»We cannot send the nanopods beyond the compensation fields … they would be affected by the ambient temporal conditions,« he replied.
»Well … then we’ll have to find out for ourselves,« Pi sighed, disappointed. He put out a hand to touch the object.
»STOP!« Vasina yelled in warning. »I know what this is! Do not touch it – stay away from it! Pi, do not touch it!«
Pi stepped back, startled, and gave Vasina a blank look.
»Stay away from it!« she reiterated. »That is a spaceship anchor. When a ship lands on a planet, anchors are shot into the ground to discharge electrostatic currents. Keep a safe distance from it!«
»If this is an anchor, then where is the spaceship?« Pi wanted to know. He stared into the gray sky but saw only snowflakes.
»Look … here’s something else!« Voit Masgur shouted from 20 meters away. »This looks like a large sunken plate, with a tall, tubular strut attached to it!«
Vasina looked at the object.
»Congratulations, Voit! You just found Pi’s ship. This is a spaceship landing strut! Actually, one of the landing struts of my ship. We’re standing under the Atlantika – I can tell by the writing and safety symbols on the strut’s surface.«
Arkroid was speechless for a moment.
»You mean this space fold was created to hide your battleship?« he asked, frowning.
»I’m afraid that’s not all …,« Vasina told them with a trembling voice. »The progressing Temporal Vector synchronization could mean that the ship is about to leave. With its weapon systems it will almost be invincible … incredibly dangerous, even for Nautilus!«
»Well, then we know what we have to do!« Arkroid proclaimed in a steady tone. »We keep the ship from leaving this fold! We have the advantage – let’s use it as long as we can.«
»Are you saying …?« Vasina began.
»… exactly!« Arkroid interrupted her. »We need to find a way into the ship!«
Be careful
It was hard for the team to adjust to the realities within the space-time fold. Pi couldn’t even judge the size of the Progonaut flag ship through the fog. He didn’t think to ask Vasina. The Atlantika was a ship which didn’t belong in this time and age; neither did Vasina but he didn’t think of her that way.
Voit Masgur again made a discovery, the cargo ramp, leading upward into the fog at an angle of 20 degrees.
They slowly approached the ramp.
Vasina’s yell alerted Arkroid and the team.
A figure stood at the bottom of the ramp, whom Masgur hadn’t seen from his vantage point. It was a heavily armed Progonaut space soldier on guard.
Vasina was startled. She could only stare at the soldier.
»He’s a member of my crew. I recognize him … he’s still alive! How’s that possible?« she uttered.
Arkroid walked over to the soldier and around him.
»He can’t see us! He hasn’t even blinked an eye. We’re moving too fast for him. Vasina, can you see anything out of the ordinary? Was he taken over by degenerated technology or infected by crystals?« Arkroid demanded.
The Progonaut soldier was dressed with a white ship suit, like a coverall, with golden emblems on his chest. On his head he wore a blue helmet that, Vasina explained, projected a holographic, visor-like surveillance field before his eyes.
A heavy beamer rifle hung over his shoulder and a second weapon was attached to his belt. A weak, shimmering energy field protected the guard from the environment and possible attacks. His eyes were fixed on a point in the distance.
»I don’t see anything different from what I’d expect,« Vasina told him. »If he’s infected by the crystals like Morgotradon, then it’s not immediately detectable.«
Vasina approached the guard slowly and looked into his eyes, but he stared straight through her, never realizing that his former queen was standing centimeters in front of him.
»Stop, Vasina! Do not touch him!« Kuster~Laap warned.
Vasina quickly pulled her hand back before she could lay it on the guard’s shoulder.
»He could die if you touch him!« Kuster~Laap added.
»What …?« Pi asked.
»Touching him, even slightly, in this environment where we are so much faster than him, would be like striking him with a high speed object. He could be injured or even die from the shock.«
Vasina stepped back, breathing heavily.
»That makes sense, Kuster~Laap. We need to avoid physical contact with the crew. It could be disastrous for them,« she advised.
»Look, what’s going on?« Paafnas, announced who had gone up the ramp, inquired. »I think the Progonauts are about to deploy a robot. Just look at this giant!«
Cautiously, Arkroid, Vasina, Pi and Ivanova moved around the soldier and followed Paafnas up the ramp. When they’d reached his position they could see a combat robot standing before an airlock. The airlock appeared as a large hole in the fog, while the ship’s hull became dimly visible.
»This is the same type of combat robot we encountered in the submarine station near Puerto Nuevo,« Arkroid said. »Those were really dangerous!«
The robot stood on three legs and had his viewing sensors directed down the ramp – a perfect airlock guard!
»This is a Progonaut combat Robot, type Draco ... used for landing missions or guard duties. They’re extremely fast reacting and heavily armed. Be careful!« Vasina advised. »This robot can make decisions on its own – almost instantly. Its optics are much more sensitive than ours and function over a broad light spectrum. I’m willing to bet the robot has noticed us already, and is deciding what to do next.«
»But we’re moving too fast for it. We’ll be inside the ship before it can raise its weapons arms!« Arkroid rebutted. »I want us to stay close to each other. Maybe we can find out what happened to the Progonauts … but remember, do not touch the people on board the ship!«
The team entered the ship swiftly.
The robot’s weapons arms moved upwards a mere 3 millimeters, but nobody on the team noticed it …
Let’s get out of here
The space-time fold was a strange place where lighting was poor and the lights from the flashlights reached only as far as the beam extended. The team slowly advanced through the room beyond the open airlock. They saw a group of Progonauts were getting ready, putting on their combat suits, checking their weapons.
Vasina was nervous. Arkroid had her take the lead; she knew her ship inside out.
Paafnas approached one of the Progonauts who was bending down to pick up some kind of device. Paafnas and the soldier were eye to eye. Paaf looked into the man’s eyes – and froze! The others moved on until Pi noticed Paaf’s condition.
»What’s going on, Paaf?« he asked worriedly. »Are you trying to read his neuronal network?«
Paafnas didn’t answer.
»Paaf …?«
Still no reaction.
»That’s not good!« remarked Pi. He tried to pull Paafnas away from the soldier, only to be stopped by Voit Masgur.
»Wait! Paafnas is trying to replicate the Progonaut’s neuronal network – but that takes time and a lot of concentration. His aura is okay. Trust me … he’s alright.«
Pi looked at Arkroid’ who had also stopped.
»Give him some time, Pi,« Arkroid advised with a nod.
While Paafnas stood rooted, Kuster~Laap glanced around nervously.
»Have you noticed that our field of vision has been gradually widening since we came aboard the ship?« he asked Arkroid.
Maya Ivanova looked around.
»You’re right! I can see the entire airlock vestibule now. Is that good or bad?«
»Good for our orientation, bad for our speed advantage. This is deceiving. Look!« Pi pointed to the ramp.
The combat robot had raised his four weapons arms and turned around by 10 degrees.
»It’s moved – reacted to our presence!« Vasina frowned. »We should leave this section immediately.«
Pi had had enough of waiting. He pulled Paafnas away from the Progonaut soldier, who had closed his eyes now, a sure sign that the space-time anomaly was synchronizing faster than they’d thought.
There were neither airlocks nor hatches inside the ship. Each room or ship section was sealed by energy fields. Arkroid could pass easily through the fields, although he thought he felt slightly more resistance at times.
»How’s Paaf doing?« he asked Pi.
»He’s recovering,« Pi responded, and shook Paaf’s shoulder to wake him up.
Paaf sighed and licked over his large eyeballs. He struggled up and pointed at a Progonaut who was passing through the corridor.
»These men and women are not thinking freely,« Paaf swallowed hard as he told them. »They’re filled with a hate that goes against their characters.«
»What have you learned, Paaf?« Vasina wanted to know. »What’s wrong with my crew?«
She hadn’t seen them for a million years, but she still considered the people on board the ship hers.
Paafnas looked straight into her eyes.
»They’re basically like you, Vasina, but something else is dominating their thoughts. They hate the Neo-Sapiens and want to destroy them, but something’s holding them back, even though they’re filled with an urge to kill,« he explained.
Arkroid and Vasina exchanged quick glances.
»Are they infected with crystals?« Vasina pushed.
»No, no!« Paaf replied loudly. »If that were the case I wouldn’t be able to replicate their neuronal nets. They’re still organic, still like themselves, but their convictions have turned completely negative!«
»Like brainwashing?« Pi interjected. That earned him a startled look from Paaf.
»How can you wash a brain? How does that work?« Paaf asked, perplexed.
»Pi means that their wills were broken by outside manipulation or drugs,« Arkroid explained.
»No not like that,« Paaf replied quickly. »I can only tell you that the crew is not free!«
»Voit, can you do something?« Arkroid requested.
»I’d be glad to assist,« Masgur responded. »If you could tell me how.« He moaned, and it was clear that he wasn’t feeling well.
»Well … since the Looter attack, you’ve shielded yourself from outside influences, as you’ve told me. Unlike on the gravo train where you almost collapsed. Do you still feel the disturbed aura inside the space-time fold?«
»Since we arrived, I’ve tried not to taste the planetary aura, but it is overpowering, especially here. I have to force myself to ignore it or I couldn’t stand it.« His face twitched nervously. »The aura’s source is not the space-time fold – it comes from the ship!«
Vasina stepped closer to Voit Masgur and both of their personal protection shields merged into one. She took him by the shoulders and shook him.
»What’s in my ship? Can you locate the disturbance, describe it?«
Masgur seemed suddenly to be listening to something; he rolled his eyes and sank to his knees. Vasina helped him lay down. He was breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling.
»It’s … it’s … horrible … it’s here!« he groaned in pain.
Vasina clenched her teeth and pulled her plasma beamer from her holster.
»Whatever it is, it doesn’t belong on my ship! It’s a danger to my crew. I have to find and eliminate it!« she promised firmly.
»We need to hurry, though – look!« Kuster~Laap warned, pointing toward the airlock.
The combat robot had turned fully and raised its weapons arms, aimed at them. The barrels of his weapons glared with scintillating energy fields.
Frightened, Vasina looked at the robot.
»It reacts to our presence. It probably responded instantaneously within its own temporal parameters. It cannot fire inside the airlock, because there are Progonauts in the zone. Its programming won’t let it hurt them!« Vasina told them.
She had barely finished her sentence as the robot fired two spherical plasma charges at the team. Fireballs roared at them at a meter per 10 seconds. Vasina watched in horror as a plasma charge went right through one of her crew members in the line of fire, killing him instantly. The plasma charge continued toward Arkroid’s team as if nothing had happened.
»The robot is disregarding its program!« she moaned. »Somebody must have changed it! This should never happen!«
»Let’s get out of here!« Arkroid yelled and pulled Vasina into an adjacent corridor where more crew members were walking in both directions.
Outside the anomaly
Herimos watched his instruments skeptically.
»Since our visitors turned into dwarves and then vanished inside the anomaly, not much has happened. We registered some wave-like disturbances inside the field, while the anomaly has increased in size. We should evacuate the Frost Station and increase the safety distance,« he advised.
The Techno-Ferry’s avatar still stood silently beside Herimos and Ray-Tor.
»The synchronization of the space-time fold toward our time line will cause the spacial and temporal warping to diminish. It also means that the anomaly will gradually disappear, revealing what’s inside the energy sphere. We’ll soon see what its secret is,« the avatar announced.
Herimos shuddered.
»That’s never happened since we’ve been researching the phenomenon!« Herimos claimed.
»Why now?« Ray-Tor asked, brows narrowed. »Did your friends cause it? Is it because they penetrated the Temporal Vector?«
The avatar spread his arms and admitted, »I can’t answer your question without more data. It could be that my arrival in this solar system was noticed by an unknown detection system which activated an alert protocol.«
»Your arrival?« Ray-Tor quickly inquired.
»I am Nautilus, Arkroid’s ship!«
Pure horror
»How big is this ship?« Pi asked breathlessly as he peered into the long corridor. He couldn’t see more than 20 meters ahead in the fog. Several Progonauts were walking, time-slowed, in the same corridor.
»The Atlantika was … uh … is the most modern ship of my fleet,« Vasina whispered. Her glances changed to disbelief as she recognized former crew members. »It’s about 1,000 meters long and half as wide, with the standard Progonaut arrowhead design and conical nose. It has three levels and is armed with an array of offensive and defensive systems, but not what the Neo-Sapiens call the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ . That must have been added when the Atlantika was repaired and upgraded by the enemy. The tachyon drive was damaged beyond repair, the last time I was aboard. Since Commander Helas left me behind on Earth many things …«
A sudden jolt interrupted Vasina. The viewing angle widened and the corridor became clearer as the fog thinned. They could see farther down the long corridor, and more Progonauts came into view.
»This Progonaut just moved!« Masgur remarked loudly, indicating a man before him. »His movements are still slow, but much faster than before.«
»We need to hurry and keep moving!« Kuster~Laap reminded the team. »We should look around quickly and leave the ship as fast as possible before the temporal coefficient has synchronized.«
»What happens then?« Ivanova wanted to know. Despite the tension between them, Kuster~Laap replied, »Then we’ll be moving in the same time line – onboard an enemy ship, surrounded by Progonaut soldiers and combat robots! They won’t hesitate eliminating us.«
Toiber Arkroid squinted and said, »Be that as it may, you have to understand that we won’t give up our advantage of being here. If the ship launches the Neo-Sapiens are history and even Nautilus will be in danger ... and who knows what the next destination of this ship will be. Our solar system? The Progonauts know Earth’s coordinates. We have to keep them from launching … or …«
»… or what?« Pi interrupted calmly.
»… or destroy this ship before the synchronization is complete!«
The team picked up the pace, Vasina leading. Several times they ha
d to dodge clusters of combat robots or Progonauts. Vasina’s destination was the ship’s control central. The former Progonaut queen hoped to find answers there, especially the reason for her crew’s change of allegiance.
»The large numbers of combat robots is unusual,« Vasina remarked nervously. »Normally they’re stowed away. They shouldn’t be roaming about the ship, even if the ship is under a high state of alert. They’re just hindering the crew. It doesn’t make sense to me.«
›The crew must hear us, even if they can’t see us. We’re making enough noise and probably creating eddy currents they can feel as drafts,‹ Arkroid thought. ›Even the air resistance had lessened.‹
Finally, after passing through an isolation field, they arrived in the command central.
Vasina held her breath, ›Combat robots here too!‹ she thought, alarmed.
A large, semicircular 3-D display showed Equinox’s surface. The command central crew was working at circular consoles, arranged alongside the holo display.
A white haired Progonaut in a bright white uniform with various symbols on his chest was sitting seated importantly in the elevated commander’s seat. Both of his arms rested calmly on the seat’s arm rests as he watched the display closely.
Maya Ivanova was impressed.
»Is this the ship’s commander?« she asked mutedly.
»That’s Helas, yes!« Vasina answered with a catch in her voice. »I can’t believe that he and the crew are still alive.«
»Vasina, we need to keep moving,« Arkroid pushed. »The robots are reacting to our presence! Do you see anything unusual in the command central to explain why the crew is behaving differently?«
Vasina walked quickly through the command central and back to Arkroid.
»Everything looks normal to me, only the robots – Helas would have never allowed them in the command central. That’s against our procedures,« she explained.
»Maybe the robots took over command?« Kuster~Laap offered. »Maybe they rebelled and are forcing the crew to obey their orders.«
»Impossible!« Vasina dismissed the thought. »Our specialists would have deactivated them immediately. Their base programming would never let them act against any Progonaut without self-deactivation.«
NEBULAR Collection 4 - Second Reserve: Episodes 17 - 21 Page 19
