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

  “You think someone might have survived that crash?” Greg asked, taken aback at the thought. Greg didn’t know if he was prepared for a first contact scenario. “You think someone in that wreck activated the transmission that caused us to crash?”

  “I doubt it,” replied Jason, looking at the mangled wreckage. “This was a very bad crash, and I don’t think anyone could have survived. That transmission didn’t start until after we began our descent. It might be some type of emergency beacon that was activated when our lander came within range.”

  “An emergency beacon!” Greg said worriedly his eyes looking upward toward the stars. “I wonder who they’re signaling.”

  “Probably no one,” said Jason, trying to sound confident. “That wreck's been here for too long. If someone had been searching for it, they’re long gone by now.”

  “I hope so,” responded Greg, gazing back down into the crater. Here they were stranded on the Moon with a wrecked alien spacecraft. Could the situation get any worse?

  “Let’s go,” said Jason, starting down the steep slope. “The sooner we get there, the better.”

  Greg followed Jason down the crater wall. Every so often, he glanced at the alien shipwreck. He felt an icy chill run up and down his back at the thought of what they might find. They had just learned a startling fact, one most astronomers had always predicted; they were not alone in the universe.

  Chapter Two

  Jason and Greg quickly descended the steep slope, being careful not to trip or stumble. They had to work themselves carefully around boulders and avoid the steeper areas. Their protective, bulky spacesuits made this difficult, and they had to be careful not to trip and fall. Neither of them wanted to roll uncontrollably down the slope and risk tearing or damaging their spacesuits. They finally reached the bottom of the ridge and headed off for the first large piece of wreckage. It was about one hundred yards from the base of the ridge.

  “It looks like the ship came in low over the ridge and then hit here,” stated Jason, glancing at a shallow depression in the ground. “It was a rough landing.”

  The depression hadn’t been that noticeable from the top of the ridge. From the crater floor, it was obvious the spacecraft had struck the crater floor with some force and then slid all the way across, coming to a stop nearly a mile away at the far wall of the crater. The force of the impact had caused tremendous damage to the ship.

  “This definitely happened a long time ago,” commented Greg, gazing at the wreckage and the indentation in the ground. He had an advanced degree in geology and several other sciences. “When the ship struck, it must have sent a cloud of dust high above the lunar surface. When the dust fell back down, it covered everything with a thin, camouflaging layer. That’s why this wreck isn’t visible from Earth.”

  They reached the first big piece of wreckage and stopped to examine it. It was about twenty feet across and looked to be part of the ship’s hull.

  Jason reached out and put his gloved hand against the strange looking surface. It was slightly pitted; another indication it had been here for quite some time. The pitting had probably been done by micro meteors. The piece of metal itself had a slight curve to it and several large dents, probably caused by hitting the lunar surface.

  “This metal’s about twelve to fourteen inches thick,” commented Greg, looking at one of the rough edges. “That seems awfully thick for a spacecraft. Why would they use such thick hulls? It would make the weight of the entire ship nearly astronomical.”

  “It’s a big ship,” replied Jason, looking around at all the scattered wreckage.

  From the looks of the wreckage around them, a large part of it seemed to be from the ship’s hull. There was a much larger piece several hundred feet away that seemed to have some sort of rocket engine attached.

  Jason and Greg walked over to the larger piece and stood, mystified. It resembled a rocket engine, but it was unlike any they had ever seen before. It obviously didn’t burn any type of chemical fuel.

  Greg examined the rocket engine section for several minutes before turning to face Jason. “Whatever this thing used for power, it’s far greater than anything we’ve ever thought about. I would guess we’re looking at nuclear fusion, or perhaps even anti-matter.”

  “I’m not surprised,” responded Jason, wondering what type of advanced science they were dealing with. He was familiar with numerous theories about advanced spacecraft design and what would be needed for power. This looked as if it was far beyond anything that he had studied. “Look how large this ship is. Conventional power sources like those that we use currently would never be able to move it. It has to be something exotic.”

  “There’s a lot to learn here,” Greg spoke in sudden realization. “We could advance several fields of science by hundreds of years from what’s in this crater.” He turned and faced the larger, nearly intact front portion of the ship. “Jason, do you realize that there’s no way this ship ever originated in our Solar System? The secret to interstellar travel may be waiting for us over in the front section.” Greg had always dreamed of someday traveling to the stars. He felt a thrill of excitement run up his back as he realized that tantalizing secret might be resting right here in front of him.

  “Don’t get your hopes up too high, Greg,” Jason cautioned. He knew why Greg was feeling so excited. He was feeling the same way. “We don’t know what the inside of the ship may be like. Keep in mind that we’re on the Moon, not down on Earth. This ship will be very difficult to study. We also need to find the transmitter that’s sending out that signal or the people down on Earth will never know what’s here.”

  “You’re right,” Greg replied with a heavy sigh. “But the transmitter is working, and that means there’s still some power in that wreck. That front section looks mostly intact.”

  “I wonder why they crashed?” asked Jason, looking at Greg. “A ship as advanced as this one evidently was shouldn’t have crashed on our moon.”

  “The more complicated a ship becomes, the more likely it is for problems to pop up,” Greg answered. “It could have been a navigational error or some type of serious mechanical problem with the ship. We may never know why they crashed.”

  “Let’s go on to the main section,” suggested Jason, gesturing toward the crater wall where the front of the wrecked spacecraft was. “We’re not going to find any answers out here.”

  The two began walking across the crater toward the main part of the wreck. They had to be careful because there were numerous pieces of wreckage laying everywhere and some of those were quite jagged. It would be easy to fall and rip a hole in one of their spacesuits. After carefully making their way through the field of debris, they found themselves at the main part of the wreck.

  “My God, it’s huge!” Greg spoke in awe, staring upward. The wreck towered above him. “It's over two hundred feet high.”

  “It must have had a large crew,” added Jason, trying to imagine the technology it would take to build such a large spaceship. “I wonder where this ship came from and how it ended up here on the Moon? The bodies of its crew could still be inside.”

  “Bodies?” uttered Greg, stepping back away from the wreck. That was something he hadn’t considered. He looked at Jason with sudden worry. “What do you mean, bodies?”

  “If no rescue ship ever came, there will be bodies inside,” replied Jason, looking at Greg. He was surprised that Greg hadn’t realized this possibility.

  The thought of finding alien bodies made Greg feel uneasy. Was it right for them to enter what was in reality an alien tomb? However, what other choice did they have? The transmitter inside had to be shut down. Greg took a fortifying breath. He knew they had to go inside.

  Greg looked along the hull of the ship. There were several hatches visible above them on the higher levels, but none down where they were. “I don’t see any way in.”

  “Let’s walk around this section of the wreck,” Jason suggested. “There has to be an entry somewhere. We just ne
ed to find it.”

  One thing Jason had noticed immediately was the conspicuous absence of portholes. The hull was solid except for what looked like numerous indentations and hatches. Why were there so many hatches?

  The two slowly walked around the massive wreck. It was obvious that several large explosions had occurred in the rear section, but there was so much tangled and loose metal that Jason didn’t feel it was safe to enter. On the far side, they finally came to a hatch that was within easy reach. It was about fifteen feet high and about the same width.

  There was a large handle on the hatch at chest level, and Greg reached out and pulled on it. He nearly stumbled and fell as the hatch swung easily open. “It’s not sealed!”

  “No,” responded Jason, looking inside. The inner hatch door was partially open. “This might be an indication that a rescue ship did come and the surviving crew were evacuated. That could be why we saw no bodies outside.”

  “That’s great!” Greg said with obvious relief in his voice. “No live aliens and no bodies.”

  “I said it might indicate a rescue,” Jason reminded him.

  Jason turned on his suit lights and carefully stepped farther into what was obviously a very large airlock. A few more steps and he reached the inner hatch. Jason put out his hand against the partially open hatch and pushed. The hatch swung open easily with no noise. The silence was eerie. However, they were in a vacuum, and it was to be expected.

  “Do you see anything?” Greg asked from where he was standing directly behind Jason.

  Jason cautiously stepped out into the corridor and slowly turned to look both ways. He could see a closed hatch toward what would be the front of the ship. In the other direction, he could see what looked like several large metal beams and tangled wreckage blocking the corridor. Looking back toward the closed hatch, he could see what appeared to be several doors or possibly corridors leading off deeper into the ship.

  “Not a lot,” Jason reported as he walked several feet down the corridor in the direction of the closed hatch.

  Greg stepped into the corridor and looked around. He felt a little lightheaded as he realized that he was inside an alien spaceship. The corridor was about twelve feet high and nearly ten feet wide. The only light was coming from the bright lights on their spacesuits. He recalled several of the horror movies he had seen as a kid about what could happen on alien spacecraft. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Those old movies never ended well. He took several deep breaths and calmed back down. He wasn’t a kid anymore.

  “Let’s go down this corridor and check some of those other doors,” suggested Jason, gesturing toward the sealed hatch in the distance. “I want to at least go to that hatch and see if it will open.”

  Greg followed Jason slowly down the corridor. Reaching the first doorway, they found the heavy metal door fully open, exposing the contents of the room. Looking inside, Jason saw several large pieces of strange equipment against the walls. The equipment was covered with numerous dials and switches and what looked like some type of computer screens. All the computer screens looked to be busted, probably from the impact of the crash.

  “Nothing much in here,” commented Greg, trying to imagine the type of beings that might have once worked in this room. He also was relieved to see that there were no bodies.

  “Let’s go on to the closed hatch,” Jason suggested. He was afraid it was going to take them too long to find the transmitter. They only had so much air and power in their suits before they would have to return to the rover.

  The two walked down to the sealed hatch and looked down at the large handle in the center. Reaching forward, Jason grasped the handle and pulled. Nothing happened. Jason spent a minute examining the hatch and decided that it did indeed open toward him. This made sense if this was a pressure hatch since there was an airlock behind them. Jason put his hands on the handle again and tried to turn it, but it still refused to budge.

  “Let’s both try,” Greg suggested.

  Greg moved up until he was standing next to Jason, put his hands on the large handle, and then they both tried to turn it. Nothing! It didn’t budge any at all.

  “It’s not moving,” muttered Greg, disappointed. “Now what do we do?”

  Greg suspected the radio transmitter was somewhere on the other side of this hatch. If he wanted to get back home to his wife and son, they had to find a way around it.

  Jason stepped back and looked at the large hatch, wondering what to do next. This seemed to be the only viable exit from this corridor. “We have to get through this hatch,” he spoke, determinedly. Turning to face Greg, he continued. “As much as I hate to say it, we need to return to the rover and go back to the lander. We’re going to need a few tools to get in. We also need to find some way to get the rover to the wreck. With its oxygen recycling system, it will give us the time we need to explore this ship. As big as this thing is, it may take us a while to find the transmitter.”

  “If it’s in a part of the ship we can even get to,” Greg added worriedly, recalling the tangled wreckage at the other end of the corridor.

  He knew that if it was in the wrecked section, they might not be able to get to it. Their faint hope of being rescued would be dashed. Greg tried not to think about what that would mean.

  The two turned and made their way back down the corridor to the airlock. They walked most of the way in silence. They had a long trip ahead of them back to the lunar lander.

  -

  The next day, they were back at the obstructing hatch. They had gotten a good night’s rest and loaded up what tools they had available to them on the rover. Jason had spent considerable time examining the maps they had of the lunar surface. He had found what appeared to be a lower section of the ridge where they could get the rover across. It had taken an extra two hours, but the rover was now parked next to the open airlock.

  They had brought with them a small mallet and what looked like a short piece of metal pipe. They had found the four-foot length of pipe in the wreckage scattered about the ship.

  Using the pipe as a lever, Jason and Greg tried to force the hatch handle to move. At first it resisted, and then it moved an inch.

  “It’s moving,” Greg grunted as he put even more effort into forcing the hatch handle to open. For another moment, it refused to move, and then the handle suddenly seemed to quit resisting and turned all the way.

  “That’s it,” Jason spoke as he slowly pulled on the handle and the hatch began to open.

  Jason pulled the hatch completely open until it touched the corridor wall. They had brought a powerful portable light with them from the lander. Jason shined the light down the corridor piercing the darkness. There was another metal hatch, but in front of the hatch it looked as if the corridor turned and went deeper into the ship.

  Stepping through the now open hatch, the two slowly walked down the corridor. Occasionally they would stop and glance into rooms with open doors. Inside the rooms, more mysterious equipment and even large crates were visible. In every room, there were signs of damage. There was equipment broken loose from the walls, shattered computer screens, even some evidence of fires.

  “At least we haven’t found any bodies yet,” Greg muttered as they went deeper into the ship.

  Occasionally Jason would stop and mark the metal wall. He was using a rock they had found on the lunar surface to place an x and an arrow indicating the way back out. They had found several more hatches but so far, all had been open.

  “What does this remind you of?” asked Greg, coming to a stop at a flight of stairs that led upward. Something had been haunting the back of his mind for several minutes now. The stairs looked like something you would find on a modern naval ship.

  “A navy ship,” replied Jason, looking in surprise at the stairs. “To be more precise, a navy warship.”

  “Exactly,” responded Greg, nodding his head. “All those indentations and small hatches in the outer hull, I bet there are weapon emplacements behind
them. That’s why the hull is so thick and there are so many pressure hatches in the corridors. This is a ship of war!”

  Jason was silent for a long moment. He realized that Greg might be right. If he was, then what did that mean for Earth? The universe might be a much more dangerous place than one might have imagined.

  “Whoever manned this ship was human like in size,” commented Jason, pointing at the stairs. “They must have been very similar to us.”

  “That’s comforting to know,” Greg replied. He still hoped they didn’t come across any alien bodies.

  Jason stood for a moment at the base of the stairs. He put one foot cautiously on the first step. “Let’s go up to the next level. We need to find the Command Center.”

  They carefully climbed to the next level. It was not an easy job in their bulky spacesuits. Reaching it, they found several more large, open hatches in front of them.

  Something on the wall drew Jason’s attention. Looking closer, Jason saw what looked like writing. Walking over to it, he looked in amazement at a map of the ship. There were several maps displayed. On the first map, there was a round dot in a corridor. Jason guessed this was an indication of their current position. The next two maps were for the levels directly above them. Looking carefully at all three maps, he saw nothing that indicated a Command Center or a communications center. He wasn’t sure he would recognize such if he saw it.

  “We need to go up higher,” Jason reported after studying the maps for another moment. Jason could see another set of stairs a little bit farther down the corridor they were now in.

  For the next thirty minutes, they continued to climb up into the heart of the ship. They were encountering less damage as they moved closer to the center.

  “If this is a ship of war, the Command Center would be located in the most protected spot,” Greg pointed out as they finished climbing another set of stairs.

  “The center,” Jason responded. He had been thinking about that possibility himself. Jason stopped and looked at the three new maps on the wall. On the second map, everything seemed to lead to one general area.