Frontiers 07 - The Expanse

by Ryk Brown

  “Yes, sir,” Jessica responded.

  * * *

  “The first two did not survive the revival process,” Doctor Chen stated solemnly. “As we feared, the amount of tissue degradation was too severe. They suffered massive heart failure long before the nanites could sufficiently repair the degraded cardiac tissue.”

  “What about the third one?” Nathan asked as he stared at the last stasis pod.

  “We learned quite a lot from the first two attempts,” the doctor explained. “We have reprogrammed a batch of nanites so they can work in a patient who is in a reduced metabolic state.”

  “Reduced?”

  “We’ve brought the last survivor up to half of the normal metabolic rate, like half-stasis. We’re hoping that, by reducing the stress on the patient’s organs, this will give the reprogrammed nanites enough time to repair the patient’s degraded cells in the most critical areas before we attempt to fully revive him.”

  “Will that work?”

  “We do not know,” she admitted with a shrug. “The nanites normally depend on the patient’s metabolic functions to support their activities and provide the base materials they need for reconstruction or repair. These nanites have been programmed to cannibalize those materials from nearby, less important tissues. The trick is not to damage those other tissues to the point that they become a problem as well.”

  Nathan shuddered at the idea. “Doesn’t sound like fun. In fact, it sounds painful.”

  “I doubt he will feel it,” Doctor Chen assured him. “Nevertheless, the patient will be unconscious during the process.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “A few hours before we can attempt to revive him.”

  “Will he be able to speak?”

  “I doubt he will regain consciousness anytime soon after being revived. He may not regain consciousness at all,” she reminded him. “Remember, he has been in stasis far longer than these systems were designed to keep the human body alive.”

  “So you’re saying he may have deficits,” Nathan said.

  “I’m saying he may come out in an irreversible comatose state.”

  “You’re not painting a very rosy picture, Doc.”

  “It isn’t one. Any idea who he is?”

  “Lieutenant Commander Nash is still digging through the Jasper’s logs, but it’s slow going since she has to use data pads. Besides, she’s on her way down to the surface right now to see what happened to the two hundred people that left.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “Probably not,” Nathan said, “but I think we need to be sure there are no survivors alive down there before we move on.”

  “And if you do find survivors?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, Doctor,” Nathan stated. He paused a moment, taking a deep breath. “Keep me informed.”

  * * *

  The wind howled as it swept across the frozen, gray-white landscape of the second planet in the BD+25 3252 star system. Waves of falling snow were blown laterally as they fell, creating a rippling effect on the surface as the snow was tossed about like grains of sand.

  The waves of snow hitting the forward windshields of the shuttle sounded more like tiny rocks than snowflakes. Visibility outside was so poor that neither of the flight crew bothered to even look out the windows. Everything they needed to know to land the shuttle safely was displayed on the consoles in front of them, and the constant buffeting by the violent winds outside required their complete concentration during their descent.

  Jessica held onto the flight harness that secured her tightly to her jump seat in the cargo area of the small shuttle. The six seats on either side of the shuttle were all occupied, all twelve of them needed for the mission on the surface.

  She scanned the faces of her landing party. They were all clad in special thermally regulated cold-weather gear provided by the Corinairans. The outfits were thick and well insulated, and the hoods sealed up around a face mask that covered the entire face and chin.

  The Corinari security team that accompanied them sat calmly in their jump seats, unconcerned with the violent shaking of the shuttle that had been going on ever since they first hit the atmosphere more than five minutes ago. The other three civilian personnel—two Corinairans and a Takaran—did not appear as calm.

  There was no conversation between the members of the landing party as they continued their controlled fall from the sky, bouncing about at the whim of the violent air currents outside. Jessica smiled at the Takaran scientist, Mister Taves, who seemed to be having the most difficult time dealing with the descent, and gave him a thumbs up sign. She smiled again when he did not understand her gesture and looked up at the overhead, wondering what she was pointing at.

  The shuttle came in low over the ice shelf, its engines barely audible above the icy winds. As it cleared the edge of the elevated shelf, it descended quickly, slipping under the path of the wind and into calmer air.

  The shuttle drifted sideways as it continued forward, finally coming to a hover a few meters away from the first rectangular snow hill. As it lowered, its jet wash blasted several meters of snow away from the surface, revealing the level terrain detected by the shuttle’s sensors. The shuttle settled gently onto the frozen ground, having blasted the snow away in an oval around them.

  “Touchdown,” the pilot’s voice announced over Jessica’s comm-set. “Give us a minute to shut her down before you crack the hatch.”

  “Copy that.” Jessica unfastened her harness and rose from her jump seat along the port side of the shuttle’s cargo area. “Everyone, check your mask seals and breathing systems. Remember, although the air is breathable, it is very thin, and it is damned cold. Without the mask, you’re unconscious in a minute, dead in eight.”

  “Then how could anyone have survived here?” Mister Taves asked.

  “That’s what we’re here to find out. To be honest, I don’t expect to find anyone alive, but you never know.” Jessica turned to Major Waddell. “Major, I trust your people will secure the area while we dig our way inside.”

  “Yes, sir,” Major Waddell responded. He turned to face his men. “First team secures the LZ. Second team secures the perimeter. Nobody loses signals with the man to either side of them. Radio checks on the five.” He turned back to face Jessica. “There will be no surprises while you’re inside, Lieutenant Commander.”

  “Very well.”

  The shuttle’s crew chief stepped up to the port side hatch and activated the exterior boarding ramp. “Pilot says we’re all shut down and ready for exit.”

  “Mask up!” Jessica barked. She pushed her mask snugly against her as she pulled the harness up over the back of her head, wiggling it a bit to ensure it was seated properly. She pressed a small switch embedded in the side of the mask that activated the data display on the inside of the mask in the upper corners. The display allowed her to see where everyone on her landing party was located as well as keep track of her own position in relation to the shuttle and the nearby buildings buried in the deep snow. She pulled her hood up over her head and secured it to the edges of the mask. The hood felt warm and cozy, already heated by the cold-weather suit’s built-in thermal control system. As long as her suit was working, she would remain at a normal temperature, despite the freezing cold outside.

  Jessica turned around to check that the rest of her team was ready to go, then turned forward and gave the crew chief a thumbs up signal. Although the Takarans did not yet understand the gesture, most of the Corinairans on the Aurora’s crew had long ago learned its meaning.

  The crew chief pulled his hood in place and activated the hatch controls. The hatch slid open, allowing a gust of wind and miniature pebbles of frozen water to come blasting into the shuttle’s cargo bay. The entire landing party braced themselves against the sudden rush of wind and ice, a few of them stumbling to avoid a fall.

  Jessica moved aside as Major Waddell and the first team of Corinari charged down the ramp like
they were charging into battle. Jessica found it a bit odd, since the Corinari knew full well that no signs of life had been detected: no thermal signatures, no electromagnetic emanations, not even a working battery pack. However, she was not one to discourage being overly cautious, especially in unfamiliar territory. She peered out the hatch after them as they bounded down the ramp and across the freshly blasted terrain which was already becoming covered over by the drifting gray-white snow. Within moments, they disappeared from sight, swallowed up by the haze of swirling snow and dust. She watched the data display on her visor as the men fanned out in four different directions. After a minute, they all came to a stop. She listened over the comms in her head gear as each member of the first squad reported in to Major Waddell, confirming that each of their stations were clear of threats.

  “LZ secure,” Major Waddell reported over the comms. Despite the masks, she could hear the wind howling over his comm-set. “Second squad, move out.”

  Jessica stepped back once more, making room for the next four men to exit the shuttle. She felt out of place as she watched them also disappear into the swirling haze. Charging off into the face of danger was something that she was not only trained to do, but also enjoyed. Unfortunately, that was Major Waddell’s role in this situation. He and his men were trained for ground combat and security operations. They had gone along on the journey back to Earth to help protect the Aurora’s crew in just such a situation, and Jessica was confident that Waddell and his men were up to the task.

  Minutes later, Waddell reported that the perimeter had been secured. Jessica motioned for the other three members of her team to follow her out, and she headed down the ramp.

  The wind was not as fierce as she had expected. The ice shelf that rose to their aft provided a natural wind block for them. In its shadow, the wind was less direct and swirled about aimlessly instead of blasting from one side to the other.

  The first thing she noticed as her boots touched the surface was that the snow was not snow at all. It was the same tiny frozen pellets that had come blasting into the cabin when they first cracked the hatch open. It crunched under her boots in a peculiar way, allowing her feet to sink into the snow pellets. On the areas of the LZ that had been blasted clean, the little pellets that were gathering in an effort to once again cover the LZ rolled slightly under her feet, making the surface seem slippery at first. “Watch your step!” she called over the comm-set, warning the others coming down the ramp behind her. “This stuff is slippery.” As soon as the four of them were down the ramp, they moved in a group toward the first rectangular hill only ten meters away.

  As they headed into the deeper snow, she noticed that the little frozen pellets didn’t clump up the way snow usually did. That made it easier to plow through the deepening drifts. Soon, however, they were up to their waists in the frozen pellets. After a few moments, the going became far more difficult.

  “Is there any way to get through this?” Jessica asked Mister Taves behind her.

  “Give me your weapon,” the Takaran responded.

  “What?”

  “Your weapon.”

  Jessica handed him her energy pistol, butt first.

  Taves adjusted the settings on the weapon. “Stand aside,” he ordered. Jessica stepped back as he’d asked, allowing the Takaran to take her place at the front of the line. He pointed the weapon and squeezed the trigger. Instead of a bolt of energy leaping out of the barrel, a conical beam flashed from the weapon in short bursts. The waist deep drifts of icy pellets in front of them sizzled, instantly melting and turning into steam under the superheated beam of the weapon. The steam instantly disappeared, joining the swirling ice pellets in the air above them. Jessica was sure she could see the steam immediately turning back into ice and being scattered by the wind due to the extremely frigid temperatures.

  The trick worked, and the team began to advance toward the first rectangular snow hill at a brisker pace. Mister Taves continued firing the adjusted weapon, melting the ice in front of them with each blast. Within a few minutes, they found themselves at the edge of the rectangular snow hill.

  “That was slick,” Jessica said to the Takaran. “Think you can use it to clear a way inside whatever is under this hill?”

  “I can try,” Taves answered over the comms. He turned back around to face the hill before them and began blasting away with the adjusted weapon. He started near them, sweeping from side to side and progressively upward. After clearing each meter, he would start the process again at the bottom, working his way back up and away from them. After a few minutes of carving away the snow hill, he suddenly stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.

  “If I go much deeper, I may damage whatever is underneath the snow. I am afraid we must dig the rest of the way.”

  Jessica looked at the two Corinairans standing behind her. “You heard the man; start digging.”

  All four of them began digging at the wall of icy pellets standing in front of them. They scooped with their gloved hands, carving away at the snow for several minutes until, finally, one of them found something solid.

  “I found something!” one of the Corinairans announced. “I think it’s a wall.”

  The rest of them concentrated their efforts in the same location, quickly revealing a stone wall.

  “There’s got to be a door around here somewhere,” Jessica said. “Stand back,” she ordered the Corinairans. “Start firing again that way,” she instructed Mister Taves as she pointed to the right of the uncovered section of wall, “parallel to the wall. Cut us a path about two meters wide. If we don’t find a door by the time we reach the corner, we’ll go back the other way.”

  “As you wish,” Taves answered. He stepped up and began firing Jessica’s adjusted weapon once more, carving away at the snow. He soon learned to cut only a few centimeters away from the wall and allow the remaining snow to fall away of its own weight. Within minutes, they reached the corner of the wall without finding a doorway.

  “Let’s go back the other way,” Jessica said.

  “Lieutenant Commander,” Taves began in his most diplomatic fashion. “We do not know what wall the entrance would be on. It could be around this corner for all we know.”

  “Good point,” Jessica agreed. “Waddell,” Jessica called over the comms, “send me one of your guys from the LZ, and make sure he’s carrying an energy pistol.”

  “Understood,” Waddell answered.

  “As soon as he gets here, adjust his weapon the same way,” Jessica ordered. “I’ll have him cut back the other way while you keep cutting this way, around the corner. One of you has got to uncover a door sooner or later.”

  “Good thinking,” the Takaran agreed. “That will be much more efficient.”

  * * *

  “Why aren’t you eating with Vlad today?” Cameron asked.

  “He’s busy overseeing the installation of the first plasma torpedo cannon.” Nathan picked at his salad. He had already eaten the small chunks of meat that the chef had added on his request. “You really eat only vegetables?”

  “For the most part, yes.”

  “What if you were starving, and there was nothing but meat?”

  “Then I’d eat it. I may be a vegetarian, but I’m not stupid.”

  “What about bread?”

  “I eat bread on occasion.”

  “On occasion? I don’t think I could survive without bread.”

  “You and Vlad were made for each other, you know that?” Cameron said. “That man eats nothing but meat, potatoes, and bread.”

  “Yeah.” Nathan pushed his unfinished salad away, leaning back in his chair. “The first thing I’m going to do when we get back to Earth is get myself a nice big steak.”

  “I thought we had plenty of steaks on board.”

  “Dollag steaks,” Nathan corrected. “It’s not the same thing; trust me.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “What are you going to do when we
get home?”

  “New clothes and some fresh sea air,” Cameron said. “I’ve been wearing the same three sets of uniforms forever, and I miss the sound of the ocean.” She sighed at the thought. “But I imagine we’ll all be quite busy writing reports about what happened.” She glanced at Nathan, noting the quizzical look on his face. “I mean, a lot has happened. Over sixty of our crew died, including the entire command staff. We engaged in hostile actions with not only the Jung, but another previously unknown interstellar power. We even formed an alliance and initiated attacks. I imagine we are all going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

  Nathan stared at her for what seemed like forever. “You think it’s that bad?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted with a shrug, “but there have got to be investigations. There are always investigations, especially when people die.”

  “You think we’re in trouble?”

  “I’m pretty sure I’m okay,” Cameron stated. “I know the regs pretty well, and so far, nothing you’ve done required me to override you and take command. Not even the forming of the alliance.”

  “Then I’m probably okay as well.” The day-to-day activities, as well as the discovery of the Jasper, had managed to distract him from such thoughts. Now, he was starting to become nervous again.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. Whenever something bad happens, someone always needs a scapegoat.”

  “And you think it’ll be me,” Nathan said.

  “You would be the logical choice. The captain of a ship is responsible for everything that happens under his command. I don’t think they’ll toss you in prison or anything, but they may ask you to resign.”

  “I think I can handle that,” Nathan said. “I think I’ve had enough excitement and adventure to last me a lifetime.”

  “Still, I’d consider an attorney if I were you,” Cameron added. “Surely your father knows a few good ones.”