by Tony Healey
“What’re you thinking? The Walkway?” Greene asked.
Jessica nodded. “That way we can keep the Defiant a good distance away and remain connected. It’ll take some expert flying from Banks, though.”
The Walkway was an extendable docking collar intended specifically for situations such as that. The exploratory team would be able to travel from the Defiant to the Enigma, single file but in relative safety. Of course, something could go wrong and tear the Walkway, but that was a risk they had to take. And they’d all be suited up anyway.
“I think the kid’s got the goods,” Greene said with a grin.
“Well, I honestly don’t see any other way around it,” Jessica said. “The logistics of getting a shuttle on there, and ensuring it remains fixed… it’d just be a nightmare.”
“Due to the spin of the Enigma, anything positioned anywhere but the exact centre would begin to drift away, flung out into space by the Enigma‘s rotational energies,” Gentry explained. “I concur with your plan, Captain. It’s sound.”
Jessica almost sniggered, but she held it in. “I appreciate your confidence, Doctor,” she managed to say.
“Before we wrap this up,” Greene said. “Any anomalous readings coming off that thing we should know about? Radiation? Evidence of an energy shield?”
Chang shook her head. “Nothing. It’s simply a great black cylinder of metal in space. Holes at one end for propulsion, and a hole at the front for visitors.”
“And have you found records of anything similar in the Union’s dealings with alien races?” Greene asked.
“No. This is the first of its kind,” Chang said.
“Then the name is apt,” Jessica said as she stood. “And we’re truly heading into the unknown. Who can predict what we might find over there… ?”
PART II
The Unknown
21.
Lieutenant Kyle Banks eased the Defiant into an orbit alongside the Enigma, matching the other vessel’s pitch and velocity perfectly.
Captain King stood behind him, her hands pressed into the back of his chair.
“Good flying, Lieutenant,” she said. “Now ease us forward so we slowly overtake.”
He bit his bottom lip as he nudged the Defiant into a slightly faster orbital speed. It meant that the Enigma started to slide past to port as the Defiant sped past. When they’d crept ahead of the Enigma by several ship’s lengths, Banks swung the Defiant about to face the other ship, using its own inertia to maintain speed.
His hands keyed the helm controls with precision as he allowed the Defiant to drift to the right, directly in the path of the Enigma‘s massive, intimidating bulk.
“I’m putting our target area up on the viewscreen now,” Commander Chang said. A second later, an area highlighted in red appeared where the Enigma‘s airlock was. It showed distance, size of target area and other information Banks would find useful as he gently positioned the Defiant opposite the other ship.
“Now fixing our position,” Banks said. The bridge crew remained silent, and his voice almost echoed off the walls. “I’ll be using reverse engines to maintain present speed.”
Jessica King reflected on the crazy nature of orbital mechanics. While to them, they would barely seem to be moving at all, they were in fact travelling at great speed. And they would have a mysterious black behemoth chasing their tail the whole time. The slightest change in velocity…
“Done,” Banks said. He breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re locked on. Ready to deploy the Walkway on your command.”
She patted his shoulder. “Lieutenant, I want you here as much as possible. Train a crew member of your choosing to monitor the helm when you’re away. That thing could speed up, or move away, at a moment’s notice.”
“Aye, Captain,” Banks said. “Understood.”
Jessica did not add: That’s probably more likely to happen once we’ve got past the airlock. It might not appreciate intruders.
She kept this to herself for the moment. No doubt the others were thinking it anyway.
* * *
“So you’ve picked your teams then?” Commander Greene asked her as they grabbed a coffee in the mess hall.
Jessica scrolled down the list of names on her data tablet.
“Yes. As you know, I want you aboard the Defiant at all times.”
He nodded as if this were something he totally agreed with, and yet she noted a distinct despondent vibe from him.
“Del, I need someone on the ship I totally trust. Someone who knows what they’re doing,” she said. She looked about. The mess was only half full and they’d sat up one end of the room, away from everyone else. “Right now, that’s you. I wish I could have you exploring that thing with me.”
He smiled. “Listen, Jess, you don’t have to explain your decisions to me. I understand. And I totally agree. Doesn’t stop me feeling sour about it, though, does it? I’ll get over it.”
She nodded. “You’re hormonal, but you’re the right kind of hormonal.”
Greene sipped his coffee. “Right, so, who’s your picks?”
“Team One will consist of myself, Gary Belcher and Dana Oriz. Of course, I’ll be the leader for that particular team,” she said with a smirk.
“I thought you might feel like promoting poor Belcher . . .” Greene said.
“And rob the Chief of her right hand man? Never,” Jessica said with a chuckle. “I’m afraid Gary will be in that engineering room till he grows a snowy white beard.”
The Commander laughed behind his coffee cup to try and conceal it.
“Anyway, Team Two will have Lisa Chang as leader, accompanied by Peter Davies and Doctor Gentry, our latest addition to the funny farm,” King explained. “Technically, Davies is a doctor like Gentry and Oriz, but he’s been aboard a long time. Seen a few assignments off ship. His field’s flora and fauna, and I thought it might be a good idea to have someone like that on one of the teams.”
“Agreed,” Greene said.
“Olivia Rayne will head Team Three –”
“Huh!?” Greene said, his eyes widening in surprise. “Little Olivia? You serious?”
Jessica nodded. “Calm down. You know, sometimes you literally jump the gun.”
“Sorry.”
“You stopped me before I could say that Lieutenant Jackson will also be on the team. And Jackson’s a fine man, but he’s too hot-headed to lead a team. I think we need someone with a little more . . . poise. That’s why I chose Rayne.”
Greene shifted uncomfortably. “I think she’s the wrong one.”
“Trust me.”
He shrugged. “Okay. We’ll agree to disagree on this one. So who else is on the team?”
“Oh, Selena Walker. I’ve tried to get as broad a range of expertise across the three teams as I can. Engineering, communications, science, history, tactical, and more. They’re all there,” Jessica said.
“And when are we gonna try and go across?” Greene asked.
“As soon as possible. I don’t want to waste any time. As soon as that Walkway is fitted, I’ll be leading the teams over there to bust that thing open and find out what’s inside,” she said.
“Man, I wish I could go with you . . .” Greene said wistfully.
Me too, Jessica thought. But what she said was: “I know.”
* * *
The Defiant maintained constant velocity ahead of the Enigma. Indeed, if it were not for the planetoid below racing past, it might have looked as if the old Union ship were simply sitting in front of the huge cylinder. But it had matched the Enigma‘s orbital movement perfectly, maintaining a constant distance.
Chief Meryl Gunn watched on the monitor as the Walkway slowly emerged from the nose of the Defiant. She realised it was as if the two ships (and the Enigma could only be a ship – couldn’t it?) were facing one another down.
David and Goliath, she thought idly. The Walkway stuck out like a long taper, a thin tongue. With minor bursts of propellant, the very end of the ex
tendable docking corridor could be adjusted before reaching the other vessel’s hull.
“Remember, Lieutenant, you only get one shot,” she told Banks.
Lieutenant Banks wriggled his shoulders uncomfortably, due in no small part to the fact she was literally breathing down his neck as he performed the tricky feat. There were only the two of them down in the cramped dock control room, at the very front end of the Defiant. It was rarely used, and mostly intended for when a secure dock to a space station couldn’t be achieved without putting the superstructure of a starship at risk of damage. Then it was advisable to make use of the extendable docking device.
However, it certainly came in handy now.
“Ten seconds until contact,” the Lieutenant said. “Let’s hope your modifications work.”
“Hey, don’t question a woman’s workmanship. It’ll work,” she said.
Banks bit his bottom lip with concentration as the targeting reticule zeroed in on their goal: the airlock at the front end of the Enigma.
“Making final adjustments,” he said and bumped the end of the Walkway a little to the left. It lined up perfectly. He cut the speed and allowed it to drift to the point where it nearly came to a complete stop. With the final vestiges of its inertia, the end of the Walkway met the black hull of the mysterious Enigma. Without the Chief’s modifications to the end of the Walkway, it might not have held in place.
Indeed, the Chief had visions of it ricocheting back off, the Walkway swinging out into space and the Lieutenant struggling to reel it back in . . .
But it held. Just as she’d known it would.
Banks appeared to be impressed. “It’s holding. One hundred percent contact.”
“Yep. Just like I said. Don’t question my workmanship, boy-o.”
22.
Like many intrepid explorers throughout history, Captain Jessica King went first. She led all three teams, single file, through the full length of the Walkway. It was a little disconcerting to have the slightly flexible material of the corridor move around them, but after walking for ten minutes, the team members grew accustomed to the sensation. The Walkway seemed to have no end, but they pressed on with little conversation.
Although they all wore their suits, and would be fully protected from the vacuum of space should the corridor break, it was still somewhat disconcerting to have that as a possibility. As such, there was a safety harness between all the team members, so if that should happen, the other members of the group might act as a counter-weight to stop anyone flying out into space. The rock climbers of old had observed the same method of tethering themselves to one another. Should one person fall, the others would hold him or her up. Stop them from falling to their deaths.
It was no wonder conversation was scarce until they neared the far end of the Walkway. Finally, the airlock came into view and the tension dissipated.
“Don’t everyone relax just yet,” Jessica said over her helmet comm. system. “The real work’s about to start. This was just the preliminary mission.”
Then they reached the airlock proper.
* * *
The Enigma‘s airlock was perfectly circular, a perfect round hole in the vessel’s black hull rimmed with some kind of shiny alloy. Remarkably, the almost mirrored metal seemed unscathed by exposure to space. It looked pristine.
There was a heavy circular door at its centre, yet no visible way of opening it. Nothing that resembled a computer input, or a manual control. Just the nondescript airlock and the shiny metal that encircled it.
“I don’t get it,” Olivia Rayne said. The Walkway widened significantly as it neared the docking collar, enough to permit three of the team members to stand side-by-side. “No controls. No way to open it.”
Jessica clucked her tongue. “At least, nothing immediately apparent.”
She ran her gloved hand around the polished metal and at her touch, coloured lights appeared either within or below the metal itself.
“Oh,” Dr. Gentry said. “Most fascinating.”
Jessica made a sweep of the entire, shiny metal circle with her hand. The lights – eighteen of them in total – did not appear the entire circumference, but at specific points. And as the rest of the team crowded around to watch, it became apparent the lights were much more than illumination. They were symbols, though of a kind none of them had seen before.
“What now?” Rayne asked.
“Well…” Jessica said. She pressed a finger against one of the symbols and it flashed. She proceeded to push them all, one after the other. “Sometimes you just have to push every button.”
“A most unscientific –” Dr. Gentry started to say. His eyebrows rose in surprise as the airlock started to open. The door retracted into the hull of the Enigma. “Well…”
Captain King stepped forward and aimed her head torch into the gaping darkness within the giant structure. There was little to see but a kind of decking. As powerful as the torch was, it didn’t illuminate anything. Barely penetrated the gloom before them.
Jessica turned back to the others.
“I know it’s customary for a speech at this point,” she said. “And now I wish I’d prepared one. But I didn’t. So how about we get inside and see what’s in there?”
“Sounds good to me,” Lieutenant Jackson said.
“Defiant, are you listening?”
“Affirmative, Captain,” Commander Greene said on the other end.
“We’re going in, Commander.”
“Good luck.”
And with that, Captain Jessica King of the starship Defiant became the first human to step foot within the Enigma.
23.
As it turned out, they were only within the airlock itself. It was big enough to hold them all. The ingenuity of the Enigma‘s design made itself instantly apparent. They realised that the same decking they’d taken to be the floor was in fact on every surface, for what was up and down? The Enigma‘s builders had provided a chamber shaped like a hexagon to provide numerous surfaces on which they could walk. Every wall was also the floor and the ceiling. A very weak gravity helped them walk on the otherwise slippery surface.
“That’s an inner lock,” Lieutenant Belcher said, approaching a door entirely similar to that which they’d just stepped through. I’d assume that after that, we’ll encounter some kind of atmosphere.”
“Doctor? Would you care to give it a try?” Jessica asked Dr. Gentry.
The older man grinned. “Yes!”
He bounded forward and copied her own actions from moments before. The lit symbols appeared again around the door, and the Doctor proceeded to press each one in turn.
The inner lock opened, much the same as the one on the hull had.
“Doctor?” Jessica said. She held out an open hand. “After you.”
24.
“They have breached the Enigma, sir,” Ensign Roland Beaumont reported from the science station. “Teams entering the first centrifuge now.”
Commander Greene nodded. “Excellent. Keep me apprised.”
* * *
The inner airlock was much like the first, but smaller. When the last of them had stepped through it, the door shut behind them.
Lights flashed around them from within the hexagonal walls.
“Readings?” King asked.
Dr. Gentry checked his scanner. “I’m reading atmosphere. Pressure rising. It’s thin at the moment, but breathable.”
“Interesting,” she said. “So the Namar breathed an Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere the same as us?”
“It would appear so. In a moment, I predict this chamber will be fully pressurised,” Gentry said.
And he was right. With its equalisation sequence complete, the lights all came on at once around them, revealing another door at the other end.
Jessica looked to Commander Chang. “Would you like the honour, Commander?”
“Well,” Chang said, a big smile on her face. “If the offer’s there . . .”
Jessica noted the way Chan
g looked at Olivia Rayne. The shine in their eyes.
The Commander worked the mysterious controls of the airlock, manipulating the lit symbols just as she and Dr. Gentry had before.
“Oh . . .”
There was nothing but darkness on the other side. They all stepped through the open hatch one-by-one, their lights barely touching the black nothing before them.
“No power, do you think?” Chang asked.
Before Captain King could answer, the world was filled with blinding light as the sun came up within Enigma.
25.
An entire world on the inside of a barrel, Jessica thought, once her eyes became accustomed to the brilliance of the Enigma‘s lights. They were situated directly opposite, on the end of stems. There were three of them, and each was so bright it hurt to stare directly into them.
But beyond the adjustment from night eyes to normal vision, it was what was in front of them that took getting used to. The team stood on a large platform, following the same hexagonal shape. They could have exited on any side, and still found themselves on a flat surface looking down on the strangest landscape ever conceived.
The inside of the cylinder was lined with habitat. On a planet, or any spherical body, the surface formed an unending curve down. Here in the Enigma, the surface curved up over their heads. And while they had no sensation of the cylinder’s momentum, since they stood within it, they were aware that the centrifugal force of the Enigma‘s spin was keeping everything pinned to the inner wall with gravity equivalent to Earth’s.
“This is . . . most unexpected,” Dr. Gentry said.
“You can say that again,” Lieutenant Jackson said. “I keep looking up, expecting it all to fall down around us.”
“It won’t,” Dr. Gentry said, and made a brief explanation of the forces involved.
Jessica couldn’t look away. A grey coloured floor lined the entire habitat, with what looked like simple metal huts or houses, and scattered among them, larger buildings. She spotted no greenery at all. Nothing living.
