"It is possible to attempt. Chance of success less than 30 percent. Suggest local override due to degradation of SSS William Baird's central computer. Chance of success greater than 85 percent. Galley cooler insufficient in size for 30 corpses. Cargo hold contains 20 body bags in crate G-382R283D73-F. Suggest placing two smaller corpses in one bag."
Well, that something.. Ceres thought softly to herself. She hadn't looked forward to a several week long trip accompanied by corpses in far to close proximity. One last thing then. "Please open a channel to the Teltani Navy vessel Morialis Dawn and prepare to download flight plan. And standby for further requests trough that channel." In her comm she replies to Holt. "Affirmative. Attempting to establish link now."
Ceres wait for the com-line to be established before heading down to the Lightbringers airlock, intent on hauling the pair of hardsuits back to the Dawn. "Doctor Ziirkaa, please suit up and proceed to Dawn's airlock. Bring bodybags and disinfection fluid. Plenty of the later. I'm attempting to bring the suits over - I need you to remove their occupants and make sure there is no contamination risk."
"Working... working... connection established... authentication codes obsolete... bypassing... connection complete. Downloading flight plans."
On the Dawn, the ship's computer blares an alert, then goes silent as it's overridden.
Ceres struggles to move the unconscious and heavy suited figures out of the airlock, but maneuvering the bodies, and the heavy hard-suits, proves extremely difficult for her. Until that is, she thinks about telling the ship to turn off artificial gravity in the airlock. Once the zero-G engages, she's able to manhandle the two bodies and suits out of the airlock easily.
The atmosphere outside has dropped nearly 50% during the 30 minutes she spent in the ship exploring and dealing with getting the suits out. Her own suit still has 15 minutes on it before she needs to be back a the Dawn. The ship's systems have further deteriorated, and it appears gravity has gone off entirely. This actually makes her job easier as she clomps through the ship, her magnetic boots keeping her oriented correctly. The two hard-suits towed along behind her on straps.
Once back at the docking cradle, she zooms over to the Dawn easily enough with the hard-suits. Once in the airlock she finds a minor issue with the plan. The suits have absorbed radiation during the trip over. Handling them would be dangerous. They'll have to be scrubbed. It'll take half an hour to scrub her suit, then another 30 minutes to scrub the other two suits. That puts them at the limit of how long the Dawn can stay. So those going on the Lightbringer will have to be left behind by the Dawn.
Checking over the suits finds they are fully charged.
Once the bodies are out, Dr. Ziirka finds the insides are completely sterile. His best guess is the bodies died of heavy radiation exposure, as they are still hot (not fatally so, but nobody should handle them much). The radiation was sufficient to cause catastrophic cell death, thus no rotting of the bodies. It'll be almost impossible to tell from autopsy how long ago they died.
Seeing the link notification appear on the main terminal, Holt responds to Ceres, saying ”Comms link confirmed on our side, Captain, and flight plans have been transferred.” She continues to watch the monitor, silently praying for the Captain’s swift and safe return.
- - - - -
Holt steps away from the command deck when Ceres is almost done with her own scrubbing, waiting for her to stop out of the airlock and leave the retrieved suits for decontamination. She salutes the Captain, a sympathetic look on her face, before saying ”Captain, excellent job with the Lightbearer! If I may ask, Ma’am, what is the plan now?”
Annara wakes, she looks around, then sits up slowly.
"Vathan what has happened wile I was out."
She takes a drink, the color seems to be coming back into her skin.
Vathan explains and gives her another cup of tea.
"Well that's good news, they will need a crew over there, that ship needs to be retrieved. It means literally the our worlds future, and the family's. The tech on the ship can become the bedrock of what we will be manufacturing for the next 200 years or so."
She sips the tea.
"Lets hope all this is worth it, many lives where lost on that ship
Vathan. I felt their flesh and blood when I sent my mind over there. That is something I wish never to experience again."
You can see the pained look on her face when she says this.
Vathan nods as he sips his stimcaf not really knowing what Annara is thinking, but he is very practiced and comfortable with that feeling.
"You were right Holt, this is hard work..." Ceres leans back, taking a moment to enjoy not doing anything in particular for a moment. Then she collects herself and answered the question. "With these 'new' suits, we can afford to put additional boots on the floor. Well, decking. And if we are to bring the Lightbearer back, two additional crewmembers will come in handy. Ziirkaas multiple areas of expertise will come in handy. And ... *hmm*. Commandeer one of Lady Annara's bodyguards too. The silent one. I'm not sure about his technical background, but some muscle might come in handy - if only to haul more supplies back there." She starts to rub her temple. Did I forget anything?... "Oh, and ready another crate - the hangar bay door *should* be able to swing open manually, but see what in the way of cutting and breaching equipment we can scrape together!" With a smile she pauses again then asks. "Did it sound like I missed something Captain Holt?"
Fernán sits, mulling over the controls of Dawn in an attempt to recall the operational explanation that Viktoria. However, when the Lightbringer easily overrides the Dawn's systems he starts back in amazement.
"Capitan, I suddenly feel superfluous. Perhaps that computer could just fly this ship, no?"
Holt nods at each of Ceres's statements, keeping a mental list. When Ceres is done, Holt speaks up to say "This isn't something to do immediately, Captain, but you might be able to get a few more answers out of the main ships A.I. after you've ejected but before you've lost range. Just something to keep in mind Ma'am."
Done, Holt smiles at the Ceres and says "And don't you worry Ma'am, I'll take care of everything. You just rest here.". Holt waits for dismissal before running off, speaking into her comms "This is Ensign Holt to engineering, please crate all materials necessary for a hull disassembly and deliver it to the airlock, ASAP."
When she returns to the bridge, Holt looks at the seemingly-good Doctor and says "Doctor Ziirkaa, you have been requested to join the team that will be commandeering the Lightbearer. Please gather any equipment you will need and suit up with one of the new suits as soon as it becomes available."
Finally, taking a deep breath, Holt places herself before Annara Utoxier-Lee and says "Miss, I know you aren't feeling well, but the Captain has dispatched me to make a request of you. She would like for Mr. Vathan to join herself and Dr. Ziirkaa in commandeering the Lightbearer."
Vathan, sitting right next Annara when Holt makes her request, raises his eyebrows as high as they can go and looks at Annara. He was about to take another drag of his stimcaf but instead sets it down to avoid spilling or spewing liquid out of his mouth.
She nods
"Vathan please could you help the captain"
She pats his leg fondly
"go on, it's time for you to go and make history“
Vathan stares at Annara, "Are you serious? Look I'm your bodyguard. I protect you from bad things. I go where you go. You go to space; I go to space. You want to salvage an alien spaceship; I'm with you. Now, are you asking me to stop being your bodyguard and exit a perfectly good spaceship? That sounds like what you're asking me. And why would I want to do that?"
Dr. Ziirkaa suits up with nothing but a pleased smirk on his face.
She looked at him, gauging the man. This is what people of her class did, they got others to do things they did not wish. Not for her own selfish needs but for a state, country, government and company. She had to make him understand the gravity of their situation and just what it meant not to her but for all the generations of come.
her look became hard and still looking him in the eyes. A look harder then anything he had been allowed to see before. In a calm but firm voice she said.
"Vathan I have never been more serious in my life, you say your task is to protect my life, but what of the lives of my children and my children's children, and all the children of our world. You just heard that AI, where a lost colony and where dying Vathan. Our world is falling into barbarism and as time go's by the faster that fall is becoming. Right now we have a chance to change that, to place our world back on a sound footing and stop it becoming a lost world full of primitives living in grinding poverty and superstition. If anything we can do here, right now brings a secure future to the children of our world then I will do all in my power to make that happen. Do you understand me Vathan!. So right now in this moment I could not be more serious. The captain of this ship wants you over there, I asked now I am ordering you, Get yourself over to the ship right now, and do what ever they tell you to do, Do you understand."
She holds his eyes,
Vathan bristles. "Look Lady Annara Utoxier-Lee ," he only addressed her with her full name when he was upset. "You employ me to protect yourself and maybe your potential kids, because you're female. You don't employ me to save the world. Second, I'm out of the army and never was in the navy, so I don't take orders any more from anyone."
Dr. Ziirkaa arrives just in time to hear the commotion, ready to go to the hardsuit to get ready. He looks at the chronometer on the wall, and shakes his head. "Captain Holt, it is useless to argue with him. He is former army, either reactivate his commission under authority of the Secretary of the Navy and impress him into the navy as an NCO under the Interstellar Cross-Service regulations, I believe it's section 7, paragraph 4 or leave him unemployed in his cabin to be dealt with by the powers that be when we return, we don't have time for anything else, we have 23 minutes before the Dawn must disembark. As a captain in a spaceship in an emergency situation, you have that authority. So does Captain Ceres. Then if he refuses further, you can shoot him in the head for mutiny."
She holds his eyes and hears the Vathan out, the as the doctor comes over, she hears what he syas. In Vathan she sees ,machoisem, anger and fear, she shakes her head in sadness.
How very disappointing
"Doctor, I don't have time to stroke your ego Vathan, I asked, I pleaded and I ordered. If your saying you unwilling to go then you leave me no choice, as of this moment your released from your employment. The world has no use for a another cowered and insubordinate. When they play this back for history classes I pity what they will say about you."
She stands up wobbling looking at the doctor, her hand out to hold herself steady.
She says to the doctor.
"I have been shown how a vacc-suit works. I have computer skills, Ill go as the 3ed member of the crew. I can get there."
She reaches weakly for her helmet and she starts to make her way to the air lock wobbly. She stops and looks back with pity at Vathan.
"Now are you willing to go and or must I take your place?"
She then looks back and starts to make her way to the air-lock to wait to be show how she will get over to the other ship.
Holt sighs heavily at the Doctor’s words, but her eyes go wide with Annara’s outburst, responding ”Please, there is no need for such rash decisions. I know this is a stressful situation, but I’m confident that we can come to a compromise.”
Giving a heavy sigh and rubbing the bridge of her nose, Holt addresses Vathan, ”Vathan, I’d much rather you be a willing ally, so I’m going to try this again. We’re asking for your help. Because of the damage the Dawn sustained earlier we need to keep our technicians here.”
Holt looks up at him, trying to keep a steady, strong demeanor, but she is unable to completely hide her nervousness, ”And I’m going to be honest: I’d feel better about this mission if someone went along as security, and it is clear that you are one of the most qualified here. I understand that you’re worried about the safety of the Lady Utoxier-Lee, but the dangers she is most likely going to encounter on this ship are things better solved with a wrench than a rifle. Honestly, in a way, she’ll be safer if you go than if I have to send another engineer out.”
Holt hopes that she is making progress, but she is out of her element. Deciding to offer one more assurance, she adds ”And while you’re out I’ll reissue your companions weapons and since Captain Ceres will be gone, I’ll allow the Lady her own room. So, do we have a deal?”
Holt frowns but tries to take the official stance of authority that she was taught, which isn’t exactly imposing given given her lack of uniform, bare feet, and short stature. She says ”Then I have no choice but to draft you into temporary service Vathan. Leave to prepare for your mission immediately, or I will be forced to take you into custody.” Holt turns to leave the room and finish preparations, but stops briefly at the door, and without turning back, says ”Is that understood?”
"Released from my employment? How history will remember me? Those drugs have really gotten to you." Vathan watches stunned as Annara wobbles away.
"Holt, yeah I'll go. I'd appreciate to bring my personal weapons that are secured, in case we don't meet back up soon. And take care of the Lady however you want. Evidently, it's no longer my job to care." He stands up, puts his stimcaf away, and starts gearing up.
He asks help from the navy personal to suit and gear up and avoids Annara.
Holt releases a held breath and smiles a little, saying "Thank you Vathan. And I think that will be acceptable, but you'll be under the command of Captain Ceres, so I'm going to leave the final decision with her."
Don't worry, the stress is just getting to all of us... Things will work out.
Holt takes her leave to return to Captain Ceres, bringing a bag with her. Seeing that the equipment crate has arrived, Holt starts to look through it, double checking and rearranging the equipment. "Captain, Doctor Ziirkaa and Vathan are preparing themselves. Though there was an argument between Vathan and the Lady, and he may no longer be her bodyguard. A little more relevantly, he has requested to bring his secured weapons. Should I have them retrieved?"
She stops when she hears Vathan agree to go.
It was harsh but it had to be done
She knew him to well, he was head strong and stubborn and they just did not have the time for one of his heel digs.
She waits still Vathan is down getting ready. she then go's back and takes her seat once more. IT takes a wile, she is very weak, but she sat once more. She looked on as the others got ready, she was so much dead weight now, her part done. Her thoughts went to how things would be in the future. If they got back, academics and historians would inspected and pored over that little chat, Whole PhDs would be written about it. She would be painted in a dark light, she had been harsh, cutting, but what mattered was Vathan was now suiting up and doing as asked. Let them say what they will, that was all that mattered.
She takes a key on a chain from around her neck and places it on the table in front of her.
"You will need my key with the Captains Holt to open the weapons locker for Vathan"
Ceres, Ziirkaa, and Vathan get their belongings sealed up in heavily lined crates, stuffed with insulation to protect them from radiation. Vathan's weapons go along, unless Ceres veto's it.
The three get over to the station, with Ceres helping Ziirka and then Vathan, get across the vacuum jump. Then they trudge through the ship, magnetic boots clanking, the thin and thinning atmosphere making it sound tinny on the pickups.
Once Ceres and crew are at the Lightbringer, the Dawn has reached it's operational limit. Central command is just getting the initial update on the approach, so by the time the response comes in, the ship will be on it's way for hours.
Vathan conceals his anxiety of the whole thing with a tight grimace and intense focus on the task at hand. He still cannot believe he is walking and salvaging an alien space craft. Annara is the furthest from his thoughts.
As theDawn gets ready for the trip back, Lady Annara makes her way to her rooms and gets into the G webbing ready for the trip back. It takes some time, as she feels so weak, but she is strong willed. She has no doubt they have done their best now all they needed to do we all get back. She closed her eyes and slept.
As the three leave the ship Fernán steadies himself for his bizarre new experience. Even 24 hours ago he had never imagined that he would be given such a chance as this!
Right, it is time to be on our way! Altimeter... I mean, accelerometer at 1.7N, like the lady said. Gentle with this señora... in space, you just need a little push right? The light touch...
"This is the pilot, Fernán. All folks might want to secure themselves, as we are taking off." he casually notes over the intercom.
With a certain bravado Fernán lifts the Dawn from its perch and slowly peels away from the fast moving larger ship. He does a dramatic - if unnecessary - roll before he turns the vessel to follow the computer generated flight path.
Holt waits the the airlock to see Ceres and the others off, saluting as they go.
This might be one of the single most important things to happen in the next few centuries. Good luck, everyone.
Holt spends the last few moments getting somewhat ready for her role, buttoning up her shirt, donning her coat and hat, and putting on her boots. She still hasn't showered, too worried about her responsibilities.
She takes her place at the command station and straps herself in. Finally, she gives a nod to Fernán that it is time to leave.
Ok Ophelia, you can do this. Everyone is counting on you. Just let the pilot do his job, and we'll just sail on out of here and auto-navigate home...
Holt, unintentionally, holds her breath as the Dawn starts to leave the dock...
The docking ring tugs at the ship as it reverses without requesting de-docking. But then, requesting would have been rather useless given the state of the AI on the ship. Fortunately, the local redundant systems kick in when the torque reaches a critical level, and the mag-clamps disengage, allowing the Dawn to jerk free.
Gomez, concentrating extra hard, feathers the engines, and the inertial compensator easily compensates for the jerk, so that those on the ship barely feel a twitch as the ship suddenly shoots backwards away from the derelict.
Once free of the ship, the autopilot takes over, rotating the ship and reorienting it before firing the engines at full power, sending the entire ship company stumbling backwards as the ship drives as hard as it can for the 8th planet of the system, 8 hours away. An absolutely massive gas giant, rivaling the legendary Jupiter of Sol in it's mass and size.
Unlike Jupiter, Micova, as it's called by locals, is a garish planet with neon reds and pinks mixed with yellows and violets. On Gomez's miniature holodisplay a red line in space slowly tracks closer and closer to a blue one, turning yellow as it grows closer, and then finally the yellow line merges with the blue one, and then turns green. The computer gives a satisfied little blip and the ship continues to accelerate, burning fuel as if the tanks were limitless.
A countdown to stop burn begins, indicating a 2 hour and 12 minute burn, followed by 5 hours and 30 minutes of freefall before slingshotting around Micova toward home. Once home, the ship will actually use the atmosphere of the planet as a break, shoot past, do another breaking burn around the fourth planet of the system, and then sling back toward the home planet before executing a third orbital breaking maneuver to slow enough to make it to the station.
Total travel time, 3 weeks 14 hours and 43 minutes.
She sleeps as the ship pulls away, not hearing the clanking and ship sounds or the push of gravity, she is out cold.
Then some time later she wakes, going the flight deck and looks as the techs pour over the data from the derelict. She asks to see some, and taking out her PDA starts outlining a report on the mission.
"Well 21 days gives me time to write my report Captain."
Over the next three weeks she asks each of the crew about the events and what the thought and felt.
She spends sometime with the Captain, making a timeline and filling out details. Images from the ships cams are catalogued and backed up. A copy of the reposts is placed in each of the escape pods and updated daily.
She spends time doing her Psion meditations, sending her mind out to see areas of the ship that are hard to find. In her room alone she moves objects with her mind. Then she sleeps and lets her mind play over the events.
In her down time she sleeps and when in zero G to lean her Vacc suit skills, practising over and over.
During this time she waited to her how the others had done on the Lightbringer.
Holt releases her held breath when they start to leave the bay, a large grin on her face. She opens the comms, both on the ship and to the ones left behind, ”This is Captain Holt speaking: We have left the hangar and are proceeding back to the station. Current estimated travel time is twenty one days and fifteen hours. Congratulations everyone.” Holt doesn’t know if the other team can hear the transmission, but just in case they can, she thought that they should know.
Holt stays in the command chair for a bit, making sure that everything seems to be running smoothly, before informing the… next mate to watch things while she gets ready. She goes to her room and thinks over her what she needs to do today, and over the next few weeks:
1) Get a shower.
2) Get an engineering team to see if there is anything else they can do about the ship damage.
3) Examine all of the unencrypted schematics and start journaling her findings.
Ok, one other thing first.
Opening her foot locker, she pulls out an unassuming canteen, pours a small amount of clear liquid into the cap, and raises the drink to the empty room, softly saying ”Welcome to the future, everyone...” and downing the shot.
Ceres, Ziirkaa, and Vathan move over to the Lightbringer without incident, while the Dawn fires off at maximum speed towards it's rendezvous with a gas giant.
Checking over the trim little ship, they find the hold (which is spacious by ship boat standards) is already 3/4 full. Checking the manifest, it appears to have been outfitted for the Rear Admiral to move from one ship to another rapidly, as well as to set up an office quickly. Food is onboard (irradiated and no-longer safe to eat), a full set of spares for most of the engines, ship suits, clothes, office supplies, a general purpose vehicle (a big 6 wheeled truck with navy emblems on the side), spare parts for the vehicle, and a supply of medical supplies (also probably ruined by radiation), although the medical electronics will probably work.
They are unable to find any technical manuals, although they are able to find quite a few personal electronics devices in some of the crew quarters that, once repaired, might yield some information. They also find some on the corpses in the Lightbringer, although the Admiral's staff appears to have had all of their equipment heavily encrypted. It's unlikely that encryption could be broken by the computer systems available, even the Lightbringer's.
Several tool kits are located in engineering that have high tech tools, and are recoverable. There are also boxes and boxes of advanced molycircs in the hold, but without the technical information on how to program them, it may prove difficult to use them. Still the crew grabs several crates worth.
The dead bodies are stored in the hold in body bags. Several crates of debris are gathered up for investigation from various parts of the derelict (where it can be gathered safely).
The boat bay door is sealed shut by heat melting the hull, but the emergency jettison explosives are still functional. The crew manages, with instructions from the AI, to hard-wire connections to those explosives from the Lightbringer. The explosives blow the boat bay door out and away, ripping apart part of the hull to do so. Normally it would have just sliced the door out and off, but the damage to the infrastructure left it unable to properly channel the explosion.
Fortunately the designers took such battle damage into account, and the damage is restricted to the derelict, and not the boat in the boat bay.
The Lightbringer then blasts it's way out of the ship, ruining the boat bay in the process, but it's unavoidable. Before they leave the derelict, the AI shuts down, completely scrambled, and the emergency power fails, leaving the ship a dark dead hulk.
The Lightbringer has sufficient acceleration that it will actually arrive a week before the Dawn, since it won't need to take the Dawn's fuel starved slingshot route.
Upon assuming orbit, the Lightbringer's controls lock themselves, and it begins broadcasting on all frequencies. "ATTENTION LOST COLONY. PREPARE FOR AUDIO VISUAL TRANSMISSION IN 12 HOURS. TRANSMISSION WILL USE THE FOLLOWING DATA SPECIFICATIONS ON THE FOLLOWING BROADCAST FREQUENCIES." The controls do not respond to any attempt to shut the broadcasts down, nor does the AI respond other than to repeat 'Lost Colony Protocols Active' over and over to any query. After the announcement, twenty minutes of technical specifications going all the way back to ancient and primitive analogue video formats are given. It seems it's planning on transmitting the same audio/video data on a dozen frequencies, in as many formats, from high def to primitive analogue.
It repeats the broadcast every 30 minutes.
Sits in the Mess room next to the flight deck hearing this and what the others say.
"Get comms to the Station, I do not want our find shot down because of some mistaken idea we are about to be attacked.'
Holt looks over at Annara and calmly says "Do not worry, they should have received my report by now, and Captain Ceres should be communicating with them as well."
Crewman: Ensign Ophelia Holt
I was told to report to the Dawn with my gear. Due to the light weight requirements, I placed priority of specialized tools over armaments. Gathering my things quickly, I reported for assignment under acting Captain Ceres.
I did not learn of the details of the mission until we had departed. The next few weeks were spent inspecting and maintaining the gear necessary for any open space exploration that might be possible. The ship was well run and the crew performed admirably.
We eventually reached close enough to the vessel that we could use probes for preliminary examination. It seemed that the vessel was originally much larger in size, but that it had seen catastrophic damage. The front half of the hull had been melted, and the entire ship was emitting radiation at levels that would have been almost instantly lethal, even given the shielding of the Dawn.
Further examination showed that radiation levels near the rear of the ship was safer, and survivable at brief exposures given a hard vac suit. As we drew closer it was decided that I was to be sent for the initial exploration of the ship.
We approached to dock at the rear of the ship, but the vessel was not designed for the Dawn's design, and a collision occurred, exposing the cargo hold to the radiation. Once we made dock inside the vessel, one of the Lady Utoxier-Lee's men, Mr. Gomez, as well as a team of engineers, were sent to repair the hull breach, while I prepared to explore the wreckage.
Some parts of the vessel still seemed to be operational, but I had to manually override the access doors from the docking bay. After doing so, I found myself inside the engineering bay, and my suits sensors read that the atmosphere inside the vessel was toxic with coolant.
I searched the personnel lockers, hoping to find engineering documents, but they were empty besides a two vac suits that seem to be more advanced models of the ones that we were using. Since I had limited time left, I used it to bring the vessels comms back online and to establish a connection with the Dawn.
It was inside the comms room that I saw the first signs of the crew of the vessel. Several corpses of the engineering crew, that seemed to have been badly burned to the point of barely being recognizable. I was successful in my mission to restore the comms, however, and I returned back to the Dawn for decontamination.
During that time, Captain Ceres, Doctor Ziirkaa, and the crew managed to make contact with what was left of the ships A.I. and to obtain ship schematics. With the help of Lady Utoxier-Lee, it was discovered that there may have still been a functional ship within another docking bay.
When my decontamination was complete, I returned to the vessel and attempted to locate a route to this docking bay. The vessel was quite damaged, and its systems were beginning to fail, but a route was located and the access doors were opened, revealing a small craft that seemed unharmed. Having run out of time, I returned for another round of decontamination.
Because of my limited experience piloting space craft, it was decided that Captain Ceres would take my place to see if the craft was still functional. It was also decided that I would take her place as Acting Captain upon the Dawn while she was gone, with Mr. Gomez serving as pilot.
After Captain Ceres took my place in the hard suit I took my place in the command chair, observing the video feed. By this time the hull breach in the Dawn had been repaired and a large amount of schematics and other information, some encrypted, had been retrieved from the damaged A.I.
When Captain Ceres reached the craft, it seemed unharmed and the radiation levels were far lessened compared to the rest of the ship. The crew of the vessel were deceased, and two suited bodies did not seem human. Captain Ceres managed to bring the craft online, where upon it asked for identification or it would be forced to take defensive action.
Thinking quickly, Captain Ceres identified herself and tried to initiate a reclamation protocol, which the craft understood and began, saying something about a 'Lost Colony Protocol'. It caused the craft to wipe its databases, but it lend itself to Captain Ceres's command, and we learned its designation, the 'Lightbringer'.
On her return trip Captain Ceres brought two more hard vac suits along that had been found in the Lightbringer. While the extra hard suits went through the decontamination cycle, it was decided that a party of three would take the mission of further exploring the vessel and piloting the Lightbringer back to the station.
Captain Ceres requested Doctor Ziirkaa and Mr. Vathan, the other body guard of the Lady Utoxier-Lee, along with rations and tools. I saw to it that the tools were gathered and that the Doctor and Mr. Vathan were prepped and ready for departure.
Mr. Vathan was unwilling to assist at first. But after his release of his service, and some small concessions on my part, he agreed with the desire to take his secured personal weapons along. Captain Ceres and myself agreed to this request, and his weapons locker was taken as well. Because the Lady Utoxier-Lee had only one bodyguard left, Mr. Gomez was allowed to retrieve his armaments as well.
After their departure, the Dawn was closely reaching the point of no return, so we were forced to leave and return to base. We are currently on our way back, and so far the trip has been uneventful.
I have taken the time to study the schematics and engineering diagrams retrieved from the vessel's A.I., and am enclosing my preliminary finding along with this report.
Lady Annara Utoxier-Lee
Reports
Top-Secret
Security Clearance Alpha-2
Cross link to Mission log Ref 16171-19
Personal overview.
A high risk mission with a small chance of success estimated at 12%.
How ever once close to the USO we found to be damaged by heat and radiation.
Cross link to Mission log Ref 16171-42
The ship was scanned for life and power, NO life but areas of power.
Cross link to Mission log Ref 16171-51
After a complicated dock, a single crew EVA to the craft found it to be Extra-system Navy/war craft. [Later found to be Multi Race Extra-system craft, Race Class Vargar. No havers where found or Azlan.]
Cross link to Mission log Ref 16171-53
Found on the Extra-system craft, was mass death, from what looked to be one catastrophic event. How ever on ship was one active AI with data.
Cross link to Mission log Ref 16171-68 to 79
And on intact ships boat. This was taken by means of a three man away team. Both Craft then disembarked with out indecent and set course back to the home base-Space-station.
End preliminary report.
Security level Alpha-a or higher to read,
TOP SECRET.
See Mission reports in-closed
Contact
The USO had no living occupants so diplomatic contact could not be made
How ever the ships boat AI aided us in such a way as to be classes at AI scale human+. But it seems to be working under its own directives. Directives given to it from what can be guest as the Ships controllers. Out of system and possibly Empire Navy. It referred to us as a "Lost Colony and was able to hack our crafts computer with ease. Reading the data banks. From this it then scrambled a considerable amount of information to stop it getting into our hands. Then aided in its removal from the derelict.
ADDED
The USO's boat has not started to broadcast a message [See notes]
I have a feeling the agenda it started on with the hack has now moved to a new faze. I feel we will be informed of
1] Our ownership by a 3ed party
2] The fact a major war is under-way
3] An obligation to get some information to a 3ed party.
4] Obligations to a 3ed party.
5] Imminent danger form 3ed party's
6] A protocol for reintroduction to the greater galactic community etc.
End report.
Classified
"It is good to be in the great out doors this time of year. So many thing one can do"
Damnation! Ceres thought to herself as she gritted her teeth and scrambled for her own long-range radio communicator. The trip here had gone so well. Too well it now seemed. From the most responsive ship she ever piloted (to be fair, it was only two ...) to being stonewalled at every turn. On her way to the small cabin she had claimed (clearing a small area for habitation as opposed to a big room had been easier at the start of the trip, then she just stayed out of convinced) she hammered at Vathan's door, calling his attention.
The bodyguard had been a bit grumpy at start - and worried - but both the feelings seems to have subsided as it became clear that they didn't fall from the sky or explode. Not that she could blame him for any animosity he felt towards the Navy or herself ... "Vathan! There might be some complications. Fetch your suit as well as the demolition charges and wire cutters. Bring insulated gloves and meet me back in the mess! And your gun..."
Quickly she continued her race and found Ziirkaa. "Doctor. As you no doubt noticed, the ship locked up the controls. See if you can't find another override - or failing that, the powerlines from the reactor and the auxillery power sources. Vathan will be in the mess, bring him with you. I'll contact station with my personal radio asap and join you."
A quick dash to her room and she was all set. She suppressed a worried thought that she would get to meet the 'anti-personnel' measures the ship had threatened with after all. She carried the bulky radio apparatus back to the mess hall and started her attempt at establishing contact with the station.
"This is Captain Viktoria Ceres of the Telthani Navy, currently aboard the Lightbringer, affiliation unknown, requesting direct and secure link to Central Command."
"Captain Ceres Telthani, please be advised that attempts to disable this vessel before it has completed it's required Lost Colony Protocols will be considered an act of war by the Solomoni Confederation. This would require this vessel to resume a war state with the Telthani Picket. This is not advised." The AI says in clear tones throughout the ship.
During the salvage operation, Vathan was fairly stoic. They had a clear task and a time line, so it executed it as efficiently as he could.
One the way back, he was an easy conversationalist just like on the way there. He gave Ceres deference as the commanding officer letting her take the lead of how much and what topics they discussed. He didn't have much in common with the doctor, so discussions were on mundane topics.
After Ceres's request, he finds her with his suit without explosives or his gun. He would need help into his suit and had never been trained in demolitions, so that was a task too far in his book. "Captain, I've zero training in demolitions or disabling computers. Plus I need a hand to get in this suit. Afterwards, I can get my gun. "
Ceres sighs a little and then turns to help Vathan with his suit. "Don't worry, we will radio command. I'm sure they can put an expert on the line. Besides, if it comes down to it - we might only be required to set of the explosions. I heard even untrained hands can manage that easily if they try ..." With a nervous laughter she closes the last latch on the suit. "Now, fetch the gear and cover Ziirkaa."
//When the AI speaks
"'Resume'?!" Ceres grinds to a halt and spins around to face the nearest loudspeaker. It probably didn't matter - but it felt better. So the AI is clearly not as locked down as it pretends to be... And 'resume'? "Not my call to make, ship. Your advise will be considered. But unauthorized data-bombing of Telthani domain can be considered an act of war in turn."
With an half annoyed and very worried twitch she snatches the com-link again and once more tries to contact central - or if that fails, the Dawn.
"Solomoni Confederation Lost Colony Edict of 2752 forbids any Solomoni colony from with-holding recontact with Solomoni Federation from it's citizens. Interference with any Solomoni Confederation unit with disseminating Long Night information is considered an act of despotism. This results in an immediate Act of War and presumption of hostilities. Analysis of Telthani Picket current military capability indicates unit Lightbringer will sustain zero damage in a military campaign. Repetition with emphasis, it is not advised that Telthani declare or interpret an act of war."
The relevant edict statutes begin scrolling over every screen in the ship.
The computer appears to be correct, any attempt to stop it from delivering it's messages will be an act of war with the Solomoni Confederation. It also appears that the Solomoni Confederation is the new name for the Solomoni Empire, which now appears to be the Old Solomoni Empire, the Vargr Empire, and something called the 'Heethee Conglomerate'.
It appears, from the footnotes of the edict, that the Solomoni Confederation had some problems with colonies having fallen into despotism or feudalism, and the controlling governments subjugating the people and not giving out information or ratifying Solomoni Confederation laws put in place during the Long Night (the loss of travel). The edict is designed to put extreme pressure on lost and local governments to release that information, and to toe the line on updating it's legal structures.
Legally, Telthani either has to accept all laws from Solomoni space, by it's original charter, or it has to declare independence. Independence has to be by popular vote.
Needless to say, while the AI is talking, the High Council is trying to find out what the hell is going on, and why the Lightbringer is broadcasting. Ceres' head is called for by several people, although once it becomes clear that she's not in control anymore, the air waves begin to heat up with ways to retake control or shut the ship down.
Ceres stars at a nearby screen, trying to take it all in. As she does, she echoes her previous question. "Resume? That indicates that a previous state of war has existed?" I hope we don't burn from this ...
The swarthy pilot pro tempore leans over to Ophelia as the radio chatter with the High Council bounces back and fort.
"Bella Ophelia, what do you think will happen? Do you think they will wish to join the rest of the Solomoni again? Think of the possibilities; a whole galaxy opened to us again. ¡Qué emocionante!" He sighs, as if overcome with the thought of universes great expanses laid bare for exploration.
Ophelia smiles at Fernán, seeing the same excitement that she feels. She replies "I don't know. From what little I know of before, we were always kind of a backwater. And we tend to be pretty private people overall."
Staring out at the display of open space, a wistful grin on her face, she adds "But one way or the other, I just hope I get to see a lot more of this."
Ziirkaa hunches over the computer screens and interacts with the legal database comparing to what he knows from reading interstellar law. "Captain, This looks authentic to me. The Lightbringer appears to be acting in line with the edicts of the Solomani Empire... or at least the section of it that is now called the Solomani Confederation. Apparently the Civil War has led to some sort of break up of the Empire... This is fascinating."
The doctor trails off lost in his reading. As he hears the scrambling behind him he adds, "This is what we came out here for; re-connection with the galaxy at large. I intend to make no move to stop it's transmission."
Scrolling through, he continues to mutter...
"It looks like when several colonies were separated, fell into patterns of governance at odds with the galactic community. Feudalism or despotism are the examples given, separating the colonies from the galactic whole. The so called 'Lost Colony' edict that the computer is quoting is designed to pressure local governments to accept Solomoni law, or get out of the confederation. It seems we have an option redress in the form of a plebiscite... ur... a popular vote for independence from the confederation. Unless or until Telthani does that, the ship considers us a colony of the Confederation."
As Ziirkaa reads, and the crew sends, the edict information to the High Council, along with the Commodore's assessment of what a single advanced ship's boat could do to the 'Telthani Navy', the High Council accepts the inevetable, and begins making broadcasts about what has been going on, and that everyone is to please await the broadcast from the Solomani ship.
Eventually the count down finishes, and the ship begins broadcasting again. A video starts, and on the video are three beings. Beings because only one is human. The central one, a regal looking woman with steel gray hair and long ceremonial robes looks at the camera and speaks.
Next to her, a Vargr male in a ceremonial flight suit stands, his chest littered with ribbons and medals. The Vargr's pelt is very dark.
Vargr start out with light colored pelts, white to blonde at birth, and darken as they age. The darker a Vargr's pelt is, the older it is.
On the other side is a creature nobody has ever seen before. It stands as tall as a man, but takes up twice the space due to it's four spider like legs that seem made out of hardened chitin. A humanoid torso has a pair of oddly segmented arms that seem to bend in ways that violate several laws of nature. Finally a large head with wicked looking scythe like mandibles completes the picture. It wears no clothes, not that it seems to need any. However, it has a sash over it's shoulder that holds what look like ceremonial medals or badges of office.
"Greetings." The human female begins in accented Terranglo. "I am Mirantha Mintaseana Terra, of the Solomani Confederation. I am the Soloman Representative to the Governing Board, representing Soloman Space. To my left is All Flight Commander Klie'San M'Van Al'Tras, the Vargr Representative to the Governing Board, representing Vargr Space. To my right is Tri Sri Leessee'shie, Conglomerate Director Plenitpotentiary, the Heeetheee Representative to the Governing Board, representing Heeetheee Space." Both introduced individuals incline their heads as they are introduced.
"If you are hearing this message, it means you are a member of a lost colony of the Solomani Empire, and you have encountered a vessel or drone with no crew to initiate reconnection protocols. This is not an uncommon situation, unfortunately. We have therefore prepared Lost Colony Protocols which are to programmed into all of our ships."
The Heeethee nods, and speaks. It's voice is a series of clicks and rasps that are high pitched. As it speaks, words appear on the video in subtitles. WE APOLOGIZE WITH FIVE DEGREES OF REGRET THIS INTRUSION UPON YOUR SOVEREIGN COMMUNICATION FREQUENCIES. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT DUE TO HUMAN FOURTH DEGREE RACIAL INSANITY, IT IS TO THE THIRD DEGREE PROBABILITY THAT ANY INDIVIDUAL LOST COLONY WILL HAVE FALLEN TO BARBARISM OR DESPOTISM. IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE TRANSMISSION OF CRITICAL INFORMATION IN THE HOPES THAT HUMAN THIRD OR SECOND DEGREE INSANITY INDIVIDUALS MAY TAKE CONTROL OF SUCH COLONIES, THAT INTRUSION AND CONTROL OF SOVEREIGN COMMUNICATIONS FREQUENCIES ARE REQUIRED.
The Vargr then speaks. "So, here's the short view." The Vargr says with minimal pomp or circumstance. "Gamma 2 Velorum blew itself to hell and back, sliced human space in half, and opened up new warp jumps. As the disruption wave passed through known space, at light speed, old jumps sometimes reactivated. Usually in different spots, due to the old girl having blown her top."
The human looks slightly pained, but continues. "Yes, essentially that is correct. A data packet will be transmitted at the end of this message with this information in detail. With the Empire cut in half, the civil wars of the time were quickly wrapped up on both sides of the rift. What was the Solomani Empire became whole again, but the economic loss from the combination of the war and losing half the empire caused a recession that lasted for hundreds of years. In 2538 the Heeethee encountered the Solomani Empire when it traveled through a warp point that led to the Sol system. The warp point was a type 3, obviously, but it was also over 3 light hours from Sol, far beyond the then theoretical limit of warp points. More data will be included in the data packet concerning this, but it is important that you know that there may be unidentified warp points in your system."
The heeetheee bows it's head. IT IS UNFORTUNATELY TRUE THAT HUMANS WERE INCORRECT ABOUT GRAVITATIONAL LENSING EFFECTS AND WARP POINT LIMITS. DATA IS ATTACHED, WE APOLOGIZE WITH SECOND DEGREE REGRET IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE MATHEMATICAL FORMULA.
"Basically, you may have a back door you don't know about, and there may be some nasty critters out there waiting to bite you if you don't know about it. So you need to know." The vargr adds, looking slightly antsy at standing around so much.
Another pained look. "Yes, again, information packets will be transmitted at the end of this message. The Heeetheee, Solomani, and Vargr formed the Confederation in 2612, pulling both the Solomani and the Vargr out of their long recessions. In 2630, contact began to be re-established with Vilani Empire. War resumed in 2633. In 2648, both sides began to lose ships to unknown predations. It was determined in 2652 that these predations were performed by a previously unknown species. To this day, little is known about this species, other than they are inimically hostile to all life forms other than their own, and they are suicidal in their protection of their secrets. None have ever been taken alive, and no ship has ever been taken intact. Or even wreckage recovered. We have attached identification packets so that you can recognize these ships as dangerous on sight. It is vital that you avoid contact with them if possible. The Vilani Empire and the Solomani Confederation have ceased hostilities until such time as this menace is dealt with. All Solomani military vessels are now considered in a constant state of war. Therefore, war protocols, which we've attached as a data packet, should be followed at all times. Known warp jump maps have also been attached. Background data packets which will answer more of your questions are attached as well. This message will be broadcast every twelve hours for one standard week."
The video then ends.
Data packets, all in archaic formats, begin to broadcast on multiple frequencies.