In Space Everyone Screams Ch. 03

This is my crew. And I will protect them with my life, she thought to herself.

"Before we begin, I just want to say a little something," began Ophelia.

"Would you like me to record this moment, Captain?" asked Pal. Their voice emitted through the ship's speaker system. Pal only spoke through the speakers when there were ship wide alerts or in group settings.

"You may."

"Recording."

"We are within visual range. Pal just confirmed that the distress beacon we received eight days ago was indeed from the lost colony ship Adventum.

"What we are about to do is history in the making. This colony ship has been missing for over a thousand years. What we are doing is akin to recovering the Titanic. Discovering Atlantis. Finding the lost kingdom of Babylon.

"This is the discovery of a lifetime. Of multiple lifetimes.

"You each were chosen to crew this ship on your own merits. And I can think of no finer crew. No more deserving people of this accomplishment.

"Lastly, on a more personal note, I would like to thank each of you for how you've welcomed me. This is my first stint with the Institute. And I have never been a captain of a civilian research vessel. You have all welcomed me as a friend and more."

Ophelia bowed her head before looking each of them in the eye. Zoe and Kia grinned at her. Nim nodded in deference. Lilian winked at her.

"There is no crew in all the universe that I would rather serve with." She smiled wide. "Now let's go make history."

"Recording ended," chimed Pal.

Pal then projected a visual of the ship to them and ran through a quick overview of the Adventum's condition.

"Since our docking hardware is incompatible we will be using our shuttle to gain entry to the ship. Myself, Dr. Kruse, and Engineer Zarlin will be the boarding party.

Nim spoke up, "But, Captain!"

Ophelia raised a hand to acknowledge her. "I understand your reservations, Nim. But, as my Second, I need you to standby on the ship and be ready to take over in the event we become compromised in any way. I'm sorry but I do not lead from the back. This decision is final."

Nim pursed her lips.

"The danger that we face will be minimal but be on the lookout for surprises. The most dangerous aspect of this will likely be hazards from a deteriorating ancient ship. Dr. Karuiki, you will be on standby with Nim."

Zoe nodded.

"Kia, once we board, you will assess the structural integrity. Direct Pal to help you with connecting the tether and stabilize drift if needed."

Kia gave a sloppy salute and a grin. "Aye aye, Captain." She had never served in the Corps so Ophelia gave her a pass. She had never been a stickler for formality at any rate.

"Any questions?" asked Ophelia.

There were none.

"Good. Let's get started."

Twelve minutes later Ophelia rode in their shuttle with a black and white composite rifle held in her lap. Lilian sat across from her.

"Are you excited?" asked Lilian. "Or nervous?" Within the oxegenated interior of the shuttle, they kept their helmets off. Lilian's pale blonde hair was done up in a messy bun and she had gone without her glasses. Somehow, she managed to make herself look stunning even suited up. Her makeup was immaculate. Not a touch out of place. Of course, with Teem chips nowadays it was almost impossible to mess up something like that.

"A little excited, a little cautious," replied Ophelia.

Lilian tsked. Her lip upper lip curled. "Cautious isn't quite an emotional state, Captain. More an action. You choose to be cautious. But I know what you mean. You might be feeling a combination of anxious and skeptical." She raised her voice so that it would carry over the rumble of the thrusters. "What about you Kia?"

"You're fucking right, I'm excited," Kia shot back into the cabin. "Can't believe we actually found it."

"I'm surprised the distress beacon is still transmitting," said Ophelia, she glanced up at the back of Kia's head. "What are the odds that we'll find survivors on board, Kia?"

Kia kept her eyes trained on the display in front of her but shook her head.

"Super unlikely. I wouldn't get your hopes up. Their battery tech was pretty primitive back then."

Ophelia nodded. She had thought as much. Still, it would be enough to recover the ship. It was remarkably intact for a vessel that had gone missing so long ago.

"Everyone strapped in?" asked Kia, an edge to her voice.

"Yes," said Ophelia and Lilian at the same time.

"I'm just kidding, we're here."

Ophelia quirked an eyebrow but she put her helmet on, making sure the channels lined up and locked it into place before pressing a button. An almost inaudible hiss along with a chime signaled a good seal. As soon as the helmet locked into place, it simply disappeared, melting away from her vision as her Teem chip processed away the material and fed her visual cortex a full field of view. She unbuckled her seatbelt and stood.

Kia already had her helmet on and jumped off her seat to join them in the cabin. Her head looked almost as if she wasn't wearing a helmet at all; she had a faint overlay, a ghosted outline of her helmet just barely visible.

Lilian shook her head and took a second to pat her hair down and make sure everything was in place before putting her own helmet on. For a second her face disappeared beyond the tinted visor. Then the material melted away, revealing her head again as her Teem chip synced with the suit and fed Ophelia's chip a real time rendering of her face underneath.

Ophelia pressed a button on the side of her helmet, switching comms on.

"Comms check, come in." she said.

"Check one," replied Kia.

"Check two," finished Lilian.

Captain my operational signal range extends well beyond the entirety of both ships. You will be able to communicate fine via your Teem chips, chirped Pal in Ophelia's mind.

Redundancies, Pal. It's never a bad idea to have backups, she replied.

Kia grabbed a large plastic box from its resting place against the wall. Lilian adjusted the strap to the case that she had strapped in front of her body.

"Algood?" asked Ophelia.

Kia and Lilian both gave her a thumbs up. Ophelia stepped over to release the shuttle door.

The entire starboard wall of the craft lifted away.

Before them was black space. The dark gray metal of the Adventum lay below their feet, half a meter below their shuttle.

"We're on the port side of the hull. Spotted an airlock nearby. Watch your step," said Kia. Her voice sounded clear over comms as if she was standing right next to them in a room instead of covered by a helmet.

Ophelia activated the mag function on her boots and stepped down. The moment her feet came near the surface, the magnets embedded inside grabbed the metal, ensuring that she would stay planted. At least until she moved again.

Kia led them over to the airlock that she had mentioned. She fiddled with it for a few minutes before the door slid open. Once they were inside the airlock, Kia closed the outer door and it only took her a few moments to open up the inner door.

Darkness greeted them. Ophelia turned her helmet lights on and also switched on the flashlight attached to her rifle. She scanned the room but, as expected, there was no one and nothing there. Just an empty corridor. She advanced up it, mag boots keeping her against the ground so she could walk normally.

At the end of the corridor she did a one two, looking around quickly with her rifle trained in front of her.

"Kia," said Ophelia.

Kia stepped up behind Ophelia and opened her case. She pulled out four fist sized drones and switched them on. They looked like simple spheres but could move through space in any direction and were jammed full of cameras and sensors. With a simple command through her Teem chip, Kia sent them speeding through the halls. The light that they emitted trailed down the passageways before disappearing around corners.

"It'll take a few minutes for them to map out and scan the ship," said Kia.

"First priority is checking for survivors. Second priority is recovering the ship's flight data."

"Cryopods are towards the aft of the ship. On such an old ship like this the data is probably stored on the bridge. It's possible they had the system back up the data to a black box somewhere though."

"Noted. Anything from the drones?"

"Nothing so far. No heat signatures. Damn, this is so cool. Everything looks so retro."

Ophelia lowered her rifle but did not put it away. Something about the darkness was eerie. She had been in situations like this before and it always gave her the goosebumps. A distant but plausible scenario Ophelia had envisioned was that they would be ambushed by pirates laying in wait and using a derelict ship as a subterfuge. It was highly unlikely. Even so far as to be ridiculous to even consider. Out here in dark space where no ships frequented, there was no rhyme or reason to lay a trap.

Unless they are targeting this ship specifically, she thought. That was maybe a bit too paranoid though and she squashed the thought.

"All right. Kia, give me directions to the cryobay. Everyone stay close."

Even though the ship was moderately large, they managed to reach the cryopods in just a few minutes. Kia fumbled with one of the touchscreen displays for a moment but without any success.

"Systems are all down. Probably ran out of power."

Pal, is the distress beacon still transmitting? asked Ophelia mentally.

Yes, Captain. I am receiving it loud and clear.

"Pal says the distress beacon is still on so there's a part of the ship that has power."

"That's ridiculous. How?" cried Kia.

"Captain, there is a pod here and it is open," Lilian commented. She was a couple meters down the bay and pointed at a pod. The only one that was extended out.

Hope surged inside Ophelia. She didn't want to feed it but if there was a chance. She knew it was slim but it would be make the mission all the more worth it.

"Kia, see if you can find where the ship's batteries are. In the mean time, let's head to the bridge."

It was no surprise to anyone that the bridge was empty.

"Huh. That's strange." Kia bent down to examine the door closer. Ophelia and Lilian stepped into the bridge.

It was smaller than she expected. But then, she supposed that might have just been the norm back then when the first ships were being built for colonization. There wasn't a captain's chair in the center. Five consoles were set against the very front of the bridge where they each housed a chair each.

Ophelia walked over to one of the consoles and tried to tap on the screen to see if it would respond.

Nothing but darkness stared up at her.

"You two might want to come see this," Kia called.

Ophelia and Lilian both turned and walked back over to where Kia stood by the entryway. Kia pointed at the frame where the door would slot into the wall.

"Look here. Weld beads and scorch marks."

Ophelia frowned, eyes narrowing.

"Someone tried to fix the door? Did it break at one point?" Lilian asked putting a hand on her hip and bending down to inspect it closer.

"They tried to weld it shut," said Ophelia.

Kia pointed at her. "Beroop! We have a winner. And someone cut it to open it back up. You can kind of see the swirl marks and the edge here is rough looking."

Signs of struggle, thought Ophelia.

I am limited on what analysis I can provide since I am only able to access visual data through you but I would also arrive at the same conclusion, said Pal.

"Good eye, Kia. Any new data from those drones?" Asked Ophelia.

"No. There is quite a lot of ship to go through though. They've only scanned the major corridors and areas. I've got a rough layout of the vessel being built right now by Pal."

Reactor offline. Almost no power left in the ship's batteries. If by some miracle there was a survivor, where would they put themselves in case someone came to the rescue? The bridge was off.

"What's the temperature inside the ship?" asked Ophelia.

"Close to negative forty degrees."

Near unlivable conditions. But a colony ship would have all manner of supplies intended for planetary exploration. Equipment suited to a variety of temperatures as well as harsh climes, Pal noted.

Something was nagging at Ophelia. A gut feeling that she couldn't shake.

"Has the ship's subsystem been mapped? Can you take us to where the ship's batteries are?" she asked.

Kia waved her hands through the air in front of herself, flicking through a series of augmented reality menus that both Ophelia and Lilian could see thanks to their Teem chips and Pal's networked signal.

A three dimensional model of the colony ship appeared in mid-air before them. Parts of the model looked blurred and lacked significant detail. Sections of the ship looked like empty space. Four small dots moved throughout the model and wherever they traveled the image of that area of the ship became sharper. Rooms appeared as they were scanned, along with hidden passageways and compartments.

"We're here." Kia pointed to the bridge. A bright blue marker appeared at the fore of the ship indicating their current position. She pointed at another spot in the ship deeper within the underbelly. "This is where the batteries are."

Ophelia nodded. "Let's go."

They were partway there when Kia stopped in front of them.

"Cap."

"What's wrong?"

"I-I can't believe it. I'm getting a heat signature from one of the drones. It's faint though."

Shock. Ophelia and Lilian both looked at each other at the same time.

"Change of plans. Take us to that heat signature. Double time!"

They ran. Boots thumping down the hall.

Please let me make it, Ophelia begged. Just hold on. Whoever you are, hold on.

The route they took was convoluted. Though she had spent many years aboard starships Ophelia soon lost her sense of where they were. After so many twists and turns, they stopped all of a sudden. Kia held up a hand to point at what looked to be a small storage closet.

"In there."

Ophelia rushed over to the door and pulled on the latch. It wouldn't budge.

"Kia!"

Their chief engineer used a tool out to pry open a panel on the wall

"Damn, the museum nerds are gonna hate me for this."

"I'll deal with them! Just get this door open, now!"

"You got it, boss." Kia snaked a cord out from her suit and plugged it into a console in her case. She pulled a different cord out and connected the console to a port that had been hidden by the wall panel.

After what felt like an eternity of gestures and air typing, the door jerked.

But stayed closed.

"It's jammed! Someone's done something on the other side!"

The door jerked again and Ophelia imagined the motor inside the wall groaning.

"Stand back!"

Kia pulled the cord and stepped back. Lilian did so as well.

Ophelia reached around to the small of her back and pulled her MagX knife. It was the same one she had used in the Corps. The only service weapon she had insisted on keeping. With a press of a button the edge glowed white and she stabbed it into the edge of the doorway and pushed downward. She felt a moment of resistance on the other side and then her blade cleared.

She pulled on the latch again and the door slid open. Ophelia stepped inside and raised her rifle to scan the space.

Before she could react her vision flashed with a flash notification. There was a flash of light.

Her perception of time slowed as her combat augmentations kicked in. Now she understood. They were getting shot at.

One bullet had already struck her shield and bounced off. Another had just been fired.

She sprinted forward and cranked her augs to max power, stepping into the path of that second bullet. It struck her shield and glanced harmlessly to the side. She grabbed the muzzle of the gun and twisted it out of the person's hand. It went with barely any effort.

Ophelia knew several things at once. The suit that the person was wearing was of very old make. It looked almost like thick layers of fabric with a rubber seal around the neck where the helmet connected. Nothing like their modern suits. The weapon that they were using was an ancient, primitive style of rail gun. Something out of history book. She didn't recognize the make. Third, the person holding the weapon was shaking. Visibly so.

Ophelia kept hold of the gun but lowered her rifle and but put a hand on the person's shoulder. She switched her combat augs off.

Pal, switch my intercom on.

Intercom is on.

"You're okay! We're friendly! We're here to help!" Ophelia said as firm and gentle as she could. "We're here to rescue you. You're safe. You're okay."

Pal, what's everyone's status?

No injuries, Captain. You are very quick on your feet. I sense elevated cortisol levels from Nimrah. She has been following very closely.

Call Lilian over to me please. Ask her to administer a sedative.

Done.

On cue, Ophelia saw a flash of platinum blonde from the corner of her vision. She kept repeating those words. She felt the person trembling under her grip.

"Hey hon, I'm just going to give you something to calm the nerves all right? We've got you. You're in good hands," soothed Lilian. She pulled a small, white device from her case and pressed it to the survivor's shoulder.

"No! Stop! There's something on this ship. Don't let it..." A feminine voice yelled from the helmet. Her accent was strange. It sounded so old fashioned.

Lilian pressed the trigger and the person began to shake less and less until finally their body slackened.

Ophelia glanced at Lilian.

"You heard that too, right?" she asked.

"I did. She's likely delusional from low oxygen and malnutrition. I did a quick scan. Vitals are tenuous at best. If she was living in the dark for a long period of time to conserve energy... well let's just say I'm not surprised that she's showing cracks," said Lilian. "Poor thing."

"Alright. Let's bring her onto the shuttle. Please stay and monitor their vitals, Dr. Kruse. Kia and I can handle sweeping the rest of the ship. If there are any more survivors we will call for you."

Lilian nodded and pulled a few things from her case. She strapped the person's legs together and put another across their torso to keep their arms from moving. This done, she pushed the sleeping survivor through the air out of the closet.

Kia's eyes widened and her face was bright with emotion.

"This is so cool! I can't believe we have a survivor!" she gushed.

Ophelia stepped out after Lilian and patted Kia on the back. "You all right?"

"Are you kidding? I've never seen a corpswoman in action. That was fucking amazing!"

Ophelia kept her expression professional but she suppressed the urge to grin and roll her eyes at the same time.

"Let's keep moving. We'll check the batteries as planned before, then look for the data."

"Right behind you, boss."

Two hours later, they were back on the Sayensi. Lilian transferred the survivor to the med bay where she continued to monitor her vitals. Ophelia coordinated with the rest of the crew to take care of the derelict ship. The Institute would extremely pleased to recover the entire ship and bring it back to Alexia.

Outside the derelict Adventum, a shape slithered from a crack in the hull and crawled across the hull. Its core body temperature was so low and it was so small that none of the sensors aboard the Sayensi would detect its heat signature. As it moved across the old metal, its mottled hide shifted in color until it was a near identical match to the hull's dark gray. Once close enough, its tendrils grabbed hold of the tether that the Sayensi had deployed to tow the derelict ship along. With cephalopod like grace the creature flowed up along the tether until it reached the Sayensi where it flattened itself and squeezed through the narrow opening.