by Dietmar Wehr
“Acknowledged.”
Ship duration of the voyage was less than a week, which provided plenty of time for Koenig and Vasily to examine the data on the missing ship. It was large compared to Excalibur, with a flat delta shape, it carried four auxiliary craft that looked like miniature copies of the larger ship.
Chapter Twelve:
Both he and Vasily had adjusted their day/night cycles to be awake and present on the Bridge when the countdown timer hit zero. Excalibur dropped back into normal space right on the gravity threshold, and Koenig’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the huge red sun in front of them. Red super-giants were rare. Even at this distance, it still looked like they were about to fall into it. As the ship decelerated, both the tactical and astro AIs checked incoming data from the ship’s opticals. To the surprise of both Koenig and Vasily, this system did have a planet, although it was an airless, rocky world completely unsuited to any kind of life, with temperatures high enough on one side to melt metal and cold enough on the other to turn gases into liquids if there had been any there.
“I know it’s a long shot, but let’s give that planet a really good look just in case the ship had to land there for some reason,” ordered Koenig.
The surprise came when Excalibur was halfway to the planet.
“There’s a metallic object in orbit,” said the tactical AI.
“Is it the ship?” asked Koenig.
“Insufficient data to reach a conclusion at this range.”
When the ship was within one light second of the planet, Koenig had his answer.
“The orbiting object is too small to be the missing ship. It could be one of the auxiliary craft from that ship,” said the AI.
“Com, try to contact that craft. Astro, bring us to zero relative velocity at a distance of one kilometer from it.”
Even before Excalibur slid into position, the zoomed-in opticals confirmed that it was one of the missing ship’s auxiliary craft. There were no obvious signs of power, and the craft had a barely perceptible tumble.
“Still no response to our hails,” said the com AI.
Koenig looked at Vasily. “Well, we’ve definitely found our proof. That craft is small enough to fit into our hangar bay, but just barely, which means getting it inside will be tricky. Before we attempt it, I want to determine if there is anyone still alive on board. I want you to take command of a shuttle. Take whoever you think you might need, get in close, and then I want someone to EVA and try to board that craft. And I want that person armed just in case. Any questions, XO?”
“No, sir,” said Vasily formally.
As Koenig waited for Vasily and her party to get ready, he ordered the ship’s running lights turned on so that anyone on the craft would be able to see them and hopefully understand that they weren’t trying to sneak up on the tiny craft.
“The shuttle has launched,” said the com AI.
“Tell the pilot to turn on his external opticals and relay what they see to us on the main display,” said Koenig.
Within seconds, he was looking at the craft, which was gradually getting closer and larger.
“Is there any sign of external damage to that thing?” asked Koenig.
“Negative, Commander,” said the tactical AI.
“Put the shuttle’s com on the loudspeakers,” ordered Koenig.
“—ange is now two hundred meters, Rate of approach is two meters per second.”
Koenig recognized the voice as belonging to the pilot, Lieutenant Flannery.
“Nice and easy, pilot. Let’s not run into it,” said Vasily in her best command tone.
“Roger that, XO. I can slow down even more if you like.”
“Two mps is fine with me if it’s fine with you. Let’s turn on our flood lights.”
“Flood lights on.”
The image now became even clearer. Koenig couldn’t help thinking that the alien craft had a beautiful design, one which made human shuttles look uninspired by comparison.
“How close do you want me to get?” asked Flannery.
“Ten meters doable?” asked Vasily.
“Sure! No problem!” said the pilot in an exaggerated tone that made Vasily wonder if he really was nonchalant about the range or if he was trying to let her know that she was asking for a lot. She made a mental note to have a chat with the pilot after returning to the ship. What was it about shuttle pilots that seemed to make them such cheeky bastards anyway?
“Okay, coming up on ten meters range with zero velocity. Holding position steady now, XO.”
“Very good, Lieutenant. Excalibur, I’m leaving the cockpit to get the EVA ready. Stand by.”
Koenig heard the com AI acknowledge the report. It only took another four minutes or so before he heard Vasily say, “EVA is commencing.” Seconds later someone in a spacesuit, wearing a small, maneuvering unit on the back, appeared in the camera’s field of view.
“I can see what looks like an access hatch.”
Koenig suddenly realized that the XO was the one in the space suit. “Dammit! I didn’t want her to board that craft herself! Can she hear me?”
“Not yet. Do you wish her to?” asked the com AI.
“Yes! XO! Did you not understand my orders as to who should attempt the EVA?”
“I understood them perfectly, sir. You said that someone should EVA to try to board the craft. You did not specify who should or should not do so. As the shuttle commander, I exercised my prerogative to go myself. I’m almost at the access hatch now.”
Koenig wanted to respond but decided that the XO didn’t need that kind of distraction at this particular moment.
“I can see what looks like a control panel. Nothing’s lit up so I’m just going to touch it and see what happens. Okay, I’m seeing a green light now. This craft still has some power. Touching the green light again. Nothing happening so f—HOLD IT! The access hatch is opening! Can you see this, Excalibur?”
“We see it,” said Koenig.
“Hatch is now open. I’m going inside. Don’t be alarmed if communications are cut off when the hatch closes.”
Koenig muttered a ‘damn’ under his breath. He hadn’t considered that possibility, but it made sense that the craft’s hull might be too thick for the suit’s radio to transmit through. If something happened to Vasily inside, he might not find out about it.
“I’m inside. The hatch is closing now. Must be on automatic. Let’s hope I—”
“Damn!” This time Koenig said it out loud.
Vasily felt her heart rate speed up and was glad she wasn’t claustrophobic. She had barely enough room to turn around and face the inner hatch. Her suit’s instruments quickly told her the space inside the airlock was filling with air that was made up mostly of nitrogen with enough oxygen to be breathable, not that she had any intention of trying it. She had no intention of exposing her lungs to alien micro-organisms. If she got back to the shuttle, her spacesuit would undergo decontamination before she entered the inner part of the shuttle.
When the air pressure stabilized, the inner hatch opened. It was dark inside but not totally black due to the light emitted by indicators on various pieces of equipment. She slowly stepped into the craft and looked around.
“I’m inside now.” She waited to see if there was any response. “Excalibur, can you hear me? Flannery?” The loss of communications was unnerving but not unexpected. As her eyes adjusted to the low light, she saw that there were no inhabitants in the craft’s main cabin, and there was a clear path leading to the front where the cockpit would be. The craft did have artificial gravity, so she was able to walk slowly up to the cockpit entrance. As she moved inside, she could see the control panel, which was very different from any she was used to. She also saw two humanoid bodies sitting in what would normally be considered the pilot and co-pilot seats. They were not moving.
When she stepped forward, she could see that both humanoids’ eyes were open, strongly suggesting that the aliens were dead. After some hesitation,
she gently touched the shoulder of one of the bodies. There was no reaction. A quick check of the other one produced the same result. Convinced that both of them were dead, she got back into the airlock, activated the lit control panel and breathed a sigh of relief as the inner hatch closed and the air began to be pumped out.
As soon as the outer hatch started to open, she heard the background static that she hadn’t realized had disappeared earlier.
“Vasily to Excalibur. Can you hear me, Excalibur?”
“I can hear you now, XO,” said Koenig, relief noticeable in his voice. “Any survivors?”
“Negative. Two bodies, no survivors. Is there anything else you’d like me to do while I’m here, sir?”
“Depends. Did the craft’s controls look familiar enough that you could pilot it?”
Vasily took her time answering. “I would not want to try piloting that craft, especially not into the ship’s hangar bay. Even if I thought I could, I’d have to move one of the bodies, and I don’t think we should do that if we intend to bring them back to their own people, sir.”
“Understood. You can return to the shuttle and await further orders, XO.”
Koenig muted the channel to the shuttle and Vasily so that he could discuss the situation with his AIs.
“Engineering, is there a way to bring that craft aboard?”
“The shuttle has magnetic grapples normally used to anchor it to the hangar bay deck as a precaution against interruptions in artificial gravity. If the alien craft’s hull is made from metals that can be magnetized, then the shuttle should be able to attach itself to the craft’s hull and maneuver the craft to a position just outside the hangar bay entrance. Robotic units can then attach towing cables magnetically to pull the craft into the hangar bay and secure it to the deck. A preliminary analysis of the craft’s dimensions indicates that our shuttle may have to be abandoned because there might be insufficient room for it after the alien craft has been brought on board.”
Koenig was not happy with that possibility. While Excalibur carried two shuttles, if they had to abandon one, the other would not be able to carry all the crew and passengers if the ship had to be abandoned for whatever reason. After a few seconds of thought, he decided that the risk was worth taking.
“I don’t want the XO and the shuttle team to have to transfer in space, so we’ll pilot the other shuttle out of the hangar bay remotely first. Then bring the alien craft aboard with the XO’s shuttle coming in last. Can it be done that way?”
“Affirmative,” said the engineering AI.
“Then let’s get started.” Koenig re-activated the channel to the shuttle and explained to Vasily and the shuttle pilot what he had decided to try.
The execution of the plan took longer than Koenig had expected, but the craft was brought onboard without mishap or damage to either it or the ship. There was enough room for Vasily’s shuttle but not the remotely piloted one. It’s auto-pilot was ordered to crash the shuttle into the planet below.
As the shuttle began to descend, Koenig heard the tactical AI’s voice.
“Opticals have picked up something unusual on the planet’s surface.”
“Let’s see it on the main display,” said Koenig.
The image shifted from the shrinking shuttle to a fuzzy image of the planet’s rocky surface, which was gradually becoming clear. Koenig was unable to determine what the colored objects on the ground were until the image zoomed in to one small area. He gasped when it became clear that the objects were humanoid bodies, and there were a lot of them.
“Could they be from the missing ship?” asked Koenig.
“TacComp calculates a ninety-seven percent probability that they are from the missing ship,” said the tactical AI. “Now picking up movement. Shifting image.”
The zoomed-in image shifted laterally so quickly that Koenig almost became dizzy. When it settled down, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Multiple metallic spheres were emerging from a circular hole in the surface.
“What are those things?”
“Insufficient data for a reliable conclusion,” said the AI. “Objects are rising quickly and appear to be on an intercept vector with either the remote shuttle or Excalibur. Recommend acceleration at max Gs.”
“Astro, boost us out of orbit at max Gs! Maintain visual observation of the remote shuttle as long as possible.”
Koenig watched in fascination as the objects reached the shuttle but did not crash into it. Rather they slowed down enough to match the shuttle’s speed. Each sphere then deployed metallic-looking spider’s legs, attached themselves to the shuttle and slowed down its descent. When the shuttle had lost most of its velocity, the spheres began to rip pieces off it.
“What the hell!”
“EngSysComp has calculated an eighty-eight percent probability that the spheres are robotic units attempting to salvage the shuttle’s metal components,” said the engineering AI.
“Could they access the shuttle’s computer systems too?” asked Koenig.
“Unknown but possible.”
Now Koenig was really worried. The shuttle’s computer contained astrogational data on Earth’s location. Allowing an unknown and possibly robotic civilization to acquire that data was an unacceptable risk.
“Go to Battle Stations! Tactical, target the shuttle with a Mark 14 missile and fire when ready!”
“Targeting has been assigned. Missile will fire in two…one…now.”
With the range to the shuttle less than a hundred kilometers, the missile took less than three seconds to reach the it. The blast was satisfyingly intense. By the time it had dissipated, the ship was too far to be able to see if there were any more spherical objects rising up from the planet’s surface.
When it was obvious that the ship was safe from attack and on its way back to P1, Koenig left the Bridge to head down to the hangar bay to see the alien craft with his own eyes. As a precaution against contamination, the craft would remain sealed. By the time he got there, Vasily had gone through her own decontamination procedure and was out of her spacesuit.
“I heard what happened after our shuttle landed,” she said. “Any idea who or what attacked the other shuttle?”
Koenig shrugged. “The AIs have a couple of theories, but at this point it’s all conjecture. The theory I think is most likely is the one suggesting those spherical objects are robots under the control of an artificial intelligence that exists below the surface of the planet. That kind of entity would always be on the lookout for more metal. I’m guessing the missing ship was overpowered by them, brought down to the planet’s surface and ripped apart. Anything not made of metal, like the crew, were simply discarded, and they would have died from exposure to vacuum and either the heat or the cold. This”—he pointed to the alien craft—“somehow managed to get away from the doomed ship, but without an FTL drive, it was stuck in this system and orbited the planet in the slim hope of being found by a rescue mission. Apparently if the orbit is high enough, the robotic spheres either can’t detect it or can’t be bothered to go after it.”
Vasily couldn’t help shivering a little. “I couldn’t tell how the two in the craft died. Life support failure maybe, or from lack of water or food. God, what a way to go. It’s good luck for us though. When we deliver this craft, there won’t be any doubt that we did go all the way to P1. Have you decided on how we’ll turn this craft over to them?”
“Yes. I still don’t trust them enough to let them get close to Excalibur. So, what we’re going to do is drop this craft off at a point in the asteroid belt, then move to a safe distance. We’ll then send a message to the Xenos telling them what we found and where they can find it. When they acknowledge taking possession of the craft, we’ll remind them that they agreed to share their tech with us before we share ours with them. Then we’ll know if they’re trustworthy.
Chapter Thirteen:
The situation in P1 seemed to be unchanged when Excalibur returned. After carefully listening for EM sig
nals, it was determined that the mining ship they had made contact with before had moved several hundred thousand kilometers along the asteroid belt. Koenig made the decision that they would drop off the Xeno craft at the same spot where first contact had been made. It would be an easy location to convey and was not currently under observation as far as anyone knew.
When the ship was at the right location, the crew began the tricky job of moving the craft out of the hangar bay. The shuttle had to go out first and was pulling the alien craft via magnetically anchored cables. Koenig cringed as the craft narrowly missed hitting the side of the hangar bay opening. With the craft now floating in open space and the shuttle back inside, the ship moved to position itself in open space one light minute from the massive construction site, with running lights off and hull camouflage on. With the ship on alert status, Koenig gave the order to send the message telling the Xenos that Excalibur was back with a recovered auxiliary craft and its current location. The Xenos didn’t reply, but when the same mining ship they’d interacted with earlier was detected moving back to the first contact point, it was clear that the Xenos had gotten the message and were checking it out. It was an hour later when an incoming message arrived.
