Errant Contact

by T. Michael Ford

  Ok, so to sum up…my world is gone. Colony ships are gone. Outposts are gone. I’m sitting in a derelict of a ship that hasn’t flown for a thousand years, and the two of us are expected to resurrect my race somehow and fly them to this new nirvana of a system so far out that it doesn’t even have a name? Seriously?

  “I’m sorry, Kodo, I truly am,” Kalaya whispered gently in my consciousness.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, you know that. None of this was on you,” I said quietly to her. I was taking this pretty hard, and that meant she was taking it even harder. Kalaya has always been a free-spirited one with a big heart hidden behind her mischief. But she was now in the same boat as I am; the last of our kind unless we can pull this off.

  “Kodo, you have company.”

  I turned and looked over my shoulder as the human girl, Laree, peeked into the room from behind the bulkhead. Knowing that she had been caught, she stepped into the room. “I’m not sure what that man was saying, but it didn’t sound like a very good thing.”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “So, what happened?” she asked, sitting down next to me on the bench.

  “The simple answer would be the mission drastically failed.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she murmured putting a light hand on my shoulder.

  “Not unless you can undo the extinction of my entire race.”

  “Whoa…extinction? What are you talking about? Is that what was in the video? Something happened to your people while you were asleep?” Laree took in a sharp breath as she considered the ramifications, and I could sense she was genuinely distressed about it. Perhaps humans had made some progress over the years; this woman seemed to have empathy beyond the norm. Of course, her race as a whole, was counterbalanced by impulsive idiots like her brother but it was still a ray of hope.

  “My friends are gone,” I said motioning toward the screen. “The mission failed and my home world is a pile of ash by now, nothing more to be said.”

  Laree was silent for a few long moments. “Sometimes it helps to talk about it,” she ventured.

  I bit back a snarky response. No point in not telling her; what the hell would they do with the information anyway, stop our failed plans?

  “My people, the Quetanae, were a proud and strong race, our citizens valuing creation rather than destruction. A thousand years ago, we were the preeminent builders in our expanse of the galaxy. Our leaders were fair and just, and we enacted strict laws that governed the stars out to our borders, which included other small colonies. We enforced those laws against pirates and other encroaching races that threatened our way of life. Crime was practically non-existent; peace was the norm. The Quetanae were widely recognized as a prime example of how an empire should be run, without trampling on the values of fairness and equality that its citizens demanded.”

  “Sounds like utopia.” Laree smiled, encouraging me to continue.

  “Not quite. Even with all our advanced science and technology, we couldn’t stop our star from prematurely dying. Knowing our world’s end was approaching, we put a plan in place. Two fleets of highly advanced ships were crafted with all of the combined science and knowledge that we and our allies could muster. The first fleet was built of ships similar to this one, although the Aurora was unique. Their mission was to locate other worlds that we could call home. Once there, the crews would construct a landing zone and start the infrastructure needed for a new colony; basically, build up and supply the colony before the colonists arrived.

  “The second fleet was the actual colony ships, each housing hundreds of thousands of our people in cryogenic sleep, ready and trained to start their new lives on these new worlds.”

  “You said you had other colonies. Why not go there?”

  “They were too small to take on that many. Besides, most of them were only raw materials and mining colonies, reliant on support from our home world. Sure, we could have just expanded on them but we treated our colonies as independent entities; and obviously, they were ill-equipped to have millions of guests to look after. Regardless, relocation to those locations would have been unsustainable.”

  “So what went wrong? We didn’t see any colony ship out there.”

  “The colony ships didn’t make it. I don’t know the exact reason why, but the only explanation for the disappearance of all of them is that they were hunted down and destroyed before they reached their destinations. I don’t know who would do such a thing; those colony ships were practically unarmed and had almost no armor. Worst of all, they were civilian vessels. Whoever destroyed them murdered millions of innocent people who could do absolutely nothing to fight back. All of them would have been asleep in their pods until the end. We’re talking genocide of the worst kind.”

  I took a deep breath as Kalaya instructed; I guess she thought I was a bit stressed. “As for what happened here, well, that’s a different story altogether. The man in the message was my boss and the ultimate leader of this expedition. He was also one of my best friends and, despite his appearance, only a year older than me.” Her reaction was rather interesting – mild surprise mixed with disbelief. “The colony ships weren’t the only ones that were hunted either. A satellite was dropped in this system many years back in hopes of tracking us down. But Royson did a good job, apparently, of hiding the ship.”

  “That’s an understatement. We had no idea it was here until we ran into a cave and found out it wasn’t a cave.”

  I nodded. “That, and this world's volatile atmosphere help to hide us, I’m sure.”

  “But we also didn’t see a satellite anywhere in this system when we got here, and trust me, we looked.”

  “Good, then we have waited long enough.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me and pointed shakily at the cryo-chamber. “How long were you in there?”

  “987 years.”

  She was stunned. “How…how are you even alive after that long?”

  I got up and patted the pod that saved my life. “These new pods are much better for long term use than our standard ones. They actually arrest aging altogether instead of just slowing it. The downside is the design isn’t exactly perfect. The average person can only survive being deep-frozen like that once. Trying again will most likely cause death or, at least, massive brain damage. That’s why Royson didn’t wake me. If he had, there would be no one left to fix the ship and carry on after the danger passed. They basically sacrificed themselves to give others a future.”

  Chapter 6

  Laree

  I watched him as he stared and ran his fingers over the remains of a different pod. The glass was cracked and melted inward. Whoever originally belonged in it surely had not survived.

  “Friend of yours?”

  “They were all my friends.”

  Oh, God, how stupid a question was that? I am a complete moron!

  “Her name was Nalia; I guess you could say she was my best friend. We did a lot together. I met her in school. She was beautiful, funny, and vivacious; the exact opposite of me. We hit it off, but I was too focused on proving to the world what I was capable of to invest fully in a relationship. There were other formidable issues, too, so we became good friends instead. When I received the assignment to build this ship, I requested that she be posted here. I guess the bitter truth is that she was placed on this mission with me for my own selfish reasons. In the end, all I accomplished was to get her killed.”

  He couldn’t be blaming himself for all this, could he? Who could have known that the ship would crash? If his story about his home world was true, at least she’d had a fighting chance in the stars. I shook my head as he continued sadly.

  “But I am not such a fool to think I could have done anything to save her. I will miss her and honor her memory instead, and think more about my actions like she always urged me to do.” He brushed a tear from his cheek and shook himself slightly. His demeanor instantly became colder and more businesslike. “Laree, if you will excuse me, I h
ave a job to do and a ship that needs me.”

  He turned and left the room, leaving me to ponder just how much impact on the galaxy one man with a mission could possibly have?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Kodo

  “You doing alright there, Kodo? This is all a big shock to you and I don’t think bottling it all up is good for you,” Kalaya whispered after a bulkhead door had closed behind me. I had left Laree well behind and was progressing down a long passageway.

  “I’ll be alright; in time, at least. You know, I was mentally prepared for the loss of our home world; it was inevitable. But the loss of the mission…the loss of our friends…”

  “And families…,” she supplied tiredly.

  I stopped in my tracks and wanted to slap myself on the forehead. I had been so obsessed with the impact on my own reality that I failed to consider the impact on the only other person who mattered to me right now. How stupid could I be? And I look down on the humans for being self-absorbed twits!

  “Kalaya, forgive me. You must be hurting badly as well. I know you were close to your entire family, especially your mom.”

  I heard her choke back a sob before answering, “Thank you, Kodo. I appreciate the sentiment; I am surprised you remembered. Most people don’t think we have real families, but we do. I miss our friends among the crew as well; I didn’t play pranks on all of them, you know.”

  “Just most of them!” I laughed for the first time since I woke up, and it felt good. Nice to have someone with shared experiences.

  “Ok, you have me there,” she giggled. “Just remember, you aren’t alone in all this. You still have me, as you always will.”

  “I know, and I am truly grateful.”

  “And just as a reminder for both of us; there is a third, if silent, partner in all this…the Aurora will never let you go either. You poured so much of yourself into her that sometimes I think she is alive and sentient as well. Either that or she’s haunted; I’m not quite sure which it is.”

  “Well, I doubt it’s anything malevolent. The old girl has never let me down before. The three of us will make this work.”

  “Speaking of work, the psych journals all say the best way to fight off depression is to keep your mind and body active so that you don’t wallow in grief. If you check your instrument pad, you’ll see a backlog of work orders are already piling up.”

  “Yes, boss; what a slave driver you are.”

  “Ooh, I like the sound of that. So, would your tool belt chafe much if you only wore a loincloth?”

  “Probably, and I don’t intend to find out. And what are you going to be doing while I’m working?”

  “Me? I’m plowing my way through the nineteen-thousand-plus vids and files that I lifted off the humans’ ship.”

  “Why? That doesn’t sound like work.”

  “I justify it by saying it will help me better understand the nuances of human society. After all, we will have to deal with them for the foreseeable future. But in truth, some of these are just freaking hilarious!”

  “Uh-huh,” I sighed. Yup, the old Kalaya was back. “So what’s first on my list?”

  “How about we discuss it over dinner…my dinner to be exact?” she purred.

  “Right.”

  A few seconds later brought me to one of the staff meeting rooms and the sound of grumbling. There Drik and Maxwell had moved all the chairs and tables to the side and were spreading out rolls of cloth from their packs.

  “What are you doing now?” I growled, slightly irritated. I did tell them not to touch anything, after all.

  “Duh…unpacking our sleeping gear, what does it look like?” Max responded, still apparently in a snit.

  “What he means to say is that we appreciate the roof over our heads and the protection from the wolves outside. However, the ship is still pretty chilly, so we are preparing to bed down for the night; hence the sleeping bags,” Drik interrupted cordially, shooting a dark look at the junior crewman.

  “I see. Well, it shouldn’t quite get to freezing here so you shouldn’t have too much to worry about. But I don’t understand why you are setting up out here when we are right above the dormitories; there are plenty of rooms down there.”

  “Brilliant idea, Mr. Alien, why didn’t we think of that? Oh wait, we were told not to touch anything or go through red or locked doors. Well, all the doors are locked or red around here,” Max complained.

  I sniffed the air and detected the odor of recently burning metal. “Uh-huh, so you didn’t try to get through any of the locked doors, correct?”

  “Well, we found one farther down the hall that I thought probably led to some stairs or an elevator, and I tried to get it open.”

  I sighed and motioned for him to show me. We trudged down the hall and around a curve, and the metallic smell was getting stronger. “The door is sealed up tight, nothing can get through it. Burned up an entire cutting rod on it, too, and didn’t make a scratch.”

  “That’s because it’s locked, you twit,” I spat.

  “Oh, and now you’re going to tell me you’re an expert on things that I already know, huh?”

  “Enough!” Drik, who had followed us, turned to me. “I again apologize for the rashness of my young colleague here. I will try to keep a closer eye on him. Do you happen to know how these doors work?”

  “Of course, I do, I built her after all.” I went over to the door and found that someone had not only tried to cut through the door strike, but had blasted the door controls on the wall as well. Looking over my shoulder, I eyed the kid.

  “What? The stupid thing wouldn’t open,” he protested.

  “So you shot it with a weapon?”

  He huffed and crossed his arms. “Always works in the movies.”

  Turning back in disgust, I set to work. Hmm, burn marks along with visible impact damage. Probably safe to assume that the kid’s gun fired some kind of heat-based projectile, possibly plasma, old school, but effective.

  Fixing the damage to the controller wasn’t too hard, especially with the gauntlet. It was simple to cut out the fried controls and wire in a basic switch. Didn’t look pretty and wouldn’t pass a safety inspection, but I don’t exactly have to show off to anyone. It took me about a minute to finalize the repairs. I put away my tools and rounded on Maxwell.

  “You will remove the magazine or disable that weapon while you are on this ship…do it now!”

  “No way!”

  “Maxwell!” Drik warned.

  “Fine…whatever…it doesn’t matter anyway, the rifle is out of charges.” He smirked and removed the magazine, showing me how empty it was before slamming it back into the weapon. “Now can we get on the elevator and go someplace interesting?”

  “Sure,” I snickered, “feel free to get on your elevator and go anywhere you like.” I triggered the door switch and swung the door open with a flourish just as Laree finally caught up with the group. “Congratulations, genius, you just tried to kill a sanitation equipment storage room.”

  Not feeling the need to wait for the three to get over their shock, I headed away from them, following a long, familiar passageway. I checked to make sure every door on the route was locked. Kalaya could always give them access later if they actually needed to go somewhere. A few minutes later, the three of them caught up to me carrying their full packs. Young Maxwell looked like a whipped puppy, so I had to assume the other two had properly chastised him.

  “Excuse me, sir, but what should we call you? You haven’t told us your name yet,” Drik spoke up quietly.

  I didn’t bother to stop walking. I was far more concerned about the condition and well-being of my ship than their curiosity. However, it would be more awkward if they didn’t know it down the road. “My name is Kodo.”

  “An unusual moniker, is it a family name?”

  Seriously?

  “Oh right, we come from different languages and names wouldn’t translate, my apologies.”

  Well, this one has a w
orking brain at least. The boy was doomed and I’m not sure about the girl yet, but this guy I could deal with. “That is correct.”

  “So, Kodo, ah...how big is this ship exactly?” Laree questioned lightly, and I got the impression she was trying to make small talk to divert attention from the events of the past few minutes.

  “You didn’t see it on the way in?”

  “Ah, well, you see, the ship has kind of been overgrown with the odd plant life of this planet. Our hand-held scanners could only locate the section of the ship that had the hull breach which we assumed was a cave. The rest seems to be shielded by something.”

  Yeah, it’s called shielding for a reason. A ship like this one without it would have generated a bigger blip on advanced scanners than the planet we were resting on. I wasn’t going to tell them that when a visual demonstration would do nicely. Rounding the last passageway corner, we stopping in front of a large metallic, trapezoid-shaped frame in the wall. With a flick of my gauntlet, I opened a small hatch in the left wall and pulled out the folding crank housed within. Inserting it inside the corresponding keyway in the hatch plate, I started turning the crank. Slowly the wall behind the trapezoid slid to the side, revealing darkness within. When it had opened fully and locked, I replaced the crank assembly and resealed the hatch.

  The door opened up into a large vertical shaft. Without power, it looked like a bottomless pit into hell itself. I smiled to myself as I stepped out of the way, motioning for the others to look for themselves.