Fiction: The Girassian Debacle: Chapter 16: Like a Pit that would Swallow Them

Art by Rain Elegy

Previous Chapter 15 The Jungle Canopy was Covered by Heavy Snow: https://onthebeachatnightalone.com/2023/09/26/fiction-the-girassian-debacle-chapter-16-the-jungle-canopy/

Senator Mitchell looked miserable on the view screen. “How much longer are we going to be breaking like this? I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack!”

“Senator, hang in there. We’re going to ease up in a few minutes,” Maureau said.  But I‘m sorry, you will need to keep your G-suit on. We’ve gone into Condition One Action Station and that means everyone has to be ready for high G forces.”

“Is that like being at battle stations?”

“Yes, it is. Stay horizontal and stay buckled up. This will be over soon.”

“What’s going on, Captain?”

“That is classified, I’m afraid.”

The Senator shook his head but said nothing more. He was very pale. He closed the call.

“Yoshi,” Maureau said, “is the Senator all right?”

Yoshi lay in its jumpseat, strapped in for Condition One. “Senator Mitchell is monitored. He is stressed moderately high. Vital metrics are stable and within his tolerance. Easing back towards zero G will be beneficial for the Senator and for an additional twenty-two star sailors. They are all being moderately stressed.”

“As soon as we pull clear of the interference bubble, we can ease up on deceleration.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Yoshi glanced at Commander Gray, who just shook her head.

For a moment the tension on the bridge broke, a few officers laughing. Maureau smiled. “Where did you come up with that?”

“Yoshi is constantly searching its database. ‘Aye aye’ was a common expression used on surface vessels.” 

“But it’s not used on Star Force ships,” Gray said.

Yoshi appeared displeased. “‘Aye aye’ means that the order is ‘received and understood, and will be executed.’” 

Maureau laughed. “If the EO thinks it’s not appropriate, then we will ask you to just answer ‘Yes, Captain’.” 

Gray rolled her eyes. “I do think the BDP should just acknowledge orders as ‘affirmative’ or ‘affirmative, will execute.’ We are not an ancient naval ship.” 

“Affirmative, Commander,” Yoshi said, meeting Gray’s gaze. 

Yoshi announced in a higher voice than usual, “Captain, the London has just fallen back out of the interference bubble. There is now a line of communication to the Portal.” 

 “Maintain deceleration that maintains our position outside of the bubble and gets us to the nil-void target able to match the needle-ship.” 

Gray stepped to the side of Maureau. “Captain, now that we’re able to signal the Portal, we should request they contact Star Force Central for us and give them an update on our status.” 

Maureau nodded. “I agree. Include that request to the Emissaries.” Gray immediately contacted the AIC and provided an update for Central Command to be sent by the Emissary Portal Control. 

“Sir, we need to manage the time we spend away from our Mars transit. I expect the Emissaries know what we’re encountering. Our mission should be to collect as much information as possible for Star Force? We’ll want to have a team ready to go spaceside on arrival to save time.” 

“Recommendation noted. Commander, before deploying an EVA, we will wait for a response from the Emissaries,” Maureau said. “If they do know what we are dealing with, we might be able to  get back on our way without delay. We will hold the team in the London until we hear from the Emissary Portal Command. “ 

A sense of disembodiment suddenly swept over Maureau. Leaning forward, he rubbed his eyes and forehead. He felt as if his chair was falling over and grabbed the arm rests. His vision went black for a moment. Having Song on the bridge would really be helpful right now. Is this just weakness from the head trauma? Or is it something else? 

“If closer scanning shows there was a crew, boarding the ship would allow us to look for survivors,” Gray said.

Maureau felt indecisive, his own thinking not make sense to himself. And he was not connecting with Gray.  Is it just me? Or is she pushing to get a team deployed immediately? Are we on the same page?

Maureau let out a long, silent sigh. “Commander, go ahead and ready the team.  Let us evaluate the vessel first, before deploying them.” Gray called the Security Division and ordered Lieutenant Song to suit up her team and exit the ship in deployment outside near the London.

The bridge was silent as they approached the needle-ship. The London came to a near complete stop and changed directions, matching speed with the needle-ship. They maintained a parallel course one kilometer away. Weightlessness felt so good after the hours of experiencing increased weight. 

“Captain, this is the AIC. We have lost signal from the probe. I cannot tell why, but it suddenly powered off.”

“AIC, how far away from the needle-ship was it when this happened?”

“The probe moved to within one hundred meters of the target when it powered off.”

“Yoshi. AIC. Can we reboot the probe and recover it?” Both reported simultaneously they were working on it.

Maureau felt exposed as they skirted the brink of oblivion, according to Yoshi, a hole into another universe. There would be no help for them if they got into trouble, the nearest ship being more than twelve hours away. He was surprised over the dark, deep emotion of aloneness he felt.  “ I want to know if the needle-ship had anything to do with the probe failing. Yoshi, have the impulse engines ready online for acceleration away from here.” 

“Yoshi, update us on readings from the needle-ship,” Gray said. 

“There has been no change, Commander. The probe detected no life signs aboard the ship just before going dark. The nidus of energy amidships has not changed. It appears, London has encountered a ‘ghost ship.’”

Everyone on the bridge turned and looked at Yoshi. “You’re right, Yoshi,” Maureau said. “I feel like we are dealing with ghosts.” Maureau shivered. “We have indeed encountered a ghost ship.” 

#

Before Maureau’s return to the bridge Commander Gray had already ordered Lieutenant Kristina Song to form a team to inspect the ship. Song included herself on the EVA team. She felt she had to be on the team to establish confidence in her leadership within the platoon. Being a new, just demoted, commander was one thing. But not being a Star Force marine challenged her legitimacy further in their eyes. The third strike against her was the news circulating of the public beating she had received sparring with their former commander. 

She had the equipment for a spacewalk assembled and the selected team carefully inspected it in the bay next to the airlock. They were ready for the order to suit up when the order came in. The current zero G made it easy to take off their G-suits while teamwork prevented one another floating away from their equipment.

“This sure beats the hell out of patrolling passageways aboard Alpha One.” Master Chief Petty Officer Hall beamed, his eyes catching Song’s.  He looked at the needle-ship out a port near the airlock hatchway, holding a handle to prevent floating away. “Thank you, Sir, for getting me transferred to the London.” 

“A smile flickered on Song, but she remained focused on the needle-shaped vessel. Now, the London drifted less than a kilometer away from it. “This is Song to bridge. What do you make of this? It’s blacker than the space around us. London’s spotlights illuminate nothing. I see no features. No hatches or antennas. Nothing that looks like a propulsion system.”

Yoshi spoke up immediately. “Commander Song. This is Yoshi. The hull is made up of an organometal mixture. It absorbs light. ” 

“We should be cautious,” Hall said to Song. “It may eat us.” Song did not smile. 

Petty Officer, Jonathan Nansted, shuffled nervously as he tightened his EVA power pack. “This is bold, sending us out like this. We’ve no idea what we’re dealing with.”

“The probe and London’s sensors are not picking up any life forms,” Song said. She gave Nansted the most reassuring look she could.

“But it could be robotic and defend itself if we approach it.”

“Don’t worry,” Hall said.  “We’ve moved right on top of this vessel. Can’t get much closer without ramming it. It would’ve fired on us already if London were processed as a threat. The most dangerous action has already taken place, us coming in this close.” Song appreciated Hall’s reassuring attitude.  

“We will board only if there is an open entry. There will be no breaching of the hull,” Song said.

“It gives me the creeps. They already sent out a probe. If we aren’t going to board the ship, what are we going out for?” said the fourth of her team, Petty Officer Jeannie Kelley. “This walk seems unnecessary.”

Song sensed the strain in Kelley’s voice. She thought of offering both Nansted and Kelley the option of opting out of the walk. But both cherished the value of courage intrinsic to a Star Force marine and would decline the choice out of pride. Offering it to them would insult them and be a sign she did not know how to command marines.

 Song pointed to equipment they were going to carry. “I agree with you, Kelley. We need to break this contact as soon as possible and get back on track to Mars. But we’re going to be carrying a hull surface sensor and a tracker. At the very least, placing a tracker on this ship will enable Star Force to find it more easily after we leave.” 

“Shouldn’t we all be carrying arms, Sir?” Nansted said. He was the only one who would carry a pulse rifle.

“No. I do not want to present as an armed unit. We are coming simply to communicate and inspect. You will bring up the rear and stay back when we approach the ship.” Song could see this did not reassure Nansted.

“Then, I appear to be the only aggressor,” he said. 

“We won’t have you go into the ship if we end up going in. You won’t appear as an aggressor. We’ll have you only secure the entryway.”

Hall gave her a quizzical look which she could not interpret. It made her wonder if her tactics were wrong. But she was not going to ask Commander Gray if she agreed with her deployment plan. If anyone was going to be a target, it was going to be her as she would be out in front of the team.

#

The London had not received a response from the Emissaries for well over ten minutes since the line of communication to the Portal opened. “We should have been acknowledged by now, within minutes of them receiving our message.” Maureau sat back in his chair.

Commander Gray floated near him with her hands behind her back. “This vessel should respond to our hail whether manned or robotic. The ship appears to be of advanced technology. If it’s an unmanned probe, I would expect it would be programmed to respond in some way to our approach and our signals.  Maybe it’s damaged.”

Maureau studied the light-sucking ship in the London’s search lights. It extended across the bridge’s monitor screen. “Yoshi, is it possible there is a crew in suspension for travel through a nil-void and we are just not able to detect them?” 

“I think there would be power detectable throughout the ship if it carried a suspended crew,” Gray answered before Yoshi could respond. “Captain, I recommend we deploy the marine team to assess this ship. I believe it’s damaged. If it had a crew in suspension, they are probably lost.”

Yoshi interjected, “Given the ghost ship has come from another universe, there is a probability that a crew is in suspension. Without life signatures the probability is zero point two five.”

“That’s a higher probability than I would expect.” Maureau wished he knew how Yoshi came up with that assessment, but there was no time to review it.

“We are at just inside one thousand meters.  It will take only minutes for Lieutenant Song’s team to move to the ship.” Gray said. “An attached probe will give us better information.”

Maureau stared out the bridge’s view portal at the ghost ship as it moved further away from the remnant of the nil-void. The energy layer around the nil-void collapsed into a sphere of light. And then, it blinked out.

“Captain, we have an unobstructed line of communication to Alpha One,” both the AIC and Yoshi reported in unison over one another.

At that moment, Maureau did not want to deal with communications to Central Command. He worried about Song being on the EVA. The zero gravity did not dispel the leaden weakness of his limbs. “Commander Gray, hold on reporting our contact to Central Command. Let’s see what we are dealing with first.” Is my gut telling me something? Something is not right here.

The bridge monitor flashed. An Emissary appeared onscreen.  It wore a red helmet with a mirrored face shield. Bright silver lines glinted in the red metal, streaking backwards from the front of the helmet. Armor of the same material as the helmet covered its chest, in its center a bright glow making the viewers squint. The Emissary was motionless.

“London. This is Emissary Portal Control. Your report received. Proceed with caution. We analyzed the data sent to us. This void, you are calling a nil-void, is unlike anything we know. The vessel is unknown.

“As you requested, will relay your message to Alpha One. Proceed with caution.  Keep us apprised of your condition. This is the end of this message. ”

Gray acknowledged the message. “Well. That was not very helpful,” she said. Gray now floated in front of Maureau.

“I recommend we investigate the ship. Shall I give the order to deploy outside of the ship?” She waited for his answer. “Captain? Captain, are you all right? 

“Commander Song, I mean Gray. Commander Gray, why do you ask that?”

“Sir, you did not respond to my question. Our scans still show no life forms or ship-wide power. It’s safe to go and explore it. I recommend we deploy our EVA team immediately. They can wait near the ghost ship until you deem it appropriate for them to proceed to the hull.”

“Commander Gray, you sound like you would like to be on this team.”

“Yes, Sir. I would. Lieutenant Song is fortunate to lead my marines.” 

Maureau felt going forward was wrong, but he could not think of a rational argument for delaying further. “Commander, you can have the EVA team move forward and deploy the hull surface sensor. 

She gave Song’s team the order to leave the ship and move to the ghost ship. 

#

Song received Gray’s order to deploy outside of the ship but to stay close to the London and not proceed to the ghost ship until given another order. The EVA team left the airlock and spread out in a line along the hull, staying within twenty meters of the London. 

It took the slightest touch of the pulse rockets to get to this distance. The team worked inefficiently, overshooting their set point. Overcorrecting, they surged forward, pulsed to a stop and changed direction. Then they had to correct again to keep from accelerating into the ship. Even Song, usually precise, noted things were off. They finally gained stability, nearly motionless relative to the ship.

“Bridge. This is Song. We are in position and awaiting a go.” 

Song hoped they would not have to wait long. Their order betrayed hesitation by Captain Maureau. He usually acted with brisk precision in his directives. Waiting in space made no sense to her. Song watched her heads up display timer counting the seconds, then the minutes, they worked to maintain their static position.

“EVA team. This is Commander Gray.” She paused. “Proceed to within thirty meters of the target ship. At that distance, deploy the hull surface sensor and activate a scan.”

Song smiled. Gray hardly needed to identify herself, but it was protocol. “EVA team. Move out. Proceed slowly. Orders as given.  Follow directly behind me at ten meter intervals. Hall. Kelley. Nansted in the rear.”

“Bridge. Song here. We are having navigation problems. Our pulse jets are working opposite what they should. Why is that? Is this a programming issue?”

“I noticed that, too, while we were trying to steady,” Hall said.

She moved forward pulsing the rockets that should have propelled her away from the ghost ship. Song adapted immediately, the others in the team not so quickly. Nansted accelerated past Song.

The light from the London’s high intensity search lamps generated no reflection. The ghost ship looked like a pit that would swallow them. 

Next: Chapter 17 The Ghost Ship Quivered https://onthebeachatnightalone.com/2023/10/31/fiction-the-girassian-debacle-chapter-17-the-ghost-ship-quivered/