Earth to Centauri: The First Journey (Captain Anara - Antariksh Book 1)

by Kumar L

  The room was completely dark inside and they switched on the lights in their EVA suits. Madhavan was sure there would be some lighting provided but did not want to try and locate the same for fear of setting off any alarms. Either they had been lucky so far or the aliens had not built in security features, deeming them unnecessary on this planet.

  They set up their own computer in the centre of the room on something which could have been a desk and started work on interfacing with the alien control panels. Again they thought hardware interfaces may not be required and they should be able to connect through microwave bands. Their system quickly scanned through available channels and identified a potential. Madhavan smiled at the ease with which they had managed to get this done and set to work unlocking the files and finding ways to manipulate them. Lady luck was on their side for once.

  The Lieutenant on his part led his two people through the plains towards the alien ship. Getting near it was going to be tricky. Fortunately the absence of light and their own dark visage would help them. They all had IR viewers on in the displays which projected a very accurate day like video of the area.

  There were no guards present near the ship and he hoped there would be none inside. They approached quietly looking around for the main entrance hatch. They located a wide hatch on the bottom but it was locked with a control pad. The engineer in the team set to work interfacing with the pad. After a few minutes he shook his head and turned to the Lieutenant. This was not going to work he mimed - the interface could not resolve the codes.

  The Lieutenant nodded and brought out his old-fashioned tools. He could not risk using a laser cutter which might be seen from the settlement. He slowly set to work opening the various fasteners around the landing gear. They had anticipated that gaining entry might be impossible. Plan B was to set the device in a secure area around the landing gear and securely hide it as far as practical.

  There was small chirp in Keisham’s suit. He looked around to find a figure standing nearby. The IR viewer magnified the image and Keisham relaxed. It was one of the security people from the Captain’s team. What is he doing here, thought Keisham. Then he decided the question was moot right now and he could use any help he could get. He gestured the ‘all clear’ and asked him to come forward.

  The three of them lifted the device in position and fastened it with clamps and ties. The engineer connected the portable power supply and completed the wiring. He raised this thumb indicating success and they closed the fastenings. Then the team withdrew and moved towards the radio telescope to join Madhavan and his group while the Lieutenant send a single beep to the ship in orbit telling them their work was completed.

  Madhavan turned as the second team entered the room. They gave him the sign to indicate their work had been completed successfully. His own efforts had so far not succeeded fully. He had quite a bit of information on the language and operating system from the earlier transmissions from the Captain’s interactions, with which Narada had compiled some understanding of the language. They also had some analysis from the communications with the aliens to work with. So far he had managed to gain entry to the computer system but finding the correct files in the operating system would be difficult.

  After sweating through two hours of work, he finally managed to reach the main control pad. A translation of the controls interface appeared in the display and he projected the same to allow him to use the controls. He work was done too and he was ready. He sent a single beep of his own to Antariksh. Then the six people settled down to wait - if Ryan needed their help he would get in touch. Till then they had an hour or two to rest and sleep. In the meantime Keisham took up guard outside the door.

  25th June 2117

  Deceptions

  Both the teams had checked in, their tasks completed successfully. Now Ryan needed to take the next step. He did not want to break radio silence with any of his other teams on the surface for fear the aliens would intercept the signal and find out what he was up to. First, a heads up text person to person to the Captain so she could play along.

  ‘Open comm to the Captain,’ ordered Ryan a minute after sending the test and getting acknowledgement it had been delivered and read, ‘time to start playing some games of our own.’

  ‘Captain, this is Ryan. We are in orbit above you.’

  Anara signed with relief - she had been worried that Antariksh had suffered major failure and her people were hurt but now Ryan was back. She looked towards the Kifrwss.

  ‘I am going to answer the Commander,’ she addressed their leader, ‘and I will do it openly so you can hear what he has to say.’ Not that the Huzryss would have much of a choice, she thought in her mind. The text message exchange in her personal display was telling her all she wanted to know and it was encrypted with a person to person code so there was little chance of it being intercepted.

  ‘Good to hear your voice, Commander,’ she acknowledged while the Kifrwss listened in as she’s expected. There were movements within the hall as well, as people woken up by the conversations starting looking at the source of the disturbance. Her team stood up as well on hearing a familiar voice and Rawat and Dr Khan came forward to stand by her side.

  ‘I hope the Huzryss can hear me Captain.’

  ‘They can, Ryan. They are right here in front of me,’ she confirmed. ‘Please go ahead.’ She looked towards the Huzryss leader. She couldn’t read his expression if one could call it that but he was bound to be wondering what was happening.

  ‘This next message is for the Huzryss leader,’ Ryan’s voice came back over the translator. ‘You have kept our people hostage. You have attacked my ship not understanding that we have come in peace. In doing so, you have committed acts of war against the people of Earth. I do not know what your motivations are nor do I care. I only care about my people on the planet below. I will now respond in the same way.’

  There was silence in the hall as people absorbed the exchange happening near the door. Some like Joe and Lucy moved forward to hear more clearly while most of them stayed rooted to their place. Her own security person fidgeted in place with his hand on his weapon. Only she and Rawat remained exactly in their place staring straight into the eyes of their enemy.

  Then a massive explosion shook the ground and masonry rained on people’s heads. Many of them screamed out of terror.

  ‘That was just a demonstration of my resolve. That was just one of the bombs that we are carrying.’

  The Huzryss looked around him confused as if looking for answers then spoke up, ‘I don’t know how you came back or what are these explosive but you can take your people and go away.’

  ‘Unfortunately, that is not going to happen now,’ replied Ryan. ‘We will complete our mission and meet the Discats. We are not leaving.’

  ‘You will not stay. Our ship just beat you. It will again,’ said the leader and signalled his people.

  ‘I would not send anyone anywhere,’ said Anara coolly. ‘We have something that you should know.’

  ‘That’s right, Sir. Your ship and you are not going anywhere,’ said Ryan. ‘Please hand over your weapons to the Major.’

  The leaders nostrils flared. ‘What have you done?’ he snarled.

  ‘Nothing much. Just that we have your radio telescope under our control and.. there is an explosive weapon attached to your ship.’

  ‘What is this weapon?’

  ‘A device whose switch is on this ship with me. If you attempt to take the ship or even approach it, I will explode the same. That explosion will destroy your ship and the one alongside it. But I realize that may not be enough for you. So I have also placed a thermonuclear bomb five hundred kilometers from your location. If I explode that bomb, everything in a hundred kilometer radius will be completely destroyed. It will shake this planet to its core and cause a winter so deep, nothing will survive. Most likely it will destroy this planet for generations to come. Unfortunately I cannot give you a demonstration right now but you can push me if you want and s
ee what happens,’ said Ryan flatly.

  ‘Destroy? You will kill your own people, everyone!’

  ‘If I cannot take them with me, then I will prefer we all die here,’ said Ryan hoping he did not sound overly dramatic and these Kifrwss and Huzryss would take his threats at face value. These guys could not know the value people on Earth placed on human lives.

  In the control room, Manisha looked at him in shock. He couldn’t be serious about this threat. Ryan winked at her slightly and turned back to the screen. ‘We will be using the radio telescope to send a message to Earth. Our armada is standing just one LY from this planet and will he here very soon. I have also programmed the telescope to generate a wide field in this area so you cannot send and receive any signals. So you see, Sir,’ he emphasised, ‘you are all alone against me.’

  Back on the planet, the group of others looked towards their leader for instructions. He just stood there seemingly furious and helpless at the same time.

  ‘Call all your people in, now!’ ordered Anara. She also saw the messages Ryan was flashing to the rest of the teams asking them to secure their areas. The security people were being asked to round up the remaining Others loitering around the village once the all clear was given.

  The Huzryss shoulders sagged in a very human gesture of despair and Rawat and his people herded them into the middle of the room. It was now very crowded in the hall and Anara asked Joe to move some of his people out. A few of them were co-opted into guard duty on the Others.

  ‘Well done, Ryan! That was a solid move. I’m impressed. So what do we do now?’ asked Anara.

  ‘You got me there, Captain,’ answered Ryan shrugging his shoulders on the screen. He had activated full comms, now that the Others were in their control. ‘This is as far as I could get us. I was hoping the next ace would be up your sleeve!’

  ‘I think we will wait here for some time, Ryan. Let’s see if these Others will talk more reasonably to us now.’ said Anara while thinking about her next step. She had planned that Antariksh and its crew would wait here till the Discat or their representatives showed up. But the aggressiveness of the Others was making her fear for the life of her crew and other humans on the planet. She turned to look for Joe to see what he had to say.

  26th June 2117

  New friends

  ‘Contact, Commander!’ called Manisha from her post in Ops. ‘Third ship with same configuration approaching the planet!’

  ‘Full alert status, Manisha!’ he ordered and red lights came on while sirens sounded across the ship. This was becoming tiresome. This game of new contacts had to end soon - he thought. How many ships did these Kifrwss have? A new one kept popping every few days up as if on schedule. ‘Let’s face these guys. We stop them from landing till we know who they are. Comm connect to the Captain now.’

  ‘Signal the ship to stop, Manisha. Let’s see if Madhavan’s learnings from the radio are accurate.’

  As soon as Manisha transmitted the signal, the incoming ship stopped in space.

  ‘Incoming visual, Commander,’ she reported.

  ‘On display, let’s see who these guys are. Weapons standby.’

  The display resolved into an image of more Kifrwss in their own ops room.

  ‘You cannot proceed further. This planet is in our control now,’ Ryan stated simply.

  ‘Your control? We don’t understand. Where are our ships?’ This exchange in his native language was much easier, thought Ryan. No more playing around with lights and settings.

  ‘We are from the planet Earth. Your ship attacked us and we had to respond. Your people are now our captives. They have not been harmed but I have a massive nuclear bomb on the planet surface. Any wrong move from your side and your little planet down will cease to exist. This is not a threat but a reality.’

  ‘We are not able to talk to our people below. Can you help?’

  ‘There is a EM field which we have set up so you cannot plan something behind our back. Tell me your intentions and then we will decide what needs to be done.’

  ‘We have come because our human children called us.’

  ‘Human children? You mean Joe, Lucy and the other humans?’

  ‘Yes. We left them here so they could live in peace but Joe said the Others have come and asked for help.’

  ‘So .. you are the Guardians?’ asked Ryan, realization dawning on him.

  ‘Guardians? Yes, you can call us that,’ was the reply. ‘Will you let us speak to Joe?’

  ‘Prove it?’

  ‘Prove?’

  ‘You must have something which shows your connection to the humans below?’

  ‘To show our connection? Yes we have something. We are sending now.’

  A new video feed opened up on a new display. It showed a group of human children in a facility much like he’s heard Joe describe to the Captain. They saw the children at various stages of their life up till the relocation on Huzryss. Groups of Kifrwss were also visible clearly around the children.

  ‘Narada, facial comparison please. Quickly,’ requested Ryan. A third screen appeared, displaying the results of the comparison. At least two faces matched the video feed with the Kifrwss on the ship.

  The video on the display came to an end and a single image flashed. A round disc with writing and images.

  ‘The golden disk from Voyager!’ breathed Manisha.

  ‘Yes, it would seem so, Manisha. Narada, visual comparison again please?’

  ‘The image of the disk is an accurate representation of the original golden record, Commander. I cannot verify when the image was taken but the image is not of Earth origin,’ reported Narada.

  ‘Hmm. So looks like we have finally met the people who sent the signal to Earth and the theory that someone found Voyager, was correct.’

  ‘Are you part of the Discat?’ Ryan asked the Kifrwss on the screen

  ‘You know about the Discat? Yes. We have been .. sent by the Discat. We are .. you can call science team from Kifrwss. Are you the leader of Earth?’

  ‘Leader of Earth?’ smiled Ryan. ‘No, I am not the leader of Earth. We are a small crew of this ship from Earth. The ship’s leader is down on the planet with the other humans. Her name is Captain Anara. I am her second in command, Commander Ryan.’

  The Kifrwss seemed to consider this information. ‘Do you speak for the people from your planet?’

  ‘I guess I do speak for them. We are here in peace in response to your message. There has been too much fighting. This must end now. But till the Captain deems it fit, I will keep the nuclear device armed. Do not try to interfere with it or use any weapons.’

  ‘We .. assure you. Can we speak to our people now?’

  ‘Thank you. I would like to believe your story and I am sorry we had to meet like this. I’ll connect to my Captain and you can speak to your people through my link. How may I address you? Do you have names?’

  ‘I am called RyHiza and I am sorry also, the Others have been disturbing peace on our planet and now it seems they have caused trouble on Huzryss as well. I am here to end this trouble.’

  26th June 2117

  Alliances

  ‘Captain?’

  ‘Yes, Commander. We have heard the exchange. Joe has confirmed the story. He knows the people on the other ship.’

  ‘So what do you say Captain? Should I patch you through?’ asked Ryan.

  ‘Let me think a minute Ryan. The Others here have also heard what happened and they do not seem pleased with this development. We are having tough time keeping them in check.’

  ‘Do you need more guards?’ asked Ryan suddenly concerned. The group of Others on the surface was considerable larger than their ground party and the Captain might not be able to control them if they started pushing hard.

  ‘Yes. I think so but safety in numbers, Ryan. I need you with me here and the facilities on the ship. There are just too many people floating around here. Do you think you and the third ship can also land here and then we see what to do?�
��

  ‘Done, Captain. I will ask them to go down but will keep them corralled. Then Antariksh lands, drops a few people, picks up the Major and Madhavan and gets back into orbit. We disable the three ships down there temporarily till we resolve this. At least that way if another of them turns up, we will still have an even fighting chance.

  ‘Sounds good,’ Anara nodded her agreement.

  Ryan conveyed the decision to the third ship and they followed it at a safe distance as it came down to land. Antariksh landed a few minutes behind it and an exchange of people took place as quickly as the EVA’s allowed. Fresh EVA suits were also dropped and Ryan and two more people moved towards the hall while Antariksh took off back into orbit.

  We really need a small landing aircraft, though Madhavan watching the ground fall behind as Antariksh rose into space. All these multiple landings must be taking a toll on the large ship.

  Anara was waiting at the EVA shelter for them. She was glad for a chance to finally change her suit and sit unencumbered only with people from Antariksh. The strain of the last few days was showing on her and she tried grooming up as much as their limited resources allowed. She was also seriously tired and desperately needed a hot shower. Only the thought that she would soon be hosting the first ever four-way multi-planet conference kept her going.

  ‘You look beat, Captain,’ remarked Ryan.

  ‘Look who is talking,’ she retorted. ‘You don’t look so fresh yourself. Still you are a sight for sore eyes. This has been some adventure!’

  ‘So what happens now?’

  ‘We talk again and this time we get the final answers.’ She wolfed down a couple of packs of rations and stood up, asking him to follow her into the hall where the impromptu conference was to be held.