Zhu and Soliman shined their lights over floating bits of glistening material which came out of a section of exposed piping that they had cut out. The small bits had almost vaporized, but they had coalesced just enough to produce small particles like fine snow. Zhu glanced back and forth between the pipe section in Soliman’s hand and the snow all around the two of them.
“I can’t tell for sure now that it’s frozen again,” Zhu began, “but I think that is greywater.”
“OK,” Soliman replied as he started to bag the section of pipe. “I’m going to bag this because it should be able to tell Patterson what kind of nasties was on this ship.”
“Go ahead. We’re here to get everything.”
Zhu moved further into the strange tunnels of the derelict. They did not at all resemble the Nineveh. He grinded his teeth; frustrated and disappointed. There was too much empty space. He had seen plenty of straps and nets in the corridors for securing gear, but it had all been removed. Whoever had arrived earlier thoroughly stripped the ship.
The debris floating all around did yield a few clues to the nature of the dead aliens. He gathered up several bolts and washers, a knife, and what looked like a socket wrench. He would examine them in detail later together with the alien EVA suit. These first trophies suggested a technological level similar to humanity. But he knew that his team was only scratching the surface. To find their real secrets, the two of them had to enter the inaccessible areas – and that was what he would do.
“Let’s head into that area ahead that the probes couldn’t enter. We got a look in with their cameras and I think it holds promise. I at least want a better look at it.”
“Are you sure?” Soliman asked.
“We’re not going to get into any trouble. The bulkhead is dented and pinpricked all over. We can verify it’s safe before we enter.”
“I guess,” he replied.
He started down the hall but didn’t see Soliman’s headlamp shining from behind him and so he turned back. Soliman looked like he was trying to pry away some paneling and he asked him, “What are you doing?”
Soliman ran his fingers over a nozzle coming out of the piping which ran behind the panels. “I think this is emergency breathing for damage control. See the quick connect nozzle; it’s similar to ours.”
“Careful, we don’t know what they breathed. You have a Dremel wheel?” He didn’t and so Zhu searched his tool case and handed over his own. And then he checked the temperature monitor on his suit, which read -201.3 degrees Celsius. It was a near certainty that anything in the pipe had either condensed or froze, but it wouldn’t stay that way. “The heat is going to vaporize some of what’s in there and so you need to cut out a good section of pipe for a quality sample.”
“You think a foot will be good enough?”
“Sure. Cut only a small notch through it first – just in case that’s a high-pressure system. And make sure your boot magnets are on.” Soliman promised to do so and Zhu turned back around. “I’m going to work on this bulkhead door while you cut that.”
“You aren’t going in, are you?” Soliman asked. His voice projected disapproval.
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay on this side until you’re ready. You should finish before me anyways.”
Zhu moved up to the door and shined his light through the perforations. He saw a lot of wreckage in there and he saw more scarring of the ship’s interior. Much of the wreckage was pressed against the door and he reasoned that it had likely been secured to it as a makeshift reinforcing barricade. The crew of the derelict must have had a terrifying last day.
“Darken visor,” he ordered, and his suit’s visor gave a dark tint suitable for torching. He unclipped his laser cutter and began to use it to cut out the door. Its bright blue light illuminated the corridor.
The door was an easy job. He completed his circular cut and then made certain his magnetic boots were energized to their full potential before he tried to pull the door out of the way. He grunted and gasped, straining his muscles, as he incrementally pulled it back into the hall. He could feel perspiration building up on his skin. Weightless was not the same thing as massless, and the door possessed considerable mass. Moving the door without moving himself in undesired ways was proving excruciating.
“Here, let me help you,” came Soliman’s voice from behind.
“You got the sample?”
“Yeah,” he answered, and he held up the sample bag. “We can vaporize it once we get back to the Nineveh and then we’ll have an estimate for what normal atmospheric pressure was for them.” He got as close to Zhu as he could within the constricted corridor and assisted Zhu in pulling the dilapidated door out of the way. They grunted as they dragged the door panel well out of the way. “That’s got as much heft as you do, boss,” Soliman affirmed.
Zhu breathed heavily. The door’s mass and the awkwardness of the corridor had made that job harder than he had expected. “I should probably exercise with you guys more often. Give me a moment’s rest and then we’ll tackle the rest of it. I’ve got to see if there is degradation of the structure. Jerry rigging is never a good sign.”
“We’re pretty far from the pressure hull,” Soliman said. “Do you really think damage here will matter?”
“The only way to know is to see.”
Soliman turned towards the tangled mass of metallic beams, cabinet-like objects, and cargo netting that formed the barricade. “You think pirates got them?” he asked. “They had to be trying to keep someone out.”
“Whatever they were trying to do, it didn’t work. I bet that we’ll find bodies in there. Some of them anyways.”
“Zhu, what are you doing?” It was Patterson over comms.
Zhu recognized her concern. He was confused why she seemed so uncomfortable with his leadership of the team on this evolution. He wished she would find something productive to do, but he knew he needed to downplay their activities. “We’re removing some debris so that we can enter a room or two that the drones were able to peer into but couldn’t enter. We’re just taking a more detailed look to evaluate the derelict’s condition.”
I am an engineer, you know. I’m as competent at assessing an alien spaceship as you. And I’ve got real world experience.
He patiently waited. Silence. “If you don’t want us to go, we won’t go.”
“Samoylova, do you have any concerns?” Patterson asked.
“It’s an alien derelict,” she replied, “everything is potentially dangerous. But the area looks to be pretty well stripped. I doubt that there are any surviving lifeforms or functioning automation. I don’t have any objections to investigating.”
“We’ll do whatever you want if we do find the crew’s remains or any robotics or automation. If you want to leave it for the research base then I’m fine with that, if that is the proper call. We can pass it for now. But I really would like to see how much of the ship is behind here and evaluate its structure.”
“We know they had a violent altercation,” Soliman said. “I think he may be right in wanting to see how much damage that caused. An inspection shouldn’t take long. And we can kind of see in there right now.”
Silence again. This wouldn’t do. They needed to evaluate the ship and then rig it for tow and turn the Nineveh around for an egress. The Elios were the real danger. This ship was a once in a century prize. It was true that the derelict was dangerous just as all abandoned starships are, but this was within their capabilities. It was a little danger. They had taken similar risks for far less.
“Okay,” Patterson said. “Make certain to keep your comms link with Chandna and myself.”
“I’ll keep an eye and ear on it,” Chandna promised.
“I’m moving in then,” Zhu said. “We understand to watch our signal level.”
Soliman prepped his laser cutter and came up alongside Zhu, and then they began to work in unison. The work was slow and cumbersome because they couldn’t clearly see how it was all put together. They cut obvious connections and when pieces still didn’t move they further inspected parts of the assembly by looking it over and feeling with their hands. But as more and more of the barricade was removed they could see more of the other side. And some ten meters away there was another door which was partially shut and two more sets of the aliens’ pressure suits. These did not appear to be empty.
Zhu breathed deeply with anticipation. “Do you see what we see, Patterson?”
“I see it. Proceed with caution.”
They cleared an opening large enough to pass through single file. Zhu passed in first and scanned the area, and then he helped pull Soliman through. They approached the pair of pressure suits.
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“Patterson,” Zhu said, “we found two of the crew.”
“Dead of course,” Soliman said as if the clarification was needed. “Torn all over.”
“Leave them alone for now," Patterson said. "I’ll send a larger sample bag over to retrieve one for study. Get your survey done and get out.”
“Understood,” Zhu said, and he began to shine his light around. Scoring marks from laser weapons fire were plainly visible. But there was something new with the scoring here. Not all of it appeared to be from random shooting. There were clear patterns carved into the paneling. It looked like a form of writing.
Long tubes which he assumed were conduit runs seemed to congregate and run into the partially blocked room ahead. The heavy door ahead had a placard on it. He guessed that it served the same purpose as those on the Nineveh.
“How many do you think there were?” Soliman asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he answered. I’m just hoping this ship hasn’t been picked dry. “I’m not sure what it was actually used for. We haven’t found any extensive manufacturing rooms or areas for food production…”
“Yeah!” Soliman said. “Man, you’re right. It’s built like it served short routes.”
“And that’s a real puzzle since it’s out here,” Zhu said.
“Maybe it’s ancient,” Soliman suggested. “It’s been drifting in space for eons. Patterson, can you determine how old it is from the samples we took?”
“Sorry,” Patterson said. “I can’t do that without knowing what star it’s from. I’d appreciate it if you would bag small items and efficiently survey what you need to.”
“I’ve got what looks like a firearm here,” Soliman said. “You want that?”
“Yes,” Patterson said.
Zhu walked over to the nearest alien floating in the room. It was wearing a type of light pressure suit which was frayed and no helmet. Zhu turned the dead alien around. Its exposed face was cracked and lifeless, and there was a large rip in the suit just below the seal for the helmet. The fabric was stained black. “This corpse is armed too. It’s tore up pretty good. The weapon didn’t stop whoever did this.”
“Boss, I don’t like this,” Soliman said. “Are you certain there won’t be any leftover surprises from their last fight.”
“I don’t think we can be certain of much of anything. But it doesn’t matter. Keep a sharp mind and we’ll both be alright.”
“Then we leave them for now and examine the structure?”
Zhu shined his light “No, look around. Whatever they were trying to kill might still be around.”
“Dead, right?”
“Of course.”
Zhu illuminated two more bodies in spacesuits in a corridor above his head. One of the bodies was missing several limbs, which floated freely nearby. The other seemed to be intact. “Here’s two more. Let’s take a look.”
And a silent Traveler watched their intrusion.
Zhu pushed off the surface he was against and coasted up to the two bodies, impacting them gently. He turned one of them around and saw the suit split open and what looked like frozen guts protruding. He pushed it aside and looked at the other. It was different. The suit was torn near the ends of several of its many limbs and some sort of cybernetic appendages emerged from them. He looked at the horrific sharp edges on them. A string of low beeps caught his attention and he momentarily brought up his HUD. The wireless signal for Comms had cut out. He shouldn’t stay here long.
“Some kind of cyborg?” Soliman asked from behind.
“No. When have you ever seen a suit shredded like this? You adapt your space suits to accommodate augmentation.”
“So what happened to him?”
Zhu looked over the front of the suit. “I don’t know. But you can see from the laser shots that, whatever happened, it wasn’t good.” Zhu glanced back at Soliman, “Come over here. I want to get his helmet off.”
“Shouldn’t we leave him and inspect the ship?”
“It’ll only take a minute. C’mon.”
Soliman came up on the other side of the alien corpse. “Alright, I got a hold of it.”
Let’s see what the rest of you looks like.
Zhu tried twisting the helmet and quickly found the right way to separate it from its seal. He lifted the helmet off and grimaced at the sight. The alien was covered in some syrupy fluid and ugly to begin with. I’s flesh seemed blistered and cracked. But the many sharp, fibrous appendages which tore out of its skin looked utterly painful. They now glowed with seeming bioluminescence.
But even worse was the fact that they seemed to be alive. They curled to point towards him as if assessing him. He felt his chest become heavy and his pulse spike. It’s frozen, dead.
But it wasn’t. It moved.
Am I imagining? “Did you see that, Patterson?”
“Let’s get on with the inspection,” Soliman said. “I got no signal.”
“No, wait a minute. This should be frozen stiff. Hold on to it for a minute longer, I’m going to get a sample of this fluid.”
Zhu reached down to pull another sample bag off of his thigh. A soon as he did a snake like appendage ejected from a tear in the alien suit and thrust into his chest. The attack was only a blur. Alarms blared in his suit and he felt sharp pain in his chest. He was losing air fast.
“Help me,” Zhu shouted as he reached for his chest and tried to stop the rest of the creature from slipping inside his spacesuit. “Get this off!” The alien glowed with red fire.
Zhu saw Soliman push the alien corpse aside, moving in the opposite direction in the process, but then he kicked off a surface and came at him. Soliman reached for his chest to try to pull the creature out.
“What the heck is that!” he shouted. “Patterson! Chandna! I have a casualty!”
Zhu could feel the pressure dropping fast in his suit. It wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t breathe though. “Pull it out!” Zhu tasted the saltiness of blood in his mouth as he coughed. And then he threw up. Something horrible in his stomach. The pain was excruciating as if he had been stabbed with a knife. Maybe it functioned that way. It took a sharp point and a lot of force to get through several layers of Kevlar fabric.
Soliman’s eyes bulged with panic. “It’s in your suit! I have to patch it and get you out of here.”
Zhu prayed that he would have time. The tear was likely worse now that the creature wasn’t obstructing it. But he could feel the wet sensation from his blood over his chest. He prayed that would keep him from losing air too fast. A chill crept through his body and he knew that he would soon black out.
And no response from Chandna or Patterson.
----------------------------------------
Patterson had first monitored the mission from her desk, dividing her displays into sections for each team’s camera feeds. She took notes, sketching out a research plan for the outbound. De Silva called her frequently, apparently remembering their earlier talk. They both agreed the operation was going well. The drones had quickly surveyed a large area of the ship, finding nothing of danger. Then most of the team entered the derelict and began to spread out across the room, requiring more effort for her to keep watch over each of them.
“So far, I feel they are safer inside than on the hull,” De Silva said.
“So far, yes.”
The derelict had a familiar industrial look, but with the proportions and orientation distinctly alien. She had the team closely examine the access panels, conduit runs, and such. There were markings on these which she recorded video of. She had expected this. They too must have built their spacecraft with operations and maintenance in mind, and so positive identification was attached to the equipment.
The Nineveh was like this. Numbers, lettering, and signage was plastered everywhere to enable quick and certain identification. And they were all quite distinct from one another since they originated in distinct cultures. There were three scripts – Hanzi, Latin script, and Cyrillic. But the numbering originated with Arabic, and the signage could best be described as Industrial.
She had no idea how many distinct families of symbols were on the alien ship. They would record every image (together with the items they were associated with) to build a database which TURING could sort through during the voyage home. She wasn’t naive enough to believe they could decipher it all, but it was quite possible they would have a basic understanding of their system for visual identification.
And the Company could sell that to their buyer also. Throw in another bonus or start from scratch.
De Silva quickly noted her interest. “Do you think you know what some of this says?”
“No, I’m just gathering it up for science. Sci-Med work…don’t pay me any mind.”
He chuckled and dropped off the channel. She next had them stand up the alien EVA suit. The creature which had once inhabited it was short and bulky. It had ten limbs, and the spacesuit provided no appreciable means of turning the head. Then again, early human ones didn’t either.
“I know you’ve seen information that’s kept from the public,” De Silva said. “Is that an Elio?”
She shook her head. “Start concentrating these finds for transport to the Nineveh.
“Will do,” Zhu said. “We were waiting for you to say that.” He sounded overjoyed.
She then agreed with Zhu and De Silva to explore the interior of the vessel.
Stocky and Soliman finished preparing the derelict’s hull, and then Soliman went with Zhu further into the ship while Stocky began to gather the equipment in the vicinity of the loading bay. He at first packed the recovered equipment in a couple of the alien crates. “Feel free to stop me if you’re afraid something is fragile or warrants special packaging,” he said.
“Okay. You’re doing fine for now.”
She followed all the teams but she paid her personnel the most attention. It took a while before she was consciously aware of that fact. She guessed that she had grown attached to them. Fuller gave her a minor scare by being clumsy when squeezing through a cut door. Stocky though looked like he had done this before. Then again, he had to quickly adjust to new environments frequently with his mining work and maybe this wasn’t that different.
Stocky also talked with her a lot over a private channel he had established. He set it up back when he was stripping the Whipple shield, saying he needed to break the monotony of his work. She knew that wasn’t fully true, but obliged him. He stopped when the whole team was in the loading bay, but they spoke again now that they had left. But it was now mostly work related.
“I think I’ll be ready to send these to you shortly, boss,” he said.
“No, I’ll have Moussa send our own containers. I don’t know how those alien ones are built, and if they’re porous then they have interior surfaces that aren’t easy to decontaminate.”
He shined his light on one to show the specular reflection. “It doesn’t look porous.”
“I agree, but I’m not trusting my uncalibrated eyes.”
“Okay, I’ll venture a little way into the halls to gather the stuff just beyond the loading bay. Tell him to send us containers that will fit through the emergency access in Sci-Med. We can launch the ambulance pod on our return to clear the access, force our salvage through, and then redock.”
“I like that idea. I’ll get it ready and monitor the rest of the mission from ambulance access. Stay safe, big guy.”
He smiled. “Aye, ma’am. One thing before you leave your station…can I break open the lockers and panels that are still sealed?”
The request made her nervous. They didn’t know what was within them. “Do the lockers and such appear to be pressurized?” Not all gases would have condensed at the ship’s internal temperature and they had time to verify.
“I don’t think so. I can check.”
“If they’re not, then cut a small hole and put a borescope camera through. Don’t open them until you know what’s inside isn’t dangerous. Don’t disturb them if they are pressurized. We don’t want a to risk a depressurization setting off unstable material while distracted with the Engineering survey.”
“Understood. I look forward to hearing from you when you get repositioned.”
She nodded and watched him inspect and open the first locker. Satisfied with his ability, she left her office, went down the hall, and took the elevator up to the Isolab. And she directed Moussa to send a line of containers to the loading bay with another football while on the way. And the smaller the better.
She went to the ambulance bay and prepped the pod for launch. Although it was called an ambulance it was really just a stretcher in a canister with some basic medical functions. She checked on the teams using her tablet and saw that Zhu was trying to get into an area that was previously inaccessible. She talked it over with him and authorized it.
Then she went back down to her office. And when she got there she saw the warning for Zhu and Soliman losing comms. It didn’t bother her at first. But she counted the seconds and quickly grew angry that Zhu had not backtracked to restore it. And a moment later she got Soliman’s report.
She ran back to the Isolab, panicked and not angry, to launch the ambulance pod.