The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  Standing, Sonya dressed and began to walk down to the shuttle.

  ***

  Deck 19, Main Engineering, 1000 hours With adjustments to the Primary Energizing Coils, the Annular Confinement Beam can be stabilized, allowing dematerialization/rematerialization. Dejah checked her calculations again. Excellent. She downloaded her work from the console to her smart-pad and went to find Commander Lange in the Armory, where he was working on the Firing Range safety monitoring systems.

  As she passed the turbo-lift, it opened and Chief Zira stepped out. "Greetings, Chief," Dejah said.

  "Hello, ma'am."

  "Why are you on this deck? I believe you are assigned to decks 14 and 15."

  "Yeah, well, my comm failed, and I need it replaced, so Sonya sent me down to get one from the Armory," Zira said.

  "How did you find Lieutenant Mueller today?" Dejah asked.

  Zira frowned. "Same as usual. Bad. She's just plodding through her duties like a heartless Cen... machine."

  Dejah raised an eye. "And what about Lieutenant Shen?" "Saw her before the shift started. She's okay, I think. Kinda blue, but I think she'll get over it."

  "Unfortunate," Dejah sighed, or as close to sighed as a Centuri can get. "Yeah, especially after all the trouble you, me, and Daniel went through playing matchmaker for those two. I mean, you knocked Sonya out, and they still don't get it."

  "I am fascinated by the ability of many species to refuse to acknowledge their own desires." "Yeah, well, it kinda just pisses the hell out of me." Their discussion ended as they reached the Armory. Lange was just leaving as Dejah and Zira approached, so they parted ways and Dejah walked up to the Chief Engineer.

  "Commander Lange, I wanted to discuss something with you."

  "What is it, Lieutenant?" "I think I may be able to modify the transporter to lock onto a scanner through the magnetic interference on this planet, allowing safe transport. If successful, the technique could be adapted to similar environments."

  Lange listed intently. "Let's see what you've got." Dejah handed him the smart-pad, and he examined her design. "Very well. Make the adjustments to the Auxiliary Transporter and a scanner. We'll send it down with tomorrow's shuttle."

  "I would prefer to go down myself," Dejah said. "The scanner component is the most delicate, and I would prefer to be able to make any adjustments personally."

  "Very well. I'll add your name to the list for tomorrow's run."

  ***

  Deck 32, Main Shuttle-bay, 0900 hours Dejah was sitting in the shuttle, working on the triscanner when the access ramp lowered. "Hey, Lieutenant, I see you're coming with us today," said the pilot in a soft Welsh accent.

  "Good morning, Ensign Morgan. Yes, I am working on a way to transport through the interference. I am going to use this scanner as beacon for the transporter to lock on to," she explained as Morgan walked past her to the cockpit.

  "Yeah, that's great," she said, taking her seat and beginning the pre-flight protocols. The corridor door opened, and Casana and Zira entered.

  "Hey Dejah," smiled Casana. "Morning, ma'am," Zira said. "Chief, Lieutenant," Dejah replied, still working on the scanner. Casana sat next to Dejah, reading over her smartpad. Zira took the seat opposite from the Centuri, and closed her eyes. "Are we ready to depart, Ensign?"

  "Not yet, ma'am. Still one more," she answered. The door opened again, and Sonya stepped through. She took a seat across from Casana, and looked at the floor. Casana looked at the ceiling. Dejah and Zira looked at each other. Dejah raised an eyebrow and Zira rolled her eyes. "Now we're ready. Bridge, Shuttle-craft Hydra requesting permission to launch."

  " Hydra, Bridge, you are clear to launch. Be advised, solar storms have increased magnetic interference on the surface. Expect turbulence."

  "Understood, Bridge. Hydra departing," Morgan said closing the channel. The lights in the shuttle dimmed, and the Shuttle-bay doors opened, allowing the light from the system's twin suns into the craft. The shuttle lifted off the deck and slid forward silently.

  They passed out of the Main Shuttle-bay, underneath the aft section of the hull. The shuttle pitched to one side and turned towards the planet below. Brilliant oranges and bright yellows from the suns danced across the inside of the craft as it turned. The planets large oceans and vast grasslands gleamed in the light, a green and blue gem in the dark of space.

  "Now entering outer atmosphere. Brace for turbulence," Morgan said over her shoulder. Over the hum of the engines, they began to hear a dull roar, soft but growing. Dejah, however, heard something else as well: a slight hissing sound, very soft, coming from the aft of the shuttle. She was at first concerned, but the sound faded quickly, and she leaned back into the chair. She glanced at Sonya as the planet's gravity began to be felt. She looked uncomfortable.

  "Are you ill, Lieutenant?" she asked.

  "Guess," she snapped, trying to breathe deeply. "Might I..." she stopped mid-sentence as she heard another sound. This time, she heard a soft popping, coming from the same area as before. Dejah turned to Morgan. "Ensign, I suggest you run a diagnostic on-"

  She was cut off by a deafening bang, followed by the sound of tearing metal and rushing wind. Alarms sounded, and the shuttle lurched to the side sharply. "Shit!" yelled Morgan. "Lost impulse power. Hull breach. We're losing altitude!"

  "What the hell?" Sonya yelled. Another bang shook the shuttle, and it began to tumble.

  "I've lost control! Brace for impact!" screamed Morgan. There was a thunderous crash, and sparks flew through the cabin. The flight controls overloaded, exploding in Morgan's face. Another crash, and the shuttle came to a stop. ***

  Shuttle Hydra Crash Site, 0930 hours on Bismarck, 1743 hours equivalent local Dejah calmly looked around, but her eyes saw nothing. She groped around her waist for the emergency restraint's release lever. Her fingers found it, but when she pulled, nothing happened. Damaged. Dejah grasped the restraint itself and shook it. Loose. Possible structural damage. It may be possible to detach manually. She grabbed the restraint belt with both hands and pulled with all her strength. The belt immediately snapped free on the seat, and she tossed it to the floor.

  The cabin was completely dark, but she knew where the door was. She stood, nearly falling on the heavily tilted floor and moved to the ramp. It too was loose, and with a firm push the ramp swung down before falling from its hinges onto the ground. The shuttle was bathed in light, and Dejah turned to assess the damage.

  The damage was total. The main window had been knocked out of its frame and now lay with one side on the top of the pilot's seat and the other on the controls. Despite numerous cracks, it was still supporting the weight at least a ton of rock, which now covered the front part of the shuttle. The controls themselves were destroyed, a smoldering mass of scrap. Zira stirred, groaning quietly as she opened her eyes.

  "Ow," she mumbled.

  "Chief Zira, are you injured?" Dejah asked. "Huh?" She looked up at Dejah in confusion. "What the hell?" Finally, her mind began to work again. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, pulling the release lever. The restraint released its grip and she nearly fell forward, her seat being on the elevated side of the wreck.

  "Good. Help me wake the others," Dejah ordered as she moved to Casana. Behind her, Dejah heard Sonya moan as Zira pulled her from her seat.

  "Easy, ma'am," Zira said as Sonya tried to move.

  "Chief? What the hell happened?" she asked as she looked around.

  "We crashed," said Zira flatly as Sonya surveyed the situation. "I can see that, thank you Chief." Dejah removed Casana's restraint and examined her. She was breathing, but unconscious, and appeared to have received a blow to the head. As Dejah forced one of her eyes open, Casana jolted awake. She swung an arm out, catching Dejah in the jaw, causing her to stumble back and trip.

  "Lieutenant Shen, please refrain from striking me." Casana looked around for a moment before realizing where she was.

  "Oh. Sorry, Dejah," she apologized. "It's been awhile since I've been in a cra
sh this bad," she blushed.

  "When were you in a crash?" Sonya asked.

  "Uh, a long time ago," she answered nervously.

  "What about Morgan?" Zira asked, changing the subject. "I do not know," Dejah said as she stood. She slowly worked her way through the debris to examine the Ensign. Tiny shards of glass and metal were embedded in her face, and blood ran down her uniform, but she was still breathing. "She requires medical assistance."

  "Chief, get the med-kit," ordered Sonya as she joined Dejah. Zira retrieved a medical kit from underneath one of the seats and opened it.

  "Sir, most of the stuff in here is smashed, including the scanner." "Toss me a light," she said. Zira pulled a light from the box and tossed it to Sonya. Clicking it on, she shined it in Morgan's eye, watching the pupil. "She's responsive. We should move her," she said to Dejah.

  "Agreed," Dejah responded. "Release her from the harness." Sonya bent down and forced the release, freeing the restraint and letting Morgan's body slump into Dejah's arms. As the others stepped out of the way, Dejah slid her arms under the unconscious pilot's shoulders and dragged her from the cockpit back to the ramp and out of the shuttle. Dejah set her down on the grass a few meters from the shuttle before returning to the wreck.

  As her Centuri friend went through the debris, Sonya bent over the young woman in front of her. She picked the glass and metal fragments carefully from her face, brushing aside a lock of dark red hair. She took a gauze pad from the medkit and gently dried the blood from her face. The dermal regenerator was destroyed, so she tore bandages into small strips and used them to cover the wounds. When her face was clean, Sonya could see another injury.

  It was a long gash running from her right forehead down her face, through the eyebrow, across the cheek and ending at the jawline. Whatever had caused it had missed her eye by millimeters, sparing her any serious damage. The auto-suture was also broken, so Sonya used another set of bandages to seal the injury without obstructing vision. Sonya stared at the Ensign's face, struck by the marred beauty of the young officer.

  "We gotta get out of here!" yelled Casana, pulling Sonya back to reality.

  "Why? What's wrong?" Zira asked as she looked up from some salvaged equipment she had been gathering. "That," Casana said, pointing to the horizon. Sonya looked up to see dark clouds in the distance. Bright flashes lit the clouds a few times a second, and lightening was striking the ground almost constantly.

  "Holy shit," Sonya gasped. "An electrical storm? On an M-class?"

  "It's rare, but possible," Casana said.

  "Dejah, can you get that transporter working?" Sonya called into the wreck. Dejah poked her head out.

  "It will take time," she answered. "Time that we apparently lack," she added when she saw the storm. "Get everything you can. We have to get out of here."

  17

  Sixteen

  2 kilometers from crash site, 1803 hours equivalent local "A few dozen more meters!" Casana shouted back to the others. Powerful gusts of wind lashed at the treetops, sending the weaker branches crashing to the ground as thunder rolled in the distance. They had covered more than 2 kilometers in a matter of minutes, but they were in danger of being overrun by the storm. They had entered a sparsely wooded area to minimize the chance of direct strikes from the lightening, but it would provide little protection from the full fury of the storm.

  "Stay together!" Zira shouted back. "Ma'am," she added, remembering that she was, in fact, the lowest ranking person on the planet. She was carrying two bags of equipment, staying just behind Casana. Immediately behind her was Dejah, who was carrying Morgan in her arms. Behind them all was Sonya, who carried the least equipment, but was responsible for keeping track of the storm and was the most likely to get separated.

  "We have to move!" she yelled forward. She could barely see Casana in the rapidly fading light. The Arcadian climbed a few meters up a tree, staring into the dark.

  "I found an entrance!" she called back, pointing. She stayed in the tree, directing each person towards the cave entrance. Casana had memorized the geological scans of the area, and remembered that there was a network of caves in the hills near the crash site. They would provide sufficient shelter from the storm, assuming that they could get far enough in.

  "Are we missing anyone?" Sonya asked Casana, having to yell despite being next to her. "No. Come on, let's get in there," she answered, pointing to the cave entrance. Cold rain began to fall as they reached the cave entrance, and Sonya clicked on her light. It was useless outside, but in the tight quarters of the cave, it was very effective. But despite the light, she could not see Zira or Dejah.

  "Dejah?" she called. "Up the left passage, Lieutenant," said a voice, echoing down one of the passages. Sonya and Casana made their way carefully up the passageway until they reached a massive chamber. The chamber was at least 50 meters across, roughly circular, with a 20 meter high ceiling. Most of the chamber was underwater, covered by dark, still water, but there was a large dry area in front of her. The floor of the cave was covered in a fine sandy material, scattered with a handful of large rocks. Sonya shined her light into the water, and saw that it was not black, but rather emerald green.

  In the center of the dry area, Zira was setting up a makeshift camp while Dejah examined Morgan. Sonya set the survival kit she had been carrying down and went over to the Martian, "How is she?"

  "I am an engineer, not a doctor. While she does not appear to have suffered any major injuries, her pulse continues to slow, and her fingers are growing pale," Dejah said, holding up one of Morgan's hands for Sonya to examine. She took it in her own hands, and she saw that the hand was extremely pale and cold to the touch.

  "She's losing blood," Sonya said.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Pale skin, restricted blood flow to the hands and feet, slow pulse. All signs of blood loss."

  "There is no sign of bleeding, and her uniform is not torn."

  "Take it off," Sonya said. Dejah looked at her questioningly. "We have to be sure." "Very well." Dejah and Sonya removed Morgan's crimson jacket, setting it aside. Her undershirt was white, indicating her department. As Sonya started to pull it off, Dejah grabbed her hand. "Wait," she said, pointing to Morgan's abdomen, "here."

  "Yeah, I see it," Sonya agreed. The undershirt stuck tightly to Morgan's body, drenched in sweat, but a small area on the left side of her stomach was stained by a small amount of blood. Sonya gently peeled the fabric from Morgan's body. "Okay, let's see what we have here... oh, fuck!" she cried. As soon as the darkened part of the shirt was removed, a long, deep cut opened up and dark red blood poured out. "I need the field surgical kit!"

  Zira and Casana looked up from what they were doing and saw the blood. Zira reached into the med-kit and retrieved a small red box, tossing it to Casana as she passed her. Casana opened it as she reached Sonya and Dejah. "I need room!" she said, and Dejah stood and backed away.

  "Holy shit, that's a lot of blood," Sonya said worriedly. "The dark color means it's not oxygenated. It's been in the wound for a while, coagulating. As far as circulation is concerned, it's already gone." Casana knelt across from Sonya, next to the Ensign, digging in the surgical kit as Zira and Dejah looked on. Sonya reached down and used her hands to place pressure of the gash, trying to stop the bleeding. "No! Not yet," Casana yelled, pulling Sonya's hands away, "We need to let it clear. It will carry away any pathogens, cleaning the wound, and make room for oxygenated blood to reach the tissue."

  "Since when do you have medical training?" Sonya scowled, but Casana didn't respond. Instead, she pulled a stack of bandages from the surgical kit and set them on Ensign Morgan's chest.

  "I need a bio-waste bag and light," she said calmly. Dejah picked up a light and knelt behind Casana as Zira dug a small resealable bag out of the medkit and handed it to Sonya. "Hold it here," Casana said as she maneuvered the light in Dejah's hand to illuminate the injury. Casana dropped a piece of gauze on a small puddle of blood that was starting to form in
the sand, and used another to wipe the area around the wound dry. "Bag," she said, and dropped the bloodsoaked gauze into the bag as Sonya held it open.

  "Shit," muttered Zira as Casana gently pressed a gauze pad against the injury and the white material immediately turned dark red. She quickly replaced the gauze, dropping the used one into the bag. Casana went through several gauzes, each one taking up less and less blood. Finally, she pulled the gauze away from the wound, and bright crimson blood slowly seeped from the cut.

  "Okay, it's cleared. Sonya, I need you to hold a gauze pad in place to absorb blood while I look for the source of the bleeding."

  "Okay," she said. Casana carefully placed a small piece of gauze in the wound and brought Sonya's hand to it. "Hold it here," Casana ordered as she peered into the injury. Using her small fingers, she moved the tissue around, trying to find the source of the bleeding, occasionally moving Sonya's hand to better absorb the blood. At last, she spotted a small tear in the muscle layer, slowly leaking blood. "Tell me the laser scalpel isn't broken," Casana said to Zira.

  "It is," she answered gravely.

  "Fuck."

  "We can build a substitute," Dejah said. "Chief Zira, find a small piece of metal, long and narrow."

  "Okay," Zira said, digging around in the equipment before finding a small shard. "Got it."

  "Now, place several small rocks together away from the equipment."

  Zira quickly gathered a few stones and piled them in the middle of sandy area. "Now what?"

  "Using your plasma taser, heat the rocks to over 1000 degrees." "I see where this is going," Zira said as she drew her taser. She adjusted the power setting, aimed the weapon at the rocks, and fired, maintaining the beam until the rocks glowed bright orange. Zira picked up the shard of metal and wrapped one end in cloth from the lining of the survival kit and stuck the exposed end into the rocks, quickly turning it red hot. "Here she is," she said, handing it to Casana.