by D. J. Holmes
“I think we’re close enough to get a visual on this ship,” Maguire reported. “Though…” She didn’t add anything more. When the image on the holo-projector zoomed in, she didn’t need to.
“What on Earth?” Alvarez asked, echoing what was going through the minds of many of Intrepid’s bridge officers.
Like everyone else, Emilie had no reference point from which to make sense of what she was looking at. Long and sleek, with an easily identifiable nose section and a rear with several large engines, it was definitely a ship. There the similarity to anything she had seen before ended. Instead of a uniform hull there were ridges and cracks all across the outer surface of the ship. Where she might have expected to see weapon ports or sensor blisters, there was nothing. The ship in front of her looked more like a large piece of bark than anything designed by a space faring civilization.
“We’re getting some kind of energy build up from the contact,” Jones shouted in alarm. “It’s a massive spike!”
Before Emilie could give any orders, the image of the alien ship changed. Many of the cracks and ridges widened and what looked like the bulb heads of daffodils suddenly appeared. They all started shooting out blobs of something towards Intrepid. “Target those with our point defenses!” Emilie snapped. “Evasive maneuvers. Bring our active sensors to full power.”
With no idea how effective Intrepid’s weapons would be, Emilie held her breath as the blobs hurtled towards her command. The only thing that gave her relief was that they were not accelerating. As Intrepid altered her course though, they demonstrated that they had some maneuvering ability as they altered their heading to follow the exploration cruiser. “Put us on a wider course change. Let’s see how much they can alter their trajectory,” she ordered. If the enemy munitions didn’t have proper engines, then the course changes they could make had to be limited.
“There’s another energy spike coming from the ship,” Jones reported with almost as much concern as he had done the first time. “It’s identical to the last one.”
Emilie’s eyes widened. It had barely been thirty seconds since the first alien salvo. As she watched another wave of projectiles erupted from its weapons. “How many of those munitions were in the first salvo?” she asked.
“I think about a hundred Captain,” Maguire replied.
“How many are still tracking us?”
“At least two thirds of them,” Maguire answered. “It looks like their second salvo is more spread out though, they’re trying to compensate for any more maneuvers we may make.”
“Navigation, keep us on the move, I think their weapons are like our flak cannons. They’ve got a limited attack envelope. Get us as far to the outer edges of their envelope as we can.”
“Aye Captain,” Sub Lieutenant Ager responded.
Emilie watched with her fingers crossed as the cruiser’s flak cannons opened fire. With the enemy munitions’ limited ability to maneuver, the shrapnel from the flak rounds tore through them. Before Emilie could determine just how many had been destroyed, point defense plasma and laser cannons joined the fray. The last weapons to fire were the AM missiles. Designed to intercept rapidly accelerating enemy missiles, they found it much easier to connect with whatever was trying to hit Intrepid.
“All enemy munitions destroyed or evaded,” Jones reported fifteen seconds after the first flak cannon rounds had been fired.
“Prepare to engage their next wave,” Emilie ordered Jones. “Maguire, Alvarez, analyze the effectiveness of our point defenses. We cannot keep firing everything we have at each salvo. We’ll shoot ourselves dry within ten minutes.”
With only thirty seconds between each round of enemy munitions, Emilie didn’t have time to give any other orders. All her officers were busy anyway. As the next wave came into range of Intrepid’s point defenses, she watched her ship’s weapons cut through them. Because they had been spread out more when launched, Intrepid’s evasive maneuvers hadn’t been as effective. At least ten got close enough to raise Emilie’s concerns. Nine were hit with a wave of AM missiles. The final one got through. In less time than it took for Emilie to close her eyes and tighten her muscles, something slammed into Intrepid’s hull.
When the alarms blared, Emilie turned to Maguire. “I want the damage report immediately, what did that thing do to us?”
Maguire was already furiously tapping on her command console. “There’s no sign of a hull breach.” She looked back to Emilie. “I think our valstronium armor held. The munition was very small, no more than a few cubic liters. There’s no sign that it exploded or did anything else.”
Emilie didn’t understand. There had to be more to it. If the aliens had technology to build ships that travelled at such speeds. Surely they could have more effective weapons. “Keep on it,” she ordered. Either way, Emilie didn’t want another one causing more trouble. With everyone else preparing for the next salvo, she got to work on her command chair. Uploading targeting data, she took control of Intrepid’s tactical systems. As the point defenses opened up for third time, she launched a single missile towards the alien ship. Long before it got close enough to destroy the ship, it detonated releasing three laser beams at a ninety-degree angle away from the alien ship. Emilie then opened an unencrypted COM channel. “Alien vessel, I am Captain Kansas, the commander of the ship you are attacking. We mean you no harm. We are enemies of the Karacknids. We are here seeking out the Kalassai civilization. We are looking for friends, not enemies. However, if you are allies of the Karacknids, then we will engage you for real. Cease firing on us or we will destroy your engines.”
As the message was sent, Emilie fixed her eyes on the alien ship, waiting to see if it would fire another salvo. The sudden blare of alarms tore her eyes away from the main holo- projector. “Have we been hit again?” she demanded as she turned to Maguire.
Maguire had her head hunched over her command console. She was shaking it vigorously. “No more enemy munitions have gotten through. The alarms are coming from where we were hit before. We’ve now got a hull break being reported. Wait, there are more damage reports coming in. There’s damage spreading throughout that section of the ship. It’s heading towards one of our main power couplings.” She looked up to Emilie. “It could cause a secondary explosion if we lose that coupling.”
“Show us on the main holo projector,” Alvarez requested before Emilie could speak. In front of them a large schematic of Intrepid’s forward sections appeared. In real time it was being updated as more damage reports came in from the computer’s internal sensors. “Look,” Alvarez said, “it’s splitting in two directions, both towards areas of high-power density. We need to cut all power to those sections immediately!”
“But we’d lose all our point defense weapons and those sections,” Emilie protested.
“Trust me,” Alvarez responded as his eyes pleaded with Emilie.
“Do it,” she ordered as she turned to Jones.
Almost immediately after the power was cut, the rapid spread of the damage reports slowed. Then they almost ceased altogether. “What?... How?” she asked as she turned back to Alvarez.
“It was something strange I read in one of the intelligence briefings on Karacknid ship designs. The outer sections of all their ships are believed to be built with isolated power circuits. They can cut power to individual sections of their ships at will.” Alvarez nodded towards the holo projection of Intrepid. “I think we now know why. Those alien projectiles are designed to break into a ship’s hull and take out their power relays.”
“Forget about limiting our point defense fire,” Emilie replied. “I don’t want another one of those things getting onto our hull.”
“You may not need to worry about that Captain,” Maguire responded. “It’s been forty-seconds since the last alien salvo. There’s been no energy spike.”
“The alien ship is slowing,” Jones added.
“Reduce our acceleration,” Emilie responded at once. “Bring us to ninety percent military
thrust.” Pushing Intrepid’s engines beyond their recommended safe limits had been flirting with disaster. So too had been flying straight into the unknown ship’s weapons. But it was worth it, Emilie said to herself as she eyed the alien ship. At least, I hope so.
“We are receiving some kind of broadcast from the alien ship,” Intrepid’s COM officer reported. “The Kulrean translation software is having a hard time making sense of it. Hold on… I think I’ve got something. It looks like flight instructions… I think they want us to bring Intrepid alongside their ship and send over a representative to speak with them.”
“Follow the instructions Navigation,” Emilie responded. “But keep us at battlestations and our weapons charged.” She turned to Alvarez and raised a hand with one finger up stopping him with his mouth open. “Don’t, I don’t want to hear it.”
Clearly not interested in obeying her, Alvarez spoke anyway. “It’s far too risky. You can’t.”
“They only stopped when I contact them directly. I have to be the one to go. That’s why we are here. Our mission depends on this. I’m going. I’m the Captain. I’m going,” Emilie put as much authority into her final words as possible. She flashed her eyes at Alvarez. They may be a couple, but she was not going to let him use that on Intrepid’s bridge. She could see he desperately wanted to protest, instead he slowly nodded and turned away. From the tension in his shoulders she guessed he was going over a whole list of reasons why she shouldn’t be the one to go. You can complain to yourself all you want, she thought. But keep it to yourself. “Prepare my shuttle,” she ordered. She had no idea how the aliens intended for her to actually get on board their ship. Given its strange design, it was unsure if the ship even had a shuttle bay or a docking hatch. But clearly they thought she could get on board. “I’m going to change,” she said to her bridge officers. “Jones, you have command. Don’t fire unless they do something clearly hostile.”
“Yes Captain, of course,” Jones replied. “Shouldn’t you take someone with you though? Perhaps Sergeant Walker. He wouldn’t need to bring any weapons with him. He’s a weapon all by himself.”
Emilie’s instinct was to refuse, but then she thought about it. It was crazy to just walk onto an alien ship all by herself. “Fine,” she said, “Alvarez, inform Walker to meet me in shuttle bay one. He is to come unarmed.”
“Aye Captain,” Alvarez replied through gritted teeth.
Emilie paused before she left the bridge and turned back to Alvarez. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it,” she said as she flashed him a conciliatory smile. “You’ll not even have time to miss me.”
Chapter 16
Though I have never taught the class, alien language and culture is a critical class for all officer cadets at the Fleet Academies. Once a cadet has risen to the rank of Lieutenant or Captain they could find themselves interacting with Imperial Senators, Commoners or Servants from any one of a dozen species. Understanding their culture and language is essential if clear communication is to take place. In the early days of the Empire there was no such training; naval officers were left with only their own commons sense to help them navigate such encounters.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
“Are you ready?” Emilie asked Walker as she pulled her flight helmet over her head and locked it into place.
“Of course Captain. I’m ready if you are,” Walker replied as he raised his chin. He was already in his flight suit, standing in front of the shuttle’s umbilical docking arm.
Emilie changed the COM channel on her flight suit so she could speak to the shuttle’s pilot. “We’re suited up, you may bring us in.”
“Yes Captain, there appears to be some kind of hatch just in front of us. It has changed color anyway. I believe that’s where we are meant to go.”
Emilie took half a step to look out one of the shuttle’s viewports. There was indeed a part of the alien ship that had just changed color. “That seems as good a place as any Lieutenant,” Emilie responded.
As the shuttle approached the alien vessel, Emilie studied it closely. As far as she could tell, her initial impressions were right. The ship looked like it had been grown rather than built. It was the only way she could account for all its oddities. No two-meter square section of the ship looked exactly like any other. Her eyes widened when, as they got closer, the part of the ship that had changed color changed again. The bright yellow section shrank until just a small area, about the size of the umbilical docking arm, was yellow. Yet as they closed to within just a hundred meters, it didn’t change any further.
“I’m not seeing any docking hatch or anything,” the shuttle pilot said. “What do I do now?”
Emilie had no idea other than to proceed. “Just extend the arm to that point,” she said. To her surprise, as the docking arm reached towards the alien ship, the ship’s hull changed again. Or rather, reformed, might have been a better word. Or even grow, Emilie thought. From the center of the yellow area, a portion of the ship’s hull extended towards the shuttle. As it got larger and larger it almost looked like parts of the ship’s hull were travelling along the newly forming arm to its end to add themselves to the growing structure. When it met the end of the shuttle’s docking arm, the hull of the alien vessel actually flowed around it. For a second Emilie panicked as she thought the alien ship was going to engulf the umbilical and then the shuttle itself. Thankfully, about halfway up the arm, the alien structure stopped.
“We’re locked in place,” the pilot said. “I have lost all control of the shuttle. I guess it’s over to you two.”
Emilie turned to Walker and raised her eyebrows. “I’d say follow me, but I suspect Alveraz has given you specific instructions.”
“He didn’t need to Captain. Once a marine, always a marine. You can stay behind me until we know it is safe.”
“Then after you,” Emilie replied as she waved towards the docking arm’s hatch.
Without another glance at her, Walker stepped forward and hit the hatch’s activation button. As it slid back he confidently stepped forward. Emilie followed him, though not at quite the same pace. As they walked up the umbilical cord, she couldn’t help but stare out its viewports. The first two gave her the closest look of the alien ship she had yet had. The third was partially covered by the ship’s hull. The last two were completely blocked. As she walked towards the darkened end of the umbilical arm, a shiver ran down her spine. The alien ship was most definitely alien. She had no idea what she was heading into. When the umbilical arm’s hatch into the shuttle snapped closed with a hiss, it made her jump. Her head whipped round to make sure the alien ship’s hull hadn’t snapped the umbilical arm in half or something.
“Ah, Captain… I think we might have a problem,” the shuttle pilot’s voice said over her COM unit. “The access hatch’s sensors have just detected that the alien ship’s hull reformed to match our hatch design. But it seems like there is a liquid substance on the other side, not a gaseous atmosphere.”
“A liquid?” Emilie asked as she tried to peer around Walker’s bulky form. The access hatch that would open to the alien ship had a viewport in it. With little to no light it was hard to see exactly what was on the other side, but there did seem to be a green gooey substance pressed up against the hatch.
“What do you want me to do Captain?” the shuttle pilot asked.
Emilie tightened her jaw. “Is the liquid corrosive?” she asked.
“It doesn’t appear to be,” the pilot replied.
“Open the hatch Lieutenant. We have our flight suits on,” Emilie said. “Just be ready to shut it again at my say so.”
“Sure thing Captain,” the pilot responded.
When the hatch opened, Emilie took a deep breath as the green gooey liquid flowed into the umbilical arm. Thankfully, her pilot had only opened the hatch partially so it didn’t rush in and overwhelm them all at once. As it reached her foot, Emilie instinctively took half a step back before forcing herself to stand still. T
he goo was already up to Walker’s ankle and he didn’t appear to be in any discomfort. She grimaced as it touched her, but quickly relaxed when she realized she couldn’t feel anything. None of the alarms on her flight suit went off either. When the goo got to her knees, she tried to move around a little bit and was surprised by how easy it was. Though the liquid looked thick and gooey, it was actually quite free flowing. As it got up to the bottom of her hand she began to switch around in it. “Do you have any more of an idea of what it is?” she asked her pilot. She didn’t want to pull out her own scanner from its protective case in case the liquid damaged it.
“It’s not like anything the shuttle’s sensors have detected before Captain,” the pilot replied. “Though it does appear to be rich in oxygen. There is also lots of organic matter within the goo. It seems to be alive.”
Walker turned around to Emilie. “The goo isn’t the aliens, is it?”