by John Walker
“Don’t shoot!” She cried.“Something’s happening in his head!”
Salina joined her, using her own scanner before backing away. She glanced back at Desmond and shook her head. He frowned, motioning for her to come back. Before the science officer made it to the door, blood began flowing freely from Revik’s nose and he began twitching violently.
Doctor Harper pressed a device to the side of his head and tapped a button several times but nothing seemed to happen. A moment later, the screaming stopped and Revikslumped in his seat unmoving. Salina moved over and whispered in Desmond’s ear, letting him know Revikmust’ve died.
“How?” Desmond asked.
“Some kind of brain hemorrhage.” Salina looked at her tablet.“It came on suddenly when he reached out for the device.”
“A trigger?” Admiral Reach asked.“Some kind of method to protect their home in the event of capture.”
“Seems like it.” Desmond rubbed his forehead and stepped into the cell. He joined Cassie and touched her shoulder, making her jump.“Are you okay?”
Cassie nodded quickly, composing herself. She reached for her tablet but stopped. Blood splattered the surface, small drops and a larger glob near the bottom. Desmond picked it up and wiped it clean with his sleeve before offering it to her. She didn’t seem like she wanted to take it but did anyway, swallowing hard.
“He’s dead,” Doctor Harper announced.“So sudden!”
“When he tried to tell me where he was from,” Cassie said.“They must’ve conditioned these people. I bet there were other topics that could’ve done the same thing. Far more effective than trusting them to kill themselves, they simply have to be killed by their interrogators. That… was devilishly clever… and horrifying.”
“We understand a lot though,” Desmond said.“Real revelations. There are more Orbs out there and aliens as well.”
“And people who will kill for them,” Admiral Reach added.“But as much as these things are intriguing, we don’t know what to do next.”
“Their computers.” Cassie looked at Admiral Reach.“I need access to their devices. Any that are intact. I should be able to gather data from them and perhaps figure out where they were going next… or something like that. They seemed to be trying to collect more Orbs. We need to figure out why.”
“I don’t care about why,” Admiral Reach said.“I just want to know where they are so we can kill them.”
Doctor Harper scowled at him.“Motivations are necessary to start a war, don’t you think?”
Admiral Reach looked her in the eyes, ticking off points.“They attacked our fleet, assaulted your facility and killed our people. Do you think the dead soldiers and researchers care much about what motivated them to do so? And do you believe the human race wants to find a peaceful solution with our attackers?”
“Has the human race been informed of exactly what happened?” Harper asked. Desmond exchanged a knowing look with Salina. The media outlets discussed the orbital conflict. They didn’t say anything about the assault on Gamma Alpha, not yet. Now that they knew why they were attacked, but it would likely come up.
The truth might unify people behind a serious war effort, even if it took humanity well beyond their solar system. Never mind the fact they would need to build additional ships to wage any real campaign and the training to go with them. If Admiral Reach wasn’t nervous about the prospect of combat, he should’ve been.
Earth had the resources and utilized new technology every month. At least they’d be ready quickly providing the enemy didn’t come in greater numbers before they could prepare. The possibility made Desmond twitchy. While Revikmade it sound like they were only there for an orb, they very well could’ve been an expeditionary force, paving the way for an invasion.
“We’ll handle the PR part of this, Doctor,” Admiral Reach said.“You worry about the research part. Help that young lady with her investigation into the technology and report back to us as soon as possible. In fact, how long do you feel you’ll need before you can tell us something?”
“It depends on what it takes for us to decrypt it,” Harper said.“At least a day. Possibly two.”
“Alright, as long as we have something soon.” Admiral Reach turned away and started down the hall.“We don’t have much more time as I’m sure you’re well aware. Captain Bradford, please join me in the conference room. We’ve got a few things to discuss before you go back to your regular duties.”
“Yes, sir.” Desmond nodded. He turned to Salina.“Stick around and see if you can help out at all. It’s a rare opportunity to work with the Orb, right?”
“Of course, sir. Thank you.” Salina smiled, which was a rare expression for the serious woman.“I’ll see you later then.”
“Good luck.” Desmond turned and hurried after the Admiral. I hope we don’t need it.
***
Cassie had never seen someone die in her presence. The horror on the man’s face combined with his screaming shocked her but she couldn’t let it get to her. Still, even years of training didn’t prepare her for what she experienced in the interrogation room. It had been going so well before the incident. In the back of her mind, she knew something wasn’t right.
He shouldn’t have been so quick to tell me what he did. Maybe he also realized we’d get a lot of the data from their computer devices. However, now that we know their people are sabotaged, we have to be careful with the gear too. If they had no qualms about sacrificing a life, they’d likely do the same to a computer.
Harper brought her to one of the analytics rooms where they’d be able to observe and study the various devices confiscated from the bodies. Lieutenant Salina Gold accompanied them which made some sense. As the head science officer aboard the Gnosis, she would have the best chance of helping them from the military side of the house.
Admiral Reach would definitely appreciate her involvement.
Computer banks lined the walls with several terminals for people to interface with. Three tables occupied the center of the room, their smooth metal surfaces littered with the bits of alien technology they were able to salvage. Some seemed intact while others were trashed from the skirmish.
Armor sat on one of the tables, light weight and only covering the torso. It struck Cassie as odd until she noticed the box on the front which had lenses on the sides. A quick scan indicated they produced a personal shield capable of taking several direct shots and probably an unlimited number of grazes.
“What do you think?” Cassie asked.“Do they power these with some kind of battery or something else entirely?”
Salina stepped forward.“It would make sense if they did a renewable energy source, something allowing them to recycle the power continuously. Otherwise, they would burn out long before they finished a fight.”
Doctor Harper sat at one of the terminals and began typing.“I’ve captured the video data we have from the conflict. The shields were able to take our normal small-arms fire and shrug off the damage but they didn’t have such an easy time with the power armor weapons. Those packed a much harder punch and tore through the defenses quite easily.”
“That’s to be expected,” Cassie said.“They were only prepared for our standard defenses. Note that they waited to attack until the Gnosis was on its maiden voyage, far enough from Earth to give them a chance. If our fleet hadn’t been able to hold them off… If your people hadn’t been so amazing, then this situation may not have ended favorably.”
Salina tapped the table.“Before we do any further analysis, may I suggest we isolate the items we’re interested in to ensure they don’t self-destruct like the prisoner did? If these short out or worse, explode, the damage could be substantially worse than what happened in the interrogation room.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Cassie said.“Can you initiate the containment fields on the tables, Doctor?”
“I’m on it now.” Harper tapped a few keys and a blue, transparent dome burst over each table. The energy hummed and crackled a
s it stabilized.“Let’s start with some surface scans to determine if there are any incendiary devices that might be dangerous.”
“Will you be able to disarm them?” Salina asked.
Cassie hummed.“It depends on how they armed the devices I suppose. The good news is the containment field is powerful enough to handle some pretty serious detonations. Right, Doctor?”
Harper chuckled.“You don’t sound entirely sure, Cassie. But yes, we’ve tested it extensively and I can say with certainty we can handle whatever they might put against us. I’ve also isolated each individual item within their own field so that if one goes, it won’t take them all. The energy field provides the scanning so we’re ready to begin.”
Cassie nodded.“I’ll take the computers if you don’t mind.”
“I’m on the armor,” Harper replied.“Lieutenant Gold, you’re on the weapons. Report back in ten minutes.”
Cassie wirelessly connected her own device to the terminal, gaining access to the dozens of applications she’d specifically updated with what she learned from studying the Orb’s coding structure. As these creatures likely built their technology with their own version, she hoped it might grant her an advantage in cracking it.
The initial scans showed no incendiary devices nor any obvious form of sabotage. The next step, a tentative probe, didn’t reveal anything. Cassie needed to power it up for any further testing and it seemed possible to do so remotely. Her hand started to sweat just a moment before she hit the button which would initiate the startup sequence.
The alien computer clicked on, the screen lighting up green for a moment before displaying a high resolution image of a diamond shape. It took less than five seconds to boot up and she initiated a translation app. Her heart skipped a beat when the message came back that there was a code match.
It’s not exact but I’ll be able to extrapolate from here. Once I get a few more similarities, we can build a codex and teach the application how to talk to this thing. Then we’ll get to the heart of their data and whether or not they stored anything useful on these devices.
Once the device came online, it sent out a burst of data. A quick scan showed it was attempting to wirelessly connect with something in orbit as well as the other computers on the table. The individual forcefieldskept the signal local but she noted the activity. She’d want to turn off the signal as soon as she took control.
Patience was the name of the game and Cassie had to take a couple deep breaths to avoid tapping her foot. The others around her worked with severe intensity, staring at their screens as if they might will the computers to work faster. They had time to get their work done so Cassie forced herself to relax, letting her shoulders slump and the muscles in her back loosen.
The root directory of the device came online but Cassie didn’t simply want to navigate through their interface. She wanted direct access to the database beneath. That would allow her to run her own queries and gather the data much faster. If the alien’s method of storing data was roughly the same as humanity’s, she’d have several ready-made scripts for the task.
“We’re at the ten minute mark,” Doctor Harper said.“Do you have anything to report?”
Salina started,“The weapons are not sabotaged. I suspect any sort of device they would’ve installed may have been too unstable to ensure it would not go off during an inopportune combat moment. They carried two types of firearm, energy and something else. The former I’m still analyzing, including the power cores, and the latter… I haven’t figured out.”
“What do you mean?” Harper asked.“What’s so odd about them?”
“They appear to have exhausted all the ammunition in them. I’m not getting any energy readings though they are, at the very least, electric. I suspect they fire projectiles and they simply exhausted them all but I have to reverse engineer them, at least through simulation, to know for sure. I’ll have another update in an hour or so.”
“Perfect.” Harper paused a moment before asking,“how’rethe computers coming?”
Cassie gave her a quick update on where she was at. She turned in her chair.“My applications are on it but they’ll need some time. I don’t know if an hour will cut it but I think that’s a fair regroup time. Where are you at, Doctor?”
Harper took a deep breath before answering.“Well… these folks used power in a very efficient manner. Before today, I would’ve said we were incredible when it came to how we managed energy. These personal shields are a great example of how we practically had no idea what we were doing.”
“What do you mean?” Salina said.“How do they work?”
“They attach them to the armor, which has a network of power lines all throughout the plates. These connect up at the shield itself, which allows the shield to emit from the four lenses. What we failed to notice was there were receivers on the back to relay the power and ensure consistent defense all around the body.
“However, there are two weak points: the head and the lower legs. The chest and back are heavily protected and could take the most punishment. The shield itself does not get covered but it is the thickest part of the armor. My analysis shows it could take at least two to three direct hits… and it’s a pretty small target anyway.”
Cassie frowned.“Incredible technology. How’s the power efficiency so great?”
“An initial charge turns the unit on,” Harper replied.“The body itself acts as a generator of sorts. When they are breathing, they’re generating more power. The material surrounding the armor is also porous and tiny follicles are able to collect ambient radiation. An inhale-exhale motion moves the energy and keeps the shields working.”
Salina asked,“So if someone held their breath the process would stop?”
“No, a standard charge would last for fifteen minutes without any motion at all.” Harper shrugged.“Indefinitely, if the person breathes normally.”
“What else do you have to figure out?” Cassie joked.“You seem to have got the whole thing down.”
“I still don’t know what material they used for any of this,” Harper replied.“Nor have I been able to break down what they used for the projector lenses. I have only hit our local database. I’ll have to hit the Orb to get more data on that part I think. And the power relays… We wouldn’t have done it this way so I’ve got some study to do there, too.”
“What about the ships?” Salina asked.“Surely, we must have the debris coming back soon. How’s the salvage operation going?”
“Slowly,” Harper said.“Only one of the enemy vessels remained remotely intact but that isn’t saying much. The initial assessment shows even that ship lost the power core when it exploded. We might get something from individual systems but the crews are calling their find a total loss. Still, they’re bringing back what they’ve got. I expect them by tomorrow morning.”
Cassie’s computer beeped and pulled her attention back to the screen.“I’m back on,” she said.“We’ll talk again in an hour. Hey… can we have someone bring us some water or something? If we’re going to live down here, I’m parched.”
Harper nodded.“I’m on it.”
The code matching software found all similarities and began to create a translation for those parts it didn’t understand. Cassie tapped into the Orb to give her program a larger dictionary to work from. The work looked like it wouldn’t take too long. Despite the events that brought about this situation, she couldn’t help but be excited.
This find proved so many theories she and her colleagues discussed back at the AIA. They knew aliens existed elsewhere in the galaxy, at least at some point in history. The Orb itself, with its ordered data structure and vast storage archives, proved some kind of intelligent creature built it.
The debates ranged from precursor spacefaring cultures to gods. One of her older colleagues presented a paper on how the Greeks may have had access to the Orb and used that assumption to explain away their old pantheon. Even after years of study, humanity only scratched the surface of what th
e ancient device could do.
However, Cassie found it hard to believe a Greek named Zeus discovered the Orb and learned how to shape shift, throw lightning bolts and guide the future of mankind. If they accepted such a thing, then all historical fictions had to come into question. Was there truly a hero like Beowulf who fought a great monster or was that a nonfiction account of the Orb meddling in human affairs?
The theories sounded romantic but Cassie had to dismiss them. She founded her opinions on logic and possibility. Considering how they had to access the Orb, how they needed computer interfaces to interpret the data, she couldn’t imagine early man working with it at all other than to perhaps worship it.
Of course, if the theory about a culture meddling in the development of planets across the galaxy turned out to be true, then perhaps it was possible for early man to access it. Atlantis came up several times in debate. An ancient nation capable of wonders. If they discovered a method to interface the device, then maybe all the rumors about them were true.
But why did they vanish? And how had humanity never uncovered their splendors?
Cassie didn’t like going down the path to answer those questions, not earnestly. The answers generally were apocalyptic in nature and too frightening to indulge. Much as she liked to take things to logical conclusions, this was one time she didn’t feel it necessary. Especially when she was about to pop the directory structure on the computer.
Focus your mind on the here and now. It’s safer… and a lot less depressing.
***
Desmond sat through a briefing with Admiral Reach concerning the next steps. The situation took only a few minutes because they didn’t have a lot to go on. They needed to wait for the findings of their research team to give some clear direction for a path forward. In the meantime, the Gnosis was to repair and prepare for… something.
“You have operational authority over the research and planning,” Reach said.“I’m sure you understand how curious your crew is right now so decide how much you intend to tell them. Considering how huge this situation is, I have a feeling they’ll want something more than vague notions. Having a front row seat to an alien invasion will have an impact on those who were there.”
