by Angie Arland
“Have you guys been able to determine what caused the implosion yet?”
“Not from here, sir, even with this tech,” Karson said. “But we’ve scanned the debris field, and Ryder noticed some unusual readings.” Harper and the dinnarei joined them at the table.
“What readings do you speak of?” Flea asked. Her stature was exquisite—tall, proud, graceful…and something else. Underneath it all she seemed…angry. No. Pissed off. He could be wrong; he’d been wrong before. The dinnarei communicated through a series of verbal language, micro-expressions and body language and at times, it was hard to interpret all three at once. “I see you’ve met my crew,” he said, “but we haven’t officially spoken. I’m Aiden Lomax…you know, I can’t shake the feeling we’ve met before…?”
“Your feeling is correct, Aiden Lomax.” She nodded. “I am Nitaya Lan’rei. Your people refer to me as Flea, an old Earth endearment, I am told.” She bared her teeth, and he realized it was her imitation of a smile.
Aiden smirked. “I remember now. You were seconded to the cadets on the Terra Colonia for training. We were there at the same time.” If memory served right, she fought tooth and nail to return to her people and disrupted the entire class more than once, questioned everything, and ended up hiding out in the V-Rep for a week before she was found.
Kellanie arrived tableside and broke the uncomfortable silence. “What unusual readings did you find, Ryder?”
Ryder glanced at the captain. “Radioactive particles, but they’re dissipating at a fast decay rate. We should perhaps hold off fifty ems or so before departure just to be safe.”
The dinnarei tapped on the table. “You are correct. However, there’s no need to wait. The ship’s EVA suits have impenetrable radiation protection and, as an added precaution, we have inoculations available in the medical bay.”
“I suggest we head there now,” Kellanie said, “before we meet in the armory.”
No one was in a hurry to move. The crew looked to Aiden for direction. “You heard the captain, folks. This is her ship. Everyone, line up for inoculations.”
The crew shuffled out of the Command Hub except for Reece, who remained behind with Flea. She looked frustrated at his continued presence and strode away, leaving him alone at the table.
Aiden lowered his voice as he and Kellanie were the last to head toward the exit. “I’m leaving Mister Finnegan, Doctor McNeill, and Davin Reece on board, if you have no objection?”
“Flea will also remain, to monitor long range sensors. I understand Mister Finnegan’s injuries inhibit him from performing his duties. The doctor, well, I suppose not endangering your medic makes sense, but why you are leaving your pilot?”
“Something called compassion.” Aiden could have cut his own tongue out. “Mister Finnegan is his grandfather. Reece came close to losing him, and I’d like to give them some time together.”
Kellanie nodded. “I’m heading for my inoculation.”
“So, you are coming?”
“Of course. I can run a series of scans once we’re onboard the vessel, and I’ve asked Flea to deploy the mapping drones as soon as we land. I’m sure fleet will welcome the extra intel, if we find any.”
Aiden followed her to the medical bay. Karson and Harper were leaving as they entered, and Harper held the side of his neck. “That was weird,” he said to Karson.
Kellanie led Aiden to a white bioplastic-looking chair where an AI-controlled armature was suspended seemingly in mid-air. A set of holographic controls hovered near the device. Kellanie motioned for Aiden to sit, which he did as the armature got nearer.
“Is this going to sting?” he asked. “I’ve never been inoculated by a robot before.”
Kellanie’s fingers danced through the holographic panel. “Don’t be such a baby. It’s not going to hurt a bit.”
Before he could reply, the armature injected something into the side of his neck.
“Freck!” The pain took him by surprise. “Liar.”
Kellanie threw him a dark look, then sat in the chair. The armature performed the same procedure on her, and he watched as an infrared-like target appeared on the side of her neck sending a microbeam into its center. It took all of one second. She didn’t flinch. “I remember how you hate needles.” She reminded him, getting back up. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” Aiden didn’t realize he had a look.
“Like you hate me.”
“Oh, but I do. And that wasn’t a needle, that was…well, I don’t know what that was.”
“Nanos, you idiot. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed to the armory.”
Grimes, Mason, Karson, Ryder and Harper waited in the corridor outside what he assumed was the armory door. Kellanie motioned to an invisible sensor and the panel slid to the side, allowing entrance. Although the room was compact, it maintained a substantial storage locker…which was empty.
Kellanie pressed a circular pad on the back wall. A vertical panel the width of the wall slid out, revealing rows of weapons.
“Now we’re talking,” Grimes said to Mason as she ducked under his arm to take a weapon from the rack. “Oh, man, I expected—”
“We’d have a range of high-tech weapons to match the ship?” Kellanie asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Well, yeah.” Grimes inspected the weapon, disappointment on her face.
“RZ-305 plasma rifles are equipped to deal with any contingency and soon, we’ll have no further need for the standard model. Until then, it’s all I have to offer.”
“It’s cool. I mean, thanks, Captain, er, ma’am,” Grimes said, checking her rifle’s propellant level on the holographic display, before opening the heat vents on the barrel shroud.
Mason shook his head at her with a grin, handing over a power cell.
“Shut up,” she mouthed at him, accepting the cell and feeding it into the battery chamber.
“As we’ll be working in a confined area at close proximity, may I suggest confining the plasma beam to one half of standard?” Ryder frowned as she inspected her weapon.
“I was about to say the exact same thing.” Harper said.
“Good call, Ryder” Aiden grinned, ignoring Harper. Ryder blushed. “Set your confinement beams to half radius.”
“The mapping drones will deploy ahead of us, but they’re not equipped with armaments,” Kellanie said. “Not yet anyway.”
“That’s damn disappointing,” Grimes grunted.
Aiden hid a smirk. She wasn’t one to mince words, but it wasn’t always like that. In their time serving with Captain Jack Wright, his mere presence commanded their silence. Aiden shuddered at the memory and was glad to have his own command.
“Well, the drones shouldn’t need them, right? Like you said, no life-signs have been detected.” Harper said, still rubbing the inoculation site despite no mark being visible on his neck. No one answered him.
“Where’s the hidden stash of plasma charges?” Karson asked.
“This is all we need,” Kellanie responded. “Although we do have a limited supply of charges, the ship isn’t equipped for standard operations, so R&D didn’t install anything deemed unnecessary.”
“Pfft. Unnecessary,” Mason said as he grabbed a handful of power cells, shoved them into the extended mag chamber and strapped his rifle over his shoulder.
“The more, the merrier, I say,” Grimes added.
“I heard that,” Mason replied with a terse nod at his partner.
Aiden gazed around the armory searching for the EVA suits but all he saw was the rack holding the rifles and a few left-over power cells.
Kellanie pushed open another invisible panel in the side wall. Out slid a tray with five-inch discs, each one embedded into a shallow recess. “Is this what you’re looking for?” She held up one of the bulging metal discs, a mischievous expression on her face.
“I’m looking for the EVAs.” Aiden glanced around to find the crew smirking. “What? Am I missing
something here?”
Kellanie handed the discs out to the crew. “Hold the disc to your chest with the flat red button facing out,” she said, demonstrating, “then press. Like so.” She pushed the button on the disc. A fractal blur erupted from the center. It immersed her torso and then her arms, legs, and head.
“That is shit hot!” Karson returned his rifle to the rack and held the disc to his chest then pushed the button. The suit expanded across his body.
This tech was way beyond even dinnarei capability.
Where the hell did they get this?
The rest of his crew were suited up within seconds.
“Sir?” Ryder said.
Aiden sighed. “Fine.” As the blades of armor extended over his body, he noticed it felt lightweight, more like wearing a robe after a shower than an EVA suit. “Are you sure this will provide all the protection we need?” he asked as his helmet extended over his face.
Damn, this is weird.
Kellanie said something, but he couldn’t hear her. She gave Aiden a small nod and the look in her eyes said, ‘It’s okay, relax, stop questioning everything.’
Aiden pointed to his ear and shook his head.
Kellanie tapped her wrist to show him the location of the comms on his suit.
He nodded and activated the holo-comm, the same as the old EVA suit. He had expected something more elaborate. Once it was connected, he heard the standard click in the earpiece and Kellanie talking to the crew, “…blade fins are combined using a multiferroic material, which can be adapted for any environment.”
Aiden nodded even though he had missed the first part of her explanation.
“They are completely safe to use,” she said, looking at Aiden.
“What can I say? Paranoia is a requirement in this profession.”
Kellanie laughed.
“I don’t suppose you have a suit for Spero?”
“The blades change to suit the occupant so, technically, one of these,” she held up another disc, “should fit a canine’s physiology.”
“Good,” he said, taking the disc. “She’s coming too.”
“What the hell for?”
The crew looked at them both, harnessed their plasma rifles onto their suits, and vacated the armory in a hurry. Once they were alone, Aiden turned to Kellanie. “Do you understand Spero’s role here?”
“Of course. She was my sister’s dog. She gives you comfort.”
“That’s beside the point. Do you remember when R&D trialed the K9 detection program?”
“Yeah. Huge failure. Absolute waste of time, if I recall correctly. All nine dogs failed the final testing.”
“Not all.”
“Spero?”
Aiden grinned. “She’s not just any dog, she’s a real life terudithan sensor, and if your scanners can’t detect any squid scum on board, she’s definitely coming with us.”
“You trust the dog, but not the high-tech scanning sensors installed into this ship?”
“Oh, hell yeah.”
Twenty-Six
Beyond the starboard viewport lay a field of glittering, frozen debris. Large chunks of undefined hull fragments, wings from fighters and, he presumed dead bodies, drifted undisturbed. The AEV’s proximity to the Terudithan cruiser was unnerving. Aiden had never seen one up-close before.
The ship was a monster compared to every military vessel in the fleet.
The bastard must be nearly two miles long, he thought.
The aft engine section bore nine massive exhaust ports and six smaller secondary ports. They could have guided the TC-32 straight through without a scratch. The remainder of the coal-colored vessel’s mass was made up of a series of steps that housed row-upon-row of particle beam cannons and missile banks. In that moment, Aiden imagined fleet recovery crews prepping equipment and loading a dozen cargo vessels, expecting to strip the cruiser of its armaments, engine parts, lab equipment, anything in the docking bay, and whatever else of use.
A thought struck him. He had no doubt this right here was the last thing his wife and child ever saw. Raw emotion hit him in the chest like HEL fire. He swallowed hard and pushed it back down.
Think of fond memories, you idiot! he admonished himself. Happy memories, like the last vacation in the V-Rep. Sam had cut his finger on a shell. He wasn’t aware it was VR, so it healed instantly, much to his amazement. Aiden scooped him up and twirled him around as Lauren sunned herself on a blanket nearby. He and Sam laughed and dropped onto the soft white sand….
Another wave of raw emotion hit him in the chest. Sam would be thirteen now.
He could never bring himself to return to the virtual beach. Maybe now it was time. When they returned, he’d go to the V-Rep and, as Kellanie aptly put it, stop dwelling in the past.
Aiden pushed the memories away and focused on the next mission. The fight was all he had left.
He took a few steps toward the viewport and nearly started upon seeing his reflection. He had almost forgotten he was wearing the suit. The blades had an extra-low profile and fit snug to the contours of his body. It was also light, like the spun fibers of the eldir’auve spider found on the planet Nederei-Two, a more favorable environment for the species like that of Earth’s former rainforests. He’d had some experience with the insects, while he protected a group of biologists studying the species.
Aiden glanced around to make sure no one was looking. He flapped his arms up and down like a chicken, then bent his knees, feeling the suit shift seamlessly with each movement. “I could get used to this.” He muttered to himself.
He crossed the hub and joined Weps Karson and SigsOp Harper at the tactical table. Their eyes were glued to the volumetric display.
“No, it’s not,” Harper said.
“Yes, it is,” Karson countered, though looking at Aiden. “Enjoying yourself over there, sir?” he asked.
“Oh, you saw that? I, uh, was checking my suit’s movement capabilities.”
“It looked like you were dancing, sir.” Karson coughed.
“Uh…so what do we have here?” Aiden gestured at the display revealing the extent of debris around the cruiser.
Somehow Karson and Harper had figured out how to remove their helmets. Aiden tapped the disc on his chest to remove his, but nothing happened.
“We’ve cross-referenced the data from the science console with all known particulates in the fleet database,” Harper said, though his voice was muffled.
“What did you find?” Aiden said through his helmet.
Harper leaned forward with one ear cocked. “Sir?”
The internal comms must be functioning, but it was a fruitless exercise because the others couldn’t hear him well without their helmet comms. He pressed the disc hard and cursed.
Karson moved around the tactical table, took Aiden’s forearm, activated the wrist holo, and punched in the helmet release command. “Press activate when you are ready!” Karson yelled, pointing and saying the words slowly.
Aiden activated the command on the holo, and his eyes widened in shock as the helmet retracted back into the suit.
“There you go, sir. It’s not rocket science,” Karson said with a smile that seemed slightly condescending.
“I assumed it would require a different form of commands from the disc,” Aiden said to the Weps.
Karson nodded. “No, sir. It uses the same holo-tech from the old EVA suits. Instead of being left with a helmet to carry around, this one retracts into the suit itself.” Karson said, a huge grin appeared on his face. “See?”
“Yeah, I get it,” Aiden said.
“You want to try again, sir?”
“No, I get it.”
“Just like the standard suits.” Karson, still smiling, glanced over at Harper, who was bent over, jabbing at the console with both index fingers, pretending not to pay attention.
“You said that already, Karson. You can go back to what you were doing.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Harper glanced up
. “We…I was just scanning the debris field surrounding the cruiser, and I think I’ve found the source of the explosion.” Harper kept his eyes on the volumetric display and continued to move three-dimensional images around, zooming in and out.
Aiden frowned. “Shouldn’t we wait until we’re inside the ship for that type of analysis?” Maybe he was missing something. After all, the upgraded sensors were equipped with new technology.
Karson turned to Aiden. “That’s what I told him.”
“Well, normally, yes, but this…this is different.” Harper glanced from Aiden to Karson as though they should already know.
“Different how?” Aiden asked, joining them on the other side of the 3D display.
“Initial scans indicate decaying particles scattered throughout the debris field surrounding the two largest sections of the cruiser.” Harper zoomed in where several chunks of hull fragments, complete with tubing and oval shaped pods, drifted away from the cruiser. He tapped a control, and the three-dimensional images were overlaid with a grid map.
“You’re really getting the hang of this thing,” Aiden said.
“It’s quite amazing,” Harper replied. “I ran a particle imaging sweep across the majority of the debris field and, well, I’ve never seen anything like these.”
“What are we talking about? Are they dangerous?” Aiden asked, his forte was engineering, not science. Harper, on the other hand, was obsessed with fungi and particle physics. No wonder he was in his element on the prototype ship.
“Trace amounts of neutron radiation, which is nothing unusual in this case, but organic particulates are spread throughout the debris, not coating the surfaces as you’d expect,” Harper said. “More like embedded within each fragment.”
“Organic? In the vacuum of space?” Aiden’s limited knowledge of biology told him nothing like that survived in space, except for tardigrades.
“No. That’s what worries me,” Harper said. “Eve, can you run an analysis of the particulates in the debris field, with an emphasis on organic matter?”
“Affirmative, Signals Operator Harper. Shall I proceed?”
