by Ken Lozito
“Colonel, we have multiple contacts showing in delta quadrant. At this range they could be fleet groups bunched together to hide their true numbers,” Thorne said.
Noah brought up a PRADIS feed on his own console. At least the unknown contacts weren’t coming from gamma quadrant, which was the direction of the deep-space buoy network.
“Ops, run a diagnostic on PRADIS. I want to know if the system is malfunctioning,” Colonel Douglass said. “Comms, prepare to beam open hails on my command.”
Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly came over to Noah’s side. Not sure what else he should do, Noah started to surrender his workstation.
“You’re fine right where you are, Captain,” Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly said.
“Colonel, PRADIS is functioning normally. Signals are good,” Lieutenant Gabriel said from the Ops work area.
“Acknowledged. Start recording the engagement,” Colonel Douglass responded. “Comms, send our standard hails to them in the open channels. See if we can get a response.”
Noah swallowed hard. He kept watching PRADIS, hoping that there was some kind of glitch in the system and those ships . . . contacts . . . would disappear. Contacts didn’t become ships until they were confirmed.
“Comms, what’s the status of our hails?” Colonel Douglass asked.
“No response, Colonel,” Lieutenant Foster said.
Colonel Douglass rubbed his chin in thought and glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly.
“Wrong quadrant,” Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly said.
Colonel Douglass nodded. “Comms, authorize first-contact communications package.”
Noah’s mouth hung open. First-contact protocols were only used if they suspected they were encountering an alien species—something that had never occurred on Earth, but they had nonetheless established a standard protocol for the situation.
“Colonel, they’re still heading right for us,” Thorne said.
“Acknowledged,” Colonel Douglass said. “Comms, still waiting on that first-contact communications package.”
Noah watched as Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly walked over to Lieutenant Foster’s workstation. The frazzled lieutenant was having trouble finding what she was looking for and Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly leaned down to help her find it.
“First-contact communications package has been sent, Colonel,” Lieutenant Foster said.
“Now, we wait,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah’s heart thumped in his chest. He didn’t know how the colonel could be so focused. Who or what was heading for them? What did they want? Did they know they were here?
“Colonel,” Lieutenant Foster said, “judging by the distance, the unknown contacts should have received our first-contact communications package.”
“Acknowledged,” Colonel Douglass said. “Tactical, I want firing solutions on unknown contacts ready to go.”
“Colonel, do you want to give them a warning shot or an all-out assault?” Thorne asked.
“I want solutions for both, Captain. Authorize HADES IV in available tubes. I want half of those tubes loaded with the HADES IV-Bs,” Colonel Douglass said.
“Yes, sir. I’ll have firing solutions for you in sixty seconds,” Captain Thorne said.
Noah glanced back at the colonel.
“We might get to do more than test the modified missiles,” Colonel Douglass said.
Not knowing how to respond, Noah merely nodded and his mouth went dry.
“Computer, open a broadcast channel to the entire station,” Colonel Douglass said. “Titan Space Station, we have unknown contacts showing up on PRADIS. We’ve attempted to communicate with them using open hails and I’ve authorized the use of first-contact protocols. If we don’t get a reply, we’ll fire our weapons at them. Our mandate for this station is quite clear. We’re the first line of defense for the colony. If these are hostiles, they’ll know we’re not an easy target. If we’re wrong and this is an unknown alien species coming to make first contact, the responsibility is mine. Given the status of the deep-space buoy network and the fact that there was a catastrophic event on Earth, I’m not inclined to let any species just waltz their way here unopposed. Douglass, out.”
Colonel Douglass closed the broadcast channel. “Comms, send a data burst back to New Earth with our current status.”
Noah glanced at the PRADIS console. The unknown contacts were now well within their long-range missiles.
Colonel Douglass looked at the main holoscreen.
“HADES IV and HADES IV-Bs loaded in all available missile tubes, Colonel,” Captain Thorne said.
Noah couldn’t believe this was happening. Just a short while ago they’d been running a proof-of-concept test and now they were about to open fire on an unknown enemy.
“Fire alpha salvo, and I want bravo ready to go,” Colonel Douglass said.
Silence dragged throughout the normally lively Command Center for Titan Space Station.
“Confirm missile launch, Captain,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah swung his gaze toward Caleb Thorne, who was frowning at his output. “Colonel, I don’t understand. I submitted the command as you ordered, but the system won’t take it.”
The edges of Colonel Douglass’s lips pulled upward. “Stand down, Captain. Comms, open a channel on CDF-encrypted ship channels.” The colonel waited a few moments for the channel to connect. “General Gates, did we pass your test?”
There were a few moments of silence.
“With flying colors, Colonel Douglass. Please extend my congratulations to the CDF personnel on Titan Space Station.”
“As you wish, General.”
“Did I get you worried even a little bit?”
“You had us worried there for a few minutes, and then we were going to unleash holy hell on you,” Colonel Douglass said.
“I can see that. What are HADES IV-B missiles?”
“I’ll tell you about it when you come aboard, General,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah blew out the breath he’d been holding.
“Understood,” Connor replied. “For the record, Wil wanted me to authorize a covert ops team to take the Command Center.”
Colonel Douglass chuckled. “You tell that slippery little twerp that any time he wants to receive a good ass-kicking he should go ahead and try to sneak aboard my station.”
Noah heard muffled laughter on the comlink. The unknown ships on PRADIS disappeared and were replaced by CDF transponder codes along with the cargo carrier.
“Colonel, I have the cargo carrier Chmiel requesting to dock with the station,” Lieutenant Foster said.
“Permission granted,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah felt the tension leave his shoulders. He could use a hot shower and something to eat. He wondered where Kara was since she hadn’t shown up for the missile test. He thought about reaching out to her through his comlink, but she likely just wanted some space, so he resisted the urge. Noah logged off the console and stepped away from the workstation. A comlink wouldn’t do for what he wanted to ask Kara anyway. Knowing Connor Gates, he wouldn’t be at Titan Station for very long before returning to New Earth, which meant that Noah had twelve hours max to find Kara and personally ask her to come back to New Earth with him. She might say no. She could be stubborn at times . . . well, most times. He smiled. He just knew that asking her to change her life for him was better handled in person than on a comlink.
Noah was about to leave the cradle when he heard Caleb Thorne call out to Colonel Douglass again.
“Colonel, I have multiple unknown contacts again, this time on the fringes of PRADIS,” Thorne said.
Noah looked at the PRADIS output, which was still on the main holoscreen. This grouping was in a different quadrant than before. Noah’s gaze slid down to the quadrant’s designation, and his brows pulled together as he read.
“It’s gamma quadrant, Colonel,” Thorne said.
Noah went cold and then pressed his lips together. “Is this another dr
ill?” He’d voiced his question aloud without thinking about it.
“Open a comlink to the Vigilant,” Colonel Douglass ordered.
“Comlink ready, Colonel,” Lieutenant Foster said.
“Vigilant, this is Titan Space Station. PRADIS is showing us multiple unknown contact groups at the edge of its range coming from the gamma quadrant. Can you confirm the drill is over?” Colonel Douglass asked.
Noah hardly moved while they waited for a response.
“The drill is over. Those contacts are real,” Connor replied.
Colonel Douglass frowned. “Shit,” he said.
“You got that right,” Connor said.
A grim silence took hold of the CDF crew at the Command Center. The drill had been gut-wrenching, and it hadn’t even been real. Noah felt something cold seize his stomach. The contacts were real, and they were heading right for them.
14
Connor stood on the bridge of the Vigilant. Several bridge officers turned in his direction, awaiting his orders. He had no more training drills planned and they all knew that whatever was being detected on PRADIS was a true anomaly.
“Tactical, can you confirm anomalous detection on PRADIS?” Connor asked.
“Negative, General. They were there and now whatever it was is gone,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor pressed his lips together in a tight frown. He activated the comlink to Titan Space Station. “Titan, the anomaly has disappeared from our PRADIS. Can you confirm whether it still appears on yours?”
“Confirm, the anomaly is gone from our PRADIS. We’re running a diagnostic on the PRADIS system,” Kasey said.
Connor gave Vladimir LaCroix a meaningful look and the tactical officer began running diagnostics on the Vigilant’s PRADIS system. After a few moments, he looked over at Connor and shook his head.
“Go to a private channel, Colonel,” Connor said.
He used his implants to authorize a separate encrypted communications link with Titan Space Station.
“Ain’t this a pickle,” Kasey said.
“I don’t like this at all,” Connor said.
“Agreed, and I don’t believe this is just some system glitch,” Kasey replied.
“Suggestions?” Connor asked.
“Monitor and see if it shows up again. At that range, it could be nothing,” Kasey replied.
Connor muted the line. “Nav, I want a course plotted to put us in better range of the anomaly so we can get a better PRADIS detection. Just send the plot to my terminal.”
Connor walked over to his terminal and unmuted the line to Kasey. “I was going to come aboard and pay you a visit, but I think I’ll stay right where I am.”
“I could send a shuttle out to get you,” Kasey offered.
“It’s not that. We’ve got a bit of a situation here on the Vigilant,” Connor said and told Kasey about Colonel Howe and Major Hayes.
“Are they the only ones who got sick?” Kasey asked.
“No, there are some others. So I need to stay because I don’t want to run the risk of spreading whatever this is to the space station,” Connor said and rubbed the tips of his fingers together. If he had an actual fleet of ships, he’d send a taskforce to investigate. “Let’s continue to monitor and alert me if you detect anything. I’ll have the crew of the Vigilant do the same.”
“I do have an update for you that you’re going to like,” Kasey said.
“I’m always ready for some good news,” Connor said.
Kasey told him about Noah’s upgrade procedure for the HADES IV missile and how it vastly increased the missile’s targeting systems.
“I told you that kid was something. That’s why I snatched him up when I first got here,” Connor said.
“There’s no shortage of bright spots in the colony, but I’ll admit Noah is brighter than most, just a bit rough around the edges on some things. Speaking of which, he didn’t seem particularly keen on leaving here,” Kasey replied.
Connor felt his eyebrows rise. “He wasn’t excited to go to Titan either.”
“I’m sure it has nothing to do with Major Kara Roberts, a lead engineer here,” Kasey said.
“What is it with these guys? Someone turns their head and suddenly they won’t do what we need them to do,” Connor replied.
“They’ve been very professional. Honestly, situations like this in the CDF are becoming more frequent. It’s not like the Alliance,” Kasey said.
Connor shook his head. “No, that it’s not,” he agreed. “Don’t tell me you’re another one.”
He heard Kasey snort.
“No way. If we live another ten years, then maybe,” Kasey said.
A message from Dr. Allen appeared on Connor’s terminal.
::General, Colonel Howe’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. I’ve had him moved to the main medical bay. Please come at your earliest convenience,:: Dr. R. Allen said.
::Understood. I’ll be there shortly,:: Gen. C. Gates said.
Connor closed the chat window.
“Kasey, I need to report to the medical bay. I’ll follow up with you later. Also, send over the upgrade procedure you have for the HADES IV. We don’t have nearly as many of them as you do, but that advantage is too good to pass up,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir, I’ll see to it that a data burst gets sent to the Vigilant in a few minutes. One more thing, though. The odds of a commanding officer and his XO getting sick at the same time are minuscule,” Kasey said.
Connor rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I know. So far nothing has turned up.”
He closed the comlink and rose from his seat. “Colonel, you have the con. Titan Space Station is going to be sending an upgrade procedure for the HADES IV missiles. I want them immediately sent down to Engineering to be worked on as their top priority.”
“Yes, General,” Reisman said.
“If you need me, I’ll be down at the main medical bay with Dr. Allen,” Connor said.
Reisman went to the command chair. “I’ll inform you if that anomaly returns.”
Connor left the bridge. Just outside, he saw Sean speaking with a few members of his CDF Squad. Upon seeing Connor they stopped what they were doing and saluted him.
Connor looked at Sean. “Walk with me.”
Sean walked next to Connor while the rest of his squad followed them at a distance.
“What did you find?” Connor asked.
“We’ve looked into all the change logs since we left New Earth. I even cross-referenced them with the lead officers responsible for the specific ship systems. Everything checks out. The security team that checked all the equipment in the mess hall didn’t find any signs of tampering,” Sean said.
“Did you check?” Connor asked.
Sean frowned. “No, sir, I didn’t. There's nothing suspicious going on that I could find. I can make a sweep of the mess hall now if you’d like me to, but it’s been put back into operation.”
Connor shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”
“You still believe there’s foul play involved?” Sean asked.
Connor regarded the young man for a moment. He was extremely intelligent in most respects and still young enough to be naive in others. “You used to be a sniper. A hunter. If you had a target you needed to hit and you couldn’t use your firearm, how would you do it?”
Sean’s gaze narrowed and he glanced around to be sure they weren’t being overheard by anyone. “You think this was an assassination attempt?”
“I can’t afford to rule anything out at this point,” Connor said.
Sean pressed his lips together and then blew out a breath, shaking his head. “I can’t imagine anyone in the colony, let alone the CDF, doing something like this.”
“I’m heading to see Dr. Allen and I want you to come with me,” Connor said.
“Of course. What do you need me to do?” Sean asked.
“Keep a lookout for anything that doesn’t seem right,” Connor replied.
“Y
ou can count on me, sir,” Sean said.
They reached the Vigilant’s main medical bay a few minutes later. The door opened and Connor walked through. The medical bay was quiet and not at all like the infirmary he and Reisman had been to a few days ago.
Dr. Allen walked over to them. “Thank you for coming so quickly, General.”
“What’s Ian’s status?” Connor asked.
Dr. Allen’s expression became grim. “His organs are shutting down.”
“What!” Connor exclaimed. “I thought this was just an allergic reaction.”
Dr. Allen nodded. “That’s what I thought too. Those were his symptoms. I had him brought here so I could get him into a medical capsule.”
Dr. Allen led them over to the quarantined area of the medical bay. “We’ll need to go into decontamination one at a time and then I’ll show you.”
One by one they each went through the decontamination and entered the chamber where the Vigilant’s commanding officer and his executive officer clung to life. Connor approached the medical capsule and looked at Colonel Ian Howe. He was deathly pale, and if not for the steady rise and fall of his chest because of the breathing tube, Connor would have believed the man was already dead.
Connor glanced over at Nathan Hayes. The Vigilant’s XO rested in a bed, and though he was also intubated, he didn’t look anywhere near as sick as Howe.
Dr. Allen went over to the control panel for the medical capsule.
“I need to know what happened, doctor,” Connor said.
Dr. Allen looked up from the control console. “This isn’t a contagion. His organs are shutting down. I looked up his symptoms in the medical database on the ship and the artificial intelligence keeps coming up with the same answer.”
Connor glanced at Howe again and then looked back at Dr. Allen.
“He’s suffering from acute radiation poisoning,” Dr. Allen said.
Connor’s brows pulled together tightly. “Radiation poisoning? There were no leaks reported. How could he be suffering from that?”
“I know. I checked with Engineering to see if there were any leaks or anything else that could have done this. There was nothing,” Dr. Allen said.
“Then how could he be dying of radiation poisoning?” Sean asked.
