Ship's Interface Ch. 001

He pushed the unsettled feeling out of his mind and prepared a small snack out of their rations for the two of them before getting to work. They sat in the little kitchenette in silence as they ate.

"What's bothering you?" June asked. Will had been holding his protein bar up to his mouth, lost in thought for a solid minute without taking a bite, long enough for June to notice.

"I'm not sure", Will replied. "Would the collision detection system be able to monitor movement around the ship, say at a 20 meter radius?"

"It'd take a little while to reconfigure, but sure, it could do that. Did you see something?" June asked.

"Not really. I can't put my finger on it, but something doesn't feel right and I want to be ready for it." Will said, unsure if he knew how to explain the feeling he was experiencing. June nodded and they finished eating and got to work.

It was another three hours before they completed their survey and found that most of the life support systems survived intact. The water recycler had a bunch of burst pipes, so Will shut it down until he could repair it.

The main computer systems were fully functional as were the radioisotope battery bank, meaning they would not need to worry about power or controls for the automated subsystems, but food would soon become a serious issue if they couldn't come up with a solution.

A check on their weapons locker revealed that their meager armory survived, but limited ammo that was standard pack out for freighters meant they would have to be careful about how much they used.

It had only taken June a short time to reconfigure the proximity sensors, so she went down to the systems compartment to help Will finish the plumbing repairs on the water recyclers.

Neither Will or June had slept much since they had first entered the nebula, once the necessary repairs were finished and they were confident that the recalibrated sensors would warn them of activity around the ship, they retired to the bunk room. They undressed and climbed into bed, snuggling together for comfort, Will as the big spoon. Completely exhausted, they were soon fast asleep.

**********

A new day dawned as red sunlight streamed in the cockpit through the portion of the front viewport that wasn't covered by dirt plowed up by the nose of the crashing freighter.

Will, always a light sleeper, woke first and slipped out of bed careful not to wake June. He dressed quietly, and looking down on June's slumbering form, thanked the universe for bringing her into his life.

He brewed some coffee in the kitchenette, poured himself a cup and brought it to the cockpit. He had only been sitting in the copilot's seat reviewing the sensor logs from the previous night for a short time when June joined him, carrying her own cup of coffee. She gave him a peck on the cheek as she sat beside him in the pilot's seat.

"Anything trip the sensors during the night?" June asked, sipping her hot beverage.

"No contacts during the night. You up for a hike this morning? Weather looks good", he said gesturing towards the half buried window, "and I think we'll have no trouble making it to that structure and back. I want to have a quick look around and be back before nightfall." he said.

"Sounds good. I'll pack some provisions for the day and you can gather any gear we might need. We can get started as soon as you're ready." June confirmed.

June and Will spent the next 30 minutes gathering everything they thought they'd need for their short expedition and were soon standing at the base of the ladder to the top hatch.

Will had stopped at the weapons locker and taken out the two side arms, one for each of them and the bullpup automatic rifle, which he carried.

Will climbed first, opened the hatch, then climbed out onto the decking of the upper hull gesturing to June to wait a moment.

Fishing out the binoculars, he scanned the surroundings and when he was satisfied, he said to June, "All clear."

"What has you spooked?" June asked with an air of concern.

"I still don't know yet. Keep your eyes peeled. We have a whole lot of unknowns to deal with and we need to stay alert."

June nodded. Once they were both standing in the reddish sunlight of early morning, Will closed and latched the hatch.

"It should take us about two hours to reach the target. We shouldn't stay more than an hour or so checking things out, then we head back. Add in time for rest breaks, that's about eight hours, round trip. Anything longer than that we risk fatigue and more opportunities for blind, bad luck." Will said, laying out their itinerary.

"Sounds good. Let's go!" June replied with enthusiasm. She was deeply curious what the structure could be and was practically giddy with anticipation.

They climbed down off the 'Saturn's Heart' and began their march at an easy pace across the valley floor. Though they had a clear line of sight straight across the valley in all directions, they were surprised, due to their low vantage point, that the floor of the valley rolled up and down, like small sand dunes in a desert, except it was rock and hard packed earth.

They couldn't see into these depressions unless they were standing on the rise to either side, so they didn't expect to find low brush with reddish tinted leaves that started to appear in depressions at about a third of the way across the valley. The brush was no taller than their shins and only slowed their pace slightly.

"This is actually a really good sign", June commented. "Vegetation means water. It also means a possibility of growing some of the heartier food crops, like potatoes and the like."

Looking down at one of the nearby plants, Will noticed some bare branches on one bush and a few torn leaves on another. "Something's been grazing these. There must be herbivores of some kind here, maybe nocturnal. That might explain why I've been on edge." He offered.

June frowned. "Herbivores also raise the possibility of large predators. You're right, we'll need to keep a close eye on our surroundings." Just as she said that, she was startled as a small herd of short quadrupeds slowly lumbered over the rise in front of them heading into the brush.

"Looks like you found the herbivores!", Will said with a chuckle. The animals of this herd had small beady eyes on the sides of their heads for maximum visual coverage. Their snouts were wide and short, ideal for taking large bites of leaves from the low plants they stood in. Most interesting was the long, quill-like hair that covered the entirety of their bodies. Curious as to why he didn't spot these creatures earlier, he pulled out the binoculars, turning up the thermal imaging resolution to 'high' and pointed it at the herd they now found themselves among.

"These guys' coloring lets them blend into the surrounding almost perfectly. And their heat signature is almost non-existent!" Will said excitedly, then pointed the binoculars at Jane. "Not like you. You're so hot, you light up like a fireball on thermals." Jane's profile was absolutely luminescent compared to that of these herd animals. She swiped the binoculars from Will, then pointed it at him. "Seems like you're the hot one, to me!" she joked. His profile was as bright as hers.

"We need a name for these guys", June pointed out, "we discovered them, so we get to name them. Those are the rules."

"Okay, how chill-da-beasts, because their coats make them look cool. You know, on an infrared camera." Will said, popping the collar of his jacket up and with an exaggerated 'cool-guy' attitude.

"No way, Mr. Slick." June said, throwing him a faux exasperated smile. Pausing a moment, then countered, "How about Munchers, because that's all they seem to do." June said.

Taking a closer look with the IR scope at the closest animal from the herd, June saw that while it had an overall very low heat signature, a subtle pattern of heat could be seen through the coat. She looked at another animal, and its pattern was slightly different. The animal's face had an almost imperceptible heat signature too, but the eyes were dark black, reflecting no heat whatsoever.

"This is interesting", June began," each of these animals has a unique pattern in IR, like a fingerprint. And the eyes don't reflect any IR at all. I bet they don't pick up the usual visual spectrum, only infra-red."

"That IS interesting. And the name is as good as any; Munchers it is." Will gesturing for the return of the binoculars. "Alright, time to get moving", Will said, taking the binoculars back from June and putting them away.

The herd barely acknowledged Will and June's presence and lumbered down into the vegetation to begin grazing. Moving slowly, the herd paid the two hikers no mind and blocked their path as they wandered back and forth. Will led June single file, picked their way through the herd and continued on their hike.

As they continued, a short ways away from the herd but still in brush, they passed what looked to be a full set of quills from a Muncher in a disorganized pile, then a few more piles a couple of steps away.

"Looks like they're prone to shedding." June remarked.

Will looked at the piles dubiously and said, "Yeah, maybe. Or it's something else." He didn't finish the thought. June looked at him as if guessing what he was thinking but said nothing, then they continued on.

As they neared the far side of the valley wall, the incline grade of the ground grew steeper and the rocks and large obstacles became more numerous as they traveled deeper into the tumbledown of the rockslide.

When they were farther away from the mysterious structure, it was tough to make out details due to the uniform flat white color washing it all out, but up close they were able to make it out more clearly.

The exposed front of the structure rose out of the ground, clearly indicating it continued below grade. Following the flank towards the back, it too disappeared into the side of the valley which rose for another few hundred meters above. The front face was about twenty meters wide, all of it surfaced with the same flat white material, with an unbroken surface.

Will and June climbed up to the structure, and standing next to it, Will removed his glove and tentatively placed his hand on it. "It feels metallic, though what kind, I couldn't tell you." Will commented. " and it's slightly cooler than the rocks. Come here and see what I mean." June removed her glove too, and placed her hand on the strange metal. Will bent down and picked up a fist size rock off the ground. "Compare that to this." June put her bare hand on the rock and could feel the difference Will talked about.

Will dropped the rock and they continued to explore around the structure. They carefully walked around the front of the flat white wall, and around to the side farthest from the direction of their approach. Turning the corner, they were surprised when they saw an opening about halfway back to where the structure was buried.

The opening was circular, roughly two and a half meters in diameter. The interior was dark and they couldn't see anything inside due to the contrast of light levels between the outside and inside.

Will Checked his rifle and brought it up to a ready position, then he lifted a finger to his lips asking June for silence, gestured for her to draw her side arm and fall in behind him. Will crept up to the side edge of the opening, and slowly peered inside. It was a small room, big enough for maybe six people, with another open door at the other end of the room, the same size as the door on the exterior.

After scanning the room, Will stepped just inside and paused. Looking down he saw that his boots were tracking in dirt and dust from the outside, but the floor was clean besides.

In a whisper, he said "This door hasn't been open for very long. No dirt has had a chance to blow in and cover the floor. Stay sharp." He commanded. He silently gestured for her to wait outside, and slowly covered the distance to the other door and peered through.

A long hallway seemed to travel the length of the structure, heading to the front that jutted out of the hill, and deep back to the buried portions. Turning, he came back to the exterior door and spoke quietly to June. "This room has a similar feel as an airlock, though I don't see doors, or any mechanisms for control. Looks clear, though. Ready to explore?" He asked with a grin.

June smiled and nodded back. They both re-entered the airlock, Will first with his rifle at the ready.

Quietly as possible, they crossed the small room and considered the hallway beyond. Down the passage on their left was dark and led deeper into the buried structure. A soft red sunlight came from down the passage on the right. "Let's check to the right first before heading into the dark." Will said softly.

Checking that both directions were clear, they cautiously entered the hallway, then walked in slow silence down the corridor. They noted what looked to be several doors on either side of the hallway at regular intervals, but all were sealed shut.

They stopped to examine the first door. It was made of the same flat white metal like everything else in the structure. The simple door frame stood out from the wall a couple of centimeters, indicating the presence of a door, but there were no nobs, handles or controls of any kind. The frame blended seamlessly into what should have been the door so much so that the door looked like just another part of the wall.

Not knowing what to make of it, they continued down the corridor. At the end of the hallway, a short flight of stairs ascended to where the light was coming from. June thought the stairs had an odd feel to them when she realized that the rise and run of them were intended for someone of a slightly shorter stature.

They climbed the stairs and found a tall window ran the length of the front wall, which by Will's reckoning should be the un-buried front of the structure looking out over the valley.

"I didn't see this window from the outside, did you?" Will asked June.

"Nope." June replied. "Maybe some sort of one way glass?"

"Maybe", Will said, stumped. Standing at the window and looking out, he could see the valley and the direction of their approach. Now that they were at a higher vantage point, he could just make out the rise and fall of the valley floor, and hints of the scrub brush nestled in the little hollows, and the glint of their ship off in the distance.

Will turned to survey the room and pieces clicked together in his mind. "It's a ship!", he exclaimed softly.

Standing in what must be the bridge of the seemingly abandoned vessel, Will and June could see the thick constant cloud cover break up momentarily through the forward viewport. As sunlight from the red giant this planet obits streams through, random panels at control stations scattered around the room begin to blink and slowly come to life.

Will raised the bullpup machine gun in his hands slightly, alert now for extra danger. " We need to be extra cautious now that the systems are starting to energize. There might be anti-boarding security measures that are active, seeing that it has some power."

June approached the closest lit control panel. Buttons along the bottom were all marked in some script that she didn't match any language that she knew. As she examined the control panel, the same script began to scroll across the screen above the buttons.

The other panels on the Bridge went dark but the panel in front of June remained on.

Another unintelligible line of script crawled across the screen and paused. Then another line appeared and paused. This continued for several lines. Then stopped.

June blinked as the screen cleared, then another line of script began scrolling across the screen as indecipherable as the last. Like the previous display of what seemed to be lines of text, there was a pause. "This panel seems to be querying for some response", June explained to Bill, who was busy investigating the other side of the room. "Do you think you can figure any of these systems out?" he asked.

"Seems like there is only enough power for this panel." June replied.

The panel screen cleared again, but this time pictographs appeared instead of text. First it showed the planetary system they were currently in, surrounded on all sides by an asteroid field, the red giant at the center,with one planet in its orbit, the one they were currently marooned on. The display then zoomed on the unnamed planet, and displayed the planet rotating showing the continents June and Bill had briefly seen during their emergency landing.

"Will, come see this", June called. As Will came over and stood by June to see what she was drawing his attention to, the planet on the display stopped rotating and a blue dot appeared indicating the position of something, and began zooming in.

"This is the valley we landed in", June noted as the display slowly zoomed in closer. "We left the 'Saturn's Heart' over there," she said pointing to an unmarked spot on the map, "so the dot must indicate this ship."

The display continued to zoom in until the dot became the outline of the craft they were now standing in. The ship's outline on the screen seemed to indicate that most of the ship was buried in the hillside with only the nose of the ship poking out.

"My guess is that when this ship crashed, it came in hot and plowed through the hillside, which buried it when the remains of the hill collapsed. Then a bunch of time later, a little landslide towards the front exposed the nose, which is how we found it.", Will theorized.

The display zoomed closer as the ship's outlined form filled the entire screen, and began detailing the internal layout of the craft. The display panned toward the front of the craft and clearly displayed the Bridge with its banks of terminals, including the one they were standing before. As they studied the diagram, two white dots appeared on the display, indicating their positions relative to the terminal they were at.

"I think this is an intelligent system", June said after a moment, "and it is trying to communicate to us. First it was displaying messages and pausing for a response, but now it seems to realize that we don't understand the language, and showing us information that we have context for, like this star system, the ship and our positions in it. I'm going to try to respond." June said as she reached toward the display.

"Careful. Do you suppose it's safe?" Will asked defensively. "I don't want to set the security system off accidentally."

"I think so. It already knows where we are, and if it was going to activate defensive measures, it probably wouldn't tell us it knew where we were first."

June's gloved finger touched the dot that represented her, and it changed color from white to green. "Now I've told it that I am this particular dot, and it acknowledged what I've told it by turning the dot green. Go ahead and touch the other dot to tell it that you understand that you are the other dot." June instructed.

Will reached down and touched the dot that represented him, and it turned blue. "Do you think the different colors mean that it knows that we are different, male and female?" Will asked.

"Maybe, but it might just be that we are Thing 1 and Thing 2 to it, and has identified us as such. Do me a favor and walk to the other side of the room and back. I want to see if it is tracking us in real time."

Will did as requested and as he crossed the room, the blue dot moved along the screen in sync with Will's movement across the room. "The system is definitely watching us. Will, this is incredible! This alien system is trying to talk to us, and figured out a simplified way to communicate through the language barrier. That suggests an extremely intelligent system, maybe some form of advanced AI."