A World for the Taking Ch. 02

"Me neither." Mike stepped over a thick limb, avoiding its shattered end. Smoke was drifting from the downed ship, but it did not smell like the woods had caught fire. "I think the extinguishers must have worked. Just smells like scorched metal and plastic."

"Stinks," Roy agreed. He adjusted his NVG and followed his friend.

The ship had not buried itself in the hillside as they had expected. Sure, the soil was plowed up and trees were down everywhere, but the ship remained on the surface and was more or less whole. Landing struts could be seen thrust down into the rocky ground, but they were intact and the ship was stable. At least, it looked stable. But what a ship! It was sleek and the impression of a shark remained in Mike's mind. All along its sides showed scorch marks and large pits from what had to be weapons' fire. Neither teen could think of anything else it could be.

"I better call, Pa," said Mike, stopping several meters from the thing.

He raised the illuminated screen of his pad and tapped send for his radio link. An out of service alert crossed the screen and Mike frowned.

"Check your pad, Roy," he said, tapping the screen icon for diagnostic mode.

"What the hell?" murmured Roy. "Says out of service. This thing's never been out of service."

"Checking for radiation leakage," Mike told him as his fingers danced over his pad.

"We would have gotten an alert if the levels were dangerous," Roy said, not sounding overly sure.

"Mine says it's clear," reported Mike. "What's yours say?"

"Clear," the red haired boy confirmed. "Standard background stuff is all it registers."

"Think this thing is jamming our transmissions?" wondered Mike.

"Why would it?" Roy said. He tapped a few keys on his screen and shook his head. "I'm not picking up any emissions coming from the ship. And... Wow! This is weird."

"What?" demanded Mike.

"OS1 isn't broadcasting." Roy's eyes were wide with astonishment. "Those flashes!"

"The communications array?" Mike asked. He checked his own pad and looked up at his friend in alarm. "Maybe this ship hit it on its way in. You think?"

"You called your dad, though," said Roy.

"Yeah," agreed Mike thoughtfully. "No time for this. We'll have to figure it out later. If there are survivors inside, they probably need help."

"Yeah, but wait a second," Roy said and tapped his screen again. Holding the pad close to his mouth he said, "Tammy, you there?"

"Right here, Roy. What's up?" she responded immediately.

"You three check your pads," he replied. "See if you can communicate with anyone else."

"Jean couldn't get through to our pa. Let me check again," she said. After a brief silence Tammy called back, "Nothing. We've got no communication with anyone other than you. The main database and central routing hub are both offline. Our screens just report out of service."

"Ours too," Roy said. "We're going to check out the ship. Stand by."

"Be careful, Roy," she said. "I don't like this."

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

"But you're so damned clumsy," she complained.

"I'll be fine, Tammy," he said with a small grin.

"Come on," Mike said and waved his friend to follow him.

A hatch on the starboard side of the ship was jammed hard into the soil which prevented it from coming all the way open. A quick inspection showed that it was supposed to slide sideways along the hull but rocks and dirt were piled against it. Between the two of them, Mike and Roy were able to clear away enough debris to let the hatch move far enough to allow them access. The interior of the ship was illuminated with greenish lamps which showed the boys scorched equipment unlike any they had ever seen.

"Stinks," said Roy, covering his mouth with a bandana to filter some of the smoke. His eyes watered at something in the air and he blinked several times to clear away the tears.

"Wish we had masks," Mike said.

"Yeah," agreed Roy. "Maybe we should suggest that for the emergency packs."

"And goggles," said Mike, nodding. He tied his own bandana over his nose and mouth and gave Roy a nod.

With feelings of dread and uncertainty the two boys entered the strange ship. It was eerily silent. Only the ticking of cooling metal met their straining ears. As they passed into what appeared to be the central cabin they saw a heavy hatch to the rear with what had to be a flashing warning light above it. The sign below was written in a text that looked nothing like any CP language either knew of.

"Could that be Arabic?" asked Roy.

"Don't think so," said Mike. "Maybe it's Thimkein."

"What would a Thimkein ship be doing way the hell out here, Mike? They're on the other side of the Confederacy."

"How should I know?" Mike shook his head and pointed to the right where the cockpit was likely to be.

The central cabin was small and it took only a few steps to bring them to a sealed interior door. A panel of buttons was mounted next to it, but again, neither boy could read the text. A large blue button at the top was labeled with bright yellow letters and this Mike pressed. The door slid aside smoothly and a rush of feculent air spilled out on them, blowing away some of the stinging smoke. The boys stood in shock at the sight that greeted them. On the deck, crumpled against the bulkhead was a headless body in an environment suit as if it had been thrown there during the landing. A smear of blood across the deck looked black in the greenish light and Mike felt as if he would vomit. Roy, though, took a tentative step over the smear to reach the seats where the crew obviously would sit to pilot the small vessel. Only one seat was occupied.

"Mike!" he called over his shoulder as he reached for the odd catches on the restraining straps. "Come on! I think we've got a survivor!"

Mike shook off his nausea with a gulp and tore his eyes from the headless body. Like Roy he stepped over the blood and was at his friend's side in a second.

"It's a woman!" Roy told him, pulling at one of the buckles. "I can't get the damned straps to let go."

"Let me have a look!" Mike reached past Roy and grasped the buckle. He examined it briefly before twisting a small lever down. The buckle popped open, releasing the five point harness. "Get her shoulders! Be careful of her head."

"Think she's alive?" Roy asked as he eased the pilot from her seat.

"Let's get her outside," said Mike. "Don't trip."

Once outside they lay the unconscious pilot on the ground. Mike was going over the suit seals, trying to figure out how to get the helmet off. It was the strangest design he had ever seen. The faceplate was opaque and it looked like there were thin armor plates on the chest and thighs. A pack over her belly contained cylinders, presumably her life support.

"Tammy," Roy called over his pad. "We've got a survivor, we think. Bring up a stretcher and a med-kit. Make it quick!"

"I can't get her helmet off," grumbled Mike. "Give me some light here."

Roy switched on his flashlight and shone it down on the unconscious woman. His eyes roamed over her and he realized she was nearly as tall as Mike was. Just as he scanned down to her boots Tammy sprang around the nose of the ship with the med-kit. Jean arrived panting and out of breath a moment later.

"We left Yoshi with the animals," Tammy explained without being asked.

"Want me to open the stretcher?' asked Jean, holding it ready in her hands.

"Go ahead," said Mike, taking the med-kit from his adopted sister.

"Tammy, look at this," said Roy in an odd tone.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Roy, I need that light!" snapped Mike.

"I got you," said Jean, shining her flashlight where Mike wanted it.

"Look at her feet," said Roy in a lower voice.

"Her feet?" Tammy said and frowned down at the oddly shaped boots. "What the hell?"

"Holly Buda!" cursed Mike and jerked back in surprise. He turned to look up at his sister with wide eyes.

Tammy looked at his face and then down at the unconscious pilot. For an instant, time stopped. She had only ever seen a face like that in a mirror or a news broadcast. The pilot was jZav`Etch!

*****

*Steelies - Stiliosaurs - Named for their discoverer, Anton Stili, are reptile-like animals roughly the size of Earthly horses with a scaly hide, four clawed, grasping feet and prehensile tails split in a V near the end. Another notable feature is the pair of eyes on the back of their heads.

*NVG - Night Vision Goggles. This is actually a misnomer. Properly they should be called Broad Spectrum Goggles because they can be used to enhance normal vision at any time and under any conditions. The label NVG is holdover from ancient times when crude versions of the devices were used for military operations after dark or in lowlight environments.