by gerald hall
Jonathan then systematically began to walk through the various modules, starting with the top layer and then returning to the center to go down a ladder to the next level before repeating the process. Some of the modules were made of a metal or composite while others appears to be cast of a clear acrylic material that allowed the inhabitants of the complex to easily watch the sea life outside. The visibility was now somewhat limited because of the various anemone-like or other invertebrate life that had attached themselves to the outside of the module though. Even so both of them were in awe of what they were seeing inside.
“Whoever was living here beforehand must have evacuated this place in a very systematic manner. It has been cleaned out pretty thoroughly, the living areas seemed to be fairly intact with what appear to be some sort of beds and mattresses inside and storage areas for personal items. It wouldn’t take much to get things set up for our own people to use this part for R&R, I bet.” Jonathan noted.
“Well, Captain Martinson will want to make sure that there are no surprises first before he would send anyone else down here, especially family members.” Angela warned.
“Speaking of surprises, look what we have here.” Jonathan said just as he turned around a corner at the lowest level to enter the central core module. There was what appeared to be a large data console complex with multiple operator workstations. The stations each had a touch-sensitive multifunction data display and graphic interface.
“Please be careful with that. We don’t want to accidentally flood this place or cause some other malfunction inside of here.” A cautious Angela advised.
“Well, this complex may hold the answers to what we have here, why it is here and who left it behind. Let’s see if I remember correctly what Corrine told me after she came back from this place.”
“Who’s Corrine?”
“She was one of my people from the Auntie Mae. She was the ship’s expert on alien languages and technologies. She had briefed me on how she was able to pull up data from the systems here before we ran into the Truists.” Jonathan said as he started to punch in several commands into one of the multifunction displays.
“I still remember what those damned Truists did to her too.” Jonathan said after pausing for a few moments, an expression of great pain and loss showing clearly on his face before he resumed entering in commands.
After a few seconds, the display began to show a schematic view of the entire water world, its underwater and above water geological features and three green-glowing symbols on the planet.
“There appear to be three of these underwater installations on this world according to this database readout. All of them are located fairly near a landmass, but also right next to an underwater geothermal vent.” Jonathan confidently reported.
“Does it say anything else about them?” Angela asked.
“Yes. They are all armed.” Jonathan nonchalantly said, but seeing Angela stiffen at hearing the news, he quickly elaborated.
“Don’t worry. The stations just have some automatic defenses. Obviously, we didn’t register as a threat to them. I figure there had to be some sort of logic criteria that would indicate a threat that we didn’t meet. Otherwise, it might have fired upon us.
I think that I can figure out everything on these control systems with a little help from your captain’s AI though.”
“I certainly hope so” A nervous Angela replied. She really wished that Jonathan wasn’t so cavalier about all of this. But she also hoped that he was right.
An image that appeared on one of the upper displays then caught Jonathan’s attention. He looked up and pointed at what was being shown from the installation’s external optical sensors
“I think that we just found our local sentient lifeforms, Angela. Go look at the monitor here.” Jonathan happily remarked.
Outside one of the upper modules were eight creatures hovering there looking at the shuttle that Jonathan and Angela arrived in. They appeared like a variation of a dolphin or porpoise from Earth’s own oceans with some aspects of a seal also apparent. Only these creatures had a slightly shorter nose and one other rather unique feature. Instead of flippers, they had long webbed appendages in their place that appeared to be able to grasp and manipulate objects much like human hands could.
These creatures also were emitted a rapid series of clicks and other sounds. They appeared to Angela to be communicating with each other with a fairly sophisticated language.”
“Can you tell what they are saying, Jonathan?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure that the beings that built this place could communicate with them.”
“Well, Jonathan. I really think that we need to get back to our base with this information. I’m sure that you will get plenty of chances to get back down here and explore their systems. If it proves to be safe for us all, there will be quite a clamor from our friends up there for the Captain to open up this place for at least recreational use.”
“OK. This has been an incredible find. We will also have to explore the other facilities too. They might have some other things that we would be very interested in as well. But, first and foremost, we need to protect those guys out there.
It’s still their world. We are just visitors here.” Jonathan solemnly said before turning around and walking back towards a door next to the access ladder.
“Where are you going?” Angela asked.
“I’m just heading for the elevator up. Do you want to join me?” Jonathan said with a smile.
Angela quickly sped up to catch the first ride back up to their waiting shuttle. A conventional elevator took them both to the upper module. Angela took a quick look at the point on the central core where the umbilical connected to the habitat.
“I see that you found the other elevator.” Jonathan called from near the airlock where their shuttle was docked.
A vertical conveyor with handholds and small pads to stand on continuously ran up the interior of the flexible umbilical from the top of the habitat to the large floating buoy on the ocean surface. The conveyor was flexible to accommodate the movement of the umbilical as the waves above pulled the floating buoy module up and down.
“Yes, it would be a lot easier than climbing up a ladder all the way to the top, I’m sure.”
“True enough. But this time, I think that I would rather take our shuttle up. Don’t you agree?” Jonathan replied as he stood by the airlock where their shuttle was docked.
The two explorers then cycled the airlock door, went through the shuttle’s own airlock to get inside the vessel and then prepared to go back up to the surface.
“Captain Martinson is going to find all of this very interesting.” Angela remarked as Jonathan undocked the shuttle for the flight back home to the lunar station.
“He may forbid any more flights down here too.”
“We will have to present the information that we have found. But it is not up to us to make that decision for him in any event.”
After they returned to the lunar station, Angela and Jonathan immediately went to visit Alec at his office to discuss their findings with him.
“Do you think that these indigenous lifeforms will be any danger to our people?” Alec asked first after learning of what was down there under the planet’s oceans.
“I don’t think so. They showed absolutely no indications of aggression when we observed them at the station.” Jonathan explained.
“That’s very good to know. Obviously, we can’t tell anyone outside of our organization about them. If we allow our people to go down to these underwater facilities, it has to be with the understanding that they must maintain their secrecy.”
“That makes a lot of sense, Sir. But these habitats shouldn’t just be ignored by us either.”
“Oh, I agree completely, Angela. But, I will have to think about it. We really do need someplace to go to get away and relax for a while. Seeing these intelligent underwater creatures would probably be quite a thrill, I’m sure.”
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sp; “No matter what we do, we have an obligation to protect these creatures.” Jonathan insisted.
“I am not disagreeing with you on that point. But, I’m going to take a chance here. I can’t make this decision without the input of all of the people who live here. I have to both trust my people to do the right thing here and ask for their input on what I should do about this situation. I may have the authority to prevent anyone from going back down there. But do I have the right to make that decision alone?”
“You are the commander here. So it is ultimately up to you, still.” Angela replied.
“Here is what I am going to do. I am going to talk to each person on this base individually or together with his or her entire family as needed. I’m going to tell them about what you two have found and give them the opportunity to make the decision. If we can make it happen safely and securely, I do want to make use of the habitats.
I’m like everyone else here. I get sick of seeing nothing of rock walls or the inside of a spacecraft. We have to offer more than that, especially since we are living for months, if not years at a time, away from the rest of humanity’s inhabited worlds.”
So Alec created a standard speech that over the course of the next month, he gave to every single person living at New Hope Station. The speech went as follows.
“We have found several underwater habitats that are still in very good condition on the planet below. We would like to be able to make them available as recreational facilities for our personnel and their families. However, we have also discovered that there is a species of intelligent aquatic life that is indigenous to this world. For the safety of this species as well as our own safety, the knowledge of these species must remain a secret to everyone outside of our organization.
If you feel that you cannot keep this secret, then we must not allow anyone to use these facilities. Everyone will simply forget these facilities and the aliens below eventually. They will become little more than a legend because no one will have seen them in person.
But everyone has to keep this secret, all the way down to the smallest child, if we are going to permit people to make the journey to the planet.
The choice is up to you. But the consequences of revealing this secret will endanger us all, I assure you.”
“As long as the visitors don’t know exactly where we are, or where the habitats are, the indigenous lifeforms should be safe, as should we.”
Everyone was given an opportunity to reply privately as to what they wanted to do. Unanimously, everyone promised to keep secret the knowledge of the habitats and the indigenous sentient inhabitants of the oceans below.
Jonathan and Angela travel down to the planet to investigate the other two habitats to access their condition. Afterwards, more technicians come down to bring in supplies and equipment to make the three habitats ready for people to visit for several days at a time.
After the first few trips to the habitats by people on leave, morale aboard New Hope Station takes a dramatic climb upward. The leap of faith shown by Alec Martinson in giving everyone else a say in this matter also made his popularity within his privateer group significantly greater as well.
Chapter Twenty Seven:
New Hope Station
YBP 1194 Star System, M 67 Star Cluster, Orion Arm
July 25, 2321
“Colin, I hope that you have that Archer about ready for me.” Alec said as Alacrity and her cargo shuttles were being unloaded of over twelve thousand tons of cargo.
“If you have those components that I asked for, I will have her ready in less than two weeks. Everything else has been completed on her.”
“Excellent, because I have a freshly acquired recruit who is going to be her new captain. I want you to meet Emily Carson.” Alec said as a stocky woman in her mid-thirties with fiery red hair stepped up beside him.
“I hear that you are Alec’s technical miracle man.” The woman said in an accent that sounded faintly like she had been from old Earth’s continent of Australia.
“I’ve been known to pull a rabbit or two out of my hat on occasion, Miss.” Colin confidently replied.
“Actually, it’s ‘Mrs’. My husband and children are still waiting to come out of the shuttle. But don’t worry, they don’t get underfoot too much. Harold is what is called a nurse practitioner, which a lot of people consider to be a doctor, but without the title or the condescending attitude.” Emily laughed.
“Well, I’m sure that our medical section will put him to good use then. Doctor Lofton could use some help in taking care of all of the new personnel that have been joining us recently. In any event, I’m sure that you will be pleased with the battler that you will be getting. Once I get the upgraded components that I requested, she will be match for anything approaching her mass, and better than many larger ships.” Colin explained.
“I like hearing that. I would hate to come all the way out here just to be put in command of an inferior ship.”
“Colin definitely doesn’t like giving people inferior ships. Neither do I, I assure you.” Alec answered just before he, Colin and Emily left to go to the station’s command center.
“The Archer may be a slightly older design, but the structure and engines are still very solid. Archers also still comply with Earth Fleet’s requirement for a standardized data and power systems bus as well as Earth Fleet modular systems. So upgrades are very easy with even the latest technology.”
“I am certainly looking forward to seeing what you have done with my new ship then, Captain Sampson.”
“As the Boss here can attest, I am very proud of my work and with good reason. I can do wonders with the hardware that I have at my disposal. Captain Martinson here has managed to get me some damned good hardware to work with this time.” Colin confidently explained with an expression that literally glowed with excitement at the idea of showing off his latest masterpiece.
“Thank you for the tour, Captain Martinson. I will contact Commander Sampson to arrange for an inspection of his refitted Archer after he has finished installing the new hardware. I had promised my husband that I would help him unpack at our new quarters. I understand that Commander Sampson is responsible for those as well.”
“Yes, he is. I think that Colin ripped the officers’ and chiefs’ quarters out of every single one of the hangar queens and welded them together in the habitat rings for people to live in.”
“Well, Sir. You have done a hell of a job so far. If you fix ships like you fix housing units, then I have nothing to worry about with my new ship at all.” Emily said with a smile before turning to leave.
“Where did you find Captain Carson? Is she someone else that the Kepler people recruited for us?” Colin quietly asked after the new battler commander disappeared through the door.
“Actually, I’ve known Emily since she was a young ensign in the Gliese Confederation Navy. She recently left the service after over twelve years of service. Originally, she was a fighter jock. Then Emily began serving aboard battlers until she reached the rank of lieutenant commander.”
“It sounds like she was in line to get command of her own battler. Why did she leave then?”
“There was a ‘small’ disagreement with a senior officer who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer in spite of the fact that Emily was married and had two small children. So basically, the senior officer made sure the Emily got a poor fitness report and prevented her from getting the assignments that she deserved.”
“How did you find out about it?”
“I still have friends within the Gliese Navy. I simply asked them to let me know if there were any promising men or women leaving the service that I might be interested in. Emily’s name immediately popped up along with several others.
Of course, I already knew about Emily’s adversaries within the service, having served with many of them. They were generally pigs morally and certainly not worthy of the ranks that they held. So if I saw a negative comment by one of them, especially the man who made
unwelcome advances upon Emily, I had a pretty good idea that she was too good of an officer for their tastes anyway.” Alec explained in a matter of fact way.
“I suppose that one way to determine the worth of someone is by the caliber and character of their enemies. But I hope that Captain Carson also had some references that thought highly of her too.”
“Oh yes. She most certainly did. They were people that I knew also and trusted implicitly. It was unfortunate that they were not able to protect Emily’s career. But I convinced her and her husband Tobias that they would do much better here. They were a little hesitant about the remote location. But I convinced them that the benefits would more than make up for it. Plus, I guaranteed that Emily would get to command her own battler.”
“She did seem very enthusiastic about that. But you said that she started off being a fighter pilot. Why didn’t she stay with that?”
“Emily loves speed and firepower both. She just didn’t feel that fighters gave her quite enough of the latter though. From what I have gathered, she likes treating battlers as though they were fighters in terms of her extremely aggressive combat style. So your Archer’s engines and maneuvering systems had better be in very good condition. She is going to give them a workout before long, I promise you.”
“Thanks for the warning, Boss.” Colin said with a hint of sarcasm.
Chapter Twenty Eight:
Jump Tender Alacrity
Belair Syndicate Colony, Kepler-1544b
August 14, 2321
Alec had received a message through a Kepler Colony contact that Mister Wisp had requested a retaliation raid be made against a Belair Syndicate outpost because of a recent incident between this Kepler Colony and Belair Syndicate forces. There had been several suggested targets of opportunity that had been suggested by Mister Wisp’s message. Alec decided upon this particular colony because of its reportedly light defenses and the fact that the outpost served as a warehouse for a variety of weapons that the Syndicate manufactured for its customers.