Silent Order: Eclipse Hand

by Jonathan Moeller

  When he finished, he and Cassandra checked the hyperdrive. The crystallization on the surge regulator had increased to forty-nine percent. The component did not have much left before it failed.

  The next morning March went to the flight cabin as the Tiger approached the end of its final jump to the JX2278C system. Cassandra joined him and sat in the co-pilot’s seat, moving a little stiffly from her practice workout.

  “We’re almost there,” said March, starting the checklist for dropping out of hyperspace.

  Cassandra nodded. “I gave you the coordinates and vector for the Alpine. I hope the ship is there. We’re almost to the end of the time Captain Torrence said he could wait.”

  March nodded. “If he was doing the regular starliner route from Oradrea to one of the Calaskaran systems, he would have a long sublight transit across JX2278C to his next set of jump coordinates. We ought to catch him before he can jump out of the system.” He glanced at the displays. “Either way, we’ll find out in another eight minutes.”

  Those eight minutes passed in silence as Cassandra sat in the co-pilot’s seat, her hands rubbing over each other nervously, and March turned his attention to the final stages of the checklist.

  At last, the moment came, and March cut the power to the hyperdrive. The Tiger exited its hyperspace tunnel and returned to normal space, and at once an alarm trilled through the flight cabin, several of the engine displays turning red.

  “Warning,” said Vigil. “Power failure detected in the hyperdrive.”

  “That would be the surge regulator,” said Cassandra. “Looks like it just failed entirely. We’re not returning to hyperspace without another one.”

  March nodded, scanning the displays as the dark energy detector searched for active dark matter reactions, which would mean the hyperdrives of other ships. It was far faster than radar, ladar, or simple visual detection, and…

  There!

  The Tiger’s sensors detected an active hyperdrive two million kilometers away. A few seconds later radar and visual confirmation came in. It was a standard Wayfinder-class starliner, a massive cylindrical starship nearly four kilometers long, capable of carrying over four thousand passengers and crew in varying levels of comfort, depending on ticket price. A few seconds after that, the Tiger received the liner’s transponder signal. It was a Calaskaran starship, registered to Royal Calaskaran Starlines, and its name was the Alpine.

  “There it is,” said March. He tapped a few keys and brought up an image on one of the co-pilot station’s displays. “The Alpine.”

  Cassandra slumped in the seat with a sigh. “Oh, thank God. Thank God. I’m not really religious, but this might change my mind.”

  March said nothing, his attention on the sensor displays.

  Something seemed off.

  He frowned and did a sensor focus on the Alpine.

  “What’s wrong?” said Cassandra, catching the change in his mood.

  “They’re not moving,” said March. “Their fusion drive isn’t firing, and neither are any of their ion thrusters.” His frown deepened. “And their shields aren’t on, either. They should at least have a minimal kinetic screen up for meteors and space debris.”

  Cassandra swallowed. “Were...were they attacked?”

  “I don’t see any signs of battle damage or radiation,” said March, “and as far as the sensors can tell, we’re the only ships in the system.” That didn’t mean very much. If a ship shut down its dark matter reactor, it was only one more metallic object in the vast space of a solar system, easy to miss or to mistake for an asteroid. The JX2278C system had numerous gas giants with full moon systems, three asteroid belts, and several rocky inner planets with moons of their own. There were a billion places to hide a starship in an uninhabited solar system.

  But the Tiger would have detected any ships close enough to attack the Alpine, and it was difficult to hide the radiation signature of a charged weapon.

  “Maybe they’ve had a problem,” said March. “Let’s see if we can call them and find out.” He keyed the communications panel and sent a transmission to the Alpine. “This is Captain March of the licensed Calaskaran privateer Tiger. We noticed that you seem to have experienced engine failure and wondered if we can be of assistance.”

  There was no answer.

  March checked to make sure that the communications array was working, and then repeated the transmission twice more.

  There was no answer either time.

  “That’s bad,” said Cassandra.

  “Yeah,” said March. He keyed for another scan.

  “Are you...are you scanning for life signs?” said Cassandra.

  March nodded, and her face went a little whiter.

  But the life scan results showed no obvious cause for alarm. The sensors showed traces consistent with about seven hundred to a thousand human life forms on the ship. A starliner of the Alpine’s size could hold many more, but that didn’t mean the ship was running at full capacity.

  And yet…

  The traces kept changing. One moment it showed that the ship held no sign of human life. The next the sensors claimed that there were nearly a quarter of a million people crammed onto the ship. The second after that it returned to about seven hundred.

  “It’s not supposed to do that, is it?” said Cassandra.

  “No,” said March. “Vigil, diagnostic on the sensor suite.”

  “All sensors are operating within normal parameters,” said Vigil.

  “Any sign that the damage to the hyperdrive caused trouble with either the sensors or the communications array?” said March.

  “No,” said Vigil. “All three systems are segregated from one another. Any malfunction capable of damaging all three would have caused catastrophic damage to the Tiger.”

  “Yeah,” said March, thinking it over. The most probable explanation was that the sensors and the communications equipment were working. That meant that no one on the Alpine was answering calls...and that something very, very strange was happening on the ship.

  “What are we going to do?” said Cassandra.

  March tapped a key on the communications panel and tried hailing the Alpine one last time.

  There was no response.

  “All right,” said March. “I don’t see any other way around it. We’re going to have to dock with the Alpine and figure out what happened.”

  Cassandra blinked. “Is that safe?”

  “Probably not,” said March, “but we don’t have any other choice. If they’re in trouble, we’re obliged to assist them. And the hyperdrive needs a new surge regulator. Without the Alpine, we’re not getting out of JX2278C.”

  Cassandra nodded, and March guided the Tiger towards the starliner.

  Chapter 4: Silence

  Docking with the Alpine proved simple enough.

  The huge starliner dwarfed the Tiger, and March matched the big ship’s relative velocity and vector, which created the illusion that it was motionless. The Alpine had numerous airlocks, and March steered the Tiger towards one of the cargo airlocks. It was close to the ship’s engineering section, and if everyone on the Alpine had been killed, March would need to raid the starliner’s engine room in search of a compatible surge regulator.

  “Is that hard to do?” said Cassandra, watching as he used the ion thrusters to nudge the Tiger towards the Alpine.

  “It is a difficult maneuver, yes,” said March, not looking up from the telemetry and distance displays.

  Cassandra thought that over. “Would it be helpful if I stopped talking?”

  “Just for the moment, please.”

  Cassandra nodded and fell silent.

  March gave the ion thrusters another tap, and the Tiger stopped a meter from the Alpine’s hull. The Tiger’s cargo airlock had a built-in collapsible tunnel, and March extended it. After a moment, one of his displays reported that the tunnel had achieved a seal with the Alpine’s hull, and it was safe to embark.

  “Thanks for not crashing,” sa
id Cassandra, letting out a breath. From anyone else that would have been sarcastic. She just sounded relieved.

  “Remember what I said about not dropping the weights on your foot during a squat?” said March. “It’s like that, except times a thousand.”

  He tried to decide whether or not to have her accompany him onto the Alpine. Leaving her behind on the Tiger seemed like an excellent idea. Save for the hyperdrive, the Tiger was fully functional, and she would be safe here. Then again, if the Alpine had been taken over by a hostile force, they could cut through the airlock door and storm the Tiger.

  And if he was wrong about her, if she was a deep-cover Machinist agent with a convincing story, then leaving her alone on the Tiger could be disastrous.

  No, better take her with him. It was a risk, but leaving her was a greater risk. And she did have a comprehensive knowledge of hyperdrive design. If he wound up having to scavenge components from the Alpine, her help might be invaluable.

  “What are we going to do now?” said Cassandra.

  “Investigate,” said March, glancing at the sensors. The Alpine had given no indication whatsoever that the crew realized that another ship had docked with them. That meant the crew was either busy, disabled, held captive, or dead. “There’s something strange going on here, and I want to find out what it is. And we can’t leave this system without the help of the Alpine.”

  “Could...it be a plague?” said Cassandra as March stood. She got to her feet, blinking. “I’ve heard of viruses that break out on a ship and kill everyone in an enclosed environment.”

  “It’s rare, but it can happen,” said March. “Which is why we’re going to prepare first. This way.”

  He led her from the flight cabin, closed the door behind them, and opened the door to the armory.

  “Oh my God,” said Cassandra.

  “What?” said March, glancing back at her.

  “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just...that is a lot of guns.”

  “Suppose so,” said March. “Even if I wasn’t in the Silent Order, privateering is still sometimes a violent business.”

  He started to equip himself. He already had one plasma pistol, so he took a second, holstering it on his left hip. March donned his preferred coat of black leather that hung to his knees, the interior lined with a carbon fiber mesh that could deflect knife blades and even small caliber bullets if it was a glancing hit. Over his chest, he put on a bandoleer which he loaded with power packs for the pistols and a dozen grenades. Knives went into the hidden sheaths in the sleeves of his coat.

  Cassandra watched this process without speaking. She seemed a little shell-shocked.

  “Have you ever fired a gun?” said March.

  “No,” said Cassandra. “Civilians aren’t allowed to have weapons of any kind of Oradrea.”

  “That’s right,” said March. Maybe giving Cassandra a gun wasn’t a good idea. But depending on the situation on the Alpine, Cassandra might wind up having to fight for her life. A gun in her hand might mean the difference between life and death.

  “Should...should I have one?” said Cassandra. “I don’t know how to use a gun.”

  “It is safer for you to have a weapon,” said March, making up his mind. He examined his collection of gun belts and handed her a suitable belt and holster. “You’re left-handed?” She nodded. “Put this on.” Cassandra complied. March selected a pistol, a smaller Kurth Armaments plasma pistol designed as an easily concealed self-defense weapon. “Take this.”

  Cassandra hesitated, swallowed, and took the pistol. “I’ve never held one of these before. God, it’s heavier than it looks.”

  “That’s the power pack in the grip and the accelerator coil in the barrel,” said March. He pointed out the buttons on the back of the weapon. “That’s the safety, and that’s the power indicator. You’ll get thirty shots before the power pack runs out. If you’re going to shoot at someone, aim at the center of mass and pull the trigger. A plasma bolt anywhere in the chest is almost always fatal. The most important rule is to never point a weapon at anyone unless you’re prepared to pull the trigger.”

  “That seems like an important rule,” said Cassandra.

  “It is,” said March. He drew a phone and an earpiece from the shelf. “Put the phone in your pocket and put this in your ear. They’re linked to the ship’s network and communication array, and they’ll let us talk to each other and Vigil.” Cassandra obeyed. “Last, take these.” He handed her a breath mask and a pair of goggles. “That will filter out most diseases and toxins, and those will let you see in low light conditions.”

  She donned the mask and the goggles. They gave her face an insect-like appearance. March supposed he looked much the same once he donned his own mask. The straps of the mask and the goggles dug into the back of his head.

  “Are you ready?” said March.

  Cassandra took a deep breath, the sound rasping through the mask. “Ready or not, I suppose I have to do this.”

  “Then let’s get it over with,” said March.

  They headed down the ladder to the cargo bay. If Cassandra wanted to kill him, this was a superb opportunity to shoot him in the back, but she only seemed nervous. He walked to the airlock, preparing to open it and cross to the Alpine.

  And then he stopped as an idea occurred to him.

  The Eclipse device still sat where Cassandra had demonstrated it.

  “Dr. Yerzhov,” he said. “Could your Eclipse device transmit its results to your phone?”

  “No,” she said. “It doesn’t have a network connection...wait. The Eclipse doesn’t, but the tablet I plugged into the Eclipse does. I can have the tablet transmit through the ship and send the results to my phone.”

  “Do it,” said March.

  “Why?” said Cassandra.

  “Just to be careful,” said March. It had occurred to him that the Machinists might have a saboteur on the Alpine. It was also possible the Machinists had thought the capture of the Eclipse important enough to use a Wraith device to make sure it happened.

  “Oh,” said Cassandra. “That Machinist mind-control device you told me about.” She knelt next to the Eclipse and went to work, tapping commands into the tablet and phone. After a few minutes, she straightened up and glanced at the phone.

  “Ready?” said March.

  “Yes,” said Cassandra. “As soon as the Eclipse finishes rebooting, it should be online. Here it comes and...good God.”

  “What is it?” said March.

  She turned the phone’s screen towards him, showing a list of white numbers scrolling on a black background.

  “What does that mean?” said March.

  “The Eclipse is picking up substantial quantum distortion effects on the Alpine,” said Cassandra. “Hundreds of individual nodes.” She gave him a frightened look. “Could the Machinists be controlling that many people at once?”

  “No,” said March. “They couldn’t. They can’t duplicate the alien technology they use for their mind-control devices. And even if they could, why would they mind-control everyone on a civilian starliner? It doesn’t make any sense.” He shook his head. “Let’s go. Keep an eye on the Eclipse readings.”

  She gave him a jerky nod.

  March crossed to the airlock, cycled the inner and outer doors, and stepped into the short tunnel connecting to the Alpine.

  The outer door of the airlock was adorned with the sober-looking logo of Royal Calaskaran Starlines, and below that in red block letters was the procedure for opening the airlock door from the outside. March flipped open a small metal hatch, revealing a control panel with large buttons for the gauntleted hands of men in spacesuits. He entered the cycle command, and the door vibrated as the chamber beyond filled with air.

  Then the outer door slid open.

  “Huh,” said March. “If the ship was under attack, that should have been locked down.”

  He hit the button. The outer door closed, the inner door slid open, and they stepped onto the Alpine.
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  And nothing seemed out of place.

  March looked around, drawing a gun with his right hand and his phone with his left. The corridor was wide, designed to allow drones to move back and forth from the cargo bays without hindrance, the floor and walls unadorned metal. The passenger areas of the ship would be far more luxurious. He lifted his phone. It had sensors for detecting radiation and atmospheric contaminants, and after a few seconds, the software pronounced its results.

  “No radiation,” he said, “no poisons or chemicals in the air. No airborne viruses or bacteria, at least not yet.” He pulled off his mask and goggles, and Cassandra followed suit. "I don't think we'll need these."

  “I still see a lot of quantum distortion nodes,” said Cassandra. “I think they’re mostly clustered towards the stern, but there are dozens scattered through the rest of the ship.”

  “I wonder if they had some sort of exotic hyperdrive failure,” said March.

  “A hyperdrive failure that produced hundreds of quantum distortion effects?” said Cassandra.

  “Has anyone ever built a quantum entanglement detector before?” said March. “Maybe it’s been part of hyperdrive failure for millennia, and no one ever realized it.”

  Cassandra considered that. “Good point.” She lifted her phone. “Should I try to connect to the Alpine’s network? See if I can get a map or a local status update?”

  “No, don’t,” said March. “If the Alpine’s computers were attacked by a malware weapon, I don’t want it getting onto the Tiger.”

  “Oh. That’s a good idea.”

  “Let’s head towards the bow,” said March, pointing with his phone. He returned the phone to his pocket, leaving the sensors active. “There ought to be either a crew lounge or a repair shop for the cargo drones that way. Either way, we’ll find a computer terminal there.”

  Cassandra nodded and followed him down the corridor, their boots clanging against the deck. March supposed the sound would carry for a long distance, but there wasn’t any way to avoid it. He could move in silence if necessary, but Cassandra could not. And if there were survivors of whatever disaster had befallen the ship, perhaps the noise would draw them. March was becoming certain that some kind of catastrophe had struck the Alpine.