by P. C. Haring
Being here for these strategy sessions remained low on Nira’s list of priorities. But as the Captain’s spouse was expected to fall into the hosting role when necessary. Yes, Cassie was family and under most circumstances that would imply a relaxation of the formalities, but the two of them had been all business since Cassie had arrived, and Nira was not in any mood to insert herself into this and potentially upset the cooperative balance the two of them had found.
“Pull up a chair, Nira. Please join us,” Cassie said.
She felt her cheeks warm and for a moment she was unsure as to what she ought to do. Cody pulled out a chair for her, saving her from the uncertainty. “We’d appreciate your input.”
A slight smile graced across her face as she excused herself to plate her breakfast. By the time she returned Cody and Cassie had cleared a spot on the table for her.
November 7, 2832
20:30
Mjöllnir - Engineering
SOMEWHERE ALONG THE past four hours, Melor’s desk had gone from clear to overflowing with reports. She could not move one without spilling another three to the deck. At one point, the reports had been organized into categorized stacks. Hell, she had even had a plate with a sandwich on it which was supposed to be her dinner, not that she even had the chance to take a single bite. What was worse, even though she had sat here reviewing all this shit for the past several hours, she wouldn’t have been able to recall what she had reviewed, even if her life had depended on it.
Nothing made sense. Her mother was the enemy who helped them. The Remali were the friends who had sent them into a death trap. The Captain was looking for peace despite a massacre. And she was repairing the ship… yet again. Had they even been able to get through a proper shakedown. No, she realized. They had not.
She tried to find her sandwich. Four more tablets slid toward the edge of her desk. She reached for them and came up short, but not before her hand knocked into something else, which slid and fell to the deck. The crack of shattered porcelain broke the relative silence. With a sigh, she looked at the mess that had once been her dinner.
Piper walked in with another tablet. It was bad timing for the engineer’s mate as she had just unwittingly volunteered herself.
“Chief, what are you working on right now?”
“I’m actually between projects at the moment, why?”
“I need to clean up this mess,” she said, motioning to the pile. “And I need to clean up a spill on the deck.”
Without any further response, Piper ducked back out of her office, only to return again with a stack of hand towels. They did the job and Melor’s dinner found itself bundled up and tossed into the nearest refuse.
Together they settled in on the reports, each taking a tablet and entering relevant information into the ship’s computer. The first on her desk was a systems analysis report of the main power core. Everything looked in order, leaving her more than happy to sign off on it and leave the handheld in the crate Piper had retrieved for competed reports.
It was all so stupid. The ever-shifting allegiances, the diplomatic maneuvering so one side could get what they wanted while blocking their so-called partner from achieving the same. Between the Captain, the General and her Mother, she wasn’t sure who the hell she could trust these days. Her mother cared only in as much as Vivine gave her what she wanted. The General cared to use her as a wedge and the Captain… oh the Captain cared only enough to use that wedge to force a door open. He didn’t care about her. He cared about the ship.
No. That wasn’t fair, she realized. Amado hadn’t forced her into that situation. He had gone out of his way to ask her, and she had freely accepted.
Melor let out a breath as she picked up the next tablet in her stack. Her head was spiraling out of control and she needed to calm down. Maybe, she thought as she started reading, when this whole thing was over she might transfer back to the ship yards. Building ships was more straightforward than this and it was a hell of a lot more fun. Turning her attention to focus on the report, she stopped half way through.
“Why am I holding a report telling me the repair work on the hull was halted?”
Piper looked up from her stack, surprise in her eyes and face. “The team ran into a complication. There’s a power conduit in their way that they need to cut in order to proceed. Problem is that the conduit is still active. They had to halt pending your authorization to cut power to the surrounding area.”
“Why wasn’t I notified when this happened? Why am I reading about it in a report a half hour old?”
Piper drew in a breath. “You weren’t at your desk when I delivered the report so I left it on the top of your...” Her voice trailed off as the futility dawned on her.
Melor’s chest heaved. “We are on a strict time table, Chief! I want this ship fully operational before the attack. I want to be out of there before they come! I want that hull sealed! I do not want your excuses!”
Even as she raged she knew this was not about the report or the breakdown in communication, but dammit, her people were better than this. They knew how she wanted things done and if they couldn’t be counted on to take a little initiative during an ongoing crisis such as this, then what the hell was the damn point? As if it wasn’t bad enough that this ship would more than likely be engaged in armed conflict with her mother soon enough, now she had to deal with this level of incompetence from within her own team?
Piper stood up and opened her mouth.
“Save it,” she barked before her assistant could utter even a syllable. “Get out there, and get this ship sealed! I don’t care what it takes. Get it done!”
“I’m...I... I’m sorry...”.
Melor pointed an angry finger towards her door. “Go!”
Piper left in almost a run, heading towards the equipment lockers. Melor watched her go before slumping back in the chair. She tossed the handheld back onto her desk where it slid into one of the newly created piles. With a growl her four arms thrust forward, shoving everything off the surface of her desk. Tablets flew across her office only to slide on the deck. Her computer terminal toppled over, and the other accessories she had furnished for herself skittered like useless junk.
But, at least now her desk was clear.
November 8, 2832
13:30
Mjöllnir - Operations Control
CODY CIRCLED the central display with a level of impatience he thought was long since gone. The ship was still a few minutes out and Kelten station was still outside of sensor range. The strategy had been in place and remained mostly common sense, but first impressions would remain key.
The seemingly endless minutes passed in relative silence, but when the image resolved, all eyes locked on the display.
Amado focused his attention and noted the station’s design principles varied wildly from that of Surahan station, appearing more flowing, more organic, far more in line with the design of Rashar’s flagship. This was a Remali post. Like Surahan, Kelten station was falling apart, but by comparison Surahan looked fresh off the line. It was as though the station had been built, stripped, re-built and reinforced, and then left to decay. Even in the holo, Amado could make out the trademark Remali skin, but the sheen had long since disappeared. It was as if a space faring creature had died and been left to drift in the cold void.
“Analysis, Lieutenant?”
Melor worked her console as she ran her tests and took her readings.
“Definitely Remali, Captain. I’m detecting no life signs, no active power signatures. But what’s interesting is that I’m actually able to detect inside. We couldn’t do that with the Valor.”
Amado drummed his fingers on the display console. “Rashar said one of the codes she gave us needed to be sent remotely before we tried to board the station. Find it and send it.”
Cassie’s subtle nod reminded him of their conversation just two hours earlier.
“But, before you do, Melor…” He turned to his weapons officer. “Mr. Aler, se
t condition three throughout the ship.” He then turned to the pilot. “Keep us a safe distance away from the station. I want to be out of their weapons range.”
Aler set to his task and as the klaxon sounded and the announcement was made, Cody stepped to his sister’s side.
“Thoughts?”
She swallowed. “I don’t know. The station looks dead to me and I’m a little nervous about sending personnel over. Damn thing looks like it’s going to disintegrate out from under us. Let’s see how far that code goes before making a determination.”
“Agreed.”
With that, Cody looked to Aler for an update.
“Ready sir. All decks showing condition three.”
“If you would be so kind then, Melor?”
Melor went to work on her console as she transmitted the code. Another moment passed, then the station seemed to come alive. The holo display zoomed in, tightening the resolution to the point where the Amado’s could see the running lights come online in sequence as sections of the station powered up for the first time in who knew how long. On its underside, a series of small thrusters fired, adjusting the station’s position and lining it up on its intended axes. Counter-thrusters fired, canceling the vectors and halting the station’s movement.
“Captain, we’re being scanned.”
Cassie moved to Melor’s side to review the data on her screen. She frowned as she studied the information before her. Whatever data Melor must have received must have been in the Remali written language.
“Can you read that?” he asked.
“I’ve picked up a working knowledge of the Remali language. If I’m reading this right, the stations scan was to determine who we are since we’re not a Remali vessel. I think...” her voice trailed off. “I think it’s asking us for a gravitational constant.”
Cody frowned. “Why would they ask that?”
“Beats me. But it’s repeating the request. Must be automated.”
He shrugged as uncertainty took its grip. “Give it the Alliance standard.”
She tentatively keyed the data into the console. Almost immediately, the station responded as another set of thrusters fired on the outer ring, pushing the station into a spin.
“What the…?”
Cody turned back.
“What now?”
Cassie met his eye, her mouth agape. “We’re detecting a decrease in the station’s internal mass. How is that possible?”
Melor stepped in at this. “It’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be, unless...”
“...unless it was venting something,” Cody finished the thought.
He turned to duty stations, “Sensors! Scan the immediate area for any venting action from the station.”
“Confirmed, sir. Bringing it up now.”
All eyes returned to the display, which now zoomed into a section of the station’s lower quarter. A cloud spewed out, dispersing into space.
“Analysis?”
“Chemical composition indicates it’s...” the sensor operator’s voice trailed off.
“Petty Officer?”
“It’s water, Captain. Salt water, to be more precise.”
He turned, but found the same perplexed look on Cassie’s face.
“Captain, there’s a new message from the station.”
Both the Amados looked to Aler.
“We’re being cleared for docking, Captain.”
He looked again at the display as it zoomed out and then back in on a docking arm which had extended from the station’s superstructure. The image tightened on the docking collar and Cody watched as it grew in diameter. When it stopped, the measurements appeared on the holo and indicated full compatibility with the Mjöllnir’s airlocks. Somehow the station had altered itself to become compatible with its alien visitors. Cassie moved to her post on the opposite side of the dais. They met each other’s eyes and the unspoken agreement hung between them.
“Pilot, take us in.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
November 8, 2832
13:45
Kelten Supply Depot
CASSIE MOVED through the Mjöllnir side of the airlock, stepping as far inside as possible to allow the remainder of the boarding party to squeeze in behind her. The door closed and sealed, trapping all twenty of the team inside for the moment. This part was always the worst for her. It was bad enough that she had to remain trapped in the small chamber, but having to endure the confinement with nineteen others, if only for just a minute, made the situation even worse. Her ears popped as the pressure in the airlock equalized to what its sensors believed existed on the station, and after another moment, the airlock hatch in front of her hissed open.
She brought her weapon to her shoulder, its barrel light flickering on and illuminating the corridor ahead of her. It started out much as she would have expected, given the reports from the convoy mission. But as she rounded the first corner she stopped cold. The hallway was moving. Or was it? If she didn’t know better, she would say that the walls, decking, and ceiling expanded and contracted in slow coordinated rhythmic pattern, similar to that of her own lungs.
“What the...?”
A marine had come up behind her. By his expression, he was just as surprised as she had been. Her closed fist shot up, silently demanding silence and attentiveness from the subordinates. She held the team for a moment and when she collected herself, her fist opened to a flat palm with which she pointed, ordering them to move out.
Against their better judgment, they moved in silence into the pulsating corridor. She hadn’t been on board the convoy, but the reports she read gave no indication of anything like this. Her breath quickened and she jumped as her foot fell across the threshold of the pulsating section. Instantly, the deck contracted back to its flat and level configuration. The corridor walls and ceiling followed suit, granting the team a safe and unobstructed path.
They continued in this manner, each upcoming section returning to a static state while each previous section resumed the rhythmic breathing action. A rapid double tap on Cassie’s shoulder stopped her. She turned and saw what caught the attention of the men behind her. It appeared to be little more than a hole in the wall, but the movement of the electronics tech told her they might have passed a data access terminal. The debate reigned in her mind for a moment, but one look at Charten’s name tag told her what she needed. He had been aboard the convoy and they had likely seen something similar while there. She would trust his judgment.
Three minutes and twenty seconds later, the effort bore fruit. A slit in the wall opened with a ‘splurt,’ pushing out the Remali equivalent of a keyboard and display. She moved towards it, intent on putting to use what she learned from the General, but the system was one step ahead of her. It lit up as if being first activated. Lighting throughout the corridor followed and everyone breathed a collective sigh.
Through all of this, the computer technician had routed the majority of the terminal’s functions through the portable he had brought with him. She peered over his shoulder, watching as the diagnostic and life form scan completed. The only hits were the twenty humans.
“Clear, Commander.”
She lowered her weapon. “We’re clear.”
Charten took a step closer. “Ma’am, was I on a hallucinogen, or did I see the deck move?”
“Oh, no,” the tech responded, cutting her off. “You definitely saw it. According to these readings, this station is as much a biological entity as it is a technological construct.”
“It’s alive?”
“I’m no biologist, Commander. All I know is that there are biological components in this station. If you want an assessment of its health or sentience, I’d talk to Doctor Fen.”
Cassie made a mental note to do precisely that.
“Can you get us a route to their control center?”
“I think so, Commander, standby.”
She swept her sight lines as she waited. Within a minute the tech passed a handheld to her. She
locked into the holding clamp attached to her rifle. This would permit her to monitor their progress without diverting too far away from the weapon sights.
“Pack up, we’re moving out. Combat deployment. We keep moving until we arrive at the target,” Cassie ordered
“Commander, I remind you that there were no other life signs detected.”
“Did your scanners detect the Ralgon life signs on board the convoy before they attacked?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Right then. Combat deployment.” She paused just long enough to check her readings and make sure her ammunition was still full. “Move out.”
November 8, 2832
14:00
Kelten Supply Depot
THE TEAM CONTINUED to the control center without incident. The pattern of throbbing decks in front and behind them continued throughout the station and as the door to the control center open it lit up and activated as if sensing their presence. With no need for verbal orders, the team fanned out around the room’s perimeter searching every nook and cranny to ensure no presence of overgrowth or worse. They found nothing.
The technician moved to the central console and set to work immediately. By the time Cassie returned to his side, he had already interfaced.
“Run the codes provided by General Rashar. Let’s see if any of them work.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He keyed the code and the system generated an instant response. Every console and terminal in the control center came online, the deck lighting rose to its full intensity and a throbbing hum resonated throughout the station. Half a minute later, Cassie’s communication unit beeped.
“Amado.”
“Amado, this is Mjöllnir Actual. We’re detecting power fluctuations within the station. Advise status.”
She smiled at the way Cody used the traditional code name given to his post. “Good to go, Actual. The power up is probably thanks to the General. It seems that her codes are delivering as promised.”
“So noted. Check in on fifteen-minute intervals. Mjöllnir out.”
By the time she closed the channel and turned off her comm. unit, Charten had approached. “Ma’am, there’s something you need to see.”