Changing of the Guard (A Galaxy Unknown - Book 11)

by Thomas DePrima

  "It's a Denubbewa ship," Christa said at the same instant as her XO. "The design is unmistakable."

  "It's enormous, Captain."

  "From what I can make out, it appears to be one of their largest warships."

  "But what's it doing just sitting there?" her XO said aloud.

  "Tac, any sensor readings from that ship now?"

  "Negative, Captain. It's as if there's nothing out there. All I'm getting is a small reading from the Karl Linne's exterior lights where the covers have been retracted."

  "Just like us," Mollago said, "when other ships try to scan us and the Dakinium absorbs all electronic signals."

  "Exactly," Christa said.

  "But how can that be?"

  "There's only one answer to that question. The Denubbewa have Dakinium— or something damn close. XO, I have some messages to send before we do anything further. But tell the captain of the Karl Linne to get two investigative teams ready to board that ship, and have our Marines prepare for a little trip."

  "Aye, Captain."

  ~

  Once back in her office, Christa sat down at her desk and began composing the most distressing communication she had ever sent.

  "Priority-One Message to Vice-Admiral Brian D. Holt, Commander of the Second Fleet, Quesann Headquarters, from Commander Christa Carver aboard the GSC Koshi.

  "Admiral, I have very serious news. We've just found a ship that so far appears to be a derelict. I wanted to send this message before we do anything else, so we haven't yet had time to investigate further. Admiral— the ship doesn't show up on our sensors. It appears to be sheathed in Dakinium, and— Sir, it's not one of ours. The only reason we discovered it is because it happened to be near a derelict that did appear on our sensors. While we were waiting for the Boll Weevil to complete their inspection of the derelict we'd stopped to identify, someone aboard the Karl Linne noticed that the light from some distant stars appeared to be blocked out. I thought at first that it might simply be a gaseous cloud of space dust, yet sensors indicated there was nothing out there.

  "I ordered the Karl Linne to investigate the anomaly. As they moved closer to this hole in space, more light from distant stars was blocked. The captain of the Karl Linne then ordered his helmsman to circle the darkness. In so doing, they determined without question that an invisible object was somehow responsible for the blocked starlight.

  "I immediately ordered the Boll Weevil staff to end their on board investigation of the first derelict and get back aboard their own ship so they could erect their double envelope. Once that was done, I had the Koshi move to the immediate vicinity of the anomaly. When we were on what we believed was the opposite side of the anomaly, I had the Karl Linne turn on their exterior lights. From the silhouette we could observe, the anomaly is definitely a ship— and it has a decidedly Denubbewa appearance. I believe it's one of the Denubbewa's largest warships.

  "When I've completed this message and sent it, I'm going to notify the commanding officers of the other two Scout-Destroyer squadrons about our find. It now seems logical to assume the reason we've had such poor luck locating even a single Denubbewa ship is because we can no longer locate them with our sensors, as would be the case if they were sheathed in Dakinium or some similar energy-absorbing material. That's all I have to report for now, Admiral. I'll send an update as soon as we know more.

  "Christa Marie Carver, Commander, Captain of the GSC Koshi. Message complete."

  The Koshi was currently operating some two thousand light-years from Quesann, which meant that travel time at Marc-One was about forty-eight days and communication time was about twenty-five days each way.

  ~

  "Com, get me the captain of the Karl Linne," Christa said as she returned to the bridge. "Put him on the front monitor."

  "Aye, Captain."

  A few seconds later, the large monitor at the front of the bridge changed to show an image of the Karl Linne captain, Lt. Kurt Aston, sitting in his bridge command chair. He was in turn receiving an image of the Koshi bridge.

  "Captain," Christa said, "I've just sent messages to Fleet Command and the commanding officers of the other two Scout-Destroyers operating in Region Three, informing them of your find. Now that they know what's happening out here, it's time to investigate that new derelict and learn everything we can. I want you to send your two investigative teams over to that anomaly with orders not to enter until ordered to do so. I have my two platoons of Marines suiting up. One of our shuttles will bring one platoon to the ship in question where they'll enter the ship first. After they secure a position inside the ship, or if they meet any resistance, the other platoon will join them. Once we've eliminated any armed resistance, your people can move in and learn everything they can about this ship. I'll notify you when that will be possible."

  "Aye, Captain. My people will be ready. I'll move the Karl Linne in a little closer and send them over in maintenance sleds."

  "Very good, Captain. Stand by until we hear from the Marines."

  ~

  The bridge monitor of the Koshi became a patchwork of images from the Marine's helmet-cams as they deployed from the shuttle and made their way over to the strange ship. They managed to open an airlock large enough to allow two Marines in EVA suits to enter with each cycle. The first ones in then secured the area around the airlock as more and more of their Marine brothers and sisters entered the ship until the entire platoon was inside.

  Ever since the first Space Command vessel, the Scout-Destroyer Colorado, had been sheathed with Dakinium, there had been difficulties with personal communications between ships. The problem was with the Dakinium and the immediate absorption of all signals coming into contact with its hull. Bridge communication signals were sent and received via a special antenna on the outside surface of the hull. It was large enough to handle any incoming and outgoing communications without interfering with the establishment of the ship's envelope. But no signals other than those sent and received through the ship's bridge communications system could be sent or received from inside the ship. Signals from CTs implanted in officers were always routed through the ship's communication system, so a CT could be used to communicate with officers on other ships or enlisted personnel with special RF equipment, using an RF scrambled signal. RF frequencies were employed because they were so slow that were anyone to intercept them, the senders would be long gone before anyone could follow the signal back to the source location. However, since the Denubbewa ship wasn't equipped to handle Space Command communications, another method had to be used. When the Marines first reached the ship, they mounted a tiny antenna on the surface of the ship using a vacuum seal to make it stay where placed. Like the antenna on the Space Command vessels, it wasn't large enough to invalidate the ship's sensor invisibility. A millimeter-thick line was then run through the airlock to the interior of the ship. It was so thin that it didn't interfere with the door's seals, which were still able to effect one-hundred-percent airtight efficiency. Once inside, the wire to the antenna was attached to a portable communications transceiver that allowed full communications between the Space Command vessels and the ship being boarded, regardless of how it was sheathed. The helmet-cams of the first Marines to enter the Denubbewa ships went black until the transceiver was set up inside the ship.

  "There's power in here and it's pressurized," Lt. Toleder reported as they began to investigate the interior. "The gravity plating is working, but there doesn't seem to be any oxygen."

  To his platoon, he said, "Do metal-heads breathe? Anybody know?"

  When no one replied, Toleder said, "Guess nobody knows."

  The EVA suits were too bulky to wear inside the ship so the Marines had stripped them off and dropped the suits by the airlock before proceeding to clear the way. The personal armor worn by all of the Marines provided a re-breather unit, but it had a limited-duration cycle when the exertion of the wearer taxed the unit. After a time, the air could start to become stale so the Marine platoon carried a fe
w small oxygen-supply bottles. When their suits told them to replenish with fresh oxygen, they could refill their limited personal supply in seconds.

  The bridge crew of the Koshi and every ship in the squadron watched as the Marines walked around inside the ship, expecting to be jumped at any minute, but they met no resistance.

  "Captain, there doesn't seem to be anyone aboard," Toleder said after about ten minutes of wandering the corridors. "I guess it might be safe to send in your investigators."

  "Very well, Lieutenant, we're sending them in. Each team should be assigned two of your Marines for protection. Keep a sharp eye out. It doesn't make sense that anyone would simply abandon a nearly invisible ship that hasn't been damaged. It could be a trap of some sort." Christa turned to the com chief and nodded.

  As the com chief sent the message to the Karl Linne, informing the captain that he should send in the four-person investigation teams, Christa said to Mollago, "What do you think?"

  "I agree with you. It doesn't make sense that a crew would abandon a ship that hasn't been damaged. There must be a problem we haven't encountered yet."

  As the investigators from the Karl Linne began to enter the ship, the images being broadcast from their helmets were added to the patchwork on the bow monitor. They didn't have personal armor so they would have to wear the very bulky EVA suits the whole time. They'd brought along their own portable oxygen tanks so they could stay aboard the alien ship for an extended period if necessary. Their EVA suits also contained a re-breather unit and small oxygen supply for replenishment of stale air overtaxed by exertion.

  "Tac," Christa said, "remove a few of the helmet cam images where we have two or more individuals sending the same basic view."

  "Aye, Captain."

  Although not every image would appear on the monitor, every image was being recorded and could be played later if a question arose about something that happened. Removing redundant images increased the size of the displayed images.

  With Marines providing security, the investigators began to move out. One team went in search of the bridge, while the other team went to look for engineering. The Marines who weren't providing security for the investigative teams were involved with a thorough check of the entire ship, opening every compartment carefully in case Denubbewa were waiting to pounce.

  More than an hour had passed before the first sounds of alarm were heard.

  "Captain," Lt. Toleder said excitedly, "we've found Denubbewa."

  "Alive?"

  "Uh, I don't know, ma'am. How do you tell? They all appear dead until they move, right?"

  "Are they moving at all?"

  "Uh, no, Captain. But the one I'm looking at has a tiny illuminated red dot on its forehead, just above the bridge of its nose."

  "I'm not seeing any image from your helmet-cam. Stand by. Tac?"

  "Sorry, Captain, I guess his cam was one that got turned off to make room for others. Here we go."

  Toleder's helmet-cam image replaced one from an investigator on the bridge. The Marine officer was in a large room with dozens of Denubbewa lying on tables. None were moving.

  "I see what you mean, Lieutenant. They all appear to be dead, but I have to wonder what that light is. Do any of the others have it?"

  Walking around the room, Toleder said, "Yes, ma'am. They all appear to have that red light, and it's on."

  "And where do those wires go?"

  The wires Christa was referring to rose from a hole in the top of each table near one edge and were plugged into the torso of the Denubbewa on that table.

  "There's a sort of metal box mounted on a shelf beneath each of the tables. They might be charging units."

  "Don't disconnect any of them. You might wake them up."

  "This is strange, ma'am. You'd think that if they are alive but unconscious while being charged, someone would have been watching over them to wake them up in case something happened. A guard, sort of."

  "Yes, Lieutenant. I agree. Don't interrupt anything. I'm going to send a couple of engineers to your location to take a look." Turning to the com chief she said, "Have the captain of the Karl Linne send two engineers to where Lt. Toleder and these men are located."

  The com chief relayed the message and Christa turned back to watch the front monitor.

  It took almost ten minutes before the engineers were escorted into the room where several dozen Denubbewa lay perfectly motionless on the tables. The two squads of Marines had never relaxed their attention for a second and had spent the time moving around, searching for any sign of weapons. They'd found none, but if any of the Denubbewa had awakened and reacted violently to their ship being invaded by Terrans, it would draw more fire than it could possibly imagine.

  After a brief look, the senior engineer said, "I concur. It looks like they're being charged."

  "Can the table be moved without waking them?" Christa asked.

  "Uh, it appears it can, Captain. The table is on wheels like a medical gurney. I just have to release the locking mechanism."

  "Then release it so we can move this one out of the room. Let's get him, or her, or it away from the others before we try to wake him."

  "Him or her?" the junior engineer echoed. "Do the Denubbewa have sexes, Lieutenant?"

  "How the hell would I know?" Lt. Toleder said. "Just unlock the wheels."

  Slowly and carefully, the two engineers and two Marines rolled the table out of the room, followed by Lt. Toleder.

  "What now, Commander?" Toleder asked Christa.

  "Let's see if we can get it aboard the Karl Linne without waking it."

  "Can they survive space without an EVA suit?"

  "One way to find out, I guess. We have plenty more if we lose one or two," Christa said.

  "Oo-rah," the lieutenant said.

  When Toleder, the two Marine enlisted, and the two engineers from the Karl Linne arrived at the airlock, they realized they were going to have to disconnect the Denubbewa's wires to get him outside the ship because the table wouldn't fit through the airlock door.

  "I've got an idea," the senior engineer said. "I saw some shipping containers that reminded me of coffins. Let me get one of those and we can transfer this guy to that before he's fully awake. We'll be able to get the container into the airlock."

  "You're assuming he won't wake up fully alert?" Lieutenant Toleder said as sort of a question.

  "Uh, yeah, I guess I am."

  "Well, I don't have a better idea, so let's try it. If he gets too violent during the transfer, we'll just put him down for good."

  "It'll probably take me about ten minutes to get back here with the shipping container. This EVA suit wasn't designed for this sort of activity. I'll need some help."

  "I'll go, sir," one of the Marines offered.

  "Good. We should still be here when you get back, Corporal. We're not going anywhere— unless our sleeping friends wake up."

  "Uh, yeah, sir."

  The engineer and the Marine corporal returned about twelve minutes later with a shipping container that was about two and a half meters long. They set it down on the deck and opened it.

  "I'll be damned," Toleder said, as he peered down at the open container.

  The interior of the container was lined with some sort of packing material like solidified foam and was cut out in the shape of a Denubbewa cyborg.

  "Do they ship these things in these containers?" the corporal asked the engineer.

  "How would I know? I just saw them when we were looking for the engineering areas."

  "How many more of these cases did you see?" Toleder asked.

  "There're hundreds down there."

  "Are they all empty?"

  "I didn't investigate."

  "We need to know before we leave this ship." Activating the Com 3 channel in his helmet, Toleder said, "Staff Sergeant Kroger, send a squad of your people to the airlock. We have to investigate a cargo area."

  "Yes, sir, Lieutenant," Toleder heard back. "They'll be there in a few min
utes."

  When the Marines showed up at the airlock, Toleder sent them to the cargo area with the corporal and the senior SC engineer. Toleder, the junior SC engineer, and the other two Marines then waited at the airlock for the squad leader to report in.

  It was another fifteen minutes before the sergeant with the squad reported to Toleder.

  "Sir, we're in the cargo hold and we've examined the shipping containers. Only a few dozen appear to be empty. The rest appear to each contain one of those sleeping cyborgs."

  "Do any of them have a red light on their forehead that's lit up?"

  After a short pause, Toleder heard, "The senior SC engineer says no. The light is not lit on the Denubbewa in any of the cases we opened."

  "Okay, Sergeant. Post two of your people outside that cargo area to keep an eye on things in case those cyborgs suddenly come alive. Then come back to the airlock."

  "Yes, sir."

  When the squad showed up at the airlock, Toleder explained that they were going to disconnect the Denubbewa from the wires that seemed to be charging the cyborg and then place it in the packing container.

  "As soon as it's disconnected, we lift it up and put it in the open container. Use appropriate force if the metal-head resists us, but try not to kill it— yet. The commander wants it intact for study. Okay, let's do it. I don't know how much these things weigh, but they can't be too heavy from the way they seem to be constructed. Okay, let's do it."

  As the engineer unplugged the wires, the Denubbewa's eyes suddenly lit up. It had no eyelids and was incapable of facial expression, but it looked evil. One of the Marines raised his laser rifle in an automatic reflex.

  "Hold your fire, Marine," Toleder said. "It hasn't made any threatening moves yet. Okay, Marines, lift that thing up and lay it gently in the packing case. If we don't damage it, it might not react to our handling."

  "It's heavier than it looks, sir," one of the PFCs said. "I'd guess it's about two hundred fifty pounds."

  "Just take your time. It hasn't reacted in opposition yet."

  As the Denubbewa was placed into the container, its eyes stopped glowing and the red light above the bridge of its nose winked out.