Prelude to Extinction

by Andreas Karpf

  “Beta, you don’t understand. We need to get them.”

  There was no response. He was tempted to call the alien again but knew it wouldn’t be of any use. Instead activated his comm. and said, “Palmer, what’s your status.”

  “I’m closing in on the other pod. The outside is undamaged; let’s just hope it’s like your situation and they’re safe inside.”

  “I was in contact with Beta,” Jack said. “Their ship’s heading toward us, but …”

  “Captain,” Palmer interrupted. “Beta had me linked in with your communication. I’m aware of the situation.”

  “Then you know we won’t have time to use our equipment to pull them in. I’ll position the IPV alongside both of you, but I’m going to need you to somehow nudge his ship into the shuttle bay.”

  “Sir, it’s too tight in there. We’ll end up damaging the IPV and maybe Kurt’s pod as well.”

  Palmer was right but Jack answered quickly, “Then, I’ll jettison one of the shuttles.”

  “Are you sure about…”

  Jack cut him off and said, “I don’t see any other way. Do you?”

  When there was no response, Jack said, “Stand by.” He then called across the bridge, “Kate.”

  “Yes?”

  “I need to get to the shuttle bay to do this. Direct all of the command feeds to the terminal down there.”

  “Understood,” she replied.

  “Palmer,” he said as he left the bridge.

  “Yes sir.”

  “What’s your status?”

  “I’m alongside them now.”

  “Good. Now listen. I just realized it may not be as hard as I thought to get you both in the bay. When we deployed the explosives, we used some sort of robots carried on board the pod. Ask your computer interface if you have any on yours.”

  Jack dove down the corridor and was nearly at the shuttle bay when Palmer finally responded, “Yes. The system has two of them.”

  “Tell the machine to use them like a grapple so that you can push the other ship more precisely. It’ll figure out how.”

  “Got it, sir.”

  “Ok, I’m at the shuttle bay now. I’ll jettison shuttle one and then we’ll position ourselves by you. Get into position.”

  Jack looked at his watch: there were barely three minutes left until the rendezvous with Alpha’s ship: not enough time to do this by the book. “Computer, connect the shuttle remote pilot to this terminal,” he said.

  “Connection complete,” the machine answered.

  “Bypass depressurization and open main shuttle bay door.”

  “That action is not recommended,” the machine said politely.

  “We don’t have the time to pump the atmosphere out. Just open the damned door.”

  “Commencing,” was the prompt answer.

  There was a rush of escaping air accompanied by the clatter of loose equipment being swept out into the void. Jack’s error, though, quickly became apparent. The wind started dragging the damaged alien pod he’d piloted toward the opening. The silver ship picked up speed, spun around and clipped the door’s frame with a deep bang. A second later it spun away from them into space. “Shit,” was all he managed to say as he immediately activated the shuttle’s systems from the terminal.

  “Release shuttle-one landing clamps,” he called out. Once the computer confirmed his order, he brought up a cockpit view of the craft and activated its thrusters. Piloting the shuttle now was little more than moving his finger along the screen to direct the small craft out of the bay. He gave it just enough thrust to get clear and said, “Disconnect shuttle link and display view from external camera three.”

  The screen showed shuttle-one slowly moving away; the two sleek alien pods were drifting a couple hundred meters directly ahead. Palmer’s was positioned behind Kurt’s and looked ready to push toward them.

  “Palmer,” Jack called.

  “Yes sir.”

  “We’ll have the best chance of controlling this if you stay put and I bring the IPV to you. If you push them in, you won’t be able to stop them; they’ll just crash into the back of the bay. I’ll at least be able to use the thrusters stop the IPV’s forward motion, and maybe minimize any damage as you and Kurt’s pod enter the bay. Use your pod to make small adjustments to their position as we approach.”

  “Understood.”

  “Computer,” Jack said. “Transfer IPV guidance to this terminal.”

  “Guidance transferred.”

  He glanced at his watch: one minute was left. “Feed me the shuttle bay, main-door camera view,” he demanded.

  The computer complied and Jack found himself staring at the two distant pods, framed by the edges of the shuttle bay door. They were slightly off center. His hands danced across the terminal’s engine controls, quickly centering the alien craft. Without taking his eyes off of his target, he used the port thrusters to accelerate toward them. They were moving faster than he preferred, but there was no time.

  “I’m going to come in fast and then pulse the starboard thrusters to stop us once you’re in. You’re going to have to take care of all of the maneuvering. Call out any adjustments you need me to make.”

  “Understood,” was the calm response.

  The oblong silver vessels quickly grew; fast enough that Jack wanted to pull back on the thrust, but they only had forty seconds left.

  “Captain,” Palmer called out, “adjust your elevation up by five degrees.”

  Jack quickly pulsed his maneuvering jets.

  “Now translate forward…twenty meters.”

  A brief shot from the rear thrusters followed by a push from the front moved them into position.

  “That looks good…”

  “I show your distance at thirty meters,” Jack called.

  “Understood sir.”

  He brought his hand to the starboard thruster control, ready to quickly stop them when Palmer shouted, “Captain elevate five more degrees, translate three or four more meters forward.”

  Jack moved quickly, his hands nimbly triggering the controls like a musician, but he wasn’t fast enough. Kurt’s pod clipped the left edge of the bay door, repeating the same deep bang he heard earlier. He ignored it though, and activated the starboard thrusters. He needed to stop their motion before the pod impacted the back of the bay or the other shuttle.

  “Captain.”

  It was Beta’s voice. “Standby,” Jack answered urgently as he slowed the IPV. Kurt’s pod was still going to hit, but maybe not too hard.

  “Captain, there is no time. Disengage your engines now. We will be at your position in ten seconds.”

  “I need…” Jack started, but Beta cut him off, saying, “Cut them now or we will abort this maneuver and leave you.”

  He quickly hit the disengage trigger. A second later, Kurt’s and Palmer’s pods skipped off the shuttle bay floor and slammed into the rear wall. The rebound send Palmer’s pod skidding into shuttle-two. Outside, a sudden flash of silver was followed by complete blackness: Alpha’s ship had arrived. Jack immediately realized he needed to keep pods contained in the bay, and hit the emergency close trigger for the bay doors. They slammed shut just as Kurt’s pod bounced into them.

  “Pressurize bay,” Jack ordered. The rush of inflowing air was comforting, but taking too long. Looking to his left, he caught a glimpse of Nadya quickly making her way down the hall toward him.

  “Are they in?” she asked urgently.

  “Yes,” Jack answered. They waited an agonizingly long ten seconds in silence before the green “all-clear” light shown on the door. Without hesitating, he hit the “open” control, but the door remained sealed. Its status indicator changed to yellow, and read “pressure warning.”

  “Computer, status!” Jack shouted.

  “There is a leak in the shuttle bay outer door. The room is venting atmosphere.”

  “Shit, override the warning and open this bulkhead now.”

  “Unable to comply. Risk
to the IPV is too great.”

  Jack slammed his fist into the hard steel door and barked, “Close the internal bulkheads on this level, now.” Heavy steel doors to their left and right immediately slid shut. “That should minimize the risk. Pump additional atmosphere into the bay to maintain pressure and open this door now.”

  The door slid aside and their ears were assaulted by the loud hiss of escaping air. Ignoring it, Jack and Nadya rushed into the room as the tops of both pods slid back revealing their occupants. A rush of relief swept over him as he saw Kurt starting to climb out of the alien ship. Janet’s arms were clearly visible as she tried to pull herself up. Palmer, however, was having a tougher time at it. Jack headed to Janet, while Nadya tended to Kurt. As Jack reached to pull her out, the joy of their rescue was cut short: a loud, metallic snap cut through the room. They spun around to see a small crack forming in the left side of the shuttle bay door. The hiss of escaping air grew to a howling wind as Jack yanked a dazed Janet from her pod. Pushing her to Nadya, he shouted, “Get them both into the hall!”

  “What about you?” she yelled back.

  “Palmer’s still in there. I’m not leaving him!”

  Another ear-splitting crack made him cringe. The wind picked up strength as he shouted, “Get into the hall now and close the hatch if the bay door gives out!”

  Nadya shouted something back at him, but her words were drowned out by the growing din. He turned back to Palmer without another word. Palmer was sitting upright in his pod, cradling his right arm. Jack guessed that he must have injured it during the crash landing in the IPV’s shuttle bay. By the time Jack reached him, a sharp pain was cutting through his head and ears from the loss of pressure. He grabbed Palmer firmly by the waist, and with one swift move pulled with all his strength. Palmer slid out of the pod, but the force knocked him backwards. The crack in the bay door widened, and the rush of escaping air strengthened enough to start dragging them across the floor. Jack had to force the thinning air from his lungs to cough out the words, “Get up…we’ve got to get out of here now!”

  Palmer’s eyes rolled back: he was passing out. The tell-tale dizziness of Oxygen deprivation took hold of Jack. He knew he didn’t have much time left and pulled hard on Palmer.

  “Get on your feet now!” Jack ordered.

  All his first officer managed was a disoriented stare back at him.

  Jack grabbed him by the belt and tried dragging him toward the hallway door. The smooth, shuttle bay floor, however, didn’t provide him with any traction or handholds with which to fight the wind. He started sliding back. Glancing back at the jagged opening, he thought that there must be some way to plug it. Something suddenly struck the side of his head. It stung and he looked up to see that Kurt and Nadya had thrown a long cable to him. Grasping it with one hand, and holding Palmer with the other, he pulled himself toward them. The fatigue and Palmer’s dead weight became overwhelming. His lungs struggled in the thinning air, and his vision blurred as exhaustion engulfed him. Simply staying conscious was a battle. A deep resonating groan from behind gave him the jolt of adrenalin he needed to push on.

  “Jack, the bay door’s buckling!”

  It was Kurt’s voice rising over the chaos. Looking up, he saw Kurt, Nadya and Janet pulling the cable, dragging him toward them. There were only a few more meters to go. He fought to maintain his grip on Palmer, but his hands and fingers screamed in protest. The roar of the wind grew. A biting cold rose above the pain in his lungs; frost now covered his skin and uniform. His fingers felt like they were breaking. Jack used the pain to stay conscious and maintain a death grip on Palmer and the cable. Reflex took over and he closed his eyes tight: it eased the viselike pain his head. He searched his other senses for progress. There was a sharp tug of the cable followed by the sensation of being dragged. Two hands firmly grabbed his arms. Another person yanked hard and he was suddenly flung against the hallway wall. A second later the scream of the escaping air was cut off by the hard metal bang of the closing bulkhead. The world around him became distant as he released his grip on Palmer and the cable. Fatigue washed over him. There was the sound of atmosphere being pumped into the hallway. The fresh air rushing into his lungs quenched a thirst more powerful than any he’d ever experienced.

  Jack tried opening his eyes, but had to first wipe away the frost from his eyelids. Kurt and Nadya were standing over him. Sitting up, he saw Janet’s blurry form hunched over Palmer’s motionless body. Jack tried to speak but coughed instead.

  Janet looked to him and said, “He’s alive, sir. Just unconscious.”

  Jack allowed a grin to spread across his face as he let Kurt help him up. It felt good to have his friend back. He took a deep breath before gently pushing Kurt and Nadya aside, and moving closer to Janet and Palmer. His first officer coughed and opened his eyes.

  “Thank God,” Jack finally managed to say in hoarse voice. Exhaustion and relief convinced him to sit down and take a few more deep breaths of the warm satisfying air. He took a second to look behind and saw Kurt and Nadya in each other’s arms. Somehow they’d succeeded; nothing else mattered.

  “Captain.”

  It was Beta’s voice, but Jack didn’t want to answer. He just wanted a second to rest. Duty, however, pushed everything else aside and forced him to say, “Yes, Beta?”

  “That was very risky. You are fortunate that you didn’t destroy your ship.”

  Jack ignored the alien and stood up.

  “We currently have your vessel aboard ours, and are pulling away from the enemy fighters. When you are ready, we will explain to you what we will be doing next.”

  “Understood,” Jack replied.

  “I think it would be advisable if you allow us to repair the damage to your ship.”

  Jack barely heard the alien as the emergency bulkheads in the hallway finally opened and Don and Helena rushed toward them. He just answered Beta with a reflexive, “Yes, thank you.”

  Helena got to him first asked, “Are you OK?”

  He said, “Yes,” while waving her off. Following her over to Palmer, he finally had time to realize that the man was a mess. Small trickles of blood were flowing away from his nostrils and ears. For a split second, Jack was cognizant of the fact that he probably didn’t look much better, but it didn’t matter. Palmer’s eyes were fully open now and he was trying to speak.

  They moved closer to hear his hoarse voice say, “What happened?”

  “You and Jack nearly got yourselves killed,” Helena answered.

  Palmer laid back down as Kurt walked over to Jack.

  “You OK, Kurt?” he asked calmly.

  “Yes. But, what’s going on?”

  “A lot. I’ll fill you in later. Right now, I’m just glad you’re safe. I want you to get yourself cleaned up and then we’ll talk.”

  Kurt just stared back.

  “Nadya, you can fill him in for now. Just get him ready; I need him back on the bridge as soon as possible. We don’t have much time.” He watched as she nodded and led Kurt by the arm down the hall.

  Jack turned back toward Palmer, but Don quickly leaned toward him and said in a low voice, “Jack, we need to talk.”

  “I know,” he answered without turning to face the man. “Give me a couple minutes.”

  “This really can’t wait. Alpha fed me data just before Beta contacted you.”

  “Alpha?” Jack asked hopefully. “Give me a second.”

  Helena was leaning over Palmer, checking his pulse and breathing. “How is he,” Jack asked.

  “I’m going to need to get him to sickbay to be sure. Plus, I need to check you out too. You don’t look much better.”

  Jack grimaced as he answered, “I’m fine.” Before Helena could protest, he leaned close to Palmer and whispered, “Good work today. Now do what Helena tells you.”

  Palmer nodded.

  Jack started to get up, but Palmer reached up and grabbed him by the shirt collar. Jack paused for split second before letting himself b
e pulled back down.

  It took another second for Palmer to get out the words, “Thank you.”

  Jack nodded in response. Looking back at Don, he said, “Let’s get back to the bridge.”

  Helena turned to glare at Jack, but he ignored the meaning of her gaze and said, “Update me on his condition once you’ve finished with him.”

  Reluctantly, she answered, “Understood.”

  Chapter 37 – August 1, 2124; 14:45:00

  Despite his injuries, Jack moved at a quick pace, leaving Don struggling to keep up. He used the lingering pain to purge his mind of any distractions. The entire crew was safe for the moment, giving him the chance to focus on getting control of their situation. He entered the bridge and quickly took his seat before turning to Don and asking, “Did you hear anything else from Alpha?”

  Don’s face tensed as he tried to speak. The man was obviously trying to hold it together and only managed a simple, “No.”

  “Let’s see the data they sent you.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything we can do. It’s just…”

  Jack cut in calmly and said, “Don, just give me the facts. We’ll decide what can be done after.”

  “It’s not good. The portion of the fleet that bypassed this system is large. We’re talking a couple hundred ships. They didn’t decelerate at all, they just altered course and are definitely heading to Earth.”

  A wave of dizziness swept over him; a combination of fatigue and shock. Everything seemed distant, as if he was watching the conversation from another room. Don said something else, but Jack’s growing anger blocked everything out. The fact that Earth would be helpless dominated his mind.

  The words, “Jack are you listening to me?” pulled him back. He looked at Don for a second before saying without conviction, “I’m sure they can get us to Earth first.”

  “But what will we be able to do?”

  That question was already in his mind too; but dwelling on it wasn’t going to solve anything. “Did Alpha tell you anything about their plans?” he asked.