Seed

In the vacuum of space no one can hear you scream.

His dream fading, assaulted by Klaxon horns blaring pounding him out of suspended animation.

Deep in a dream he’d had a hundred times he fought the intrusions; this dream never failed to make him smile even while in deep suspended sleep.

Fighting to stay in his dream more noise invaded, voices, one he vaguely remembered, a female voice, not a living voice but that of the onboard computer.

“Commander Russell; Emergency awakening, Alert L249 intruder alert, Hull breach in section S125” Eyes dried caked closed he raised an arm to rub them. “What? What’s happening?” He croaked on a dry throat.

“Emergency; Hull breach, intruder alert section S125; I’ve initiated an emergency wake cycle Commander Russell.”

Sitting up, with waves of dizziness, nausea inducing spins, hands on both sides of his head Klaxons horn blasting his ears. “Computer end alarms sound!” he yelled over the cacophony.

Silence.

Confused it took him a moment to remember where he was; Argo, a medium large cargo ship in route to just beyond the known mapped universe.

“Computer; no no, Claire report.”

“Commander Russell I’ve initiated an emergency wake cycle due to a hull breach in section S125, Intruder alert lower level two moving to level three and now entering level four.” “We have dropped from light speed to sub light speed.”

“Claire lock all sections, initiate protocol Zebra one nine, release the sentinels.” “Claire emergency wake the crew.” “Unlock the armory; flood levels one through four with Neurotoxins, seal all ventilation ducts, lock everything down, down tight.”

“Danger, danger computer breach, danger danger computer breach.”

“Claire decentralize computer controls; Claire… Claire.”

“Computer lockout initiated; Environmentals locked out at 77%, Telemetry 5%, Sentinels 75%, all minor controls 85%.” “We are at idle, we are drifting in space.”

“Claire can you give me visual on the intruders?”

“On monitor five; Entering engineering door E1522.”

Monitor five sparked to life flooding the small commander control area with bright red light as the intruders used plasma torches to cut through door E1522 sparks bouncing off walls and ceiling tiles.

“WTF” Hallway filled with strange beings, four legs, squat bodies, two heavy muscular arms. Three pressed tight to door E1522 pulling at the cut metal ripping pieces with each movement. Strong, very strong rang in his head.

“Claire cut all power except to level eight through ten, minimum environmental those levels only”

The lights blinked off on the monitor screen leaving only the red glow of the torches. Red light fading as plasma torches used the remaining oxygen; intruder’s hands rising to facemasks going on individual air supplies.

“Claire what’s the progress on the crew emergency awakening procedure.”

“Minute 10 of 45; proceeding at emergency levels, medical status satisfactory.”

“Claire I don’t see any sentinels, report progress.”

“Telemetry at 5%, control and guidance degraded; contact interception estimated in five minutes.”

“Set attack level at lethal”

“Setting sentinel attack levels at lethal; Sentinels responding level lethal.”

“Okay, okay they breathe regular air and don’t mind a full Neurotoxin level” “Claire fill all areas with thick dense fog; let’s give the sentinels a fighting chance.”

“Filling clouding gases now.” The monitor screen went white with clouds of dense fog agent.

Lightning flashed blinding in the white out conditions of the monitor; sentinels firing at point blank range into the intruders. Bright flashes filled the screen; drones filled the upper reaches firing down into the melee. Squat AI fighters scrambled under tables firing up into the lower areas as the intruders fought frontal and aerial attacking guards. Flashes fading; swirling clouds of white filled the monitor.

“Claire report attack results.”

“Five intruders killed, ten seriously injured, seventeen minor injuries detected; fighting strength reduced to 25% of original attack. Intruders have stopped their attack and are currently tending to their wounded.”

“Claire; freeze levels one to six, minus 50 degrees on my mark………….. Mark!”

“Levels one through six temperatures lowering; 32 degrees……. 25 degrees……. Zero……. Minus 10………minus 25…….. Temperatures level one though six standing at minus 50 degrees.”

“Claire report on intruders.”

“Intruders are deceased; no body functions are found in scans.”

“Claire where’s their ship; can you locate it?’

“Commander Russell unidentified ship approaching two light years away and closing; just showing up on long range scan.”

“Claire I’m gonna need some help, progress on emergency wakening?”

“Minute 30 of 45 proceeding at emergency levels, crew’s medical status maintaining at satisfactory levels.”

“Claire do you have complete control of guidance systems now?”

“Control at 90%, repairing damage; estimate complete control 10 minutes.”

“Is the enemy ship sending any identifying links?

“No International navigational signals are being sent; they are silent and cloaked sending no code in violation of International Space regulations.”

“Okay this is what I want to do; Arm torpedoes and space mines to identify that craft only; I don’t want anyone else tripping them. Jettison intruders bodies one at a time in a long spread pattern starting with a few and increasing in numbers dumping them all; jettison torpedoes in a wide flat arch aimed to the center where the enemy craft should enter the killing field. As they enter and their sensors find their attack crew bodies I want to go to light speed drawing them into the mines and torpedoes. Stand by to send emergency calls on all frequencies just before going to light speed. As the space mines explode I want to emergency deviate course to maximum deflection as the explosions blind them then drop all engines to zero and coast leaving no engine light to follow.”

“Mine and torpedoes armed; Sentinels clearing bodies ready to jettison to open space. Maximum emergency deflection at light speed estimated at 24% of initial path. Emergency distress calls at stand by on all frequencies and channels; waiting command.”

“Claire status?”

“Unidentified craft at light speed moving directly for our position; now dropping out of light speed distance one quarter AU and closing.” “Initiate Plan”?

“Initiate plan……..now!”

“Jettisoning bodies, standing by for mines and torpedoes; …….. Enemy craft closing; we are going to light speed in five four three two one … mines and torpedoes standing by showing green lights. Jettisoning full spread of mines and torpedoes………… we are at light speed. Mines and torpedoes are armed and ready at stand by full spread…….

“Claire any detonations of mines or torpedoes?”

“Negative, no mine or torpedoes have detonated”

“Claire what are they doing? Report”

“The craft is at sub light speed entering the debris field at this time using full power scanning; entering mine field in five seconds at current speed.”

“Mines five through eleven have detonated; torpedo one to eleven have closed to maximum destructive distance and discharged…….”

“Maximum course deviation deflection locked in, initiating now……. Stand by……. Engines to zero; we are coasting at light speed”

“Long range sensors reports craft has been destroyed, mines are continuing to explode on minimal sized debris. The craft has been destroyed.”

“Time to complete rebuild of all damaged systems?”

“Estimated at 10 hours with full crew supervision”

“Claire status of our cargo.”

“Cargo is stable and secure.”

“Claire resume course, start repairs immediately. Full crew meeting in two hours; medical status of crew?”

“Wakening is complete, crew status is satisfactory.”

Exactly two hours later in the little galley all eleven members of the Argo crew squeezed into the limited seating; this ship was never intended to have all crew members awake at the same time. Faces ranged from openly frightened to angry; small talk immediately stopped as Commander Russell stepped into the tight quarters.

“Good day everyone; Claire please record.”

“Recording Commander Russell.”

“I’m sorry you’ve all been woken long before normal waking dates. As you know we’ve been attacked by unknown beings; we have numerous repairs to make to the ship and I can’t be sure we will not be attacked again. We will shortly break up into repair parties and I expect every member to work until all repairs have been finished; the next attack could happen at any time.

Commander Russell briefed the crew in minute detail of the attack and damage to the ship. Finishing, he pointed out three things that he had no answers too: One, how did the intruders dock with the ship and not set off any alarms? Two, the hull had been breached without alarm? Three, we are in open mostly uncharted space with few if any outposts in this section, how did they find us without a beacon?

“It’s my opinion that our security had been breached prior to leaving our loading facilities, no security alarms were tripped until they reached the engineering compartment. Those security alarms are not shown on our ship schematic. I and Mr. Williams will be doing a spacewalk looking for tracking beacons. Let us remember the precious cargo we are carrying. Questions? Let’s get to work.”

Dropping out of light speed repair parties began working and the space walk precautions were started.

Stepping out of the airlock Commander Russell and First Officer Williams slowly moved along the ship double hooking as they made their way aft.

“Claire full scan of the aft exterior of the ship, look for any slight divination in reading levels; we are looking for heavily cloaked devices.”

“Scanning now.”

“Commander Russell, I’m finding a small deviation in scan levels aft section two behind main engine one rocket nozzle.”

Moving along the left side of the ship, rocket engine nozzle one came into view, the coned shaped nozzle measured just over eighty five feet across and nearly sixty feet from base to burnt black upper edges. Deep shadows enveloped the thirty foot diameter base and a number of feet along the side of the ship with the little star light in this sector of space.

“What? Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” First Officer Williams gasped. “It’s not a beacon it’s a full assault vehicle!” “We’ve got nothing like this! I’ve never seen anything that looks like this vehicle.”

“Claire can you scan this vehicle?”

“I’m sorry Commander Russell, video clearly shows an alien vehicle, but scanning is 99.9% masked and blocked.”

“We are going to cut this vehicle loose, I’m going to need some extra help.” “I’m worried about a mass and proximity booby trap; if we just cut it loose it may be set to detonate. Have them set up a load simulator and bring it with them.”

Two and a half hours later labor parties had repaired the exterior hull damage and the alien vehicle had been readied for release into space. Four small vapor rockets had been attached to the bottom of the craft to gently lift the vehicle up and away from the Argo. The crew was ordered into escape pods and all decks were secured pending the release of the vehicle.

“Okay Claire we are as ready as we are going to get; cut it loose and fire rockets.”

“Plasma cutters engaged; the vehicle is freed; rockets fired.”

The craft slowly lifted from its hiding spot and slowly moved up and away from the hull clearing the rim of nozzle one.

“Claire gently move us away, continual distance updates.”

“Vehicle is 200 feet aft and 45 feet starboard; Vehicle 500 feet aft and 125 feet starboard; Vehicle is 1000 feet aft and 250 starboard; Vehicle is 1500 feet aft and 400 feet starboard.”

“Claire one eighth impulse move us away, don’t jiggle it.”

“Vehicle is one mile aft and 1500 feet starboard.”

“Claire full shields NOW!”

“Minimal distances achieved for shields; full shields engaged. Vehicle is two miles aft and 3000 feet starboard.”

“Claire turn off the mass simulator, with five second count down on my mark.” ”Russell to crew; you can clear rescue pods.”

“Five second count down on your mark; ready on your command.”

All eleven crew members pushed for a clear view of the monitors watching the alien vehicle slowly fading in the distance.

“Claire distance?”

“Vehicle is 100 miles aft and two miles starboard.”

“Mark.”

“Five, four, three, two, one.”

The flash blinded the video for just over ten seconds in pure white light slowly fading at the edges to red then orange speckled with white fading to swirling red orange reaching out towards the fleeing Argo. Alarms blared; electromagnetic pulse, shield bulge, heat alarms.

“Whoa………. Now that was a show. Get a bite to eat and back to work people.” “I want all 1500 cargo containers checked and verified; make sure they are all okay.” Russell quietly ordered.

Eight hours of hard work finished the ship repairs; the damage was relatively slight after the hull breach as the intruders cut doors and seals heading to the engineering section to take over the ship. The main battle areas were pock marked by small and large caliber rounds, plasma rifle scorch marks blackened walls, floors and hallway ceilings as the sentinels pursued the attackers as they dragged their wounded towards their cloaked craft.

“Claire I want a full diagnostic of all programs; find what they did to our security program and fix it.”

“Full diagnostic implemented; estimated time to completion 18 hours.”

“Claire continuous maximum scans; don’t let them sneak up on us again.”

“Continuous full scans initiated.”

The ship and crew fell into normal routes as the hours passed as the ship ran at Max 1.25 light speed towards the farthest reaches of the known mapped universe.

Commander Russell send private messages to every crew member acknowledging the troubling thoughts of each person on board; once taken out of the prolonged sleep cycle they could not return. Unless they found an outpost or a passing ship they would all die long before reaching their destination now 85.7 light years away. He asked each member to decide their preference and privately give him their decision; the ship could run cloaked and autonomously in the far reaches of the universe with little to no chance of being discovered on its course.

Breaking the calm of the bridge, shrieking alarm horns followed by Claire’s announcement; “long range scans detecting vessel at 2.75 light years distance closing on our position, running at just over 3.45 light speed.”

Commander Russell ran to the control room. “Red alert, Battle stations, full shields, full cloak, lock the ship down.”

“All systems green, battle stations manned and green, cloak/shields full power, ship is in total lockdown.”

“Claire who has a ship that can run at 3.45 light speed? No non-nationals have such ships. Can you get an I.D. on it yet?”

“Captain Russell my records only show International Federation ships listed as main Battle line Heavy Cruisers or bigger having the capabilities to run at that speed, no others listed.” “We are currently 12.2 light years outside of Federation controlled space in open non regulated space.” “Long range scans are showing an immense vessel casting a large scan image; stand by, just coming into our normal scan range.” “Scans show ship I.D’ed as Heavy Battle line Cruiser of International Federation design. Closing speed 2.2 light speed; they will intercept in twenty minutes.”

“Claire drop our speed, maintain us at just under light speed; let’s see what they want. All stations stand by to fire all weapons.”

“Hailing us now on all international frequency’s”

“This is the Federation Ship Winston, please identify yourself.”

“Claire sent all identification details, and destination.”

“Argo we are investigating an apparent battle with numerous casualties; we’ve detected a large explosion and traced your ship from that space.”

“Claire send them the full report on our contact and ship logs to this point.” “What’s their position to our ship; bring it up on the battle scope.”

“Two hundred miles aft and slightly starboard.” “Claire maintain that distance and ready for fast maneuvering.” “Let me know if they change distances.”

“Argo drop speed to .50 sub light speed we are detaining you until our investigation is finished. Please respond.”

“Winston this is Commander Russell; we’ve sent you the full report with verifiable star dates and times that we’ve been attacked and responded. We are in non regulated space in route to our destination with a highly perishable cargo. We are not bound by any Federation laws or regulations in open non regulated space. You may contact our main Company and place a complaint, but we will not delay our course any further. We’ve been forced to wake our full crew and we have six members that would like safe passage to the nearest Federation post as space bound refuges.”

“Argo we will accept your refuges; please shuttle them over now.” “Stand by for further instructions.”

The six crew members boarded a small escape pod and waited for a window in the shields to open to drop back to be picked up by the Battle Cruiser shadowing the Argo.

“Argo we have your people. Please drop your shields to be scanned.”

“Winston this is Commander Russell we will not drop our shields and any attempt to force scan this ship will be regarded as an aggressive assault against a licensed vessel in open non regulated space; you have no right to detain or scan this vessel.”

“Argo drop your shields to be scanned; we are investigating an incident you were involved in and you will be detained until that investigation is completed. We have found unexploded space mines and torpedoes that are not registered in any Federation data base or approved to be carried in any vessel traveling in Federation space. Force will be used if you refuse to comply.”

“Alert! Commander Russell they are releasing drones; if they surround us they will bleed off our shields and we will be without shielding defensives.”

“Claire drop cloak on all weapons; open weapon bay doors, prepare to fire. Cross the T on my command and fire all weapons.” “Let’s show them what we got and see if they really want to play.”

“Argo this is the Federation Cruiser Winston you will drop you weapons and shields or we will fire on you.”

“Winston this is Argo, you can see we are more than able to defend ourselves; you will stand down or we will destroy you.” “We carry the new Kessler array and your shields are useless against this weapon. Stand down now.”

“Commander Russell drones are twenty seconds from being in position to attack our shields.”

“Claire fire the Kessler array and cut them in half; fire both arrays.”

“Drones have been sliced in half within their shielding; fuel cells are exploding contained within craft shields. Six drones have been destroyed. Debris fields expanding in open space now.”

“Claire target their bridge; make sure they can see targeting data; stand by to fire.” “Claire cross the T Mark!”

Crossing the T turns the ship sideways to the oncoming vessel allowing all weapons a clear field of fire the full length of the vessel while limiting the approaching vessel only access to their frontal weapons.

“Argo cease fire, cease fire! This is first Officer Jennings we are standing down.” “We are dropping shields to allow scanning to show our weapon systems are off line.” “We have ceased all aggressive actions towards your ship. Acknowledge.”

“Claire cloak the weapons bays; Maintain targeting, return to course, stand by to go to light speed.”

“Winston we are in open non regulated space, we are returning to our course and speed, any further aggression will be met with lethal response without notice.”

“Argo you are free to go, we regret our misguided actions and acknowledge we are in non regulated space. Our logs will be sealed to protect your route and reviewed for disciplinary action against command staff. Safe travels and gods speed Argo.”

“Winston thank you for taking in our people; the remaining crew will live out our lives maintaining this ship and its cargo. Good day.”

“Claire bring us to light speed. Mark.”

The Argo continued its mission without incident and delivered its cargo to Planet 19129 a large earth like planet 17 light years beyond charted space in 89 years and three months. Maneuvering into orbit Argo failed to respond to hails from the forward party. Docking parties discovered five bodies in sealed caskets and Commander Russell’s skeletal remains in the Command module.

The Argo’s cargo was found in perfect condition and one month later a sister ship arrived and came into orbit with the second half of the shipment.

As controversial as the seeding program was the new earth like planet welcomed its new human population with fair weather and ample food supplies. The forward party had three years to build accommodations for the children before their arrival and they settled in on a rich bountiful new world.

The Argo mission and records are now taught in school with a memorial erected in the courtyard of the small settlement for the doomed crew.

From the Ramblings.

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