The Quantum Leap - Part 27

The ship-to-ship comm-link channels with New Horizon were dead-silent—there was nothing coming in, or going out—to anyone. This made the landing somewhat easier this time than lifting off—though there was an awkwardness about that part of the flying process with so many otherwise routine steps skipped, Wilson mused. This made him more antsy about flying so close to a flying giant whose shadow and hull hilariously blanketed Odyssey. The forward-facing bridge crew members noted in variable silence that every one of New Horizon’s running lights were dark, and its hull’s angle constantly subtly slightly shifted as though the officer at the helm had fallen asleep at the proverbial wheel and no one else on the bridge was stepping in to take control of the spacecraft to avoid a collision with the flying giant’s surroundings. Worse—there was barely enough sunlight coming through to tell that nearly all of the external docking port doors were variably open. . .

Wilson was having a tough time adjusting Odyssey’s approach angle because of this. New Horizon’s behavior didn’t make sense, Aaen silently decided, watching the docking port ahead shift as Wilson angled the hull to match its destination—the docking bay floor drew closer to the middle of the viewscreen—and then he listened to the slightly muffled THUDs from Odyssey’s landing gear magnetically attaching to the docking port’s floor.

“Okay, people—docking clamps are secure. We’re down and locked-in,” Wilson declared.

Hayes kept her right hand over her right ear and turning her head, “There’s still nothing from New Horizon—though there’s tons of comm chatter from the rest of the Armada. They’re all trying to contact them, Captain,” What-the-heck? There are over 100,000 military personnel and civilians on board that thing!

Jones turning her head, “Still no measurable power readings from New Horizon—anywhere,” Jones reported doubtfully. “Based on their current orbit, speed and trajectory, New Horizon’s going to hit the planet’s atmosphere in three hours,” she gasped.

That would be like Mount Kilimanjaro hitting the planet’s atmosphere, to say nothing about their orbital speed. The two-trillion-dollar interstellar spacecraft carrier had enough mass to easily take out a small continent if it were to crash land. . . Aaen, Smith, and Connors’ guts sank to their ankles. Aaen and Smith silently shared the curiosity that was subconsciously reverberating through the bridge—too many things weren’t adding up for either of their command comforts. . . Every crew member could hear the attempts to get more answers about why this giant wasn’t moving on its own and under its own power. Each crew member looked around and turned their heads in disappointment. The next thought and then questions to cross their minds was about what their Captain was going to do next—

Aaen wanted answers. No. He needed them,  he candidly decided in the back of his mind, and neither he nor the rest of the crew were going to get them in here. He turned around, “Jones, are you reading atmosphere out there?”

She nodded, “Yeah, just enough to sustain human life. Artificial gravity’s stable for now, though I wouldn’t recommend going for a long stroll.” She turned in her chair, “Sir?”

Aaen looked around his bridge, “Lieutenant Connors, Lieutenant-Commander Sandburg, Lieutenant-Commander Jorgensen: prepare to go aboard New Horizon. We’re going to get some answers,” Aaen commanded. “Jones, monitor our position while we’re out. See if you can find anything else out of the ordinary over there. Commander: you are to maintain an open comm link with the away team. Be prepare to phase us back if there’s a problem”

Both officers acknowledged their orders.

“Captain?” Smith curiously looked at Aaen. “What do you think we’re going to find?” Aaen read the look on his face and replied with a serious look. Smith took this as an indicator and nodded as he closed the hatch behind the away team.

Aaen retrieved his mobile and then began transmitting to Odyssey’s bridge, “Smith, open the ramp.” He holstered the mobile, “Away team: be ready for anything,” his voice echoed slightly through the cargo deck. He wasn’t sure what was out there—this eerie uncertainty made him a little more than slightly anxious about whether or not there might be something or someone out there who might have less-than-friendly intentions. Get a hold of yourself, and stay focused, Aaen kicked himself mentally as his eyes traced right and left while he listened to air hissing from the corners of the hatchway, listening to the subtle, sharp metallic clicks of the ramp’s multiple clamp-like locks disengaging, followed by the mechanical groan of the ramp’s motors inching the ramp to the docking bay floor. The away team quickly marched out, panning their lights—and especially in Sandberg’s case—raising and panning their pistol particle weapon.

The bay was dark except for Odyssey’s running lights, which provided enough light to see for about twenty feet in any direction, and the away team’s flashlights, which were comparably bright—but more focused—which meant the light would reveal more of the bay. The away team were immediately in awe at the size of the docking bay. They each thought the place was, in variable wording—HUGE! And extremely spacious. Their flashlights couldn’t reach the ceiling. They felt like they were in a virtually empty, open-ended cave in almost every direction. For the most part, this bay was made of some kind of highly-refined metal. . .steel, maybe? He wondered. The bay was full of cargo crates and unpowered fighter craft that looked as though they were at some point in the process of being prepared for launch. His curiosity nearly overwhelmingly piqued, Aaen shined his light on one of the closer fighters and noted the cockpit was open but dark like the rest of the bay outside of the visible area. Aaen half-wondered if they should check to see if there was anyone inside the cockpit. . .? But held back. A decade of spooky movies crept into the back of his mind, and as much as he recognized cinema was cinema—the thought of walking into an eerie dark space made the bay seem more forbidding. Besides, this place was getting a tad chilly for some reason. . .and the darkness was very thick. He put his hand on his pistol weapon, then took a deep breath and turned to Connors.

“Alright. Where’s the door?”

She tapped a few of her scanning device’s controls, turning a few times as though navigating with a compass (not really), then turned left and pointed with her left hand, “There’s a large armored door straight that way. Watch your step for a bunch of crates and other light and heavy equipment that’s lying around.” This struck her as being highly militarily unorthodox. At this moment, she and Aaen shared the same thought in silence.

Aaen heard stuttered breathing behind him a few paces.

“You alright, Mr. Jorgensen?” Aaen asked directly, adjusting his tone to indicate he had noticed the sound and was asking himself if he needed to send a crew member back to the ship. He doubted this very much.

“Y-Yessir,” he nearly croaked.

“Don’t worry,” Connors assured him as the away team navigated a pile of mechanical equipment, “We’re almost there, just have another two hundred yards and then there’s a door.”

Jorgensen gasped, “Great,”

“Don’t like the dark?” Aaen asked with a moderate smile. If not, you picked a heck of a career! All-things-considered. . .you are in space, after all.

Connors paused for a step, eying a green dot on her handheld scanner, which abruptly turned red, then white, then blinked out. Only another 50 meters to go—

Aaen noticed her pause and put his light on her, “Lieutenant?”

She looked up, turned her head as though embarrassed and confused, and then kept walking at-pace with the rest of the away team, “Sorry, sir. Coming”

“Anything we need to know about?” Aaen asked.

“What?” Sandburg asked intently from the lead.

“Nothing! Nothing.” Connors replied. I sure-as-heck hope it was ‘nothing’. She told herself, glancing at the handheld’s screen more frequently, but was careful to be subtle about the fact she was anticipating another ‘blip’. The fact the scanner couldn’t discern what the ‘blip’ was was a little nerve-wracking for her; worse, it couldn’t tell if whatever it detected was Union or not. The fact the ‘blip’ changed color coding so many times made her a little more than nervous.

The scanner read the twin doors to the docking bay as being six inches thick, and a combined fifty feet wide from the center. They were made of a highly advanced form of steel, and the doors’ armor added another three inches and was even denser than the doors. They were motion-activated, but the sensors lining the doorway were offline.

An eerie, seemingly mechanical, scream-like echo flooded through the bay. The away team snapped into a fan formation, feeling a brisk chill run up their spines, and raised their flashlights and their pistol particle weapons outward.

“WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?” Jorgensen shouted in a near-panic, Aaen detected.

“New Horizon’s on a decent course, Mr. Jorgensen. That sound might have been nothing,” he had a few doubts about that much. “Connors, are you detecting any movement other than us in here?”

Connors did another scan and turned her head as she read the results, “Negative! According to these scans, aside from the rest of our crew, there’s no one else in here,” she felt doubt in her gut about the de-facto integrity of that response.

“Let’s get these doors open. Find out what the heck happened here,” Aaen commanded. Jorgensen was quick to begin working to open the doors. A manual override was going to take a minute—to him, that felt like it might as well be an eternity.

The away team noted another eerie echo swept through the bay—this one was a little louder. The away team suddenly felt a little more uncomfortable at their position in the bay. With that uneasy feeling seemingly chilling the air, Aaen held up his handheld and transmitted, “Odyssey, we’re at the docking bay’s entrance—and we’re hearing some strange sounds coming from all around us. Commander Smith. . .can you confirm we’re the only people in here?”

“Weird. Uh, yeah, that’s affirmative, Cap. All-the-same, we’ll re-double our scans. I’ll have Dimitri try to interface with New Horizon’s computer mainframe to see if we can find some more answers for you,”

“Roger. Keep us informed.”

“The override isn’t working!” Jorgensen reported. “There’s a break in the panel interface and New Horizon’s main computer. We might have to—”

A flurry of violent sparks shot from between the two doors for five seconds—then metallic clangs filled the air, then the doors gradually parted by two feet.

“I thought you said the manual override didn’t work?” Aaen asked Jorgensen.

Jorgensen looked at Aaen wide-eyed and paused. “It didn’t.”

*****

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