by Craig Gaydas
“Well, what I meant is what's the big deal? It probably moved to another location. It's a spaceship so it moves, right?” I mumbled.
“No, the Argus does not just move,” Natronix replied, practically spitting the words at me. “Especially if an exploration vessel is deployed.”
I realized I harbored a strong dislike for the captain and briefly questioned whether I wanted to be a part of his crew at all. My face flushed in anger and I was about to vent my frustration when Calypso interrupted.
“The protocol is to remain in the area until a deployed vessel returns,” he clarified. “If a situation arose where it needed to relocate, protocol is they notify us of a new rendezvous point. We do this so an IPS vessel doesn't become stranded in space.”
I slumped against the wall as the reality of the situation sunk in. Natronix looked away from me to a crewmember who had an antenna sticking from his ear. He was preoccupied with turning knobs and flipping switches on his console, completely oblivious to the captain's stare.
“ISS Argus, this is the IPS Cirrus requesting your location, please respond,” he said, his voice crackling with urgency.
Natronix turned toward a muscular, blue-skinned humanoid manning a knob attached to a lever who had been busy examining the monitor over his head. “Rawls, can you tell if there are any ISS class vessels in the vicinity.”
Rawls adjusted the control lever. The screen above his head projected an image of space, which moved as Rawls changed the point of view. Stars, distant planets and asteroids zoomed past while he searched the vastness of space for any signs of a ship. Pushing different buttons caused several smaller screens to pop up inside the main screen, each showing a different section of space. Saturn popped up on one screen, empty space on another and a swirling cluster of stars that looked like a galaxy appeared on another. Unfortunately, none of the screens showed any ships in the area.
“Zeek, try to reach out on the communicator and see if any other Consortium ships are in the area,” Natronix said to the crewmember with the antennae sticking from of his ear.
“Sir, I think I have located the Argus,” Rawls shouted.
“Where the hell is it?” Natronix shot out of his chair and stormed over to the monitor.
“It appears to be eight miles beyond the solar system, approximately 12,000 miles from our current location, sir.”
“12,000 miles?” Satou gasped. “How can that be?”
No one answered his question. Instead, Natronix ordered Rawls to intercept the Argus at maximum speed. Of course I had no idea how fast “maximum speed” was, but Satou mentioned that IPS class spaceships can travel almost as fast as NASA space shuttles, but nowhere near as fast as ISS ships can go. He hoped that the Argus remained stationary or at best, turned around and came back our way so we could catch up.
“So, what now?” I asked.
Before he could answer a disembodied voice came across the communication system. It was muddled by static and difficult to understand, but I recognized the underlying urgency.
“This…Argus…calling…please respond,” the voice pleaded. “Argus trying to…Cirrus…you there…respond?”
“Sir,” Rawls cried. “The Argus is on the move, heading back to its original position.”
“Argus, this is the Cirrus,” Zeek shouted into his headset. “We hear you and are redirecting on an intercept course. We should be at your location in a little over an hour.”
Natronix hurried over to Rawls and looked at his screen. I saw a large blip on the east side heading west and a smaller blip on the west side heading east. Both blips looked to be on an eventual collision course, assuming the smaller blip was us and the larger blip was the Argus. I silently hoped that the bigger ship came with an excellent set of brakes.
“What the hell is that?” Natronix asked.
I slipped soundlessly behind Natronix and watched the screen. He grunted but moved aside to let me see the three larger blips following the Argus. All four of the blips seemed to be moving at a high rate of speed and quickly closed the gap between them and us.
“Cirrus…no…turn back,” the voice cried. The communications became less disembodied the closer we got. “We are…attack. Rendezvous point….Neptune Defense Sierra Alpha Nine.”
Rawls tensed in his chair and Natronix turned away from the screen and barked orders. “Zeek relay our acknowledgement. Rawls change course to the Neptune Belt.”
Natronix brushed past me and returned to the periscope, turning the instrument frantically side-to-side scanning the cosmos. I backed away from the monitor and looked at Satou, who was engrossed in a conversation with Madoc and, assuming by his animated body language, it appeared to involve the current situation.
They stopped talking as soon as I approached them. Madoc walked away and voiced his concerns to Calypso, while Satou crossed his arms and looked at me.
“What is attacking the Argus?” I asked.
Satou shook his head. “I do not know, Nathan. The vessels are too difficult to identify at this distance. Most species in this galaxy, outside of Earth of course, are aware of the Explorer's League and know that we are primarily intergalactic exploration and research. We have never encountered hostile actions here before.”
“If those ships decide to attack us, do we have any way to defend ourselves?” I asked.
“No,” he replied plainly. “The Argus is equipped with weaponry capable of self-defense, but it appears that they are outnumbered. Our best bet is to hide at the rendezvous point, while the Argus attempts to outrun them.”
“So, what is the Neptune Belt?” I asked.
Satou guided me toward one of the screens where he punched up a map. “This is your galaxy, Nathan.” He pointed toward a large circle. “This here is Neptune, and between that planet and your sun is a dense asteroid field that we have dubbed the Neptune Belt. Due to our small size, our ship can navigate safely through the field, where we can avoid direct combat completely.”
“What about the Argus?” I asked. “From what I can see, that ship is a lot larger than ours. It doesn't seem like they would be able to pass through the asteroid belt without severe damage.”
Rawls interrupted us before Satou could respond. He addressed Natronix, but the captain did not remove his eyes from the periscope.
“Sir, it appears that the vessels pursuing the Argus have backed off.”
Natronix tore his eyes away from the scope and looked over at the communications panel.
“Zeek?”
“On it, sir,” he replied and turned toward the panel. “Argus, this is the Cirrus, are you all clear?”
All eyes in the room were on the screen and we watched the three blips disappear from the east. Only the Argus remained but it continued its course towards us. Although the tense silence that followed Zeek's question seemed to last for an eternity, it couldn't have been longer than a few seconds.
“Cirrus, it appears that our pursuers have retreated for an unknown reason. We will continue on course to rendezvous at your location and should be there shortly.”
The connection went dead and I watched the Argus blip on the screen as it closed in on our location. I peeled my eyes from the monitor and scanned the room. Natronix scoured space through the periscope, Calypso whispered something to Satou and left the room while the rest of the crew continued piloting us toward our meeting point. I found my thoughts drifting to the three vessels that were chasing the Argus and wondered if they were related to the beings that attacked Mars long ago. Because of the size of the universe it was near impossible to identify all alien races and even more difficult to determine who was friendly and who was not.
“I have visual contact with the Argus,” Natronix said and pushed a button, retracting the handles and sliding the entire unit into the ceiling. “Prepare docking protocol.”
“Yes sir,” Rawls replied and turned his attention to the control panel by pushing buttons and following up with several knob turns.
Satou grabb
ed my elbow and pulled me close. “Come on, Nathan, I imagine docking will be a sight to behold for someone who has never been in space before. I would not want you to miss it.”
He led me down the hall to the elevators which we took to deck three. On our way down I tried to imagine what made docking with another space ship so special. I had seen NASA spaceships docking with orbiting space stations on television before, and it really appeared to be no big deal.
We exited the elevator and entered what could be described as a viewing room. The room allowed us a panoramic view of space, with windows on all sides of us, giving off the impression that we were floating in space. There were handrails located in front of each window and I grabbed one to ward off an oncoming case of vertigo. I saw the Argus through one of the side windows and immediately realized the holographic image from earlier did not accurately portray its size. It loomed before us like one of the dinosaurs in Calypso's movie. As our ship approached the Argus, I understood what Satou meant when spoke about the docking process. It truly was a sight to behold.
Looking at the front of the Argus was like looking at the front of a U.S. naval battleship. The similarity ended, however, when the bow of the ship opened like a mouth. I leaned in to look closer and accidentally banged my head against the glass. Satou grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back behind the railing to prevent me from falling over.
“You may not want to do that again, because those windows can get pretty cold,” he said with a smile.
I leaned back and the front of the Argus opened wide, preparing to swallow us whole. Light bars lined both sides of the entranceway, allowing visibility of our target within the blackness of space.
Several moments later we were within the bowels of the Argus, the deepness of space replaced by the confinement of metal beams and control panels while crewmembers scrambled around our ship from within the docking bay.
I turned to Satou. “What now?”
Satou stood straight and shrugged. “Well, I assume the first thing on the agenda is to find out why the Argus was not where it should have been.”
We left the observation deck and bumped into Calypso and Natronix as they exited the elevator. Both glanced at me before shifting their gaze toward Satou, who responded with a slight nod.
“Nathan, let me escort you back to your quarters,” Satou said and turned to me. “There is no need for you to remain here as we go through security procedures which may only serve to bore you.”
I started to voice my protest, but their faces told me to not press the matter. I slumped my shoulders and moped down the hall with Satou. Once we were out of earshot of the others he stopped me.
“I know there is a lot you do not understand, and there is a lot of work ahead of you. The responsibilities of the Cartographer cannot be taken lightly,” he said sympathetically. “But I will offer a word of advice. Make sure to review the files on your computer and study the map. This is the best way you can help us now, for the mysteries of the map have remained locked to us for some time. To help acclimate you to the Argus, the crew has taken the luxury of recreating your room aboard the Argus as well.”
We reached the door to my quarters, but before I could enter, Satou stopped me one more time.
“Remember what I said, Nathan. Within the Consortium, especially to the Explorer's League, knowledge is our currency. The more you can provide to us to help us grow as an organization, the more valuable you are to our society.” He smiled and walked away, leaving me alone to ponder his words.
I entered the room and marveled at how perfectly the crew recreated from the Cirrus. I sat at the desk and flipped on the computer. After spending a few minutes browsing through the programs I found myself drawn to the map. I scanned through the various planets, stars and galaxies that had been plotted during past Explorer's League voyages. Over the next hour I studied the map and realized it was similar to the maps of Earth. Galaxies were marked with symbols and connected by dotted lines. Some of the lines were straight and others curved, as if to avoid some sort of space obstacle. I scrolled through the map and found the Milky Way, except the Explorer's League dubbed it “GX-743”. I clicked on it which revealed a close up of the galaxy and all the planets contained within. I zoomed out and picked another galaxy, marked “GX-744”, next to the Milky Way. I zoomed in and discovered fifteen planets in their solar system. One planet was the size of Jupiter but looked more like Earth. I scanned other planets and noticed a ‸ symbol which I discovered were installed communication transceivers. I was about to click on another galaxy when the doorbell rang.
“Come in,” I called.
Calypso entered and greeted me with a smile. “How are you holding up Nathan? I hope recent events haven't weighed heavily on your mind.”
“Nope. As a matter of fact, I have been looking over the map,” I said, flicking a thumb toward the computer.
He put his hands on his hips. “Oh really?”
I frowned, wondering if I should have waited for someone, before snooping around the map. Calypso recognized my consternation and flipped me a smile.
“I am happy to see that you took the initiative to move forward with learning.” He looked over my shoulder at the map. He appeared enthralled with the information displayed on the screen.
I swiveled in my chair and looked at him. “Did you find out who was chasing the Argus?”
My question snapped him out of his trance. His mouth formed a tight white line and he stiffened. “Not exactly. Captain Jasper said that the vessels resembled those of the Lumagom, but he had to be mistaken.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
Calypso let out a chuckle and hesitated briefly, as if he was unsure how to answer. “Yes Nathan, it is impossible because the Lumagom were destroyed several centuries ago during the battle of Seti Alpha Nine.”
“Seddy Alpha Nine?”
His features softened. “S-E-T-I, with a T,” Calypso clarified. “It is a satellite celestial body orbiting Caelum. They brazenly believed they could attack Caelum directly, and found that they were no match for the planet's defenses.”
“Sucks to be them, I guess.”
“Enough with ancient history and back to the reason I came here in the first place,” Calypso said with a wave of his hand. “The reason I came here was to let you know that we are making a side trip before we journey to Caelum.”
“Oh really?” I asked. “Where are we going?”
Calypso's face hardened again which gave his crimson eyes the illusion that they burned with an internal fire.
“We are going to find out who was pursuing the Argus, of course.”
Had A Little Help From My Friends
Calypso's demeanor intrigued me. As the leader of the Explorer's League he seemed more warlike than one would expect from an ordinary explorer. I wondered what position he had prior to joining the League.
“So, do you need me to do something?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze.
He took a seat at the end of the bed. “Well, Nathan, we have been watching you ever since you came aboard. We are pleased that you took great interest in everything we have taught you so far. The fact that you passed the test proves that you are ready to start you training, if you are ready to accept the responsibility.”
“That depends on the responsibility I suppose,” I replied sheepishly. “A cartographer makes me think of some kind of mapmaker. Do I need to design maps or something?”
Calypso laughed. “No, Nathan. The map has already been designed. You only need to catalogue.”
“Catalogue?” I repeated.
“The Cartographer's primary responsibility is cataloguing data and maintaining its accuracy as you travel to new, uncharted regions.”
“Oh gee, that sounds exciting,” I replied sourly. “So I would basically be some sort of glorified administrative assistant.”
“No, not at all. As a matter of fact the Cartographer does much more than plot waypoints and fill in blanks. They are also a
member of the initial scout team sent to a planet's surface upon its discovery. You will be on the front line of exploration and will work side by side with the team in identifying and collecting samples of alien indigenous life.”
My initial annoyance ebbed, giving way to renewed excitement. The chance to discover new worlds and new life was too much to pass up. “Well, that sounds much more exciting. I guess I will accept your offer.”
Calypso smiled, slapped his knees with the palms of his hands and stood up. His excitement doused the fire in his eyes. “Excellent, I will let Satou know that you have accepted!”
He turned for the door.
“Wait!” I called out, stopping him before he exited.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.
Calypso turned and his smile faded. “You will have to start training in order to fully understand the full scope of your responsibility. You will need to learn covert operations, hostile engagement, planetary topography and geologic retrieval.”
I slumped my shoulders in disappointment. There would be no way I could learn all of that quickly enough to appease my immediate curiosity. Maybe by the time I turned fifty I might have enough training to go on my first scouting mission. Calypso recognized my frustration and crossed his arms with a smile.
“I have faith you will succeed,” he offered. “Being the Cartographer is a very serious responsibility and you have passed the first test. The test was designed as the first in a series of increasingly difficult tasks. Although difficult, it will be rewarding in the end.”
“Especially for a human,” a gruff voice called from the hallway.
Natronix stood in the hall with his hands on his hips and a sour look on his face. He wore the look so often that I begun to think it came natural to him. Aside from his statement he completely ignored me, and turned to Calypso.
“Captain Jasper is ready to be debriefed.”
Calypso nodded and whispered over his shoulder. “Pay no mind to Natronix, his lack faith in humanity does not represent mine.”
