by James Rosone
“I’m starting to get some information now. One of the passive satellites we left in orbit over the moon 3AF is giving us some detailed images of the ship now,” Commander Fran McKee said as he put the image up on one of the screens.
“Move that over to the main screen, let’s start looking it over. Also, send this down to the CIC. I want them to start doing a deep analysis of the ship,” Hunt directed now that he’d gotten his first glance of an alien ship.
The vessel reminded him of a Klingon warship in reruns of Star Trek he had seen. Toward the rear appeared to be two engines. They were glowing, which meant the ship was probably using a similar plasma propulsion system to their own, only more powerful. Upon further examination, it didn’t look like the ship had the standard bridge that protruded above the superstructure of the vessel like most Earth ships.
“Nav, any idea of when the ship will be in orbit over Eden?” Commander Longman asked.
“At present speed, it should arrive in orbit in nine hours,” Lieutenant Hightower replied, her fingers dancing across her keyboard as she continued to run calculations. Seconds later, their image of the ship winked out.
Hunt turned to his coms officer. “Did we lose the signal to the satellite?”
Lieutenant Branson turned her head. “It looks like they just blew it up.”
No one said anything for a moment as they waited to see what would happen next.
Lieutenant Commander Robinson, the ship’s electronics warfare officer or EWO, yelped, “We’ve just been detected! Captain, that ship is attempting to scan us.”
Several of the bridge personnel turned to look at Hunt to see what he’d do next. This was an entirely new experience for everyone.
Hunt knew the fate of humanity might be decided by his choices right now. He needed to be steadfast and trust his instincts and training if they were going to get through this.
Hunt looked at his tactical officer, Commander Fran McKee. “What is the enemy ship doing now?”
Without taking her eyes off her screen, she replied, “They look to still be heading toward the planet.”
Hunt nodded. “Coms, go ahead and send them our message in their own language, Sumerian, and English. Let’s see if it’s still possible to have a dialogue with them.”
While they had been waiting in the Belt for whatever incoming ship was coming, the scientific crew on the Voyager had already developed a first contact message to be sent to the Zodark ship when it eventually showed up. They had crafted a message as best they could in all three languages, hoping that a dialogue could be achieved.
Minutes turned to hours as the crew waited for a response from the Zodark ship. Meanwhile, it continued to approach the planet. As it got closer, it found and destroyed the remaining satellites the Voyager had left in place around the planet.
Damn, thought Hunt. The satellites had provided them with a good amount of information. They’d identified the other Zodark mining camps and what appeared to be a small military outpost of sorts.
“Captain, we’re receiving a message from the Zodark ship,” called out Lieutenant Branson.
“Go ahead and play it,” Hunt ordered.
The message showed a fearsome-looking Zodark standing on what it appeared was the bridge of their ship. It was dark, with red lights illuminating most of the Zodark’s features and its surroundings. The message was short and terse. It boiled down to them demanding the Earthers submit themselves to Zodark rule and immediately comply with their orders.
“Well, that was pretty direct,” commented Commander Longman, Hunt’s XO.
Hunt snorted. “Yeah, not exactly what I was hoping for. Lieutenant Branson, send a message over to the Voyager advising the admiral on what the Zodarks said. Ask her for her response.”
A minute later, the admiral sent her reply. She’d ordered Hunt and his crew to go ahead and prepare their ships to leave the system. There wasn’t going to be any talking with the Zodarks.
“Helm, plot us a course out of the Belt and begin aligning us for FTL jump to our next waypoint back home while we still can,” Hunt ordered.
*******
RNS Voyager
Flight Deck
Admiral Halsey looked at the cleaned-up Sumerian sitting in the back of the Osprey. Since they didn’t have a lot of room on the Voyager, she’d sent more than half of the Sumerians back to Earth on the transport. But one of her intelligence officers had wisely suggested interviewing some of the liberated prisoners in the rear compartments of the Ospreys for privacy. Halsey certainly had a lot of questions she was hoping to get some answers to.
As she studied the man in the back of the spacecraft, Halsey had to admit, he looked like any other human on Earth. The genetic tests the medical personnel performed had confirmed as much. They shared the same DNA as the Earthers.
The admiral turned to her right and saw Professor Audrey Lancaster was ready to join her—more than ready. She looked eager to talk with the man named Hadad, the apparent leader of this group of Sumerians.
Halsey nodded to Audrey and led them into the Osprey.
When she approached the prisoner, the two guards snapped to attention. The Sumerian might not have understood their protocols, but he was smart enough to know that whoever she was, she was important, so he stood out of respect.
Leveraging the universal translator device, Halsey introduced herself. “Hello, Hadad. My name is Admiral Abigail Halsey. I am the person in charge of this ship and the soldiers that liberated you.”
In seconds, her statement had been translated into his language. He nodded and then thanked her for rescuing him and his fellow prisoners from the Zodarks.
“Hadad, I appreciate all the information your people have shared with us so far about the Zodarks,” she began. “Incidentally, you were right—when we sent a message to the Zodark ship that arrived in the system, they wouldn’t even entertain a dialogue with us. They simply demanded that we submit to their authority and stand down our ships.”
“What did you do when they sent that message to you?” Hadad cut in.
Not put off in the least by his interruption, Halsey replied, “We left the system and are now heading back to our home system.”
Hadad looked relieved by the news. His shoulders slumped back as he let out an audible sigh. “That was a good move, Admiral. I fear if you had stayed in the system, they would have attacked your ship.”
Halsey leaned forward. “If the Zodarks were able to find out where our home system was, do you believe they would launch an attack on us?”
Hadad was silent for a moment before finally looking up. “That is hard to say. I do not have a lot of experience with the Zodark military or how they work. If they don’t know where your home system is, they may not go looking for it.”
He shifted in his seat. “There is another prisoner you should talk with. His name is Hosni. I can’t say for certain if his information is accurate, but what I can say is he was not born or raised on our home world. He says he was born on a Zodark core world and was a slave to what the Zodarks call a NOS. It’s an admiral or senior military leader. He may be able to give you more insight into their inner workings, but again, I cannot verify anything he says or if it’s true. I’ve never met a person like him before.”
Halsey nodded. “OK, that sounds good. I’ll make sure we talk with him. In the meantime, let’s get back to you, Hadad. Please, tell me more about you, and how you came to be on Clovis.”
The Sumerian looked deep in thought for a moment, perhaps thinking back to a happier time. Finally, he replied, “Admiral, that is a difficult question. Before the Zodarks imprisoned me, I was a researcher at one of our universities. My area of study was applied physics. When it was discovered by a fellow researcher that I was looking into technology that could be used to create advanced weapons to challenge the Zodarks, the governing body in charge of my city turned me over to the Zodarks for violating the agreement not to research weapon technology—”
“Excu
se me, they turned you in?” Halsey interrupted. “Why would they do that to you, Hadad?”
He looked downward, dejected. “It’s a long story, Admiral. Suffice it to say, when the Zodarks occupied our planet two hundred years ago, one of the laws they imposed on us concerned what we could and could not research. Weapon technology and further advancements in space travel were chief among them. You see, for the Zodarks, maintaining their hegemony and power over us is paramount. We are nothing more than cattle to them. They want us to keep breeding, and they are more than willing to ensure we never want for food or medical assistance, but their entire vision for us is to cultivate the population growth of our planet, so they can continue to harvest us as needed.”
Halsey still had a hard time accepting this as the official account of what was going on, but she held her tongue for the moment.
Professor Lancaster, however, seemed unable to accept this allegation. “That is so repugnant, Hadad. I cannot believe that it is even tolerated. Are you sure this is what’s actually happening? We’ve talked with other prisoners that believe this may just be a myth.”
Hadad shrugged. “Professor, there are many rumors about what the Zodarks do with those they collect from the tribute. Some say they simply feast upon us. That’s what I believe. But others believe they are culling our population to grow other planets with humans on them for the same purpose, to breed us like cattle to be feasted on. Yet there are other rumors that perhaps they are growing our populations to use us as slaves for their various mining colonies, or maybe something else. To be honest, none of us really know what they are doing. We just know many of our people are taken each year during the tribute, never to be seen again.”
Halsey leaned forward. “You said you were working on weapon technology before you got turned in. Would you be able to work with our weapon experts and scientists to help us defeat the Zodarks if necessary?” she asked pointedly.
For the first time since meeting Hadad, a devilish grin curled at the corners of his lips. “I’ve been waiting and hoping you’d ask me that question, Admiral. There is a great deal I can help you with.” He paused for a second. “How do you currently power your ships?” he inquired.
Halsey lifted an eyebrow as she sat back in her seat. “I’m a little hesitant to answer that as we just met you, but given the current situation, I’m going to make an exception.” She paused for a second. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you follow me down to Engineering and I’ll show you?”
The admiral told the guards to follow them but keep a little distance. She also sent a heads-up down to Engineering that she was bringing one of the Sumerians with her, wanting her chief engineering officer waiting for them when she got there.
The group walked out of the hangar bay and into the rest of the ship, with Hadad marveling at the internal design. Every space in the vessel was used, yet the hallways that honeycombed through it were clean, bright, and refreshing to look at. Every so many meters was a bulkhead with a hatch. When she saw Hadad pause to examine one, Halsey explained, “These are here to seal the ship up should we experience a hull breach.”
Along the walls of the hallways was a series of color-coded lines that led in different directions from a junction point. “These lines help the crew and anyone else aboard know where the various sections in the ship are located,” she clarified.
“How have your people solved the artificial gravity problem?” he asked.
“It was actually one of our alliance partners, a group known as the Asian Alliance, that discovered it,” she replied. “Honestly, I don’t understand the technical aspects of how it all works, but it revolves around the ship’s ability to create an artificial gravity well that encompasses the ship. Most of the ships my people have built don’t have this feature yet, but the larger starships do.”
As they neared the elevator that would lead them up to the engineering deck, Hadad cleared his throat. “Admiral, if you don’t mind me asking, is this a warship? I see a lot of people wearing uniforms and very few people dressed like Professor Lancaster.”
Audrey held her tongue as she waited to see how the admiral would respond.
Halsey walked up to the elevator door and depressed the button, then turned to look at Hadad while they waited. “This ship is called the Republic Navy Starship Voyager,” she explained. “It was designed to carry out several functions. Its primary function, however, is deep space exploration. I guess you could also consider us a warship. We have a contingent of soldiers that accompany us, but we also have a large research lab and facility on the ship. I’d like to think our weapons are pretty potent, and so is our armor, but having learned of the Zodarks, I’m not so sure anymore.”
The door to the elevator opened, and the five of them got in. When one of the guards depressed the button to take them to Engineering, the elevator took off. Moments later, the door opened, and they were on a new deck of the ship. The group got off and headed toward the engineering room.
When they entered Engineering, most of the people working there stopped what they were doing momentarily to acknowledge Halsey’s presence and stared at Hadad. The rumor mill had clearly gotten out that they had found humans on the planet, but now that they were all seeing one of them live and in person, they seemed unable to resist the urge to gawk. Halsey forgave their reaction—she agreed that it was certainly strange, eerie, to think there were humans on planets other than Earth.
Commander Aimes Morgan walked up to them, “Afternoon, Admiral. Hello, Mr. Hadad,” the chief engineering officer said, a bit skeptical of the newcomer to his section.
“Hello,” Hadad replied.
“Commander, let’s walk over to your office,” Halsey directed. “Mr. Hadad here would like to talk with you about some of the technology the Sumerians use and ask us some questions about our own.” She motioned for them to talk in a private place, away from prying ears and eyes.
When the group entered the commander’s office, they made their way over to a small briefing table and took a seat.
“Hadad, this is Commander Aimes Morgan. He’s our chief engineer. I’d like you to talk with him about some of your own technology in comparison to ours. Perhaps there’s something we can learn from your people that might help us in our dealings with the Zodarks,” the admiral said.
Nodding at the go-ahead, Hadad looked at the engineering chief. “Um, how should I address you? Are you Aimes, Morgan, or should I address you by your rank?”
Audrey suddenly realized Hadad probably didn’t understand their naming convention or ranks. “Sorry, Hadad. In our culture, we have a given name, then a surname or family name. His given name is Aimes, his family or surname is Morgan, and his rank is commander.”
Commander Morgan quickly added, “If we’re in my private office or talking informally, you can address me by my first name, Aimes, Hadad. However, in front of my subordinates or outside my office, Commander Morgan would be best.”
Hadad nodded. “OK, that makes sense, Aimes. When I was talking with the admiral, I was asking how your ship is powered. On my own home world, I worked as a researcher in the field of applied physics. I may be able to help you in some areas unless you are more advanced than us.”
“That would be greatly appreciated,” Commander Morgan replied, still obviously a bit skeptical. “I think before we talk in-depth, perhaps I should give you a table that provides you with some basic information on what kind of reactors we use, what their power sources are, and what their power outputs are. This will give you a reference for us to use.”
Aimes reached for his tablet and pulled up some information. He beamed part of it to his computer monitor on his desk and then turned it so Hadad could see. He then handed Hadad the tablet with some other data and proceeded to spend the next ten minutes or so going over how their ship was powered, how they measured units of power, what their ships were fueled with, and how they measured speed, time, and distance so they’d have a framework to work within.
Once som
e of these basic facts had been presented, Aimes continued, “As you can see, Hadad, for interplanetary travel, we use an MPD drive that runs on lithium pellets for fuel while our fusion reactors provide us with overall power. Now, so you aren’t confused, MPD stands for magnetoplasmadynamic thruster. Do you know what that is?”
Hadad looked back at the schematics Morgan had shared with him and replied, “Yes, we are familiar with the MPD drive system. When our people first became spacefaring, we used the same type of thrusters. They’re incredibly efficient.”
He paused for a moment as he fingered something on the chart Morgan had shown him. “Looking at your information, I can see we use compatible units of measurement as well. This is good, it’ll make it easier for me to explain things. One major difference in our approach to power plants is we don’t use fusion anymore. We moved away from that form of power generation more than three hundred years ago. We’ve found a much cleaner-burning fuel that also produces substantially more power. For instance, our interplanetary thrusters are able to generate a thrust of up to four hundred newtons with an exhaust velocity of two hundred and fifty kilometers per second—”
“Whoa, hold up there, Hadad. How are you able to generate that level of thrust power and velocity?” Morgan demanded.
Hadad wrinkled his brow at the question. “Aren’t you?”
Morgan shook his head. “No way, our thrust and velocity speeds are significantly lower. Right now, we’re constrained by the amount of power we’re able to generate.”
“We use what’s called a Trimarian reactor. It’s run using the mineral we were mining down on the surface. We mine the ore, then process it into small blocks that are then used as fuel for the reactors we use on our ships. The Zodarks use the same type of fuel source. It’s an incredibly powerful material—it’s what allows the Zodarks to travel the galaxy with ease and how they’ve been able to maintain control over so many planets and systems,” Hadad explained.
Chiming in, the admiral asked, “Is that why you had us collect some before we left the planet?”