Hand of god, p.10
Hand of God, page 10
part #2 of Defiance Series
“Don’t talk to my crew,” Mitchell said.
Steve turned back to Mitchell. “I’m not here for what you people call a ‘pissing contest.’ The Eternal Hand of God has been bait for some time now and I’ve seen quite a few species board that vessel thinking all the same things you are. You know what happened to them? They’re all dead.”
“Why didn’t you warn them?”
“I did,” Steve said. “They didn’t listen either.”
“Whose trap is it?” Mitchell asked.
“Who do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
Steve rolled his eyes dramatically. “Take your best guess. It can be as wild as you want it to be and I can almost guarantee you’ll get it right. Because you cannot possibly be that dumb.”
Mitchell didn’t respond.
“Sure.” Steve sighed again. He held his hands up, palms out. “Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
And then he disappeared.
14
“What the hell was that all about?” Warrick asked, glancing down as Nax disconnected from the open channel back to the Defiance.
“Apparently they had a visitor,” Nax replied, squinting at the light from Warrick that was now in his face.
Warrick moved his flashlight so it wasn’t shining directly in Nax’s eyes, but didn’t budge from his spot. He stared down at his friend, his mouth agape. “I beg your frackin’ pardon?”
“According to the captain, an entity of unknown origin appeared on the ship, attacked Zemble, warned the captain that we should leave this vessel immediately and then promptly disappeared.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Warrick asked. “Disappeared? The hell?”
Nax shifted his weight uncomfortably as he clung to the ladder. It was covered in the same crumbly space dust as the rest of the ship. “You know as much as I know at this point, Jaxson. Can we please continue? This is far from a comfortable position to maintain while having this conversation.”
Warrick shook his head and started back up the ladder. “Disappeared? Who just disappears? There aren’t any secret passageways off the bridge.” He paused and then added, “Well, at least there’s nothing big enough for a person to slip through.”
“When the captain explained that this entity disappeared he made it very clear that he meant it in the most literal way possible,” Nax replied, following up after his friend.
“One does not simply disappear,” Askon said from beneath them.
“That’s what I’m trying to say,” Warrick said.
“The Gibrilia have the illusion of disappearing from sight,” Askon continued. “But that’s a trick due to the hallucinogenic pheromones they excrete. Was it a Gibrilian, Commander?”
“If it was a Gibrilian, I believe the captain would have said so,” Nax replied.
“Also there’s no way in hell that a Gibrilian could make it this far out,” Warrick said. “Don’t they only have a lifespan of six months?”
“That is true,” Askon agreed.
“They also smell like Emhea horse shit,” Warrick said. “That odor of theirs gets everywhere. If there was a damn Gibrilian on the Defiance we would have smelled it a while ago.”
“As fascinating as that sounds,” Nax said. “I would like to point out that the captain was very clear that it was an unknown entity.”
“Hang on,” Warrick said, stopping next to a door on his left. “I think we’re here.” He looped his arm around the railing of the ladder and pulled out his datapad for reference. He scanned the blueprint and then looked at the closed door. The symbol, two circles standing on top of each other with three parallel lines crossing through their center, matched the same one on the datapad. He dropped the pad back into his workbag and pulled out a photon wrench. “Yeah, this is definitely it.”
Warrick located something that looked like a control box and used the photon wrench to pop open the panel.
“Perhaps our initial sensor sweeps missed a possible lifeform on this vessel?” Askon suggested. “A ship of this size, with as much particle decay as it has apparently suffered over the last few centuries, it is certainly possible our sensors could have missed something. They are not as fine-tuned as other UPA ships.”
“Considering what I have to work with,” Warrick said, studying the wires inside the control box, “our sensors are practically award-winning.” He reached in and yanked out a handful of the wires.
“I, of course, meant no disrespect, Commander,” Askon said.
“Sure you didn’t,” Warrick said, stripping several of the wires. He touched a few of them together. Nothing happened. “That’s why you keep filing work requests with my department to overhaul the sensor array.”
Nax cleared his throat loudly.
Warrick rolled his eyes. “Fine. Let’s say we missed something.” He replaced the wrench with a pulse spanner and reached deeper into the control box. “How did it get from here to the Defiance?”
“Obviously if we missed its life signs, we could have missed a shuttle or some other small craft that deployed from the Eternal Hand of God,” Askon said.
“If the Defiance had been boarded by another vessel I would believe that the captain would have led with that,” Nax said. “Captain Mitchell implied some form of teleportation.”
Warrick stopped what he was doing and stared down at Nax.
Nax pulled his hand from the ladder to block the light from Warrick’s flashlight again. “I am simply relaying what the captain told me, Jaxson.” He spoke with the tired sigh of a man used to having an endless familiar argument.
“Am I missing something?” Askon asked.
“Commander Warrick is not fond of Gunning’s Theory of Spatial Manipulation,” Nax said.
“Because it’s not a damn theory of anything. It’s basically bloody magic. That’s what it is,” Warrick said, turning back to the control box. He found what felt like a fuse switch buried at the back of the control box. He tried to position his flashlight to get an actual look at it, but it was nearly impossible to maneuver the flashlight close enough to the box without letting go of the ladder and plunging into the darkness below.
So Warrick did the next best thing. He wrapped his fingers around the fuse switch and yanked it out.
There was a soft clunk and the door opened about two inches.
Warrick pulled his hand from the control box and grabbed the edge of the door closest to him and pulled it open the rest of the way.
A few minutes later all three men were out of the conduit tube and on the floor of a deck.
“It’s hardly magic,” Nax said, waving his flashlight around the dark corridor. It didn’t appear to be any different from the deck they had just climbed up from. Although, the darkness didn’t help.
“Sure it is. That’s what you call something that sure as hell isn’t science,” Warrick said, brushing the dust from his uniform. He held up the fuse switch for a closer look under his flashlight. It was square shaped with three copper-colored prongs extending from the top and bottom. He touched one of the prongs with his pinky. Despite its smooth appearance, there was a coarseness to it. “Hell, I can sit around in my office and come up with all sorts of half-assed theories for things that can’t possibly be done. Here, I’ll come up with one right now. Base atomic particle manipulation: reorganizing the basic atomic structure of an item so that it becomes a completely different item. Can I prove that it’s possible? Of course not. You try to reorganize the atomic structure of any one particular item and you’ll either blow up the damn thing or turn it into sludge.”
“Either way,” Askon said, looking up from his scanner, “you’ve effectively changed its base atomic structure, essentially proving your theory true.”
Warrick glared at Askon.
“Obviously you haven’t transformed it into anything useful,” Askon added. “But on a basic technical level, you’ve proven your theory is possible.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that teleportation isn’t a real thing,” Warrick said, dropping the fuse switch into his workbag. “You can theorize about it all you want, it’s not going to make it any more real than a six-breasted Faulir.”
Askon raised a slender finger. “Except that on Nion Twenty-Seven scientists managed to transport one atom from one side of the planet to the other through spatial manipulation.”
Warrick pulled out his datapad back out to consult the map. “Well now, that changes everything, doesn’t it? One damn atom gets moved around and suddenly we’re just ’porting people all over the galaxy.”
“Hardly, Commander,” Askon said.
“Exactly.” As he powered up the datapad, Warrick noticed that Nax hadn’t been a part of the conversation for the last few minutes. “Nax? You still with us?”
Nax’s eyes blinked rapidly as he turned away from the darkness he had been staring into and readjusted themselves to the dim lighting of their flashlights. “I’m sorry?”
Warrick frowned and walked over to his friend. “You okay?”
“I am perfectly fine,” Nax replied, taking a deep breath.
Warrick glanced at Askon, but he was distracted by the readings on his scanner. “You don’t look fine,” he said to Nax in a voice low enough for just the two of them.
Nax waved him off. “I am simply a little winded from our climb up here.”
“Sure,” Warrick said, not sounding very convinced. “Don’t think I didn’t notice whatever that was back at the airlock.”
“I’m not certain I know what you’re talking about,” Nax said carefully.
Warrick gave him a look, but didn’t say anything. Instead he turned his attention back to his datapad. “I heard what happened on the bridge.”
“How close are we to engineering?” Nax asked, attempting to change the conversation.
“Not close enough,” Warrick replied. He double checked their route and then pointed to their left. “That way.” He slipped the datapad back into his workbag. “When were you going to tell me you haven’t been sleeping?”
Nax waved his light in the direction Warrick pointed. “As soon as it became apparent that it was necessary to do so.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Warrick asked. He tried to meet Nax’s eyes, but the helmsman avoided his gaze. “Hey, look, I can’t help you if you don’t keep me in the loop.”
“I assure you, you are definitely in the loop.”
Warrick didn’t look convinced. He glanced Askon’s way to make sure he still wasn’t paying any attention to their conversation. The Knok was focused intently on something on the wall.
Warrick turned back to Nax. “You were out of it for a couple of days there.”
“Yes, I am aware of that,” Nax replied.
“Practically catatonic.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I would,” Warrick said. “Who are you trying to fool? Because it sure as hell ain’t me.”
Nax just raised a hairless eyebrow in response.
“Oh, sure, you’ve got your composure down to a science,” Warrick said. “Practically a damn art form at this point. But you’re about two seconds away from cracking.”
Nax frowned. “I’m not going to crack.”
“I’ve heard about the wailing,” Warrick said.
Nax didn’t have a response to that.
“You didn’t think I wasn’t going to hear about it?”
“I did not say that.”
“No, but you were sure as hell thinking it.”
“I am simply attempting to process my grief,” Nax said.
Warrick stared at him for a moment, trying to search his face for something. He shook his head. “I wish that was the truth.”
Nax’s brow furrowed slightly.
Warrick sighed. “You going to take a nap when we get back to the ship?”
“I’m not certain what that has to do with our current situation.”
“Are you going to take a nap when we get back to the ship?” Warrick repeated.
Nax exhaled slowly. “As long as the captain no longer has any need of my services for the time being, I will certainly make every effort to do just that,” he said. “However, I wouldn’t characterize myself as feeling optimistic in the outcome.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m sorry if you were expecting something a little more dramatic.” Nax waved his light at Askon. “Lieutenant? Have you found something of note?”
Warrick hesitated for a moment before following Nax over to Askon. He glanced back in the direction Nax had been staring in. The beam of his flashlight didn’t illuminate anything interesting. He didn’t bother to pull out his scanner and check for any life signs nearby. He had been in space long enough to know when they were alone.
Askon was examining a thin red line across the wall under the glow of his light. “Some sort of synium mold property.”
Warrick walked over and leaned in for a closer look. “Space mold?”
Askon gently pushed the chief engineer back. “I wouldn’t get that close to it. It’s composed of microscopic spores that could possibly cause internal hemorrhaging if inhaled.”
Warrick took a step back, holding a hand across his mouth. “Right. Good save.”
“I’ve never seen anything quite like it before,” Askon continued. “For all intents and purposes, it’s nearly identical to mold native to Earth.”
“I don’t recall Earth having any mold that could cause instant internal hemorrhaging,” Warrick said.
“Nearly identical,” Askon said. “It has three additional genetic markers not found in any variety on Earth.”
“And elsewhere?” Nax asked.
Askon’s antennae twitched back and forth. “Not that my scanner is familiar with. I’d like to take a sample back to the Defiance for further testing.”
Nax nodded his assent.
Askon pulled out a small tube and gently scraped a sample of the red space mold into it before sealing it shut.
Warrick pointed off into the darkness. “Engineering’s that way.” He paused and then pointed his light up towards the ceiling. “Actually, I think it’s that way. But the access tube we need to get up there is that way.” He pointed down the hallway.
“More climbing?” Askon’s antennae drooped slightly.
“Hopefully I can get some basic power back up and it’ll be a shorter trip back to the shuttle,” Warrick said. He looked at Nax. “Although, I’m not optimistic.”
Nax didn’t bother to reply to that.
Warrick pointed back to the tube they just came out of. “According to the map, that tube back there was sealed off due to a hull breach two decks up.”
Askon’s antennae twitched nervously. “Are we going to be able to gain access to engineering?”
Warrick nodded. “I think so.” He pointed with his chin in the direction they were supposed to go. “This route should take us around the breach. All the containment systems still seem to be operating just fine, seeing as we’re not standing in the middle of a vacuum right now. Hopefully with main power or even emergency power, I can get some lifts running around here. That should cut down on any climbing after that."
“Then lead us on, Jaxson,” Nax said, gesturing towards the dark corridor before them. When he was certain Warrick was no longer paying any attention, he glanced back into the darkness behind them.
The haunting spectral image of Grace Hawkins no longer lingered there.
15
The first skeleton they came across put to rest any question as to what species the former occupants of the Eternal Hand of God were.
“Human.” Dheer crouched over the remains in the wide tunnel. Her medical scanner verified it, but she didn’t need it to. She was all too familiar with what the human skeleton looked like. Even one that was missing its skull and was, according to her scanner, over three hundred years old.
Grell picked up a bone and it immediately crumbled in his hand.
Dheer shot him a look. “I shouldn’t have to tell you not to do that.”
“Sorry,” Grell said with a sheepish look.
The tunnel Warrick had directed them to was huge. Easily seventy feet in diameter. There were four tracks spaced evenly apart along the curved walls of the tunnel. An ambient light source hidden along the top of the tunnel cast the space in a dim, pale glow. Not bright enough to illuminate the entire tunnel, but enough for the team to put their flashlights away.
“Three hundred years,” Keane said, shaking his head. “Shit. We were just barely out of our solar system. When did Earth get into the UPA? Twenty-three hundred?”
“We petitioned for membership in Twenty-Two-Oh-Six,” Grell answered. “And we were granted probationary status in Twenty-Two-Ten and became full members in Twenty-Two-Twenty.”
Keane looked at him, surprised.
“What?” Grell asked. “I like history.”
“What do you think he died of?” Keane asked.
Dheer looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Obviously it wasn’t old age,” Keane added.
“Your deductive skills remain unparalleled,” Dheer said, standing up. She gestured at the skeleton. “I couldn’t even begin to guess what killed him.” She carefully stepped around to the top of the skeleton in order to see if she could find the missing skull. But there was no sign of it. “There doesn’t seem to be any signs of blunt force trauma.” She shrugged. “Maybe it was old age.”
Keane did not look impressed.
“I’m not a forensic specialist,” Dheer said. “You got a broken bone, I can fix it. You want me to study some bones and figure out what killed their owner? Go find somebody else.”
“Yeah, you’ve definitely been hanging around Rabkin too much,” Keane said.
Dheer rubbed her forehead tiredly. “No argument there.”
Keane looked around the massive tunnel. “There’s no way this ship is one of ours.”
Dheer started moving back down the tunnel. “And yet, this was clearly a human body.”
