by H. G Ahedi
“I’d prefer to be a frog than a monster,” Evan thought out loud.
Adrian looked at him. “I’d prefer to remain human.”
Titan Deck 1, Anastasia’s office
Anastasia walked up and down in her office, trying to control her rage. She understood that the Admiral outranked her, but she couldn’t understand the logic behind his actions. Since he had arrived, he walked around the station as if it was his. She sensed a rise of tension around her people. She could see traders sulking, colonist in distress and many of them demanding to return to Earth. Of course, she couldn’t stop them, but it would affect Titan’s day-to-day management. But it was surprising that the Imperial Command was denying them the chance to return to Earth until things settle. Her chat with Admiral Vince was futile, and she couldn’t reach any of the tribunals. She felt it was illogical not to allow safe passage to Earth non-military personnel. She shut her eyes. Oh, I feel like… She dismissed the thought. She rolled her eyes, thinking about Admiral Vince’s response.
“Trust Jacob’s instincts. We have got a thorough report, and we are satisfied with it.”
“Trust facts!” yelled Anastasia. The buzzer sounded, and she calmed herself. “Come in.”
She turned to find the concerned face of Mykel. “Hi,” he said in a low voice and made himself comfortable on the couch along with the window. She smiled and joined him. He held his head and said, “That was not good.”
“No.”
“What can we do?”
She took in a long breath, “Nothing. I tried talking to the Imperial Command. They are not listening to me.”
“I did the same. They feel that they know everything. I think they are greatly mistaken. I just finished a conversation with the captain of the Marion.”
She was keen to hear what others thought.
“He seems comfortable with the ways things are.”
“But?”
“I have a feeling that there is more going on here than what is being said.”
A gloominess dawned on her, she grabbed his hand, “Don’t tell me…”
“Oh, they can’t take the Prometheus away from me, not yet. One thing I know for sure… anything happens, my crew is with me.”
His words comforted her. He leaned forward, “But Titan…”
Anastasia swallowed and bowed.
“I can’t let him hurt you like that…”
“I can handle…”
“Not when you are alone,”
She gasped.
“Yes. I know. You left him. You should have told me,” he said, peering into her eyes.
Tears gathered in her eyes. “You were away. You always leave. When can I ever tell you anything?”
“You know I am always there for you. You should have reached out. All you needed to do was call me.”
She shut her eyes, looking away from him. Every emotion, every feeling that she had buried for years was threatening to come out. She stood up and was about to walk away when he grabbed her hand. “Not now, Mykel. This is not the time.”
He looked her in the eye, “Time will never be on our side. Do you understand? We have to save what we have.”
“I know,” she replied, her eyes meeting his, “I am trying to save what I have.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I only want to warn you… Admiral is dangerous.”
She looked at him for answers.
“He is just not after Titan. There is something going on… and we are not aware of it.”
She wanted to say thank you. Instead; she stepped forward and embraced him. In his arms, she felt the comfort that she longed for.
“I missed you too
Already things seem better.
They parted.
“We need to make a backup plan,” she said.
“Do you think we should evacuate the station?”
Anastasia's eyes widened. Every fiber of her body resisted the idea, but what she felt was irrelevant. “If the situation worsens, we might have to.”
He nodded in agreement, “We better be ready. What about your crew?”
She looked him in the eye, “Loyal and stubborn.”
Titan, Deck 4, argon’s quarters
Argon sat on a chair in his sister’s room while his mother worked tirelessly on the computer in the living room. They had eaten their dinner in silence, and then he read his little sister a story. Selina was now sound asleep, but he wouldn’t dare close his eyes. The strategies they were using to defend themselves were good, he knew that. He thought about Emmeline, if something were to happen to him, who would take care of her. Her father was on Earth and couldn’t travel to Titan until things settled. Maybe he should tell her to take the Raven and go to Earth. But would she go? No. She was dedicated to her work and Titan needed her. Her work could save lives, save Titan. He walked up to his little sister and sat on the bed’s edge. He watched her closely. He had pressed his mother to leave Titan. She wouldn’t. He then urged her to send Selina to dad, at least she would be safe. They agreed, and he had put in a request, but he knew it would be denied. The Imperial Command wasn’t allowing people to leave, just yet. He couldn’t understand why? He thought about the future. Two months ago, he knew exactly what he was going to do with his life? But suddenly, it appeared he was no longer in control.
He trusted himself, his friends, everyone on Titan, but not the man who seemed to hold all the reins. What he witnessed in the meeting room today disturbed him? He wondered secretly if there was a war looming on Titan itself and when it happens, where would he stand?
Titan, Deck 4, Emmeline’s quarters
Emmeline didn’t want to think about the meeting. The Orias. The DNA and that horrible man. So, for several hours she distracted herself by running algorithms to decipher the plaque.
“Algorithm 365 complete. Unable to complete deciphering,” the computer said in a monotonous tone.
Emmeline dozed on the chair, slightly aware of its voice. Suddenly realizing that she needed to go to bed, she slowly got to her feet.
“Running algorithm 365,” said the computer.
Emmeline yawned as she got under the sheets and dozed off. She didn’t know how much time passed, but she thought she heard the computer again. Assuming it was still trying to decipher the plaque, she decided not to pay it any attention.
Decoding the tablet had not been an easy task. At first, it had been a rock plaque. Then, when Aceline had helped her decode it, it had transformed into a smooth black tablet. As if on standby, a picture of a glowing sun with a face appeared. As soon as she’d tapped it, she’d seen a diagram with unknown symbols.
* * *
Despite her busy schedule, she had tried everything. Finally, again pairing up with Aceline, she’d designed algorithms, and the computer had been running them. She heard the voice again. It was a beep now, rather than a monotonous tone. She covered her ears.
“Beep. Beep. Beep. Deciphering complete. Beep. Deciphering complete. Beep.”
Emmeline rushed to the computer. She couldn’t believe it. It was done. She wondered which algorithm had worked.
It was unbelievable. At first the computer had identified a key to unlock the plaque. It had found a 70% match in the historical language database for the lighter symbols. Linear A was an ancient Minoan language made up of symbols representing sounds, objects, or abstract ideas. The Minoan symbols were used between 1800 to 1450 BC and found on several clay tablets.
The computer first isolated and identified three letters: ‘S’, ‘C’ and ‘E’. It ran algorithm and converted the symbols into one English word. SPACE. Once it had the key, it applied it to the rest of the diagram and decoded an unreadable sentence which was overwhelming.
“nepththyslahmuenkiastarteurukgonilibra
ecrcuisseptuyawhaniamumnaniapeperk
walhnimo”
This was an alien language, and the computer began searching the linguistic database. Her heart was beating fast as she read. The firs
t thing it did was to identify basics of the language, such as noun or pronouns. This was a tedious task, and the computer had run several algorithms and the result astonished her.
“NepththysLahmuEnkiAstarteUrukGoniLibrae
CrcuisSeptuYawHaniAmumNaniApepErk
WalhNimo”
The computer had just capitalized some words. She counted them. “Seventeen,” she said to herself. Her jaw dropped. The computer had identified alien names for the stars in the Draco Constellation. She sat back in the chair, not knowing where this was going to lead. Surely, humans had given names to the stars of the constellation centuries ago. But this were words from beyond time, beyond space, written by an intelligent life form. She picked the pad and read further. The computer had done exactly what she would do. It didn’t convert the alien star names and applied the decoded sentence to the plaque. And that did it. After the codes were applied to the plaque, a star map had appeared. She recognized the star system immediately. She had seen it before, and there was an area highlighted to the left. She realized what it was and got frustrated. She got up and screamed in anger.
Titan, Deck 4, delta’s quarters
The door to Delta’s quarters opened, and Delta looked at Emmeline through squinting eyes. “Don’t you sleep?”
Emmeline knew it was 3 am and without a word, she stepped into her quarters.
“Yeah, come in whenever,” Delta remarked. The doors shut behind them.
“I’ve finally deciphered the plaque.”
Delta’s gloomy face suddenly became attentive.
Emmeline handed her the pad and paced up and down the room.
“This is good! This is awesome! Oh, wow. It’s a star map . . . of this system. We have coordinates! We have coordinates!” Delta shouted.
“No. It’s not good!” Emmeline told her. “There’s nothing there! Delta, it’s a waste of time!”
“But this is telling us that there’s a planet. You must be—”
Emmeline cut her off. “Delta, for a year, I’ve been scanning and studying that region of space. A planet would have been detected ages ago. There’s nothing there!”
“Maybe you missed it.”
Emmeline put her hands on her waist. “Oh, you think?”
“Sorry. You need to calm down.”
“No!” Emmeline shouted and wiped her tears. “I was wrong, Delta. I was wrong. The plaque is just a ruse. It’s all a stupid myth! You were right. Dad was right!”
Delta’s face fell.
Emmeline felt as if a small part of her died. Maybe the planet had existed years ago, but today, there was no sign of it.
“I’m so sorry,” Delta whispered.
Tears filled Emmeline’s eyes. “Maybe it’s for the best.”
Titan, Deck 4, Emmeline’s quarters
Emmeline couldn’t sleep. Sitting in her quarters alone, Emmeline watched the stars in silence. She realized that in the last two months; she hadn’t had the chance to enjoy the view from her window. Of course, everyone else had this view as well, but to her, it was significant. It helped her calm down. Perhaps it was due to the stars. Perhaps it was the gases of Titan, which appeared to be moving in an unrecognizable pattern.
A part of her was happy that the plaque led to nothing. It was a distraction anyway. But it was not unwelcomed. With all the horrible things going around here, she preferred solving clues instead of thinking of politics and Titan’s fate. She heard a knock on the door. “Who is it?” she called.
“It’s Delta. Open up.”
With a heavy heart, she got up and pushed the button. The doors opened, and Delta stepped inside.
“Come in anytime,” Emmeline said sarcastically.
Delta turned to face her. “I’ve been looking at this star chart.”
Emmeline hung her head. “It’s no use.”
“Maybe the area described in this map has changed over time.”
“I thought about that. Even if that region of space has changed in the last two centuries, the planet wouldn’t have drifted that far, and we would have detected it. It could have been destroyed before mankind began studying the stars,” replied Emmeline.
“Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way.”
Emmeline arched her eyebrows.
“What if it’s not just about the science?” asked Delta.
“What are you talking about?”
“Two months ago, this plaque was a rock,” Delta explained. “A disgusting gray rock with several dots and some stupid lines. After you found the first clue, a musical tune, it transformed into a sleek black plaque with another riddle on it. The computer translated that riddle, which revealed a star map. Emmeline, something tells me we can’t resolve this by using conventional scientific methods. We need to check out these coordinates. Let’s go and see what’s out there. Maybe it’s something even Titan’s most powerful telescopes can’t detect.”
“Are you crazy? It’s beyond the perimeter. No one . . .”
“I think we can pull it off.”
“But no one leaves without permission from the Imperial Command, and it would take weeks, if not months, to get it,” Emmeline said. “And during an interstellar war, they’ll forbid it without a second thought!”
“Emmeline, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. If you want to get to the bottom of this, we can’t play it safe.”
Emmeline bit her lip. “What if there’s nothing . . .?”
“Then you’ll have your answer, and the plaque can go to a museum.”
Titan, Deck 5, Training Hall
Emmeline finished her jog and found Argon waiting for her. She took a minute to catch her breath. She’d finished half of her training, and now she was hooked. Yesterday, she’d finally hit the target on its outer edges. She was getting good at using the disruptor. Her confidence was growing that she finally felt she was getting somewhere.
Today, it was time to learn some hand-to-hand combat. For the last week, Argon had been teaching her some defense moves. She couldn’t believe it, but she was rather enjoying it.
“What’s on your mind?” Argon asked.
She looked up. “Nothing. Nothing.”
He eyed her. “Emmeline? I know you. What’s on your mind?”
“I need to make a decision,” Emmeline said. “I might be wrong. I might be right. I don’t know.”
“Well, do it, and you’ll know. Now, are you ready?”
She nodded and kicked Argon; he quickly blocked it with his hand. He threw a punch, which she dodged. He threw another one, and she blocked it with her hands. She twirled and kicked him again. He blocked her just inches away from his face. She smiled. He smirked, grabbed her ankle, twisted it, and threw her on the thick mat.
“Ah!” she cried.
“Move it! Get up! Get up!”
Emmeline pushed the pain aside, got to her feet, and got in position. “You’re going to regret that.”
“Am I?”
She squinted, moved swiftly, threw a punch, and then stomped on his feet.
Argon cried out in pain.
Titan, Crystal Lab
After training, Emmeline knew she had pushed too hard, and now her arms and legs ached. She stretched and decided to focus on work. All day long, she kept telling herself it was a stupid idea, but she couldn’t get it out of her mind. She considered other options, but they all seemed undoable. No one believed her, and if she said she wanted to go to find this mythical device, alarms would be raised. She could come under heavy scrutiny and then all her chances to find the device would be lost. If she wanted to know the truth about the plaque, she had to go to those coordinates.
Adrian had asked her to look at the data from the scans of the battle. Like him, she found nothing unusual. The Orias weren’t using a frequency they could detect. Maybe it was in their ships. She wished that they had an intact Orias ship. The thought sent shivers down her spine. She never wanted to face an Orias in her life. She gulped and then tried to focus on the cloud data. Dr. Kent had f
inally liked something she had done and asked her to do some computer stimulations. But she could hardly concentrate. Finally, she gave up and went to see Delta.
Titan, Deck 9, Armory
Argon felt his pulse rise and his heartbeat quicken. Lieutenant Edward Ward was working on the outer casket of the torpedo. A standard torpedo looked somewhat like a missile with a sharp nose. Titan’s torpedoes could not only be programmed but also were heavier and bigger, as they were built to destroy comets and interstellar objects. Captain Lockhart’s idea to reprogram them to detect increase in energy in Orias ship before they fired and to target the tails was excellent, but it needed patience and time. The torpedoes had to be reprogrammed manually.
Edward reached over to the middle panel and put in the codes. The weapon made a whooshing noise. “Okay. The warhead has been deactivated,” he said.
Cyr stood in front of a big screen, working with Adrian to identify the highest level of energy emitted by the ships.
Argon looked at Edward, who nodded and pushed a few buttons on his side, unlocking the outer shell. Now they could see the internal section of the weapon. Edward slowly reached for the flat panel and raised it. If everything went well, they could have the weapons ready in a couple of days.
Titan, Deck 1, Bridge
The bridge of the Titan was silent, and the lights dimmed. During the night shift, three crew members worked silently in the corner. The wide screen was zoomed in on the crew members and ships working on the perimeter.
Adrian had woken up at 0500 hours and returned to the bridge. He was eager to get the perimeter ready. He turned when he felt the presence of someone behind him. He folded his arms and looked at Emmeline and Delta. Bells rang in his head. They never came to the bridge when Anastasia wasn’t around.
