Talcon Star City

by Gary Caplan

  “Yes, I would be delighted to visit with the Talcon; it’s been approximately three centuries since my last visit to them,” Garfield replied. “I should mention that the Varlon and Accad have attacked the Cynz Republic. Kalst of the Cynz informed me of this on my way here.”

  “Hum, the Cynz,” Sheppard said. “They are another of the more advanced space-faring races, a silicon-based life, right?” Garfield nodded affirmatively. “I had no idea that they were attacked,” Sheppard said, “since they live in another quadrant of our galaxy and have no formal trade or affiliation treaty with the Alliance.”

  “The point is,” Garfield said, “if the Varlon now have the resources to resume conflicts against the Cynz in the gamma quadrant, then they may also soon be able to strike into the alpha quadrant.”

  “Damn, the entry of the Accad into the usual Varlon occupation tactic is having repercussions in other sections of the galaxy,” Sheppard said, as he looked at the information interface of his desk workstation, noting an announcement that the Phoenix was on final approach to the space dock. “It’s freeing the Varlon to move to try to occupy more territory as the Accad seem to want only to do battle as a normal matter.”

  Sheppard moved from his desk and picked up his commlink device; its view screen showed him the relevant icons he could use to interface with the ship’s computer or even communicate with another interlink device. Sheppard had been influenced by his father and never got an internal interlink implant. He was somewhat conservative and felt that a cybertronic implant was not absolutely necessary. Sometimes, Sheppard used a computer display link or CDL device, which was a set of eyewear that interfaced with the computer. The CDL would show him the augmented reality of virtual interface icons if he needed that information. “I think it’s time we go to the bridge,” he said, as he moved toward the command alcove area that led to the bridge.

  Wilder said, “Now that we are past the force and defense screens, let’s make a more detailed scan and try to get some information.” Wilder noticed the entrance of acting Fleet Admiral Sheppard and Vice Admiral Garfield as they came walking out of the command alcove section.

  “Sir, initial scans indicate that some Accad starfighters attempted to land on the Star City,” Ares replied.

  “I have scanned debris of a few Accadian starfighters, and one is mostly intact,” Andor said.

  “There is a large hole in the surface where the Accadian antimatter weapon penetrated and struck,” York said. “That is where they likely entered.”

  “Tell me about the Talcon in the Star City,” Sheppard said. “What have our scans indicated?”

  “The readings of life signs are not strong, Sir,” Taylor said. “They appear to be muted, and the life signs are clustered in multiple large areas…It might be a type of stasis.”

  “Yes, it is likely a stasis or what might be termed a suspended animation facility,” Ambassador Renjir said. “The longer the voyage and in this case from the home galaxy, the more likely that most, if not all, of the crew and passengers are in stasis.”

  The Phoenix was settling into a docking area, and automated systems were attaching docking corridors for supply transport. The systems seemed adaptive, and the particular space dock where the Phoenix was now secured was probably for alien or non-Talcon starships. There was an almost imperceptible sound as the Phoenix made final attachment to the docking facility.

  On the Phoenix’s bridge, Sheppard and the crew were looking at the Talcon ships they could see docked to the Star City, each successive starship arcing in a cylindrical docking facility area on either side of the Phoenix. There were hundreds of starships, from frigates to dreadnaughts, in the immense cylindrical docking hold, and this was just one of several docking holds.

  The general look of the Talcon starships secured and locked in the docking facility was different from that of the Alliance ships. They had a streamlined appearance, as if each had contra-gravity generators and were also capable of planetary flight, and several appeared to have the capability for planetary landing. Sensor scans revealed that their hulls were some form of crystal-metal organic matrix. Some of the starships even seemed almost to have been carved and had the equivalent of organo-metallic feathers.

  Ambassador Renjir went to stand near the science section near Commanders Andor and Taylor. They had been examining the real-time scans of the docking area and around the Phoenix. After viewing some of the outer views, Renjir said, “These are definitely members of the home galaxy of the Talcon, not from my more local home world. They have somewhat different written postings such as we can view on these scans of the external informational signage, and possibly a spoken dialect I am not used to.”

  “Sir, we have not gotten a response from further hails and no further docking instructions,” York said.

  “That is probably because it is fully automated,” Wilder responded. “It reminds me of the time I docked my previous ship in a Lyramenian space dock for a minor repair.”

  Sheppard had also been looking at the sensor scans of the outside areas. Captain Wilder said, “Please set up several first-contact teams. Since no one has come to greet us, let’s go to greet them. Since I am senior officer, I will lead one of the teams.”

  “As a reminder, I recommend you caution the teams to be careful as they go into this facility and begin their travel to one of the main stasis centers. Such activity could initiate a waking sequence for the first Talcon security teams,” Garfield added.

  “Yes, I agree, but there should be at least a few individuals to greet us. I am not sure why none of my fellow Talcon is present,” said Renjir. “Any Accad or Varlon that could have boarded should have been dealt with by now.”

  “Just to make sure that any enemy who has landed has been dealt with, I will have Ares arrange fleet security to go with the exploration teams,” Wilder said.

  “Yes, Sir,” Ares said. “I will select and notify some officers and space marines now.”

  “Excellent. Let’s get started,” Sheppard said. “Once security does an initial area check on the other side of the connection corridor, my team and I will head out.”

  CHAPTER 10

  INTERNAL DEFENSE

  Having walked down the connection corridor into a reception or processing area, the exploration teams found walking easier than onboard the Phoenix. The artificial gravity was about 0.85 standard. This processing area was empty save for some artistic cylindrical information kiosks. No other Talcon were there to greet Renjir. One access terminal was in nominal operation mode, but neither the security officer nor Ambassador Renjir was able to fully activate it.

  “Report,” Sheppard said, as he and his team walked into the area where the others had gathered.

  “Sir, we have had no contact with any Talcon here,” Ares said. “We located an information kiosk of some kind, but our technical officers and Ambassador Renjir have not been able to contact any central operations centers.”

  “Very well, Ares. Any scans of Accad or Varlon?” Sheppard asked, as he saw Garfield move toward the information kiosk and pull out his omni-device. Garfield began talking with commanders Andor and Taylor, who had headed over earlier.

  “Scans are not working long range now; it’s probably an internal security system causing interference,” Ares replied. “We can scan locally, and those scans have enough energy to deal with the interference. In this locality, no Accad or Varlon are detected.”

  “All right, then let’s go looking for the Talcon,” Sheppard said. “Set all weapons to standby and low settings, and fire them only if you see any Accad or Varlon. Avoid collateral damage, if you can, when firing weapons.”

  “Sir, Lieutenant Commander Sterling and I have established some exploration teams with mixed security and marines, since we have not been greeted,” Ares said. “I did not want to appear as an invading force, so I kept our numbers limited. However, I think we should send some marine patrols under Lieutenants Phong and Kieta to specifically scout for the Accad from th
at assault ship.”

  “That is a good idea; arrange that, Ares,” Sheppard said. “Very well then; Sterling, Ares, Andor, Darani, and Taylor will command individual search teams looking for the Talcon. I will take charge of one of the search groups.”

  Sheppard walked over to Garfield at the information kiosk as the others began to move outward. The kiosk was about a meter in circumference and cut at an angle, with a higher and lower side. The slanted control panel was about one-and-a-third meters high. Garfield’s device had transformed into some kind of combination sensor and computer interface unit. He was taking readings.

  “I have probed this system; it is in security mode, and I do not presently have the authorization code to reactivate it,” Garfield said.

  “I don’t suppose you have some insight as to what is happening here?” Sheppard asked.

  Garfield seemed to link with his device and also appeared to Sheppard to be doing a remote sensing. Sheppard had tried briefly to use his clairsentient ability before coming across the connection corridor but sensed no danger on the other side and no Talcon in the vicinity. He knew his old mentor had a more developed ability for clairsentient disciplines and to remotely sense.

  “I do sense Talcon in a secure stasis facility about fifty kilometers from here. They are still in stasis,” Garfield replied. “I find it interesting that it is such a large facility.”

  “Sir, I find it interesting that they use stasis facilities like we use cryo-sleep chambers for some of our regular and most of our cloned space marines,” said Lieutenant Naden, the officer for the marines assigned to Sheppard’s group.

  “Yes, I do too, and that is quite a distance to travel on foot, but let’s head to where they are, and perhaps we can find some vehicles,” Sheppard said as he brought up a search map on his commlink—one that security had made recently. “So which direction?” Sheppard asked.

  Garfield showed him one of the projected displays from his multiscanner. “This sensor device has a greater range, so I have been able to construct a local map.”

  Sheppard noticed that his exploration teams were already heading to the exit area under the senior officers he had put in charge. From what he could see in the map, Garfield’s device projected a manipulate-able image that showed there were other corridors exiting from the reception area. “Maybe we should go to this area and pass through here,” Sheppard said to his group of nine staff and crew personnel and Ambassador Renjir. “Then eventually we can get to what appears to be a conveyance similar to the maglev train on Star One.” The scans revealed it operated on a magnetic coil that repulsed the train conveyance on a secured opposing rail.

  Along the way to the transport conveyance, Sheppard’s team had passed through an area of intriguing artwork of some kind of gliding and moving sculptures, and there was a section that reminded Sheppard of giant wind chimes. As they walked, they noticed that there were many levels to the ceilings, as if the Talcon used their wings and moved about in the area. The lighting seemed to be on emergency or low light, and some sections they passed seemed dark. Sometimes odd smells came for a few moments and then dissipated.

  “Sir, I thought I saw something move up ahead in the distance,” one of the marines said, as he and a security officer moved forward. The corridor ahead had scattered light sources and was not clearly visible.

  “Go check it out,” Sheppard said, as he moved toward some kind of mural artwork on the walls depicting a forested area. There was an interface unit, and Renjir and an engineering officer were trying to access it. The interface also drew Garfield’s attention.

  Sheppard’s commlink device signaled on a private code that Sharon Taylor wanted to speak with him. “Yes, Sharon, what’s up?” Sheppard said into his commlink, which he had attached to his uniform shoulder to free his hands.

  “Robert, you won’t believe this,” Sharon said. “My group has entered a cavernous area. It’s huge—maybe two hundred kilometers across, with multiple levels—and, oh, there are beautiful waterfalls and what appears to be a rain forest,” Commander Taylor said happily.

  “Sounds like you are having fun, Sharon. Maybe I will get to see it later,” Sheppard said, smiling. “Let me see if Vice Admiral Garfield, who happens to be my personal science officer today, can provide another map.”

  Sheppard walked over to Garfield and asked about it. “Sharon has found a rain forest area. Could you find that with your multiscanner mapping?”

  “I can try. Let’s see,” Garfield said, as he manipulated his device and it morphed into a projection unit. “Yes, the area she is talking about is here; our present path will take us past a different section of it.”

  “Once we get to the Talcon conveyance, we will perhaps then see some of what you’re seeing, Sharon,” Sheppard said. Weapons firing ahead suddenly distracted him. He heard the whirring and high-pitched whine of the rife-like pulse particle weapon the marines carried as it discharged. Then they heard the marines cry out.

  “I’m not scanning any Accad or Varlon, Sir,” said another security officer who had stayed with Sheppard’s group. As the only other marine with the group moved forward, Sheppard recalled that the marine up front who had fired was a cloned marine. Clones had supported the Phoenix at the battle of QB7 and were part of the two battalions of cloned space marines the Phoenix carried onboard, most of who were still in cryo-stasis.

  The group moved cautiously forward and found the space marine with a look of horror on his face. He was unconscious. “Tell me what happened here,” Sheppard said.

  Just then, Sheppard’s commlink chimed in. “Sir, this is Ares. Something seems to be following my group, and one of our security crew is unconscious.”

  “That’s odd, Ares. It’s what recently happened to us as well,” Sheppard said.

  “Sir, the search party under commander Sterling is contacting me now. I will coordinate a security report for you shortly,” Ares said.

  “Acknowledged, Ares. Report when able,” Sheppard said.

  Sheppard went toward Garfield. “I know our scanner results are not as detailed or precise as Karratin scanners, so what are we up against?”

  “There was a surge of proto-matter nearby, as if moved by a transmat-like device,” Garfield replied. “I also detected a telepathic presence briefly, just before the weapons fired. He headed toward the unconscious space marine. “Give me a few moments to determine what we are up against, Robert.”

  “A telepathic presence…I was distracted while answering my commlink,” Sheppard said. “I am not sure what is happening here.” Suddenly, a strange fog moved eerily down part of the hall to just in front of where the one space marine lay unconscious. Renjir moved toward the fog and examined it. He also used his own scanning device to scan the area. The fog spread out and then dissipated.

  Garfield was standing near the unconscious space marine. “Robert, I scanned his mind,” Garfield said. “He is in a state of mind shock of undetermined origin, possibly caused by fear. I will use a combination of disciplines to bring him out of it.”

  “Sheppard’s commlink chimed again. “Commodore Sheppard, we are getting reports of odd things happening to the search parties,” Wilder said.

  “Yes, Lt. Commander Ares informed me of a recent development,” Sheppard replied. “She is gathering more information.”

  “She will probably keep us both informed then,” Wilder said. Sheppard sensed that Garfield had succeeded in waking the space marine.

  “My group is going to continue forward. We’re close to some kind of Talcon rapid conveyance, probably not that unlike our mag-trains,” Sheppard said to Wilder over the commlink. “I plan to take it to get closer to the stasis chambers and then wake a Talcon.”

  “What happened, Sir?” asked Sergeant Charlie, the previously unconscious space marine. “I saw a thing…like a huge lizard. I fired on it. I tried to run. Then I don’t know what happened. I must have passed out.”

  “The sooner we get to the Talcon, the better,” Shepp
ard said, as he led his group forward.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, part of Lt. Commander Ares’ group continued the search and noticed something strange. “Where did this fog come from?” Ares asked. One of her space marines had reported seeing something earlier. Then a few minutes later, another one reported seeing something. Two space marines went to investigate. Suddenly, there was weapons fire from the pulsed particle weapons the marines carried. Ares rounded the corner and saw a tentacled apparition. The remainder of her security force had surrounded it. It reached for Ares; she dodged its thorned tentacle, but it ripped the top of her uniform cloth, exposing part of her chest and shoulder. It then struck and grasped security Ensign Palder around the waist. She screamed in pain and passed out, and then the apparition faded away.

  During the altercation, Ares had put off responding to one of the forward security teams she had dispatched earlier. “Ma’am, we found a dead Accad near what might be a weapons depot,” Lieutenant Phong said. Also, there is a deep hull section breach not far away, and the area ahead is coated in Varlon nano-particles—they could be trying to co-opt the area.”

  “Have you been attacked?” Ares asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. It was strange that I did not see what happened. I have two unconscious space marines, and one is critically wounded,” Phong said.

  “After you take a more detailed scan, avoid the nano-particles and return to the reception hall,” Ares said.

  “Shouldn’t we go after the Accad?” Phong asked.

  “Not if it means becoming contaminated with dangerous Varlon nanotechnology,” Ares replied. “I think there may be some kind of defense in place here, and it may consider us hostile.” She closed the auditory commlink and linked a request for a transfer of Phong’s scan report.

  “I think I have to contact Commodore Sheppard soon,” Ares said, as she tried to fix her tattered upper uniform section.

  * * *

  Elsewhere, after finding evidence of Accad presence, Lieutenant Keita and her space marines were walking through a fog and heard eerie sounds. When the lead marine saw some kind of tentacles reach for him, he fired his weapon. The other marines fired their weapons at the same time at a bright blue-green swirling mass with tentacles swarming out of it. Within a minute, all of the marines were struck and had passed out. Lieutenant Keita, who was not a clone but from an Earth colony, let out a reactionary scream of pain and passed out as the tentacled limb began to wrap and squeeze around her.