Sodenia- At the Edge of Chaos

by Luigi Robles

  “And who said you were going with us?” Larissa asked. “I haven’t heard your name as the final crew.”

  “Who said that I am staying?” Fain asked, jumping in after Larissa.

  “Oh, come on, you guys,” August said. “I am the only obvious choice here; I am like a spare tire. If anything happens to me, you guys will be fine.”

  “You know that isn’t true,” Fain said.

  “OK, I might be exaggerating, but Fain, you can’t go,” August said. “You are the captain of the ship; you have to stay here and captain it. If something were to happen to you out there, there is literally no one that can replace you. I’ve tried, and that almost got us killed.”

  “You did just fine,” Fain said as he massaged his chin.

  “If that’s what you call almost getting everyone killed,” August said. “Then yeah. But we all know that just fine won’t cut it if there’s another battle. You can’t go, and you know it. It would be too reckless of you.”

  Fain knew that what August was saying was true, but all the same, he didn’t like it. Every inch of his body was telling him to go. He didn’t want them risking their lives while he waited safely in the ship. That just wasn’t right, and yet that was what trust was all about. He needed to trust his crewmates to get the job done and not get killed. So, he decided he would take a back seat in this conversation.

  “Eora and I are a good start to the team,” August said.

  “Excuse me,” Pycca said. “I beg to differ. I know structures, I know machines, and I know how things work. I would be much more valuable to the mission than a gunsmith. You all heard the message: they come in peace. Peace means no weapons.”

  That was when it hit him. Fain realized that letting Larissa or Pycca go on the mission would hurt him a lot more than it should. He didn’t want either of them to go. Had he become close to them? Had he developed feelings for them? Or what was it? No, it couldn’t be, could it? He didn’t know what he was feeling or why he felt it. It was like a fire burning in his chest, and yet one of them would have to go on the mission. Instinctively, Fain made up his mind who would be going. Larissa was the clear choice. But it wasn’t because he felt less for Larissa. No. It was because she was more likely to succeed on this sort of mission.

  “Oh, please, Pycca,” Eora said. “This is a new alien race we are talking about, which we know nothing about. Meaning you don’t know how their machines work at all. On the other hand, I can keep the crew safe and take the weapons and shields I do know with us. Or tell me, what kind of shield would you keep on standby when you entered the alien ship? You know, in case a forty-gage plasma defense laser fires at you and the crew.”

  “The green one,” Pycca answered right away.

  “See, you don’t even know what it’s called. You just know that from training.”

  “I don’t need to know what it’s called to be able to use it,” Pycca said as she rolled her eyes. “You know I am the better candidate.”

  Eora shook her head.

  “Pycca, I need you to stay,” Larissa said. “I need you to guide us as much as possible, and the best way you can do that is from within Sodenia, clear-headed, no obstacles.”

  Pycca closed her eyes slowly and opened them the same way, nodding her head in agreement. Larissa had just claimed her place as the spearhead of the operation.

  Fain felt the impact of the decision settle on his chest, and he let out a painful sigh. But he had to trust her, and he had to trust them.

  “And what about us?” one of the drone operators asked. “We don’t want to stay here with our arms crossed. That’s not what we do.”

  “Three of you will come with us,” Larissa said. “Four more of you will escort the space shuttle with the drones, and the rest will keep the remaining drones at the ready. Is that OK with you, Captain?”

  “Seems as good a plan as any,” Fain said as he nodded once. “There’s still space for four more on the shuttle. Think carefully about who else should go. If something goes wrong, you’ll need a fast way out. Any ideas?”

  Larissa stood quietly, looking at the floor.

  “What about a winch?” one of the drone operators said. “I’ve seen those things pull crates around, and they do it like they don’t weigh a thing.”

  “That’s it,” Eora said. “You are staying with the drones on standby. Anyone else have any other brilliant ideas that perhaps won’t involve killing us on the way out? Which is the worst way to die, by the way.”

  The drone operator put his head down as one of his buddies hit him over the back of his head. Low chuckles could be heard coming from the rest of the drone operators.

  “Perhaps I can help with that,” Kya said, silencing the room as she spoke. “Since the incident with the Acram successfully getting aboard the ship, I have been working on our interior defenses.”

  Multiple thuds were heard from the hallway behind Kya, and they were getting closer. It sounded mechanical in nature, as if before every thud there was a gear spinning or hydraulics pumping. But the noises were not loud at all, more like barely audible, especially behind the closed door. The whole room stared at Kya as she stood there, unfazed.

  “I thought it would be best if we had some kind of contingency plan,” Kya said as the thuds stopped. “Meet Anvelin 26, the all-terrain drone. Sodenia has a total of thirty of these drones, and this is number twenty-six.”

  The door behind Kya opened, letting a nimble but rather large machine inside the room. It looked much like a spider but with only three sets of legs on each side. It wasn’t bulky; its machine legs were thin, and its body was rather flat. It had some sort of white armor covering its machinery. On its back, it had what looked to be two large plasma cannons, but Fain wasn’t sure.

  “It’s highly agile and able, quick to adapt to any situation,” Kya continued as the drone wound down in front of the group. “Its rear pack can be exchanged with a variety of different packs I’ve prepared for different situations. In this case, I believe Anvelin 26 would serve as a fast way out of the visitors’ ship.” As she said that, a rail with handles and attachment points extended from behind Anvelin 26. “I believe that if we get within the fifteen miles required to scan the Ochilenes ship, I will be able to control the drone without a problem.”

  “Will it fit in the space shuttle?” Larissa asked.

  “There are still four vacant seats on the ship,” Kya said. “If those spots remain vacant, I believe that the six of you and Anvelin 26 will fit snugly on board the space shuttle.”

  “Then this is the plan,” Fain said. “Let’s get to work; everyone knows what to do. But be sure to treat the situation with the utmost caution. If you are doubting yourself, let us know. If you have questions, let us know. If you have an idea, let us know. This is something we haven’t dealt with before, therefore we cannot be sure of anything. Let’s hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

  7

  Ghosts

  Eora could hardly contain herself when she began to feel Sodenia fly once again. The distinct soft hum of its core and the feedback of the giant ship cutting through the air as it exited the atmosphere made her excited. But it wasn’t the roller coaster-like thrill that she was paying attention to, no. It was the sense that she was about to do something that mattered, and it mattered in a big way.

  She was about to make contact with the first friendly alien race to approach Earth. And this time, the people of Earth would be the ones to break the ice. Eora was mentally preparing herself for all the what ifs she could possibly imagine. Although she was hopeful, she knew that her guard should be up.

  It took Sodenia a little under an hour to reach the Ochilenes ship. According to the instruments on Eora’s station, Fain had positioned Sodenia thirteen miles away from the rectangular ship. From there, Eora began scanning the Ochilenes ship for any weapon signatures, or anything that might pose a threat. But the scans came back clear; the ship seemed inert, almost dead.

  “Eora.” Fain�
�s voice sounded on her bracelet. “Have you started scanning the ship for weapons?”

  “Already on it, Captain,” Eora said as she rescanned the ship, this time even more thoroughly, just to make sure.

  “OK, good,” Fain said. “Once you give the all clear, head to the space shuttle in the docks to meet with the rest of the crew.”

  “I’ll leave someone scanning the ship continuously,” Eora said.

  “We can’t afford not to,” Fain said.

  “How many guns do you want me to aim at the ship?” Eora asked.

  “All of them,” Fain said.

  Once the second scan of the ship was done, Eora issued orders to her subordinates via the task manager. She had them aim all of Sodenia’s cannons at the ship and had all the drone pilots on standby.

  “Peter, you are in charge,” Eora said to one of the gunners who sat right next to her station as she stood up.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?” Peter said as his hand began to tremble on the controls. “But I am not a senior officer. Where is Sarah or John?”

  “They are already at the docks, getting the space shuttle ready,” Eora said. “So is Lorenzo; all three of them are coming with me on our little expedition.”

  “Thank you for letting me know, ma’am,” Peter said, already beginning to sweat. “I’ll try to do my best.”

  “If we lose contact and if Fain gives you an order,” Eora said as she began to walk out, “no matter what it is, you follow it. No questions asked. You got that?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Peter said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

  Eora got on a pod and hurried to the docks. The away crew and an assist group were already waiting, along with all the supplies they would need for the mission. This was the first time Eora had seen the space shuttle, and the reaction she had was not the one she was expecting. To her, the space shuttle looked fragile, not combat-worthy at all. It had no visible weapons, and it looked like it could only take a few hits, if any. Basically, the opposite of Sodenia.

  “Did you get everything I asked for?” Eora asked as she neared the group of people standing next to the shuttle.

  “Yes, we have everything here,” Sarah answered right away.

  “Alright, let’s suit up, one backpack and utility belt each,” Eora said.

  “So, what do we call ourselves?” August said as he was getting his space suit on with the help of two others. “You know, the official title that Green gave us is kind of boring. ‘Sodenia, this is the away crew, do you copy? Over.’”

  “And what do you have in mind?” Larissa asked, her space suit halfway on.

  “I don’t know,” August said. “But anything, and I mean anything, would be better than ‘away crew.’”

  “Anything?” Larissa asked with a smirk. “I don’t know… I can think of worse.”

  “No, seriously,” August said. “Anything. Even if it was something as silly as Banana. ‘Sodenia, this is Banana Five, do you copy? Over.’ See? It has a ring to it already.

  Larissa rolled her eyes, but by the looks of it, she was trying not to smile.

  “How about you, Eora?” August asked. “Do you have any suggestions for our call sign?”

  “I don’t know…” Eora said as she finished adjusting the last bits of the suit. “Our space ship doesn’t look all that inspiring. I’m almost sure that a torpedo from those ancient battleships could take it out. It looks paper thin.”

  “True,” August said. “But they’d have to find it first. And that would be pretty much impossible.”

  “What do you mean?” Eora asked.

  “That thing is basically like a ghost,” August said as he pointed at the fragile-looking ship. “It’s got a ton of stealth equipment; even Sodenia would have a hard time finding if it. Not to mention it’s fast and extremely agile.”

  “That’s it!” Eora said. “Our call sign should be Ghost.”

  “Hey, I like the sound of that,” Larissa said as she finished putting on her suit and began checking the components.

  “Yeah, me too, let’s do it,” August said, speaking into his wristband. “Captain, did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” Fain answered.

  “From here on out,” August said, “we’ll be known as Ghost.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Fain said, sounding like he was suppressing a chuckle.

  “Eora, what the heck?” August asked as he threw on his backpack. “What did you put in this backpack?”

  “It’s everything you need to save your skin,” Eora answered as she too threw on a large bag. “The heaviest things in here are the shields. We have three each.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a bit overkill?” August asked.

  “It’s always, always better to have something than not to have it,” Eora said. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like dying today.”

  “But so many?” August said.

  “Come on, we have to get going,” Larissa said.

  “We’re putting our helmets on,” Eora said as she reached for her helmet. “If something hits us, we won’t have enough time to do it later. The ship is paper thin.”

  Everyone did as Eora suggested and then proceeded inside the space shuttle. Already inside was the Anvelin 26, tucked into a box shape at the far end of the shuttle. August went to the pilot’s seat, Larissa sat as the co-pilot, and Eora, Sarah, John, and Lorenzo sat in the back next to the Anvelin 26.

  “Switching to helmet coms,” August said as the hatch behind them closed with a double lock. “Closing the last hatch.”

  There was no door or wall between the cockpit and the small passenger/cargo area. Anything that August or Larissa said could easily be heard by Eora and her subordinates.

  “Here are the coordinates for where Kya thinks is the best point of entry into the ship,” Larissa said as she worked the shuttle console. “It’s on the outer side of the ship.”

  “Got it,” August said as he began driving the space shuttle. “Heading to the Ochilenes ship now. Kya, can you open the docks for me?”

  “Dock three is now open,” Kya said through their coms. “You may proceed.”

  It took about five minutes or so to get from Sodenia to the Ochilenes ship. No one uttered a word along the way. Sodenia’s drones escorted the shuttle closely.

  Up close, the clean, straight walls of the visitors’ ship began to show their texture. And it was anything but familiar to Eora. It moved; she was sure. Almost everywhere on its large walls, layer upon layer of almost randomly placed rectangles were moving slowly from left to right and right to left.

  “Is that moving?” Eora asked, squinting to try and get a better look through the space shuttle window.

  “It looks that way,” August said. “Unless I’m hallucinating the same thing as you.”

  “Seven hundred meters and closing,” Larissa said. “I need everyone to focus. According to Pycca, their airlock, or whatever the Ochilenes call their entry point, has several similarities to our own. But we will need to get this shuttle in place before we start messing with their entry point.”

  “Moving into place now,” August said as he maneuvered them into a seemingly solid part of the Ochilenes ship. “Contact in three, two, one.” A subtle moment of inertia was felt, followed by the sound of the shuttle coming together. “The shuttle is now orbiting in tandem with the Ochilenes ship. I don’t know how long the shuttle’s vacuum hatch will be able to keep this up, so let’s hurry and get it attached. Drones, please stand by. Keep a minimum distance.”

  “This is Sodenia’s drones, roger that.”

  At once, Eora unlatched her harness and stood up from her seat, making her way towards the back of the shuttle. She used the rails and conveniently placed ropes to maneuver in the near zero-g environment. The rest of her subordinates followed.

  “Are we drilling or torching?” Eora asked as she looked at the large assembly of tools at the back of the shuttle near the hatch. “Pycca threw in everything she could
think of.”

  “Let’s try drilling first,” Larissa said, getting out of the cockpit to join Eora. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll torch it.”

  Eora grabbed the drill from the bottom shelf, and her subordinates grabbed the drill bits and the rest of the machinery needed to operate the bulky drill.

  They made their way to the space shuttle hatch located under the shuttle and towards the back. Larissa was already waiting for them there.

  “Are you ready?” Larissa asked as Eora and the others neared.

  “Let’s try it,” Eora said as she shifted the bulky drill in front of her.

  “August, open the first hatch,” Larissa said as she turned around to face the door.

  The hatch opened, and the group went into the airlock; the door closed behind them. Eora and the rest were all looking towards the last door, the door that would allow them to make contact with the alien ship.

  Eora felt a chill run down her spine as she realized that this would be the first time they would be making physical contact with an alien ship other than Sodenia. But by the time Eora had stepped foot on Sodenia, more than a century had passed since humans first discovered it somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. This time, she and the rest of the small group would be the first.

  “Are you ready?” August asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “We’ll soon find out,” Larissa said, spearheading the group. “Open it.”

  The door between the shuttle and the Ochilenes ship opened, and the group made their way in, with the same door closing behind them. Larissa was the first one to touch the door of the alien ship. She ran her hand across it.

  “It looks like a regular door to me,” Larissa said. “Let’s start drilling.”

  Within a minute, Eora and the rest of the drilling team assembled the large drill, turned on the electromagnetic base, and began drilling near a corner of the hatch.

  “It’s drilling normally, I think,” Eora called out as she operated the drill. “Maybe a bit slower, I’m not sure. But you know, drilling with a space suit on really, really sucks.”