his tone, perhaps more severe than he intended.

  “Yes sir I will get someone to take a look at that” Peter replied laconically, never attempting to meet, Josh’s eyeline.

  He could feel his own anger build and his skin flush. He didn’t like it when people didn’t look at him, he could make a point of ordering his second to do just that when he spoke, yet that could cause the animosity that already existed between them to rise even further and he had too much on today to be worrying about such things. So instead he clamped down on the cigar and swallowed his fury, “Fine well when this mission is complete get some of those computer geeks to sort it out will you.” Even though he tried to hide it, his voice was tinged with sarcasm.

  It was obvious from the way his body tensed that this wasn’t lost on Peter, “Yes sir.” His reply was terse.

  “Right, well how is everything looking out there?”

  This time it was his Earth. Force commander that spoke, Jasmine Lawrence. “Everything is ready sir, my troops are waiting for your order to advance,” she paused and glanced over several more displays. “The Fleet Air Arm, had established a full quarantine and we have blue squadron out about four thousand clicks providing a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) to make sure we have plenty of warning if anyone was to show up unannounced.”

  His lips curled into a grin, “very good.”

  He liked Jasmine, she was a striking young women anyone could see that, strong, tough, arrogant, whip-smart and fearless. She was his kind of officer, she liked to drink, laugh and disliked the rules and regulations almost as much as he did. “Well let’s not keep those good marines waiting then,” he paused for a moment and ran over the holographic screen again, double checking he wasn’t missing anything. When lives were on the line you couldn’t be too cautious, he had made that mistake before and good men and women had paid the ultimate price. So now he always gave himself time, ran over every eventuality in his mind and calculated all the probabilities and possible outcomes.

  He didn’t like this operation, not one little bit, it wasn’t just because it had Sci-Corp’s grubby fingerprints all over it, with the secret communications and need to know rubbish. No it was the hulk itself, he wasn’t sure he believed any of the rumours that had begun to go round about the tarnished colossus, but there was something about it that just made his skin crawl. He gnawed down once again on the cigar and for the first time in a couple of years he got the almost uncontrollable urge to light it.

  “The mission is a go Ladies and Gentleman, good luck out there.” As much as he didn’t like this whole operation, he was a soldier and would carry out his orders, even if he knew something was wrong.

  At his own work station, Peter raged mutely, while a sardonic sneer spread across his face. He could have quite easily just turned around and shot the old fool. Yet those were not his orders and anyway he was sure that it would happen soon enough.

  He wasn’t the kind of man, who appreciated or even understood camaraderie. If he was honest with himself he had never really had many friends or even people that he cared about. Perhaps it was the result of being an only child or maybe some kind of defect built into his very genetic structure, but it was how it had always been. Even as a child he had invariably found himself playing alone. Maybe that was one of the main reasons why he despised the commander so much, all the genuine friendship he displayed with the rest of the crew, always down in the mess drinking and jesting. Peter scorned as he thought about it, he was barely able to control his disdain when he was forced to even simply communicate with the majority of the staff, let alone socialise with them. Still soon that wouldn’t be a problem, his mission was almost over and finally he would be free of the old man, this ship and its cretinous crew.

  His neural implant whirled and hummed, as tactical data was fed to him from the various sensors abroad the vessel. He felt like a god, while he was jacked into the ship, his senses could stretch for hundreds of miles in every direction. Sometimes he would envision himself floating out, in the freezing locker of space and just for a while the voices were quietened.

  Then without warning a dull flashing light, there was a message coming over the secure channel.

  He shifted his attention to the screens ahead of him, coded messages from Sci-corp burst to life, “Situation report?”

  He used his implant to think of the reply and it was simply presented on the display. “Marines are about to enter Eclipse One, all is going to plan.”

  “Good prepare yourself, for what is to come.”

  “I am always ready to serve.”

  “We know, that is why you were chosen.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Daniel heard the orders over his auditory implant, the mission was a go and yet part of him had wished that this madness would be put off. That by some miracle they would be ordered to stand down, still they had a job to do and people’s lives could depend on them. He may have been a lot of things, but he was still a Marine and he had an assignment to complete. He barred his eyes tightly and attempted to quiet his respiration.

  When he was sure it would not betray his true feelings he spoke, “Let’s move, Team one your with me, standard search and rescue pattern, Team two your with Monster, I want you in reserve just in case.” Before Bill could interrupt him, he continued, a concrete resolve clear in his voice, “I don’t want to hear it Monster, I want our exit to be secured just in case, so you hold this door. If anything goes wrong, I want to have some heavy cover fire and we’ll fall back in twos to the drop ship. Keep the engines running and the home fires burning, if we come running I want to be off this hulk in seconds.”

  “Roger that Lone Star, I’ll make sure they keep the meter running.” Bill spluttered through gritted teeth.

  “Everyone let’s keep it frosty, I know we’ve all heard the bullshit ghost stories, but were Marines, let’s remember that and we have a job to do here. So keep it together and we’ll all get to see tomorrow.”

  “Sir,” it was a collective reply.

  “Right,” Daniel retorted as he stepped into the gloom of the hulk, “Let’s move.”

  Behind him the remaining five members of team one fell in, Hollis and Denzel first, heavy weapons primed, behind them Kelly shouldered her pulse rifle and brought up her tracker and then Mathieu and Millie brought up the rear.

  Daniel edged cautiously down the corridor, his heavy boots, clanging on the grated floor, the sound was muffled inside his helmet, which someh
ow made him think he was underwater.

  “Geek you got anything?” He asked as he scanned the walls with his rifle, the light illuminating, frozen clumps of dusky liquid, he paused briefly as he lit up some kind of health and safety sign, which warned about the dangers of untrained staff using the airlock.

  Back a few paces Kelly fetched up her tracker, the technology wasn’t that dissimilar to that which was possessed by a lot of animals, it used an advanced Doppler radar to send out a signal which was sent back and could then detect any movement. “Checking now,” she hesitated slightly, as she studied the display closely, “No I’ve got nothing.”

  “Does anyone else have a really bad feeling?” Denzel enquired as the heat from his flame thrower started to melt the icicles next to him, murky water began to pool on the floor and then slipped gracefully through the grills.

  “Enough of that shit Killer,” Daniel announced curtly, even though he had exactly the same feeling that they definitely shouldn’t be here. “Let’s keeps moving, the main airlock should be just ahead.”

  He set off once again apace into the dimness, around him beams of radiance illuminated snapshots of the immense passageway, tarnished metal, cracked computer screens and a warning sign about the dangers of not wearing the correct protective clothing. When he reached the vast airlock, he glanced up and saw a large sign, its letters embossed upon a silver plaque, which was now etched with corrosion and clumps of frost.

  “Welcome to the U.E.F Ark Ship Eclipse one, we step into the unknown for all mankind.”

  He paused in front of the gargantuan doorway, as rays of dusty light reflected from the metallic surface. He studied it for a second, checking for any leaks, yet he couldn’t detect anything.

  “I don’t like this Lone Star,” Hollis said, the large chain gun held tightly in both his giant paws, while his finger eased nervously over the trigger-guard.

  “You say that every time we go on a mission,” Mathieu piped up from the rear.

  “Shut up little boy,” Hollis snapped, the anger in his voice only half serious.

  “Ok children,” Millie added attempting as usual to calm the situation.

  Daniel twisted around and observed his troops, “Look I know this place is creepy and believe me I would rather be just about anywhere else in this miserable universe right now. But we have a job to do, let’s remember that. We may have survivors on board, so let’s keep that in mind and when we’re back on the barge the first rounds on me ok?”

  “Now that’s what I like to hear Captain,” Kelly piped up as she waddled towards the side of the airlock, where she found the control panel. “I’ve got no power here Lone Star, am going to have to jerry rig it.”

  “Ok Geek get it done,” He retorted as he watched Kelly, remove the casing of the panel and attach several wires from her tracker. He still marvelled as how she was able to do the things she did, he could use a computer and set us a holo-player but she had a gift, if it had a circuit, she could get it to work, override it or just control it. That was why none of them ever had to pay for the premium interstellar holo channels.

  Kelly was a strange case when it came to troopers, she was one of the few women that had a child back home, a little girl who was only eight and lived with her grandma when Kelly was on missions. It always struck Daniel, how hard that must be to leave your only child and head off to the far corners of the universe. Yet she had little choice, the father had disappeared and the family members of Earth. Force personnel, got benefits, which most of the normal populace would kill for, healthcare, education, housing and food. He had told her over and over that he would, write her a reference and she could get a more stable job, off the front line, yet she was too proud to accept anything she thought was charity.

  “Ok it’s done, she’s going up,” Kelly proclaimed as she yanked her tracker free and slung it behind her back while in one single fluid motion she brought up her weapon and readied herself.

  Daniel brought his own armament up, “Ready!” he ordered, as the airlock, began to roll open slowly, a portentous screeching followed, as the ancient metal was once again brought to life, it was as though the ship itself was trying to warn them against entry. The scream of the steel was accompanied by a hiss of escaping oxygen, which had been trapped within the ship for over two hundred years.

  “Bet we’re glad we can’t smell that,” Hollis kidded.

  As the door drifted open their torch light tore off through the imposing blackness, enlightening a long desolate hallway. The interior of this rusted leviathan is as dark as a crypt and the feel is alarmingly similar, as if they have stepped into someone’s final resting place. Ghosts whisper and murmur within the shadows, this is a place for the dead and they could all sense that they shouldn’t be here.

  There was quietude as each marine took in the surroundings of this tarnished hulk. For a moment no one spoke and instead just listened, yet the only sound any of them could hear was their own heartbeats and breathing.

  It was Daniel who finally shattered the silence, “Geek what have we got?”

  Kelly once again brought up the tracker, “I’ve got nothing sir, if anything is alive on this beast they aren’t moving around.”

  “Ok let’s move, keep it nice and slow,” he uttered as he marched through into the colossus proper.

  “What is all this stuff?” Millie asked as her torch lit up some more of the frozen liquid.

  Daniel studied it for a minute, “I don’t know, maybe some sort of coolant from the reactor or the life support system.”

  “Or some, like alien blood,” Mathieu added with a smirk.

  “Enough,” Daniel said before another situation arose.

  He began to make his way down the corridor, it was like so many he had seen on the countless spaceships he had served or travelled on. Barren, functional and devoid of any human design touches. That was saved for ships where people choose to spend time, warships and government vessels needed none of those things.

  Behind him the team fell in, each moved cautiously, weapons and beams constantly scanning the surroundings. Without warning above them emergency lights kicked into life and within seconds the area was covered in an aberrant cherry glow.

  “Shit!” Denzel exclaimed. As he jumped back the flame thrower kicked in his hand and a small wave of effulgent fire burst forth, and raced along the far wall melting the icy fluid. Which began to ooze down and pool on the floor. “Someone’s in here,” his voice trembled.

  “Killer get your shit under control,” Daniel pronounced as he scanned the area ahead of him. “Geek you got anything?”

  “I’ve got nothing here captain, still no movement except us.”

  After a few tense moments Millie shattered the hush, “Maybe it’s just an automated system.”

  “Set to activate when the airlock opens that makes sense,” Daniel added.

  “Let’s hope so,” Hollis retorted.

  His own mind raced, he felt his jaw tense, with apprehension and that familiar desire had returned with a vengeance. He felt his hand tremor and a familiar ache raked over his body. There was something very wrong abroad this craft, he knew it, he wasn’t sure how or even why but he knew it. A part of him was all too aware that he should order his team out, but on what grounds could he do that, his gut wasn’t able to overturn an Earth. Force command. Then his own words came back to haunt him, what if someone had survived, some crew members who had managed to endure in a state of frozen hibernation, he couldn’t leave them alone, not on this haunted vessel.

  “Ok this doesn’t change anything,” He said trying in a way to convince himself, “We have a job to do, so we keep moving?”

  “Ok,” the meek, collective reply.

  “Sorry Lone Star, just got a bit jumpy,” Denzel suddenly added.

  “Don’t worry about it Killer, I think I feel safer knowing you have your finger on the trigger just in case.”

  “Always ready,” he retorted with a beaming grin, which appeared even bi
gger through the curvature of the face mask, making his visage appear like some sort of fairground parody.

  “Just keep your shit together Killer or little boy might just piss in his pants,” Hollis teased, it was the sort of playground mocking, that boys never seemed to outgrow.

  “Yeah fuck you too Snowman,” Mathieu retorted holding up his middle finger.

  “Don’t make me come back there,” Hollis exclaimed.

  “OK children,” Millie interposed, “You can get them out and measure them later” she paused, “but just remember I’ve seen them all before and they are nothing to be proud of.”

  “Burn!” Kelly added with a sly smirk.

  “Enough,” Daniel said raising his hand, “Let’s get moving.”

  Without waiting for a reply he set off once again down the passage, the illumination from the torches wasn’t really needed now, yet he kept his turned on, now more for his personal benefit. The emergency lights provided enough enlightenment to see fairly clearly, if giving everything a rose twinge, which made the hulk, appear even more like something directly out of a low-budget, gore filled horror flick.

  He trudged past several doorways which seemed to lead off into darkened store rooms, plastic boxes were piled high and in one he saw a row of yellow lockers. He noticed a set of electronic signposts, which were directing crew members to, “Main corridor access,” “Science wing A-D,” “Engineering,” “Botanicals E-G,” and one that especially disturbed him, “Secure Sci-corp personnel, are to follow blue route.”

  He had only gone a few more steps when Kelly spoke, “Sir I,” she paused, “I’ve got a hell of a signal here.”

  “What are you talking about Geek; I thought you didn’t have any movement?” Daniel enquired, as almost instinctively he brought his firearm up and pulled it snug against his shoulder. “Eyes front!” he shouted.

  He scoured the empty passageway ahead of him, “I can’t see anything.”

  “Neither can I.” Hollis added as he strode forward to stand next to Daniel the chain gun held in front of him, its barrel beginning to whirl.