Ghost First Faramandar stared down into the section of the ship below, a thin band of light creating a brighter stripe across his face. He was deeply troubled by this unanticipated turn of events, and determined to wrest some strategic advantage from the situation he found himself in.
He quickly ran through his patrols performance to date. Everything really had progressed exactly as expected - until now.
On entering the derelict, Faramandar and his team had followed Clade Commander Silandor's instructions to the letter, restricting themselves to scouting out the areas in the immediate vicinity of the entry airlock only. Of course, other than the peculiar anomaly of a comfortable, breathable atmosphere; there were no signs of life.
But then, they hadn't really expected to find any - not on a derelict as old as this one was believed to be.
Sending half his team to cover the further reaches of the ridiculously sized corridor that they found themselves in, Faramandar himself led the investigation of the massive portal nearest the entry point. There had been a tense moment, as the huge portal glided open at the patrol's approach, but what was revealed was anti-climactic, to say the least.
Another corridor, seemingly identical to the first. As they proceeded towards the, as yet unseen, far end - several troopers commented on how the lighting accompanied them. Ghost Second Exetrallus was the first to spot the hatchway in the distant ceiling and, after drawing it to her Firsts attention, she had instructed a couple of troopers to climb up and inspect it.
As they began their ascent of the wall, Faramandar had added the proviso that they should not attempt to pass through the hatch until his return: then he lead the rest of his half-patrol off at a brisk pace, seeing no reason for caution on this ghost ship. After traversing two more huge doorways, and finding nothing new in the following sections worthy of note, he had backtracked to receive the climbers report.
It was not encouraging.
There appeared to be two methods of opening the ceiling hatch, the first being an oversized keypad in some indecipherable script. This was hardly a problem, as they didn't know the sequence required anyway.
However, one minor problem was the difficulty of actually depressing the large buttons, while hanging upside down from the ceiling! This problem was multiplied, when tackling what appeared to be a mechanical opening system set into the surface of the hatch itself. The two troopers believed that they understood the operation of the mechanism, but had been physically unable to move it, without any leverage.
Ghost Second Exetrallus had volunteered to attempt the task, with a larger number of troopers. Faramandar had total faith in her competence, so left her to take charge; opting to return to the entry lock in the previous section, to wait for the report from his other half-patrol. They were not long in returning: although they had covered more distance, they had done it faster. Aside from several more ceiling hatches, they had found no other apparent way out of this interminable corridor.
This presented the Ghost First with a problem. Silandor's instructions had been explicit. Once his patrol had confirmed the status of the derelict's interior - at least those areas where the official exploratory team would be operating - they were to find concealment. Their presence was not to be revealed to the others. But apart from the structural support beams marching down the length of the corridors - there was nowhere to hide!
A further consideration, one that had nagged at Faramandar's sense of professionalism, was that he did not wish to declare the derelict 'secure' until he had at least managed to see a little bit more of it!
Fortunately, a runner arrived declaring Exetrallus' teams success in opening their chosen hatch, so it was with great relief that he had ordered the patrol's advance up to the next level.
The next level had proved to be of interest, only in the fact that it would provide a place of concealment from the next group's arrival.
It was another corridor, albeit with a few significant differences.
No sensor operated lighting greeted their arrival, merely a dim gloom, and there was a noticeable chill in the air.
Thankfully it was still breathable, so this caused no hardship, and Faramandar permitted the use of lumen-pods and optical augments: the patrol could see well enough, even when the brighter light spilling up from the hatch had winked out.
The most notable difference was the number of doors evident.
Unlike the level they had just left, this one had side doors in each section; but the keypads that evidently opened them were still indecipherable. Although it was tantalizing to think that more important - or at least more interesting - sections of the ship were just beyond reach, Faramandar called a halt to the exploration.
After composing a brief but concise report, and sending a trooper to communicate with the Indigo Flame, all that remained to do was figure out a way to keep the hatch slightly open. Exetrallus had pointed out that this would provide a good warning of the official team's arrival, when they entered the section below.
The sensor activated lighting from below would shine up like a beacon when that door opened.
Then came the waiting.
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The troops were freed to break out cold rations, practice their wall-climbing skills, or even doze if they chose. (Faramandar didn't want anyone to go into a full sleep in the chilly atmosphere.) By the time the thin shaft of light shone up through the narrow hatch opening, Faramandar had begun to feels the effects of torpor in himself; but his lethargy vanished instantly as the trooper stationed there beckoned him over urgently.
He didn't understand why man looked so alarmed, thiswas what they had been waiting for after all.
However, instead of the expected exploratory team, he found himself looking down upon three strange… creatures. In general size and form, they bore a similarity to his own people, but even from this distance and angle it was clear that they were aliens!
This was so far beyond any expectations that Faramandar actually froze for several moments. This proved fortunate in some ways, as one of the creatures stepped toward the giant doorway as it opened, providing a clear view of the Oortelians in the next section. Clearly they were just as startled by the little creature's appearance.
Confidant that he could not be seen by his fellow crewmembers below, Faramandar observed the scene carefully. The little biped appeared to be talking, or at least surrendering, although it was too far away to be heard. Then it struggled over the lip of the door-frame and approached the 'first' team. The door slid closed and cut off Faramandar's view of that section, so he turned his attention to the two aliens that had remained behind.
By now he was furious that he had allowed events to get so far beyond his control, although he had to concede that it could have been worse. Had he taken immediate action to capture these creatures, doubtless his soldiers would have been seen by the other Oortelian party.
However, the two still in the corridor below apparently remained unknown to the exploration team, and Faramandar intended that it should stay that way. Selecting four of his best troops, he described the situation and issued rapid instructions. When the hatch had been carefully opened further, just enough to allow their passage, they each slid sinuously into the level below. As silent as the dead, they began to crawl across the ceiling towards their targets.
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Jamie and Zoe were engaged in a harshly whispered discussion, trying to shout to each other without actually making any noise. This had begun as soon as the giant door had hummed shut behind the Doctor: they were still trying to decipher his garbled instructions. It had been alarming to hear that they were not to follow him! Jamie, in particular, was chafing at being unable to do anything - if he complied with the Doctors wishes.
"But we cannae see nor hear what is going on beyond yon door, Zoe!' He hissed in impotent fury, 'anything could be happening to the Doctor, and we wouldnae ken!" His fists were clenched in frustration as he tried to restrain the urge to hit the bulkhead.
Zoe knew just how he felt, but having decided that she would have to be the sensible one, limited her response to repeated advice for caution. "You heard the Doctor, Jamie! He said we should wait until he had established contact with - well, whoever it was he saw in the next section! I expect we would only confuse things if we went rushing in after him!"
"Aye, you're right, Zoe, I know that well enough,' Jamie sighed unhappily, 'but I just feel so helpless, no' being able to do anything! We shouldnae have split up, I reckon.' He made a visible effort to calm himself, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.
Sliding his gaze away from Zoe, Jamie considered the sensor on her side of the corridor speculatively, then snapped his fingers as an idea struck him. 'I have it, Zoe! If I get down very low to the doors corner, and you walk back past yon sensor, I could take a quick peek. If I'm fast, I don't expect I would be seen, eh!"
"You're not thinking it through, Jamie.' Zoe replied, frowning in frustration herself as she eyed the door dubiously. 'Anyone on the other side would expect to see something if a sensor activated door opens. Even if they don't see you, I am sure they would investigate, to find out why the door opened itself - wouldn't you?'
Her heart went out to the young Scot as he slumped against the wall in disappointment, nodding his agreement, and looking thoroughly disgusted with himself. 'Really, Jamie, I'm just as worried as you are, honestly! I just think that we should do what the Doctor told us: we must wait here until he is sure everything is safe, then he will come back and get us. I'm sure the Doctor won't just leave us here."
Still looking rather glum, Jamie found himself forced to agree. "Aye, that's what he told us to do, right enough, but it fair sticks in ma craw! I'll no' be waiting for too long, mind - if he's no' back in a couple of minutes…"
The two friends were so engrossed in their sotto voce argument, that they remained completely oblivious to the stealthy shapes, silently slinking down the bulkheads towards them - until it was too late!
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Null was in no particular hurry as he headed for the corridor section where the hull breach, or whatever it was, had been recorded.
He made a cursory examination of every ceiling hatch as he passed; no more than a quick tug to see that each was secure really. He honestly didn't expect to find anything amiss, it was more a token gesture, as he made his way towards the source of the alert. Besides, even if he had opened the hatches, he wouldn't have been able to see much with just a quick glance, and that was all he would have spared.
No. Far better to investigate the one anomaly that had actually been reported by the ships systems first, then proceed from there. He figured that, by the time he reached the damaged section, the ambient lighting would have initiated ship-wide, allowing him to make a thorough examination of his command, section by section.
In truth, Null wasn't really fully concentrating on the search yet: his mind still full of the mystery of the missing part of the ship - the part containing his crew.
Still, as each door hummed aside for him he continued to go through the motions; examining the bulkheads for any signs of damage, any indication that something was amiss. So far, he had found nothing that even hinted at an answer to his questions.
Everything looked totally normal.