Prologue
Captain Tak O'Hart's nano-collar glowed white as he came close to the bridge door. With a beep, the door slid open and the Captain strode aboard. As always, fifty bridge officers were hard at work, controlling every element of life aboard the world-ship Sun Servant. From the humidity levels on the agricultural level to the water temperature in the fisheries of level 89, each thing crucial to survival aboard the Sun Servant had a member of bridge staff in charge of it. And Captain O'Hart was in charge of them. And right now, he felt in need of a huge cup of synthcaf. As he entered the bridge, the officers saluted from their seats.
"Alright," he said, his voice grated with sleep. "What was so important that you had to wake me up?"
Technical Officer Boros Bullon stood up. He stepped forward. He was not as big a man as his name might suggest, but was an acutely intelligent man. He was in charge of maintaining all technical systems, and every element of the ship eventually came back to him. Such control might have led other men to wickedness, but Boros had a propensity to blushing and shyness. It made O'Hart quite fond of the man.
"Sir," Boros said, "uh, we have something quite unexpected on the sensors?"
"What is it?" O'Hart felt like something unexpected showed up on sensors at least once a day. To the people aboard, everything was unexpected. Descended from scientists, the ship's crew and passengers had a naturally curious disposition that at best made every day a bit more interesting and at worst made constant mountains out of molehills. Chances were that whatever this unexpected thing was, it was hardly important enough to be woken up over.
"Well sir," Boros scratched his nose. "It's a ship…as best we can tell, anyways…"
"A…what…a ship? A ship," O'Hart shook his head. "Impossible. We're lightyears away from established settlements or shipping lanes. It can't be a ship."
"Well, strictly speaking, you're right," said Boros. "It's a box. But a box out here…"
"Must have something in it, yes," O'Hart said. "Alright then, pull it on board. Hangar 6."
"Will do sir," Boros saluted.
"And send a team to meet me there. Security Clearance 6, at least."
"Yes, sir," Boros saluted again, then ran to follow orders.
O'Hart turned and left the bridge. Following a hall, he came to a Quick Travel Tube. "Hangar 6," he spoke, his nanocollar glowed and he stepped inside the tube. Suddenly, he felt warm, and a tingle ran up his body. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in the hangar. On a ship as massive as the Sun Servant, Quick Travel Tubes were the only reliable way of moving about. He stepped off, feeling the slight looseness in his muscles that always came about after QT, a side-effect that the near-middle-aged man was more than happy with. He rolled his neck and strode forward.
He was not sure what he had been expecting, but the blue wooden box being guided through the energy-field was not it. As it was settled onto the ground and the rest of his team appeared from QT Tubes, he moved towards it.
"Scan," he said, and his collar glowed. A computerized voice emitted from it.
"Box unknown, technology unknown," it said. "No dangerous radiation detected, no dangerous microbial life detected, no dangerous virus' detected. Interior unscannable."
"Alright, team," he said, and the ten people Boros had sent arrayed themselves behind him. "Commands at the ready. The ship defends itself, but we may need to give it a nudge."
He strode forward and placed hid hand on the wood. It was oddly warm and, insanely, it seemed to breath, like it was alive. O'Hart swallowed. He placed his hand on the handle of the door. The words on the adjacent door were in a language he didn't know. He gripped and pushed. And found it locked. He tried again.
"Door is locked," he said. "Request: laser cutter."
He held out his hand and his collar glowed again. Suddenly, a device flew from a QT Tube and landed in his hand, a stout tube. He pressed it's red-diode tip against the door and pressed a white button on its side. And was blown backwards, the device shattering. The door, however, seemed unfazed.
"Impossible," he said.
Suddenly, the room went silent. O'Hart stood, feeling a tension that could be cut with a knife. He swallowed.
"What are you," he whispered. Suddenly, the door opened. O'Hart jumped backwards as a man strode out.
"Oh," said the man. "Me?" The man grinned. "I'm the Doctor."
