The Andromeda Ascendant cruised through the reaches of space, a single vessel in the darkness of time and space. A nearby sun graced her sleek hull with its penetrating rays. The Andromeda shone like a golden ship, sailing towards victory.
Dylan Hunt sat in his quarters, admiring the beauty of the stars from his quarters. He remembered times like these; they seemed to happen a lot. Without the rest of his former crew of what could be hundreds, he had five. But five was enough. The Commonwealth was a grand structure, and its soldiers were the most highly trained. But where their honor came from training and loyalty to the cause, these sole five fought because their hearts were in it. Their loyalty was matched and their honor also, but where ensigns could take a stand against the enemy and proclaim victory for the Systems Commonwealth, these five did what they did for each other, not for any government. And certainly not for themselves.
Seamus Harper ran down the corridor, as fast as he could. Beka, who was leaving the sickbay, almost collided with him.
"Whoa. Slow down, Harper. What's going on?" She asked.
Harper breathed fast, his hand gesturing as if to say "no time."
Suddenly, the ship shuddered and both Beka and Harper were thrown to the floor.
Dylan was jolted from his thoughts and he quickly contacted the bridge.
"Rommie, what just happened?" He asked.
"We seem to have collided with some kind of Nietzchean net." Rommie said. Her tone went to confusion. "The sensors are going offline, I can't stop them."
When Dylan got to the bridge, the team was assembled there. They saw nothing ahead of them, only darkness and stars. Just space. But Rommie knew it was there because she had seen it before whatever it was made the sensors malfunction.
"Any damage?" Dylan asked.
"No, none at all. The sensors, however, are offline. This doesn't seem to be damage, though. Someone or something overrode my command and disrupted them. All my attempts at getting them back have failed."
"So who's out there?" Harper asked. "And I can say right now, I don't like the sound of this."
"Neither do I." Dylan said. He momentarily flitted his eyes away from the screen as Tyr walked in. "Rommie, you say this…net…is Nietzchean?"
"Yes, Captain, our data shows-"
"Impossible." Tyr interrupted. "The Nietzcheans have no technology like this."
"You might not have known about this, Tyr. Commonwealth data indicate that at the time, Nietzcheans were suspected of trying to build such a device. One that traps ships and is undetectable by sensors."
"But we detected it." Beka said. "Rommie knew before our sensors got jammed."
"What if it's broken?" Harper said, working from his console. 'Rommie, how does this net work?" He avoided calling it a Nietzchean net. Tyr would've used him as a basketball if he had.
"Our information is severely limited, but it is possible that the net works as an invisible trap. Any ship that passes by the net sends out a signal. If the signal is in the Nietzchean database, then it recognizes it as a friend and lets it pass. But all ship signatures are unique. Any ship passing that does not send out a Nietzchean signal activates the net and is trapped."
"So….if that's all true, then there should be a Nietzchean ship around here right?" Beka asked.
"Not necessarily." Rommie stated. "The net is activated when a non-Nietzchean signature passes, but it does not have to be activated by anyone. The system could be run on an automatic basis and it could inform any nearby ship of its new capture."
Dylan thought for a minute. "So that still doesn't explain why we had it on our sensors."
"As I said, it could've been broken. If the Nietzcheans-" He shot a look to Tyr, who attempted to look calm. "-Had really developed this kind of technology to help them with the war, then they would want to get it out there as fast as possible. But, if they couldn't perfect it in time to do so, they would probably have to cut across and make a few shortcuts."
"Like cloaking." Beka said. "If they couldn't find a permanent cloaking device for this net in time to help the war, they probably installed something separate from the net."
"What I would like to know now is how we get out." Harper said.
Suddenly, the ship quaked again. They each held on to something for stability.
When the shaking had stopped, Dylan stood up. "Rommie, what happened?"
"The net-it's gone." Andromeda appeared confused. She looked at Dylan with perplexed eyes.
"What do you mean, it's gone?"
"It's not there. Sensors are back online and-there's a ship."
The crew looked toward the screen as a massive ship loomed in front of them.
Behind them, Tyr muttered softly one word.
"Pixanthi."
"So the Pixanthi was a great Nietzchean warship?" Beka asked. Tyr nodded.
"She won many battles." He shook his head. "Whichever one it lost, it lost hard."
"There are no life signs on board." Andromeda said. "All systems seem to be in stasis. I can't be sure whether they still work. The net seems to have been activated by the ship's onboard computer."
"I thought you said all systems were in stasis." Dylan said.
"They are. Whoever was alive last apparently has programmed the onboard computer to repeat the net's main function until core energy ran out in approximately 3 years."
Dylan nodded.
"Okay, people. Prepare to board." Dylan said. They nodded and one by one, they filed out.
As Tyr left, Harper reluctantly approached him.
"Hey." He said.
Tyr looked behind him at the young man. "Yes?"
"I, uh, I've been doing some research on the net thing that snagged us. You didn't know at all that your people were doing this?"
Tyr stopped. Seeing Harper's hesitant reaction towards all the movement he made, he wanted to just shout at the man to stop being scared. There was no reason to be. He sighed.
"When my pride was betrayed by our own people…let's just say that the lines of communication ran sour." He said. "Whatever might have happened after the Kodiak left has not been known to me."
"Okay." Harper said. Tyr might intimidate him, but he knew the big guy well enough to know that whenever he spoke of his pride or any of the others that had betrayed his, it was a big issue and something that he didn't have the utmost desire to talk about.
Harper inched away slowly, like he was trying to slowly back off, as not to awake a sleeping dragon.
"You shouldn't be afraid, you know." Tyr said.
Harper shrugged. "I know." He said. "I'm not."
***
Beka stuck her head out the transport doors. "Hurry up, Harper."
"I'm hurrying, I really am." Harper said, moving in the same pace he was before. "This takes time, Beka. I can't just throw some things into a duffel bag and get on. Nietzchean ships are a bit different. Especially with this Net device coming from the ship."
"We don't know that it does." Dylan said, coming in.
"But Rommie said it might have and where else would it come from? She found it embedded into the computer to repeat it's actions over and over."
Harper was finally done. He hooked something small to his belt and grinned at Beka, who just shooed him inside. When she, Harper, Dylan, and Tyr were in, they started to make their way toward the vessel.
"It's so hollow." Tyr said. "Whoever did this, they did not leave unscathed." He said.
"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.
"Space debris. Despite being idle for such a long time, there is still some floating around. And some of it isn't from the Pixanthi." He pointed to some chunks of debris. They were clearly not belonging to the Pixanthi.
"Docking now." Beka said. The transport trembled as they landed inside the docking bay.
"How many of our many exciting and life-risking adventures start out just like this?" Harper whispered as they left.
"A whole lot." Dylan replied. They started to command.
The ship was dark and cold. The bitter frigidness of space had penetrated the great battle ship's hull. Harper shuddered and sighed. His breath made white clouds.
"I'm gonna see if I can get us some heat in this fridge." He walked to one of the consoles. A moment later, he frowned. "Uh, you guys?"
Dylan turned. 'What is it?"
"The engineering console says that Sickbay is still up and running." He looked up. "And there's someone there."
Tyr grunted at the familiar steel of the ship. It looked a whole lot like the other ones. If not for it's name and following reputation, this ship could've been easily mistaken for a lesser craft. He ran a hand along its now dusty walls. He wanted to go back so much then, to be accepted in his own. But that wasn't his fault. The people they trusted with their lives had betrayed them. No, he was not accepted. And if he was, then they did not deserve the kindness any surviving member of the Kodiak pride would offer.
His eyes adjusted to the harsh light as Harper opened the Sickbay doors. The lights were still on and it seemed like the ship was never dead. All the consoles were active and several small beeps emitted from some of them.
"This is Captain Dylan Hunt of the starship Andromeda. Is there anyone here?" He asked.
Nothing.
Harper quickly looked over the technology and started reading some of the consoles.
He stooped to remove a panel to expose the wiring, and almost tripped over a small piece of block that was jutting out from the wall. He looked at it and backed away.
"Uh…" He said. The others turned.
"I think I found them."
***
"According to this, her name is Kait Silus. She was about 20 years old when she was frozen cryogenically." Beka read off a chart. "I wonder why."
"Perhaps she was injured and during battle this was the only option." Tyr said. "What pride is she?"
Beka shook her head. "Doesn't say."
"The Pixanthi was stationed with many different members of different tribes. We can't just guess." Tyr said. He started to press buttons.
"What are you looking for?" Dylan asked.
"A log. Anything to tell us why she was on board." He said. "And what the ship was commanded to do."
"And what happened to it." Dylan said, his eyes roving about the interior of the Sickbay.
"Harper, it's still freezing here." Beka said, shaking.
"I'm on it." Harper looked at Tyr, diligently searching, and took off for engineering.
"I'll be on the command deck." Dylan said. He turned to Tyr. "Make sure nothing gets touched until we know what's going on."
Tyr nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen.
Dylan and Beka walked through the silent halls, the hollow echo of their boots clanking against the floor.
"I think Tyr has sentimental value with finding out who this cryo is." Beka said.
'Well, we are on a Nietzchean ship." Dylan said. "It was the same way with Rommie when we went to the Pax."
Beka nodded. "True. But what if he does find out who she is and what pride she's from? What then? I'm just afraid that he's going to spend a lot of time and energy to find something that probably won't make him feel any different."
***
"Rommie, I need the plans for the Nietzchean ship." Harper said, staring at the jumbled mass of wires that had greeted him when he had pried open a panel.
"You said you didn't need them.' Rommie said, not without a twinge of amusement.
"Oh yeah, I gave you sarcasm." Harper said. "Remind me never to do that."
"I'm sending them now." Rommie said. "How are things over there?"
"All right. It's Siberia in here, so I'm trying to get some heat going. But uh, I'm going to need to access the ship logs and captains logs."
"My scan indicates that the temperature is currently 46 degrees Fahrenheit." Andromeda said.
"That's mightily cold." Harper said. "Any answers as to why?"
"None so far. The heating division of the life support system doesn't seem to be malfunctioning."
"Then someone probably turned it off." He said. "Can you get the heat back up?"
"Not from here." Andromeda said. She paused. "I can, however, scan some odd files that are embedded in the logs as high security transmissions."
"That's good." Harper said.
He worked some more. When he had found the life support systems, he reeled back.
"Whoa." He said. "Rommie, you better get over here."
***
"Basically, the life support system and the Sickbay cryogenic units are connected. If I touch the life support, I don't know what the cryo will do. And I can't touch the cryo unit because well, there's a person in there." Harper said, gesturing towards the tube.
They were sitting in Sickbay, where he had revealed his latest news.
"So we can't get heat without defrosting the frosted." Beka said, sighing. "Will the temperature remain the same?"
"I don't know. There probably hasn't been anyone here in a long time. I don't know how live bodies would affect the balance of the life support system." He shook his head. "Rommie says that we could reinitiate the Nietzchean ship and it would detect our presence."
"But we're not Nietzcheans." Beka said.
Harper rolled his eyes. "Duh. But Tyr is."
***
Tyr Anasazi's eyes roamed the console, scrolling down bits and pieces of information. He read the information like a book. The logs were full of the Pixanthi's adventures and victories. Rarely did he come across a defeat. Tyr felt a sense of pride for his fellow Nietzcheans, but among the human crew, he could feel only anger that they had killed so many. And had gloated. If they were any more primitive, Tyr thought they could've hoisted the heads of the High Guard on poles to display. And perhaps a tribal dance to compliment it.
"Tyr." Dylan walked into command, followed by Beka.
"I haven't found anything, unfortunately. The Pixanthi was more successful in battle than I thought. Everything is full of their conquests and their victories. They were so full of pride." He said.
"You say it like it's a bad thing." Beka said, surprised. There was some part of him in this ship after all.
Tyr thought for a minute. "Pride comes to those who can admit defeat. And mourn for those they have killed. These records…all of them, they're all covered by pride. Somewhere along the way, the Pixanthi lost some battles, I am sure of it. And yet her captain felt it was vital to his own ego to cover them up as victories." Tyr shook his head.
"By the way…who is the captain?" Dylan said.
"His name was Leonai Soma. He took very good care of her." He said, looking around. "But his records are sketchy at best. And of course, the last entry was a success in battle."
"When was that?" Beka asked, watching the Nietzchean language roll by.
"About a hundred fifteen years ago." Tyr said. "The medical log is full of lists…things about crew injuries, and battle scars. But nothing much on the cryogenic capsule."
"Harper's found the life support system. And its tied to the Cryo unit." Dylan said. "We can't risk doing anything to the unit, but we think we can try to reactivate the ship. It seems to be in a stasis of some sort, if we can reactivate it…we might be able to get into the old memory and dig through the lies you see in that record."
"And a non-Nietzchean presence might alert the ship in the wrong way." Tyr concluded. Beka smiled.
"Exactly." She grinned and tapped him on the shoulder. "Whenever you're ready."
Tyr looked at her. 'In that case, we should do it now." He said. "I would like to know what really happened."
Dylan, Tyr, and Beka entered the Pixanthi's engineering bay. The machines hummed along and though most of the displays were dark and unused, parts of the room were lit up. Charts and status displays littered the space.
Beka frowned. "Harper?"
Nothing.
Dylan stooped down and saw Harper's utility belt lying on the floor. Various tools were scattered around the floor.
"Harper, this isn't funny. Where are you?" Beka's heart started to beat a little faster. She looked at several small black units lying on one of the counters. "Hey. Heat packs."
"Well…let's use them then." Dylan said, hooking one to his arm. Beka did the same and handed one to Tyr. Since there was none left, she assumed that Harper already had his. Wherever he was.
"Harper?" Dylan shouted.
No answer.
"He might be somewhere else." Tyr said.
"I just contacted him a few minutes ago, he knew we were coming down here." Beka sighed. "He's probably with Rommie."
"Well, spread out. I'm sure he's around here somewhere. He's probably just doing some diagnostics." Dylan said and Beka and Tyr nodded. They separated.
"It just doesn't make sense." Rommie said.
"Of course it doesn't." Harper said. "None of this does."
"And you shouldn't be in here." Rommie said. "You could get hurt."
"Oh, sure, I can get hurt but if the brave and intrepid Captain Hunt goes along for the ride, it's not a problem?" Harper said to the Andromeda Avatar inside the Pixanthi's log.
"It's different. He was using the outside interface on the Pax. And I had more control then. Here, it's different. If this ship detects me as a specific Commonwealth ship…. let's just say it's not just you that's in trouble. And it's different for you, since you're directly linked in." Rommie sighed and rolled her eyes at the grinning Harper.
"No problem, Rommie. Now let's try to find ourselves a Cryogenically frozen girl." He said.
Rommie looked around. Their surroundings were not much different than anything else she had seen. The language was of course different and the ship was very quiet, almost asleep, but it was manageable. And of course, it was no AI. Everything they did, the computer would probably obey. There was no sentient being to consider their requests.
"Okay." Rommie breathed in slowly. "Access last three medical logs."
The computer's information flew past them like wind, and they were taken to the Sickbay. This time, there were people, and they were going about their business like a normal crew.
"There it is." Harper said. "But where's the girl?"
"There." Rommie pointed. A young girl walked into the room, her hair hanging down on her shoulders. She had dark hair and her face held such a serenity.
"She's a babe." Harper commented.
"She's been cryogenically stored for eleven decades and that's the only observation you can make?" Rommie asked, looking at him.
Harper shrugged. "I can make other observations. Like uh, her outfit. It's distinctly not Nietzchean or of any of the crew."
"She's being frozen, it doesn't mean she has to wear the same clothes." Andromeda said.
"Pixanthi, show next medical log." Rommie commanded. They were taken into another scene, though they hadn't left Sickbay.
This scene showed a group of Nietzchean crew members doing various things. To the side, an injured man laid, his arm bloody and burned.
"That must've hurt." Harper said, grimacing.
Suddenly, the ship shook. The doors swished open and several more injured were brought in.
"Looks like a battle." Rommie said. She looked at the Cryo capsule, standing in the corner of the room.
"Yeah, but with who?" Harper said. "You heard Tyr. This ship was one of the most powerful Nietzchean warships. It'd take a big bad to force this thing into retirement."
Rommie frowned. "Access medical officer's log."
The Sickbay scene disappeared and they were now surrounded by the normal flow of the Nietzchean language.
"Medical log. Subject was placed into the unit. The ship has sustained massive damages and is currently traveling through the Haxas Sector. That old fool Soma won't turn around and at least attempt to go in for repairs. The nearest base is only a few days away and he won't risk battle injuries to at least fix the ship. We are all surely condemned to our deaths here."
"The captain was too proud to admit that his ship had ever been damaged." Harper said.
"The problem is, the ship looks wrecked, but internally, it's only got a few kinks." Harper said, tapping the walls.
"Could the Nietzcheans have developed some kind of biologically regenerative component?" Rommie asked. She sighed. "Three hundred years doesn't do much to help my memory banks.'
"Don't worry bout it. This hunk of junk is at least a hundred years adrift. Any information you have should give us help."
"Access final log." Rommie said.
"Wow." Harper said as the area around them changed, dissolving into nothing, and then reappearing as something else. Around them, the ship was damaged, exploding, and there was shouting everywhere.
"The last battle." Rommie said. "It would've been useless for the Pixanthi captain to lie in his reports. The archives would've shown them all."
"Unless he planned to delete them. Call it an accidental technical difficulty."
Out of the blue, there was a high-pitched squeal. Harper and Rommie both covered their ears.
"What the hell is that?" Harper asked.
"The ship." Rommie said, her eyes shut. "It found us."
Then, in a brilliant haze of white, there was nothing.