Cerberus

by John Filcher

  “Jump 5, completed,” noted Russo this time.

  “Drone convergence, 15 seconds,” said Jonsey. “Ten. Five…” he counted down, when suddenly there was a bright flash through their forward window.

  “Decoy drone destroyed. Appeared to be another power spike and an energy discharge,” said Jonsey, reading his sensor screens. “Kinetic flight has made contact with the Object, drones activating. Telemetry data suggests they have identified two targets that appear to be gun turrets. Guns are tracking, but they can’t lower their target horizon. Turrets destroyed!” said Jonsey triumphantly. “Sending the drones to scan the remaining exterior.”

  Bulldog 1

  Pilot Officer Erin Johnson sighed as she stood up to stretch. “Hal, I’ve tied the jump system to my audio commands so I can move about the cabin,” she announced.

  “Roger that,” replied rear-seater Patterson in a bored tone as he looked over the copious data flowing in from their sensor scans. “Our drones are approaching the larger satellite to Planet Nine. We should be receiving their data before long,” he said.

  “While it was exciting to discover an unknown, dark planet in distant orbit around the Sol system, it appears to be just a gas giant,” said Johnson. “I wonder if we can name it?” she asked rhetorically.

  “From what I heard, Lieutenant Delacroix’s labeling it Planet Nine seems to have prevailed already,” remarked Patterson with a small snort. “I think you’re outta luck on the naming rights,” he concluded with a smile as he continued to stare at his data screens.

  “Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?” said Johnson with a grin. “Besides, there’s not much doing here so far,” she laughed.

  Two hours later, Patterson’s scan alarm tripped. “Looks like the drones over the satellite have found something,” he said excitedly. “They’re reporting spotting straight lines and rectangular shapes. I’ll detail one to fly over the location and take a closer look,” he continued.

  “Straight lines and rectangles aren’t natural,” Johnson noted with interest. “Hopefully we find something interesting before we finish our survey and jump back to the rendezvous.”

  Cerberus Rendezvous Point

  Ronin paced the small floor space of his ready room as he awaiting the returning Bulldog survey teams. Man, I feel like a kid on holiday, he said to himself. Too much energy. His thoughts were interrupted by an incoming message chime.

  “Captain, this is Commander Mueller. The Bulldogs have returned and are landing in the hanger bay.”

  Ronin walked over to his desk and pushed the commlink screen button. “Thank you, Commander. Have the AI assimilate their data transmittals and let’s meet in the main conference room at 2100 hours.”

  Several hours later, Ronin gathered in the main conference room with Commander Mueller, her husband, Karl, and lieutenants LeCroy, Delacroix, and Anzio. “All right. Our Bulldog crews collected a wealth of data, and Mr. Mueller will take lead to walk us through Science’s conclusions,” began Ronin as he yielded the meeting to Karl Mueller.

  Karl cleared his throat as he stood up and walked over to the wall display. He was a tall man, with sandy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. “Thank you, Captain. As you all are aware, the data from the past few hours is remarkable. The highest-level summary is this: We have discovered remnants of at least two unknown spacecraft, one of which appeared to be hostile, and an installation of unknown origin on the largest satellite to Planet Nine,” Karl began in dramatic fashion. “While those discoveries are shocking enough, it appears one of the discoveries is mostly likely human in origin and dates from before The Fall.”

  The assembled officers chanced looks at one another in disbelief, accompanied by some murmurs that this isn’t possible. “Oh, let me assure you it’s happening,” said Ronin as Karl changed the wall screen to show the writing found by Bulldog 1.

  “This is Object 1, and that is a word written in American,” said Karl as they looked at the high-resolution image. “USS Constitution,” he read aloud.

  The surprise was evident on all their faces. “About as iconic an old American naval name as ever there was,” commented Ronin. “Before The Fall, the old United States was governed by a revolutionary structuring document called the Constitution. The initials USS, which stood for United States Ship,” preceded the names of ships.

  History lesson concluded, LeCroy looked at his captain in disbelief. “Sir, are you saying pre-Fall deep spaceflight was actually real?” he asked.

  Ronin looked at his officers. “It’s time to fill you in now that some evidence is staring us in the face. Cerberus’ true mission wasn’t merely to investigate some distant coordinates before the AC arrived. Cerberus is investigating old legends. These coordinates are the possible location of the mythical jump gates which the old legends say led to the pre-Fall Colonies.” Seeing the officers shocked into silence by his announcement, Ronin realized he couldn’t have dropped more of a bombshell announcement on them had he revealed the second coming of Jesus Christ.

  “Captain…are you being serious here?” asked Delacroix in his slightly French-accented American.

  “Yes, that really is Cerberus’ true mission,” replied Ronin. “I know it’s difficult to believe a technologically advanced spacecraft was sent on a possible archaeological mission, but Fleet Intelligence had come across data from several different sources which strongly suggested a mission out here was warranted,” said Ronin. “Based on evidence we have found, I say our mission was justified.”

  “Sir, what do we do now?” asked Anzio. “Are we bringing this information back to Earth?”

  Ronin looked at Anzio, then the rest of them. “We will, but we’re not finished yet. I’m ordering a Bulldog with Bravo team as a Marine boarding party to Object 1, and another with Echo team as the boarding party to Object 2. I also plan to send several Bulldogs with shore parties to Planet Nine’s satellite. Send Bravo team to Object 1, and Echo team to Object 2. I’m also ordering a Bulldog back to the other side of the hot spot to pick up the data being collected by the drone screen we left on the other side because we need to monitor our friends as they arrive in the area. If they’ve maintained their last known course and speed, we’ll have a few weeks before they even arrive at the hot spot. We’ll use that time to find what we can find,” Ronin said.

  “Questions?” he asked. “No questions? All right, let’s get after it.”

  Bulldog 1

  After detailed examination of scans collected by several Bulldog surveys and drone flyby’s over the course of a week and preparation of a boarding plan, Bulldog 1 appeared a mile away from Object 1 with a small jump flare. “Jump 1 complete,” said Pilot Officer Erin Johnson, as she immediately began to match the course, speed and tumble of the target.

  “Threat board is clear,” announced rear-seater Patterson in his Texas accent. “Cleared for approach,” he continued. The Bulldog approached what had been identified as a possible airlock, before landing on the hull directly over that target with the Bulldog’s landing skids straddling it. “Engage magnetic landing lock. We have good lock. Docking collar extending. Collar seal is good. Corporal Mackey, you’re a go,” said Patterson.

  Marine Cpl. Brett Mackey (Bravo 1), who had been listening over the commlink along with the rest of the Marine boarding party, simply nodded to Bravo 7, who immediately began attempting to open the airlock upon Mackey’s signal.

  “No joy on opening using the visible handle. It’s stuck solid,” reported Pvt. Ty Jeffries (Bravo 7) in an unsurprised tone of voice. “Switching to the arc cutter.”

  Inside his suit, Mackey was grinning like a madman, his gleaming white teeth standing out in contrast to his dark skin. Mackey had always loved the idea of boarding other vessels and he had always been entranced by pre-Fall relics. He was thinking that combining both on a deep space mission was more fun than a guy like him should be allowed.

&
nbsp; Due to their excitement, the thirty minutes it took to cut through the hull seemed to take forever. At last, a large hole was created and the corresponding metal disc was floating down into the passage beyond. “We have an entry, moving in now,” said Bravo 5 (Terry Allison) in his Alabama accent as Jeffries moved aside with his tools while Allison and the Marines piled up behind him moved into the dark tunnel.

  “No gravity, no atmosphere, no power readings at all,” reported Allison, as the team clicked on their powerful helmet lights to illuminate the passage to reveal a partially closed hatchway approximately 50 feet away.

  Bravo team gathered at the hatch, taking up covering positions for Bravo 6 (Steve Cupper) as he widened the hatchway with the breaching jaws. Allison moved in with his weapon ready and searched the room covered by his teammates back in the hatchway. Moments later, Allison reported over the team’s commlink, “It’s a storeroom, with dry goods and stuff.”

  “How do you know that?” Bravo 4 (Carlos Guthrey) asked. “There a store or something in there?”

  “Because of the sign that says ‘Storeroom 3’ and some boxes labeled ‘Flour’ and ‘Beans’?” Allison said, barely containing his glee at the chance to verbally beat down Guthrey.

  Guffaws of laughter broke out over the commlink. “Can it, you savages. Everybody knows Marines can’t read without pictures,” said Mackey, not doing a good job of hiding the smile behind his growled command.

  Allison tried the hatch on the opposite end of the room. It opened easily and the team advanced to the next hatch. “It’s a passageway. Too long to see either end. Going left where we saw less visible damage on the outside of the hull,” Allison said.

  The Marines of Bravo team leapfrogged each other as they advanced down the passageway towards the fore of the hull, passing black signs with white lettering stating the purpose of each compartment they passed in old American. They passed something called a commissary, restrooms, conference rooms, and so on until they came to a cross passage creating a T with their current passageway.

  “Take the T,” ordered Mackey as he approached Allison to shine lights down each direction. “If their ships were designed like ours, all the important stuff will be towards the center of the ship for greater protection,” he said.

  “Affirmative,” responded Allison, as he rounded the corner and moved deeper into the hull. The next sign read “Astrophysics Lab.” Making note of it, the team moved on, passing an armory and a logistics compartment before arriving at a tube way with ladders going down further into the hull. Following the plan to reach the center if possible, Allison took the tube way down while their exosuits kept track of their exact routes on their tactical information displays.

  After passing down several levels, the exosuit AI broke into the team commlink, announcing in its calm female voice, “Bravo 1, suit sensors indicate consistent deck spacing down your current route. Twenty more levels and Bravo team will reach the vertical center.”

  Clicking a nonverbal acknowledgment, Mackey nodded for Allison to continue as indicated. It wouldn’t have been difficult to figure out which level was the important one as the exit was marked by a sign saying “Command Level.” Allison had no trouble pushing the hatchway open and looking inside.

  “Bravo 1, Bravo 5. Be advised, the first command level compartment is a crypt. Multiple corpses.”

  Bulldog 2

  Bulldog 2 slowly approached Object 2 with Echo Team under the command of Corporal Toshi Kanagawa onboard. Pilot Helmut Meyer kept their jump engines spun up as a precaution even though no further signs of hostility were observed by drone surveys in the past week. “Jump 1 complete,” said Meyer, as he immediately began to match the course, speed and tumble of the target.

  “Threat board is clear,” announced rear-seater Sophie Schmidt. “Cleared for approach,” she continued.

  As in the mission for Object 1, Bulldog 2 approached what had been identified as a possible airlock and landed on the hull directly over the possible airlock with the Bulldog’s landing skids straddling it. “Engage magnetic landing lock. We have good lock. Docking collar extending. Collar seal is good. Corporal Kanagawa, you’re a go,” said Schmidt.

  The Marines of Echo Team quickly discovered this hatchway was too damaged to manually open. “As expected. We’ll do it the old school way and cut our way in,” ordered Echo 1, Kanagawa, who was from Japan.

  “Knock, knock,” muttered Echo 3, Pvt. Rhee Lee, who was from Korea, as he applied the arc cutter to the hull. The thin hull metal cut quickly, and the team entered the compartment.

  “Remind me not to use the same interior decorator,” said Echo 2, Cpl. Adrian Longman from Australia. There were the visible remains of a corpse floating near one wall. “Looks like our host lost is head, poor sod,” Longman, calling everyone’s attention to the smashed-in skull of the corpse.

  Echo 4, also known as Pvt. Han Pak, moved to the only exit of the compartment and illuminated the passageway beyond. Like Lee, Pak was from Korea. “The way is clear. Two corpses, no enemy contacts.” Pak reported. Lee and Pak stopped at each hatchway and scanned the signs with their suit cameras.

  “Echo 1, language analysis of the images you provided confirms the signs are written in Mandarin,” said the voice of their team AI over their helmet commlink channel. “Prediction is you are approaching the remains of the aft section of the ship as the signs state various engineering functions,” the AI concluded.

  Kanagawa held up his hand and halted the team while he asked the AI the question on his mind. “Does our analysis hold true that this surviving portion of the ship is missing the fore and aft sections?”

  “Correct,” confirmed the AI. “Whatever destroyed this ship left this smaller interior portion intact.”

  “Halt,” commanded the AI over the common commlink. “This sign translates as Primary Engineering,” AI added.

  Pak tried to open the closed hatchway, but it was not budging. “Echo 5, use the breaching jaws.”

  Pvt. David Danfries (Echo 5) from Britain brought up the jaws and made ready to force the hatch open. Within seconds, the powerful breaching jaws forced open the thin hatch metal, crumpling part of it with ease. Long dead corpses, or parts of them, were the only occupants of the compartment. “Echo 1, Echo 5, Sensors read a power source in here. It’s weak, but definitely active,” said Danfries, peeking through the now open hatchway. “Echo 4, take Echo 6 in. Remaining Echo Team, secure the area.”

  After the team set up a defensive perimeter, privates Pak and Gonzales entered Engineering. “Weapons lock! Take…” began Pak, before the two of them were rendered unconscious.

  Echo 2 had been keeping an eye through the hatchway and saw the anti-intruder turret zap Echo 4 and 6. “Man down! Anti-personnel turret, 2 o’clock,” yelled Longman.

  “Take it out!” responded Kanagawa as he pressed up against the outer wall of the hatchway. “Launch the drone,” he further ordered.

  Longman detached the small, stealthy drone from his utility belt and set it to target the turret. As it flew into the compartment, the turret began wildly swinging about. The defensive system detected the drone, but couldn’t get a lock on it before it landed on the turret’s weapon pod and drilled down into the pod.

  “Weapon neutralized, remain where you are until further notice,” announced the AI, as it redirected the drone to perform a similar procedure on a second turret. “Compartment secure, it is safe to enter,” called the AI.

  Their corpsman, Echo 7 (Pvt. Nancy Dos) immediately went to Echo 4 and 6, while the remainder of the team continued their defensive posture. “Echo 1, Echo 7. Both Echo 4 and 6 are injured and unconscious. Looks like there wasn’t enough power to burn them through,” reported Nancy Dos, the Canadian medic for the team, as she stabilized their life signs.

  “All right, let’s secure the remainder of this relic and bring the science types over here to find what they
can after we get our injured back to the sickbay on Cerberus,” ordered Kanagawa.

  Bulldog 3

  With a small jump flare, Bulldog 3 appeared on the far side of the hot spot and immediately began searching for the drone screen. “Jump 2 complete,” announced Pilot Officer Antonio Russo.

  “Receiving challenge, sending encrypted response,” said rear-seater Michael Jonsey. “Drones confirm our command codes. Receiving telemetry. They’ve ID’d the class of the incoming spacecraft. AC Type 22 destroyer. Crewed by 1750. Speed has increased since we last saw her,” noted Jonsey.

  Both of them were silent for a few minutes. “At that speed and distance, they won’t be able to avoid the hot spot, will they?” asked Russo.

  Jonsey and Russo looked at each other, then ran the numbers on his nav system. “Unless they’ve got better maneuvering than we’ve seen on other ships, they’re going to pass right through. Are they even aware it’s there?” Jonsey responded.

  More minutes passed. “We’re done here,” Jonsey announced. “Time to get back to Cerberus.”

  “Roger that,” Russo said, and Bulldog 3 jumped away.

  Bulldogs 4 and 5

  With matching jump flares, Bulldogs 4 and 5 appeared in orbit around the unnamed satellite to Planet Nine. “Jump1 complete,” announced Bulldog 4 Pilot Officer Reggie Parsons in a soft Arkansas accent.

  “Gamma team reports ready,” responded rear-seater Terry Gellin, himself a Kentuckian. “Receiving drone telemetry and running new scans,” Gelling noted in a slightly distracted tone as he coordinated the processes.

  “All clear. No change since the last sweeps,” Gellin reported a few minutes later.

  “We’re heading down to the site. Follow us,” Parsons announced on the open commlink with Bulldog 5 as he changed course.

  “Roger that,” responded Bulldog 5’s pilot officer, Gary Chanson from New Boise.