Destiny dropped out of FTL like coming out of a deep nordic snowstorm. Again, it found itself in the dark, empty vastness of space. It had been weeks since it's last stop into normal space. Inside, the crew worked endlessly on improving the massive ships operating systems, and making that last important step in finally getting into Destinys main computers. They had not been succesfull so far. They were all feeling tired, desperately in need of rest, new supplies from nearby planets, and to again breathe in that fresh air from a lush planet. If only for a little while. Destiny's drop from FTL could not have come at a better time.
Inside a dimly light room, Chloe Armstrong is tucked up beside lieutenant Matthew Scott in their bed. She has woken up from Destinys change of pace of interstellar travel. Her hair is messy, and her eyes are still full of sleep.
She was a light sleeper. Ever since she had been abducted by the blue aliens and taken aboard their ship. It wasn't uncommon for her to wake up several times a night, just lying awake, staring at the ceiling above or listening to Scott's heavy breathing.
«Did we just drop out of FTL?» Chloe mumbled to Scott, half asleep, half awake, trying to focus on her surroundings.
«Matt, I think we're out of FTL, wake up!».
«What...» Scott answered, annoyed at being waken up from his valuable time of sleep.
«We're out, we're finally out».
She got out of bed and reached for her clothes, nicely laid out on a chair by the bed. The faint, blue light from a nearby nebula danced over the silhouette of her naked body while she pulled the lightly colored pink top over head.
«Scott, this Young, come in please». The radio suddenly came alive with the Colonels tired voice at the other end. Scott, still with his head tucked into the soft pillow, grabbed the radio, strategically placed close by for sudden emergencies. On this ship, he was never really off duty.
«This is Scott».
«Report to the Gate Room».
«On my way, sir».
Scott pulled himself out of bed, still dizzy from his interrupted sleep. He hadn't slept for days, that's how it felt like anyway. Too much going on, too many problems, too many issues to deal with.
He reached for the door opener, turning back towards Chloe, pulling on her jeans.
«I take it you're coming as well?»
«Yeah, why not», she smiled at him while she buttoned up the last part of her pants.
In the Gate Room, Colonel Young, Dr. Nicholas Rush and Eli Wallace were looking at data coming in from nearby planets, Eli having sent kinos through the gate to check them out. Rush is leaning over the controls, with Eli and Young on each side of him.
«This one looks good» Eli said, pointing to one of the planets on their screen.
«Come on, 15 celsius, good atmosphere. Can't really be any better. Besides, we're running out of food, not counting the orange looking things we found. Except, they taste like glue».
«Agreed, Eli», Young replied.
«Scott will lead a team there. First task will be to fill up our storage of food».
«Please, no more things that taste like glue».
«Point taken, Eli».
The Stargate slowly started to spin. Scott had gathered a group of six. Three military and three civilians, including Sergeant Ronald Greer and Dr. Dale Volker.
The wormhole roared towards them before settling down, blinkering as the purest of oceanic water.
«Alright, you have four hours to spare, make them count» Rush commented, looking at the countdown.
«Be back in three» Scott replied.
«Alright, make it so, but no longer».
Young had the last word.
«Yes, sir».
«Be careful» Chloe said, putting her hand on Scott's shoulder. He gave her a comforting nod and a quick smile before turning around, facing the Stargate.
The group entered the event horizon, quickly being engulfed by the wormhole. With the last one through the gate, it shut down. The sudden closure of the gate reminded Chloe of how she punched holes in soap bubbles with a needle when she was a child. That's what it looked like when the wormhole disappeared right in front of her eyes.
She was in for at least three hours of no sleep with Scott gone. No chance of settling down again, alone in bed. She might as well catch the view of the local area of space. The nebula she caught a glimpse of when getting dressed, seemed to be magnificent.
Chloe walked to the observation deck to get a better view. She found a chair, and sat down, taking in the view.
She was right. The nebula was fantastic. It stretched like a silky scarf across space, surrounded by beatiful white stars. She wondered why no one else wanted to see. Maybe no one really cared anymore? The feeling and excitement of being in space over and gone with. Everyone too focused on getting enough to eat, or mentally just coping with being stranded on a space ship in some distant galaxy.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. No footsteps had been heard. It took her completely off guard. Chloe jumped up from her seat, spinning around to face her intruder.
«Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Chloe».
It was Camile Wray. It had been Wray's hand on her shoulder.
«It's ok, I guess I'm a little jumpy, still» Chloe answered.
«That's understandable». Wray smiled back at her.
«I take it you know Scott and five others left for one of the nearby planets?»
«Yeah, I was there when they left. I woke up when Destiny came out of FTL...»
Wray smiled and sat down beside her. She seemed less serious than she used to be. To Chloe, Wray always seemed to be focused on doing the right things, making the right decisions, never letting go of her role onboard. Now, she seemed more relaxed. It suited her.
«It's really beatiful, isn't it» Wray said, looking at the blue nebula, smiling gently.
«It really is».
They sat for awhile, not speaking at all, just looking at the wonders and beauty of space, relaxing in each others company.
For Camile, the day had been turbulent. At one point, she simply decided to let it go and do something else. The civilians onboard came from so many different backgrounds, the task of trying to find common ground was hard. So, when Destiny came out of FTL, she had just left her plans and work behind, taking a well deserved break to take a look at the nebula that, she too, had seen from her window.
«Oh dear God, what is that» Chloe suddenly whispered with horror in her voice.
«What's what?»
«There, over there, do you see it?». Chloe pointed her finger towards the upper part of the nebula. Wray looked in the direction of Chloe's finger, but had trouble seeing anything out of the ordinary.
«See what?» Wray whispered back, hearing the fear in Chloes voice.
«The stars, there were so many stars there, just above the nebula. They are all gone!»
«Gone?»
«Yes, something blacked them out!»
«But, that's impossible. Are you sure?»
«Yes, I looked right at it. One moment they were all there, the next they were gone. As if something just blocked the view».
Then they both saw it clearly. A gigantic black shape, slowly floating in front of the nebula. It looked like a boomerang with sharp edges, miles and miles in length.
Wray stared at the shape with wide eyes. Her hands automatically reached for her face, capping her nose and mouth with both her hands.
«Is it a spaceship?» Chloe asked, getting slowly to her feet, eyes focused on the mysterious black figure.
«I have no idea, but it doesn't look natural. It must be huge!».
«We gotta tell Colonel Young»
Wray reached for her radio, still eyes fixed on the object, now almost covering the entire width of the nebula.
«Colonel Young, this is Wray. You better come up to the observation deck. Something you have to see. Please hurry».
«This is Colonel Young, what is it Wray?»
«We don't know exactly. Just get up here, quick».
«On my way».
«Chloe, keep looking at it, don't let it disappear when it's past the nebula».
«I'm trying, I'm trying» Chloe answered stressfully.
«Alright, what's going on here» said Colonel Young, having entered the observation deck.
«Some kind of object, a boomerang shaped black....thing, drifted across the nebula» Wray answered him.
«A what?» Young replied with disbelief in his voice.
«Just look for yourself, it's still there. I saw it before it came in front of the nebula. It blacked out so many stars» Chloe replied.
«Just look, you can still see the shape of it, completely blacking out the stars. It's huge».
Young focused his eyes where Chloes finger was pointing. She was right. He could make out a strange triangle object just below the nebula. It sent shivers down his spine. How could Destiny not pick it up on her sensors? No natural objects in the universe looked like this, at least to his knowledge. Young grabbed his radio;
«Dr. Rush, come in please».
«Dr. Rush here...»
«Have you scanned the area around Destiny?»
«Yes, it does that automatically....»
«Are you sure?»
«Yes, I'm sure, why do you wonder?» Rush answered, irritated.
«Because a gigantic spaceship just passed in front of Destiny».
«What?»
«If you don't believe me, then come up here and see for yourself».
Young put his radio back in it's place. He was already thinking out the proper strategy. If Rush was right, and Destiny never picked up any anamolies, they had to prepare for anything remotely possible.
«We have to inform Scott and his team at the planet. If this thing really is a spaceship, they might be in danger».
«Wait a minute, how do you know it's a spaceship? Wray answered him suspiciously.
«Colonel Young is right, what else could it be?» remarked Chloe.
«I'm sure as hell not interested in being caught with our pants down again» Young said, halfways to himself, halfways to the Wray and Chloe. His mind had now already struck up the right response to the sighting. He got on his radio again:
«Lietenant James, this is Colonel Young»
«Yes, sir?»
«We could have a situation on our hands. Tell Eli to stand by with Destinys weapon platform, and make sure you all have enough ammo with you. We don't want to be ill prepared if anything happens. Just stand by. I will give you more information in a moment».
«Will do, sir».
Young turned back to Chloe and Wray again. They still tried to spot the object, but it had disappeared from view. From where they were standing, the black shape was most likely somewhere below Destiny.
«You two saw it longer, you know the size, shape and the move it did better than me. I want you to stay put just in case it shows up again. Let me know if something happens...»
«Listen, Colonel» said Wray, interupting Young.
«We don't know anything about that...that thing. We may have a first contact situation on our hands here, and I'm not gonna sit by and watch you go in, guns blazing».
«Got any better ideas, Wray? Hail it and say we mean no harm? I've been around way too long for naivety».
«Listen Colonel, history is full of misunderstandings that caused terrible events to unfold because of the militarys ill sense of judgement».
«I'm fully aware of that, I will act in accordance to how things plan out» Young replied seriously before heading for the door.
«Just keep your eyes open, and inform me whatever you see or don't see».
The door behind Young closed with a cracking sound.
«What are we going to do?» Chloe wondered, still shocked over what she had seen.
«I don't know, but if that thing really is a spaceship, I have no intentions of sitting by quietly watching the military blow us all to hell» Wray answered. Her voice was tense and shattering.
«You saw what!» Rush said, with a clear disbelief in his voice. Young was back at the control room, leaving Wray and Chloe alone at the observation deck.
«A black boomerang-like spaceship. It wasn't just big. It was gigantic. Chloe saw it better than me. It disappeared from view just moments after I caught it with my own eyes» answered Young.
Rush looked at him, his forehead wrinkled in doubt over Youngs new discovery.
«Bigger than Destiny?»
«Can't be certain, but it looked like a ship», Young replied, still not sure how to explain what he saw.
«Now, that's just great. Just what we needed. Aliens in black boomerangs» Eli commented, his hands tightly wrapped around the edges of his consul.
«Eli, launch a kino. Maybe it will pick it up» Rush said, half uninterested, clearly not believing Youngs story.
«Ok, kino is launched» Eli informed Colonel Young and Rush, getting images on his screen from the small device floating around outside Destiny.
«Go underneath the ship, I'm pretty sure it disappeared from our view because it had a downwards trajectory in front of the Destiny» replied Young.
The kino slowly floated to the underside of Destiny. The live video on Eli's screen presented the glory of their ancient ship before Eli gave the command to stare into the black space underneath.
All three of them leaned forward towards Eli's screen, trying to spot any odd movings in the area. They could see nothing but stars.
Rush shook his head;
«Nothing there, just stars and darkness».
«Wait, give it a moment» Young replied sharply.
«Okay, but if we locate the Death Star or something, I'll be very upset» Eli replied, jokingly.
«Wait a minute, wait a minute» Rush suddenly said, much more interested.
«Great, here we go, Darth Vader will be pissed we found him».
«No, no, be quiet!» Rush hissed back.
«What, what do you see?» Young asked with interest.
«There, to the left. A little bit up on the screen. Focus your eyes, it's so black it's hard making it out. There were a distant galaxy there a moment ago, with several local stars around as well, and now they're gone».
«Just what Chloe said. It blacked out the stars. That's how she saw it» Young commented.
«Eli, turn on the nightvision mode» Rush ordered.
«I don't know how much good that will do...»
«Please, just do it» Rush replied, impatient and annoyed.
The kino flickered for a moment, and then settled in nightvision mode. The three of them fell into silence, looking at the screen in shock and amazement. On Eli's screen were an object of gigantic size, slowly moving from right to left, going on a downwards trajectory just as Young said.
«Jesus Christ....» Rush said, not believing his own eyes.
«Are those weapons online, Eli?» Young asked.
«Yeah...» said Eli, his eyes wide open as he looked at the object.
«I've seen a few alien spaceships in my time, but nothing like this» Rush said, slowly coming to terms with the situation.
«How come Destiny couldn't find it with her sensors?» Young wondered.
«How would I know? System failure? Maybe it's using some kind of stealth mode? If it really is a spaceship I mean».
«Come on, what else could it be? Just a weird looking moon? It's moving for crying out loud!» Eli replied.
«Open up a wormhole and get Scott's team back. I'm taking no chances with this one», Young said, picking up his radio from his pocket ordering the people at the gate room to make the arrangements happen.
«This is amazing» Rush whispered.
«If the size is what I think it is, it's bigger than Destiny. The design is so alien I don't even know where to begin».
«Colonel Young, come in» the radio scratched.
«This is Colonel Young» he replied, eyes fixed on the object on Eli's screen.
«Scott and his team are back safely, no problems» said the voice.
«Good, tell him to stand by, he might be needed».
«Will do, sir».
«Ok, is it just me or did the boomerang just stop moving?» Eli said, pointing his finger on the object.
«I believe you are right, Eli», Rush replied.
The object had indeed stopped moving. Now it was almost stationary.
«Why did it stop?» Young shot in.
«Well, it haven't exactly stopped, we're travelling quite fast even out of FTL, the vessel have propably adapted it's speed to ours. But it did change pace just after Scott and his team came back»
«So, you think the vessel picked it up?»
«The gate travel? Well, your guess is as good as mine» said Rush, typing in several commands on his computer, going in to full mental work mode.
Suddenly, a massive green beam shot out of the alien vessel. Before any of them could react, Destiny were covered in a massive green light. It was so bright they had to cover their eyes not to be in pain from the bright light engulfing them.
«Eli, prepare to fire» Young yelled out, still with his eyes covered.
«Give it a moment, just give it a moment! I think they're scanning us», Rush yelled back at Young.
«I'm not giving it a damn moment. Eli fire our weapons!»
«They're not working. I'm pressing all of it, nothing is working» Eli screamed frantically.
«What? That can't be! We ran a system check just hours ago!».
«You think I don't know that?» Eli replied, pushing firing buttons rapidly.
«Goddamnit!» Young yelled with anger.
Then it was over. The green light disappeared as quickly as it had come upon them.
«What the hell was that?» Eli asked Rush.
«I think they were scanning us» Rush replied.
«Scanning for what?»
«To find out if we're a problem? First step before a boarding? Anyones guess» Rush whispered back, his voice scratchy and serious.
«But make one thing sure, even the Destiny does not have technology like we just experienced».
«Are you saying they are more technologically advanced than us?» asked Young.
Rush grinned sarcastically, and shook his head.
«No, I'm not saying that. But really, what do you think?».
Young ignored Rush's comment, and turned to Eli.
«Are you able to fire?»
«Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean...» Eli said uncomfortably, interupted by Rush;
«Eli is right, we have no clue what we're up against here. It could be anything. We're still here, are we not? Give it a moment» he chimned in.
Young fell quiet for a second, trying to figure out the best way to respond to the alien vessel.
«Alright, but I want that thing followed. If there's any, and I mean any form of hostile action taken, I want those weapons online and firing at the moment it happens. Run a system check on them, and make damn sure they work properly next time. And keep the kino on it» Young replied.
«Easier said than done» mumbled Eli.
The shiny, green light had taken Chloe and Wray by surprise. They had both thrown themselves to the floor, thinking they had been under attack by the vessel. When the bright light had disappeared, they had slowly gotten to their feet again, still shaken by the incident.
«What was that?» Chloe turned to Wray, still trying to make sense of what happened.
«Some kind of scan of the ship? Or us? We're still here aren't we? Either they took us for a superior force, or they figured we're not worth the bother?» Wray replied, reaching for her radio.
«Dr. Rush, this is Wray, come on».
«This is Rush».
«Just what the hell happened?»
«From what I can tell from the computers, we were heavily scanned».
«Is Young there?» Wray continued.
«He left moments ago, meeting Scott in the Gate Room».
Wray stopped for a second, carefully choosing her words. Before she could respond, Rush continued;
«All our weapons malfunctioned. Young thought it was our fault. I'm inclined to believe our weapons were neutralized by the scan. Eli did some checks, and they seem to be operative now, not knowing 100% of course, we're not sure if we want to fire or not».
«Just make sure we're not making mistakes» Wray replied before ending their conversation.
The gigantic black boomering kept following Destiny as they both raced through normal space. It had slowly manouvred itself somewhere underneath, making it diffcoult for the kino to spot it. The shear blackness of the object, and the failure to track it with Destinys censors made people onboard nervous and jumpy, not knowing what to expect. With Young off organizing a possible defence against the object with Scott, Rush and Eli were left to themselves.
Rush kept thumping his fingers against the side of the consul. Eli left him alone to his thoughts, knowing by experience it was best to leave him alone when he had something on his mind.
«Listen, Eli. If they were hostile they would have blown us all to hell by now. Instead, they simply keep floating along with us. I want to try and hail it». Rush looked at Eli with a firm and serious face. He clearly wanted to investigate the matter before Young came back, having other plans.
«Are you sure? We're talking about trying to interact with a giant boomerang. Have you ever seen Star Trek? Sometimes talks with aliens doesn't go strickly as they planned».
«This isn't Star Trek now is it» Rush replied, not even bothering looking at the confused Eli. Rush was done with discussions. He gave the commands to Destinys computer, sending out a simple message in all ways possible.
«Why do you think they would even understand? I mean, they, or it for that matter, may not get a single point of what we're trying to say. What if they misunderstand it?».
«I put more faith in them than that, they haven't buildt a massive black spaceship if they didn't understand a simple greeting, Eli. We're possibly looking at someone more technologically advanced than the Ancients themselves. We're so far away from our corner of the Universe that these beings might operate under very different orders or agendas».
Silence fell between them, anxiously waiting for a possible reply from the alien ship. Five minutes went by, then ten minutes. It seemed the boomerang had no intentions of answering.
«One hour left before we're jumping back to FTL. We got one hour to make contact, or simply figure these people out», Rush finally said, starting to stress over time left.
He was always curious when it came to secrets. He wanted desperately to crack them all. Like a boy in front of a closed closet, not giving up until he had knocked the lock off, and discovering the wonders of what lay inside. It's what had brought him to Destiny in the first place, and now another mystery was unfolding right underneath his own feet. He had to find out, he needed an answer.
That night, while Destiny was safely back into FTL, Chloe was yet again left sleepless beside her love. She twisted and turned, but could not fall asleep. In the end, she gave up and put on some clothes, hoping to find Dr. Rush in the mess hall. They've had several encounters there the last weeks, and she had started to enjoy them.
She found him where she thought he would be, sitting alone with a cup of water, staring into space. She found her seat, and sat down. They never spoke much, but it was always of substance when they did.
Rush cleared his voice, and pulled himself out of his train of thought, giving notice to Chloes arrival.
«Chloe, have you ever played in a forest before?»
Chloe felt it was a strange thing to ask, but give him an honest answer anyway.
«Of course I have, although it's been a few years».
«Have you ever come across animals or insects? Living organisms you've touched, held, or investigated?»
Rush took another gulp of water, still staring focued at something in the distance, as if he did not want loosing the point of his questions.
Chloe nodded.
«When I was 12, me and a friend of mine came across this small bird. His wing was broken, and he could not get off the ground. I took him in my arms, and wanted to take him back to my mom for care».
«That bird. What do you think he thought when you suddenly took him in your arms?»
Rush smiled. Chloe was confused to his questions, but knowing Rush, there was always a point.
«Maybe something in the lines of What the hell is going on?»
«Exactly», Rush replied.
«That's what happened today. We were the bird, a damaged ship shooting through space, not knowing how long it will hold itself togheter. A bird, a ship, what's the difference anyway».
«Those aliens. They saw us, they scanned us, checked us out. Why would they try to talk to us? You didn't try to talk to your bird, did you?»
«Of course not», Chloe answered.
«That would be a waste of time».
«Yes, that is correct», Rush replied, happy with this conclusion.
Rush drank the last of his water, before getting to this feet. He was exhausted, Chloe could tell from the way he looked at her, and from the way he handled himself. She didn't say anything. Just looked at him turn away from her, walking down the corridor towards his quarters.
«By the way Miss Armstrong, what happened to your bird?» Rush asked, turning around at the last moment, before leaving the dark room.
«It died before I could bring it to my mom. We buried it in our backyard».
Rush nodded, and gave off a forced smile.
«Well, good night».
«Good night Dr. Rush».