Cindy ponders what a flashing star could mean. “Okay, take us there. But I want us to have energy reserves when we arrive.”
“Yes ma’am,” John replies with relish. Turning to Joe and Andrew, the three men discuss their options.
The hours drag on as the Terran heads toward the curiosity, making not one, but two jaunts via the main drive. The first puts the G-type star at a distance of less than one light year away. It is at this time that the bridge crew receives new data on the star system. The fifth planet is the one that is actually flashing, and the one marked by the Gamin systems as habitable. The second jaunt has them heading straight for the planet.
The crew is fully rested and back on the bridge ready to find out what the mystery is about. Thanks to the new data, Andrew and Joe are able to plot a course that will put the ship almost in orbit around the fifth planet. Cindy watches her crew as they monitor their progress.
Joe watches his console diligently, referring to his laptop from time to time. He holds up his left hand, his voice a little high with nervous anticipation. This is the closest course he has ever plotted to a planetary body. “John, prepare to disengage the main drive on my mark. Three... Two… One… Mark!”
John slides his finger down the left side of his panel, reducing power to the main drive. He then deftly taps his console shutting the main engines down. A split second later he touches the symbol for the sub-light engines while simultaneously activating every thruster, in preparation for maneuvers.
Cindy is beyond impressed as John performs some fine piloting putting the Terran in a high orbit within seconds. Her eyes glint with pride at their efforts as she says. “Okay, let’s see what we have.”
The flood of data is too much for GUS. While the diminished computer system receives the Gamin data, the bridge crew can only wait. John maneuvers the ship so they can at least look at the planet.
Andrew and Joe are busy pouring over the data and only look up when John whistles out in exclamation. “Would you look at that!”
Cindy’s jaw drops at the sight of the planet as it swings into view above them. A single large moon hangs off in the distance. What stops them cold though, is the unexpected color. The planet is bathed in unsightly dark grey swirling clouds. The thickness of the cloud cover lending itself to darker or lighter shades of grey. The ground below is completely obscured.
Cindy glances at her crew, then issues her instructions. “John, get Edwards up here. I want you and George to take the shuttle and get a closer look.”
She chews on her lower lip for a few seconds before venturing on. “Joe, that does not look natural to me, what does your data tell you?”
Joe looks at Andrew, then in exasperation replies, “Even when GUS was fully functional, the influx of any large amount of data took a while to process. What I can tell you is that the planet has a gravity close to Earth’s with a day-night cycle that is also comparable, at roughly twenty-five hours. Beyond that, I can’t give you any more.”
John and George make fast time getting to the Gamin shuttle. George leaves his suit in the shuttle’s storage compartment to sit with John up front. They depart the Terran, and quickly descend into the planet’s swirling clouds.
The layer of clouds that cover the entire planet is very thick. After five minutes of flying, the shuttle breaks through the unsightly clouds, revealing a most drab and dismal scene. A huge ocean of murky brown water ebbs and flows beneath them. Patches of dark vegetation float here and there.
George wordlessly points to a distant forest of dark brown trees, they also appear to be dead. Between the two scenes, small waves of dark murky water roll up and onto a beach area which is layered in masses of dark unidentifiable material.
John reviews his instruments, then pilots them toward structures they can see in the distance. George’s jaw drops as the massive city comes into view. Smudged concrete and glass make up the scene before them. Down between the crumbling buildings, a series of pathways are evident. John takes them even lower, small clusters of white objects can be seen dotting the pathways below.
“Do you think they killed themselves in some biological accident or a war?” George asks out of morbid curiosity. The city rivals that of Earth’s largest and most complex. A few tall spires reach high into the sky, while others have clearly collapsed. The outskirts of the city has what appears to be industrial areas, while beyond these, lay coffee colored fields.
John spots an advanced looking monorail that leads out from the city. Wordlessly, he follows the single rail as it traverses the dreary countryside. Lifeless city after depressingly lifeless city is all they find.
“What is that?” John suddenly exclaims.
George follows his finger to a massive crater in the distance. Monorails converge here from all directions, they lay bent and twisted, terminating at the raised edge of this massive hollow. The center of this large depression is filled with murky water. He breaks out in a rash of goose bumps the second he spots the single metallic finger pointing up out of the water, aiming at the grey skies above. He gulps as he instantly recognizes it.
John’s jaw drops in shock as he too spots the strut, one identical to those that held the Terran in place back on Earth.
“I am going to explore more cities,” John says hesitantly.
George nods, he understands what John is looking for. Flying faster and faster, they follow the monorail system, searching as they go. George relays the cheerless news to Cindy, while John surveys another dead city. Eventually they find what they both fear and yet half expected to discover.
“There!” John says, pointing off into the distance.
On the outskirts of an extremely large city, one which has almost been completely levelled, rests a massive object. Even from this distance the resemblance is unmistakable. Monorails lead to this alien craft from all over the countryside. John flies around the monstrosity, confirming their suspicions. It is clearly of Gamin design and is easily the same size as the spacecraft that had landed in Manhattan.
John’s jaw drops in shock. He points downward and says. “Wow! Look at that!”
An entire section of the forward hull has been completely destroyed. Metallic remnants are all that remain, as though an area between the front of the ship and the bridge area was just vaporized. Surprisingly enough, the main hull housing the bridge remains intact. The very nose of the ship is still mostly intact and points skyward due to a single landing strut that still holds firm. John takes them down between the damaged sections, then flies around the upward angled nose, which though small in comparison, to this ship, is easily larger that the hangar deck on the Terran. The nose area rises up from the ground, its lower decks are crushed where the support struts either gave way, or never existed in the first place.
John looks at George curiously. “Why would someone destroy that area of the ship and not the bridge?”
George stares transfixed on the scene before them as he tries to comprehend the total devastation. He shakes his head silently. Was this civilization destroyed by whoever attacked the Gamin? And if so, why? George shudders as he recalls a conversation he overheard so long ago on Regent Voknor’s bridge. With bile rising in his throat, he makes a startling revelation.
“We must return to the ship,” George says gravely, “and quickly.” He looks at John intently, who in return frowns in confusion.
“You don’t think whoever did this, is still around do you?” John replies doubtfully.
George shakes his head. “No, but I think we now know why the Gamin left Earth when they did.”
Arriving back on the Terran, they both hurry to the bridge where they find the crew oddly silent and tense.
Cindy stands up as George and John enter. “We found three Gamin satellites over the southern polar region. This planet was once one of theirs.”
George shakes his head in disagreement. “No, this planet was visited by the Gamin just like we were. An entire civilization existed here, but has since been wiped o
ut. We found the remnants of a construction dock just like the one in the Australian Outback. There is even a partially destroyed spaceship still on the planet.”
Cindy, feeling a little nervous, asks what is on everyone’s minds. “When did this happen?”
John and George look at each other as each man ponders the question. John breaks the silence as the images from below replay themselves in his mind. “We found what could be bones on the ground between the city buildings. It takes a while for a body to decompose to that point,” he adds morbidly.
Cindy, along with the rest of the bridge crew, relaxes a little as the realization that whatever happened below, did so quite a while ago.
“Okay,” Cindy continues on, “You said there is a Gamin spaceship down there. Let’s go and investigate it.”
George hesitates as he considers how to say what is on his mind. The rest of the bridge crew, noticing his pensive expression, waits until he finally relays what has been bothering him. “The Gamin left Earth to protect us,” he looks around the room as he shares another thought. “Perhaps they are a target of whoever did this?” He shudders as his mind races on, but he keeps his farther thoughts to himself.
Radclyf whistles in surprise. “So the inhabitants of this planet were simply collateral damage.”
John adds his own thoughts to the conversation. “Whoever did this did not want the Gamin to be able to come back either. Perhaps they are running out of places to get supplies?” A chill runs down his spine as his words fill the air. He looks at the dead planet and wonders what really happened here.
Cindy stares at the planet as well. “Well, we can’t do anything for them now, whatever happened here did so a long time ago. We should see if we can salvage anything off that ship down there.”
Edwards and Aaron make their way to the bridge, allowing most of the bridge crew to head to the hangar area. Both men have been slowly learning the Gamin systems, becoming more proficient with each visit. Edwards still resents the way John attained his position, but he is also reluctantly gaining respect for the man.
Edwards sighs a little. “Well, here we are again, holding the fort while they all gallivant off on some exciting adventure.”
Aaron smiles but says nothing. Being on the bridge is an adventure to him.
The group that enters the shuttle does so with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Cindy sits up front with John, while George, Joe, Andrew, and Radclyf occupy the storage area. Hayato and Peter remain on the Terran with Edwards at the piloting station. Aaron occupies Joe’s chair, monitoring communications.
As the shuttle breaks through the thick clouds Cindy is aghast at the scene before her. “This looks like the work of a biological weapon. Nothing else I know of could do this to an entire planet.”
Coming in toward the badly damaged spacecraft John flies around it allowing Cindy to get a good view. She is awed by the size of the ship.
“Wow!” Cindy exclaims, “That ship is as wide as ours is long.”
Flying in from behind the derelict, John takes them even lower, skimming close to the ground beneath its three massive engines. They are set wide apart and form a triangle, with two on top and one below. To their surprise, the ship’s ramp opens in the distance, lowering itself to the ground below. A shimmering is evident between them and the interior. With apprehension building, John pilots the shuttle inside. As they enter the monstrous cavern, the soft glow of lights powering up greets them. John lands the shuttle expertly, then runs the onboard system which checks the outside environment. It seems that we learn something new about the Gamin shuttle every time we take it out. He muses.
After a moment, John is able to read off the data as it feeds to his laptop computer. “Gamin air outside and well, gravity is a little more than Earth’s.”
Opening the shuttle’s own ramp allows the foul soupy Gamin air they so happily replaced on the Terran, to invade their lungs once more. The unpleasant odor is overshadowed as they all stare in astonishment at the two Gamin shuttles occupying the expansive hangar area. Alongside these are a dozen ground vehicles.
George walks over to the main ship’s ramp and studies the shimmering. “That is not like any shield we have, it is something else completely.”
Cindy gazes at the ship’s interior, and in awe, says, “I am sure half the Terran could fit inside this hangar.”
George surprises them all when he waves his arms in an arc, indicating the ship. With conviction, he states. “The Regent’s ship was truly a monster, this one is actually much smaller. It looks to be roughly the same size as the one that landed in Manhattan.”
Cindy watches George as he heads back into the shuttle to get his suit. Pensively, she considers the reports of his visits to the alien leader’s command ship. She had also heard of an unofficial report that it was he, and not the President, who secured the return of the submariners. There is a lot more to George than he lets on.
It takes them a little longer to get to the bridge than on the Terran. In all, they climb forty decks, but not all on foot, thirty-five of these are travelled via an elevator.
Cindy raises an eyebrow. “Something else, our ship is missing.” The statement is almost a question.
Arriving at the bridge they quickly notice the many chairs and consoles in the room, more than the Terran has. The command chair is different than the Terran’s as well, but no less ornate. Joe ignores the command chair and wanders over to a console near one of the side walls. As he wipes a thin layer of dust off its surface, it powers up, startling him. The display has many unfamiliar symbols and characters upon its surface.
“Hey George!” Joe calls out, quite perplexed, “What is this console used for?”
George walks over to Joe, studies the symbols, and then frowns. “I don’t know.” Connecting to it, he makes an astonishing discovery, then immediately shuts the console down. He cannot contain his excitement.
“This console,” George ventures eagerly, “is a communications system, one that uses the main drive. I think it can transmit to any Gamin ship or even to the satellites orbiting Earth.”
Cindy walks over to the two men and asks curiously. “Can we take it with us?”
George shrugs his shoulders as he replies, “Possibly.” He leans over to see how it is connected to the wall.
“Can we send a message from here?” Cindy ventures curiously.
George stops to consider her question. Powering the console back up, he taps on a couple of symbols. His heart races as everything looks to be working. Joe watches George’s fingers as they fly from Gamin symbol to Gamin symbol. After a few moments though their hopes are dashed.
George sighs as he relays the disappointing news. “The planet’s atmosphere is stopping us. There is some strange ionization, possibly due to whatever was used to wipe out all life on this planet.”
Joe gazes around the rest of the bridge in awe, he starts to frown as a niggling thought comes to mind.
“NO!” He says a little too loudly. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at him. With bubbling excitement, he stammers quickly. “It’s the main drive. It needs to be active to make it work!”
George’s face breaks into a massive grin as he replies, “Of course!”
Cindy nods in understanding leaving George the task of removing it. Putting her hand on the central chair, she is surprised to find a thin layer of dust on it.
“How long has the ship been here?” Cindy asks, hoping someone has an idea on how to figure out the answer. Looking at the chair she can see that it looks as though it were carved from some outlandish petrified log.
“Well,” Joe ventures, “The crew may have left logs?” He raises his eyebrows as he watches George work. “Hey! Do you think we could take a piece of the ship and somehow date it?”
Cindy tilts her head at Joe in surprise. “You know, there should be a way. We would need to take a sample of the ship’s atmosphere, and a piece of plating.” Her mind races as she goes over what she know
s about carbon dating, and wonders how to apply the technique.
“We need to get teams down here to explore this ship properly.” She gazes back down at the chair, her eyes locking onto the armrest where a small blank screen rests. They won’t be happy to be breathing this foul soup the Gamin call air, but that’s just too bad. She muses quietly to herself.
It takes George a few hours to disconnect the bulky console and transport it to the hangar deck. The flurry of activity there surprises him. Dozens and dozens of people are moving around as they load various items onto the three Gamin shuttles. Aaron and John have been kept quite busy flying the shuttles to and from the Terran.
Radclyf spots George and hollers out over the commotion. “Hey, check these out.”
George glances to where Radclyf is motioning and does a double take. There lined up along the floor are nine Gamin bodysuits, one is about the size of his. The other suits are all much smaller, only coming up to the arm pit of the single larger suit. Next to the suits, rest a number of modules, some with five prong connectors and others with seven prongs. As George descends to the hangar deck via the elevator, Radclyf walks to him.
Even before the elevator stops Radclyf is hollering out his questions. “Are these the combat modules you have referred to? And if so where are the suits?”
George thinks back to the little he gleaned from Sharz, adding this to the data discovered on the lunar base he shouts back his assumption. “The Gamin do not allow servitor races to have access to combat modules. To prevent this, all construction suits have the five pin modules.”
Radclyf tilts his head at George as he asks curiously. “One more question then. Why is there only one large suit?”
“Well the other suits could have been for the local inhabitants of this planet.” George replies.
A tingle travels up George’s spine as he reaches Radclyf. He adds as the elevator stops. “Which means that the larger unit could be a template.”
“I find it odd that a suit which is too small for the Gamin, would be their template, unless…” Radclyf gulps as his voice trails off.
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 47
