“Good. Don’t go easy on them.”
“Little chance of that, sir,” Orion said with a smile.
Jason noticed all three students were watching him. They were excited, having fun. If Orion did her job right, they wouldn’t feel that way in an hour or so. Jason was hailed.
“Go for Captain.”
“Cap, we had changed course back to Earth, were about to transition FDL, when we detected an anomaly. Showed up on our long-range sensors.”
“What do you have, McBride?”
“A fluctuating wormhole. It’s there one second, gone the next. It’s as if it’s in transition.”
“Just stay clear of it. We’ve got bigger issues to contend with, Ensign,” Jason said.
“That’s just it, sir. There’s a ship at its mouth and the fluctuation is changing—becoming more stable. We estimate the wormhole will stabilize enough in the next hour for the ship to pass through.”
“And you have determined it’s a Craing vessel?” Jason asked.
“Definitely, Cap. It’s a Dreadnaught-class warship.”
“I’m on my way. Hail Ricket.”
* * *
“Captain on deck” was announced as Jason entered the bridge. Ricket was already there. Perkins relinquished the command chair and stood at his side.
“How are you doing, XO—with everything?”
“Fine, sir. To be honest, I barely notice the difference. Although it does seem to cause a bit of uneasiness with the crew. Sir, as I mention on comms, we have something of an anomaly occurring.”
“Captain, the wormhole fluctuations are down to four-minute intervals. We’ve noticed the ship consistently moving forward—it should breech the mouth during the next fluctuation,” McBride said at the helm.
All eyes were on the display. There was nothing but open space, countless stars.
“Here it comes again, Captain,” McBride said.
A section of space seemed to move in and out of focus. The contours of the wormhole were fluctuating rapidly. A massive shape, blurry at first, then came more in focus. As if breaking free from a gravitational pull, the ship shot forward then stopped.
“That’s not a Craing Dreadnaught,” Jason exclaimed.
Jason was more than a little familiar with Craing Dreadnaught vessels. He’d recently fought against one on the outskirts of the solar system. Propulsion systems destroyed, along with most of her weapons, the remaining remnants of that ship were now in high-orbit around the moon—a space station, of sorts, used for their fleet of Allied Craing vessels. But this ship was nothing like that. In contrast to the boxy, angular shape they were used to, this vessel was rounded and was comprised of multiple nearly-transparent rotating spheres.
Ricket took several steps closer to the display. “Captain, this is not a Craing Dreadnaught. The Lilly’s sensors, as well as my own, confirm that much. More advanced technology here. Approximately thirteen miles in circumference.”
“Captain, I’m not detecting any major life forms—not much is moving around on that vessel,” McBride reported.
“Maybe it’s some kind of drone ship?”
“No, sir, at least not entirely. The ship’s shields are down, as you can see from our scans. I’m seeing clearly-defined living spaces. It’s huge.”
Jason took in the 3D representation of the vessel. “Is it operational?”
Ricket said, “Yes, sir. Multiple background systems are running. It’s as if those on board were there one minute and gone the next.”
“Could this have something to do with our shutting down the Loop?” Jason asked.
“Possibly,” Ricket replied. “And since wormholes do not necessarily conform to any prerequisite time continuum—we may have altered the course of a ship in transit from years in the future. One other thing: although there are no life signs, there are organic remains. There’s also an abundance of other, smaller life forms.”
Jason knew he needed to make a decision. Any delay now could impact saving lives on Earth. He wasn’t sure if The Lilly should go up against those three Caldurian technology vessels—vessels potentially more advanced than The Lilly herself. Jason continued to look at the strange ship. Perhaps, somehow, that ship could level the playing field.
“Does that vessel have armaments, weapons?”
“Definitely Cap, but nothing like I’ve seen before,” McBride replied.
“What’s that?” Jason asked, pointing to a large section near what he assumed was the forward end of the vessel. “It looks like some kind of courtyard.”
“Whatever it is, it’s close to a half-mile long, not quite as wide,” McBride said.
“Sound general quarters. Prepare to phase-shift into that area. Hail Orion; we’re going to need some new battle suits. I’ll need Billy and Rizzo, and you too, Ricket; we’re taking that ship.”
* * *
They’d converged at the armory on Deck 2. Orion helped Jason and his team make final adjustments with their battle suits. Each wore a phase-shift belt and carried a multi-gun.
“Sure you don’t need me along on this one, Cap?” Orion asked.
“Not this time, Gunny. I want you here on tactical. We may need to blow something up, which seems to be a unique talent of yours.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jason saw her give Billy a quick glance; she obviously did not like being separated or, more likely, not having his back.
“I’ll take good care of him, Gunny.”
Jason, Billy, Rizzo, and Ricket filed out of the armory and headed toward the DeckPort. Jason was being hailed.
“Go for Captain, XO.”
“Captain, we’re ready to phase-shift,” Perkins said.
“I want to phase-shift in with rail-guns charged and ready. As soon as Gunny is at her post, go ahead and phase-shift.”
At the aft airlock, Jason watched his HUD display until the readings changed. They’d just phase-shifted. Once The Lilly’s forward ramp deployed, Jason led his team off the ship.
The courtyard was not what Jason had expected. As if walking into Central Park, they were surrounded by large trees and rolling green hills. There were beds of flowers with strange shapes and colors. A slight breeze rustled branches and leaves above. A lake shimmered a short distance from where The Lilly sat. Jason spotted a waterfall—one where the water rushed upward into the air—seemingly ignoring the laws of physics. A small island hovered, weightless. In the distance he saw the reflective outside perimeter of the ship itself. Thousands of buildings of various heights occupied long, quiet mezzanines and green belts. The structures were nearly transparent. He felt as if they were surrounded by a glass city. A city with thousands of windows looking down on them. Jason figured this vessel, this city, was easily the size of Manhattan. The familiar blue glow of a phase-shift portal hovered nearby. Then he noticed more portals, hundreds of them, throughout the city.
Although there wasn’t an actual track, far in the distance a tram was winding its way in their direction, toward the central courtyard. Soundlessly it approached and hovered several inches above the ground. Like the buildings, and everything else here, the four-car tram was almost completely transparent. Doors opened at the mid-point of each of the four cars. Jason glanced inside. Empty. The doors closed and the tram continued on its way without making a sound.
Jason felt he could spend weeks, months, exploring this place. He heard his NanoCom chime.
“Go for Captain.”
“Captain, a fleet, maybe two hundred ships, is approaching. Looks to be our pirate friends again,” Perkins said.
“Hail them. Inform them they are too late to the party. We’ve claimed this vessel for the Alliance. Let Stalls know we’re aware of their presence and we won’t hesitate to fire on his fleet. Starting with his ship. You may need to phase-shift back to open space to further convince them. Keep me abreast of the situation, XO.”
“Aye, sir,” Perkins replied.
Billy pointed toward the air above. A small flock of bird
s with bright red feathers flew overhead and disappeared into the trees.
Jason brought the ship’s layout onto his HUD. Four blue icons indicated their current location within the courtyard.
“This way,” Jason said, heading out of the courtyard toward the city ahead. The further they went, the more apparent it became that the ship had been left unattended for weeks, perhaps months. Eerie, like walking down the streets of a modern-day ghost town, trash and leaves from the nearby park skittered across the wide thoroughfare. Jason noticed the buildings, although transparent, were actually various shades and muted colors.
The first corpse found was sprawled awkwardly on a bench. As if waiting for a bus. A bus that would never arrive. Ricket knelt down next to the body and proceeded to poke and prod at the remains. Partially decomposed, it seemed obvious to Jason by the large eyes and somewhat triangular-shape of its head.
“Looks like Perkins. Is he Caldurian?”
“Yes, I believe so, Captain. This is interesting,” Ricket said and continued to probe the body. “The DNA of this individual is similar, almost identical to that of human. In fact, it is human.”
“I thought our scans showed this to be a Craing vessel,” Jason said.
“Mistaken; this vessel is like nothing I’ve come across before. Highly-advanced, and this is a far more cultured civilization than any you’d find on a Craing vessel.” Ricket stood and looked up at Jason.
“Any idea what killed him?”
“I know exactly what killed him.”
“What?”
“An implant. Interesting, it’s not dissimilar to the nano-devices aboard The Lilly.”
“The ones in our own heads?”
“Yes.”
“The one in my daughter’s head?”
“Yes.”
“Can our nano-devices be triggered to do that? To snuff the life out of someone?”
“I believe so. I may be able to disable that feature.”
“Feature? Let’s make that a priority,” Jason said, scowling down at Ricket.
Jason stood back and hailed The Lilly.
“Go for XO.”
“What’s the status on our pirate friends?” Jason asked.
“I was just about to hail you, sir.” Perkins said. “They say we are free to leave, but if we try to take this ship, take it out of their space, they’ll fire every missile they have. Our scans indicate they have conventional missiles, as well as nuke and fusion-tipped missiles. If they fire a barrage, which is likely, The Lilly won’t be able to fend that off.”
“Then we need you to stall them somehow,” Jason said. “We’re going to try to get this ship moving, perhaps jump it to FDL. I take it you’re speaking with Stalls? Tell him you need to retrieve an away party … thirty, forty minutes max. Tell him we’re not interested in this old bucket, it’s been gutted. Dead in space. Maybe they can tow it and sell it for scrap—whatever, make something up.”
“Aye, sir, I’ll get you some time. Oh and Captain, at this point Captain Stalls believes I’m dead. So Ensign McBride is handling communications with them.”
“Understood,” Jason said.
“One other thing, Cap. And this is really strange; The Lilly’s bridge has completely reconfigured itself. Multiple virtual consoles have been added, and three more actual consoles in the open area, toward the front of the bridge. They emerged from beneath the deck plates. Truth is, without Ricket here, we have no idea what’s going on.”
Jason listened to the XO and watched Ricket moving about, investigating the local area. “That makes certain kind of sense, XO. Don’t touch anything. I’m cutting this expedition short; we’ll be on our way back shortly. Oh, and have McBride tell Stalls we’re leaving in fifteen minutes. That should be believable.”
“Aye, sir.”
Jason brought his attention back to his team. “Ricket, The Lilly has undergone a reconfiguration. New virtual and actual consoles.”
Ricket listened, then nodded. “And that is why we will not find a bridge on this vessel. Like most things with Caldurian design, the bridge is virtual. At least for now, The Lilly is the bridge. I need to get back to the ship, Captain.”
“Head on back. See if you can establish control, and fire up the propulsion system.” With the advanced level of anything Caldurian, Jason felt fairly confident that as long as The Lilly was still within the confines of this vessel, no harm could come to her or the crew. “Go ahead, we’ll continue on here for a few more minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” Ricket ran off in the direction of The Lilly.
Jason, Billy and Rizzo continued on. As they moved further into the glass city, it was evident the vessel’s systems were coming back on. Hover drones, hundreds of them, were moving about. Jason and his team brought their weapons to bear, then relaxed as they realized they were fairly innocuous. Each drones, robot-like, had two arms with multiple-fingered hands. No head and no legs, the upper front section of each drone had several clear indentations. Jason thought it gave the drones somewhat the look of a face. As the team continued on, they found more bodies.
“Cap,” Billy said, “over here.”
Billy had turned down a smaller side street and was now waving Jason over. This block of structures was distinctly different from the others. Through its glass walls there were row after row of MediPod-type devices, as well as a variety of others. Here there were more bodies. Too many to count.
“This is their hospital,” Billy said.
“And from the looks of things, the populous knew the end was coming. They converged at the one place they thought could help them,” Jason replied. “Who would do this? Who would instigate mass genocide?”
“Yeah, and if we had been around, we’d be dead too,” Billy added. “Maybe we should get as far away from this place as possible.”
Jason watched as the drones systematically picked up the remains of the dead and transported them off to somewhere else.
The three watched in silence for a few more minutes as the drones continued to transport bodies through portal windows. The hover tram had made it into the city and was making stops every few hundred feet.
Rizzo shook his head. “Cap, can you imagine the pirates getting hold of the technology here in this place? Or worse, the Craing?”
“No, and that can’t happen. If we can’t get this vessel moving at FDL, we’ll need to destroy it,” Jason said.
Their conversation was cut short by a new sound, more like a vibration beneath their feet.
“Looks like Ricket’s made some progress. Let’s get back to the ship.”
Chapter 33
Jason reached the bridge to find it had indeed undergone a radical transformation. It was larger, somehow, with the forward bulkhead extending ten feet further toward the bow. It seemed wider as well. Not only were there additional workstations, the existing ones contained numerous new virtual displays and more controls than Jason thought possible.
Ricket sat at one of the new consoles, his mechanical hands moving fast across virtual keys.
“Captain Stalls has given us an ultimatum. We have three minutes before they fire on us, actually, on this vessel. I don’t think they’re bluffing. Sensors show they’re powering weapons.”
Jason took in a deep breath. “I’m getting really tired of this guy.” He held up a hand to put Perkins on hold for a second. “Ricket, what’s your timeframe for moving this thing, getting it into FDL?”
Ricket didn’t turn around and spoke while he worked. “Propulsion systems on the vessel are coming online now. I need five minutes.”
Jason took the command chair. “Open a channel to Captain Stalls.”
“Good to see you again, Captain,” Stalls said with his typical superior tone. His face was bruised and his nose bandaged. “Needless to remind you, I’m sure. You are still in within the limits of our territorial space. As you have undoubtedly noticed, we are fully prepared to destroy that vessel, or what ever the hell it is, if you attempt to move it or jump t
o FDL.”
“No need. It’s all yours, Stalls. Just give us a minute or two to get my people back on board and clear out of your space,” Jason replied.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think you have any intention of abandoning that vessel, Captain. Several moments ago we detected its propulsion systems coming online.”
Jason looked confused, as if this was all news to him. “Well, our ship just came back online; you must be detecting our drives.”
“Shut it down. Right now, Captain Reynolds. You have ten seconds.”
Jason’s eyes went to Ricket, who quickly turned in his seat shaking his head. “We still need two minutes.”
Annoyed, Stalls’ dark eyes glared back at Jason. “It will be a shame to destroy such an amazing vessel, Captain. You and I both know the technology aboard that ship is far beyond anything—”
Jason cut him off; he had an idea. “Listen to me, Stalls: you said it yourself. This vessel, or whatever it is, is far more advanced than anything you’ve come across. Do you really think it would be sitting out here defenseless … out here in open space? You’ve already lost hundreds of your crew to our defenses, are you prepared to lose more? This ship has the capability to vaporize your entire fleet in seconds.” Jason glanced over to Orion, who had been working at the new tactical console. As if knowing she was being watched, she nodded her head and held up two fingers. What is it with everybody needing two minutes?
“Just shut down now, Captain. No more stalling.”
Jason shrugged, “You’re making a mistake. What’s two more minutes?”
Jason watched as Stalls looked away and nodded to someone off screen.
“Incoming!” Orion yelled. “And it’s a whole lot of missiles. Over one thousand and counting. Captain, looks like a variety of conventional, nukes and fusion-tipped.”
“Break the connection,” Jason barked. Captain Stalls’ face disappeared from the display.
“ETA, Gunny?”
“Less than a minute, sir.”
“Ricket?”
“We’re moving, sir, but it won’t be fast enough,” he replied.
HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) Page 22
