Vast Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  When it ended Ximon applauded and most of the rest of the crew slowly joined in.

  Ximon stood and said, “Alzroid, I’m impressed by what you’ve put together and am glad to know a bit more about these creatures. I hope this video, and the associated report, get the attention they should within the KSF and the scientific community. And I sure hope you get the support to do the further research you suggest.”

  Several of the others also congratulated Alzroid and zis team.

  After a few more tours and discussions, Ximon announced that it was time for them to get moving and they parted with thanks.

  They took off, made their way to a jump point, and headed toward their first stop in the Orrarra Sector – Raru.

  Chapter Three: Into Orrarra

  Mantis came out of jump into Raru. After Mantis verified their location and Shao confirmed there wasn’t anything dangerously close, Ximon asked for a rundown on the system.

  Mantis displayed a representation of the system. “Captain, the system has six planets, a sizable asteroid belt, and 17 known dwarf planets. Records indicate mining activity in the asteroid belt at orbit Raru-6 and on several moons of Raru-7, the gas giant. They also indicate a small base on the 12th moon of Raru-7. We are located between Raru-5 and Raru-6.”

  “Thank you, Mantis. Shao, full planetary scans of everything we approach and general long-range scans.” Then he set course to refuel at Raru-7 and updated the annotation so that anyone on the ship could see where they were heading and their ETA – currently 12 hours.

  Once headed that way, Ximon radioed Silas. “Silas, as we near Raru-7, I plan to contact the base and see if they can tell us anything useful. I suspect there’s not much there, so we’ll just make a call. Do you think that’s reasonable and do you want to join me if I do?”

  Silas paused to think for a moment and looked at something off-camera. “Yes. We’re probably too far away from the mystery area to find out anything, but I’d like to see the person on the other end and maybe ask a few questions.”

  “Ok, I’ll let you know when I’m going to contact them.”

  “Aye. Thanks.”

  Several hours later, as they neared Raru-7 and the comm lag would be negligible, Silas joined Ximon on the bridge and they called the station. “Raru-7 Station, this is the Kremniy Scout Ship Mantis. We’re investigating some lost ships and would like to check what you show about them passing through here.”

  “Oi! We’re not a police station or some tracking site. We get damn few ships coming through and those that ain’t coming here have little to say to us.”

  “Understood, but we’d appreciate it if you could check for us.”

  “What’s in it for me? I’ve got other work to do.”

  Silas cut in. “Sir, I’m from Robatham Associates. We’re trying to recover these ships. If you tell us something that helps you might be entitled to a portion of the recovery fee.”

  “Ah, now that makes sense. What are you looking for?”

  “Do you show any record of the Nyx on day 111-114, Shepherd day 120-124, or Horus day 139-142?”

  “Now, just a minute. Let me look. That’s the Nyx, Shepherd, and Horus, right?”

  “Correct.”

  The guy typed and touched his screens several times while examining the data. It was painful to watch because it was so slow.

  He finally said, “I show Nyx on 112 and Horus on 140. One’s asking about buying fuel, the other just reports, like we care. That’s all I’ve got. Now when do I get my money?”

  “Well, I’ve still got to find them yet, but this is quite helpful Mr. … uh?”

  “Conrad Donovan, BeltCorp. Don’t forget.”

  “Oh, I won’t forget. Thank you and have a great day.” Ximon severed the connection.

  Silas shrugged. “Well, it’s not much, but it fine-tunes the travel days for those two. Thanks. Hopefully we’ll get more in the next system.”

  “I hope to. Unless it’s changed, my records show a KSF comm relay in the next system. We might get a bit from there, along with anything we get from the station there.”

  “Well, great. Hope springs eternal.”

  A week later they came out of jump in the Orra-FDL System. The process was repeated with the station there. This guy was more helpful and had a bit more insight. He confirmed Nyx on day 119 and Shepherd on 126.

  Ximon sent and received messages to the comm relay and was able to retrieve a relay log for the last 90 days. Any ship that synchronized with the comm relay should show on there, including any KSF ship, most Navy ships, and some transports. This showed the Nyx on day 119, the Drax on 145, and the Lost Pilgrim on 161.

  Silas shrugged. “Well, it’s something. I’ll refine my timeline and send it to you”

  Next they came to Udirzaus. This is where they expected things to get dicey and/or interesting as it was the last point of reference for several of the ships.

  Mantis checked their location and reported on the system. “The system has four sizable asteroid belts and a gas giant surrounded by several more asteroid belts. Captain, it’s worth noting that scan data from this system approximately a year ago showed that at least one of these asteroid belts was a planet.”

  “What!? Are you sure?”

  “The data comes from a KSF scan and older scans from several years ago show likewise.”

  Ximon was confused and a bit concerned. Changes like that didn’t happen very often.

  Shao checked for anything nearby and did long-range scans. “Ximon, there is a vessel near the gas giant, 200-400 tons. It appears there is a smaller vessel, perhaps a shuttle nearby.”

  Ximon looked at the screen. “Mantis, hail them.”

  “UI vessel. This is the Kremniy Scout Ship Mantis. May we ask who we’re addressing?”

  A gruff voice with no video responded some minutes later, “Mantis, this is Far Kerlaz. We are refueling and leaving. And your business?”

  The exchange continued with frustratingly long delays.

  “We are peaceful and seeking some lost ships in this area. May we ask where you jumped in from? Have you seen any other vessels in this region of space?”

  “So, you say, but know that we are armed and will defend ourselves if you lie. We came from Nalenus and saw one vessel there – the Karataaza. Where do you come from and what have you seen?”

  “We’ve come from Orra-FDL and Raru. We saw only small, local ships, but spoke with the stations there. We thank you for the information and wish you safe travels. Mantis out.”

  Ximon cut the connection and then made an announcement to the crew. “We will now do a full scan of the system, starting with a circuit of the inner asteroid belt and finishing at the gas giant and its asteroids. It will take approximately three days.”

  Ximon set a course and he and Shao arranged to take turns on the bridge, with Elsbeth and Raiza each taking short turns. Raiza now had a bit of extra time because Euclidia was helping to prepare some of the meals. Ximon noted that when Shao left the bridge she often went straight to Silas’s room. Of course, Ximon always went to sleep with a robot. He wasn’t judging as long as there was no excessive drama on his ship.

  While he was taking a watch, Euclidia came to the bridge. Rather, he returned to the bridge because he spent a great deal of time there, apparently talking silently to Mantis.

  Ximon stared dully at the screens, seeing little.

  Mantis interrupted his revere. “Captain, Euclidia and I would like to discuss an idea with you if doing so won’t interfere with your efforts.”

  Ximon looked up and chuckled. “I’m completely zoned out here. Listening to an idea won’t detract from my work. What have you got?”

  “Captain, it’s actually two related ideas that we’d like you to consider …”

  Ximon cut her off. “These aren’t more ideas to change yourself, are they? I don’t think I could take that in now.”

  “No, Captain. It’s something quite different. May we continue?”

&n
bsp; Ximon could almost interpret impatience in Mantis’ comment but knew that was impossible. He just waved his hand for them to go on.

  Euclidia sat in the co-pilot’s seat and took over the narrative. “Captain, Mantis and I noted the value that your experiences, and those of the rest of the crew accorded the Academy on Irapce. Those experiences were clearly useful to them and we assume they might likewise be useful to other people new to operating a starship in this type of enterprise. Therefore, our proposal is that we write a book, telling the stories of the crew in some detail. It could be both entertaining and enlightening. It could also increase your recognition and potentially increase the ship’s earning potential.”

  “Advertising? You think we need advertising!?”

  “No, sir, just that your experiences are valuable and other people would clearly appreciate that.”

  “So, what are you envisioning? A kid’s book, tell-all novel, travel log?”

  “My idea envisions telling select stories to show the kinds of issues you and the crew have had to deal with. We would have to get some permissions, but we could cite crew members and others by name to enhance credibility.”

  “Well, I’ve got to say I would have never thought of that idea. It sounds crazy, but I’ll give it some thought. What’s this other idea you mentioned?

  Mantis resumed the narrative. “Captain, the second, complementary idea is more of a professional book, using select anecdotes from our travels to support tenets of leadership or ships’ operation. We envision this book giving less personal detail and being more selective in the stories selected. It would essentially be a learning book.”

  “Wow! I’m impressed – you think we’re worth, not just one, but two books. How would we find the time to write them?”

  “Captain, Euclidia and I have already gathered much of the information, though we would have to ask some questions of the crew. We could do the primary writing, subject to your approval, of course.”

  “It sounds like there might be a lot of legal minefields here.”

  Euclidia cut back in. “You are correct that there are legal implications, but we have reviewed some relevant case law and feel most can be overcome with some planning and coordination.”

  “Well, it’s a good thought, but I’m not sure that anyone would be interested in reading it. Let me think on both ideas but please do more legal research when you can. Among other things, check what approvals we might need from the KSF and whether they would exert some ownership since this is still partially their ship and Mantis partially their computer.”

  “From our research, I don’t think the latter would be an issue since you’d be the true author.”

  “Now, that I’m not so sure about. I might put my name on the leadership book, but I think it’d be better if you two, and maybe Raiza and Peter, were down as the authors on the other one. Anyway, I said I’ll think about it. I must say it’s a totally unexpected idea.”

  Ximon chuckled about the whole thing and went back into his semi-watchful zone until he traded places with Elsbeth and Peter. Ximon went to his room and quickly dozed off.

  He sat bolt upright in bed a couple hours later when the comm signal chirped repeatedly.

  It was Elsbeth and she sounded excited. “Ximon, you better get up here. We’ve got something sizable and I think we need to go in and check it out. I signaled Shao too. She’ll be up in a bit for more scans.”

  Ximon mumbled something incoherent.

  Elsbeth continued, “Chop, chop, and don’t forget to put on pants.”

  Ximon threw some water on his face, pulled on some pants, and padded to the bridge barefoot. He knew that Raiza would likely soon bring him some food, drink, and a full set of clothes. When he entered the bridge, Elsbeth looked up from the co-pilot seat. Peter stood behind her.

  “Ximon, we’ve got what appears to be a ship, or perhaps part of one, about 20% of the way around the orbit of this field. We’ve haven’t gotten any signals from it yet – no transponder code. Mantis also noted that these asteroids are weird. We should have Shao check them out too.”

  Ximon sat down, reviewed his screens, and adjusted controls to start a 2G burn toward the ship. “Ok, setting course for that ship. Hailing…

  “UI vessel this is the Kremniy Scout Ship Mantis, please identify.”

  The silence of its response was deafening.

  “Mantis, hit that ship with active scans. Tell me what they’ve got for power signatures and such.” He played with some more controls, “and define what Elsbeth means by ‘weird’ on the asteroids.”

  “Captain, I would like Shao to review and confirm my results. However, in short, these asteroids do not appear to have the composition most typical for asteroids. Rather, most have the composition of planetary fragments.”

  “What!?”

  “Captain, that is precisely why I’d like Shao to review the results so we can give you a fuller picture of the situation.”

  Ximon turned to Elsbeth. “Where the hell is Shao? I thought you said she was on her way.”

  “Ximon, chill out. She’s on her way, she probably just stopped to put clothes on. You just walked in yourself.”

  “Yeah, okay, fine.”

  Moments later, Shao entered the bridge, followed by Silas. She wore workout clothes, her hair was a mess, and her face was flushed from exertion. Silas wore his normal attire of combat pants and t-shirt. His hair was short enough to never get messed up.

  Silas said, “What have we got, Ximon?”

  “Still trying to figure that out.” He turned to Shao before she had even sat down. “We need complete scans of that vessel ASAP. Mantis also has some weird results she wants you to look at.”

  Shao started reviewing her screens and adjusting scan parameters. “On it.”

  He looked at his screens again. “Mantis, switch to long-range scans – I want to ensure there’s nothing else out there.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  By this time, Raiza had come in with a bottle full of energized water, a breakfast sandwich, some shoes and a shirt. Seeing that every human on the ship was on the bridge, she said, “We’ll be back.” She left the bridge with Euclidia in tow.

  After a few minutes of silence, Shao started reporting. “It’s definitely a vessel, or part of one. What I’m seeing is about 50 tons, but I think it may be partial. I’m getting no energy signatures, active scanners, or transponder. It might be one of our missing.”

  Silas leaned over her to look at her screens. “What makes you say that?”

  “I’m not sure, but the shape could be a match for part of Twilight. It’ll resolve further in 10 minutes or so.” Shao’s hands then flew over her controls, switching to other screens.

  Mantis chimed in. “Captain, I’m detecting a faint, garbled emergency transponder. It appears to be KSF in origin, but it’s located somewhere near the second asteroid belt.”

  “Hail it and watch for anything more on long-range. If you’re not up doing something, buckle in. Silas, if you prefer to stand there’s a standing harness there and turn on…” He looked down at the tennis shoes on Silas’ feet. “Go get your mag boots and turn them on if you’re going to stand there.”

  Silas looked a bit abashed. “Ah, right. I’ll be right back.”

  Raiza and Euclidia returned a few minutes later, carrying bottles of coffee and water, along with breakfast sandwiches, snack bars, and wet wipes. They distributed these liberally and then took up positions braced at the back of the bridge. The bridge was about as crowded as it could be.

  Once they got a bit closer to the vessel, Shao said, “I think it is the nose of the Twilight, about a fourth of the ship. Looks like it’s broken clean off.”

  She sent the images she was getting to the main view screen. It did indeed look like the nose of a mid-size scout ship, cut off in a diagonal line. The piece tumbled slowly at the periphery of the asteroid belt, as if it had only recently been caught and was slowly being brought into line.

&nbs
p; Ximon tried to picture the piece’s path relative to the asteroids. “Mantis, plot a course of that ship’s piece and the nearby asteroids for 24 hours. Are there any collisions or near-collisions projected?”

  Mantis showed several trajectories on the main screen. “Captain, the nearest anticipated conjunction within 24 hours is 22 kilometers away. If you wish to entertain visiting, we could assume a matching path with no closer conjunctions.”

  Ximon looked around at his crew. “We’ve got to go check it out. Thoughts on best approach?”

  Elsbeth stared up at the screen. “We could do a matching path and EVA across.”

  Silas said, “Couldn’t we just dock with it? That would seem easier and safer.”

  Ximon looked at the screen which was now showing a clear image of the slowly spinning piece. “We could, but it could be hard to match up with its spin. We’d need to try to manipulate it to slow its spin. I’m getting into a matching course in any case.”

  Elsbeth said, “That’s doable, but would take some time. We’d have to deal with the spin somewhat in an EVA as well. We could do an EVA, see what’s there and then dock if we need more people or time.”

  Raiza pointed out, “In some ways it is an EVA either way. Based on the ship’s condition it appears vacc suits will be a necessity.”

  Ximon looked around and then back at the screen. “True, though it’s a bit different because it’ll be easier to work in there if we can dock. Peter, please suit up for EVA, Elsbeth get on the arm. Between the two of you, see if you can slow the spin. I’ll work on a path that more closely matches it. It’ll be a while, but then we’ll dock if we can. Either way, at least I, Silas, Raiza, Elsbeth, and Peter will need to go. If we can dock, we’ll take more. Let’s see what we can do here.”