*Hiss*

"Captain on the Bridge!" At the First Officer's call, the flight crew of the UNSS Huntsman rise from their seats and stand to attention.

"As you were." Captain Ellis strides to the centre of the room and takes his place in the chair, hastily vacated by Commander Travers.

"Mr Travers, any reason why we're currently at a standstill?" Ellis demands.

"We're experiencing difficulties with the Butterfly Drive, Captain." The First Officer explains quickly. "According to Engineering, some form of radiation anomaly dropped us out of FOL."

Ellis frowns and presses a button on his console, opening a channel to Engineering. "Talk to me, Mr Clarke."

"I don't know what to tell you, Cap'n! I've never seen anything like this before." The Huntsman's Chief Engineer replies, his strong Scottish accent evident over the intercom.

Ellis' frown deepens. "How long until we are fully operational?"

"I'll need to completely reboot the systems, but providing there's nothing wrong with the drive, we should be under full steam in about two hours, Cap'n."

"Understood, Mr Clarke. Waste no time, we need to resume our search."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Ellis closes the channel and addresses his flight crew. "Mr Travers, summon Mr Rodriguez to the Bridge. Mr Pierre, make ready impulse engines. And, Mr Friday; find out where the devil we are."

There's a chorus of "Aye aye, sir," as the crew go about their orders. A few moments later, the doors hiss open and a huge, ruddy-faced man enters the Bridge.

"Lieutenant Rodriguez on deck, sir." Travers announces.

Rodriguez, the Huntsman's Head of Security, takes one look at the screen displaying the view outside the ship and exclaims. "¡Santamaria! I do not like the look of this, Capitano!"

Ellis cracks a smile. "Roddy, all you can see out there is empty space."

Rodriguez rounds on the Captain. "Exactly, Señor. The most dangerous threats are those you cannot see!"

"Then I suggest you go to your station and prepare for them."

Rodriguez inclines his head forward graciously. "At once, Capitano." He moves to take up his position next to Lieutenant Friday, the Navigation Officer, who looks up.

"Skipper, it would appear we've landed in the 3rd Quadrant of Sector Lima." Friday's accent is British, rough-and-ready; he's ex-Royal Navy.

"Seems random…" Ellis muses. "When was the last manned visit to this Quadrant?"

Friday consults his screen. "Never, skipper."

"Hmm. And it's a solar system?"

"Yes, sir. Charts show four planets, all showing up on our scanners."

"Then let's take a closer look. Mr Pierre, impulse engines – all ahead, full."

Pierre runs his hands over the helm controls. "Aye aye, sir, all ahead, full!"

There's a dull rumbling and a barely perceptible tremor as the destroyer's huge thrusters begin to propel it forwards.

Barely a moment later, there's a shout from Lieutenant Willems, the Huntsman's Communications Officer. "Captain, I'm picking up a radio signal! It's using a distress frequency, very weak."

"Yellow alert, Mr Carlsen." Ellis motions to his Weapons Officer. "Sound action stations."

"Aye aye, sir." Lieutenant Carlsen slams his hand down on a button, sounding the ship-wide alarm klaxon.

*Whoop* *Whoop* *Whoop*

"On speaker, Mr Willems." The Communications Officer does as he's instructed. The signal is not clear, but amongst the static the word 'Mayday' can be made out repeatedly.

"It seems as though we are not the first manned visit to this Quadrant after all, Mr Friday." Ellis remarks.

"So it would appear, sir. The signal is coming from the surface of one of those planets – designation Hotel-Bravo-Three-Eight-Niner."

"Mr Pierre, alter course to achieve a high geocentric orbit around that planet. Mr Rodriguez, prepare a landing party – take the Shuttle. This might just be their lucky day."

"Sí, Señor!" The Head of Security stomps off happily.

"Time to orbit, Mr Pierre?" Ellis asks.

"Two minutes, Captain." The rocky, red planet, its atmosphere dotted with a patchwork of fluffy white clouds, is swiftly growing in size on screen.

"Unidentified radar contact!" Friday shouts suddenly.

"On screen, Mr Friday. Asteroid?" Ellis responds, his voice even.

"Negative, skipper – scanning now, but whatever it is, it's huge." A grey silhouette appears on the floor-to-ceiling display.

"Captain, I'm picking up another signal." Willems cuts in. "It's the transponder signature of an Ark-class colony vessel."

There's a murmur of disbelief.

"Sir… It's the Resolute."

"Are you certain, Mr Willems?" Ellis asks sharply.

"Positive, sir. There's no mistaking it." Willems replies.

"Scans are picking up a large metallic object in orbit around Hotel-Bravo-Three-Eight-Niner! Likely manmade." Friday calls out.

Travers moves to Ellis' side. "What're the odds? We spend months looking for the Resolute then end up right on top of her by sheer chance."

Ellis nods thoughtfully. "With a distress call coming from the planet she's parked behind."

"Rodriguez to Bridge!" A heavily accented voice crackles over the intercom. "Landing party ready. Just say the word, Capitano!"

"Affirmative, Mr Rodriguez." Ellis acknowledges, then addresses his Communications Officer. "Mr Willems, hail the Resolute – see if you can raise them."

"Aye aye, sir." Willems busies himself with his equipment. The ship judders for a moment, then the dull rumbling of engines begins to die down.

"HGO achieved and stable, sir." Pierre reports.

Ellis nods and presses a button on his console. "Mr Rodriguez, you are clear for launch. We're sending you the coordinates of the distress signal now. Good luck."

"¡Gracias, Capitano! Rodriguez out."

The UNSS Galahad

"Pre-flight checks complete." Second Lieutenant Ding reaches for the bank of overhead switches situated above the pilot's seat. "Commence engine start-up sequence."

"Power in the green, turbines spooling through eighty percent." Ensign Eustace reads aloud from his screen. Behind them both, Rodriguez dons his helmet and speaks into the radio.

"Rodriguez to Flight Control, open hanger doors."

"Flight Control, opening hanger doors."

The huge jaws at the rear of the Flight Deck slowly groan open, exposing the interior of the hanger to the vacuum of space. Ensign Ward, the fourth member of the landing party, shifts in his harness nervously. This will be his first time on an alien planet.

"Señor Ding, take us out." Rodriguez instructs.

"Aye aye, sir. Mr Eustace, ten percent thrust if you please. Engaging catapult." Ding grips both joysticks as Eustace slides the thrust handles forwards. A computerised voice sounds in the cockpit.

"Launch in five, four, three, two, one, zero."

*BOOM*

G-force forces the four occupants of the Shuttle back against their seats as the Galahad is fired clear of the Huntsman's hangar bay.

"Go to maximum thrust." Ding dips the Shuttle's nose towards the planet below.

The UNSS Huntsman

"What the hell could have kept the Resolute stranded here for so long?" Captain Ellis leans on the arm of his chair, eyes fixed on the screen displaying the view outside the ship. In the distance, he can just make out the hulking shape of the colony ship as it orbits the planet.

"She looks dead in the water, Cap'n!" Clarke observes, standing at Ellis' shoulder and squinting at the colony ship. He's abandoned his position on the Engineering Deck, leaving the system reboot to his team of mechanics. "I can only assume they've had a major structural malfunction… Either that, or they've lost control of the engine."

"Captain, scans indicate that the Resolute has taken severe damage, but all systems seem to be operational. There are life signs on board and the magnetic signature of the engine is present. I don't understand it." Friday swings around in his seat to face Ellis.

"If there are life signs on board, why don't they answer our hails? Perhaps they've lost their antenna array?" Willems suggests.

Clarke shakes his head. "No, they've got failsafe systems by the dozen. And we're still able to pick up their transponder."

This gives Ellis an idea. "Mr Willems, open a channel to the Resolute. Use the deep space infra-red transmitter."

"Aye, sir. Channel open."

Ellis speaks clearly. "This is Captain Alexander Ellis of the UNSS Huntsman calling the Resolute. Come in, Resolute."

There's a burst of static. Then, at last, a reply, the confusion in the speaker's voice evident. "This is Captain Kamal of the Resolute – we are receiving you, UNSS Huntsman. How are you… Here?"

"Captain Kamal, it's great to hear your voice. I understand you will have many questions, but our first priority is to ensure the safety of your ship. What is the status of your crew?"

Before Kamal can reply, Willems spins in his chair and speaks urgently.

"Sir, incoming call from Lieutenant Rodriguez. It's priority one."

"Get as much information from Captain Kamal as you can." Ellis instructs Travers, who nods and hurries to his station. Then he motions to Willems. "On speaker."

"*Bzzzzzt* *Shhhhhhh* ...Rodri… There… *Crrrrrrrr* …Surfac… Jupit… Contact… Awakened… *Zzzzzzzt*

The signal drops out and there's deathly silence on the Bridge for a moment. It's Clarke that breaks it.

"Did… Did he say Awakened?"

Then another sound comes over the speaker. It's a whistling tone, undulating, modulated. Every man present knows its origin, even before the contact alarm goes off.

"Red alert, Mr Carlsen!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

*Whoop* *Whoop* *Whoop*

Ellis draws himself bolt upright in his chair as the Bridge becomes a sudden hive of activity.

"Mr Clarke, how long until we're FOL capable?"

Clarke checks his watch. "Just over an hour, Cap'n."

"Then you'd better get down to Engineering - see what you can do to hurry things up."

Clarke nods and dashes out of the room. Ellis turns to Willems. "Mr Willems, can you raise the Galahad?"

"Negative, sir. There seems to be a jamming signal coming from the surface of the planet – we're completely cut off."

Ellis scowls. "The Awakened must be blocking our comms – explains why we couldn't contact the Resolute at first. Mr Pierre, impulse engines; we need to get closer to the colony ship. Mr Carlsen, go below deck and prepare the Orbital Drop Pods for immediate deployment."

"On my way, sir." Carlsen departs the bridge.