Crucible of a Species (6 page)

After a few more moments she announced, “You have thirty seconds from …. Now.”

Faint ghostly lines appeared, glowing into existence like an ethereal stream ahead of the Argos as if they were laying out the ship’s intended path.

“Ms. Waverly, what are those streaks? They weren’t in the simulations.” The captain asked his navigations officer as the stream grew in strength and color intensity.

“I’m not sure, sir. Just a wild guess Captain but I’d say they are secondary particle emissions from intense gravitic wave interactions with our forward drive field. Gravitons, sir, perhaps interacting with our drive.”

“Yes, thank you Ms. Waverly I know what Gravitons are. To my knowledge, no one has ever observed these particles, another first for our records.”

The Argos shifted course and Captain Lee’s heart leapt into his throat as the ship followed one of the glowing paths, diving inward toward the ship-crushing turbulence of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. The captain’s hands gripped the arms of his command seat, pulling him forward.

“Ensign Waverly, OVERRIDE …”

The ship banked sharply, leveling just above the cloud tops. Their wild flight continued to follow the ghostly stream of blue and gold particles spiraling towards the horizon. Their passage charged the planet’s atmosphere until streaks of lightning pinwheeled across the cloud tops.

“Navigation, what’s our course? We didn’t encounter any of this in the simulations?”

“Central says we continue to track the designated graviton current Captain. We are on course, all systems running cool and normal.”

“On course? We never planned a close approach to the cloud surface. Helmsman, pull us out of here! Dump speed if you must!”

Ensign Sassaman’s smile was gone but his reply was calm and controlled, “Argos not responding to command, Captain. We are locked into a gravitonic eddy current.”

“Collision course!” Ensign Waverly announced. The captain could hear the tremble in her voice.

“Navigation, I need more than that. Please identify the nature of the threat.”

The clear voice of Dr. Thompson cut off her reply, “That red pillar ahead of us is a storm column, Captain. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, it’s called the Red Spot of Jupiter – it looks different because we are seeing it from its side rather than its top. It’s a massive, permanent tornado rising tens of thousands of miles above the surrounding stratosphere. Its diameter is about three times that of the Earth, a very deadly area should we become caught up in it. I strongly suggest the Argos steer around it!”

The angry red funnel now filled their forward vision.

“Captain, there are no gravitonic cross currents available for rapid course change. We’re being vectored directly into it.” The helmsman announced.

Dr. Thompson broke in again, “Captain, the funnel’s rotation is clockwise. I suggest you move the ship as far as possible to the left side of the structure. By doing so, we may get lucky and simply graze it.”

“Make it so, quickly Mr. Sassaman! Tack to port as much as she’ll give us! Sound collision.”

The captain’s hopes fell even as he spoke. A sky filled with swirling red and black bands enveloped them with streaks of light that flashed icy blue, glowing ribbons as the Argos pierced the wall of the maelstrom.

A jolt threw the captain from his chair and something slammed into the side of his head. The ship swung violently, a grinding crash filled the bridge. Systems in the command center went dark. Through blurred vision, Lee saw someone pulling himself up and into the helmsman’s station.

Then all was quiet. A swirling wall surrounded the Argos, flooding the bridge with a blood red glow. Dr. Nolen’s voice rose on the edge of panic as it carried through the room. “The drives are active, we shouldn’t feel any movement ….”

A second series of shudders rocked the Argos and the surrounding clouds turned black. Streaks of light ripped the skies, lighting the bridge with ghostly white-yellow flashes. Whistles and warning klaxons saturated the ship.

The violence stopped as abruptly as it started and the pale red illumination from the surrounding clouds filled the bridge!

“Ensign Li, have engineering shut down those damn klaxons!”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

A deathly calm settled over the bridge. The ship had lost headway and lay in a tranquil region with the fury of the Red Spot swirling around in distant walls of red and black. Streaks of blue and green played along the ramparts of their dark prison and in the distance ahead lay a black abyss permeated by flickering, livid points of light.

Two glowing threads of blue light lay off to port. They entwined and spun in a slow, almost hypnotic fashion -- a ghostly, haze-coated cable plunging into the black depths below.

“Ensign Waverly, plot a course away from this turbulence. Initiate slow movement inward toward that vapor trail.”

The helmsman spoke up, “Captain, we don’t have full power on the drives. They must have sustained damage. Lieutenant Anderson reports his people are working on the problem but he doesn’t have a time estimate for repairs yet.”

“Acknowledged, Mr. Sassaman. Please have Engineering give us best speed.”

Dr. Thompson was surprised to observe the vapor trail remain unchanged as they pressed closer to the center of the tunnel. The threads serenely spun and twisted off into the abyss in an existence independent of the chaos surrounding it. A thought entered his mind, “Captain I suggest you pull away from that string, If the lines we see are residual particle trails, then I fear what may be at their center could rip us apart.”

“Make it so, Mr. Sassaman. Continue on course but hold us off at this distance. Any other suggestions, Dr. Thompson?”

“I apologize for the interruptions Captain, but I believe we need to leave. We’re obviously inside the Red Spot. This calm region, rather like the eye of a hurricane, is the last thing I or anyone else ever envisioned. Of even greater concern, we are heading directly into the heart of Jupiter. I suggest we turn the ship around. Try to head out through the top of the tunnel.”

“Just what makes you believe we are heading in towards the planet, Dr. Thompson?”

“Judging by what your sensors are reporting, there is a surprising preponderance of gravitons heading in the same direction as we are. When viewed from above, the top of the Red Spot appears almost like an open drain flowing inward, toward the planet. I would therefore surmise we are moving inward. I have no idea how fast we are travelling but I’m quite surprised we haven’t struck the solid surface by now.”

“Mr. Sassaman?” The captain asked.

“Sorry sir, but I cannot swing her around. There are no waves travelling in a direction that we could hope to even tack along much less follow. All of the waves move in the same direction and in synchronism like some gigantic laser beam.”

Dr. Nolen was startled out of his silence, “Why, that’s impossible! You …”

Captain Lee’s command rang out, “Well we aren’t waiting to crash. Tack outward, we’ll try to break through the walls again. Helmsman …”

Nolen’s eyes grew wide in fear, “That’s suicide Captain, we’ll be crushed or ripped apart …”

“Dr. Nolen I would ask you not to interrupt my commands or I’ll have you removed. Carry on Mr. Sassaman. Let’s break out through the wall.”

“Ensign Li, batten down and secure for rough passage.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

The Argos began to vibrate as it neared the wall and shuddered as the clouds closed over it. “We simply should not be feeling any of these forces!” Dr. Nolen groaned quietly and then they emerged, speeding along at only a fraction of their original pace. The familiar bands of the planet’s cloud surface filled the skies to their port side.

“We’re back! We made it!” Dr. Nolen exclaimed.

“I’m not so sure.” Dr. Thompson commented.

The light of the stars around them blazed before the eyes of the command crew. They were clearly visible even with the bright clouds of the planet churning so near below and filling half of their sky. Points of fire, the stars burned across the heavens with the magnificence of a hundred Milky Ways.

The Argos travelled in a clear void just above the familiar clouds of the planet but the attention of the crew did not focus on the cyclonic turbulence or even on the new splendor of the star field above. All eyes turned to the spectacular multicolored arch floating above the vessel. It was clearly a small segment of a brightly lit set of flat rings encircling the massive globe of the planet. A set of rings, rivaling the grandness of those of Saturn but now misplaced here, surrounding a planet that should have been Jupiter.

Tomb-like blackness filled the compartment disturbed only by the faint vibration and distant rumble of a wounded ship just barely alive. A soft groan sounded in the dark. It came from a small form sprawled across the hard deck plates and was followed by a moan as she rolled onto her back and rubbed sore eyes. A whimper, perhaps brought on by past nightmares, escaped her lips as she awoke and found herself floating in a sea of darkness. Eventually she relaxed, mindlessly laying on the hard floor until memories began their lazy return as unwanted afterthoughts, without context.

Where she had expected the details of her life to rush in—what she had done last night, what she was to do today — memory simply failed. She did not know where she was or how she got here.

A sudden awareness of the pain within interrupted here reverie with a soft whimpering response to the deep aches spreading across her face, arms and the front of her body.

She tried to open her eyes, and discovered they were already
open. Wherever she may be, it was a lightless place, darker than the black night, darker than the deep caves she and her grandmother had visited so long ago …. or perhaps she was blind.

That thought ignited a tiny spark of panic. She closed his eyes, blinking them hard repeatedly, irrationally hoping to jar vision back into existence; the only result was an explosion of bright pastel blobs across her retinas, scurrying colors that somehow floated with greater threat than the darkness.

Only then did she recognize her discomfort. Her knees and shoulders were wedged against rough, confining walls and something hard dug into her back as though she was laying across a curbstone. Every inch of her ached and, because of the pain, she feared to attempt any movement.

She had to move. She tried to stretch her arms forward but couldn’t. Her hands hit a hard, unyielding surface sending out new waves of pain. A claustrophobic panic screamed across her senses as she slid her hands across the close barrier forming cold visions of a stone sarcophagus.

Thankfully, her feet rested on something solid. Painfully she managed to push herself fully erect. Her hand slid to the left, tracing a warped, irregularly rough surface. The space there narrowed and panic slowly rose again. It was becoming hard to breath.

A spark of hope rose within her for, above and to the right, the walls continued onward, perhaps even widening in the dark passage.

She had to get out of this tomb. A hard ridge scraped her back as she slid over the uneven footing and the thought of a sudden drop in the dark played against her need to escape.

Horribly bent walls surrounded and confined her. Their uneven surfaces folding into waves like dry sand on the ocean’s edge as she slid over them. Painfully she forced herself to slide sideways through the passage. She pushed on until the roof above her began closing in, sending new waves of near panic until she realized the walls had opened a little in width.

A wall stopped her progress but groping hands discovered a low passage under the obstacle. The fear of crouching under the low ceiling of the opening ahead was almost more than her dread of the surrounding blackness.

She tripped, badly scraping skin already tender and only sheer willpower pushed her on a few more feet. Finally, the narrow channel blossomed into an opening but to name it a room would be like calling the hollow inside of a giant walnut a room. There were no flat surfaces or square corners yet a feeling of relief filled her in spite of the pervading darkness and the pain and finally, there was room to sit and breathe freely.

Strange recollections returned as she resumed her onward crawl. They included memories of her passion for a cause. Her willingness to give her all, even her life, to protect the planet she loved and with the memories, a deep anger that pushed aside fear and pain. Someone had to stop this ludicrous venture whose only purpose was financial gain for the corporations.
These damned people risked the very existence of the human race by working for the Asteri in doing their bidding. The bastards must be stopped, even if stopping them resulted in the loss of life.

Then she remembered the ‘belt-thing’, the cyclotron or whatever they had called it. She had adjusted it to go off just as they instructed. They lied!

She should have been dead and with that thought, the chill of reality rose anew pushing back her oh-so-recent fears of death but replacing them with a new, deeper dread -- entombment.

She shook, stumbling back against the warped wall behind her and slid down it crying deep, racking sobs that only deepened the feeling of helplessness. No one heard, no one came. Hopelessly trapped and alone, she huddled in the dark until her sobs faded to a quiet mewing and the sleep of despair settled over her.

A small noise woke her. It sounded like something distant creaking or ripping and it wasn’t nearby but … a light?  She sat upright, rubbing tear sore eyes and it brought back the pain but she didn’t really care. It was a light, she was sure of it.

She stood, bumping her head on something. As she recoiled from the blow, she heard the faint echo of voices she recognized as Ensign Paul Petrika and Specialist Tom Denon.

“Just what the hell happened in here Petrika? It looks like someone took a mixer to a room made of soft clay.”

Ensign Petrika swung his lamp around the room, “How the hell am I supposed to know? Whatever it was, watch your step and your head. It doesn’t get any better over here. Hang on a second, here’s what’s left of a light panel.’

“There we go.” Denon commented as he closed the panel cover, “I’m amazed that anything works in here. Shit, what happened to the walls? Everything is warped and it gets worse down this way.”

“Not too far, Tom. There’s nothing left in here but … what the hell? I think it’s one of the sealed transport containers. The damn thing’s molded right into the ceiling with just a corner sticking out.”

“Do you think there’s anything in it, sir?”

“I’d have to cut the corner to open it. It isn’t simply sticking out of the ceiling, it’s part of it. Looks like they melted together.”

“Come on Tom and don’t bother with the damn lights. There’s nothing more to be seen in here and Lieutenant Anderson’s going to be sending a team back later.”

“… but Sharon Sykes and Dick Lieu were in here.”

“Well they aren’t in here now. Whatever caused this, I don’t see how anyone could have survived. Let’s get movin’.”

As she heard the far off door close, she realized just how dry her throat was. It had hurt when she had tried to call for help and she hadn’t been able to cry out but now a faint glimmer of lighted wall sat there in the distance. It was something that she could crawl towards so there was hope. She had failed this time but she would find a way to stop them.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

A hush descended upon the bridge
of the Argos as the crew stared at the impossible scene before them. The familiar clouded bands of Jupiter lay across the globe below the vessel but the spectacular display above the ship is what held their eyes.

Encircling both the Argos and the planet was an otherworldly set of rings that extended out for thousands of miles. Thousands of rings, made up of billions of ice particles, floated in an elegant display approaching in grandeur the famous rings of Saturn.

Not all eyes gazed outside. Ensign Mia Waverly knew the captain well enough to anticipate his next request would be for a course back to the Skyport. She was near a complete state of panic as she silently prayed that her third attempt to determine a position fix for the Argos relative to the Earth would be successful.

Ensign Mary Li was also upset as she searched the frequencies. Fears of failure raced through her mind,
This is impossible! There has to be someone or something out here. Even if Skyport Control doesn’t answer our hails, we should be able to pick up other signals. Not even the steady drone of a carrier or the toll of a navigational beacon or even fragments of stray data packets.

Lee broke the silence, “Ensign Li, please open a link back to Skyport Central.”

“I have been trying, sir. There is no response to our transmissions. I’ve attempted several other communications nodes. No detectable activity on any of the sublight channels, commercial or military and I’ve run full diagnostics on our hardware and software systems. All internal systems test normal. Request permission to initiate a supralight call and contact the Asteri.”

“Do so, Ensign.” The captain replied as he turned to look back toward the visitor’s gallery.
Nolen looks kinda pale
,
he thought.
Thankfully Thompson continues to weather the situation …

“Dr. Thompson, you seem to be a fount of good, sound knowledge. What are your thoughts?”

“I don’t really understand what happened, Captain. Our whole experience inside the Red Spot doesn’t make sense. As Dr. Nolen stated, when we exited we should have emerged from the wall of the storm deep under the cloud cover of the planet, yet we find ourselves out here in space orbiting high above Jupiter’s cloud surface.

“These rings are certainly unexpected. Jupiter has always had a very thin set of barely visible rings but these are amazing.”

Ensign Waverly spoke up, “Captain, I have not been able to secure a position fix using the Pulsar Marker standards. All first line navigation systems fail. Diagnostics confirm all hardware running cool and normal, the problem is too many of the reference objects are missing. I have been able to optically locate Earth and track our relative motion so we have a rough solution for return to Earth Orbit if required.”

“Thank you Navigation. Any luck with communications, Ensign Li?”

“No, sir. In addition to our communications problems, engineering reports damage to the ship that is degrading the gravitonic field uniformity and our ability to maneuver. There’s structural damage to the outer shell across decks three to five. Engineering recommends a return to dock.”

The captain responded. “Request a damage summary from Lieutenant Anderson as soon as possible.

“Ensign Waverly, see if you can improve your coarse estimate for our return to Earth orbit. If you can’t get an update from the navigational beacons then run a solar fix relative to the inner system planets to refine your numbers. Coordinate with Lieutenant Anderson to calculate a best time estimate for transit back to Skyport under current ship’s capabilities. Send your results into my quarters as soon as you have the information. Commander Dalmas, you have the conn.”

“Aye, aye sir. I have the conn.” The XO replied.

The captain rose from his chair and turned toward the visitor’s gallery, “Colonel Drake, I would like you and Doctors Nolen and Thompson to join me in my conference room. I believe we have some things to discuss.”

*~~*~~*~~*

Midshipman Brittany Thornsen
carefully pushed the control forward while watching the response of the Argos. The ship’s image had a thin, soft cyan colored aura surrounding it that deepened in color as she pushed the control forward.

“Go easy when changing the field phase, Midshipman.” Lieutenant Anderson cautioned.

Brittany strained to balance the spin-phase and intensity of the field linking the ship to the gravitic waves. It was impossible to keep the intensity uniform across the ship.

Instability rose as she raised the power until the aura suddenly erupted into a cloud-like cyclone of color that transformed into a deep red funnel, shooting out from the opposite side. Her heart skipped a beat but her hand slowly pulled back without losing control.

“I almost lost it, Lieutenant. The field suddenly unbalanced. Whatever is causing it seems to be located around that damaged section.”

“Yeah, I noticed that too.” Anderson replied. “I guess we need to take the time and crawl through that mess now rather than later. Return to best safe speed.

“Petrika, call the bridge and request permission to send out a robotic to examine the outside of the hull back there. Find the extent of any damage while Brittany and I go into the cargo holds. Midshipman, grab two sets of life masks on your way out.”

*~~*~~*~~*

Captain Lee was amazed
when he entered his conference room. They already had a coffee and tea server waiting on the credenza. He had just told them to prepare the room, how the hell did Cookie’s mess crew manage to work so quickly?

Lee motioned the doctors and Drake into some seats as he grabbed a welcome cup of tea, “Gentlemen, engineering recommends we return to the Skyport for repairs. I won’t be able to give you an estimate of repair time until I get their analysis but I fear it may be lengthy.”

Captain Lee turned as Lieutenant Anderson’s image appeared above the conference table, “Sir, we have a preliminary damage report. Specialists Sykes and Lieu are both presumed dead. The ship’s hull maintained airtight integrity in spite of massive internal damage in four sections across three levels. We don’t know what caused the damage but everything stored in the area is gone. We are assembling a list of the lost supplies and equipment and will have that for you shortly.

“There are major distortions of the structural frame and bulkhead in this section; I cannot guarantee it under stress. We are installing temporary patches.

“On the exterior, there are sharp and irregular distortions and they will limit our headway but the Argos should be able to make it back to Skyport without assistance.”