Chapter 2 – Red Dot, Green Dot

The sharp metallic sound of the ship’s alarm rang all over the decrepit vessel. In its wild tumble down the atmosphere of the mysterious planet, it had sustained quite a beating. But the damage was yet unknown. The former flight deck was entirely sealed off from the outside, and now housed 8 people and 4 dead bodies. The body bags were placed in the very corner of the room, to keep them out of sight, as if to ignore the loss the rest had suffered. There wasn’t enough time to grieve after all.

The remaining crew, all battered and bruised, were desperately trying to use their terminals to get any kind of update or find a glimpse of hope within the dark and gloomy room. They had managed to silence the alarm, but the red flashing light that signified an emergency was ongoing, further disorienting and freaking everyone out. Only the most injured of the group, the captain, sat on his chair staring blankly at the viewport, which was now covered behind a 3-inch-thick metal shielding. The captain’s once pristine uniform was now a blood soaked and shredded mess. He was still out of it, barely registering what was happening around him. He was mumbling the same thing over and over, “Prepare… first… the dead…”

No one had any idea what he was mumbling, chalking it up to a concussion. The XO took over command for the time being. She was trying hard to maintain her nerves so that the other crew did not panic. Sara Schneider had been on numerous difficult missions before. But this situation was unlike any other. The total breakdown in a spaceship’s communication, along with an emergency crash landing on an unknown planet, would be a nightmare by any standards. But add in the fact that they were light years away from their solar system, and that the hull may now have massive ruptures, they were beyond just nightmarish trouble.

“Does anyone have an update?” she barked out, trying to get the situation under control.

“Negative, XO. The comms are down, as is the ship’s mainframe. I cannot even raise Neura. At this point, we are well and truly blind and deaf to anything outside this room,” replied the middle-aged man of Asian descent. Barry Wong was the Chief Communications Engineer aboard the Star Gazer, and his slightly chubby physique was testament to his averseness to physical labor. His time was better spent before a computer screen than with a hammer. But he was excellent at what he did, which was why Schneider had specifically requested his addition to the roster.

“Nothing from my end either, XO,” added the ebony skinned lady with a very thick African accent, Nansubuga Gambe. As the chief robotics engineer, she would have overseen repairing the bots and other secondary system that Neura would need. But since all comms were down, and Neura was offline, her hands were literally tied. The other crew members too shook their heads or gave terse replies to show that it wasn’t looking good. Something needed to be done, and soon. But Schneider didn’t know what.

“Well, how about our ExoSuits? Did those come out unharmed?” Schneider asked their chief of security, Daniel Craig. He would have been a very good-looking man, with dark hair and brown eyes. Unfortunately, a childhood accident had disfigured his nose a tiny bit, but it hardly affected his charming smile. A smile that was entirely absent given the circumstances.

“From what I see, only 7 of the 12 suits are fully functional. I can maybe try to jerry rig one more by tearing down the others for parts. But I can’t guarantee it,” he replied solemnly while briefly turning to the 4 body bags on the other side of the room. Checking the ExoSuits was supposed to be the life support engineer’s job. But unfortunately, he was among the dead.

Everyone stopped their activities briefly as they turned towards where Craig was looking. The pain was especially apparent on Indira Patel’s, their chief medic, face. The somber woman with curly black hair had tried her best to administer aid, even though her right arm was broken at two different locations. But it was to no avail. For a moment, the entire flight deck was silent, each crew reminiscing about the lives of their lost comrades. Their entire existence now living on in the memories of those that survived.

Schneider too was saddened by the unexpected loss. But her duty demanded that she move on so that others could survive. But she didn’t have the heart to break the others out of the reverie they were in, instead choosing to look at her own terminal instead. She pulled up the duty roster of the primary operations crew who were supposed to be stationed in this room.

The Star Gazer Duty Roster

Position

Name

Status

Captain

Alexander Romanov

Alive/Incapacitated

Executive Officer

Sarah Schneider

Alive/Minor injuries

Pilot

Zach Brown

Dead

Chief of Security

Daniel Craig

Alive/Minor injuries

Life Support Engineer

Nolan Mathews

Dead

Communications Engineer

Barry Wong

Alive/Minor injuries

Chief Medic

Indira Patel

Alive/Major injuries

Cryogenics Engineer

Carlos Rodriguez

Alive/Major injuries

Safety Officer

Yashiro Takeshi

Dead

Robotics Engineer

Nansubuga Gambe

Alive/Minor injuries

On-board Weapons Specialist

Henry Smith

Dead

Power Systems Engineer

Nimal Perera

Dead

The four names that were labeled dead pulled at her gut, but she had to be thankful that at least most of her men and women had survived. She knew each of the deceased personally through one mission or another. They were truly remarkable individuals, the best that humanity had to offer. She closed the list, having decided that the momentary grieving period was sufficient for now.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Alright then, you and the doc can stay back with the captain, while I will lead the rest to do a physical recon of the ship. You have my permission to tear into any non-essential systems or damaged suits to repair the extra one that we need to outfit the rest,” she spoke in a commanding voice to get everyone’s attention. The sooner they managed to re-establish comms and analyze their situation, the faster they could formulate a plan for escape. Or survival.

The others nodded as they headed for the laid out ExoSuits, another testament to human ingenuity. The suits were made of multiple layers of ballistic shielding, and critical life support systems that would allow them to function unhindered in harsh terrain for weeks. If not for the biological need to eat, the suits could function for months, even years without requiring any tune up or maintenance. Each suit was built with an on-board power source that could theoretically provide the required energy indefinitely. In short, the meat suits that they were built for were the limiting factor in their operation.

Once everyone donned their state-of-the-art armored suits, they grabbed a weapon from the secure hold that was keyed into their respective DNA signatures, which it authorized by communicating with the suit’s interface. Only the registered owner of the weapon could fire the plasma discharge projectiles. In anyone else’s hands it would be nothing but a glorified whacking stick. The helmets of the ExoSuits also came with various sensors such as IR cameras and night vision which worked in tandem with the heads-up display, HUD for short. The information was then directly projected onto the retinal implants of the wearer. This completely negated the need for a glass front which was always a safety hazard due to its brittle nature. The suits also allowed free communication between each other and overlayed a name atop everyone to distinguish the identical armor.

“Comm check,” Schneider spoke into her suit’s built in microphone. The transmitters had an effective range of 200 kilometers (124 miles) and wouldn’t be hindered by any physical barriers.

“Reading loud and clear, XO,” replied Rodrigues, followed by the other two who were going with her – Wong, and Gambe. The party of four had trained extensively for such operations, and it was almost second nature to them by this point.

“Alright. Hang tight Officers Craig and Patel. And keep a close eye on the captain. Reach out to us if anything urgent comes up. Everyone else, watch your footing, and keep your head on a swivel. We don’t know which sections are on the brink of collapse. Under no circumstances are you to expose yourself to the outside till we have ascertained it is safe to do so. Move out,” she commanded as the three under her command walked into the airlock with her and sealed the door behind them.

As the airlock’s pressure equalized, the outer door opened to reveal a pitch-dark corridor. They turned on their helmet mounted flashlights and spread out to cover the two ends of it. Schneider walked in the lead position; her gun weapon aimed straight at the closest door. But it was nonresponsive. They made a quick perimeter sweep of the adjoining rooms and gathered back at the airlock.

“All I see is more damaged terminals, and rubble. We will probably need to head to the middle of the ship to get to the other sleeping pods,” said Wong. “Then we can wake up some more hands to help with the mission. We need to reach the tail end of the ship if we are to reestablish contact with Neura. And we need her badly.”

Wong was the only one among the crew who referred to Neura as a she/her. He was old school and preferred his AI assistants to be female for some reason. The others thought about what he said, and having no better solution, decided to do what he suggested.

The group marched in a coordinated manner as they swept through the Star Gazer. Each section obliterated either pre- or post-crash. The fires were snuffed out by the safety systems, but random sparks from exposed wiring were all too common. They had to back track multiple times, since some sections were sealed off. When they tried looking through the portholes, all they saw was that the other side was frozen solid. One of the suits scanners read a staggeringly low temperature of negative 250 Celsius, which was almost absolute zero. For a planet without a sun, this wasn’t unexpected.

“Ah,” Rodrigues flinched, his voice carrying over the comms.

“Rodriguez, Report,” Schneider asked, her voice laced with professional concern.

“All good, XO. I think I tore one of my stitches. Nothing to be concerned about,” he replied. He had a nasty gash on his right leg which hindered certain movements.

“Roger that. Head back if it’s something you can’t handle,” she replied. Although she hated taking him along, there were no other good options.

The three continued in silence through the maze-like structure for another 20 minutes, before approaching a massive blast door that was wide enough to let battle tanks through. It separated the ship’s armory from the rest of the ship and had strict control protocols. Unfortunately, all other ways to the middle section were locked out, leaving this as the only option.

Gambe approached the control panel and connected a probe jutting out of her suit’s wrist section. It allowed for emergency hard line connections in case of emergencies such as this. She typed a few things on the touch screen display on her left wrist. Schneider stood beside her while the other two stood with their backs to the door, guarding their rear.

“Any luck?” Schneider asked.

“Just… a… second,” Gambe replied, her entire focus on the rapidly flowing text on her wrist. After roughly 45 seconds, she whooped in delight, “Yes. The door still works. The wiring took a beating, and I had rerouted power from other places, buuuuut. Here. We. Go.”

She stood up triumphantly as Schneider patted her back for a job well done. But the XO’s hand froze in midair when they saw what was on the side.

“Umm, XO?” Wong asked without turning around. Their field training had drilled in some habits that were hard to die. Under no circumstances were they allowed to give up their lookout.

“I got the rear,” Rodrigues spoke while aiming his gun straight to their rear. Only then did Wong step back and turn around.

“What the actual f…,” Wong froze mid-sentence.

“Would you guys just tell me what the hell is going on?” Rodriguez asked. When no response came, he was unable to hold in his curiosity anymore. He stepped towards the wall to his right to better cover himself from both sides and looked at what his team was gawking at. Only to find… nothing.

As in, there was no one there at all. As though his team just disappeared into thin air. He could see the debris scattered about in the large room on the other side, but not a living soul was to be found. Panic set in as he wildly checked every angle with his finger on the trigger. But nothing jumped at him.

“XO, Wong, Gambe, report. Does anyone read me? Anyone?” he replied while choking down the dread and panic. He started hyperventilating at the sudden turn of events and scrutinized every shadow, every crack, for any signs of his team.

“We read you Rodriguez,” came the reply from Craig, which let the terrified man calm a bit.

“I lost them,” he reported over comms with a quivering voice.

“Lost them? What do you mean?” Craig asked with concern.

“Lost as in, I have no bloody clue where they went,” Rodriguez said angrily to squash his nerves.

“Explain yourself,” Craig asked in concern and confusion.

“I need to get out of here. I am coming back. Will explain everything when I get back,” Rodrigues informed them as he stepped away from the door where his team disappeared.

“Negative. Hold your position. I am on my way. I can see you on the map, but not the others. We’ll figure it out when I reach there,” Craig responded with resolve, making Rodriguez pause his retreat.

He looked around the corridor and found a room that had a slightly ajar door. He quickly entered it and did a through sweep of the entire place. When nothing out of the ordinary popped up, he kicked down a table to act as a shield and knelt behind it.

“I am barricading myself in a room two doors down from the blast door. Announce yourself before entering if you don’t want to be vaporized,” Rodriguez said in a far firmer tone. His panic was finally coming under control, his training kicking in.

“Roger that. I have a rough idea of the route you took. If I hoof it, I can make it to you in 5 minutes. Let’s maintain radio silence in case the others try to contact us,” Craig explained his plan before the comms went deathly quiet.

The veteran engineer started a countdown on his terminal, while pulling up his interactive map on his ocular implants. It clearly showed a map, complete with sections they had marked as inaccessible, and the path they took. The map currently displayed 4 dots, of which 2 red ones were stationary in the star deck. The other dot, this one green, was heading towards Rodrigues at a fast pace along the route they had marked. As Craig’s green dot approached, Rodriguez started releasing pressure from his trigger finger, in case he lost control and accidentally fired.

“Approaching your position, hold your fire,” Craig announced before waving his flashlight outside the door to get his teammate’s attention.

“I see you. Clear to approach,” Rodrigues said while aiming his gun slightly to the right so as not to flag his companion, while maintaining a clear line of fire towards the only exit.

Craig checked his rear while entering the room and closing the door shut. Only then did the two men relax as they settled down behind the impromptu barricade.

“So, what is going on?” Craig asked with worry clear in his voice.

And Rodiguez explained the best he could, not holding anything back. By the end of it, Rodiguez imagined the frown that must have been plastered on his comrade’s face.

“And you heard nothing?” Craig asked yet again after the explanation.

“We are all on comms. If I heard something, you would have heard it too,” Rodriguez said in exasperation. He was as lost and confused as any other guy would be in this situation.

“Alright, alright. Let’s take a step back and analyze this. Maybe they fell down a hole you missed. It is pretty dark around here, wouldn’t be surprising…,” Craig began to explain when suddenly.

CREEEEEEEK…. CREEEEEEEK…… CREEEEEEEK.

The sound of nails being scraped on a chalkboard erupted from outside the door. Both men jumped up in alarm and trained their guns from where the sound was coming from.

“What in the hell is that?” Craig shrieked in horror.

“Hell, if I know.”

“You were here before me. Didn’t you clear the corridor?”

“I did. But not the other side of the blast door.”

Craig pulled up his map to see if any of their missing party were outside the door. But choked up when he saw that there was a big red dot right outside the door.

“What the freak is that?” Rodriguez asked, no doubt having pulled up the map too. Both men knew that green dots represented motion from someone who was in an ExoSuit. While red dots represented that someone or something was moving at the location without one. And given the circumstances, there shouldn’t have been anyone who was walking around without a suit.

“Let’s calm down. Maybe it’s a survivor. They might have woken up and couldn’t access a suit. So, they are walking around blind. They may need our help,” Craig said, but had a hard believing it himself. But he heard no response from the man beside him. He looked over to his companion, only to find him frozen stiff.

“Then why the hell are there 6 red dots in the star deck,” Rodriguez asked, terror rising unbidden in his voice.