Vortex incursion, p.2
Vortex Incursion, page 2
In the engineering bay, Kelley and Dominique found the same female tech standing by their environment suits.
“I dusted them off for you,” the young woman said proudly. “Unfortunately, they’ll probably accumulate more on the passage across the pad.”
“What’s your name?” Dominique requested. She’d decide to emulate Kelley’s technique with the local citizens.
“Darling,” the tech replied.
“Well, Darling, whether the suits become dusty on the reverse trip is of no consequence,” Dominique replied. “It’s your courtesy that’s important.”
Dominique watched the young woman beam, hurry to lift her suit, and hold it up for her.
Kelley waited for Darling to help him dress, which made the young woman happy.
Dominique and Kelley held up hands to Darling, who waved in return, as the airlock rotated.
After Kelley and Dominique returned to their traveler, the ship lifted for the senior captain’s Trident. Then the squadron exited the Daimler system and transited to the mouth of the Krackus anomaly.
Dominique ordered the Tridents to launch their travelers with multiple pilots aboard. Then with the help of the squadron’s SADEs, she arranged the travelers in a narrow file. They would intercept anything that came through the anomaly.
Outside of a major gravitational field, the travelers held station to prevent excessive draining of their power cells. Eventually, the Tridents would have to recoup half of their four ships, recharge them, and swap with the remaining two.
Dominique said, and she eyed her officers to make the point.
Dominique sent a recording of the conversation to the squadron’s other captains. She highlighted the section about a dead ship.
Six days later, the telemetry officer on second shift sent in the open,
Dominique jumped up from her cabin’s desk, threw on her jacket, closed it, and raced for the bridge.
the officer replied.
Kelley replied, and he grinned at her.
2: Tritium Trio
Dominique remarked privately to Kelley.
Kelley replied.
Kelley quietly regarded Dominique, who returned his stare. Finally, she relented.
Darren connected to the pilot and ensured that he knew which bay was being prepared. Then Darren linked to the controller and followed the progress as the Trident closed on the probe.
Be a good little probe and hold still while we peek inside you, Darren thought.
When the chief received the report that every crew member was safely in a suit, he sent,
Immediately the crew rigged safety lines to the various metal rings lining the bay.
As the controller showed the Trident slowing and swiveling to place the probe off the port side, Darren warned,
The chief and the crew watched the deep dark and the star field fill their vision. Then the probe’s shielded hull slid into view, reflecting the bay’s lights back to them.
Three beams reached out and grasped the probe. Then the controller manipulated the beams’ power to draw the alien artifact into the bay.
When the probe gently touched the bay’s deck, Darren signaled the bay doors closed. Then he sent,
When Kelley arrived, he expected to be alone with the probe.
Kelley regarded the stalwart chief. Then he nodded his acceptance of the chief’s preference.
The SADE and the human walked entirely around the probe, examining it carefully.
Kelley sent.
Kelley replied.
Darren didn’t bother with his own examination. Kelley, with his ocular magnification and his fingers’ sensors, would locate any mechanical access points.
After a couple of minutes, Kelley stood back, cocked his head to the side, as his patriarch had often done, and considered the challenge.
Dominique was about to ask if there wasn’t another way into the probe, when she saw Kelley approach the hatch and push firmly on it.
The hatch depressed about five centimeters. Then it popped outward, and Kelley swung the hatch aside.
The Tritiums stared at the two aliens who craned their necks to observe them. They chorused, “These aliens are more unsettling than we could have anticipated. They’ve little body covering except for paltry amounts of hair congregated on their crowns.”
The elder seated in the trio’s center held his audio transducer-translator. Mistakenly, it had been left active.
Replying in the Krackus tongue, Kelley said to the three tiny aliens, “I apologize if our appearance offends you. It’s the only ones we had available.”
The elders’ eyes widened. “Excuse our inconsiderateness,” they chorused. “We were taken aback by your images, but that’s no reason for us to be rude. What’s our fate to be, considering we’ve insulted you?”
“What would you like it to be?” Kelley inquired.
Kelley detected a subtle energy pulse. It reminded him of the energies recorded emanating from Pyrean empaths, and he suspected something similar might be capable by the three aliens.
“Are you the race who visited the Helgart system?” the Tritiums asked.
“We sent the second ship, the small one,” Darren replied via Kelley.
“A superb craft, highly maneuverable,” the Tritiums said.
“Thank you,” Kelley replied. “Do you communicate with each other by another means other than vocally?”
Again the elders’ eyes betrayed them. “How could you know this?” they chorused.
“My companion is Chief Darren Stansfeld,” Kelley said. “He’s biological, and he belongs to the human race. I’m a sentient digital entity, called a SADE.”
“One of your kind spoke with Kreus,” the Tritium set chorused. “Kreus was most impressed.”
“Our scouts gave us a favorable report of Kreus,” Kelley replied. “We apologize for interrupting your exploration, and we’ll return the probe to its original position. Do you require anything from us before we seal the hatch?”
The Tritium elders communicated privately and came to a decision. Then they announced, “If it’s possible, we would like asylum.”
“Why would you need asylum?” Kelley inquired.
“The narration of our predicament would be lengthy,” the Tritiums said. “However, we suspect that time is of the essence.”
“Explain,” Kelley requested.
“This probe’s iteration was meant to test the shielding’s ability to protect biologicals,” the Tritiums explained.
Dominique sent.
Kelley envisioned the horrendous cascade of events that could possibly follow from the need for a hasty decision. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done. Time was of the essence.
“Asylum is granted,” Kelley said to the Tritiums. “We must extract you and launch this probe.”
Immediately, the audio transducer-translator was handed to Kelley, who passed it to Darren. Then the Tritiums released their harnesses, and Kelley lifted each Tritium out.
“This way,” Darren said. Although his outpost language didn’t translate for the Tritiums, his urgent hand motions did, and the tiny aliens dropped to all fours and scurried ahead of the chief to the airlock.
In quick transition, Darren and the Tritiums were in the corridor, and the suited crew cycled into the bay.
Kelley swung the hatch into position. Then he pushed firmly on it, which depressed it and locked it into place, and swiftly exited the bay.
The crew reversed the capture procedure and pushed the probe into the dark.
The moment the pilot saw the probe clear the Trident, he swung the ship away from the potential danger.
The Trident squadron watched and waited for the probe to activate. The Tritiums were right to warn that time was short. Within a half hour, the probe’s engine fired, and the alien artifact made its way into the anomaly’s mouth and disappeared.
Kelley had escorted the Tritiums to the captain’s suite.
On entering the main salon, the aliens eyed the tall conference table and then scampered to the couch. They leapt on it and sat against the back support. Immediately, their heads swiveled, and they investigated the nanites’ resistance with dark-nailed, furred hands.
After a few minutes of investigation, the Tritiums turned around, settled into the couch, and squeaked in pleasure.
Darren returned the audio device to the Tritium who sat in the middle of the trio.
Dominique, Kelley, and Darren, who the captain requested join them, sat in chairs across from the Tritium set.
“This is Senior Captain Dominique D’Arcy,” Kelley said to the Tritiums. “She wishes you to know that we witnessed the probe return through the anomaly.”
“We presume anomaly is your name for the vortex,” the Tritiums replied. “The probe’s capture and our exit were timely. We thank you for your proficiency.”
Kelley shared the response, and he initiated a conference link with his companions, sending the translation to them of what he spoke and heard in Krackus.
“Please tell us who you are and why you requested asylum,” Kelley said.
“Our race is known as Tritiums. We’re always birthed as triplets, and as you’ve detected, Kelley, we’re capable of telepathy,” the Tritiums replied.
“Were you in the probe to test the shielding for biologicals?” Kelley asked, sharing Darren’s question.
“In a manner,” the Tritiums admitted. Then they told the story of the Imperium pardon, the argument with a younger Tritium trio, and the subterfuge that the elders perpetrated.
When SADE and humans heard the way that the Krackus were duped, they erupted in laughter
“What is the purpose of your sounds?” the Tritiums inquired.
“That’s called laughter,” Kelley explained. “We were amused by how the Krackus were tricked.”
“An appropriate response, if a little disturbing,” the Tritiums commented.
“Explain why the Imperium pardon was offered to you?” Kelley inquired. “Has it something to do with the conditions on Helgart?”
“Helgart is a prison for dissidents who receive an Imperium decree,” the Tritiums replied. “Many races exist in isolation on the planet. Underneath the few domes is an extensive network of tunnels, cubicles, engineering services, hydroponics, a power station, and much more.”
“Is Kreus there by decree?” Kelley asked.
“Yes,” the Tritiums replied. “Kreus once was governor of Imperium. He was the most powerful AI created.”
“Our scouts think Kreus is sentient,” Kelley stated, sharing Dominique’s comment.
“We’re not scientists who could accurately judge this kind of thing,” the Tritiums replied. “However, every dissident incarcerated on Helgart believes this to be true.”
Kelley started to translate Darren’s question, but the Tritiums held up tiny right hands in tandem.
“Pardon our interruption, Kelley,” the trio chorused, “but we’ve basic needs.”
“State them,” Kelley said, alert for biological necessities.
“Waste services, washing facilities, food, and sleep,” the Tritiums itemized.
