“Hmm. I talked to him right before we came up here. He didn’t say much. You guys hear what he did down in Palus? Took down some low grav arena fighter. Anak,” Veldt said looking around his circle. “I was in the bar when the guy almost killed some dumb specialist. Guy has ice water in his veins.”
“Should be good to have him along, then.”
“But now it’s got me thinking. Look at him sitting there alone. You guys have heard rumors about the Archmen, right?”
The conversation grew more somber and quiet.
“Midord’s Eyes?”
“Yep. I heard he set up a small company of specially trained men that float around the fleet as spies. Apparently the Grand Marshal gives them signed letters, giving them power to usurp anyone’s command, if and when they see fit. This way, Midord gets real feedback he can trust on how people act in the field.”
“More than just that,” another Lieutenant said. “A chief I had in officer school told us that he ran into one once. That this guy turned was on a security detachment he commanded. He said this Archmen took over his team down on the South Station. The guy led the boarding and capture of some freighter that was passing though. Once the ship was taken down, he sent them away and took it back to Tellus alone. Never saw the guy again.”
“Makes sense we would have at least one on board this ship,” the Ensign said.
“You really think its Drogen?” the Major asked.
“I don’t know. How many people have a Gold Crown aboard? Him, the XO, a couple of high-speed specialists in security?” Veldt asked. The Chief nodded.
“All I know is that this guy would be first on my list as someone with a different mission than the rest of us. I suggest we keep an eye on him. I never trust a loaner.”
***
It was green shift on the eighth cycle and Lt. Jane Novalis was in the forward sensor room, conducting training with her secondary team. Tech. Specialist Gorra was working a larger diagnostic scroll while Jane talked through the current procedure for the other two specialists. Loud thuds accompanying popping sounds, in the normally quiet ship, rose to the ears of everyone in the room. Jane stopped speaking and turned toward the door. The muffled thuds became louder. Everyone’s eyes on the repair team grew wide in confusion.
The door to the sensor room slid open and a small grey object came spinning in, ricocheting off the door jam and into the room. By the time the four-member repair team understood what was just introduced to the room, a gentle pop and shroud of grey smoke came from the grenade, which kept its shape. Before anyone could utter a word of puzzlement, two figures, outfitted in combat armor and holding heavy rifles at the ready, swept through the door. Each grabbed the lip of the door with one hand, transferring all their forward movement sideways, to opposite sides of the doorway.
“Oh, blast! There are people in here!” the figure to the right of the door shouted into the hall.
“What do you think you are doing? Who are you, Specialist?” Lt. Novalis said.
“Sorry Ma’am. We are conducting drills up and down this hall. I’m Tach. Specialist Will Baering, Second Squad, Ship Security.”
“Tach? You mean Tech.” Tech. Specialist Gorra said.
“Nope. Security grunts get a Tactical designation, rather than Technical.”
“Well, I don’t care,” Jane said. “You people can’t just barge in here, tossing grenades around. You had better have been cleared for this! Who is in charge of the lot of you?”
“My L.T. is on the way.” Baering said after listening to his communication earpiece while the sensor Lieutenant scolded him.
Over the radio and loud enough to hear, the command was given to take a break. Aros swung into the room and gave Baering a slap on the arm as he and his teammate exited the room, clearing themselves of the wrath. Aros took his time to examine the room before speaking.
“Sorry about that, Lieutenant,” Aros began, popping off his helmet. “We thought we had this passage and all the rooms to ourselves. I should have been more thorough in my checks.”
Jane let out a small sigh and addressed her people, “You guys take a break too.” She moved backwards and strapped herself into a chair, putting her feet up. Her team filed out and Aros remained where he was. As he watched them leave, Jane noticed his eyes. From ten feet across the room, she could see them clearly, the purple contrast against the white sclera.
“It's Novalis,” Jane said, intentionally putting a spin of annoyance on her voice. “You security hot-shots think you can just do whatever pleases you on this ship. I could make a complaint over what just happened. Straight up to the XO.”
“What can I do to let this one slide? Can we chalk it up to my being new and call it even?” Aros saw the softening in her face and knew she wasn’t really mad. “Or let me buy you off by having dinner with me. I brought some Yazis fruits up and I would be willing to share.”
“First off, I have never heard of a ‘Yasis’. And second, I was just giving you a hard time. I could care less, we needed a break. Anyway,” Jane said getting up, “I’m going to get something to drink. Just make sure if we run into any Scalies, you guys take care of them before they get to us.”
She went to leave and slightly bumped into Aros as she went for the open door. Her head became vaguely light at the faint touch and was gone again as soon as he spoke.
“You avoided my question about dinner.”
“You noticed,” she said and turned back to face him once in the hall. “I try not to get involved with guys I work with. Nice try though.”
Jane left and Aros standing where he was. Everyone in the hall taking a break heard most of the exchange. One of the security specialists floated over to the open doorway.
“You can’t win ‘em all, Sir,” Specialist Toma said. “And her, I hear she is a tough nut to crack.”
“Yeah,” Aros agreed, “The good ones usually are.”
***
The Prime Meridian approached the rift on schedule. The ship turned down its engines to sixty percent speed in order to jettison a small, cylindrical beacon prior to crossing into the Unknown Field. Several other monitoring beacons, much larger in size, were already in the area, monitoring and sending back data on the abnormal region of space. They collected data on background radiation levels emitted from the tear, as well as proton emissions from the red star in the adjoining field. The humans took advantage of this opportunity, being as it was their first chance to closely study a star that was not their own.
The rift itself was generally unremarkable. It was invisible to casual observers, if they had a chance to look at it through ship windows, which were nearly non-existent in most modern starships. Only through enhanced spectrum viewing could one observe an oval outline where the flat surface of the universe had been torn, leading to a different region of space. When approached from the ‘backside’ one would simply pass through as if crossing normal space.
It was through this stitch hole in the fabric of existence that the Prime Meridian sped, at nearly full speed. Flaring their engines to ninety five percent output, and the crew on readiness alert, the starship flew into the virtual unknown.
Part IV
The Prime Meridian shot through the Rift on the fourteenth cycle of her current mission, with the black shift beginning its rotation. A second beacon was dropped as the ship decelerated after clearing the rift. The ship was called to a full halt as sensors, this time with more operators in attendance, performed a through assessment of the field.
“Have you picked up any electronic transmissions so far?”
“Sir, we have just begun our sweeps, but so far, we have picked up no electronic signals,” Sensors reported. “If there is going to be some transmissions coming from any of the bodies, we may not be close enough to pick them up. I will immediately report anything, should it arise.”
“How are we looking in our immediate surroundings?” the XO asked.
“Sir,” a sensor specialist spoke up, “We came
through roughly one hundred twenty eight thousand kilopassus from the star. We are picking up one of our delta-agros class probes that was launched six months ago to survey the field. It is moving slowly toward the north rim of the rift, approximately three hundred six passus-and closing- from our position. Nothing else in our immediate vicinity.”
Captain Bartlett was consulting his scroll as he asked his next question. “Lieutenant Drogen, can you get me a firing solution on that probe.”
“Firing solution confirmed, Sir,” Aros replied.
“That was quick, what size missile would be best to completely destroy that probe?”
“We are not recovering it, Sir?” the XO asked from his position standing behind the command chair.
“No, it has transmitted all its findings. The only use we have for it is a target for test fire. Drogen?”
“I suggest a type 2 contact shredder. It’s a bit of overkill, but it will remove all recoverability from the debris,” Aros said.
“Very good. Fire on your initiative.”
As soon as the command was given, the whole bridge could hear the faint sound of a missile leaving the ship. Aros reported that the missile was away. The whole bridge sat in relative silence as the main screen tracked the missile streaking to its target. The screen confirmed the hit and total destruction of the prob. Captain Bartlett congratulated the weapons officer.
“Very nice, son. That kind of skill will get you far on this ship,” he said. “Now, Pilot, lets set a course for the second planet. We will survey it first, and then the third.”
“Course set,” The pilot confirmed.
“Well, lets get moving! Eighty five percent engine power.”
The ships engines flared and once again, the prize of the human fleet, built from nothing in the short twenty-three years since first contact with outside life, moved deeper into unknown territory.
***
The Prime Meridian moved forward, now in new space, in much the same way it did before it crossed the rift. Day to day activities on the ship continued as it drew closer to the second planet of the Unknown Field. Morale was high, as was expectation of future trials. Everyone felt this, yet nothing was officially said. Leaders picked up the tempo and veracity of their training, which was already high on a ship full of elite service members.
The three security squads were no exception. After a particularly rough day of training, the security Chief ordered a competition. Inflatable ‘enemy’ targets were set up throughout a mid-section area of the ship, and each squad had to clear the area with the best time and least casualties.
The three security lieutenants lead their men on the exercise, with the Chief acting as an observer. If he saw any of the security soldiers make mistakes or poor decisions, he would use a judge laser to eliminate them from the exercise, thus creating casualties. The already tired men forgot all their fatigue at the prospect of a competition and an unknown reward that would await the winners.
Each eleven-man squad took their turn through the course, blind to how and where the enemies would be placed. The first squad, led by Lt. Lane, made their run at a respectable time of twelve minuets, five seconds and had only a single casualty on one of his three man teams. Aros’s squad did better with a time of eleven minuets fifty two seconds, with also a single casualty.
Lt. Veldt ran his squad through and was surprised by finding no enemies in almost the whole course. Veldt split his squad into two halves. He left half stacked in an already cleared room within close in proximity to the last remaining uncleared room of the course.
“We don’t have much time guys, so here is the plan,” Lt. Veldt said to the five men with him, as the rest of the team listened in on the radio. “We will hit that room now, expect it to be full. Once we strike, Gans, you take your team and watch our rear. If we need help in there, back us up. On three we move.”
The team, stacked together and moving as one, made quick for the door. The hand-swipe sensor did not work as they attempted entry. Veldt used hand signals to indicate a breach. The third member back in the stack brought out a small device that affixed to the crack in the door.
The second breach attempt yielded results. A barrage of red enemy targets, the size of small barrels, came bursting out from the corner of the room as soon as the team was inside the door. Each man in the team moved along his specified direction once in the room. All naturally used their long, square-barreled rifles as close quarter weapons, smashing the inflatable targets until the exercise was ended. The Chief entered the final room and announced their time.
“You were just barely the fastest, at eleven fifty. Unfortunately, you have three casualties.”
“Who?” Veldt demanded, out of breath inside the room formerly swarming with enemies. “Everyone followed their proper routes and kept their sectors. Who died?”
“Three neck-benders, outside the room. Your other team moved right after you and pulled rear security, but three chuckle knuckles decided to look in and see what the mystery room held.” The Chief moved out and addressed the offenders. “What were you looking for in here? Someone tell you about a nice little party inside with pretty women? No! You knew you needed to pull rear security! Your brothers in here were taking care of this mess and would have called for you if they needed you. Now three of you are dead cuz a bunch of razor-tooth Grinners decided to sneak up on you from behind!”
All the men shook their head in acknowledgement and moved out at the L.T.’s command. The day was done and they were ready for rest. They moved like men defeated- defeated by themselves.
“Why does the Chief call them ‘Grinners’?” A young specialist asked another while moving back to the Armory.
“Ehh, who knows? They are mostly called Scalies, but I’ve heard people call them Grinners or Flat-Faces. The Chief is just old and crusty. He was in back before the Space Service was a thing.”
“You hear what second got for winning?” A third specialist asked, overtaking the two. “They get first dibbs on a ground mission, if anything like that happens. Man, they are lucky! I wanna be the first to set foot on a new planet!”
The chatter continued, the way young boys who try to be good fighting men, do.
***
Silence. Silence and darkness.
Aros sat, reclined in a comfortable body chair, loosely strapped in. He looked up at the stars, and they surrounded him. Even at the ships forward velocity, it still looked as though they were stationary. Aros was in one of the two places aboard that had windows and a real view of the outside. Usually covered by thick metal shielding, bridge officers and certain other select members of the crew had access to this room and the authorization to remove the shutters.
It was a sanctuary. The observation decks, on the dorsal and ventral sides, were located at the ‘T’ of the ship. Left alone with his thoughts, Aros’s eyes wandered across the sky and he was lost in himself when the door suddenly opened, letting in a ray of white light.
Jane Novalis floated up from the entrance that was on the ‘floor’ of the observation room. She went all the way in the room, with the door sliding shut and her eyes adjusting to the light, before she noticed she was not alone.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize there was anyone else up here,” Jane said turning to leave.
“No, its fine. Stay. There is plenty of room. Jane, right?”
“It is. And it’s Aros?”
“True enough,” he replied.
Jane hesitated, but finally moved to one of the three vacant body chairs. The chairs were arranged as the four points of a square, and Jane took a seat diagonal from Aros. She settled in, the room was quiet.
“A whole new set of constellations…” Jane mused out loud.
“I guess if humans settle this place, they will have to come up with names for them,” Aros said. “That one in the corner looks like a horse, wouldn’t you say?”
“It does,” she agreed. There was another pause before she spoke. “Its funny you would no
tice that one. As a child, I grew up on a horse farm. I miss them terribly.”
“Did you have one of your own?”
“Yes, a mare. Her name was Gentry. She was a huge Gaul, black with a chestnut mane. When I got her, we were both ten years old. I learned to ride on her and we were inseparable. I even built a miniature barn, just for her and put a bunk in it so I could sleep out with her in the summers.”
The two were talking without looking at each other. Looking out into the void, it was like communicating directly with the person, without the complication of a face getting in the way. Jane’s inhibitions dropped away as she relaxed in the darkness.
“As I got older I used to use her to help train the colts for my father. Gentry was also getting older at this point, but she really took to it. The younger horses would look to her and mimic her movements. She was so graceful! She was the best horse I ever had.”
“What happened to her?” Aros said.
“She got old and had arthritis. It came on quick, a lot younger than expected. When I left for the service when I was twenty, she was all but unrideable. I wouldn’t let my father put her down, so she just spent her last days in that small barn. When it got to the point that she could no longer get up, they finally put her down. My father called and told me when I was in Camlon. He asked if I wanted to come home and say goodbye. I just couldn’t make the trip. So I just let her go. It breaks my heart.”
Aros was silent; there was not much to say.
“But the bright side is, every time I run into one of the horses that the two of us trained, I see her movements. It's like she passed them on and her personality of movement lives on. Looking out into the stars, I see how big this place we live in is, but it doesn’t seem any larger than my horse and the things she passed on. Is that strange?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you see in the stars?” Jane asked, suddenly feeling foolish for letting a stranger get a glimpse at her heart.
“I just feel small compared to all I see. I feel like I am in a space suit, drifting all alone in this emptiness, with the points of light so far apart. I do feel small. It does make me feel like all my experiences are minor compared to all this.”