by Colin Weldon
Carrie smiled at her before standing up and facing Aron.
“We need to talk,” Aron said to her.
“Shoot,” Carrie replied taking up her glass of water and taking a sip.
“I’m not sure how well everyone is doing with all of this. It’s been a lot to take in,” Aron paused and sat on the bed.
Carrie joined him sitting with one leg tucked under the other facing him.
“They’re seeing ghosts,” Aron said.
“Who’s seeing ghosts?” Carrie replied.
Maya swivelled in her seat and watched them.
“The colonists. I’ve had reports of strange sightings in the corridors. Wispy undefined figures passing between people as they walk. Strange sounds at night. People are seeing things. They think this ship is haunted,” Aron said.
Carrie shifted and looked at her feet.
“You said they were restricted to the upper levels of the ship, but I think they’re spying on us,” said Aron.
“Yes, I know,” Carrie sighed.
“You know?” Aron said frowning.
“They are just as curious about us as we are of them. Their cloaking technology keeps them hidden but not entirely. I will bring it to Jack’s attention,” said Carrie.
“Please do, it’s hard enough leaving your home after years of abuse to be held captive on an alien ghost ship on route to God knows where,” said Aron.
“I understand, Aron,” Carrie said looking into his eyes.
The look made his heart skip. She was beautiful, but he forced himself to bury the feeling. Not that it made any difference he suddenly realised.
“You have a very distinctive advantage, don’t you?” he finally said.
“Do I?” she said smiling.
“Must be hard for a man to hide himself from you,” he said, “What’s it like, being telepathic?”
She smiled and laid a hand on her thigh.
“It’s a pain in the ass, if you must know… when I was young, I used to get it all at once. I was unable to control what I let in and what I kept out. My father taught me a technique of meditation where I would go inside my mind and create a castle, which is now a fortress, surrounded by weapons and it became a way to keep unwanted thoughts at bay. It proves useful,” she replied.
“I should say so,” said Aron, “I should have thought of that after my wife died giving birth to Maya.”
Aron looked at the holographic image of the water as it listed over the white sand.
“She’ll be okay, Aron, we all will. I wish I could tell you that we’re all going to make it out of this, but I can’t. All I can say is that I’m going to do my very best to make sure that we do. All we can do is fight,” Carrie said placing a hand on his.
The sensation sent a weak feeling down his spine. He raised up his thumb and began stroking her hand gently. He looked up at her as their legs touched. He moved his hand up and linked his fingers in-between hers. He felt a surge in his chest as their eyes met and their heads gravitated towards one another. In a haze of spontaneity their lips touched softly. Carrie’s mouth pulled his bottom lip gently as she pulled away leaving only their foreheads touching. She let out a shaking breath.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” she said suddenly turning to Maya who was looking on.
Aron had forgotten she was there. He pulled away and looked at the floor.
“I’m sorry, Maya,” he said to her.
Maya just looked on and silently tilted her head.
“You have someone else, don’t you?” Aron said to her.
Carrie nodded slowly. Aron cleared his throat.
“It’s been a very long time since I have done that,” Aron said, “I know you know what I am feeling for you. I wish it would stop. But it won’t.”
Carrie smiled. She ran her thumb up and down the length of his hand. He had expected her to pull away completely, but she didn’t. He could feel her attraction to him. Carrie cleared her throat and stood up letting go of his hand. He did the same. The doorway suddenly shimmered and turned transparent as Tyrell entered. He looked at the two oddly before focusing on Carrie.
“Carrie, we must go,” he said as he entered the room.
“Yes, Tyrell, I know,” she said turning back to Aron.
“I’ll stop by later,” she said to him.
He nodded at her silently.
“See you later, Maya,” she said putting her hand on her shoulder.
Maya raised her hand and placed it on hers. Carrie smiled and left the room. The doorway solidified as Aron looked down at Maya. She returned his glance and smiled.
“Yeah, I know. I’m fucked,” he said to her.
3:
THE AGATHON
“Re-entering normal space in twenty seconds,” said Charly Boyett at the flight controls.
The South American woman’s accent cut through the silence on the bridge as they waited for the view screens above their heads to show their new surroundings. Captain John Barrington watched from the centre seat and felt the vibration of the FTL rings that surrounded the ship as they slowed down, dissipating the gravitational wave front that accelerated the ship to faster than light speeds. As always, he prepared himself for the worst. He tapped the comm system on the right-hand panel of his chair.
“Engine room, this is the bridge,” he said.
“Tosh here, Captain,“ came the reply.
“Keep the FTL ring idling when we enter normal space. I want to be able to spin it up quickly should we encounter a problem,” he said.
“Understood, Captain,” Tosh said.
The comm system clicked off. He turned to David Chavel at the navigation station next to Boyett.
“Lieutenant, get on those sensors fast. I want immediate reports of any anomalous readings,” Barrington said.
“On it, sir,” came Chavel’s rapid response.
“Four seconds,” said Boyett.
Barrington felt the tension levels spike as his weary crew waited. An itch had begun to form behind his eye implant. He fought the urge to try and scratch it. He needed his vision completely focused on the outside world when the view screens came to life.
“Now entering normal space,” Boyett said from her raised flight chair in the middle of the bridge.
The view screen flickered above their heads, turning from a grey hazy static to a fiery array of colours. It was as if they had entered a rainbow with the most spectacular fireworks display that Barrington had ever seen. Reds, blues, and greens filtered through the view screens and scattered their lights all around the bridge. Barrington frowned. Contrasting white outlines separated the colours into what looked like solid structures of colour. It reminded Barrington of the great pillars of creation. It had been one of Carrie’s favourite images.
“Report,” he said in Chavel’s direction.
“The nebula is a deep concentration of hydrogen gas and ice,” said Chavel, “Right where we’re supposed to be by the looks of it, sir.”
“Any trace elements of Targlagdu vessels?” asked Barrington.
Along with the upgrades to the ship, the alien race that Carrie had encountered had provided The Agathon with a range of new data and enhancements to the sensors allowing the ship to detect key resonance signatures of the mechanical planets helping them detect any vessels within a ten-light year distance.
“None sir,” said Chavel.
Barrington looked at the beautiful images of the gaseous nebula. The extent of the Targlagdu threat had terrified him. It had terrified them all.
“Stand by on weapons,” Barrington said to Boyett.
Boyett sighed and looked nervously at the newly installed control panel on her flight chair. They hadn’t had time to test the new cannons installed in what was once hangar bay two and five, which were located on the bow and stern sect
ions of the ship. It had taken several weeks to install and they had, as of yet, remained untested. Tosh had given several warnings to Barrington over their use as the alien technology was being routed through every power system on board the ship. Over several heated exchanges, he had warned that using them could blow them up, simple as, but Barrington had ordered their installation nonetheless. They were alone out here and faced with a threat that was unparalleled in human existence. He needed guns. Big guns. Even as a last resort.
Boyett activated the weapons control system and placed her hands on the firing handles, which jutted out horizontally from their centre.
“Continue scanning the vicinity, David, I want alert readiness maintained for the next half hour,” Barrington said.
“Yes, sir,” Chavel replied.
Barrington continued to gaze out at the silent nebula. In the distance, a single flickering star caught his attention. It reminded him of a lighthouse in a storm. The nesting ground for stars. The ship drifted quietly through the gas clouds as they continued in silence, waiting for any surprises that might suddenly appear out of nowhere.
“Sir, I have contact with a planet,” Chavel said turning to Barrington.
“Let’s see it,” replied the Captain.
One of the view screens above their heads flickered as it changed its viewing angle from the bright colours of the nebula to a singular image of a floating red planet. Barrington had to admit to himself how much it looked like their former Martian home. Its red-looking surface was covered in a familiar haze denoting an atmosphere.
“Readings?” Barrington said.
“O2/nitrogen atmosphere,” Chavel responded.
“How is that possible? The nearest star is over a light year away.” Barrington asked.
“You got me, sir, but it’s definitely reading oxygen nitrogen balances comparable to Earth standards,” replied Chavel.
Barrington noted how tightly Boyett was holding onto the weapons controls and decided it was probably time to ease tensions on the bridge before she started firing random bursts into the void.
“Stand down weapons and take us closer, Charly,” he said to the young woman.
She peeled her hands off the controls and set a course for the planet.
“There looks to be a secondary layer encasing the planet, sir,” said Chavel.
“A shield?” Barrington asked.
“Might explain why the atmosphere hasn’t drained away, sir,” Chavel replied.
Incredible, thought Barrington.
When Carrie had first introduced him to Jack’s race, their level of technology had blown him away. Carrie’s briefing on their home world had been an astounding revelation. Jack had sat at the head of the conference table while a holographic image of where Carrie had travelled to rotated in mid-air. Barrington had just stared at the alien life form as it spoke perfect English to his crew. While he’d always thought he’d been prepared to meet an extra-terrestrial life form, he suddenly realised that after his first encounter with the mechanical planet he was decidedly less than enthusiastic. Tyrell had remained on board Jack’s ship. It was probably because he would have knocked him out for kidnapping his daughter. Carrie had persuaded him not to.
“Take us into orbit,” Barrington ordered Chavel.
“Yes, sir,” Chavel replied.
Barrington rubbed his freshly shaved face watching the red planet as it approached on the view screen.
“Charly, lock up the FTL ring,” he said to Boyett.
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
The sound of the FTL ring locking tightly around the hull reverberated through the bridge.
“Now approaching equatorial orbit, sir. No signs of any technology orbiting the planet,” Chavel said.
“Okay,” Barrington replied. He turned his head to Boyett. “Charly, hold position for the time being.”
Boyett just nodded her head in acknowledgment. Barrington turned to Leanne Ripley, the young communications and navigation’s officer standing behind him. The petite blonde-haired girl was staring at the planet with wide eyes.
“Ripley, any sign of communications transmissions coming from the planet surface or anything in orbit?”
She turned her attention to her computer console.
“Nothing, sir, the airwaves are clear,” she said confidently.
“Very well,” replied the Captain.
Barrington tapped his comm pad on his chair.
“Doctor Chase Meridian to conference room one,” he said.
“On my way, John,” came the reply.
He tapped the comm panel again.
“Crewman Ferrate to the bridge,” he said.
“On my way,” came the response.
“All senior officers to the conference room,” Barrington said standing up from his chair.
Boyett and Chavel locked their stations and stood to join the Captain at the lift towards the rear of the bridge. They waited in silence. Barrington looked back at Ripley.
“You have the bridge until Ferrate arrives,” he said to her.
She nodded her head confidently. He liked Ripley. To look at her, you wouldn’t think much of her, but she was full of courage and an exceptional addition to the bridge crew. While Ferrate had been recovering from his injuries, he had come to rely on her and she had taken to the role of a bridge officer far better than he had anticipated. The doors to the lift opened and the trio entered.
“What do you think, sir?” said Chavel breaking an awkward silence.
Barrington didn’t know how to answer the Lieutenant.
“We’ll find out,” he replied.
They stood in silence as the lift descended to the lower decks.
RUTHENIUM HOME WORLD
Tark’An entered the device control centre and stood watching the busy members of the Device Corp as they went about their various tasks. He hated this place. The council’s decision to implement the device for the last thousand years had been a coward’s way out. He would rather have taken a fleet of ships and gone to fight the Targlagdu. A point that he had made on more than one occasion to the device commission. Each time he had been overruled. There was no way, of course, he would sway any members of the council being from the ‘An’ clan. The council had, at one time, been primarily made up of third and fourth generations of the Lk clans who had ruled their race and protected their bloodlines by never mating outside their genome, however Drak’Lk was now the only member of the ‘Lk’ clan left alive. A member of the Device Corp spotted him and announced his presence to the rest of the chamber. They all stood to attention and turned to face Tark’An. He raised two of his right arms and waved them down.
“Be at ease,” he said to the team of nearly thirty.
They all nodded and returned to their duties. The device control centre was huge. Nearly 200 meters squared with a large high ceiling nearly sixty meters off the main floor. Swirling in the centre of the chamber was a perfect representation of a star. The giant yellow ball of swirling gas coated every inch of the chamber in light causing the light green scaly skin of each member to appear black.
“Good morning, General, good to see you back on your feet again following your accident,” said Gra’Xn.
The slim member of Tark’An’s race was lead scientist on the Sword of Stars project. His white robe covered a thin body and his four arms were in serious need of exercise. While he was proficient with a sword, his lack of physical strength would make him an easy target in any battle. Tark’An reminded himself that was probably why he entered the science corps in the first place. He frowned at the scrawny scientist and wondered what rumours had been floating around the Device Corp in his absence.
“Report,” Tark’An said to Gra’Xn showing irritation in his voice at the mere notion that he would be involved in any sort of accident.
Gra’Xn cleared h
is throat and pulled a data pad out of one of his pockets with his top right arm. He handed the pad to Tark’An.
“As you can see, sir, we are progressing nicely. Galactic charts are showing a near ninety percent lock-up on all stars. Signal strength is good with very little radiation leakage from the targeted planets with immediate Targlagdu threats,” said Gra’Xn, “Response rate from contact signal still remains at zero.”
Tark’An frowned. How could there be no response from any of the intelligent species they had attempted to contact after all this time. It just did not make any sense.
“Progress on the replication technology?” Tark’An said already knowing the response.
The routine question always elicited the same response from Gra’Xn.
“None, sir,” Gra’Xn replied.
“Show me it,” Tark’An said.
Gra’Xn nodded and tapped some commands into a nearby console. The huge floating image of the yellow star was replaced by a Targlagdu mechanical planet. Tark’An looked at the vessel as it rotated slowly in the middle of the control centre. The familiar orbiting threat filled him with the usual rage that started from the pit of both his stomachs. The twisted ball of metal was almost as large as the orbiting moon. The equator was split showing its vast mechanical interior strewn with twisted pipes and metallic structures that looked like gargantuan teeth. The damaged section of the vessel where Tark’An’s own ship had blasted a chunk out of it rotated into view, causing Tark’An’s mouth to form a smile.
“Energy emissions?” Tark’An said to Gra’Xn.
“The usual, its core is still as dead as it ever was. The device power amplification nodes are functioning normally, sir,” Gra’Xn replied.
“Status of the containment levels?” said Tark’An.
“Containment is strong, all replicants are held securely, sir,” replied Gra’Xn.
“Good,” said Tark’An, “Prepare a transport pod. I am going aboard.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Gra’Xn bowing his head, “One more thing, sir, would you like to be present during the destruction of planet alpha-six-seven-three-beta?”
