Dark Space

by Stephen A. Fender

  “Nice job!” Shawn said, stepping toward Fralok and slapping him on the shoulder.

  The Kafaran scowled at the gesture. “Your praise is unnecessary. The blasts were not directed at us, Commander.”

  Shawn narrowed his eyes at the major. “The fleet?”

  But it was the sensor officer who responded. “Captain Ralath, I have Imperial warships on my screen. They have engaged the enemy in sectors ten, eleven, and fifteen.”

  “Major Fralok, adjust our heading. Let’s see them.”

  The Tangled Web turned quickly to port, and everyone on the bridge was promptly treated to the view of a mass of Kafaran ships of every class engaging the outnumbered Meltranians. Shawn watched as three destroyers quickly went to work on the Meltranian collector the Tangled Web had nearly collided with.

  Swarming around the vessel easily three times their size, the Kafaran warships were pummeling the Meltranians with everything they had. Bits of bone-like spires flaked off the enemy vessel in droves, but the enemy warship seemed to pay them little mind. Quickly turning, it took aim at a Kafaran battle cruiser that had strayed into its line of fire. There was a brilliant flash as the isotonic cannon discharged. A split second later, the Kafaran warship took the full brunt of the blast in its port side. The blast ripped open a gash nearly a hundred yards wide and half as tall. The aftermath was no different than any other encounter with the devastating weapon.

  “All power is down on the Avius,” the sensor officer called out to Captain Ralath. “No life signs present.”

  Every light that had speckled the surface of the half-mile-long boulder-shaped warship had winked out, and the purple glow of the massive rear thrusters had likewise quickly faded away. Knowing they hadn’t the time to mourn—not that Ralath would have anyway—Shawn didn’t wait to see what the captain did next.

  “We need to get to that unidentified object near the fifth planet,” he said, rushing to Ralath’s side.

  “Sensor officer, what is the status of the enemy vessel near the fifth planet?” the captain asked without acknowledging Shawn’s request.

  “Several of our warships have engaged the Meltranian vessel and have drawn them away from the planet.”

  “And the unidentified object we detected earlier?”

  “It appears undamaged, Captain. Two of our destroyers are in weapons range of the object, but it has made no aggressive actions toward them.”

  Ralath grunted an acknowledgement. “Communications, advise the destroyers we are en route to their location and to keep a weapons lock on the object. They are not to open fire unless provoked into doing so.”

  The young officer at the communications station on the starboard side of the bridge responded quickly. “Yes, sir.”

  Navigating the unfolding battlefield was easier than Shawn had initially thought. Most of the combatants were near the gas giants, far out in the periphery of the system. Although outgunned, the Kafarans were holding their own against the smaller number of Meltranian warships. Only a squadron of enemy fighters had passed close enough to the Tangled Web to cause alarm, but Ralath’s expert gunners had made short work of them. As the warship neared the unidentified object, the sheer size of it quickly filled the forward view ports.

  “We’re well within ten units, and there is still no indication they are aware of our presence?” Ralath asked the sensor officer.

  “There is no movement from the target.”

  “Energy readings of any kind?”

  “The resonant output of the object is similar to that of the Meltranian vessels, but there are some minute differences.”

  Ralath absorbed this information before speaking again. “Can you define the nature of the anomalies?”

  “No. I cannot. There are no analogies in the ship’s computer.”

  Seeing his curiosity piqued, Shawn nodded to Uudon. “Doc, come over here for a second.”

  Nearly pushing Shawn out of the way, Uudon peered down at the sensor readout screen.

  “Do you have the ability to isolate the T-band wavelengths?” he asked the Kafaran officer.

  The Kafaran began tuning his instruments without a verbal acknowledgement. On the screen, the feedback from the sensors changed subtly. What was once a gently oscillating curve was now nothing but jagged lines. “Yes. Yes, that’s good,” Uudon murmured to himself as he studied the waveform. “Now, increase the output of the sensor array by sixty percent, and filter out all non-linear particulates.” On the screen the jagged lines moved closer together until at last there was a wide, flat band stretching from one side of the monitor to the other. “Enhance the photonic palette of your array.”

  “The what?” the sensor officer asked in confusion.

  Sensing a possible breakdown of the translation, Uudon was forced into using layman’s terms. “Gamma rays. I want to overlay any of them on top of this readout.” A moment later, a tight beam of white bisected the display screen. Evidently pleased with himself, Uudon leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest in triumph. “There. You see?”

  Shawn looked again, and again saw nothing—at least, nothing he understood. “See what?”

  “This is definitely the object that received the boosted transmission from Torval. You can see it here,” he said, pointing down to the thin white line.

  “I’m afraid I still don’t get it,” Shawn said as Melissa walked up behind them.

  Uudon released a sigh of frustration. “The wider band is the carrier,” he said as he circled the image with his finger. “It’s like a highway devoid of all traffic.” He then pointed to the white line again. “This is the signal, the vehicle traveling down the highway.”

  “You mean this … thing is receiving a signal right now?” Melissa asked.

  “Absolutely,” Uudon said with a nod. “From the modulation of the carrier band, it’s possible that multiple signals are coming in all at once … possibly going out as well. It’s exactly what my instruments recorded on Torval when the received signal was retransmitted.”

  “But, no life-forms on board it?” Shawn asked the sensor officer.

  “None that we can detect,” the Kafaran replied. “There are several sections that are heavily shielded. They may contain a great number of things.”

  “Or nothing,” Melissa replied.

  “It’s never nothing,” Shawn said. “Expect the worst.”

  “Hope for the best?” Melissa replied with a casual smile.

  “All I ever hope for is the mundane. Anything else is a bonus.”

  Ralath moved to the opposite side of the sensor console. “Any way inside the station?”

  Looking up to another monitor, the sensor officer adjusted his instruments. “There appear to be several docking hatches near the central core. However, they are entirely incompatible with our systems.”

  “Large enough for us to fit through if we force them?” the captain asked.

  The sensor officer shook his head. “Not the ship, no. But definitely a squad of troops.”

  “Communications,” Ralath shouted over his shoulder. “Inform the destroyers that we are proceeding toward the station. They are to keep a weapons lock on it at all times, and fire if anything perceived to be a weapons emplacement materializes.” Not waiting for an answer, the captain continued to issue orders. “Major Fralok, take the ship toward the closest hatch on the enemy station. Weapons officer, stand by on the particle cannons.”

  “That’s a little overkill, isn’t it?” Shawn asked in surprise.

  “The weapons are for our safety, Commander Kestrel. When we are within a quarter of a unit, I will detach demolition troops to open the doors.”

  When the ship was in position, Ralath gave the order to open one of the ship’s forward airlocks. Shawn, Melissa and the rest watched as two fully suited Kafarans—each carrying enough explosives to launch a hover car into orbit—glided away from the Tangled Web using small thrusters attached to their suits. The bridge was utterly silent as the two floated toward the st
ill-unidentified station. Anyone on the station—if it was manned at all—still had yet to demonstrate they were aware of the pending boarding operations.

  When the two Kafarans had made to the hull of the station, they sent a simple data transmission, indicating that the charges were set and that they were moving to a safe location.

  “Brave men you have there, Captain,” Shawn said with approval.

  Ralath nodded to the distant Kafaran spacewalkers. “For them, this is what they would call an ‘everyday occurrence.’ Brave? I do not know if that is the correct word. Only one in every thousand Imperial Kafaran officers are chosen for such jobs. Such troopers are a proud lot. Bravery has nothing to do with it.”

  “Well, were we come from, denoting them as brave is a way of honoring what they do.”

  Ralath grunted, then looked down to Shawn. “More human sentimentality, I see.”

  Before Shawn could defend his point, a bright explosion lit up on the hull of the station. A moment later, a signal was received from the space troopers. “The doors have been breached, Captain,” the communications officer relayed.

  “Excellent. Instruct the troopers to erect a temporary barrier. More troops will be sent over once that is accomplished.”

  “Temporary barrier?” Melissa asked.

  Ralath nodded. “A makeshift airlock placed over the opening the troops just created. Not permanent by any means, it is the quickest way to have our landing ship dock with incompatible airlocks.”

  “You coming with us?” Shawn asked, although he knew the answer.

  “I must remain here, Commander. Major Fralok will lead the squad that will protect you. Be advised, I will likewise be sending in my own technicians to accompany you.”

  “You don’t trust that I’ll share anything we find with you?”

  Ralath’s ashen lips smiled as his ruby-like eyes stared down nearly two feet. “My faith would tell me to trust you, but my experience would not. Therefore, let us just agree that multiple eyes are better than few.”

  Shawn nodded in understanding.

  “Major,” the captain said as he turned to the navigator. “Assemble your team. You leave immediately.”

  Inside the cramped shuttle, Shawn found himself sequestered in a corner, with Melissa and Doctor Uudon on either side, and the gawky M-9 droid at his side. The rest of the bus-sized interior was crammed with a dozen fully armed Kafaran troops, each wearing protective breathing masks, and several crates containing various pieces of equipment. Due to their close proximity to the alien station, the trip from the Tangled Web took only a few minutes. But they were tense minutes. Expecting enemy weapons fire to rain down on them any second, Shawn had one hand firmly grasping a handrail beside him, his other arm wrapped tightly around Melissa’s waist.

  As the ship slowed, the guidance beams took over, and the docking operation was completed in less than a minute. As soon as the airlock pressure was equalized, the armored troops quickly filed out into the brightly lit interior of the alien station. Shawn and Melissa followed suit, with Doctor Uudon trailing behind.

  Inside the station, Shawn was surprised by the clean lines of the corridor. All the bulkheads were made of a highly polished metal, with multiple strips of lighting high above their heads. The floor was a patchwork of metal grating, with colored and glowing conduits below them. There was more than a hint of recognition as Shawn looked about the corridor. Save for the occasional alien script on the walls or the confusing-looking computer terminals, this could almost have passed for a Sector Command space station. Even the doorways they came across were vaguely human-sized, although they were circular in shape versus the preferred hexagonal shape favored by Unified designers.

  “Doctor?” Shawn asked as he turned to Uudon, who was staring intently at one of the devices he’d brought along.

  Uudon waved the device from side to side, then slowed as he turned to face a long corridor on his left. “The signal is strongest in this direction,” he said.

  Fralok wasted little time. With rifles raised and ready, the team moved down the corridor as quietly as possible. As other corridors were passed, the troops swept their weapons down them, yet finding nothing to shoot at. As they came to the end of the corridor, they were confronted by a set of large steel doors shut firmly. One of the Kafaran troops attempted to use a nearby access panel to open them, but the foreign design of the terminal made conventional entry useless.

  Fralok gestured to the trooper standing closest to Shawn, who immediately came forward and knelt by the door. Knowing what the trooper’s intentions were, Shawn grabbed Melissa with one hand and Uudon with the other. Stuffing them behind a nearby outcropping, he draped himself over them. When the requisite explosion didn’t come after a full minute, Shawn risked a glance back in the trooper’s direction. A large circular hole had been neatly cut into the door, exposing the conduits and circuitry within its frame. On either side, Fralok and the other Kafarans were staring at Shawn’s huddled mass in disbelief.

  “Were you expecting something dangerous to happen, Commander?” Fralok said while chuckling, which the other Kafarans joined in a moment later.

  Embarrassed, Shawn felt his face flush as he hefted Melisa and Uudon to their feet, then proceeded back to the now-opened doorway.

  “I will say this for you, human,” Fralok said, still chortling. “You are a curious lot.”

  “I aim to amuse,” the commander muttered as he drew his weapon. “Shall we?” he then asked, motioning to the door.

  “Maybe we should go first,” Fralok said into the eerily quiet compartment. “There may be something dangerous in there. Perhaps you should take cover?”

  Sighing, Shawn took the initiative and entered the space. It turned out to be a large room, with a high celling three times larger than the corridor he had just exited. There were a number of steel tables laid out in a grid pattern, all about the four feet high, and all completely empty. Around the periphery of the room were tall, transparent tubes filled with a bubbling red liquid. Each pair of three-foot-wide tubes had a computer placed between them, each flashing identical sequences of data across their screens, but made no sounds. It was these computers that M-9 had taken a keen interest in. The android was studying the terminal with its single large sensor-eye.

  “Looks like some kind of lab,” Melissa said in a hushed tone.

  Shawn turned from the droid and nodded. “But for what purpose?” Having dealt with Meltranians firsthand, he didn’t think these terminals looked stout enough to take the kind of punishment their claws could easily deal out. Likewise, the examination tables didn’t have a scratch on them.

  Melissa ran a hand over the exceedingly smooth surface of the table. “Maybe this is where they implanted that organism Doctor Finly found inside Jerry?”

  Shawn quickly grabbed her hand and pulled it away. “It could be. If that’s the case, we need to be extra cautious. That means no touchy-touchy.”

  She nodded, then moved over to stand beside M-9 and examine one of the tall tubes. The red liquid was clear enough to see through to the other side. Save for the bubbles, all the tubes were empty. Leaving the droid to his studies, she went back to Shawn’s side.

  “The signal continues through this door,” Uudon said from the far side of the room.

  After cutting the door away as they had before, Shawn followed Fralok into what looked like a computer data center. Of course, it could have been anything. But something told him this was the room they were looking for. What worried him, however, was how easy it was to gain access to the compartment.

  “What are we looking for?” Fralok asked from behind him.

  “I’m not sure. That’s why we brought the doctor.” Shawn then turned to Uudon, who was not where he expected him to be. The doctor, with a second device held high, seemed to be scanning a coffin-sized box encrusted with blinking lights. “Doc?” When Uudon didn’t respond, Shawn stepped up beside him. “Find something you like?”

  “This appears t
o be a controller of some type.”

  “But controlling what?”

  Uudon shook his head. “I’m not entirely certain, Commander. There appear to be a number of data connections, feeding information into a processors, then forwarding them to another system.”

  Shawn nodded. “So, whatever this technology is made of, we can access it.”

  Uudon looked at him dubiously. “You’re a great one for making enormous leaps of conjecture. I can scan this device, and I can tell what it’s doing in an extremely limited fashion. To presume that any of us could attempt to access the data itself is wildly presumptuous.”

  Shawn wagged his head in Melissa’s direction. “She’d agree with your assessment. And we’re not here to walk on eggshells, Doctor. I need you to tell her everything you can about these systems.”

  “Her?” he said doubtfully.

  “I do hold a level seven clearance in computer operations.”

  “Covert computer operations, my dear Agent Graves,” Uudon was quick to correct, “and only when working on mainframes known to the Unified government. Mind you, I know full well what that means, and how utterly useless it might be to this system. This is …” he said, then looked at the computer with reverence, “both remarkable and highly alien.”

  “Is the data binary or trinary?” she asked, paying little heed to his underhanded comments.

  Uudon didn’t so much as look to his scanner. “It is neither, and it’s both. The underlying architecture is multilayered … sometimes overlapping upon itself. It’s not at all unlike the device I discovered on Torval.”

  “But you said you knew how that worked,” Shawn interjected.

  “Knowing how something works does not mean that I can fully utilize its components, Commander.”

  “Look, Doctor, I don’t need you to understand every little nuance of this damn thing. We don’t have the time, and I don’t have the patience. All I need is for you to pull as much data from it as you can. You can drool over it while you analyze back on the ship once we’re well and clear of this.” It was then that Shawn realized that M-9 had not accompanied them into the compartment. Before he could inquire about the robot, Uudon began speaking.