by M E Wise
Breaching the second airlock, our suits immediately form the geometric barriers that act like helmets. I look to see if Dae has acclimated and she has. The room we exit into is nearly the size of our current transportation. There is no sign of life. The ship seems to be in some energy saving phase. Lights are on emergency only and even those have been replaced with mostly blue hues. I look to my wrist panel and bring up a floating holo screen. A local map is being formed. It can’t map the entire ship without exploring it. “I count a dozen unused jumpsuits and adjoining lockers Reign.” Shares Dae. We continue cautiously. Where is the crew? How is this ship operating without one?
The corridor’s walkways are lined precariously with multitudes of cabling. “This isn’t meant to be walked on.” I note aloud. We follow a short hallway to a room labeled galley. There were no signs it had been used in a very long time. Many of the kitchen area had been obviously retooled for more cables and makeshift generators and junctions. A partially covered map beside the entrance gave us a better look at where we are. Ahead lay the quarters, shortly beyond the belly of the beast’s cargo and working floor, then the Captains control.
We tread softly, ready for anything even though we were unarmed. I kept Dae just at my back. The eerie emptiness made for an unsettling experience. I felt like I was in some holos I would sneak as a child of old movies from Earth called horror. To break the tension, I would occasionally make eye contact with Dae and give her my reassuring nod. “A ghost ship.” Dae said anxiously.
“A ship of the dead?” I questioned. She shook her head. “No. A ghost ship is a ship that continues to sail without her crew; dead or alive.” A light moved ahead of us near the quarters and we clung to the wall out of sight. It moved in constant motions so we proceeded slowly in its direction. Just to our right through a window in the quarters community room was a cleaning bot stuck in place. The bot was working itself back and forth, high-centered on some of the ample cable lining the floor. I helped it along with my foot. Again the crew quarters on either side of the hall beyond the community room were empty; long empty. Toward the rear was the Captain’s quarters. “Let’s look there for a log and any clues to what we are dealing with here.” I shared over the COM link. “Good idea.” Agreed Dae.
The Captains door was a bit stiff but opened with some convincing of my shoulder. A monitor was the only thing lighting the room. The area was sizeable compared to the other quarters with a small study before the main sleeping area. A small half kitchen and full bath were to opposite sides of the room from each other. The Captain’s bed was unmade and his clothing tossed about without a care. “You think these Tekkers, you call them, seized this ship?” I asked aloud. “What do you know about them?” I turned to Dae and there stood a person behind her! I quickly pushed her to one side and wrangled the individual.
“Don’t kill me bro!” begged a familiar voice! It was Ben!
“What the hell were you thinking asshole!” Screamed Dae as she pushed at him. I remained between them in case she wanted to finish what I had started. “Things were taking so long I came to check on you guys. What do I get for my troubles?” He joshed. Dae gave him a terrible look. “I call dibs on the Captain’s jacket!” Ben said quickly grabbing the discarded garment from the floor and applying it over his vacuum suit and hoodie. “This place is mondo creepy. Have you found the person driving it yet? Thing?”
“We were getting there.” I said consoling Dae with a hand on the shoulder. “That would have been the Captain there.” I pointed at a family photo on the foldout desk near the closet. He had an atypical Captain’s appearance. Very clean-cut, beardless and wearing glasses. I guess my thoughts on that could be colored by history and entertainment holos. Shipping schedules hung on the back of his door. A physical calendar marked time in deep space with long black lines through dates. A picture of a little boy and a pregnant woman were pinned to it.
As Ben rummaged about for keepsakes, Dae and I made better use of our time. “I am going check his computer for that log,” she said. I moved out again toward the other rooms. She began to read to us from the logs. “Oh he has some correspondence on here! Is it ok to read them?” She questioned as if someone would object. She continued. “This one is the first marked 2099!” She states intrigued.
RE: RE: Anna; you married a deep space Captain baby! I know you don’t like me being gone but I don’t have much of a choice. The long periods of travel aren’t easy and I miss my son too. This is what I have to do. It brings home the money!
RE: RE: RE:
Being Mrs. Captain Travis Cole was never going to be easy but I stuck by you during the merchant marines and survived you vying for Captain to get your own ship. You said it was for the money! For us. No money replaces a father Trav. Nor a husband. See you in 2100 love.
Attached: Junior’s Birthday video
I hear Dae click the video player on. A child’s voice says, “We love you Daddy and miss you! Bring me back space rocks!” Little feet noisily run back to a party in the background.
“How sad is that?” States Dae. “There are logs but they are not regulation logs.” She reads aloud again.
2100 unknown date 0315 AM: The Reddirt brass want me to go deeper again. I can’t keep doing this to my family. I’m working but I’m not living. I made it home after New Year’s just in time to leave again. We did get to spend the weekend in bed though!
2100 February 14th 1700 PM: I just got a video transmission from home. Anna is pregnant with our second child, Happy Valentine’s Day! She’s anxious but the checks are still being deposited to our account and she doesn’t have to worry about anything. I need to find a balance. Less sleep would mean I have more time for completing the contract. I need to look into that.
2100 July something 0355 AM: The neuro-stimulator I had jacked into my head keeps me awake just as advertised but I can’t help but hear this strange hum. I shouldn’t have bought black market gear. But I couldn’t let Anne know. She’d freak the fuck out! I love technology though. Always have; since the Tek forums have been so pseudo religious lately I can see I’m not alone. The crew thinks I’m nuts. They should try this though. I would make it mandatory based on my efficiency increase on contract fulfillment and returns but the brass wouldn’t have it.
“This guy seems to be getting weird. He mentioned Tek forums?” Dae looked to Ben to elaborate.
“Oh! So I’m the nerd!” He feigns being appalled. “The Tekkers started out mostly like some cult of technology. Ever since the birth of the internet people were trying to stay connected as it was called. Constant connectivity to information, other people; anything with blinking lights and some ever increasing functionality.” He paused and wiggled his fingers eerily. “Some people warned that it was like an addiction and no one listened. They began to classify people by how many ticks they could list, like how many devices they had. How much those devices meant to them on a scale. It got really weird on all their parts. The Tek forum went from some nerd and geek hang out to a self-help manual very quickly. It fed all the right ideas and soon it grew into something of a competition.”
“The concern wasn’t unwarranted though Ben!” Said Dae. “I studied cases in medical school about body modifications people were doing. Some things were near irreversible. We got our fair share of campfire stories about them too.”
“Campfire tales?” I lingered closer. “They are like spooky tales that may or not be true.” Answered Dae. “These Tekkers were on watch lists. If someone came to a doctor looking for upgrades it was illegal without approval. It didn’t stop chop shops from popping up on remote shipping lanes or back alleys in the colonies. Money talked louder than morality.” She again scrolled through the files to something more current. “I don’t think this guy stopped with the stimulator.”
2101 unknown date 0255 AM: My crew is worthless and I have cut back to a skeleton crew of the prior twelve. I now operate everything with remote drones. I have become so efficient they may make me an admiral. Howeve
r, they have addressed my appearance as of late as unbecoming an Admiral of Operations. Can you believe that! All of my advancement and they want to placate some offense to my implants. These augments made this all possible!
2101 December 23rd 2155 PM: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Travis; It has been six months or more since we have heard from you. Your daughter was born November 5th and you never called, videoed or even mailed. It’s been a year since you have been home. What have you done to yourself? Are you even alive? Please let us know something! Your son said “Daddy isn’t there anymore!” He wasn’t talking about being home but about your damned obsession with upgrading or whatever the hell you call it! You aren’t yourself anymore. This isn’t worth it anymore. If you can’t salvage us, then what kind of a Salvage Captain are you?
“I don’t think I can read anymore Reign.” She pushes away from the desk. “It’s heart-breaking.”
“Was that the last entry?” I asked moving toward the computer. “No more reports or anything?”
“Only one official. A termination contract with the Red Planet Industries out of Midland Texas. “To add an even worse twist. But that would mean they would have commandeered the ship?” Dae said with concern.
“EFFECIENCY IS PREFECTION>INcOMPETENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED”
Scrolled an incredibly unexpected message across the screen. “Reign!” yelped Dae. I came to her side. “What the fuck was that?” She whispered tethering my arm in hers.
“We need to search the rest of the ship and get out of here before I need to empty my suit!” Motioned Ben to his pants. He began to look more alert than before. We proceeded forward to the belly of the ship. Dae followed close and Ben shortly behind. My holo-map was working well enough. The corridor widened like a throat to the stomach of a great monster. A single walkway went over the entire processing and storage floor with the occasional lift down or ladder down into the gut of this huge ship. Then we all noticed at near the same time, the machinery, bots and drones were all ominously watching us. Their sensor and camera lights followed us as we moved.
“This is absolutely insane!” Dae said nearly vibrating with fear. Her hand had a white knuckle grip on mine. I looked back to find Ben hunkered up closely to Dae. We moved forward with a greater sense of urgency. To our unease the watching machinery remained fixed and watched us go by without interference. When we reached the other side they went about their activities without any evidence they had ever stopped. We looked to each other with a unified focus to get the hell out of here soon.
We approached a door with the same Tek or Die imagery splashed on it. Apparently it was some logo or proud colors flown like old flags. The doors slid opened and shut again, then half opened and stuck. I grabbed a shaft of metal and timed a spot to wedge the door open. All of the cables seemed to be convening through the walls and air ducts here. Ahead was the ships control, the Captain’s control to be certain. A massive forward viewing portal gave way to a fantastic field of stars and the shifting Kuiper Belt. And I noticed the outline of what could be a person against this black-drop. I motioned the others to hold their positions. “Reign?” moaned Dae. Again I motioned them to stay back.
The figure was on a level slightly under ours. Leading to yet another level where co-pilots and a navigator would be, should there had been either. I kept my peripherals fixed on the lone figure as I tried hard not to trip and ruin the surprise, if I had that at all! I slowly snuck around and began to face my opponent. He made no movements at all. Could he be dead? Then I heard the gurgle and a wheezing. There was no need to be concerned. He wasn’t going to move.
The others must have seen me transfixed but not apposed and made their way down. There in the light of the galaxy hanged a man suspended. Not a man, only a torso with a single left arm attached; a wedding band shined brightly on his hand. Cables ran in and out of his body like entrails. Leaks ran down hoses and found their way to puddles on the floor. Dae gasped and hid her eyes in my chest. Ben looked stunned. “I’ve never seen Tekker this far gone!” Dae fought back nausea.
His legs were gone. His genitalia removed. Attached to his face was a mirrored visor with numbers and random text scrolling across it. If you looked just right, you could see under the mask and make out one eye moving wildly behind it. The other had been removed and the optic nerve wired into the face augment. His flesh heavily jaundiced from being fed by the machines seemed waxy and fake. His lips, long receded lead to his sunken cheeks and cheek bones with mounting clips for the mirror mask. His brain exposed and heavily modified. This was not a life.
“You have our ship.” I said to him. A catalogue flowed across the visor too fast to read. “Are you aware?” I asked him not knowing where to look. Catching awkward reflections of myself, Dae and Ben in the visor.
Scrambled versions of his logs and exchanges whirled across the visor. They oddly changed fonts and scale. The rapid nature of it seemed like an argument between his last bits of consciousness and the machine he had become. Suddenly the visor went blank. Then clearly in a font that scaled as wide as the whole mask scrolled, “Please Anne.” Dae sobbed. Even Ben seemed moved by the message. After a brief pause, next scrolled, “Help Me.”
I stepped forward and thought of my options. I looked to Dae and Ben, nothing need be said. I entered into a link with Captain Cole. His relief was overwhelming and his request was release. I felt all of the emotion of letting go of everything he had done and he wanted only to notify his family he had been lost to space. I acknowledge his need. I stepped away from the sharing and looked one more time into the visor. “Thank you.” Continuously scrolled across the device. I reached beneath him and flipped a series of switches and then pulled the main interface cable from the power source. A single tear fell from his remaining eye and slipped free from behind the visor down his worn face. I did not cry, I just turned to the last scene he ever witnessed and let it soak into my memory.
The drones began circling and returning to the vessel. The interior bots returned to their storage and the ship began to cycle on. A return destination came up on a monitor for the Mars spaceport. PROPERTY RECLAIMATION ORDER Red Planet Industries 2103-99 appeared on a screen near the crane and cargo controls like a beacon. I programmed a release sequence and from a port window watched the Hermes77 gently float away.
We made our way to the Aries and set to rendezvous with the Hermes. It was a silent lift off and an even quieter journey to the Hermes regardless of how far away it actually was. Ben inverted the vessel belly to belly with the Hermes and I began sensing the quintet of compressed minds reach out for confirmation of my person. Once they had it, the airlock opened up and two bodies of the technicians fell nearly on top of us! “Please excuse the corpses Reign. These interlopers were sabotaging systems in their panic once we jumped. They could not breath vacuum.”
“That’s one mean ship Reign!” Ben states the obvious. I didn’t care to have the Hermes explain further.
“And who might these passengers be?” asked the whacky craft. “All in due time.” I said aloud.
“For now let’s take care of this unfortunate fodder. Then I want to run predictive evaluations on the possibility of leaving the Sol system with the other vessel attached.” I say dragging a body to an airlock, Ben following with another. “You’re not just going blow them out into space are you?” Asks Dae. I look to her and to Ben, he steps out of the air lock and I hit the release button. A blank look is all I can muster. She doesn’t say anything else.
“The successful joined jump is 100% Reign.” Hermes announces. “Are you certain Hermes?” I stress. “Indeed Reign. By adjusting the field for the new additional matter, all matter will shift with the phase jump.”
“With all certainty?” I again confirm.
“Without question Reign.” Hermes replied.
Ben stayed on the Aries and began strapping things in. Dae and I explored the Hermes77 and swept for bugs and devices of human military make to avoid any unf
oreseen mishaps. Soon we would need to find a way to connect these two vessels together without fear of them separating and leaving us open to vacuum. We worked together as a fine team. I hope one day to call them family. A word I have never had the pleasure to use in my lifetime.
Reign Chapter 14
One Last Wrong
The last six hours were spent making sure the two vessels carrying us home are properly fastened for the jump. The docking clamps from both ships have had their hydraulic lines disconnected for a more permanent connection. We shored up the seals between the ships with a Mor’h polymer used to repair hull breeches in the rare but dangerous micro-meteor storms sometimes encountered in deep space. We were exhausted and felt the last of it was behind us. Such relief made for a lackadaisical and relaxed atmosphere.
The massive Tekker barge still loomed behind us. Every once in a while we found ourselves bracing for it to begin pursuit once again. The sting of the entire ordeal still remained. We needed desperately to rest and regroup but that couldn’t be achieved in the Sol system. I had inadvertently branded two remarkable people with the crime of harboring some invading alien in a conspiracy to which I couldn’t directly deny knowing to be true or not, or if I had just been wrongfully prejudiced in the wake of other’s innocent mistakes. Such histories never agree with the future or sort out the truth written by the victor or the victims.
