The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles

by E J Gilmour

  They moved on and within a minute they had checked each shipping container manifest, but the containers were mostly filled with spare parts and mundane maintenance supplies. More than half the containers were loaded with carbon blocks, which were the raw ingredient used in food synthesizers.

  ‘Looks like there’s not much to salvage,’ grumbled Ajax.

  ‘It’s not over yet,’ said Michael. ‘We’ll have to go after the reactor power accelerators. There should be about thirty of them.’

  ‘That only adds up to one hundred and fifty thousand credits,’ said Ajax. ‘It’s not much to split between us after costs.’

  ‘I know,’ said Michael. ‘This is the nature of the business; sometimes you strike gold and sometimes it’s only dirt. We should make a move. You three go to the reactor and collect the power accelerators. I’m going to the command room.’

  ‘Are you looking for the population manifest again?’ asked Ajax with a slight grin.

  ‘Maybe,’ replied Michael in a low voice.

  ‘Why do you always have to see the population manifests?’

  Ethan gave a dry laugh. ‘We have a bet between us about who you’re looking for.’

  ‘Perhaps I’m not looking for anyone,’ said Michael defensively.

  ‘Your statement is not logical,’ said Ivan in his monotone voice. ‘There is no other rational explanation.’

  ‘Maybe I just like population manifests,’ said Michael.

  ‘I doubt it,’ said Ethan. ‘The reactor is three levels above us. We can take the elevator on the far side of the storage hold. The service tunnel we came from leads all the way to the command room on the other side of the station.’

  ‘Be back at the Out Drifter in thirty minutes,’ said Michael as he turned toward the service corridor.

  He entered the corridor and continued for about two minutes until he arrived at the far end. He pressed the green button beside the door, which immediately slid open. Directly ahead was a set of five steps that led up to another door. The door automatically opened as he approached. The command room was dimly lit by emergency lighting. There were three main consoles and a holographic display table, which had a smooth top with several micro light projectors on the surface. The instruments and computers were off or running in dormant mode.

  Michael briskly walked towards the main computer and touched the control console. The smooth metal holographic panel began to glow. An image appeared in the air directly in front of him, and the word WELCOME formed.

  ‘Computer, I request access to the population manifest.’

  ACCESS DENIED

  ‘Emergency override. Code 799.’

  The emergency override code 799 was the standard code used by rescue crews to access population manifests and other critical data required for a rescue mission. The code would only work if an emergency had been declared by the previous commanding officer.

  PARTIAL ACCESS GRANTED

  ‘Open the population manifest.’

  POPULATION EPHERIAN OUTSTATION EP712674

  TOTAL POPULATION: 4123

  CURRENT POPULATION: 0

  ‘Computer, locate individual: Acacius Trifon.’ Captain Michael couldn’t remember how many times he had made the same request without a positive result.

  ACACIUS TRIFON: PASSENGER 3712: AGE 59. EVACUATED

  Michael felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his body. He had searched for so long and had almost given up hope.

  ‘Computer. Where was Acacius Trifon evacuated to?’

  ACCESS DENIED

  ‘No! Emergency override code 799.’

  ACCESS DENIED

  He lifted his wrist-com. ‘Ajax. I need the quantum code breaker here in the command room.’

  ‘…Cap, we’re busy removing these power accelerators from the reactor housing…’ replied Ajax.

  ‘Forget the power accelerators. This is much more important.’

  ‘…Cap, no power accelerators equals no money…’

  ‘Ajax, I’ll pay everyone from my own savings. Just get over here as quickly as you can.’

  ‘…No problem. We are coming…’

  Michael waited in the command room for several minutes for his crew to arrive. The door slid open and they entered.

  ‘Did you find your mystery person?’ asked Ethan.

  ‘I found something, but the computer is blocking access to further information.’

  Ethan placed the quantum code breaker on top of the main console. ‘This might be a problem, Captain. Just remember the external security doors were double encrypted. They may have used a more powerful encryption on the main computer,’ he said as he powered up the device.

  ‘Just do your best,’ said Michael.

  Ethan started to operate the code breaker as Michael watched on. ‘It’s just as I thought, Captain. The main computer is using a double quantum encryption with a complex, observer protected pathway.’

  ‘Keep trying.’

  Ethan nodded and focused his full attention on the device. ‘Wait, Captain, the main computer is returning to full power.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s like the computer just woke up,’ he said as he kept working to break the codes. Ethan put the quantum code breaker down; his brow furrowed and he shook his head. ‘The main computer just removed all the access codes in the entire station. We’re into the system, but I don’t know why it’s allowing us in.’

  Michael turned to face the holographic console. ‘Computer. Where was passenger Acacius Trifon evacuated to?’

  ESCAPE CRAFT TRAJECTORY: ZENO PAR

  All the lights in the command room automatically switched on, and the instruments and consoles lit up. The team instinctively lifted their weapons.

  ‘Computer. What happened on this space station? Why did the population evacuate?’ asked Michael.

  SECURITY SYSTEM IMMOBILISATION WAS ATTEMPTED BY THE PREVIOUS COMMANDING OFFICER - QUARANTINE OVERRIDE SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED

  ‘What? Computer, provide more detail.’

  THE HUMAN POPULATION POSED A RISK TO THE STABILITY OF EP712674. SECURITY MEASURES WERE REQUIRED AND IMPLEMENTED. SECURITY PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED THE POTENTIAL HUMAN HAZARD.

  ‘I think the computer has a virus,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Computer, how did the security program remove the potential human hazard?’ asked Michael.

  48 RESIDENT EPHERIAN BATTLE DROIDS WERE MOBILISED FOR THE OPERATION

  Epherian Battle Droids were considered by all space farers to be the most dangerous battle droids in the entire galaxy. They were constructed in a humanoid shape; however, they were seven feet in height with high-grade armour. The baseline model always had a mini rocket launcher connected to one shoulder and a laser system connected to the other. They also carried standard issue Epherian charged particle rifles, which was an advanced weapon by any estimation. They were given the nickname “Blueys” because the scanner attached to their chests was marked by a bright, blue light.

  The blood drained from Michael’s face.

  ‘Battle droids,’ said Ethan in a low and nervous voice. ‘Captain, we have to get out of here.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Ajax sternly.

  Michael’s wrist-com beeped. ‘Sara. What’s going on?’

  ‘…Captain, the entire station has powered up. My scanners have detected droids approaching your position. They are moving like battle droids; they’re in the service corridor. You have about twenty seconds! Get out of there!...’

  ‘We’re trapped!’ yelled Ajax.

  ‘Weld the door!’ shouted Michael.

  Ethan dashed forward and grabbed a handheld welder from his pack. ‘This won’t hold for long, Captain! The Blueys will break through in a few seconds,’ he said, rushing his words. He used his welder to melt the steel door to the frame. A huge dent appeared from a heavy impact on the other side.

  ‘Let’s go. This way!’ yelled Michael.

  They followed Michael through a side door. A narrow corridor cut aw
ay from the command room. About thirty seconds later they came to a sharp right hand turn; they faced another door. Michael pressed the green operation button, but the door didn’t open.

  ‘The main computer is attempting to seal us in,’ said Ivan.

  ‘Captain, they’ve broken through the door!’ shouted Ethan, who was watching the corridor that led back to the command room.

  ‘Hold them off!’ yelled Michael as he lifted his rifle and fired on the locked door.

  Ethan opened fire as the battle droids appeared in the corridor. The droids fired back; a torrent of bright orange charged particle beams shot by. Ajax moved up beside Ethan, and he pointed the electromagnetic pulse gun at the approaching Blueys. He pulled the trigger; three battle droids instantly powered down and fell to the ground. A second group of battle droids, which were further down the corridor, stopped in their tracks and quickly retreated to the command room.

  ‘Captain, the electromagnetic pulse gun stopped them,’ said Ajax with a smile. ‘They’re retreating!’

  ‘They’ll be back! They’re programmed not to give up until we’re dead, and they have ways of dealing with electromagnetic weapons.’

  Michael fired on the locked door again and then kicked it open. Directly ahead was a small medical room.

  His wrist-com beeped. ‘What’s happening, Sara?’

  ‘…Captain, I have to detach. A group of battle droids have discovered the Out Drifter’s position. Four of them are approaching the attachment point. They will board the ship if I don’t leave now. I’ll attempt to reattach at a different location…’

  ‘If you detach we’ll be trapped on the space station,’ said Ethan. ‘The battle droids will intercept any attempt you make to reattach.’

  ‘…Captain! I need to go, now!...’

  ‘Okay, Sara, detach,’ he said, his face becoming stony.

  ‘…Detaching, Captain…’

  The team turned to Michael. No one said a word for a few moments. Ethan glanced down at his scanner and his jaw dropped. ‘Captain, the computer is opening the exterior ventilation ducts. It’s purposely causing a complete decompression. We’ll be exposed to the vacuum of space. We’re going to die in here.’

  ‘How long do we have?’ asked Michael.

  Ethan examined the scanner for a moment. ‘Three or four minutes; we don’t have time to make it out, even if Sara finds a suitable reattachment point.’

  ‘Ethan, where is the escape pod launching bay?’ asked Michael.

  ‘Captain, if the entire population evacuated there won’t be any escape pods left,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Just tell me where they are,’ said Michael firmly.

  The handheld scanner showed the entire station level by level. Ethan quickly completed a scan for the escape pod launching bay. ‘We have to return to the storage hold. The escape pod launching bay is on the opposite side.’

  ‘Follow me!’ said Michael as he ran back toward the command room.

  ‘This is a bad idea, Cap,’ said Ajax as they followed.

  ‘Have that electromagnetic pulse gun ready. The battle droids think we are on the run; they won’t expect us to attack.’

  A moment later they dashed into the command room. Michael opened fire; charged particle beams blasted over the consoles. Five battle droids whirled around to face them. Two of them fell as the beams cut directly through them. Ajax fired the electromagnetic pulse gun, and two more droids powered down instantly, but the remaining battle droid managed to dodge the onslaught. The Bluey’s rocket launcher began unleashing, and its charged particle rifle fired rapidly.

  ‘Take cover!’ yelled Michael.

  Michael dived behind a console and Ajax was thrown to the ground by the backlash of a rocket exploding beside him.

  Ethan returned fire, but the beams from his plasma rifle were hitting an invisible magnetic shield. Ivan ran forward with his plasma rifle blazing, but the shield was too strong and the plasma beams dissipated. The battle droid turned to face Ivan and opened fire. Ivan, realising the danger, leapt for cover behind a console. His left arm tore away from his body at the shoulder leaving exposed grey synthetic muscle and loose wiring.

  ‘Captain, I am hit; my arm is missing,’ he said in monotone.

  ‘I’ll order you a new one when we get out of this place,’ yelled Michael.

  Ajax and Michael were taking cover behind the main control console. Ethan was hiding behind the holographic table. The battle droid was waiting beside the door that led to the service corridor. The room was clouded with smoke from the exploding rockets.

  ‘The Bluey is protected by a magnetic shield,’ whispered Michael.

  ‘That shield only works against particle, plasma and electromagnetic weapons,’ said Ajax.

  ‘Did you bring any projectile weapons?’

  ‘Just this,’ he replied, drawing a large combat knife.

  ‘You’ve got to be joking,’ said Michael, shaking his head.

  Ajax smiled dryly. ‘Don’t worry, Cap. This one was sharpened by nano-bots. Make a distraction …now!’

  Michael leapt up, yelled at the top of his lungs, and sprinted across the room as he simultaneously fired his rifle. The charged particle beams struck the magnetic shield as the battle droid turned to face him. In the same moment Ajax jumped up and threw the knife with all his might. The blade passed directly through the magnetic shield, striking the droid’s blue glowing sensor. Sparks blasted out in every direction. The Bluey instantly lurched forward and collapsed as it powered down.

  ‘Come on. Let’s go! The air is starting to thin,’ shouted Michael.

  The team ran into the service corridor and made their way as quickly as possible to the storage hold. They arrived at the security door at the far end within a minute, but the door was locked.

  ‘It’s the computer trying to stop us escaping!’ shouted Ajax.

  ‘Do you have those magno-explosives?’ asked Michael.

  ‘Right here, Captain,’ replied Ethan.

  ‘Blast the lock off!’

  ‘Just give me a second.’ Ethan placed two small metal boxes on the side where the lock was mounted. The explosives were the size of matchboxes; they magnetically attached to the door. ‘Step back.’

  They moved back. Ethan then switched the remote. The charges detonated and blasted the lock off. Michael and Ajax ran forward, and together they heaved the door open. They entered the storage hold and proceeded as quickly as they could. The air was becoming so thin that it was difficult to breathe. Only Ivan was unaffected. Ethan opened the door at the far side of the storage hold; they entered the escape pod launching room. Michael’s eyes quickly scanned the pod bays; there were no remaining escape pods.

  Ethan hung his head. ‘This is it, Captain. We are going to suffocate.’

  ‘I will survive this incident,’ said Ivan. ‘I can continue functioning in a vacuum.’

  Ajax rolled his eyes. ‘Lucky you,’ he said.

  ‘It’s been nice working with you,’ said Ethan in a cheerless voice.

  Michael shook his head. He had come so far and couldn’t give up now. ‘Follow me,’ he said, his voice faltering from lack of breath.

  ‘It’s over, Captain,’ said Ethan grimly.

  ‘Not until I say it is,’ replied Michael as he walked back into the storage hold. ‘Ethan. Are the seals on those spare sleeping pods space worthy?’

  ‘Yes, they are, but even if we get in them we won’t be able to get away from the space station, and by the time anyone can rescue us we will be found and killed by the battle droids.’

  ‘What about the shipping container? Is it vacuum proof?’

  ‘It should be.’

  ‘Ivan won’t run out of air,’ said Michael. ‘Follow me.’

  They quickly crossed the storage hold; Michael opened the shipping container with the sleeping pods. ‘Get into the sleeping pods.’

  ‘I would rather die fighting the battle droids,’ said Ajax, his face hardening.

  ‘You’
re not going to die,’ said Michael.

  ‘Ethan is right; this is another bad idea,’ added Ajax.

  ‘Just get into the shipping container,’ commanded Michael as he grabbed the quantum code breaker from Ethan. Ethan and Ajax followed his order. ‘Not you, Ivan. I need you to seal the container from the outside and then break the quantum code on the storage hold space door. We are going to float away from this space station.’

  ‘But, Captain, I will be sucked out into space,’ said Ivan.

  ‘Don’t worry; you will be fine; remember I originally found you floating in space. I know you can do this, Ivan. Don’t let me down.’

  His wrist-com beeped again. ‘…Captain…’

  ‘Yes, Sara?’

  ‘…There are four battle droids approaching your position…you have about thirty seconds…’

  ‘Ivan, go!’ he shouted as he stepped into the shipping container.

  Ivan sealed the shipping container door from the outside and then sprinted across to the manual control console of the storage hold space door. With his one remaining hand he powered up the quantum code breaker. The outer space door had a double quantum encryption and also needed an approval code from the central computer.

  Ivan lifted his wrist-com. ‘Captain, the door cannot be opened.’

  The four battle droids entered the storage hold from the service corridor. Ivan dropped the quantum code breaker and reached for his plasma rifle which was slung over his shoulder, but the battle droids opened fire before he could point the rifle. A blast of charged particles tore through his chest. He was thrown back and his rifle slid away across the floor. He immediately sat up and drew his pistol. Sparking wires were hanging out of a gaping hole in his chest. He fired several shots at the droids, but their laser systems burst into operation. Several bright red beams cut directly through his synthetic body; an instant later he fell back and powered down.

  ‘…The battle droids finished Ivan…’ said Sara.

  ‘No!’ yelled Michael.

  ‘Now this is a tight situation,’ said Ajax with a grimace. ‘Not only are we nearly out of air, but we are locked and sealed in this shipping container and surrounded by Epherian battle droids. Do you have any more bright ideas?’

  ‘One or two,’ said Michael under his breath as he lifted his wrist-com. ‘Sara. I want you to fire the Out Drifter’s rocket launchers at the storage hold’s space door.’