Encounter
It was a modest system, as star systems go. Eight planets, two of which could be habitable with a little work, not unlike many other systems in the area. It was encountered, mapped, and forgotten about centuries ago – remembered only by the computers that kept the star maps up to date.
Then the War found its way to this insignificant region of space.
Within moments, both sides began annihilating each other, each determined to not let the other side have a tactical advantage by controlling this system. Powerful weapons of cosmic destruction were brought to bear, the leaders of both sides determined to deny this system to the enemy.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the system thought that way...
Marcus winced as yet another ship in the convoy vanished into a large fireball, evidence that one more missile had found its mark. He threw his ship into a series of rolls and loops, hoping to confuse his pursuers enough to escape. He grinned to himself as the image projected before him showed that some of the missiles lost their lock, careening off course and striking each other. His relief lasted only briefly, as the remainder of the volley lunged through the fireball, relentlessly locked on target. No choice left, he spun his ship around. As the ships' drive strained to maintain his acceleration away from the missiles, Marcus fired his only weapon.
A scintillating beam of intense light erupted from the ports on either side of his ship, fanning out once they passed the bow. The combined beams engulfed the death-dealing javelins closing in on him, overwhelming them so completely that they disintegrated instantly – without even the slightest trace of debris remaining.
The immediate threat dealt with, Marcus swung his ship around and lowered his acceleration, easing the strain on his overworked engines. As he set to work repairing the damage from the first attack, he had time to ponder the situation he found himself in. The ships he and the rest of his convoy ran from were familiar to him, if only from the disjointed distress calls that had reached them from other systems. No warning was given, no hail acknowledged, they just materialized and opened fire. The first volley had come as such a complete shock that they were totally unprepared. Before anyone had known what was happening, most of their defences had been disabled, and his own main drive had been damaged. All they could do now was run.
A tingle in his head signalled that the computer had new information for him. "Instructions from Base Alpha," the computer 'said' to him via the NeuriLink interface implanted into his brain, "All ships are to evacuate the system immediately and rendezvous in Sector X-351."
Marcus sighed heavily. Another system lost to these invaders... damn them. "Acknowledge the signal and activate the Nullifier for Lightspeed jump." He thought back to the computer. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Steph was on her way out of the system yet. She had recently taken a posting on the third planet, and was probably more aware of what was going on than he.
"Base Alpha does not respond to HyperChannel signal." His computer tonelessly informed him. "Nullifier charge sequence commencing. Warning – extreme energy discharge detected from vicinity of fourth planet."
He looked up at his monitor in time to see it – the systems' central star brightened, and a seemingly solid-looking shell expanded towards them at a terrifying rate. It took several moments to realize that their sun itself had been turned into a bomb.
"Activate the Nullifier!" He shouted at the computer. "Take us to LightSpeed!"
Oblivious to the urgency in Marcus' voice, the computer responded in its usual monotone. "Nullifier currently at 50% charge. Insufficient for Jump. Ninety seconds required to attain nominal charge."
"We don't HAVE ninety seconds! Jump! NOW!"
Programmed to follow instructions, the computer activated the Jump sequence. As the final step approached, the expanding shell of subatomic particles caught up with them, charging the ship to a dangerous level. Circuits failed in dozens of areas, some even exploded. A powerful surge of energy flowed through the NeuriLink device, straight into Marcus' brain.
Automatic filters took care of much of the surge, but enough leaked through. Marcus jerked backwards as he lost control of his body, dropping to the deck with a thud. As he fought to regain control of himself, he heard the alarm that signalled the start of the Jump. He also saw, barely, the warning on the monitor that the Jump system had been damaged. The ship would jump, but not far.
Resigned to death, Marcus let his consciousness slip from him...
The Star Cruiser Lorelei warped into normal space near the remnants of the Twenty-First Star System. Their mission was a standard rescue-and-reclamation operation - search for survivors and salvage whatever could possibly be used to help continue the war effort. They didn't really expect to find anything, though...
The first they saw of the ship was its' energy track on one of their sensor sweeps. They thought it might be a derelict Solnoid cruiser, and orders were issued to move closer. As the ships drew together, the differences became notable.
"What do you make of it, Eyes?" asked the Commander.
"Hard to say." Replied the ships' Sensor operator. "The markings bear a striking resemblance to Solnoid identifiers, but the design is unlike anything the computer has ever seen before."
"Should we dock with it for inspection?"
The Commander thought for a moment... Do I allow a potentially hostile alien access to my ship? She had just been informed that a life form had been detected.
She didn't think too long. "Equip a boarding party of two to investigate. Have them proceed with caution, but to open fire ONLY if necessary. I want whoever is on that ship alive to answer questions."
Shildy and Spea strode side-by-side through the dimly-lit corridors of the alien craft, weapons at the ready. Encased in their pressure suits, they had forced their way in through an oddly non-standard airlock near the bottom of the ship, and were working their way up. Surprisingly, they found no bodies in a ship that would, by Solnoid standards, require a crew of at least fifty. More surprising, they found no fighter bays, no gunnery positions, no armoury.
"It's almost as though this ship wasn't built for combat." Shildy mused.
"Perhaps it's an escape craft, originally part of a larger ship?" Spea ventured.
"I don't think so. We saw no docking latches during the external survey. No access ports, NOTHING. This HAS to be all of it."
Suddenly, the lights brightened. "Whoever's alive in here," Shildy muttered, "they're working on repairing the damage. Come on – let's see if we can find the bridge."
The increased light made it much easier to figure out where they were going, and presently they came to a doorway at the end of a short corridor. Spea examined the markings closely. "I THINK this is the bridge," she concluded, "but for all I know, it could be the brig. The alphabet is similar, but not identical."
"Well, we'll just have to take our chances." Shildy said confidently. She motioned Spea to open the door as she stood at the opposite side of the opening, gun at the ready.
It took Spea a few moments to puzzle out the workings of the door control, but managed to find the actuator without much difficulty. The door slid open, they spun into the gap with weapons at the ready, and their questions were answered.
It was indeed the bridge. Three control stations were laid out in typical Solnoid fashion, but two of them seemed to be inoperative. A pair of very Solnoid-looking legs were protruding from the third console, and Shildy aimed her pistol in that direction. "FREEZE!" She shouted.
A muffled thump, followed by a groan, told her that her message had been understood. The legs started to back out of the console. Once free of encumbrance, it stood.
Shildy gaped. It WAS a Solnoid! From the back, Shildy could see that she was a little taller, and more muscular, than herself. Her hair was cut rather short, and her flight suit was in desperate need of repair. "Who are you?" Shildy said when she found her voice.
The creature turned to face them, and Shildy blinked again. Whatever this thing was, it was unlike ANY Solnoid she'd seen. Its face was covered in hair, its skin was far rougher, and its eyes were dull and lifeless. It looked at Spea. It looked at Shildy. Its' eyes locked on Shildy, straining to see through the helmet of her suit. As it stared at Shildy, its' eyes grew wide, and some light came to them. It took a step forward.
Shildy pointed her gun at its' head. "I SAID, DON'T MOVE!" Her determination wavered, however, when she saw that a single tear ran down its' face.
It spoke – with a deeper voice than any Solnoid, but in perfect Solnoid dialect, "Steph. Oh, Steph, you're here. I thought I'd lost you."
Then its' knees crumpled, and it collapsed to the deck.
