Out of the Ashes (Rise of the Empire Book 3)

by Ivan Kal

  “What? What is the cause?” Quvor asked alarmed.

  “Unknown.”

  “Run a full diagnostics.” Quvor said. He reached over to his computer and looked at the gauges. An alarm started flashing on his screen. The engines were steadily gaining heat, the cooling mechanism seemed to have failed.

  “This makes no sense.” Quvor said to himself, looking at the diagnostics it seemed like everything was in order. But now with the engines overheating, it looked like that grain of dust did more damage than he initially thought.

  “Computer deploy secondary cooling package.” Quvor said. Doing so would deplete his reserves, but he had no choice. He hoped that would give him time to figure out what was happening. “And start sending everything back to command.” The command was minutes away by laser comms, but it was still only him out here.

  Quvor looked as the engine heat started to drop, soon they were again in the acceptable range..

  With the danger delayed Quvor sighed in relief. But he still didn’t know what was wrong, the diagnostics still read as if everything was alright.

  ***

  Johanna heard a ping in her imp and immediately woke up. “Yes?” She asked over the implant link.

  “I am sorry to wake you Johanna. But there has been a development.” Andros said.

  “What is it?” Johanna asked, getting up and dressed.

  “Well, it’s about the ship we’ve been keeping an eye on.” Andros said.

  “Did it see us?” Johanna asked.

  “No, it’s just that we are close enough to scan it in more detail. And I think that you should come and see this.” Andros said.

  Johanna finished dressing, “I’m on my way.” She said and closed the link.

  A minute later she was sitting in her command chair looking at the hologram of the ship. It was a jumble of parts, big tanks and small modules attached to a big rear end. Although it was just barely half the size of an Olympus light cruiser.

  “So, what was it you wanted to tell me.” Johanna asked.

  Andros nodded to the Adjutant standing close. Johanna recognized her as the Sensor Handler from the third watch.

  “I have been keeping an eye on the alien ship, and as we got a more detailed scan I noticed a few things.” She took a breath and then pointed to the side of the hologram to one of the ship’s tanks. “The ship appears to have suffered some damage, most likely it hit some debris that punctured a hole in one of its air tanks. The damage was repaired, but it looks like the repairs aren’t holding properly. The tank is leaking air very slowly. And it appears as if the ship took other damage as well. Mainly to its engine cooling system. The damage is miniscule, I doubt that their sensors can even detect it. But it poses a threat to the ship, if it is not repaired soon the ship’s engine will start overheating. If the air tank doesn’t burst first.”

  Johanna looked at the small ship. “You said it has air tanks. So it is manned then?”

  “It is highly unlikely that it is unmanned.” Sensor Handler said.

  “And you want us to do what exactly? We are not supposed to interact with them. Bad enough that they will see us as we pass through their system. Should we take the ship on board? Fix it?” Johanna asked.

  “I don’t know Fleet Commander, I just thought that you should know.” Sensor Handler said.

  Johanna sighed, “Is there any chance that whoever is on that ship will notice the damage and fix it?”

  “If they haven’t until now, I doubt that they will figure it out in time to save themselves. They have a few days at the most.”

  “Thank you Adjutant. That will be all.” Johanna said, the Sensor Handler moved back to her spot, leaving only Andros standing close to Johanna’s chair.

  “What are you going to do?” Andros asked. Johanna thought about sending a message back to Sanctuary, but even with the comm relays it would take four days for the message to get there, and another four for their response. No, the decision was hers alone.

  “I have no idea.” Johanna answered.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Trivax system

  Quvor sat strapped into his chair panicking. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong, all the test told him that everything was fine, and yet he could still see his engines heat levels rising. The mood back on Trivax was the same, none of the geniuses back home could figure out what was wrong. Only they weren’t in his place. Quvor ran a diagnostic test for the tenth time in the last couple of hours, hoping that something would change. When that test came normal as well, he realized that he would have to leave the ship and see if he can find anything from the outside. He was putting it off because it was unlikely, the ship was big, and he only had a limited air supply for his suit. It would take forever to check the ship without knowing where to look.

  “Commander, scanners have detected a fast moving object.” The Computer said.

  Quvor frowned, “Where and what is it?”

  “The object is on an intercept course with us. I am unable to identify the object.” The Computer said.

  Quvor felt a strange feeling in his gut. “Show me.” The screen in front of him changed and showed two dots, one moving extremely fast towards the other. “This is impossible. Nothing can move that fast!” Quvor exclaimed, the object would reach his position in a manner of hours. He quickly started sending all the data back to the command, and ten minutes later as they got the data, they started debating on the nature of the object. Most insisted that it must be some kind of an asteroid, but the chance of it being on a direct course with Quvor’s ship was astronomical, not to mention that it was moving faster than any asteroid ever recorded.

  “Can you get me a visual?” Quvor asked.

  “Yes Commander.”

  A moment later a blurry image appeared on Quvor’s screen. He looked at the video feed trying to figure out what it is.

  “This is out of focus.” Finally Quvor said. “Can you sharpen the image?”

  “No Commander. The object is moving too fast for our sensors to adjust.”

  Quvor shivered, whatever was on his screen wasn’t an asteroid. He shut the video feed off, the only thing looking at a blurry image did, was enhance his fear. He felt hopeless, he couldn’t do anything but wait. The command back home felt the same way, but they weren’t here with him. Quvor watched as the dot that represented the unidentified object drew closer. And then some time later he felt his two hearts stop for a moment as he heard the Computer telling him that the object started slowing down.

  Quvor couldn’t believe this was happening to him. First the incident with the air tank, then the trouble with the engines, and now this. Hundreds of scenarios passed through his head as the dot moved closer and closer. Most involved him being taken prisoner and experimented on. He didn’t voice his fears out loud, lest he call them to become reality. He wondered what the control back on Trivax thought. They could see everything that he could, albeit a few minutes later. The Computer told him when the object slowed and came close enough for his sensors to give him a viewable image, but he didn’t want to see it. He was afraid. Then the dot moved closer and closer, and it finally stopped just besides his dot. For a few moments he just stared at it, not moving at all. And then he gathered his courage and unclasped his straps. He pushed off the chair and moved to a window on the side of his bridge.

  The sight that met him was that of a ship. It had lights on the outside that illuminated its hull. It was more than double the size of his ship, and he could see that it was much more advanced. Its hull was smooth and black, filled with sharp angles. And with things mounted on the hull. Quvor felt his fear intensify. He didn’t recognize what those things were, but he could guess. He saw the markings on the side of the ship, but of course couldn’t read them. In a moment he felt both elated and terrified. His people weren’t alone in the universe. Since the first time they looked to the stars, they have always wondered if there was someone else out there. They have written stories about them, imagined what they would
be like. And now he knew that they existed. A million questions came to his mind. Who were they? Where did they come from? And most importantly – What did they want with him?

  “We are receiving a radio transmission from the unidentified object Commander.” Quvor twisted around at the sound of the Computer’s voice.

  “What?”

  “We are receiving a radio transmission from the unidentified object Commander.” The Computer repeated.

  Quvor immediately pushed himself to the chair and strapped himself in. He accessed the communications panel, and then he hesitated. After a few moments he reached over and played the message.

  “Greetings.” A clearly synthetic voice said in Trivaxian, which startled Quvor. “We wish your people no harm, and we apologize if our presence startled you. We did not plan on contacting you directly, as our ships are only passing through your system.” Quvor’s ears twitched. Ships? He thought. “But we could not do nothing once we discovered the plight of your ship. Our ships sensors detected the damage to your ship, and we determined that with your current technology it is unlikely that you will realize what is wrong in time. We want to offer our help in repairing the damage to your ship. You can send a response to this frequency. If you do not wish our help, we will leave you alone. And if you wish it, answer quickly. Our ships cannot spare much time in this system and your ship’s time is running out.”

  As the message ended Quvor’s fear abated a little, and again he wanted nothing more than to ask them all the questions he had, but the fact that they detected what was wrong with his ship brought an feeling of haste to him. But still he hesitated, he didn’t know if he could trust them. And how would they repair his ship? Their ship was larger, but he doubted that they could put his ship into theirs. Would they come on board his ship? So many questions. As the time passed, he debated waiting for a response from the command, but he knew that the decision was ultimately his. Quvor took a deep breath and then recorded a message.

  ***

  Ship Master Karen Lee sat in the CC of the light cruiser Ajax, looking at her holo and the alien ship shown there. Then her Communications Handler turned to her,

  “We have a response Ship Master. They accept our offer to help.”

  Karen turned to her High Prime Robert Tully, “Send the repair team.” Robert opened a channel to the shuttle crew. They already knew what they needed to repair the ship, and had already fabricated the required materials. Then she turned back to the Comm Handler, “Send a message informing them of the repair team.” The Comm Handler nodded and started recording another message.

  “Ceres, can you send the translation of the alien language to the repair teams implants?” Karen asked her ship’s Ai.

  “Yes Ship Master. The translation isn’t complete, but it will suffice.” Ceres answered.

  “Good.” Karen said.

  Her High Prime turned to her as he closed the link with the shuttle crew.

  “Can you imagine traveling through space in something like that?” He asked, pointing at the alien craft. Karen’s only response was a shiver.

  ***

  Quvor watched as a smaller ship exited the big one and drew closer to his ship. It was much smaller than even his ship, it came to a stop above the air tank 3.

  “Commander.” The Computer’s voice startled Quvor. “We are getting a communication request, it is coming from the smaller object.”

  Quvor turned around and went back to his chair, he had again approached the window when the aliens told him they would be sending a repair team. Now he reached for the communications panel and accepted the communications.

  “Hello? Do you hear me?” A synthetic voice asked in Trivaxian, obviously it was some kind of translator device. Quvor gathered himself and answered,

  “Yes, I can hear you.” He said.

  “I just wanted to let you know that we will be sending a team to the surface of your ship to repair the damage.”

  “Uh… Okay.” Quvor lamely said. He looked over to another panel that showed a video feed of the outside of his ship. The cameras looked at the areas of his ship and were fixed. He studied the one that showed air tank 3. Soon he saw three figures ‘drop’ to his ship’s hull. Quvor gasped as he saw them, the first thing he noticed was that they were bipedal like his people were, but that they lacked a second pair of hands. And the next was their suits. They looked more like armor, and were slim, at least that was how they looked. The three aliens walked on his ship’s surface as if it had gravity, so Quvor assumed some kind of magnetic boots. Each suit had a cable connected to it stretching outside of the camera’s view, probably back to their ship, and then after a moment two of the aliens extended their hands alongside the cables and caught some kind of boxes that came down the cables. They detached the boxes from the cables, and started working on his ship’s hull.

  Quvor again felt a shiver of fear ran through him, they could be sabotaging his ship. But he knew that if they wanted to destroy his ship, they surely had easier ways. He watched as the two crouched down close to the place where his repairs were and start working. He couldn’t really see what they were doing, the camera was too far away. The third alien walked to the access hatch for the air tank 3 controls. He leaned down and opened it. He too started working. A few minutes later he glanced at the gauges for the air tanks, and saw that the pressure in the air tank 3 was dropping rapidly. Immediately Quvor sighed in relief. The aliens were helping him.

  A short time later, the aliens finished with the air tank and then moved to the engines. All the time they worked Quvor was busy recording everything about them and their ship. Control on Trivax watched with him breathlessly as the aliens repaired his ship, they were flabbergasted by the events. They had no plan for anything like this, and never did even a small possibility of something like this enter their minds. A couple of hours before they were alone in the universe, and now an alien race was helping repair his ship. It was mind-blowing.

  Then after they finished working on the engines they again contacted Quvor.

  “We are done, you shouldn’t have any problems now. But you really should build your ships more… Sturdier.” The generated voice said.

  “I’ll be sure to tell that to my people back home.” Quvor said, “Thank you.”

  “No problem friend.” He saw them start back to their ship.

  “Wait!” Quvor said, “I.. I have so many questions.”

  After a short pause he heard, “I know. What is your name?”

  “Quvor.” He said.

  “Well Quvor,” The alien said. Quvor heard his name spoken by a real voice not the synthesized one like the rest of his words, and it wasn’t exactly right. “My name is Karen.” The alien continued, now it was the alien’s name that was said in its real voice. “I know that you have a lot of questions, but I can’t give you the answers. Even this small interference will have grave repercussions for your people. We don’t want to do any more harm.” With that Quvor saw them getting pulled back to their small ship. “Safe travels Quvor.”

  Quvor looked as the small ship turned and went back to the bigger one, then the big ship slowly turned and left.

  ***

  “I don’t really feel right leaving them like this. We have already done irreversible damage to their society.” Andros said.

  Johanna felt the same, it seemed somehow irresponsible to her. They pass through their system, changing everything about their views of the universe, and then just leave. She chose to involve herself, to help an alien ship in need, because she felt that it was the right thing to do. She remembered what Fleets Master Reiss told her. That she was to use her own judgment, but not to endanger her own mission. But what about this alien world? It will change now that they know that there are other races out there. Johanna remembered all those movies and books that she so loved in her youth. In most of those, the advanced species would withhold knowledge, saying how the lesser race wasn’t yet advanced enough. It always seemed silly to Johanna. And now she
was in that position. She knew little about these people, hell she didn’t even know what they looked like, what right did she have to change their world? But she had to pass through their system, because of the needs of her own people. The least she could do was give them something in return for shattering their reality.

  “Turiel.” Johanna said.

  “Yes, Fleet Commander?”

  “I want you to put together a package of information…”

  ***

  “Commander.” The Computer said.

  “What is it?” Quvor asked.

  “We are getting another transmission, from the unidentified object.” The Computer said.

  “Well, play it.” Quvor said.

  “It is a video message Commander, and there is also a data file.”

  Quvor’s ears twitched and he reached over and played the video.

  An Image of an alien sitting in a chair aboard some kind of control center appeared on Quvor’s screen. The alien had no hair on its face, only on top of its head and it was a long mane that fell was pulled back behind it. The alien started speaking but no sound came through, then after a short delay a synthetic voice started speaking. “I wanted to keep the interaction between our people to a minimum. Because your people have not yet reached the level where you can travel amongst the stars. The things did not go that way, because I made a choice. And even if I didn’t make it, you would have still been changed.” The alien paused, “The universe is a dangerous place. If you choose to join us out here, you will need to be ready to face the consequences of that course. So I leave you with this small gift. I hope that you use it wisely. Farewell.” The screen went black, and Quvor looked at the data file the aliens have sent. Most of the information was in an alien language, but there were a few files that were translated into his, along with a guide to deciphering their language. Quvor’s eyes widened. From what he could understand, this data will change everything.

  ***

  “Did I do the right thing?” Johanna asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess that we will see in time.” Andros said, and Johanna nodded. The aliens have been trying to contact them for the entire trip her fleet took through their system on its way to the trans-station. But Johanna never answered. What she gave them would have to be enough. There was little of importance to Olympus there, mostly things to put them on the right track. After the light cruiser Ajax returned to the fleet, they knew where to look, and once they passed their planet they could see the glare of her ships drives. Johanna tried to imagine what was happening on their world as they watched her fleet pass.