Magwave (The Rorschach Explorer Missions Book 2)

by K Patrick Donoghue

  Ajay looked out the window at the approaching spacecraft. “Damn that’s big!”

  Morgan was thinking the same. “Julia, give me an infrared reading. How close is that thing?”

  “Looks like just under half a kilometer…now four hundred meters…really slowing down now…three fifty.”

  “Jesus, it’s got to be at least fifty times bigger than Rorschach,” Morgan said.

  In the grainy picture Mayaguana had uplinked, the ship looked big…but not that big. As it drew closer, more of its features became visible. It wasn’t nearly as flat as it had appeared at a distance or in the Mayaguana image. It looked more ovoid in shape, and its surface shimmered as if coated in mirrors.

  “Julia, zoom in with Cam-1.”

  “Roger that.”

  The Cam-1 video feed popped up on the central monitor of each of their stations. The shimmers confirmed Morgan’s suspicion — the ship was coated with a network of whitish UMOs. The camera feed jiggled for a second, blurring the video feed.

  “We are at all-stop,” Carillo said. “Distance to target holding steady at two hundred meters. Magnetometer readings dropping again.”

  Looking out the flight deck windows, Morgan saw no external features on the other vessel. No doors, windows, antennas, satellite dishes or lights. The thing looked like a completely smooth, elongated black egg with a tail that came to a fine point.

  He cycled back through the video footage of the ship’s approach. “Where’s its propulsion system?”

  “Good question,” Carillo said. “The hull’s shiny. Could be solar panels, but I don’t see anything that could be exhaust vents or thrusters.”

  “Should we risk the spectrometers?” Kiera asked. “They’ve gotta be putting out some kind of radiation.”

  “No, let’s maintain a neutral stance for now,” Morgan said. “I don’t want to do anything to set them or the UMOs off.”

  The alien conversation coming through the intercom halted, and the crew quieted along with it. For half a minute, they sat in silence and listened to static. Outside Rorschach, the only signs of activity came from the sparkles of the lights coating the alien vessel.

  “What now?” Ajay whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” Kiera whispered back.

  “I don’t know,” Ajay said, still whispering.

  Carillo joined the whisper brigade. “Paul…” Her eyes were closed. “She’s talking to me again.” Her face cycled through expressions as she mouthed silent words.

  “What’s she saying?” Ajay asked.

  “Shhh,” Kiera admonished. “Don’t distract her.”

  Finally Carillo’s eyes fluttered open and she turned to Morgan. “She said, ‘Safe. Friend.’ She’s trying to tell me something else, but I’m having a hard time understanding her.”

  “How so?” Morgan asked.

  “Well, I keep getting these thoughts that say, ‘Talk.’ I don’t know if she wants me to talk with her, or she’s telling us to talk to the ship, or the ship wants to talk with us. I’m trying to get her to clarify, but we’re going round in circles.”

  “Holy moly!” Ajay said.

  Morgan wheeled to face Ajay. The Nepali had his headphones on and his hand on a dial at the comms station. With his free hand he pressed the headphones tighter to his ears.

  “Ajay?” Kiera said.

  He pulled his hand away from the headphones and waved it to quiet her. He further adjusted the dial, his hand shaking. Then he removed the headphones and turned to the others.

  “You are not gonna believe this.”

  “They’re talking to us?” Kiera asked.

  “Not they. He,” Ajay said.

  “On VLF?” Morgan asked.

  Ajay shook his head. “UHF.”

  “Is it one of the Callistons or another UMO?” Kiera asked.

  Instead of answering, Ajay turned back to the comms station and entered a command. A moment later, a voice sounded from the intercom.

  “…Rorschach Explorer, acknowledge. Repeat, Rorschach Explorer, acknowledge. Come on, y’all, don’t leave me hanging.”

  Morgan was suddenly overwhelmed with dizziness. Though it had been more than twenty-five years since he had last seen the man, Morgan recognized the voice immediately.

  Carillo looked equally dazed. “It can’t be,” she said. “It just can’t be.”

  Morgan unbuckled and floated over to Ajay. “Let me talk to him.”

  Ajay handed Morgan the headphones. He slipped them on, moved the microphone bar to his mouth, and drew in a deep breath. Finally he pushed the call button.

  As he spoke, his own voice came over the intercom. “Rorschach Explorer, acknowledging. Jesus Christ, Nick, is it really you?”

  After a few seconds of static, an exuberant voice replied. “Skywalker! Well I’ll be damned. I didn’t believe the radio intercepts. How you doing, old man?”

  Morgan wiped tears from his eyes and pressed the call button again. His voice faltered as he answered. “Missed the hell out of you, buddy…”

  “Yeah…me too,” Nick said, emotion tinging his voice as well. “Miss everybody back home.”

  Morgan began to sob as he removed the headphones. He grabbed hold of a surprised Ajay and hugged him.

  Carillo floated up beside them, took the headphones and put them on. “Nick? It’s Julia Carillo.” Tears ran down her cheeks, but she beamed. “It’s so good to hear your voice. We hoped…but…we…”

  She couldn’t finish the sentence. She bent over and started to weep. Morgan understood; she and Nick had been part of the same class of NASA astronauts.

  Nick’s reply was punctuated by snuffles. “Now don’t go getting all worked up. You’re gonna make me cry, too.”

  “It’s hard not to,” Carillo managed. “Are Avery and Christine with you?”

  The question stirred Morgan from his embrace with Ajay. He whispered, “You recording this?”

  Ajay nodded.

  “No, it’s just me,” Nick said. “They’re all right, though. Better than all right. Hello, Dr. Walsh, Mr. Joshi. Y’all look younger than you do on TV.”

  “You can see us?” Carillo said.

  “Sort of…through our mutual friends.”

  “The UMOs?”

  Nick laughed. “Wow, I haven’t heard them called that in a blue moon. Yeah, the UMOs. We call them Cytons.”

  “Got it.” Carillo handed Ajay the headset. “Introduce yourself.”

  Ajay didn’t bother putting the headphones on. He just pressed the call button and said, “Hello, Captain Reed. It’s Ajay Joshi. I don’t know what to say other than it’s amazing to meet you.”

  He passed the headphones back to Carillo, who placed them in Kiera’s hands. She put them on and moved the microphone bar to her lips. “Hi. Kiera Walsh here. I can’t believe we’re talking with you.”

  “Well, howdy to both of you,” Nick said. “I understand your Dr. Shilling got himself zapped.”

  “How do you know about him?” Kiera asked.

  “Little birdie told me. Or should I say a little Cyton? Is he okay?”

  Kiera looked to Morgan, who floated forward and took the headset. “He went into cardiac arrest. We revived him, but we’re not sure how much damage was done.”

  “Yeah, they can pack a punch. Don’t worry, we’ll fix him up.”

  “We?” Morgan said.

  “You didn’t think I could fly this bucket-o’-bolts on my own, did you? I mean, I’m a good pilot and all, but I ain’t that good!”

  Morgan looked at his shipmates. Ajay mouthed, Callistons!

  “Nick, who are you flying with? The aliens from Callisto?” Morgan asked.

  There was a long pause before Nick answered. “Yeah…and a few others.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  Another pause. “Look, we should continue this in person. There’s a lot to talk about. Y’all wanna come on over and meet the Suhkai?”

  “The what?”

  “Suhkai. The
aliens from Callisto. Make sure to bring Shilling. We’ve got docs aboard. Like I said, we’ll fix him up.”

  Morgan turned to Carillo, Kiera and Ajay. The Callisto queen swirled around them like a firefly. “What do you think? Want to meet Nick Reed and some more aliens?”

  Ajay bounced up and down. “Yes! Yes! Let’s do it!”

  “I’m in,” Carillo said.

  “It’s what we came for, right?” Kiera said. She shrugged. “Just wish I could see better.”

  “Maybe their doctor can fix your eyes,” Ajay said.

  “Guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  Morgan pressed the call button. “How do you plan to bring us aboard, Nick? I don’t see any docks on your ship.”

  “Oh, we got docks all right. I designed this bad boy myself. We’re gonna bring you over in style. Of course, you’re probably not gonna enjoy our decontamination protocol all that much, but it’ll be worth it. I promise.”

  “All right, just tell us what to do.”

  “First step: buckle up your crew, Skywalker. This might get a little bumpy.”

  CHAPTER 17: CLEANSING

  Flight deck — the Rorschach Explorer

  Drifting at all-stop in the asteroid belt

  September 7, 2019

  As soon as Morgan and his crew were secured in their seats, and cameras recording the docking, the alien ship moved forward to Rorschach’s port side.

  Morgan radioed Nick. “Hey, not to be a backseat driver, but our airlock’s on the starboard side.”

  “Let me do the driving, old man. You just enjoy the ride,” Nick said.

  The alien ship halted its advance, and the Cytons coating the ship’s hull flew away.

  “Where are they going?” Ajay said.

  Carillo cycled through Rorschach’s camera feeds. She spotted the Cytons beneath Rorschach. “Got ’em. They’re below us. Check Cam-9. Looks like they’re forming into a ball just forward of the cargo bay.”

  The alien ship drifted upward until the lowest part of its hull was level with Rorschach.

  Morgan leaned forward and peered up at the ship through the window. “Man, from here that boat looks bigger than an aircraft carrier.”

  Carillo switched their monitors to a view from one of the cameras atop Rorschach’s instrument pallet. Using a joystick, she rotated and focused the camera on the alien ship. “Something’s happening portside.”

  Driven by a telescoping armature, a section of the shell of the alien ship had pushed outward above Rorschach like a sliding drawer.

  “There’s a dock,” Morgan said, pointing. “See it? It’s on the arm.”

  Ajay unbuckled and floated to the window for a closer look. “It’s right above us.”

  Nick’s voice came over the intercom. “Hey, Paul? You better tell your sightseer to strap back in or he’s gonna get some nasty lumps on his head.”

  “Come on, Elroy, you heard the man,” Kiera said. “Get back to your station.”

  He saluted her and propelled to his seat.

  When Ajay had refastened his harness, Morgan said, “Okay, Nick, we’re all set. But remember, we’ve got a casualty in our med bay, so take it easy.”

  “Copy that. Just to be on the safe side, let’s give your casualty some extra padding.”

  The queen on the flight deck pulsed, then darted out the flight deck door.

  Ajay whipped his head around to follow her flight. “What the heck? Where is she going?”

  Carillo pulled up the med bay feed. “Check this out.” The feed showed hundreds of Cytons coating Shilling from head to toe.

  “Nice padding,” Ajay said.

  A jolt shook Rorschach, and its starboard wing began to pitch upward.

  “What’s going on?” Ajay asked.

  “If I had to guess, we’re getting rolled by that ball of UMOs that was beneath us,” Morgan said.

  Carillo switched back to Cam-9. As Morgan predicted, the camera showed the UMOs congregating on the underside of Rorschach’s port wing. As they pulsed in unison, they exerted a magnetic pull on the wing, which rotated the ship until Rorschach’s starboard side was perpendicular with the docking armature above.

  The ship jolted again. Looking out the flight deck window, Morgan saw they were rising toward the armature.

  “Julia, activate our docking sensors,” he said.

  “Roger.” Seconds later, Carillo said, “Fifty meters…thirty-five…twenty…Paul, they’re off center by three meters on starboard.”

  Morgan radioed Nick. “Hey, your Cyton buddies are off by three meters starboard.”

  “Relax, you old coot, they’re not gonna crash your ride.”

  “Ten meters, still off center by two,” Carillo said. “Five meters…off by one.”

  Another jolt.

  “Okay, Skywalker,” Nick said, “Cytons are away. The last five meters are on you. Don’t ram my dock.”

  Morgan laughed. “Roger that. By the way, what’s the name of your precious bucket-o’-bolts?”

  “Hey man, don’t go making fun of my baby. It’s state-of-the-art greased lightning.”

  “No doubt. But does she have a name?”

  “Well, the Suhkai name for it is unpronounceable. I can’t mimic it without a translator.”

  “Uh-huh,” Morgan said. “So you gave her a name yourself. I know you, Nick Reed. You wanted to rename Cetus Prime before we even had a launch schedule pinned down. If I recall correctly, you wanted to call it Wild Thing.”

  Nick’s laugh echoed through the cabin. “Oh, this one’s much classier. I call her Ethel.”

  The flight deck erupted in laughter. Morgan held down the call button so Nick could hear the crew’s reaction.

  “Hey,” Nick said, “it’s better than Rorschach Inkblot or whatever your ship is called.”

  By now Carillo had activated their docking autopilot. Several thruster bursts later, she reported the docking-clamps’ sensors were green.

  Morgan relayed the news to Nick.

  “Roger that. We are locked on to you,” Nick said. “Pressurizing the airlock on our side. Atmo’s gonna be a bit thinner and colder than you’re used to, just a heads-up. Nothing you can’t handle, but it’ll take a little time to adapt.”

  “Copy,” Morgan said. “We’ll make sure to bundle up.”

  “Yeah, about that. Don’t bother. Y’all are gonna need to strip down to your birthday suits before you open the airlock. The Suhkai are super-sensitive to foreign germs.”

  “Excuse me?” Kiera said. “Did he just say we have to get naked?”

  “I believe he did.”

  “Why don’t we just wear our EMUs?” Ajay suggested.

  Morgan floated the suggestion to Nick. “I realize it’ll be more impersonal, but we’d feel more comfortable going that route.”

  “No can do,” said Nick. “Too much risk of a germ exchange.” He explained that the crew would be provided clothing once they passed through a decontamination chamber and received inoculations. “The injections are more for your benefit than ours. We’ve got some exotic germs that could be lethal to you in certain circumstances. You don’t wanna bring that shit back to Earth. You might wipe out half the population.”

  The crew’s enthusiasm for boarding Ethel took a nosedive. The capper was Nick’s final clarification. “Oh, and, uh…there are a couple side effects I should mention…”

  Morgan radioed back. “Oh, that’s great. Explosive diarrhea, I’m guessing?”

  “No, nothing like that…of course, that might happen when you try our grub.”

  “You’re not doing all that well at making this feel like an appealing proposition.”

  “I know, but believe me, it’ll be a hundred percent better experience for you than it was for us. We learned all this the hard way.”

  Morgan lowered his head and nodded. “Yeah, you guys had it rough, I imagine. Sorry about the petty bitching. More sorry about what happened to Cetus Prime. We tried to stop Space Command, but we were too
late.”

  “That’s okay, Skywalker. It’s like another shooting star to us. Gone and forgotten.”

  “Well, you’re not forgotten. None of you are. I want you to know that. We’ve made sure of that,” Morgan said.

  “So I gather. Been monitoring Earth broadcasts for a while. Y’all have caused quite a stir. Now, enough titter tatter, you coming aboard or what?”

  Morgan turned to face his now-on-the-fence shipmates. “You heard the drill. I’m still going. Anyone with me?”

  “He never told us what the side effects are,” Ajay said.

  “Oh yeah.” Morgan radioed Nick. “Nick? About those side effects you mentioned…?”

  “Yeah…so…the detox chemicals are gonna make all your hair fall out. I mean all of it…everywhere. Most of it’ll grow back in about a month…give or take. And the inoculation kinda makes your skin turn a bit blue. That part lasts about a week.”

  Morgan looked around to gauge the crew’s reaction. “Looks like it’ll be a delegation of one, Nick. Just me.”

  “Oh, come on, Skywalker. Tell them to buck up. I want to meet all of you.”

  “It’s not that simple. Julia has some significant burns. I don’t think they’ll fare well if they’re exposed to harsh chemicals.”

  “Not to worry. The Suhkai will cover the burns with a salve that’ll protect them. Plus, once she’s through detox, they can heal the burns.”

  “Hold on a minute, Nick. Let me discuss it with my people.”

  “Of course.”

  Morgan started with Carillo. “I can see you’re not fired up about this. You want to take a pass?”

  “I don’t know, Paul. I would very much like to see Nick and give him a great big hug. And if he says they can protect the burns, I believe him. Hell, I’m not even worried about temporarily losing my hair or turning blue. That’s a small price to pay to make contact with an alien race. But what concerns me is the inoculation. How do we know it’s safe? What if one of us, or all of us, have an allergic reaction to it?”

  “Good point,” Morgan said. “Let’s see what Nick has to say about it.”

  Nick assured Morgan the risk of a reaction from the inoculation was minimal. “It’ll make you sleepy, that’s for sure. Maybe give you a little bit of a fever, but that’s it.”