by Jason Kent
"We have almost no intelligence on the Ater. We've seen their weapons and armor. I wish we knew more about their ships. Still, we cannot allow the orb or the tablet to fall into Ater hands, especially when we have a lead on the tablet and they likely do not. I suggest we move immediately to secure the next artifact."
"What's Nemus think?" Garrett asked Kate.
Kate closed her eyes. Out loud, she asked, "You there Nemus?"
Get the tablet.
Kate nodded. "Nemus says he's in."
Garrett stared down at the key and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Sparrow's hands itched as she fought the urge to reach out and run her fingers over the key. There was something about the artifact which seemed to be calling to her. She hugged her jacket closer to her and shivered. Ross sensed the movement and tightened his grip around her shoulders. Sparrow pressed against Ross' bulk, enjoying the warmth and proximity of his body. She tried to push away the thought of reaching out and taking hold of the key.
"Well, make the call, flyboy!" Dagger finally exclaimed. "What are we doing?"
"We go," Garrett announced firmly. "We'll drop Tivon and Tarun off on Aurora Five." He had to hold up his hand when Tivon began to protest. "I need you and Tarun to study the key and find out anything else you can from Nemus about the orb."
"Your reasoning is sound," Tivon sighed. "Master Sergeant Merrick is correct, we are operating in the dark at the moment. Perhaps the other archivists and I can assist you in this regard. Although I feel as if I am abandoning you!"
"In this case," Garrett said, "You're going to be right where we need you most. Don't worry, we'll return with the tablet then come up with a plan to retrieve the orb."
"So, will I have a chance to take a hot shower when we land?" Sparrow asked.
"No," Garrett replied.
Chapter 18
Ironclad Seiklus
"Well, there's something you don't see every day," Dagger commented. She adjusted Blade's orientation so the massive ship outside was centered in the cockpit windows.
The Seiklus was a classic example of early Tallinn starship design. The ship's two major components were comprised of a central spine and a large ring encircling it. The spine contained the engine, propellant tanks, and zero-g storage compartments. The crew quarters, bridge, and other bays requiring gravity were located in the spinning ring.
"I'm unable to sense any electronic emissions," Sparrow reported. She leaned her lithe frame between the pilot and co-pilot's seats and stared intently at the ironclad. She felt a tiny vibration as the micro-lenses embedded in her eyes focused to gain greater detail from the hull.
"Not many weapons," Ross noted from his spot in the bridge doorway. "Every Tallinn ironclad I've ever seen was covered with missile pods and gun turrets."
"You're forgetting," Garrett explained, "the Seiklus was built for exploration. It wasn't until the Tallinns got their hands on the orb that they started churning out warships."
"I don't see any obvious signs of damage..." Sparrow said, tilting her head as she scanned the local EM environment with her sensors.
"Do you think it's dangerous?" Merrick asked as his trained eyes scoured the ship for threats.
"It's been fifty-two years..." Kate said, but then let her voice trail off.
Sparrow glanced over at Kate. "What?"
"Just thinking about the crew," Kate said and shook her head. "I'm not keen on running into any, uh, remains."
"They'll be nice and frozen by now," Dagger remarked cheerfully. She tapped at one of her console displays. "Look at these temp readings. Our ironclad friends have been floating around in an icy crypt ever since the environmental controls died."
"Thanks, Dagger," Kate replied, "I think." She crinkled up her nose. "You don't suppose it'll smell, do you?"
"We'll wear suits the whole time," Merrick said. "And decontaminate afterwards."
"You'd better!" Dagger said and waggled a finger at Kate and Merrick. "I don't want you guys bringing anything dangerous back aboard my ship!"
"Any good spots to land?" Ross asked.
"Crew section is still rotating," Garrett pointed out. "It won't be more than half a gee in there. We can make an approach, use the magnetic locks on the hull...right about here..." Garrett jabbed at the holo-display hovering in front of the cockpit window. A spot lit up on the outline of the Seiklus. "Then you can use this airlock. Easy as pie."
"Still rotating..." Kate breathed.
"Mechanical momentum," Sparrow offered. "The residual motion is a remnant of the ships automated functions, not an indication of intelligence at work."
"There's nothing to stop it out here," Garrett explained then drew a circle in the air. "No air, and if the bearings attaching the rim to the central spine don't seize up, there's very little friction."
"An object in motion tends to stay in motion," Sparrow offered.
"Yeah, even if the Seiklus crew is all dead," Ross said.
"Should we knock?" Kate asked. Her voice sounded hollow inside her helmet.
"You think anyone will answer?" Merrick replied.
Kate had to turn her body sideways in order to see Merrick through her visor. She hated spending time in a pressure suit, but the ironclad's atmosphere was questionable, not to mention freezing cold. Sparrow had also managed to ascertain that some sections were in complete vacuum. The corridor they'd entered still had pressure but the data pad strapped to Kate's wrist indicated it would be unhealthy for her or Merrick to remove their helmets.
"Actually, I'd pretty much freak out if they did," Kate admitted with a smile.
Merrick reached forward and brushed accumulated dust from the line of brass dials affixed to the wall above the bridge hatch controls. Merrick tapped on the glass carefully with a heavily gloved finger. The pressure reading for the compartment on the other side of the door was zeroed out.
"Definitely no one home," Merrick noted. He twisted a few of the valves but the pressure reading refused to budge from the red zone.
"Alive, you mean," Kate added quietly.
"That," Merrick said slowly and turned to face Kate, "was implied." He raised his eyebrows and gave Kate a questioning look. "You okay with this? You could..." he gestured vaguely behind them indicating she could wait while he checked the bridge.
"What? Wait out here in the creepy, deserted corridor?" Kate said with a nervous laugh. "That's exactly the kind of thing you're not supposed to do!"
"How do you know?"
"Lots of old horror vids."
Merrick looked back the way they'd come. The corridor was as empty as when they'd entered the far end. He leaned close and whispered, "I'm pretty sure, Seiklus isn't haunted."
"Says you!" Kate sniffed. "I'd rather not find out as soon as I'm alone." She shuddered at the thought and crossed her arms over her chest. She hugged herself, took a deep breath, and gestured at the door. "Let's get this thing open and see who's...what's waiting on the other side."
"Careful," Merrick warned, "You're starting to give me the creeps."
"You've got the big gun," Kate said.
"Not worth much in a ghostly encounter," Merrick noted. He studied the door controls a moment before twisting a well-worn valve. Merrick wrapped his hand around the door's big handle. He looked back at Kate. "Better get behind me."
"In case of ghosts?"
"No. Depressurization." Merrick gestured at the bank of gauges and levers. "I don't see a way to get the pumps working. Once this door is open, the air in our corridor is going to blast through it."
Kate nodded and moved behind Merrick. He hooked his arm through a handle welded to the bulkhead then pressed his body against Kate, pinning her against the wall. Kate liked the feel of Merrick so close. She could feel the muscles in his arms and back flex through the relatively thin fabric of their pressure suits.
"This really isn't the place, Kelly," Kate chided.
"Unfortunately, there's no time for anything else. Hang on." Merrick pulled dow
n on the oversized door handle. As soon as it clicked into the open position, he let go and grabbed the handhold on the other side of Kate.
The corridor was filled with the roar of rushing air as the atmosphere blasted through the narrow slit in the hatch. Kate's suit lights played across the dark splinter between the door halves at it grew larger. The thinning atmosphere gusted, snagging at the folds of her suit as it tried to pull both her and Merrick through the tiny opening. She was glad for Merrick's strong arms firmly anchoring them both against the bulkhead. Earlier, when they'd entered the corridor leading to the bridge, they'd sealed the far airlock. The venting of the relatively small volume of the hallway space took only a few moments as the air pressure bled away through the hatch. As quickly as it began, the maelstrom ended, leaving Kate and Merrick in hard vacuum.
Merrick kept one hand gripped on the railing and worked the fingers of his other hand into the gap of the partially opened door. He braced a leg against the opposite wall and pulled one half of the hatch open. As the door slide aside, Merrick leaned forward and shined the light on his rifle around the interior of the ironclad's bridge.
"It's been holed," Merrick reported then pushed away from the wall and Kate, all business. "I can see some damage."
Kate looked back down the corridor. She wondered if ghosts could be blown out with the air or if they were just as comfortable in the depths of space as they were in dusty attics. "Stow it, Kate!" she muttered, "You're just freaking yourself out!"
Despite his assurance the bridge was devoid of life, Merrick still had his rifle up sweeping from side-to-side as he edged closer to the threshold. After all, when it came to the Tallinns, they had learned that mechs, the lifeless machines that they were, were just as deadly as flesh and blood troopers. The sniper hooked his foot under a pipe running near the floor. He leaned sideways until he was crouching on the deck plates where he would be a smaller target for anyone, or anything, inside. The light gravity allowed for some unique combat positions. He stretched out his legs and stuck his head and rifle through the hatch.
"See anything?" Kate asked as she tried to get a closer look through the dark opening.
Merrick pushed off and sailed through the air in a long leap, spinning as he went. His arms were locked as his weapon and scope covered the entire bridge with one smooth motion. The marine performed a neat, low-g flip and used his legs to cushion his impact against the far wall.
"Clear!" Merrick called, obviously out of habit.
Kate had never been a marine, merely served as tech support for Merrick's unit before their meeting with Knowl. She couldn't remember if any other team member was supposed to respond to the entry man's call. Still, the pronouncement seemed to demand a reply.
"Roger!"
Merrick turned from his examination of the dark bridge. The corners of his mouth twitched up in a smile. "Thank you, Ms. Thompson." The marine performed one more turn before he stepped over to the elevated Captain's chair. Kate joined him.
A woman, presumably the Captain of the Seiklus, sat upright, held in place by crash webbing. The Captain's head was tipped forward slightly. She was frozen solid; a cold, silent sentinel watching over her dead ship for all of time.
Kate bent forward so she was looking into the Captain's eyes. In life, the woman's features had been sharp: pointed nose, narrow chin, high cheekbones. Her thin lips and small eyes framed by brown hair cut shoulder-length. Near-instant death in the cold of space had caused some swelling but this did not completely mar the woman's natural good looks. The quick freeze had left a layer of ice crystals on her pale skin and blue lips. Perhaps the Captain's most disturbing feature was her ice-coated eyes, staring back at Kate under sparkling eyelashes.
Looking into the white orbs as they glinted in the glow of her suit lights, Kate's mind spun. Had the woman died at her station during the catastrophe after the crew retrieved the orb? Or had she survived the ordeal only to succumb to a bit of space debris piercing the forward wall? Merrick's voice pulled her gaze away from the dead woman's face.
"There's three more over there," Merrick noted, gesturing with the barrel of his rifle at the other bridge stations. He carefully checked the bridge once more before turning back to the ironclad's Captain.
"Like her?" Kate asked. "Strapped in?"
"Yes. They died at their posts," Merrick noted with a hint of admiration in his voice. He gestured at the harness securing the Captain upright in her seat. "Whatever happened, it was fast."
"Meteor strike or gunfire?"
Merrick shined his light at the forward bulkhead where a bank of oversized cathode ray tube displays were mounted. One of the tubes was blackened and cracks radiated from a fist-sized hole in the curved screen. "Too exact for a lucky strike".
"Right," Kate breathed.
"Seems strange though..." Merrick said. He flicked his light between the deadly hole and the Captain.
Kate said nothing. As she was staring at the woman, the edge of her nametag glinted in her lights. She hesitated, then reached forward and brushed the thin coat of ice from the patch. She read the Captain's name aloud, "Reese..."
Without warning, Kate's gut flip-flopped and it felt as if the deck were sliding out from under her. She gasped and flung her arms wide. Before she could get a hold of Merrick, Kate found herself back on the bridge with a Captain Reese who was very much alive...
"Captain, the survey team is headed back from the surface."
Captain Jessica Reese nodded at the young woman manning the communications station. "Thank you, Lieutenant Phoebe. ETA at the docking bay?"
"Ten minutes, ma'am," Lt. Phoebe replied. She turned to look over her shoulder at the Captain and added, "They wanted to be sure you knew they managed to retrieve 'two special samples'...in their own words, Captain." Lt. Phoebe had no idea what that meant. She was the youngest officer aboard the deep space mission. As such, she was not always in the know concerning mission objectives. These the Captain seemed willing to share only with her senior staff and, of course, the Watcher. The cloaked man was a mystery to Phoebe. She had only heard rumors concerning the Council's Select before running into the man in one of the ship's dim corridors. She shivered at the memory of his glowing green eyes. His gaze, along with his aloof manner, discouraged the crew from approaching him.
"They succeeded?" A man's voice asked from behind Captain Reese.
Captain Reese swiveled her chair to face the robed figure.
"Yes, it would appear so, Select," Reese answered smoothly. "We'll know for sure when we've had a chance to examine the, ah, samples."
"Do not concern yourself, Captain," the Watcher said. "I will personally take charge of the artifacts."
Artifacts? Lt. Phoebe chanced a glance at the Watcher. His thick black robes concealed his build and age. But, from what she could see of his smooth hands and discern from the tone of his voice, she got the distinct impression this Watcher was young. Maybe even close to her age. His glowing eyes were a matter of much speculation among the Tallinn crew members. All they knew was the Watcher's authority came directly from the Tallinn Supreme Council.
As if sensing her sidelong gaze, the Watcher turned his head, snaring Lt. Phoebe with his iridescent gaze.
The Watcher's eyes gleamed within the shadow of his hood. Lt. Phoebe began to doubt her earlier assessment of the man's age. How could someone so young exude an aura which was so obviously ancient? She wanted to be free of those terrible eyes. The Watcher kept his gaze locked upon the young Lieutenant for several long seconds before swinging his attention back to Captain Reese.
Lt. Phoebe sighed silently in relief.
"Notify Centurion Markik. I want the Legion dispatched to the hold," the Watcher ordered. "I will give them further instructions when I arrive."
"As you wish, Select," Captain Reese replied, nodding respectfully.
Lt. Phoebe's mind swirled. The detachment of Legion soldiers seemed an odd welcoming party for the survey team returning from the surface. There were
over two dozen Legionnaires assigned to the ironclad. Lt. Phoebe had not questioned their presence before. After all, they were on a mission of exploration into unknown territory. Who knew what dangers they might encounter so far from home? Inclusion of the fighting force seemed a wise precaution given the uncertainties of their mission. Lt. Phoebe let her eyes slide back to the Watcher. This corner of space was unknown to her and the rest of Seiklus' crew. Perhaps the same was not true for their passenger.
Kate blinked and found herself back in the present. Merrick had a firm grip on her arm.
"Nemus?" Merrick asked. His face was close to Kate's. He looked carefully from one of her glowing eyes to the other.
Kate nodded and looked into Captain Reese's frozen features. Like Knowl before him, Nemus liked to share his insights, sometimes at very inconvenient times. Kate moved to rub a hand over her eyes and stopped when she realized her helmet prevented the gesture. She shuddered slightly. Even after all this time carrying around another being in her head, Kate still found the experience disorienting. It was hard to see someone fully alive in her visions only to be confronted with the evidence they were long dead right in front of her. She looked at Reese again and noticed the gleam of her luminescent blue eyes reflected in the Captain's glassy orbs. To Kate it almost seemed as if there were still a flicker of life deep inside Seiklus' commander. Kate felt a shiver run down her spine.
"What were they doing out here?" Merrick pressed. "Did you see what happened? What did they bring aboard along with the Aether Source?"
Kate squeezed Merrick's hand. He knew the visions disturbed her but, as always, he also recognized the need to complete their mission. To do his job, he needed information. Merrick needed to know what Kate had seen.
"There was a Watcher aboard," Kate said. "He was after something from the surface. They called them 'special samples' and 'artifacts'."
"Artifacts..." Merrick nodded as he turned the word over slowly. "Nemus called the Aether Source and the tablet artifacts."
