"Is it ready yet?" I furiously asked through the comms.
"Yes sir, we are beginning the creation procedure," the calm scientist relayed to me over the radio.
We need to hurry, before they get here.
Then, the rings of the megastructure before me began to rotate; with two sperate rings rotating in opposite directions of one another. The bright, luminescent white lights of the rings turned from dots of light to long stretches of the lights being whipped in the rotational direction at high speeds.
Suddenly, my holographic interface received a call from one of the teams on patrol.
"Sir! We have twenty hostiles approaching; we will hold them off until you get through!" the man shouted from the interface.
Dammit, they weren't supposed to push this far into the sector until next week by our predictions.
Then the scientist came onto the comms again, warning, "This is an experimental, untested procedure and we do not know what will happen to the fleet once it passes through."
"That's fine! It can't be worse than what those damn aliens are about to do to us!" I shouted back through the comms.
Suddenly, the space within the rotating rings began to warp and distort. The stars that made up the background appeared to be moving. It continued to distort into a swirl until it came to rest on a new image of a large star and planets.
That's a different star system; the core star of the Cloud System which I am in right now is behind the fleet, not in front.
I activated the public announcement system of the ship and said, "Please strap yourself into any nearby reinforced chairs and brace yourself, we will be entering the wormhole shortly."
I then sent the command to the other six escort starships that were apart the fleet to begin moving.
"Increase shields to 100%!" I quickly told the deck crew, and the shield was activated, with a solid, metallic shield rising above the windows of the control deck that blocked any viewing of the outside.
We must hurry before they get to us and destroy us; we have to survive so humanity lives on! Even though this will put a strain on our shield generators, we need to make it to the other side for even a slim chance of survival.
The blast shields shut on the windows, removing the view of space I was seeing before.
The bow of the starship entered the wormhole, and the ship began to shake violently. I clenched my chair as I endured it.
The screeching of metal grew in pitch and volume, forcing me to cover my ears to try to block it out. Then the lights powered off and were replaced with a red glow, casting everything in the control deck into a red luster.
The screeching of metal being crushed and expanded filled the air. The shaking only grew worse as more time passed.
My mind then began to feel fatigued and I could see a darkness crawling in at the edges of my peripheral vision with everything I could see seeming to get further and further away.
I shut my eyes and violently shook my head.
I can't go blank now! I need to make sure the crew and fleet make it to the other side safely before I can even think of going unconscious.
I focused my attention on the deck. Others were clenching their heads, and some had passed out. No one was bleeding or in a serious, life-threatening physical condition.
Then it all stopped; it came to a still.
Argh, my head feels dizzy and heavy.
"Urg... Nova, do a system check," I ordered the primary AI of the ship while fatigued.
"Yes, sir," she replied.
I then clumsily unbuckled myself and surveyed the deck crew.
Some of the crew members were slumped in their seats, unconscious but still breathing from what I saw.
Then it hit me; I could feel an oncoming headache.
I clasped my head and began rubbing my temples to try relieving myself of the headache.
Travelling through wormholes is certainly exhausting on my mind and body. But the fact that we are still alive leads me to believe we made it through.
"Get the unconscious and unwell to the med bay," I told the crew that began carrying out the unconscious people; all except the ones required to keep the ship operating in an organized state.
Groggily, I straightened myself in my seat and began calling the other six escort vessels through the holographic interface that should have come with us when we travelled through the wormhole.
Five out of the six captains in charge of each escort vessel answered. All accept the captain of the fifth escort vessel.
Not a good sign. I hope they have just passed out, but even then, someone should have answered since surely not all of them could have passed out from the travelling of the wormhole.
Their responses were similar, in that there were no casualties and only fatigue and exhaustion reports from most of their crews.
There's still the issue of the fifth escort vessel not answering the call. I'll have to have the Director of Military Operations investigate in case there are hostiles attacking their starship.
Priorities first, we must stabilize our situation in the super carrier first before we can investigate the escort vessel.
Then Nova informed me, "Most systems are functioning normally except the primary core reactor, engines are unresponsive, and the Paneled Shielding System are offline or worse."
"Get the Director of Engineering and Logistics on the line," I told the AI.
"Yes sir," it said before calling the DEL, or in technical names, Director of Engineering and Logistics.
Then the DEL answered, "Yes, sir?"
"I've been informed that there are issues with the primary core reactor, engines, and Paneled Shielding System," I told him.
"Hah, well, the primary core reactor is currently fluctuating; I'm trying to get it under control with the team down here. The shields are offline for now due to the immense pressure while going through the wormhole, and the engines I have yet to check," he explained tiredly.
"You get on top of that. Give me an update of the situation in twenty minutes," I ordered him, and he said, "Yes, sir," before the call was terminated.
Engines, the reactor core, and shields are having issues right now. We are utterly defenseless. I had hope nothing attacks as during this time, or it may be this ships end.
I sent out a command to the escort ships and hangars around the fleet to deploy fighters to patrol and secure a safety zone around the fleet.
The blast shields and reinforcing armor retracted from the windows of the starship, allowing us to see where we were.
I gazed out into that vastness, falling onto the core star of the star system we were currently in.
It's the same one as the star as I had seen through the wormhole.
I could see a few of the escort starships, but not all.
Speaking of wormholes, what happened to the one we came through?
"Nova," I asked the holographic interface.
"Yes sir?" the AI asked in response.
"What happened to the wormhole that we had entered through?" I asked it.
"From the data I had received while we were inside the wormhole and after we exited; the wormhole had collapsed the moment each starship had fully exited," it explained to me in its feminine voice.
Probably because we didn't have a gate actively keeping the wormhole open on this side.
At least we have the blueprints for the experimental version of the megastructure we have passed through. If we need to, we can head back after we gather the resources to construct it.
Although we are nowhere ready if we were to ever go back; we need to establish multiple permanent cities and outposts in this star system and beyond so we can rebuild so that we may take back our lost home as instructed by High Command.
So, in short; priorities are to survive and rebuild a substantial force here and return to the home galaxy or universe of the UEF. I don't know if we are in a different universe since we are only the second to enter the wormhole.
I do wonder now; if we are able to survive the traversing of the wormhole, what happened to the first test mission sent through?
At least we seem to be in a safe space since we haven't been attacked the moment we entered the star system.
Since our weapon systems, engines, and shielding systems are encountering issues.
Then a call came through the interface.
"Yes, what is the update, Director of Engineering and Logistics?" I asked.
"The primary reactor core was fluctuating due to an imbalance in the Helium III injections. However, this resulted in seventy five percent of our remaining fuel for the core being consumed in the mayhem," he reported blatantly.
Of course, we're low on fuel as well. It was already bad enough as it was with the enemy destroying our remaining helium mines, and now this. We'll have to scan the star system for resources and set up outposts to collect Helium III.
"What about the engine issues?" I then asked the DEL, sighing at the new issue.
"Uh, well, it would be better if I showed you," he started before an image showed up on my interface.
It was an image of the aft of the starship, where most of the major engines were located. Two of the four engines were what looked to be cut in half, with glistening orange lines indicating where it was cut. Then there were the bits of it that were warped and distorted.
Of course, and we have half of our engine power.
I sighed and asked, "Can you explain to me what I'm looking at to be exact?"
"Well, from what the personnel at the Department of Research and Development told me is that the wormhole may have distorted parts of our engine during the process of going through it and in a worst-case scenario, completely obliterated the matter at certain parts of the starship," he explained to me.
Although we didn't emerge unscathed, at least no one has died yet as far as I know. We haven't reported any deaths yet and I should be grateful for that, but this does put a delay in our plans.
"How long until it's repaired?" I asked him.
"We would need to construct a shipyard for the super carrier which will take approximately five years, and the resources required shouldn't be that difficult to obtain," he told me.
Five years of delay, wonderful.
Most of the hangar units have a range of five hundred astronomical units, except for the escort vessels which have more.
Looks like we are stuck in this star system until we are fully repaired.
"You are dismissed," I told the DEL, and the call was terminated.
I let out another sigh and slumped in my seat.
This situation just keeps getting worse. But let's stay positive about this; I must be grateful that we've had no casualties so far.
"Correct our orbital trajectory so that our orbit around this star system's core star is stable," I ordered the navigation.
"Call the Director of Military Operations," I told Nova, which it replied with, "Yes, sir."
"Yes, what is it Admiral," she asked impertinently.
Rude as always, but that's what makes her flare so interesting.
"I need you to investigate what happened with the fifth escort vessel," I told her.
"Of course, sir! I'll kill any of those damn aliens if I see em'!" she exclaimed, suddenly excited.
I then told her to give me an update on the issue with the fifth escort in thirty minutes.
I would prefer we keep them alive so we can study them, but the Spatials are too dangerous to be caught alive.
Although she may be rude and quick to anger, she is by far the best martial arts fighter and strategist we have. Even though she doesn't seem to be the kind of person who is proficient in that field.
Next, I contacted the Director of Planetary Operations.
"Yes, sir?" she asked.
"Begin preparations for sending expeditions to establish outposts and search for resources across the star system since we are in desperate need of nearly all resources," I informed her.
"Understood sir, we'll follow the [RAID]," she told me, which I replied with, "Good."
"One question, sir," she said, asking for permission to speak.
"What is it?" I asked, which she questioned, "Do we adopt the [PEPD]?"
"Yes, if we encounter life forms, we need guidelines on how to approach them in the safest and most peaceful manner possible without compromising our own safety and interests," I said to her.
With that, the call was terminated.
I peered once again into the black expanses of space, dotted with stars of varying colors.
I focused my attention on the core star of the system.
It was an orangish-yellow star.
I could see a few gas giants and maybe some specks of planets, but they were too far for me to see accurately.
"Incoming call from the Director of Military Operations," Nova informed me.
I answered the call and the DMO appeared on my interface.
"Yes? What have you discovered?" I asked.
"The vessel was completely destroyed sir; zero life forms were detected," she told me.
"What?!" I exclaimed in confusion and disbelief before adding quickly, "What do you mean completely destroyed; by what?"
"I gave these images to the people at the Department of Research and Development," she began while images of the destroyed starship appeared on my interface as well then adding, "And they determined it to be caused by the wormhole when we were exiting."
This is the price we pay for using experimental technology. At least it wasn't all of us.
Maybe that's why we never heard of the first starship that entered ever again; because they were killed and destroyed upon exit.
I studied the pictures again and saw the same things that the engines had endured. The starship was cut into multiple smaller pieces with blazing intense heat coming from the ends like a hot knife had cut through it like butter. The ends were warped and distorted as well, like the engines were.
"Assemble a team of workers to tow the destroyed starship away from the fleet so as to avoid any accidental damage to the functioning starships," I told her before adding, "You're dismissed," after she said, "Will do," and the call was promptly ended.
Alright, a few of the issues have been resolved and some news had come back from the fifth escort vessel that was not good. I'll have to organize a director's meeting since this was a very large event and we need to plan for our next operation in this star system as a group.
I need to hear all the variables and opinions of each director's interests.
I awoke the next day and gave myself a satisfying stretch.
After the check up at the med bay for any serious side effects of traversing the wormhole, I had a surprisingly good sleep after these past few days despite all the issues with the fleet.
Maybe it's because subconsciously I know that we're safe. Or maybe I believe that the wormhole transported us so far away from the Milky Way Galaxy that the Spatials can't reach us.
Whatever the case, it was a good sleep.
I cracked my eyes open and sat at the edge of my bed. I tiredly look through the window, peering out into space.
I have to get ready; the directors meeting begins at 0800 hours. Right now, it was-
I quickly glanced at the clock in my quarters.
It was 0612.
I have around two hours to get ready, so I can take the morning slow.
I got up groggily and put my muscles to work and headed towards my bathroom to shower and freshen up for the day.
After my refreshing shower, I dressed myself and headed outside of my quarters, out into the hallway.
I checked my Intelligence Communications Device, or ICD as most others like to call it. It was 0732.
Once I had reached the elevator, I punched in the numbers, "35."
The elevator then zoomed through its shaft, heading to the desired floor.
After a few minutes of travelling upwards, it reached its destination and I disembarked from it.
I continued on my way to the meeting room for the directors.
I arrived at 0745.
I took my place at the head of the table.
The room had a window for viewing and displaying holographic images and videos. There was also a holographic projector in the center of the table for immersion purposes and a blank wall on the opposite side of the head of the table.
Once it had reached 0800, the rest of the directors had arrived.
"I believe we are ready to begin," I began, observing everyone's movements and they all showcased agreement and willingness to begin before I went on, "Due to issues with the engines, shielding, and primary core, I've decided to call a meeting will all directors to adjust and adapt our directives and planning."
I gazed around the directors to see that there were no objections yet; a good sign.
"We will begin with the first issues of allocating resources for repairs and fuel of the fleet, please speak your idea on how to obtain this," I began, giving them the chance to speak.
Then the Director of Planetary Operations, or DMO for short, said, "I intend to send expeditions under your authority to scan and scout suitable locations for outposts and areas with rich deposits of the desired resource."
"Anyone object or propose a different solution?" I asked around.
Silence and signals that they did not disagree.
"Very well; Director of Planetary Operations, please send me detailed files on the expeditions before I authorize them," I told her.
I then continued on, informing, "Our next task are the reports for each department after exiting the wormhole. We'll begin with the Director of Justice and Order."
I then motioned for him to begin with their report.
He cleared his throat and then began, "Crew that have committed crimes are all well and still being indoctrinated in the social standards as according to the Criminal and/or Imprisoned Correction Directive, or [CICD]. Criminality rates have not seen any major increase since the traversing of the wormhole and current methods under the directive are still effective."
With that, he finished his report.
I then said, "Director of Humanitarian Services, please begin your report."
"Students across the fleet, primarily aboard the SS-GC-Rhine Gold, have been given temporary time off from studies to adjust from the wormhole's effects. We expect to resume education after a week of readjustment time and our expectations are as high as ever according to the Advanced Education Learning Directive, or as you may all know it as the [AELD]," she finished.
"Good to hear; I expect everything to be normalized in the upcoming days," I told her which she replied with a curt nod.
I then went on, stating, "We have the next report from the Director of Military Operations, please begin now."
With the DMO having the floor, she began, "A secure zone of five astronomical units has been established around the fleet. All weapon systems are functioning at standard level and all starships military capabilities are normal. Scans of the nearby celestial bodies have been sent out and we have detected zero life forms. Lastly, there are no signs of the damn aliens that killed us off!" She ended with a flare.
Then the Director of Planetary Operations said bluntly, "You are rather enthusiastic about attacking the Spatial's."
"Yeah! Who wouldn't want to kick some alien butt?" The DMO exclaimed.
I then interjected, bringing the meeting back on track, "Please refrain from side tracking, we must finish our reports and discuss our plan adjustments."
With that, the two directors quieted down.
We're adults here, trained and disciplined, and yet we have these kinds of childish conversations.
"Next, we have the Director of Research and Development," I stated, indicating for the Director of Research and Development, or DRD for abbreviation, to continue.
"This will be a long report; I advise you all to get comfortable. We will also be utilizing the holographic projector during this report due to its importance and size," she began while using the two tracking gloves and activating the holographic projector.
The room grew dark until all we could see was the table.
The DRD began to interact with some files and then spheres of light grew in size and distance.
It looked like it was a star? Followed by a few planets and gas giants.
"Please note that distances between each planet and the size of each planet are greatly distorted so we are able to see them all clearly," she explained.
She then went on, explaining in detail, "After numerous scans and observations of our current star system, there are thirteen planets. Nine of which are terrestrial, and the other four are gas giants."
The star system was labeled, "XK-System," and the star was called, "XK-Star." With each planet having "XK-#," with the first planet, closest to the star, labeled, "XK-1," and the last and farthest being labeled, "XK-13."
The DRD then said, "The first planet here is a cold world with no atmosphere; observations indicate it is a metal rich planet but with astronomically varying temperatures depending on which side of the planet is facing the star."
"The second is a planet with an atmosphere consisting of twenty percent of what we believe to be oxygen and is a desert world, with high resolution images showing dunes and mountains".
The third planet is the most intriguing of all the others," she began when the DMO shouted, "ARE THOSE GREEN PLANTS?"
The hologram of the planet was indeed green with blue colors indicating oceans of what I presumed to be water of some sort. But yes, it was green and had arctic regions around the poles.
A planet with actual life on it, incredible.
"Yes, it is confirmed to have plant life-," the DRD began once again, but was then cut off by the DMO exclaiming, "I bet that's the Spatial's home world, we must destroy it!"
Could it be?
"Hold on, we haven't confirmed yet if there is intelligent life on this planet yet," the DRD explained, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"Admiral!" The DMO shouted, "We need to send a force and destroy their home world!"
"What? No, you can't do that!" the DRD pleaded.
I then stood, making my authority known before ordering, "Silence," which the two directors immediately stopped bickering and the DMO reseated themselves.
"First of all; Director of Military Operations, do NOT interrupt another director's report for arbitrary reasons, else I will reprimand you for your inability to act civilized!" I snapped at her before going on and explaining, "I do stand with Director of Research and Development on that we do not know if it is the Spatial's home world yet. If it is, we will act. However, we cannot endanger a potential ally on a whim of thoughts until conclusive data comes in."
Silence fell upon the room as the DMO slouched in her seat, clearly unhappy at being quieted.
"Proceed, Director of Research and Development," I told her before seating myself once again.
This childish behavior cannot continue. I know her military abilities are great and all, but her behavior has to be just as good or else she cannot cooperate with others.
"This planet has three moons at around a fifth of its size and all similar in size to each other, and the planet is approximately 18,000 kilometers in diameter. It has an atmosphere consisting of oxygen and nitrogen from what we have observed and is within the goldilocks zone of the star in this system," she explained.
This planet was labeled XK-3 and was the one with life. We will have to investigate this planet soon. Very soon.
"The next planet is an ice world that does have much of an atmosphere, although considerably thin and barely enough to maybe support life, although its temperature is unlikely to support any," she explained.
The planet was certainly a whitish-blue world with a few thin clouds.
"There is a ring of stabilized asteroids orbiting around the star before these next few planets that do not hold any atmospheres and are mainly cold, dead worlds without any identifying features," she went on, briefly explaining the next few planets until we reached the gas giants.
"These are the gas giants, although some vary in interesting colors, only two of the four have rings. Lastly, there are two planets residing at the edge of the star system, past the gas giants and in between a ring of stabilized asteroids that orbit the star," she finished.
"That is all to my report," she said, before removing the tracking gloves, deactivating the holographic projector, and sitting in her seat.
The room returned to its previous state, without the planets and darkened areas.
"Director of Engineering and Logistics, you may not begin with your report," I informed them as the Director of Engineering, or for short DEL, began.
"In case you have not heard, the fuel for the reactor is low, our engines need to be repaired, and the shielding system is nearing full functionality," he said, before adding, "Which is why we are to allocate resources for these repairs and the reactor else we will be immovable and without energy."
Then the Director of Planetary Operations spoke up after he finished speaking and waited for a response, "I will allocate these resources in cooperation with your department."
"I can agree to that," he agreed.
"Anyways, onto my department's report," he stated, and then going on, "All supplies such as food, energy, goods, yada yada are reaching all the crews of the fleet as before we entered the wormhole. In other words, everything's fine."
"All our critical systems including life support are functioning normally and all critical components of the starship and fleet are maintained and equipped with the proper components and so on," he finished nonchalantly.
A moment of silence passed over the table as we waited for him to go on.
"Is that it?" I asked warily.
I was expecting a longer report.
"Yeah, my department's job is pretty simple; crucial, but still simple," he said relaxed.
He needs to take this seriously, but he did convey the information, but in a lack luster manner.
"That would seem to conclude the reports, we will now move onto discussing the adjustments to our plans," I told them.
All the directors nodded in agreement, with only the DMO still annoyed at her idea being shot down.
I readied myself and then spoke, "We do not know if we are still in the Milky Way Galaxy, a different galaxy, or a different universe entirely," I explained to them before adding, "I do have reason to believe that we are not in UEF territory however since we are not picking up any signals from High Command."
"However, since we appear to be alone and beyond the range of the quantum transmitters of the UEF and High Command, we must follow procedure of the primary directive," I told them warily, waiting for any objections or interruptions, but none came.
"Since the directive gives us a vague plan on what to do once we come here, we must decide on the finer details of where to begin, that's why I wish to here from all of you where we should begin the colonization," I told them, while letting them speak.
The DMO spoke up first, "I say we go to that third planet and crush those bugs!"
"I agree we should inspect the third planet of the star system first, but without such aggression, as according to the [PEPD]," the DRD said as the DMO shot her a hateful glance.
That is true, the [PEPD] clearly directs no aggression against other life forms in first contact unless attacked first.
Then the Director of Engineering and Logistics stated, "Yes, the third planet seems to be of most interest to us, but I propose we adopt a limited first contact policy since we are low on resources for the fleet."
A limited exploration of the planets?
"I also agree with the Director of Engineering and Logistics, but we only limit this policy to planets most likely harboring life," the DJO stated, showing their agreement with only partially of the DEL's proposal.
Then the DEL admitted, "Yes, I can agree with that director, that would fit my vision of limited first contact."
"I am also very interested in the third planet known as XK-3," the DHS admitted before adding, "And I am fine with any policy on limiting or not limiting first contact with the life forms there as long as we can communicate with them."
"Ugh, fine. Do your limited first contact thing. But if there are any of those damned aliens, I'm not going to hesitate to blow them out of their ugly bodies!" the DMO expressed with annoyance.
Then the DPO spoke up, "I also agree with this, but I will invest in mining outposts away from the life forms habitats if there are precious resources on this planet."
"Alright, I believe we have a basic outline of a plan," I told them, and they all gave me their attention.
"We will first conduct first contact missions to XK-3, before the other two planets possibly harboring life since we are low on resources. We will take all precautions needed and learn everything we can from them, such as culture, society, governance, and so on. We will exploit other planets that are unlikely in harboring life for resources to the maximum for rebuilding and for the fleet. Is that acceptable for you all?" I asked them in finalization.
They all agreed and that was the end of the meeting.
I headed back to the primary control deck to resume my position as captain of the SS-GC-Rhine Gold and admiral of the fleet.
"Any news?" I asked the lieutenant that was in my place while I was gone.
"Nothing of major concern, sir," he reported formally.
I sat myself in the captain's chair and I began sifting through the incoming requests on the interface.
I wasn't expecting the DPO to be requesting expeditions to be sent to XK-3 so soon.
I reviewed the files, and they were all following protocol of the directives.
Five expeditions were being sent with numerous space infrastructure tagging along. She was requesting two orbital stations, lunar research outposts on the three moons of XK-3, five recon expeditions on the planet XK-3 itself, and two requests for establishing island bases for forward operations.
The request did provide details on how the personnel were to be equipped with biohazard suits to protect the life forms from being contaminated and our people being infected by them. There were light arms being provided for the soldiers for self-defense and enough material and supplies for each expedition to construct a small camp and hold out for a month.
I authorized all the requests by the DPO that was working in conjunction with the DMO and DEL for the operations.
I relaxed in my seat, peering into the system once again.
Never before had us humans found intelligent life that was advanced enough to rival us until the Spatial's appeared.
Sure, we found life, but not at our level during our exploration of our home galaxy.
I do wonder though what life forms we may discover on this planet, XK-3.
Author's Note,
This story was in development for many months, and I hope the work paid off! But, as expected, I am a one-person team and so I do make mistakes. If there are inconsistencies, misspellings, grammatical errors, don't be afraid to shoot me a message. Nonetheless, let the story of this adventure continue on!
