Chapter 4
Unknown Location, Pegasus Galaxy.
Nikal takes the step down from the command chair's platform and stands behind a nearby console. He starts typing away trying to assess the damage, but with the main computer malfunctioning and the AI Core offline it is close to impossible to get any credible information.
He slams a frustrated fist on the console only to hurt himself in the process. "Ugh this is not good." He says aloud to himself. Looking over he sees Jad still trying to regain control, "Jad are you ok?"
Jad looks back and notes the dazed concerned look, "A little nauseous, I think the inertial dampeners are working overtime. Otherwise I'm fine, you however don't look good, you must have injured at least one of your ribs." Jad looks around the bridge for a medkit. He eventually finds one underneath the science station console. He moves back to Nikal and gets him to sit back in the control chair, opening the kit he looks at its contents. Finding a vile of deep blue liquid, he loads it in an injector. "This is should ease the pain you're experiencing." He touches the injector to his arm, with a small hiss the contents are painlessly injected.
Nikal immediately feels the pain dull away, as the medication begins to assist his own body's healing ability. "Thank you. Before the chair went offline I was trying to stabilise the ship but with the control network in disarray I don't think the command went through."
"If we're in a spin then it explains why the internal dampeners are having trouble negating it. I don't know why the power modules and primary generators have gone offline now we've dropped out. It's only a matter of time before emergency power fails." Jad says.
"It is a safety protocol I wrote into the ships firmware. You see the reactors require constant computer surveillance to prevent anything going wrong. If the main computer were to be taken offline the reactors would go offline as well. Ugh, these problems would have been ironed out during the testing phase. I haven't even installed the repair nanites, so as we speak the damage isn't being repaired; that should have been the first thing I installed." Nikal looks down as he finishes.
"You could not have predicted the events we have faced. This ship should still be weeks away from combat trials. None of this is your fault." Jad tells Nikal.
"I know." He replies.
"Now are you going to sit there feeling sorry for yourself, or are you going to fix it before we end up as goo on that bulkhead?" Jad says in a stern voice.
"I'll fix it." He smiles. "I didn't know you were a motivational speaker." He says laughing.
Nikal gets up and approaches the communication console, he takes the trifold tablet and interfaces it with the console. Tapping a command on the tablet he opens a channel to every other tablet issued to the evacuees.
"Attention all personnel. This is Acting Commander Nikal. We have successfully fled from the Galactic Core System, but as you may have noticed we have incurred severe damage to our systems. To get out of this situation I would ask anyone with engineering and technical expertise to report to the Main Engineering Bay. Those with medical training please report to the Medical Bay to assist the casualties as the automated systems are down. The quicker we repair the ship the quicker we can get under way. Your assistance is needed. Thank you. Nikal out." He closes the broadcast.
"Looks like communications are down, we won't be able to contact the rest of the fleet. But right now, none of that matters." He turns away from the console and faces Jad, "Now, I understand your objections about being the Executive Officer all I ask is you continue as XO till I can find a replacement. If you accept, I would give you the position of Chief Engineer your technical skills would be put to skilful use." Nikal asked sincerely.
Jad takes a moment to think it over, he wouldn't be in charge of command decisions and would still be contributing. "I accept. You know my experience and skills."
"That I do." He says as he moves to the rear of the bridge where a tall briefing table, there are no chairs around it meaning that staff must stand around it. "Now I transported a lot of cargo aboard before we departed Galactic Core." A hologram screen activates on the table as it interfaces with the tablet. "I know that I transported enough blank nanite slurry aboard to supplement the small supply of repair nanites stored with much of the other building supplies in the main hanger bay. If we were to inject the repair nanites into the ships systems then inject the blank nanites, the blank nanites will obtain the programming to become repair nanites." He finishes.
"So, I'll go to the main hanger bay and you to the cargo bay for the nanites?" Jad asks.
"No, I need you running point from the bridge. Once the systems start coming online I'll need you to supervise the repair effort, while I try and get the AI core online." Nikal answers.
"Alright. I'll alert the engineering teams to begin repairs where they deem necessary." Jad says.
"Here is a copy of the ship manifest, its lucky I didn't delete it once I uploaded it to the mainframe." Nikal says. He picks the tablet up and makes a forward swiping motion towards Jad. In Jad's pocket his trifold tablet beeps in response to the upload.
Nikal leaves the bridge and makes his way back to the transport booth, he walks right into the door as it fails to open. Letting out a small frustrated sigh he uses the open tablet to wirelessly interface with the transport door controls. Overriding its protocols for local access the doors slowly slide open. He realises that with the main computer down that he will have to locally override each secure door he happens to come to. Entering the booth, the panel opens and he selects a destination towards the front of the ship.
He rematerialises near hanger bay one, exiting the booth he types a command into the tablet which connects with the hanger bay door to open it well before he walks there. Entering the large door into the bay he makes his way towards the centre of the room, several large containers have been place here full of supplies which were intended to be used to complete the unfinished Rickard. The large containers are placed in such a way that several small corridors have been temporarily created. Consulting with the tablet he soon finds the cargo container he is looking for, placing a hand on the surface of the container it opens. Inside are several shelves full of tools, equipment and supplies. At the back of the container he finds a large clear cube full of silver dust. He breaks the seal on the container, and collects a small sample in a vile. He places the now heavy vile of dense nanite dust on a separate shelf for later and returns to the main container. He types a new command into his tablet, the dust immediately reacts turning into a silver liquid.
He speaks to the tablet. "Activate." A signal is sent to the nanite slurry, which solidifies into a sphere and rolls towards the main door. A console imbedded next to the doorway comes online and the nanite sphere breaks apart as the nanites enter it. The nanotechnology travels along the computing lines seeking out any damage. The lights that were moments ago flickering randomly, slightly stabilise. Glancing down at his tablet he sees that the nanites are quickly progressing to the major areas in the ship. He picks up the vile of inert nanite dust and leaves the hanger bay.
Making his way to one of the many cargo bays he repeats the process with the blank nanites, he places the vile of repair nanites in with the blanks. The data in the repair nanites transfers over to the blanks and they too enter a nearby console, repairing various systems.
He leaves and makes his way to the transporter, he is presently surprised to see the door automatically open for him as he approached. The selection panel opens on the rear wall, with lots of smaller destination icons. Nikal decides to use the verbal function to select his destination.
"Artificial Intelligence Core." He states the location he wants out loud for the transporter to select the closest booth.
Nikal materialises in another booth embedded in a wall along the Main Concourse of the ship. This large corridor spans almost the entire length of the ship. Its located in the centre of the ship and depending on the location is approximately five decks high.
As he steps out of the booth he feels himself tilting to his right. He doesn't feel anything wrong with his battered body. At the same moment, his tablet beeps.
"This is Jad, everyone hold on to something!" The tablet broadcasts.
He grabs the side of the booth just as the inertial dampeners momentarily fail, his grip fails and he hits the wall opposite of the transporter. The dampeners appear to come back to full power, Nikal gets up slowly using the protruding forcefield generator strip as support.
"I have to get the computer back online." He says to himself.
He pathetically attempts to run as his body screams in pain. The doors to the AI core room were large, a label on the door states that only authorised personnel were permitted access to the core room, which at the moment was only Nikal. He waves his hand over the door control, it scans his biosignature, seconds later a chime sounds as the doors slide open.
The lights automatically come on as he approaches the large three-tiered computer core. He notices serious scorch marks near the base of the core. One tray sits open with its crystals shattered. Thinking quickly, he begins repairs. Several dozen crystals are removed from their housings and replaced. He bypasses some of the seriously damaged sections in hopes of bringing even minimal AI processes back online.
A holographic screen appears displaying a message on in a blue box. *Primary AI core reinitialising. Stand By. *
In front of Nikal, the three-tiered tower begins to light up; The generic computer voice speaks over the internal com system. 'Secondary computer core online, operating status ninety percent capacity. Restoring computer control. Primary power generation systems reinitialising.'
Nikal takes a moment to relax and smile at his small victory, in front of him the Rickard hologram slowly appears.
"Good evening Commander. How may I be of assistance?" It asks curtly.
"Stand by, your memory files should be restored momentarily." Nikal replies.
"Understood…" It pauses, and flickers. "…there seems to be some data corruption in the most recent memory files. A power surge may have caused this." It states with a slight frustrated tone.
"Yes, I assumed so while I repaired the core. Are you able to access the ships systems yet? We need to identify what needs repairing and where." Nikal asks.
"Access to secondary systems is affirmative. Diagnostics began automatically when the core was rebooted. There is no structural damage, several power conduits to the shield and weapon systems have failed due to the sheer amount of energy travelling through it. The nanites have begun to work on repairing them. The hyperdrive however is the most critically damaged. The physical drive units are fine, but there are several crystal trays showing severe damage. The induction crystal does not appear to be in its housing." Rickard states in an orderly manner.
The computer voice states a message, 'Cold Fusion power generator one, ready for start-up.'
"Proceed with the start-up on generator one." Nikal responds.
Moments later a slight vibration on the deck occurs and is quickly negated by the over worked inertial dampeners.
"Commander, main thrusters now have sufficient power to stabilise the ship. I however am still re-establishing my link to the drive systems." Rickard states.
Nikal moves to one of the consoles, with a few mental commands he opens an audio only channel to the bridge.
"Jad, generator one is online. I think the grid has stabilised enough to attempt to slow the ship rotation. Do you have access to the thrusters?" He asks.
"The pilot station is still offline, stand by, I'll use the commanders chair." He replies. Seconds later the feeling of being stuck in a tumbling elevator stops. "We are at an all stop. Now the computer is online I'll begin to find out where we are, Jad out." The channel closes.
"My program is ready for redeployment. What are my orders?" Rickard asks.
"Return to all locations you were previously projected into. Assist where you can." Nikal says.
He returns to the transport booth, selecting an icon representing engineering he appears at the rear of the ship. Walking out of the booth he is greeted be a large group of people willing to assist in repairs. The Rickard hologram appears next to him.
"I apologise for my tardiness, I had to bring the main computer online to prevent a catastrophe from occurring. I see you all have begun repairs." Nikal says.
An Engineer steps forward, judging from the uniform style he is a senior officer within the technician division. "Yes, we have. Most of the repairs in this section have been only from visual inspection and what the scanning equipment can detect. With the computer now up and running it should be a lot quicker to find and repair. If it is ok with you I would appreciate autonomy to conduct repairs? We would of course keep you and the bridge informed." The officer asks.
"Of course." Nikal answers before continuing. "I have several priorities to attend to and would appreciate if you would take on that responsibility. Report to the XO once preliminary diagnostics have completed. And your name is?" Nikal asks.
"Thank you, sir. Kyal Lieutenant Senior Grade." Kyal replies.
"Excellent, the AI here is fully functional and will be able to assist you with your work. If there are any issues with the engine configuration you can contact me." Nikal ends the conversation with Kyal, and makes an announcement for the assembled group. "I once again would like to thank you for all the work you will be working on." Nikal leaves for the transport booth.
Nikal walks into a scene of chaos. Medics, a few doctors, and a group of civilians scrambling to and fro attending to patients.
"Who is in charge here?" He asks a passer-by.
"I'm not entirely sure, all the doctors are I think. Its been more of a group effort. I'm sorry Archon, there is a child over there who broke his leg and has serious bruising when the inertial dampeners momentarily failed; I need to attend to him." The female in a civilian outfit continues on her way with a handful of supplies.
Looking around he notices someone in a pale blue white uniform indicating their status as a medical officer. He approaches her. "Excuse me, I'm Archon Nikal, the acting commander. I need to talk to the ranking medical officer." He asks in a quieter tone that usual.
"You're looking at her. We are rushed at the moment Acting Commander as you can see." She places a lot of emphasis on 'Acting'. "We have a lot of injured people." She passes him a small rectangular device that heals burnt skin, as she walks to another bed. Nikal keeps up to her pace.
"Alright. I'll come back later for a status update. Is there anything you need?" He asks clearly understanding the situation. They stop at another patient and she moves his arms over his legs and indicates a sweeping action. He activates the device and begins healing the wound.
"Yes. Stasis pods, if there are stasis pods aboard this vessel. We have at least a dozen pilot crews severely injured. There are tools here to heal them but not enough trained personnel to utilise them. If we had access to the stasis pods then we can place them inside and treat them later. Preferably on a one by one basis." She informs him.
"That can be done." He says as he notices an iteration of the Rickard hologram across the room assisting one of the civilians treating an injured person.
"Rickard." He says out loud.
Another hologram appears. "Yes Commander?" It asks.
"Coordinate with the Acting Chief Medical Officer…" He looks at her and raises and eyebrow. She catches the meaning.
"Tragan." She fills in.
"… Tragan. Prepare Stasis Hall One for emergency suspension. Bring pods online and run diagnostics." Nikal ordered.
"Yes Commander." It replies as it disappears.
He looks back at Tragan, and passes the skin regenerator back. "Call for the hologram when you are ready. The internal transport system will move them for you. Here is the location of the Stasis Hall." He says with a reassuring smile. Grabbing the tablet from his pocket he calls the information up and swipes it out towards her pocket. Her tablet emits a small tone to signal that transfer has completed.
She smiles back. "Thank you, Commander. I'll bring a report as soon as I can."
Nikal leaves the medical bay.
Returning to the bridge Nikal sees Jad sitting in the Commander's chair with several hologram screens in front of him. He turns and faces Nikal.
"Sensors and communications should be up soon. Resolution from the sensors is only ten percent but it is on the climb." Jad informs Nikal.
"That's good to hear." He replies.
He is interrupted as klaxons sound as the ship automatically changes to a defence condition. The Rickard hologram immediately appears.
"Unknown object detected directly aft. It doesn't appear to be approaching, however several smaller objects are on an intercept course. I estimate they are on final approach to the hanger bays." Jad reads off one of the screens.
"Time till sensors are fully operational?" Nikal asks as he moves to the weapons console.
"Approximately four minutes. I'm halting the diagnostics, it should cut the time in half." Jad says as figures change on the screens in front of him.
"Sensors will reach an optimum resolution within ninety seconds." Rickard advises.
"Power lines to several dozen plasma turrets are offline. With the other seven generators, still offline there isn't enough power to bring the entire rear weapons array online." He says aloud for the others to consider options. "Have the communications come back online?" He asks.
"Broadcast capabilities are now functioning; the receiver will be online in moments." Jad says.
"Open a channel to the vessel." Nikal orders.
Rickard responds immediately and the channel opens, a chime sounds indicating that it's open.
"Unknown vessel. This the Lantean Warship Rickard. Recall your small craft immediately. If you refuse to comply you will be destroyed." Nikal says with a tone of confidence even though he knew that he was bluffing.
Static fills the bridge before a response comes through.
"Please tell me you didn't forget about us Rickard? Thanks for the lift by the way." A screen appears in front of the trio, with an image of a Lantean Captain.
Nikal lets out a sigh of relief at recognising the voice. "I am terribly sorry Captain. After returning to normal space we had to deal with some major repairs." Nikal informs him, he enters a sequence into the weapons console ending the defence condition.
"So, did we. Primary systems over here are still coming back up. That was a nasty rotation your ship was in. I would have assisted but our tractor emitters were hit. We sent the small craft once your ship appeared to stabilise, we tried on several occasions to open communications but assumed rightly that your comm system was down. If you don't mind letting my flight teams to land we can begin discussing our next move." The Captain asks.
"Yes of course." Nikal says.
Looking to Jad and Rickard, "Open the bays and allow them aboard." He orders.
"I shall compile a report of our situation and meet with your senior advisor." Nikal says back towards the screen.
"Alright, I'm going to bring the Triton just off your port quarter. It should make transportation easier. Triton out." The Triton Captain finishes, the screen disappears.
"Executive Officer Jad, I recommend that you resume regular breathing patterns or else you will suffer from respiratory problems." The Rickard hologram states to Jad.
Jad looks at it then realises that he had been holding his breath expecting another Wraith assault. He lets out the breath he was holding in, and inhales deeply. "Thanks." He replies.
Omicron-584 Star System, Several hundred lightyears from Galactic Core.
Three hyperspace windows open, a Lantean Cruiser and its two Warship escorts drop out. Lieutenant Maxus the Mission Commander stands in front of the main viewing window of the Cruiser's bridge.
"Full sensor scan, system wide." He orders the bridge crew.
"Sensor scan initiated." The sensor operator states.
Sitting in the command chair is Maxus' superior officer, Etan, who is acting as the representative of the Galactic Core Lantean Fleet. The Subcommander looks around helplessly as he isn't currently in command.
"Sensor scans complete. No artificial emissions detected, no ships within range detected. Twelve planetary bodies detected, four appear within the habitable zone. The Stargate is in geosynchronous orbit above the fifth planet." The sensor operator reports.
"Set course for the fifth planet. Perform a short hyperspace jump." Etan ordered.
Maxus turns back to him with an inquisitive look. The Etan realises what he did without thought. "Sorry, it's a habit when you're in this chair." He gets up and moves to the window with Maxus.
"Inform the Warships, and preform the jump." Maxus orders. It's not every day he gets to command a fleet.
"The Warships have acknowledged." A Communications officer reports.
The pilot taps a few commands into the console in front of him, holding the controls in his hands he sends a mental command to the hyperdrive to activate. "Transitioning to hyperspace." The pilot states.
Maxus and Etan face the window and watch the hyperspace window open as they rapidly accelerate into the tear. The darkness of space is replaced with an enormous corridor of blue light of varying tones. Seconds later the corridor appears to suddenly end as they rapidly approach a dark tear, they transition back to normal space. A large brown planet fills the forward windows, it appears to be habitable but barely as most of the planet from orbit appears to be desert.
"The Stargate is directly ahead. We are in range for remote dial out." The sensor operator states.
"Alright." Maxus says. He moves towards the communications console, he grabs an inset handle and pulls out an extension to the console. He begins touching the symbols on the small dialling device, its interface being a smaller version of the indoors version of the dialling device used in Lantean bases. He touches the centre button and the ship send out the remote dialling sequence.
"Stargate active. Stable connection." The comm officer reports.
"Send a communications request to Concordia." Maxus ordered. The comm officer nods as a chime sounds indicating an open channel.
"Concordia base. This is Lieutenant Maxus of the starship Arcus, please respond." He says.
The bridge falls silent as everyone waits for a reply. Moments later a response comes through the bridge speakers. "Arcus this is Concordia. It's good to finally hear from the fleet. I'm patching your comm signal through to the Administrator. Please standby."
"Thank you." The comm signal closes for a moment.
A holographic screen appears in front of the window, Administrator Jax appears.
"Lieutenant Maxus, I'm Administrator Jax. I am absolutely pleased to finally have an open communications channel to your fleet. What is your situation?" Jax asks.
"I am glad we were able to open this line of communication as well. I'm currently acting as Mission Commander on our little expedition. We were ordered by Captain Cloelia to open a line of communication with you as the fleet is currently positioned well outside real-time subspace communications range. So, a small contingent of ships under my command has jumped to the Omicron-584 Star System to utilise its space gate. This is Subcommander Etan, the Executive Officer of the Arcus, he is willing to travel to Concordia via gate ship to apprise you and the Concordia Leadership, of the situation." Maxus informed.
"I see. I will need to advise my Security Director of this request. I only request that you stay within range of the Stargate to keep the communications line open. May I ask if Archon Nikal survived the exodus? We have been informed that he has a prototype Warship at his disposal and was in charge of the fleet." Jax asks.
Maxus looks to Etan who answers the question. "Archon Nikal's ship was rammed by a Wraith cruiser during the fight. It survived but from the communique we received from his ship, it sounded like it caused some serious damage to their hyperdrive. Command of the fleet was then to be transferred to Captain Cloelia in the event that his ship did not arrive at the rendezvous point. Which at this moment still has not arrived." Etan recalls.
"I see, well all we can do is hope that he did jump to safety and is simply lost somewhere." Jax says offering a reassuring smile.
"Yes Administrator. We will contact you again within the hour, I will update the fleet that we have made a connection and to begin preparations for departure to Concordia. Maxus out." Maxus finishes, he nods to the comm officer who closes the channel.
Etan lets out a breath and looks at Maxus. "Do you want me to inform Cloelia?"
"Yes." Maxus replies, he returns to the bridge control chair and rotates around to the sensor officer. "Once the Stargate automatic shutdown activates, dial back immediately."
"Yes sir." The officer replies.
Nikal sits quietly working at his desk in what would be his office aboard the Rickard. He looks around at he the bare walls. Not a single item in this room shows any of Nikal personality or interests. Everything he owned was incinerated in his office back on Galactic Core, well almost everything. He digs into his bag that still holds the crystals containing the Atlantis Database, he pulls out a small dual cylinder device. He pulls it open to reveal a holographic image of himself with Joja, they're holding each other in a close hug while laughing. He remembers the day vividly, it was the day they graduated from the Doranda Educational Centre. He graduated from the sci-ops annex and she graduated from the defence annex, they knew each other as a 'friend of a friend' going in and became best of friends leaving. He places the image down on the table, looking around the room which was rather sparse, empty lounge area, no conference table. He only had the desk he was sitting at because he transported it from one of the complete science labs. He looks again at the image and is grateful for what he has, he can't go back to Doranda after the Arcturus Device and the subsequent Wraith orbital strike had rendered it a post-apocalyptic waste land.
"Rickard. Access the records from Galactic Core and cross reference with everyone currently aboard." Nikal orders the hologram standing in the centre of the room.
"Cross referencing complete." It replies.
"Locate an individual who served in the defence force. Her name is Joja, is she aboard this vessel?" He asks.
"Negative. Lieutenant Joja is not aboard this vessel. Last know location was aboard Defence Shuttle 8-3-6, sensors lost contact with that vessel when we attempted to prevent a strafing run by the Wraith Darts." It states.
His only hope is that Joja made it aboard another vessel, because he would never be able to return to Galactic Core if she was left behind.
"Diagnostic analysis complete. Compiling report." Rickard states crisply.
"Once the report is compiled, synthesise reading tablets and copy the reports to them. It'll be easier for whoever is sent from the Triton." Nikal says.
"They will be in the primary conference room. Is there anything else you require?" It asks with some compassion in its tone.
"No not at the moment. Thanks." Nikal replies. The hologram nods and disappears. He rotates around on his floating chair and looks outside the view port. 'Where are we?' He thinks. Outside is mostly void space and what appears to be a nebula.
A holographic screen in front of his table shows the status of the small craft arriving from the Triton, it shows them powering down in the hanger bay. He leaves to get to the conference room.
In the hanger bay Rickard materialises and awaits the arriving shuttle crews to disembark. The rear doors of the shuttles open and a short ramp descends. He moves towards the ranking officer. "Greetings and welcome aboard the Rickard. I am this ships' visual representation of the artificial consciousness, I have been sent by Commander Nikal to escort you all to the conference room." It states.
"Commander is it now? Well he always did enjoy titles." The woman replies.
"I apologise, I do not understand." It says with confusion.
"Never mind." She laughs it off before getting back to business. "We have brought over a few medics, some supplies and several technicians with us. We were not sure of your current staffing condition."
"I am sure Commander Nikal would approve of the Triton's generous help." It says, as three other Rickard holograms appear.
One of the other holograms speaks, its uniform is slightly altered to appear as a medical officer. "If the medical personnel would follow me I will show them to the medical bay." It offers a smile and begins to slowly walk towards the door. The lead officer nods her head to medics and they leave the hanger with it.
"The technicians can follow me to Main Engineering, Lieutenant Kyal is currently in charge of that section." Another Rickard states, its uniform altered to appear as an engineering officer. The lead officer once again nods to them and they leave.
"I will handle the supplies." The final duplicate hologram states, "I have highlighted the path to the closest storage room." The floor below them aluminates with a blue line. Six of the officer's return to the shuttle and begin to unload supplies.
"Commander Nikal is awaiting you in the conference room, if you would please follow me." It states to the female officer.
"Of course." She replies lifting an arm indicating that the hologram should take the lead. "I don't think I've ever seen a computing system quite as advanced as you Rickard. No other outpost, base or ship has a system quite like it." She says, as they enter a transport booth.
"I am unique, it is because of my program that managing a ship of this size is possible." It states as they are transported towards the front of the ship. "Countless variables must be considered in day to day operations. I'm currently assisting with repairs in engineering, instructing several people in the medical bay with basic medical aid, and I'm in the process of reinitialising the other seven cold fusion power plants." It replies, they begin the short walk to the conference room.
"I see. This ship is certainly a masterpiece in itself. I only ever got to see it from a distance, my quarters at Galactic Core were in one of the defence force towers in the city. I was lucky with my rank to receive a room that was above most of the skyline so I got a decent view out over the horizon. On a clear day, I could see the construction berth where this ship was being constructed." She lets out a small sigh, "Nikal always promised to take me over to see the construction, but we were always busy. If he was working on the ship I was out on assignment, if I was back then he'd be off world assisting the various Domain worlds in dismantling and destroying any at risk technologies before the Wraith would arrive to decimate those worlds." She says, the hologram simply nods.
"He has been looking for you, aboard this ship that is. My records showed you aboard a shuttle above Galactic Core we lost sensor contact while performing an atmospheric entry." Rickard tells her.
She nods and lets a small smile form, they enter the conference room. This brightly lit space was vast with one large table with eight chairs on either side. A large window gives the conference room an impressive view of space. She sees a large colourful nebula nearby.
Rickard announces to Nikal and Jad who are seated at the head of the table, "Lieutenant Joja, Senior representative of the Warship Triton."
Nikal looks up and his face changes from one focused on work, to one filled with relief and love. He quickly gets up and walks through a holographic screen, he jogs the length of the table. Opening his arms, he grabs her in a huge pick up hug. "I thought I lost you, that you were left behind." He tells her as a tear runs down his cheek, letting her out of the tight hug he walks her towards the head of the table where several tablets computers are placed.
Joja takes a seat and begins recalling her escape from Galactic Core. "It was hectic while I was in orbit. I received your recall order and was on my way, but I was block by a group of Wraith Darts. With my clocking system offline and shields none existent I honestly thought that I was a goner. I watched as your ship fell through the atmosphere, I honestly thought you lost control. I sat there waiting for one of the Wraith Darts to shoot me down, next thing I see is a stream of drones heading for my ship; I banked hard and knowing the Wraith wouldn't have given up the chase so easily. They were destroyed but my flight systems began to fail, turns out it was the Triton that fired them, they towed my ship into their bay and I've been helping them since. Shortly after I was saved we lost our hyperspace capabilities and were ready to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good, we picked up the sensor readings indicating a power module release on the surface and your message telling us to jump. I convinced our Captain to position itself close to the Rickard hoping that you would be able to tractor us and jump to hyperspace. Which then brings us to all that's happened now." She finished as her voice begins to crack. She reaches for a nearby pitcher of water and pours a glass.
"I am glad you are here." Nikal says as he gives her arm a gentle squeeze.
Jad smiles at them seeing some happiness while enduring this hellish experience, he doesn't want to interrupt their reunion but knows that their lives may depend on quick action. He fakes a small cough to get their attention. "If we can get back to the matter in hand." He says as he slides a tablet computer towards her. "This is a short report on our current situation. It contains the current repair status, personnel count, injury count, and unfortunately death count."
Joja looks up from the tablet, "Death count. Already?"
"Unfortunately, yes. we took aboard a lot of shuttle crews. Many were injured in their ships and by the time we got them to the medical bay it was too late. Also, our inertial dampening system momentarily failed earlier, approximately fifteen people passed away when they were thrown about." He reports.
"There will be time to mourn them later. We are in dire need to get a message to the fleet, Jad have you worked out where we are?" Nikal asks.
"Yes, and I do not think you're going to like it." He pulls up a star map. "I ran a scan to find stars that correspond to known configurations in our database, as is standard practice. However, I couldn't find any matches, so I moved on to astronomical phenomena. This is the local space around us." The star map disappears as a hologram of the Rickard appears. It shows the ship sitting in the middle of nowhere. It zooms out to show a nearby nebula before once showing the entire Pegasus Galaxy. "We appear to be on the outskirts of Pegasus, and I would use the term outskirts sparingly, I really mean technically we are outside the galaxy. I'm surprised there is even a nebula nearby when there shouldn't be anything out here." Jad informs the trio.
"This ship was never designed to travel this far that quickly. We were only in hyperspace for, what ten minutes?" Nikal says. As a highlighted path appears on the map showing their embarkation point to their destination. Nikal moves to stand near the holographic map.
Jad gets up and joins him, "My guess is as good as yours. I'm not an expert in hyperspace mechanics. I can only assume the reason we travelled so far and so quickly is because of the sheer amount of power the hyperdrive utilised."
"There are safety limits though." Nikal starts running numbers through his head trying to make sense of this. "But I was manually adjusting on the fly after we lost primary computer control. We must have pushed the Rickard into a deeper level of hyperspace." Nikal thinks aloud.
"Rickard, open a holographic screen and show the current power levels in all three Potentia modules." Jad says to the hologram standing at the end of the table.
It nods and creates the screen it shows three columns with various values. "Potentia Alpha charge, fifty-two percent. Potentia Beta charge, fifty percent. Potentia Delta charge, sixty-seven percent." It states aloud.
"They were brand new modules, at take-off they were all one hundred percent. This would explain why the power generators are offline." Nikal ponders.
Joja also joins them and raises a new concern, "The Triton is an Aurora Class ship, it only has an interstellar hyperdrive. It would take months at its highest speed to reach the rendezvous point or even to get to Concordia."
"I've considered that, my only recommendation is that we set course to the nearby nebula, our ships should make it there assuming we can patch the hyperdrives for a short burst. Now, I've consulted the ship database and the nebula doesn't appear to have been fully explored, however there is a reference to a Stargate possibly being placed on the surface of a world somewhere in there." Jad informs the others. The star map disappears and is replaced with a representation of the nearby nebula. The blue lights dim and brighten indicating that it's a live feed from the sensors.
"That doesn't make very much sense, unexplored but has a Stargate? If there is a Stargate surely there's preliminary data about the planet. The early Lantean explorers were very picky where they placed gates." Joja asks.
"I completely understand your confusion. This ship had a copy of the entire Galactic Core Archive, it automatically updated each time it synced to the central node, so it's as up to date as possible. We have access to every piece of publicly accessible data and there is simply no information. I had Rickard access the Triton computer, its database also doesn't contain anything remotely helpful." Jad replies.
"I have a copy of the Atlantis Database. We could use it to retrieve the data." Nikal tells them.
They both look at him shocked. "How do you have a copy of the Atlantis Database?" Jad asks.
"I may have borrowed a copy…" He starts, Joja raises an inquisitive eyebrow. "…After I was informed that they were going to evacuate this galaxy I decided to make a copy to bring to Galactic Core where I was planning on staying to fight the Wraith, or at least help the human populations. Its currently sitting in my office down the hall." He answers. "There may be at least some data on this nebula, I know the former leaders were very good at redacting and hiding substantial portions of the database from public view. If we get Rickard to scan the copy I have we may be able to force open everything." He finishes.
"Sounds like a plan. I assume it would take hours to decompress the sheer amount of information that you took. It would probably be best if we began to head towards the nebula as soon as possible. Once we are there we can begin the search for the Stargate while we wait." Jad suggests.
"As representative of the Triton I agree with the suggestion, the Captain will support it. I believe our hyperdrive will make the jump. Will yours?" Joja asks.
"The induction crystal was shattered in the last jump. I could fabricate a new crystal but I will need to discuss it with the acting senior engineer." Nikal replies. "I'm going to head down there, feel free to use this room as your temp office if you like. Bring your Captain up to speed on the situation." Nikal nods that the meeting is over and leaves.
Nikal arrives in Main Engineering to a buzz of activity. In the centre of the room is a large circular holotable with various damage reports shown. Most of them are green indicating that the particular issue has been resolved, however three appear red. Lieutenant Kyal is standing near the holotable reviewing reports and directing nearby staff. He sees Nikal and quickly dismisses the nearby staff.
"Commander. Good news we have repaired several systems, fusion reactors two through eight are about to come online. We just need your biometric authorisation." He informs Nikal with a clear sign of relief.
"System. Initiate fusion reactors two through eight. Activate on my authorisation." Nikal says aloud for the computer to pick up.
'Authorisation acknowledged. Consecutive reactor activation in progress.' The Computer states in a dull voice.
"Reactor two is coming online. With the extra power, we can relieve some of the pressure from the power modules." Kyal informs while reading power usage.
"Yes, that would be great. We need to conserve them from now on. Now, I've come down to assist with the hyperdrive. I know that the induction crystal needs to be replaced." Nikal says.
"Yeah, the induction crystal is toast. When it fragged it took several other crystals within the tray with it." Kyal responds. They walk over to a nearby table with four pieces of cloth, atop the cloth are four shattered control crystals. "I don't know if these can be synthesised, I looked in the database but could not find anything remotely similar to these crystals." Kyal continued.
"That data is kept in a secure portion of the database, you would need special authorisation. I can synthesise the crystals. But is the tray still intact or will they need to be replaced as well?" He answers and asks.
"The tray has been repaired, we won't know till the new crystals are placed in whether they will function at full capacity." Kyal raises the concern.
"Alright, I'll create the new crystals and be back in a few minutes." Nikal nods and moves off to a different room in the engineering section.
Entering a large room, the lights come on automatically as it senses his presence. He walks towards a terminal facing the centre of the room. With a few commands, he opens the stored pattern for the crystals he requires, they are loaded into the synthesiser and he activates the device. A light appears as the synthesiser creates matter from energy. Moments later four crystals lay on the large flat creation table. Nikal collects these and returns to Main Engineering. He follows Kyal to the hyperdrive control junction and replaces the crystals himself, the panel lights up and a diagnostic screen appears with data streaming rapidly.
"We are almost back to full functioning capacity. Thank you, Lieutenant." Nikal says as he pats Kyal on his back.
"Anytime. If you don't mind me asking, but some people have raise concerns about where we are, where we are going and what their futures are going to hold. Should I say anything or will we have some large group meeting?" Kyal asks sincerely.
"That's a good question, we are in a bit of a predicament at the moment. I don't want anyone to feel left out of the loop, I'll make an announcement very soon, that's all you tell them." Nikal responds.
"Alright, I'll send some of the workers back to the mess for a break." Kyal says.
"Clever idea." Nikal says as his stomach betrays him and lets out a loud rumble. "I think I'll be joining them." He says as they laugh.
The Arcus, Deep Space, several hundred light years from Galactic Core.
"…they're currently deciding whether to let me travel to Concordia. But considering we have almost reached the twenty-four-hour deadline to wait for Nikal I would be recommending that we begin preparations to travel to Concordia." Subcommander Etan says over the holographic screen.
Captain Cloelia leans back on her chair in her office, facing the screen she replies. "I was considering that as well. "We have been running inventory and collecting the statuses of the various ships here. Some ships are in far better shape than others, two have already been designated unsalvageable, they are currently being evacuated of all unnecessary personnel and anything worth keeping is being evaluated." Cloelia finishes.
"That seems like the right course of action, it would take us weeks to tow the ships to Concordia. My only concern is that is it wise to be conducting that type of work in deep space? I know that you're sitting at a random spot in space, but what if the Wraith decide to perform a hyperspace break nearby. It'll be hard to defend such a position with minimal armaments left it would not be wise." Etan says with a concerned voice.
Cloelia stands up from her chair and leans on the corner of her table. "Where else can we do this work then? We can't just leave those ships behind and intact to fall into anyone's hands." She replies a little annoyed that he should be thinking this through.
Etan sees the change in her posture and knows that she wants an explanation to his thinking. "I've been going through the star charts for this area of space. The Asuras system is roughly twenty-two hundred light years from here on a heading that would take us to Concordia. Now before you say anything, I know it's a quarantined system but it's one the Wraith have never visited because there have never been human populations anywhere in that sector of space. We can complete the deconstruction work in system and then dump the space frames somewhere in system, or put them on a collision course with the systems star." He explains.
"It would be safer if we detonate the ships, your plan to just evacuate and dismantle would still leave components behind." She responded to his reasoning.
"I highly doubt we want to detonate the ships Potentia modules now that they are going to be hard to come by. And who knows when we will be able to collect additional reactants for our power generators, so detonating the reactors would be a tremendous waste of fuel. So yes, I acknowledge that it's possible that we will be leaving behind ships that could be studied by anyone, but we need to change the way we think. The components aboard those ships will come in use down the track." He finishes making his point.
"I see that your argument is valid. We will begin preparations to leave for the Asuras System, inform Concordia that that's where we will be in the mean time. I would recommend that you pick up the Stargate from orbit to bring with you. I don't believe the gate on Asuras is still there. I estimate we will depart within the hour, so it would be best if your splinter fleet meet us in System. My communications officer will send an encrypted communique with exact coordinates." Cloelia says.
"Understood Captain. See you in two days. Etan out." Etan finishes, his image disappears from the screen. The holographic screen deactivates.
Cloelia touches a button on her desk, "Cloelia to the bridge." She says.
"Yes Captain." A response comes through the internal communications system.
"Set course for the Asuras System, inform the fleet to prepare. I expect to be underway within the hour." She informs the bridge office. "Cloelia out." She touches the button again and closes the channel.
The Void, Outskirts of Pegasus.
"Hyperdrive is operating within normal tolerances, full system diagnostic complete." Rickard reports to the group on the Bridge.
"Understood. Joja, how is the Triton fairing." Nikal responds and asks from the command chair.
"They are reporting some faults in their drive systems. But I've been reassured that they have created a patch that will hold for the short trip to the nebula." She replies.
"Excellent." Nikal says to the news.
Jad stands behind a control console near the command chair, he is busy typing on the interface as three holographic screens surround him with complex information scrolling quickly. "The crystals containing the Atlantis Database has been loaded into memory, and the computer is decompressing as fast as possible." Jad informs them.
"My program is attempting to isolate the specific data as it is decompressed as well as attempting to circumnavigate varying levels of encryption. The data I have already been able to access appears to be heavily encrypted. I have had to limit the number of duplicate instances I can project throughout the ship to dedicate computing power to this endeavour." Rickard adds.
"I understand." Nikal nods. "I guess we better get under way. Please inform the Triton that we are ready, we'll jump as soon as they have." Nikal says to Joja.
Joja moves to the communications console and transmits a message to the Triton, "They acknowledge."
The trio watch out of the forward viewing windows as the Aurora class ship moves past them, seconds later a hyperspace window opens and the ship disappears. A holographic screen appears with detailed subspace scans.
"The Triton has successfully transitioned to hyperspace." Rickard informs them.
Nikal closes his eyes and concentrates, the bridge lighting dims slightly as blue crystals imbedded in his chair aluminate. He slips into the reverie, induced by an occupant entering the digital computing realm. He sees everything the ship does, the near by nebula, the Pegasus Galaxy and bright lights out in the void. He focuses back and thinks about the hyperdrive. He feels the system requesting power, so he opens the flood gates near the power reserves to open, the energy is routed to the engines. He finds the coordinates in the navigation database and the orders the ship to jump to hyperspace.
In front of the Rickard a large tear opens and the ship jumps away.