Contact
The screen went black for a moment, then displayed the image of a man that wore a green shirt with a number 3 emblazoned on the lapel. From beneath his greying hair, he looked at Jonathan with cheerful brown eyes.
"What the devil?" Jake muttered...
The man smiled at them. "It was worth a try – can't be too careful, right? My name is David Moreno, and I'm the current Governor of the Earth ship Biosphere 3."
Jake cocked an eyebrow at the screen. "Governor? Not Captain?"
David laughed quietly. "Our community is too large and diverse to be run like a military operation, so we adopted a form of regional government instead. Every sector elects a Speaker, the Speakers select the Governor, and the job of Governor lasts for five years – when new elections take place.
"Excuse me," interrupted Priscilla, "but I have no record of such a ship in my files."
David looked slightly confused. "Who just said that?" he asked, "I didn't see anyone say anything."
"That was the ship's computer, Priscilla," Jonathan explained. "She brings up a good point, though – we've never heard of a ship like yours, ever."
"There's a reason for that," David answered, "but I'm not prepared to explain it over an open transmission. Why don't you come over? I'll answer all your questions, face-to-face."
Jonathan turned to look at Jake. "What do you think?" he asked quietly, "Could it be a trap?"
"For what purpose?" Jake countered. "The OTZ never got out this far. You'll have to trust your gut on this one – but I'll admit to being a little curious myself."
Jonathan turned to face the screen again. "We'll be coming alongside in two hours, we'll take a shuttle to the surface. I imagine we'll be needing pressure-suits to reach an airlock?"
David waved away the question. "Oh, there's no need for that. We'll direct you to a landing bay that can fit whatever shuttle you decide to use. I'll have a welcoming party ready to greet you. See you in two hours." The image reverted to the wireframe image of the asteroid, which had grown larger since the conversation had begun.
Jonathan scanned the Bridge. "Lani, Beanie, Sally, with me. Hux, keep the ship within one hundred kilometers of the asteroid, in case we need to make a quick getaway. Meet me in the Shuttle Dock – we'll take stun weapons only." The three hopped out of their seats and headed for the door.
"Mind if I tag along?" Jake asked. "I wouldn't mind a closer look at that thing myself."
Jonathan grinned at him. "I was actually hoping that you'd ask," he admitted, "this is a bit out of my league."
"I would join you, as well," boomed a new voice from near the door. Jonathan shifted his gaze from Jake to find Whistlestick, the burly former OTZ warrior, stepping through the door as the other three were leaving. "I can provide protection for your group."
"That's really not necessary, you know," Jonathan explained to him, "Our stunners can provide adequate protection for whatever we find over there."
"Maybe," the big man began to say, "but... well..."
"Let him come along," Jake suggested, "A little more protection can't hurt." As he walked by the grinning behemoth, he stopped to whisper, "You're getting bored here, aren't you?"
Whistlestick nodded, not saying a word. For him, life as an OTZ Warrior had involved much training, and many challenges. He didn't want to admit it to the others, but he had found such a life to be... FUN – that is, until he was beaten by Top Dog and imprisoned with these others. Now that he had escaped, and Top Dog – who he had been told is brother to the fair-haired Doctor Sally - had been defeated by the man Jake, he had been struggling to find a place for himself among his rescuers. He had tried many different jobs – but few had involved physical prowess, and the rest he had difficulty understanding.
Jake reached up. "Don't worry about it – we could use the help. We'll figure out something for you to do aboard the ship later," he said, placing a reassuring hand on the big man's shoulder. "For now, let's head to the dock and gear up."
Whistlestick threw his shoulders back proudly, following his new Top Dog through the corridor.
Preparations had taken nearly all of the two hours to complete, and now the shuttle coasted from Voyager to the asteroid. Jonathan, in the pilots seat, guided the craft towards the coordinates that had been provided to him. Judging from the curve of the horizon, he realized that they were nearing the axis of the asteroid. Makes sense, he thought, easier to land when the ground isn't shooting out from underneath you - particularly if it's moving at over five hundred kilometres per hour, like this is. While it was a simple problem in vector addition, usually it's better to avoid it altogether.
"Not much to look at down there," he remarked, "very few surface features for an asteroid."
"No shields, most likely," Jake suggested. "There's a lot of mass there to absorb impacts, after all."
"I really want to get a look at their drives," Beanie muttered. "It must have taken a LOT of energy to get that thing moving."
"But why isn't there any record of it?" Sally added. "Priscilla has a complete archive of every major event that's taken place for the past two centuries, after all."
"That's the first thing we're going to find out," Jonathan reassured her. "I don't understand how something this big could have left Earth without being a big event, either." He gave her a nervous smile, then turned back to his piloting console.
Within minutes, they reached a position near their proposed docking site. "I don't see any landing bays," Jake mumbled. "Are we supposed to get out and knock?"
He had barely finished making his sarcastic comment when a sliver of light appeared on the surface of the asteroid. As the sliver grew larger, it became apparent that a large section of the asteroid had begun to open up for them like an old-fashioned hinged door. The six stared in awe as the giant rectangle levered itself away, revealing an interior that bore a striking resemblance to the docking bay they had just left – only far larger.
Jonathan gave Jake a wry grin, then turned his attention back to his console. Matching the rotation of the asteroid, he carefully guided their craft into the welcoming opening. Lowering the landing struts, he settled the vehicle to what he guessed was the floor of the bay. As they felt the shock of contact, they heard the hum-click of clamps gripping the struts. At the same time, their communications equipment crackled to life.
"Please remain in your vehicle until pressures are equalized," a voice they recognized as David announced. "Our greeting party will meet you at your ship."
They didn't wait very long before a scratching sound was heard, and David again spoke through their equipment. "It's now safe to exit your ship. A stair has been provided at your airlock door."
Jonathan looked at the anxious faces of his companions. With a shrug, he unbuckled his harness and stood up. As he walked towards the door, he heard everyone else do the same. At the airlock door, Whistlestick held out his arm to bar the way. "I shall go first," he said resolutely, "this could be a trap." He leaned over to Jake. "What do you think?" he whispered.
"Let him go ahead," Jake whispered back, "I doubt that it's a trap, but it gives him an opportunity to feel useful."
Straightening his head, Jonathan said to the big man, "All right, go ahead. And thanks."
The six entered the airlock, and Jonathan punched in a code that would permit the outer door to open without forcing the inner door to close – otherwise they would not all fit into the small compartment. The door slid open, and they felt a slight rush of incoming air. Not precisely equal, I guess – thought Jonathan momentarily. He paused at the top of the metal-tube stair assembly that had been brought beside their shuttle to survey the surroundings. He guessed that the bay they had landed in could readily house twenty shuttles of a similar size – or a few significantly larger. It was well-lit and clean – obviously well-maintained. It was currently empty, save for his shuttle and a small party of people standing about twenty feet from the bottom of the stairway.
Whistlestick had not wasted any time with inspections – he had bounded down the stairs, four steps at a time, and landed at the floor of the bay with a light thump... warily eyeing everything around him. He was ready for a fight, despite being without even so much as his old staff – not to mention the odd sensation of having almost no weight here. Jake followed him down, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "At ease, soldier," he told the man, "we're in no danger here." He looked towards the group in front of him, who had started walking slowly towards them. "Am I right?" he asked the leader.
"Not at all," David answered. "Welcome to the BioSphere 3. Allow me to introduce my companions. This is Allan Petrov," he said as he pointed towards a stocky man with greying hair. "He's the Speaker for Agriculture Sector Three. This," he continued, pointing to a tall woman with dark skin and curled hair, "is Diana Onawa. She speaks for the Navigation Division. Lisa Singh represents the Education Division," the short blonde woman nodded her head at them, "and our 'Elder Statesman', you might say... Leon Ridgeway," placing his hand on the shoulder of a grey-haired man who wore glasses and supported himself with a cane, "he's been speaking for the Engineering Division for the entire trip." He then stood back and waited.
Jonathan stepped forward and extended his hand for David to take. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," he started. "I'm Jonathan Hays, Captain of the Earth-Star Voyager. These are some of my command staff. This is Sally Arthur, our Medial Officer. Jesse Bienstalk, Power and Propulsion. Lani Miyori, Communications. Jake Brown and Whistlestick here are unofficial members of the crew." With that, the groups merged for introductory handshakes.
"I have SO many questions to ask you," Beanie said to Leon, pumping the man's hand enthusiastically. "What powers your ship? How did you get it out here? What...?"
"Easy, Beanie," Jonathan chided, "we have plenty of time for questions."
"That's quite all right," Leon replied with a chuckle. "I'd be happy to take you on a tour of our Engineering areas, as soon as we're done here." Averting his eyes, Beanie let go of the hand.
Lisa did not take the offered hands, preferring to bow instead. She cocked an eyebrow at Lani. "Would you be any relation to Shingo Miyori?" she asked.
Lani eyed her curiously. "Shingo is my father," she told Lisa, "Why do you ask."
Lisa smiled widely. "I know someone who will be EXTREMELY happy to meet you," she answered cryptically. "Once we get to the Main Level, I'll introduce you to him."
"Agreed," David said, "This is not a proper place for continuing our talk. Follow me to the lift, and we'll find a place to sit down and relax while we get to know each other. This way." He extended his arm as he turned, and led the group towards a large doorway at the far end of the bay. "Please be careful," he added, "we're so close to the axis here, that gravity is very light. You don't have the magnetic boots that we're wearing, so you may want to hang on to one of us until we get there." He extended his elbow to Sally. "May I...?" he asked. Sally nodded and placed her hand on his forearm.
"I've had free-fall training," Jake pointed out, "the light gravity doesn't bother me." Whistlestick also refused the offer of help, preferring to figure out how to walk properly by himself. With everyone holding on to someone else, they walked slowly towards the doorway. David pressed a button, and the door slid open. Once inside the large room, the people of the welcoming party helped Jonathan and his people sit on the benches that surrounded them. "Gravity gets a little odd during the trip down," David explained, "so it's better to sit comfortably than succumb to motion sickness." Once everyone was seated, David pressed a button on the panel beside him.
Jonathan felt the room shudder, and assumed that the room was actually an elevator cab that had started to move. David, taking off his boots casually, looked at Jonathan. "We've got a twenty-minute ride ahead of us," he commented, "so maybe you could tell us how you managed to locate us. We don't radiate in radio or infra-red, so we look like any other rock out here."
Jonathan shrugged. "You were just another odd thing along our flight-path," he said. "Once we got close enough, our scans told us that you massed only a tenth of what an asteroid of this size normally would. So we came closer to investigate."
"Along your flight-path?" Diana muttered. "What is your destination, anyway?"
"We call it Barensen's Star," Beanie answered. "It's just under nineteen light-years away from Earth. We discovered a planet there that might support us."
"Nineteen light-years..." Diana whispered, "That's the same distance away as SG-3287, which is OUR destination!"
"We'll arrive there in just over eleven years," Jonathan added. "Why did you call it that?" he then asked.
"That's just the way stars are named," Diana pointed out. "Star, G-type, number 3287 on record."
"I guess it shouldn't be a surprise," David said, breaking the awkward silence that followed Diana's explanation. "A single, young star, with the potential for habitable planets – I guess finding us was not the coincidence we'd hoped it to be." He sighed. "I guess we hoped too much, to think we'd remain anonymous forever."
"But – why do you want to remain anonymous?" Jonathan wondered aloud.
He had barely asked the question when the lift shuddered again. A light on the console indicated that they had come to a stop. "We've arrived," David told them, "this is the main level of our community. Gravity is almost normal, so you can walk around freely." He stood up, walked to the door, and the door opened before him. Jonathan found that he had to shield his eyes from the bright light that flooded the room. He stood up and followed David towards the door, followed by the rest of his party.
They were unprepared for the sight that they beheld, once their eyes adjusted to the light.
"Holy..." Jake whistled.