Stars & Empire 2: 10 More Galactic Tales (Stars & Empire Box Set Collection) Read online

  Jason nodded his head in understanding. He had talked to his brother briefly the previous day over a secure com line. His brother had told him there were all kinds of rumors going around about what had happened to the New Beginning’s mission. Trevor had also mentioned that their sister Katherine was still highly upset. She had taken it extremely hard when all contact had been lost initially with the lander as it was descending to the Moon. Katherine had camped out in Mission Control until contact had finally been reestablished.

  Once he got home, Jason knew he was going to get an earful from his sister. He couldn’t blame her. This also wouldn’t be the first time. She had been extremely upset when he had volunteered to be a military test pilot. It had put a strain on their relationship for quite some time.

  “The last two drones also have a lot of different tools and equipment on board that we may be able to use to get into some of those sealed compartments,” Greg continued as he studied the supply list.

  They had found numerous compartments that seemed to be locked down and wouldn’t open. Greg guessed that the more sensitive and interesting equipment the ship contained were behind those sealed hatches. They had yet to find any power sources or weapons.

  “Let’s get some rest; we can get a good start in the morning,” suggested Jason with a yawn.

  He would have to go outside in the morning and send the latest photos and a report to Mission Control of their most recent explorations. Their communications didn’t work well from inside the ship. The hull was just too thick.

  Unknown to either of them, the ship’s AI was monitoring their conversations. It was still evaluating these new humans and trying to decide when it should make its presence known. The AI’s internal power source was rapidly weakening from its increased use since the humans had arrived. At its current depletion rate, it would be too low to sustain the AI in another two weeks. The AI desperately needed a new power source and that might force it to contact the humans before it was ready.

  -

  Early the next morning, Jason and Greg were standing in front of the large hatch, which led to the center section of the ship. The lights from their spacesuits lit up the hatch and the corridor around it. They had walked through a number of dark corridors to reach this point deep inside the ship. Reaching forward, Jason grasped the handle and turned it. Much to his surprise, it turned easily and the hatch swung open.

  “What the hell?” exclaimed Greg, looking over at Jason.

  Just yesterday morning the handle had refused to budge. They had tried everything they could think of to open it, and it hadn’t moved an inch. Now it opened without any use of force at all.

  “Well, it’s open,” commented Jason, shining his lights inside the open hatch. It showed another corridor leading off into the darkness.

  “That’s just it. It shouldn’t have opened,” Greg muttered.

  Sometimes he had the eerie feeling that something or someone was watching them. He felt an icy shiver race up his back. That was happening too often recently. Even though this ship had crashed years ago, Greg still found himself jumping at shadows. He didn’t believe in ghosts, but sometimes he felt as if there was a presence inside the ship watching their every move. He couldn’t explain the feeling; it was just with him constantly.

  Jason stepped inside the open hatch and then, as an afterthought, laid a small tool across the hatch wedging it open. Shining the portable light down the corridor, he saw numerous doors, all of which were shut. “Let’s check several of these rooms and see what they contain.”

  Greg walked over to a door and opened it. Shining his light inside, he was surprised to see a small desk, several chairs, and two bunks. The chairs and the desk were heavily damaged from being knocked around. He knew they had probably been damaged as a result of the crash. “These look like crew’s quarters.”

  Jason stepped inside and looked around more closely. Going over to the desk, he set it up and opened one of the drawers. The drawer had a small catch on it that had kept it closed. There were a few papers inside, but he didn’t see anything of interest. Looking around, he didn’t see any personal items either. He had hoped to find some photos or something that might have given a hint as to the life style of the crew. Most crewmembers on Earth military ships had pictures of their families around somewhere. He didn’t see any of that here.

  They checked a few more rooms and found them all to be the same. This section must have been where the crew lived. The quarters were small but still spacious by military standards. It was also obvious that everything of a personal nature had been removed.

  As they walked down the corridor, Jason placed small magnetic LED lights on the wall every fifty feet or so to furnish some illumination. The lights would allow them to find their way back more easily, and all you had to do was press their lighted surfaces to turn them off.

  For several minutes, they made their way deeper into the heart of the ship. Some of the rooms now contained more sophisticated equipment, much of it damaged or hopelessly smashed. The crash had wrecked almost everything that wasn’t anchored down. They stopped and examined some of the equipment, but for the most part, it was difficult to tell exactly what it had been used for.

  “I’m surprised anything survived intact,” Greg commented as he looked into a room containing numerous boxes and crates that were in shambles. These were obviously supplies of some kind. He rummaged through several damaged boxes, finding them all to be empty. Whatever had once been here had been removed.

  Going into another corridor, they found another large, sealed hatch in front of them with some sort of writing on it. It didn’t look like any form of writing either of them were familiar with. They looked at each other, wondering what could be behind this one.

  “That looks like a warning of some kind,” Greg said uneasily as his eyes studied the strange letters.

  “It could be,” replied Jason, wondering if they should attempt to open it. “We’ve come this far; we might as well have a look.”

  Most of the hatches had some type of writing on them. On this one, the writing was much larger. In Greg’s mind, he could hear his wife saying, “Don’t go in there!” She had always been the cautious type. Just thinking about her made Greg wish that he could see her and their newborn son; he really missed them. However, that was at least another three months in the future. He let out a deep breath and turned his attention back to the hatch.

  Jason hesitated for a moment. Greg was right; there was something about this hatch that didn’t feel right. Fortifying himself, he reached out and turned the handle. He had to use a little more force than he expected and then the door swung open. Stepping inside, he froze when brilliant lights flashed on, illuminating the entire area.

  “Lights!” exclaimed Greg, his eyes opening wide. How was that possible?

  “Emergency lighting,” responded Jason, studying the lights on the wall. “Probably battery powered, and they turned on when we activated a hidden sensor as we stepped in here. I doubt whether they’ll last long. Over the years, most of their charge has probably bled off.”

  Jason turned his own lights off and noticed what looked like long glass windows that stretched along both sides of the corridor. This had to be some type of heavy-duty safety glass to have survived the crash. He walked up curiously to one of the windows and looked in. He stepped back, shocked at what was on the other side. “We just found the rest of the crew!”

  “What?” responded Greg, walking over and looking inside the brightly lit room. He shuddered involuntarily at what he saw inside.

  There were dozens of beds with crewmembers laid out. Someone had taken the time after the wreck to bring the dead crew down here for their final resting place. He wondered if it had been the commander. Going over to the other window on the opposite side, Greg saw the same thing. There must be over a hundred bodies laid out.

  “This looks more like a hospital,” spoke Jason, taking out his camera and photographing what they were seeing. It looked
as if there were monitoring equipment and other specialized medical devices against the walls.

  “Jason,” Greg said quietly as he studied the bodies inside of the room behind the glass, “I don’t think these people all died from the crash. Some of them don’t look to be that injured.”

  Studying the men and women in the room, Jason realized that Greg was right. “A disease?” asked Jason, wondering if that was possible.

  “That would be my guess,” responded Greg, turning around to face Jason. “I don’t think we want to open any of these doors. Whatever killed these people should be gone by now due to the extreme vacuum. Colonel Greene, the pilot flying the specialists up, has some medical experience. Perhaps he can give us a better idea as to what happened here.”

  Jason took a deep breath. It seemed that everywhere they went in the ship they found more mysteries and unanswered questions. If they could get the ship’s computer back up and running, once the specialists arrived, perhaps they could find out what had happened.

  Let’s go back,” spoke Jason, stepping back away from the glass and turning to face Gregg. “We’ll come back when the others get here.”

  “Sound fine to me,” replied Greg, looking at the lighted rooms. The emergency lighting was already starting to dim. “This ship is spooky enough. Now we have all these dead bodies.” Greg had no desire to stay in this section any longer than necessary.

  The two started back down the corridor, shutting the hatches behind them and retracing their steps by following the LED lights they had placed on the walls. They would write their report up and then wait for tomorrow. The inbound lunar lander would be arriving and Jason and Greg had a lot to show the four new explorers.

  -

  Jason and Greg were outside in the rover watching the space above them expectantly. A bright light suddenly appeared amongst the stars and began to descend toward them.

  “There they are!” Greg said excitedly, pointing upward. With his eyes locked on the descending lander, Greg took a deep, steadying breath.

  “This is Rescue One to New Beginnings,” a friendly voice came over the com channel. “We have begun our descent and should be with you shortly.”

  “We read you,” answered Jason, evenly. “We’re standing by in the rover.”

  “It’s going to feel good to see some new faces,” Greg commented, his eyes still focused on the descending lunar lander. He felt growing excitement knowing that shortly they wouldn’t be alone on the Moon.

  “Tired of looking at me,” joked Jason, smiling.

  He knew how Greg felt. New faces and new voices would help break the monotony. Greg and he were running out of things to talk about, other than the wreck. Four weeks was a long time to be stranded together in small quarters.

  “Once they get here, we can really begin exploring the ship,” Greg spoke, elatedly. “We can get the computer powered back up and maybe get some of those other sealed doors open. I really want to see what’s behind those sealed hatches on the ship’s hull.”’

  “So does the government,” responded Jason, recalling a recent conversation with Tom Hays, the mission controller back down on Earth.

  For several minutes, they watched the new lander descend until it finally landed nearly half a mile away from them in a level and debris free section of the crater. They watched as its engines shut off and the dust began to settle back down. Once everything seemed clear, Jason started the rover toward the landing site.

  “Their touchdown went smooth,” commented Greg, sounding pleased and relieved. It had been one of his worst nightmares that the emergency beacon would come back on and sabotage the landing.

  “Their computers and other vital equipment are shielded,” responded Jason, maneuvering the rover around several small pieces of wreckage. “We weren’t going to take a chance on anything happening to this lander.”

  It only took a few minutes to reach the landing site. As they pulled up, the hatch to the lander was already opening. An astronaut appeared and looking around waved at Jason and Greg.

  “Commander Strong, it’s good to be here!”

  “Glad you could join us, Colonel Greene,” responded Jason, climbing out of the rover. “That was a textbook landing.”

  “Computers handled it,” Greene confessed as he stepped down onto the lunar surface. “We have some supplies to unload, as well as another rover we need to get down.”

  Looking up, Jason saw another astronaut step out of the lander and begin their descent to the lunar surface. “Let’s get to it,” Jason responded.

  Chapter Four

  Four hours later, all six of them were in the quarters that Jason and Greg had put together. They had made several trips between the lander and the wrecked spaceship. All the supplies were stacked in the corridor outside. Along with Colonel Greene, there were engineering specialists Adam Simmins, Marcus Edwards, and computer specialist Lisa Gordon.

  “I must say, I’m impressed,” commented Greene, looking around the two rooms. “This is definitely better than staying in the lander.”

  “It’s nice just to be able to stretch,” commented Lisa, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes.

  She was glad she had brought some regular clothes besides her blue flight uniform. There wouldn't be a lot of privacy in these two rooms, but she had been prepared for that when she had volunteered for this mission. It was still a lot better than sleeping in the lander.

  “We have several supply drones that we need to unload, as well as the rest of the supplies from your lander,” commented Greg, realizing that both Jason and he probably could use a shower.

  He was extremely conscious of the fact that their quarters didn’t smell all that great. With the new supplies, they could at least take a sponge bath. It wasn’t his favorite way to take a bath, but it was better than nothing. They had water, but they had been conserving it since they had no way to recycle it.

  Lisa continued to look around, recognizing that these quarters could certainly use a woman’s delicate touch. But for now, she was more interested in seeing the computer and the control systems in the Command Center. That was why she had come. “How soon can we go to the Command Center? I would like to see the computer and the other control systems.”

  “I suggest we spend the rest of the day getting all the supplies inside, then early tomorrow we can check out the Command Center and some of the other areas,” Colonel Greene commented. He had spent quite a bit of time talking to Tom Hays back in Mission Control. "We may need some of those supplies for our exploration of this ship."

  “I agree with that,” added Jason, nodding his head.

  Turning toward Jason, Colonel Greene continued. “From your reports and the images you’ve sent back, the ship’s Command Center seems to be pretty much intact. As soon as Lisa, Adam, and Marcus feel it’s safe we’ll attach one of the RTGs to the computer system and see if we can power it back up.”

  “That might reinitiate the emergency beacon,” Jason warned his eyes narrowing.

  There were still some supply drones on the schedule that would be landing over the next several weeks. He didn’t want to cause them to crash. They would need those supplies. That damn beacon had already caused enough problems.

  “I’m not too worried about that,” replied Greene, folding his arms across his chest. “We have the equipment to get into the section the beacon's located in if necessary. The equipment is still on the lander. Unless these bulkheads are much tougher than they look, we should be able to cut through them.”

  “This is a warship,” Jason reminded Colonel Greene. “I suspect those bulkheads are a lot tougher than you think.”

  Greene was silent for a moment and then replied. “We can always take the power away and silence it like you did the first time.”

  “We also need to look for a larger area to attach a portable airlock,” added Adam Simmins, looking around critically and noticing the size of the two rooms. “A lot of the equipment we brought needs to be inside where we
can access it easily. It’s going to become crowded in here rather quickly.”

  “I don’t see a problem with that,” Jason replied in agreement. Six people in these quarters plus equipment and the lander might suddenly seem roomy. “There are some larger interconnected rooms farther down the corridor that we could use. We would have to move some equipment and other stuff out, but I think we could make them livable.”

  “That would work,” spoke Simmins, pleased at the thought of having even more room to live and work in.

  “However, I suggest we get the computer activated first,” continued Jason, thinking about the possibilities. “It controls the ship’s environmental systems, and we know they still work since the computer pressurized the Command Center when we first went in there. We might be able to use the computer to pressurize some other compartments that would be more comfortable.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” replied Lisa, anxious to get to the computer. “I’m curious to see just how this computer is programmed and the differences between it and our own operating systems.”

  “Be patient, Lisa,” Colonel Greene said, smiling. He well understood the young woman’s desire to see the Command Center and the computer; he wanted to see it also. However, they had other work to do first.

  “Let’s take an hour to relax and then we’ll start moving the rest of the equipment and supplies,” ordered Greene, wanting to get started as soon as possible. “With two rovers it shouldn’t take us too long.”

  -

  Two hours later, Jason and Greg were on the far side of the crater where one of the drones had landed several days previously. The small drone was basically a small cargo pod with an engine and four short landing struts. The landing didn’t have to be perfect as long as the drone got down relatively undamaged. The drone sat at a slight angle with a bent strut. Burn marks beneath marked where the descent engine had fired.