by Don Viecelli
The Intruder had a decision to make. Should he destroy the starship and thus, a billion alien lives, or let the Qumru minds live and let others decide the fate of the Qumru race? For the first time in his life, the Intruder did not know what decision to make. He paused a moment to think; then he re-pressed the button on the panel and the hologram faded. He could try to kill the rest of the crewmembers on this starship, but there were too many of them. The AI would soon figure out how to defeat his suit’s camouflage capability. He reviewed his options one more time and made his final decision. He left the mind storage area and headed for the stairwell.
Utor was standing in the center of the Command Center Bridge with his hands behind his back. He was watching the monitoring screens on the walls surrounding the room waiting for Shonya to report. Other crewmembers in the room were working at their respective stations trying to repair the damage to the starship systems. Utor was getting impatient. “Shonya, I need a status on the Intruder?”
“Yes, Commander. I searched the entire ship and found time logs of the Intruder using stairwells to enter and exit several levels of the ship. The last log was on Level 12, which contains the passenger minds.”
“What did the Intruder do there?” Utor asked urgently.
“The Intruder selected one of the memory disks and viewed its image,” Shonya said calmly. The AI did not seem alarmed at the intrusion.
“Was anything damaged?” Utor inquired while turning on his comlink to talk to other crewmembers searching for the Intruder.
“I detect no damage to the quantum computer drives, Commander. The Intruder seems to have left the area and entered the stairwell in Quadrant 2. I am trying to access the surveillance cameras, but they seem to be offline.”
Utor swore under his breath. The Intruder was very knowledgeable about the starship operating systems. Twice now Utor’s security officers thought they had the Intruder cornered on the ship only to lose the Intruder at the last moment. Two of Utor’s officers had been injured when they came into contact with the Intruder.
Utor spoke into his comlink, “Intruder last detected in Quadrant 2 stairwell. Investigate and report!”
A Qumru officer named Coltron said over the comlink, “My team is in the Quadrant 2 stairwell on Level 17 now, First Leader Utor. We are headed up the stairwell. I will investigate...”
Suddenly, shouts from another team on Level 10 were heard over the comlink along with the sounds of weapon fire. “We found the Intruder! He is headed down on Level 14. We are pursuing!”
The Intruder had been hit by laser fire. The suit’s armor protected him well enough, but the camouflage protection was fading in and out giving the Qumru officers following him the ability to see his shimmering form before firing their weapons. The Intruder fired back as he ran down the steps to delay the team above him. He was monitoring the comlink they were using and knew another team of officers was coming up the stairwell below him. He would be cut off and captured or killed if he did not reach his destination quickly.
The Intruder fired his laser weapon one more time and raced down one more flight of stairs. When he reached Level 15, he paused a moment to set an explosive charge on the ceiling above the doorway. He entered the room and closed the sealed door. He shot the keypad with his laser gun to prevent anyone using it to open the door. As he raced away from the doorway in the large hangar bay, he pressed a remote button and the explosive charge went off bringing a large section of the stairwell down around the doorway blocking its entrance.
The Intruder knew this would only delay his attackers from reaching the hangar from another door entrance or elevator within a short time period. His only means of escape now was the spacecraft that lay a short distance ahead of him. He continued to run towards the small spacecraft that loomed ahead in the darkened hangar bay. By the time he reached the spacecraft, the door was open with landing ramp resting on the deck.
The Intruder bounded up the ramp and hit the button on the side of the opening to fold the ramp and close the door once inside the spacecraft. He had little time left to escape the starship. He removed his protective gloves and opened his faceplate as he approached the control panel. He sat down and spoke verbal commands to start the craft while he tried to outwit the starship’s AI and open the large hangar bay doors. He knew he would only have a few moments before the AI figured out what was happening and tried to prevent him from leaving the hangar through the open doors.
The spacecraft was normally used to transport crewmembers to the surface of a planet and carry supplies for the crew and ship. Now the Intruder planned to use it to escape the starship before he was killed or captured. He had only one plan left and that involved reaching the planet below and waiting for help to arrive. His mission must be accomplished or it would be too late to save the starship and the passenger minds on board. It was imperative he prevent the crewmembers from causing more harm. The only place left to hide now was the planet below called Mars.
The spacecraft lifted off the deck floor using an antigravity generator and moved silently towards the open hangar bay doors. Alarms were ringing throughout the hangar. Laser fire could be seen outside the control panel windows bouncing off the spacecraft’s energy shield. The Intruder fired the thrusters and the spacecraft shot forward at high speed through the open doorway even as the doors began to close. The AI must have figured out how to override the control commands used by the Intruder, but it was too late to prevent the spacecraft from flying out into space leaving the starship behind.
The Intruder checked his instruments to see if the spacecraft suffered any damage during his escape from the starship. Everything looked okay and the Intruder increased his speed and drove the craft around the planet to get out of sight and contact with the starship’s tracking system. Once that was achieved, the Intruder set the landing coordinates for a spot on the planet’s surface where he knew it would be hard for anyone on the ground or from above to find him. To make his location even harder to find, the Intruder saw that conditions on the planet where getting worse due to a large sandstorm beginning to envelope the planet below. Soon the whole planet would be covered in a thick haze of reddish colored dust that would hide much the planet’s surface for a long period of time. For once, the Intruder thought good fortune was on his side. By the time anyone could locate him under these conditions, help would arrive and he might be able to save the starship and its passengers from total destruction.
Chapter 18
Utor Contacts Haruto
Doug Martin was in his office filling out paperwork when the comphone buzzed on his desk. He looked at the caller ID and spoke a command to answer. Haruto’s face appeared on the display. “Good morning, Mister Secretary. What can I do for you?”
“Hello, Doug. Good morning to you. We just received a message from the starship that First Leader Utor wants to talk to us. He plans to contact us in a few minutes to discuss some important topics. I am calling you, Janice, Doctor Colbert and Colonel Jackson to come to my office to be present for the call.”
“I’ll be right up, Mister Secretary.” Haruto ended the call and Doug stood up to gather his things. He walked out of his office and told Gwen Rollins where he was headed and why. He would return as soon as he could.
Doug took the elevator to Haruto’s office on the top floor. He arrived just before Janice walked through the door followed by James Colbert. Haruto was sitting behind his desk and waved his hand in the air. “Please come in and take a seat. Colonel Jackson should be here in a few minutes.”
“How did Utor contact you, Mister Secretary?” Doug asked sitting in front of the desk next to Janice.
“The text message came through our communications center. He got my name from Colonel Jackson when you all were aboard the starship.”
Doug remembered the comphone Colonel Jackson handed to Utor as they were leaving the starship. It would have identified Haruto as the UN government leader on Mars. “I wonder what Utor wants to discuss?”
&nb
sp; “I imagine he wants us to help him repair his spaceship so they can leave as soon as possible,” Haruto suggested.
“Have you seen the weather outside?” James asked everyone. They all looked out the windows in Haruto’s office. “A dust storm is brewing.”
Doug stared at the hazy dust particles blowing past the outside glass of the geodesic dome that covered this part of Haffen City. “When did this start?”
“About thirty minutes ago. The weather forecasters say this dust storm started in the Hellas Basin again. It could be a big storm lasting several weeks,” James said.
Janice wiggled in her chair. “I hate it when this happens. The last storm lasted for weeks and we couldn’t go anywhere.”
“One day we’ll be able to minimize or eliminate these dust storms from happening. We just need to continue our terraforming efforts to reduce solar heating in the Hellas Basin crater and increase the density of the air. Then these small dust particles won’t get carried in the wind and cover the planet so often,” James said for everyone’s edification.
Just then Colonel Jackson entered the room. “Hello, everyone. Sorry I’m late. I was over at the Spaceport checking on supplies. I heard Utor is going to call us.”
“You’re just in time, Colonel. Have a seat. The call should come in any time now.” Haruto shuffled some papers nervously. This would be the first time he talked with the alien and wanted to make sure everything went smoothly since so much was at stake.
“Any idea what Utor wants to talk about?” Jackson asked looking at Haruto.
“No. We must wait for him to tell us.” The comphone on Haruto’s desk buzzed. Haruto said, “Com on.” The display turned on and Utor’s face appeared. Haruto turned on the wall display behind him so others in the room could see and hear Utor as well as for Utor to see who else was in the room. “Hello, First Leader Utor. I am Haruto Nakamura, UN Deputy Secretary of Mars. It is my pleasure to meet you. As you can see, I have with me some of the same people you met on your starship.”
Haruto introduced the group by pointing to each person as he spoke. “This is Doug Martin who is in charge of UN Security. Next to him is Doctor Janice Martin, Doug’s wife who runs our Microbiology department. Next to Janice is Doctor James Colbert who runs our Astrophysics department. This is Marine Colonel Hayward Jackson who is in charge of our UN Peace Keeper team on Mars.
“Mister Haruto Nakamura UN Deputy Secretary of Mars, I am honored to meet you. I recognize the other humans and give greetings. Please forgive my speech. I am using a translator device and our languages are being interpreted by our AI entity, Shonya, who just learned your language. It will improve over time.”
“Your English is fine. Please, you may just call me Haruto. Do you prefer I use your title?”
“Utor is acceptable, Haruto. Let me tell you the reason for my call. After I awoke from cryostasis to take command of Solruku, I learned our starship was sabotaged by an Intruder who was still on our ship when your people arrived. I requested your people leave for their own safety. I wish to tell you now that the Intruder has left our starship a short time ago in one of our spacecraft. We are not certain where he went since he turned off the tracking device. It is possible he went to the surface on your planet to hide.”
Haruto saw the expressions of everyone in the room. They seemed alarmed by this information. “How dangerous is this Intruder. Do you know who he is?”
“We were not able to identify the Intruder, but we know he is armed and dangerous. You must help us find him before he can cause further harm, either to us or to your people. We assume he is under Yoyka control and carries the infectious nanomachines that took over our planet and enslaved our people.”
“I understand what you are saying, Utor. I will instruct our people to search for him and see if there is any record of your spacecraft landing on our planet. If so, we will track him down and notify you at once.”
“You must find the Intruder and destroy him at once. If he is infected with nanomachines, your race is in danger,” Utor emphasized.
“How do these nanomachines infect others?” Haruto’s hands gripped the edges of his desk.
“The Yoyka nanomachines are microscopic in size and invade the brain of the host once they are introduced into the body, usually by an injection the first time. The nanomachines must be modified to adapt to the genetic makeup of the host before it can multiply and occupy the brain. Then the nanomachines become contagious and can spread easily by contact, much like bacteria or what you call germs. Once the nanomachines reach the brain, they take control of the host and carry out whatever instructions the Yoyka programmed into the nanites. The Yoyka use the nanomachines as a weapon to conquer and control entire alien races as they did to my people on Qum. That is why we tried to escape and travel to another star system to start over.”
Haruto paused to consider what Utor said. “Is there any way to prevent the nanomachines from infecting the brain or remove them after a person is infected?”
“No, we are not aware of any means to do so; at least not yet. Some of the passenger minds aboard this starship include scientists who have been working on a method to reverse the effects of the nanomachines, but have not found a solution that saves the life of the host. More work is needed.” Utor seemed discouraged after the statement.
Haruto decided to change the topic. “Is there anything else we can help you with, Utor?”
Utor nodded his head. “Yes, Haruto. We would like you to visit our starship as soon as possible and discuss the materials and resources we need to repair our starship. In exchange, we will share with you some of our advanced knowledge on quantum theory and FTL hyperdrive design, which will allow your race to become fellow space travelers and meet other intelligent races in our galaxy.”
Haruto nodded his head in agreement. “I would like very much to meet you in person on your starship. How soon can this be arranged?”
“We can meet as soon as you wish. We will be expecting you and anyone else you wish to bring. I say goodbye for now.” Utor ended the call before Haruto could also say goodbye.
“Well that was interesting,” Colonel Jackson said. “The knowledge they wish to share with us will revolutionize space travel.”
“It will advance our scientific knowledge by at least two hundred years,” James said excitedly.
“I’m worried about the Intruder that may have landed on our planet. We need to find him fast,” Doug said looking at Haruto and Hayward.
“I am too, Doug. You need to check with our Spaceport and satellite people and see if they detected any unidentified spacecraft entering our atmosphere in the last day or so. Colonel Jackson, you need to alert your Peace Keeper force to find this Intruder before he has a chance to infect any of our people. Doug, you will coordinate this effort on the ground. Janice, I need you to support Doug in case this Intruder is found. You understand nanotechnology better than most people here. This has the highest possible priority.”
Haruto paused to think. Then he continued, “I will prepare to meet with Utor tomorrow at this time. Colonel Jackson will come with me. I will also take some of our technical people to understand what the aliens need to repair their starship. This will be a very important meeting for our people.
“This meeting is adjourned. We all have work to do. Please keep me informed whatever you find out. I need to advise the UN Secretary-General about this meeting. Thank you for coming.”
The meeting was over, but Doug felt uneasy for reasons he couldn’t explain yet. Maybe it was Utor’s insistence on finding and destroying the Intruder without questioning. He gave Jan a kiss on the cheek and went back to work. He had an alien Intruder to find and fast.
Chapter 19
Intruder Hides On Mars
When the Intruder fled from the starship, he knew he only had two choices; take the spacecraft deeper into space away from the Solruku or land on the planet to wait for help to arrive, which would not happen for approximately thirty daily rotations o
f the planet. The Intruder decided to land on Mars where he could monitor the starship and find a safe place to hide.
The sandstorm brewing on the surface below made visibility difficult for landing but not impossible. The spacecraft penetrated the swirling dust cloud with its electronic sensors without a problem. The Intruder picked a spot on the planet near its equator and began a fast descent into a large canyon system that was long and deep.
The spacecraft was invisible to any human electronic surveillance system and its engines produced no sounds that could be heard by the human ear. The hardest task was locating a spot where the Intruder could hide his spacecraft that could not be easily found by humans or the starship crewmembers looking for him. It took a little while to find the perfect hiding spot, but he was searching for something specific and the scanners finally located what he was looking for.
The Intruder slowed the spacecraft down and stopped in front of a tall ledge that was halfway up the canyon wall. A large opening appeared under the ledge on the scanner screen in front of him. He used light waves (lidar) and radio waves (radar) to determine its size, depth and composition. The data confirmed it was a large, non-active lava tube that originated from long dormant volcanic activity on the planet. The cave was large enough to fly the spacecraft inside and deep enough to hide from any passersby in the canyon.
The Intruder flew the spacecraft inside the cave and landed on a flat surface. The lava tube was massive in size and even had patches of ice that could be used for supplies. Once the spacecraft was securely down, the Intruder shut off nonessential systems and went outside to explore the cave. He positioned detection sensors around the area to notify him of any intrusions inside or near the cave. The Intruder also wanted a clear signal path to monitor communications with the starship. He placed a small round antenna device near the entrance.