Cooper stopped tapping at the screen and said, "Well, we have something else."
"What?" Shal asked.
"All the escape pods are still in place?"
"All? What does that mean?"
Cooper reached down and touched the laser pistol on his thigh. "It means the crew didn't abandon ship. They are still here. Somewhere."
Captain's Report
"Shaltia, have you made it to engineering?"
"Just now."
"We need to get power back up so we can get out of here."
"Cooper, we have to find the crew."
"Somehow, I think, that is an incredibly fucking bad idea."
"If they didn't abandon ship, they must be here."
Cooper sighed. "So is whatever killed your cow."
"I'm not even sure it was killed."
"Fair enough. Let's say it wasn't. The question is 'Where are the people?' We've been wandering around their ship for a couple of hours. Why haven't they shown up?"
"Power's down, maybe so are their sensors."
Their sensors, Cooper thought.
"I'm plugging up the transmitter to the bridge computer so Alura can establish a link," Cooper said. "Did you get that Alura?"
"Yes, Cooper," the ship responded.
The transmitter connected easily to a terminal plug.
"You're in, Alura."
"Thank you," Alura answered.
"Shaltia, see if you can find any power relays. The best I can tell from the logs, everything just cycled off with no one on board."
"Will do."
"I'm going to check the Captain's office and see if there is anything. The transmitter is still on the computer, so I'll be running silent for five to ten minutes."
"Got it," Shaltia said.
Cooper left the bridge and entered the Captain's office. The room was messy as if someone purposefully tossed the contents of the shelves to the floor. An opened compartment attracted Cooper's attention. A safe had been hidden on the shelf behind the trinkets that were now scattered on the floor. The safe was empty, most likely the contents removed in a hurry judging from the items on the deck.
A small model of the Burnside was broken on the floor. Probably not the captain going for the safe unless his own belongings held little meaning at that point. A weapon, maybe, Cooper thought. Or the other possibility, a robbery. Someone comes in and throws the trinkets to the ground to get to the safe.
The captain's desk faced the door. Cooper sat in the chair and touched the screen. When he accessed the captain's personal log, a holographic head appeared. Cooper used his fingers to toggle the date back.
"I'm beginning to suspect that there might be a traitor on board. The damage to the ship from the spatial anomaly that we passed through seems to be affecting the magnetic drive. Farkak does not think the incidents are all sabotage. However, without sensors, we were unable to detect whatever the anomaly was. Furthermore, with the electrical pulse that disabled the communications, we have no way of contacting Cheundia or the outpost on Donal. Farkak has yet to establish what caused the electrical pulse. He wants to take the magnetic drive offline so that repairs can be made. I have this gnawing sense that someone wants us to stop, though."
The next entry was more of the same.
"I have been examining the personal files of the crew and passengers. Given the times of each incident, I have three potentials. Farkak is going over each system right now. I will have to succumb and take the drive offline for repairs. I have asked him to give me six more hours before we do it. Farkak is a good engineer, and he is worrying me about the strain the drive is enduring now. I want to cover more distance before we come to a stop."
The head vanished, and Cooper tried to look for more logs.
The lights flickered for a second before coming on completely. Shaltia must have found the light switch, Cooper thought.
The captain's head appeared again. "There is definitely one saboteur on board," the captain said. "Farkak had almost repaired the communications system when another pulse overloaded the circuits. He was able to pinpoint the source of the pulse in Engineering. We are currently drifting as our magnetic drive is offline. With communications down, and our sensors not functioning properly I am keeping command staff on red alert. The passengers have been told that we have some maintenance to perform. I've given Farkak's team eight hours to get the drive back online.
"During this time, I have our security officer, Mosa, investigating the sabotage. We haven't alerted the three suspects but we have them under surveillance. Should they make a move, we intend to catch them."
The rest of the logs seemed to be from earlier when there was no suspicion of sabotage. There was nothing in the captain's logs that indicated why the Burnside was on the other side of the galaxy than their intended destination.
Cooper stood and decided to check on Shaltia. He exited the captain's office and stepped into the bridge.
"Shaltia, come in?"
"Go ahead," she responded.
"Thanks for the lights," he said.
She didn't respond immediately. Then her voice said, "I thought you turned them on."
"No, I was in reviewing the captain's logs in his office."
"I've found some relays that look burned out. Not even sure what they go to. And the magnetic drive is disassembled."
Cooper answered, "Looks like they had some sabotage. They had taken the drive offline to fix it. I'm guessing that never happened."
"It looks like they just left in the middle of a job. Tools and parts are just lying about."
"Like the dining hall," Cooper said.
"Yeah."
"Captain Shaltia," Alura interjected.
Cooper rolled his eyes.
"Yes," Shaltia responded back.
"I have found something interesting in the Burnside computer."
"Spill it," Cooper said.
"It would appear that the computer's navigation system was reprogrammed. There are subroutines that were still mapping for planetary bodies, but the main program was redesigned to show the Burnside still on route to Donal."
"What does that mean?" Shaltia said.
"They're going to the wrong place," Cooper answered.
"Correct, Cooper. The Burnside's navigation indicates that it is near the Lovat System, which is two hundred million light years from our current location."
"How are they that far off?" Shaltia asked.
"The logs said they made a stop in the Lovat System. The captain said the navigation systems went down. And the sensors were not working either," Cooper said. "They had no idea where they were."
"It would take two years for them to get here."
"The captain mentioned a spacial anomaly. Could that have damaged the systems?"
"I am unable to make a hypothesis without data from the spatial anomaly," the ship answered.
Cooper stated. "Alura, can you see why the lifts aren't working?"
"Yes, Cooper. Let me see."
"Shaltia," Cooper said. "We need to get back to Mitch and get off this boat."
"What about the people? The crew and passengers?"
"Right now, I'm worried about us."
"Cooper, the computer seems to indicate a relay fault in Engineering," Alura said. "Relay 5473 has a fault."
"Shal," Cooper asked, "can you find that relay?"
"Let me look."
"Do that. I'm going to start down the service ladder."
"No wait," Shaltia said. "I have it here."
"Cooper. Captain Shaltia. I have another unusual reading," Alura said.
"What is it?" Cooper asked.
"There is an unusual amount of power directed to one area. It is a cargo hold on deck three."
"What kind of energy?" Shaltia questioned.
"Unknown."
"I found the relays, Cooper."
"Can you repair them?"
"They are badly burned. Let me see what I can do."
Cooper paced the bridge w
aiting for Shaltia. He was very uneasy. The sense that something bad was upon him was becoming unbearable.
"You know, we could be halfway to Nave by now," he commented into the transmitter.
"Not even," Shaltia responded.
"Captain Shaltia is correct, Cooper. We are still four point three days from the Nave System."
"Alura."
"Yes, Cooper."
"She's not the captain."
"Yes, Cooper."
Shaltia's laughter poured through the transmitter.
"I think I have it."
Alura confirmed, "The Burnside's computer is no longer registering a fault."
"Great," Cooper said. "Shal, I'm going to grab Mitch and come get you."
"I can meet you."
"No, stay put. Alura keep your ears open."
"Cooper, I do not understand. I do not have ears."
Cooper sighed, "It means listen for trouble."
The computerized female voice imitated laughter. "I am aware of the idiom. I am adept at humor. I was 'pulling your leg.'"
"Seriously? Shaltia did you do this?"
Shaltia snickered into his ear. He called for the lift which arrived within seconds. The ride down was swift as the lift descended. He stopped on the level that he and Shaltia had left Mitch. The corridor was empty.
"Mitch! Mitch!"
The bulldog wasn't there. Cooper felt a sense of dread. Mitch was well trained. He would stay in an area for hours if he was commanded. Even if he had wandered, Mitch always came when he was called.
"Mitch is gone," he said to Shaltia.
"Shit, he's probably wondering around."
"He doesn't do that."
"We'll find him, Cooper."
Descending to Engineering, Cooper was now anxious. Mitch was a tough little bastard, though. Even if he was only a dog.
The doors of the lift opened, and Shaltia stared back at him.
"We'll find him," she reassured him.
"Let's check out this cargo hold."
The lift ascended two levels. The corridors on this level were plain. These were not meant for passengers. Stark white walls and metal floors lined the hall. An arrow pointed toward the aft of the Burnside and was labeled Cargo. They followed the arrow to the large double doors.
Cooper tried to open the doors. Nothing happened.
"Is the power off?" Shaltia asked.
"I don't think so. It's locked."
"Alura," Shaltia said to the ship. "Can you access the security lock on the cargo hold?"
"Yes, Captain Shaltia."
"Wait," Cooper interjected. "We don't know if they were locking something in, not locking us out."
"How do we know?"
"I don't know. Just thinking. What killed your space cow?"
Shaltia shook her head. "It's not a space cow, and I'm not sure it was even killed."
Cooper pulled the laser pistol from his thigh. Shaltia unholstered her pistol as well.
"I'm just saying. It was a cow, and we are in space."
Shaltia ignored him. "Alura, can you unlock?"
The door opened.
"Yes, Captain Shaltia."
The two moved into the cargo bay. The bay was filled with crates and equipment. Most appeared to be agricultural equipment and supplies.
"Fuck, this stuff is all new. It's worth a fortune." Cooper was almost grinning at the thought.
"These are crates of seeds, too," Shaltia pointed out. "Enough to start a nice colony."
"Terraforming equipment over there."
"What's that?" Shaltia pointed to a mass of wires descending from the top.
"Maybe our unusual energy user," Cooper said as he lifted the pistol.
Stepping toward the wires, Cooper peered over the crates blocking their view. He lowered his pistol when he saw a two and a half meter tube.
"What is that?" Shaltia asked.
"Fuck if I know." He stepped over to take a look at it.
Cooper's eyes widened. "Fuck."
"What?" Shaltia stepped over to examine the tube. "Shit."
A feminine face stared out of the tube at them.
A Surprise in Stasis
With closed eyes, the girl looked asleep. She had brown hair and olive-tinted skin. No more than eighteen, Cooper guessed she was probably fifteen or sixteen years old.
"What the fuck is this?" Shaltia asked.
"Alura," Cooper asked the ship, "can you access the manifest, both passenger, and cargo, and see...well, see what the fuck this is?"
"According to the Burnside's computer, there is no record of a tube such as this."
"It's a stasis tube," Shaltia said.
"That's an expensive way to travel," Cooper commented.
"Explains the power coming here. Why store her here in the cargo bay?"
Cooper started pacing, a habit he did when something perplexed him. "The captain thought they were being sabotaged. And then this."
"You know, slavers use stasis tubes to transport their cargo. Keeps them quiet during the journey."
Cooper sneered at the thought. "She is the right age for some sick fuck to buy his own toy."
"We need to wake her up."
"Whoa," Cooper said. "One, we don't know how to operate this thing. Two, she might be dangerous."
"Really, you can't handle a sixteen-year-old girl."
"No, no I can't." Cooper added, "I'm not saying we don't wake her up, but let's think about it first. No point going off half-cocked."
"Then your suggestion?"
"Let's find Mitch. Load as much cargo as Alura can carry. Then we move the girl to Alura, where she can help us wake her up. That way we don't have some girl going nuts while we try to get off this boat."
Shaltia gave him a half smile. "Sure, that's a pretty good idea. Why don't you start sorting what we can get on Alura? I'll go up and find Mitch. We need to make some room in Alura's cargo hold."
"How much do you think we can get?"
Shaltia shook her head, "Nowhere near all of it."
"What about the other people?" Cooper asked.
"I don't know. We got no life signs."
Cooper's face twisted. "That's right. We got no life signs. Why didn't we read hers? According to this, she is most definitely alive."
"Maybe the stasis tube lowers the life signs enough to be missed by the sensors."
"That should not be true," Alura said. "My sensors should have detected any form of life."
"Can you send a schematic of the ship to my scanning computer?" Shaltia asked the ship.
"Yes, Captain Shaltia."
"That is seriously not funny anymore," Cooper told her.
"Depends on your point of view," Shaltia quipped.
Cooper groaned.
The scanning computer beeped as the schematic showed up.
"Alura, where would they keep the livestock?"
"From the manifest, these two cargo holds were converted for livestock."
Two areas on the schematic glowed brighter.
"Let's check them out," Shaltia said to Cooper. "Want to split up?"
"No, we need to stay together. Let's just move fast."
The two left the cargo hold and headed forward to the first hold. According to the schematic, the cargo hold that was holding the livestock was one section forward. When the doors opened, Cooper was struck by a smell that took him back to his childhood. Standing with his mother in her uncle's barn near Louisville, Kentucky, the smell of manure, earth, and decay pommeled him. His uncle ran the largest pig farm on the Gulf Coast.
The lights were dimmed in the cargo hold. They stepped into the room.
"Alura," Cooper said, "find us some lights."
The lights in the hold brightened. The scene was gruesome. Bones and flesh were piled upon each other. The corpses had been rotting for months. The stench of death, thankfully gone, was replaced with the moldy odor of decay. The bodies were piled together.
"Uh, something did this," Cooper noted.
"There is still hay and water over here."
"Yeah, look at these marks. This one was killed by something sharp."
"You think we are going to find a pile of people the same way?"
Cooper nodded.
"Where is whatever is eating these?"
Cooper looked at Shaltia. "I don't know, but I think we unlocked the one room it couldn't get into."
"Fuck," she turned and ran back to the other cargo hold.
Cooper chased behind her.
The tube was still there. Shaltia sighed in relief.
"Let's get out of here," Cooper pleaded.
"Yes, I will go back to Alura for a grav cart. You get everything together. We can be off here in an hour.
"See if you can find Mitch."
Shaltia reassured him. "I'm sure he's safe." The image of the dead livestock haunted her though.
"Keep your pistol ready," he told her as she left the cargo hold.
Shaltia unholstered the pistol. The lift doors were down the corridor, and suddenly, she felt very alone. She sensed Cooper was spooked, too. Not that it was unusual, Cooper didn't stick his neck out often unless there was a prize to be won. This time, however , was different. There was a cargo hold of goods, that even Shaltia had to admit looked tempting, and he was still spooked.
The girl added a whole other element to the mix. It was an unknown. Cooper hated unknowns. He was able to walk into a room of people and tell what everyone's motives were. He could tell who was lying and who was telling the truth. This type of unknown factor bothered him. Shaltia had spent six months with him on Alura, she could see his veneer crack.
The lift returned her to the main level. Mitch was nowhere to be seen.
"Mitch!" Shaltia called.
Fuck it, she thought as she hurried down the corridor. Cooper should have left him on Alura.
Still, she admitted to herself, Mitch was pretty lovable. She would feel terrible about losing him. But he was a smart dog, probably off on his own exploring the vessel.
She reached the airlock and stepped back onto the familiar deck of Alura. The emptiness of the Burnside was leaving her uneasy.
"Alura, can you prepare the medical bay? We'll be bringing the stasis tube over shortly."
"Yes, Captain Shaltia."
Shaltia smiled. She would need to change that. It just made her happy to rub it in Cooper's face. He may own Alura, but only Shaltia can control her.
Alura's Bind_Book One Page 3
