Catherine, dressed in armor, walked towards the meeting room, where her comrades were waiting for her. Pulling out each weapon in turn, she checked their condition. It wasn't that she didn't trust Jacob or thought he was incompetent. No. It became a habit when, on one of her first missions in the service of the Alliance, the weapon jammed at the most inopportune moment, as a result of which she received several bullet wounds. That case was firmly sealed in her memory and pushed her to the custom of always checking her equipment and weapons once again. After making sure that everything was working properly, she fixed the rifle on a magnetic grip and entered the hall, meeting her subordinates who were having conversations. Taylor was the first to address her, interrupting the conversation of his teammates.
- Commander, - the subordinate greeted her, - EDI has notified us of your order. We are ready to move forward, but we would be interested to know the essence of the mission, unless, of course, it is a secret assignment from a Ghost.
- There are no secrets, Jacob. - Shepard replied and, turning to the ceiling, continued, - EDI, please make a brief report.
- Yes, Commander, - the pleasant voice of the AI sounded, - During our stay in the system in which we are currently located, our sensors detected a spatial anomaly near the fourth planet. Initially, it was assumed that a black hole was detected, but the signal disappeared after only a few seconds. Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, we were met by a ship of unknown origin.
EDI interrupted the report by showing a hologram of the found vessel, displaying it across the table in the center.
- It doesn't look like any ship I've ever seen. - Miranda said, studying the image. - I can't attribute it to any class or race that built it.
- It doesn't look like Turian either, it has a rather rough and angular design. - the Archangel expressed his thoughts.
- I agree with Miranda. - Jacob added his opinion and turned to Mordin, - Doc, what do you think about him? - he asked Solus, hinting at his past work in the STG and knowledge of classified information.
The scientist silently looked at the hologram from different angles for a while, putting his hand on his jaw, trying to remember at least something similar.
- If you think these are Salarian developments, then I will disappoint you, Jacob, we have never created something like this. - he said, pointing with his finger. - I worked in the STG, but even there it wasn't even close.
- It's not just its unfamiliar architecture, but also its size. It is three times longer than dreadnoughts, and besides... - Shepard did not have time to say about the features of the found ship, as Mordin interrupted her.
- Three times? But how? How much of the zero element was spent on its construction? - Solus rattled off quickly, - It's just a huge expense. Is it really Protean?
- No, he's not a Protean. But first I'll finish what I wanted.
- Sorry to interrupt you, Commander, I couldn't help myself.
- It's okay, Mordin. So,- returning to the topic, she continues, - we found that it completely lacks the zero element core. At first it seemed to us that it was either deactivated or withdrawn, but even in this case there should be at least traces, but there were none.
- But how did he end up here then? The nearest repeater is 14 light-years away. Did he really get here on sublight engines? I'm not even talking about how they maintained gravity on the ship. - Vakarian spread his hands.
- We still have to find out, but the most interesting thing is this, - Shepard brought up an image over the table through an omno-tool, - see?
- CMS "Terra Nova"? It is really human? But I've never seen people have such ships. - Miranda said, a little confused. - Neither the size nor the appearance are the same.
- He looks a little gloomy. Don't you think? - Jacob said.
- There is a little. - Garrus supported him.
Everyone present was pondering an unexpected find that could not be explained in any way. Shepard glanced at Miranda, who was tapping something on the omnitool. "Well, of course she will report it to the Ghost, who would doubt it." - Catherine thought , and after a second she said:
- And now that we have held a briefing, we can move forward. EDI was able to find the intended passage inside. We will disembark on the platform at the rear. At first, you will have to act in the conditions of a vacuum, so put on a sealed armor.
The team went to the cargo hold, and after getting into the Kodiak, they went to the airlock of the wanderer. Shepard glanced at her subordinates and noted with annoyance the lack of armor on Miranda. She was limited to only one respirator. Although she could protect herself from the effects of vacuum with a biotic barrier, however, it took away the strength that could be useful in an unexpected battle for them. "One day she will finish playing with her desire to stick out her figure for everyone to see." - Catherine noted.
- Approaching the platform. - EDI said.
One by one, the team members began to come out of the landed shuttle, activating magnets on their shoes. As they approached the door, they examined the hull of the ship up close.
- Look at the nozzle, - the Turian said, - it's like it's been hit by something huge. But I don't see any melted traces on it. What did he run into?
- You'd better look ahead. - Shepard distracted him.
Everyone turned their gaze to the entrance to the airlock and saw... a disk.
- Seriously. - the commander continued, - Who even puts a mechanical rotary disk at the entrance of the spaceship's airlock?
- Quite primitive. It is unlikely that we have the strength to turn it manually, we do not have any krogans in the team. - noted Mordin.
- Jacob and I will try to open it with telekinesis. - Lawson came up with a glowing hand close to the disk. - I'll grab him on one side, and you on the opposite.
After ten seconds, the rotating mechanism stopped with a characteristic click, slowly opening the passage from which the air came out in a powerful stream. Fortunately, the team used magnetic boots and they were not blown off the platform. The group got inside and began to inspect the room. However, the sudden weight of his own body hit them.
- So gravity is still here, although it is not clear how. - Garrus commented. - As is the life support system. Well, that's good.
After the end of the procedure, the next gate, the same round shape as the first one, surfaced with a blue light. "There is also a holographic lock here, it seems that not everything here works on mechanisms." - Catherine thought. After passing the round gate, they found themselves in a corridor lit by barely working spotlights. Dark battered metal walls, dim light. An oppressive atmosphere reigned here, straining everyone present. Shepard noted to herself that there was something wrong with this ship. Her instincts were buzzing, telling her that something terrible had happened here. Looking back, she noticed that her companions were also a little uncomfortable. Finally, when they reached the end, they came across two forks that led to the doors. One was burning orange, and the other was the same familiar blue. Approaching the first one, Shepard touched the center, to which the door responded with a squeak and a warning that the door was blocked. Of course, Catherine assumed that it would not open, but it was still worth checking.
- Jacob, is there a way to break down the door? - she turned to the subordinate.
- I'll try now, but I can't promise anything. The technique here has little in common with ours.
Approaching the door, the man put his hand to the door in an attempt to connect to the binary code. However, when entering the network, the omni-tool gave an error about the incompatibility of devices and other architecture. After several failed attempts, Taylor finally gave up.
- Commander, the systems here have nothing to do with ours. It's as if the people who built this ship didn't even know about the existence of an omni-tool.
- I see. So we're moving in the other direction.
Going inside the second door, they found themselves in a spacious room with two stairs to the second floor, and a large gate a little further. There was glass on the side, offering a view of space. In addition to all this, they found a battered metal table built into the floor. It had two holographic displays on the sides, and one large one in the middle. The language of the device was English, and therefore it was not difficult to figure out where and what to press. She pressed a button on the side, and the central screen moved forward, and the side metal elements moved sideways, revealing a small stand with the inscription "Workbench" in the corner of the menu. Apparently for some kind of device. Maybe for weapons.
- I've never seen anything like it. - she said.
- There are more and more questions, but there are no answers at all. - Miranda's voice came from the side.
- Better take a look at this. - Garrus pointed to a three-dimensional rectangular structure with a zipper sign on the front. - It looks like it's some kind of power source. It looks quite unusual.
- Mordin, have you ever seen such a technique? - Shepard decided to ask. Among them, he was the most knowledgeable in technology.
- Never in my life. The appearance of the mechanisms is rough in appearance and has an unfamiliar layout. They do not have at least any logos of the manufacturing companies known to me. Although I can assume that they are quite developed. We need more data. If I can transfer it to Normandy, I can do a thorough analysis in the laboratory.
Shepard watched the scientist circling around the table, noticing his unhealthy interest. "If Tali were here, she would also be running around every device like crazy,"- she noted to herself. Looking sideways, she saw Miranda, who was recording every corner of the ship on the omnitool. Exploring the room further, she took a fancy to a strange blue holographic panel attached to the wall. At first she thought it was most likely a terminal, but as she approached her, the captain noticed the inscription "Stasis charge". "It looks like it's some kind of extra charge for biotics." - Catherine suggested in her head. She had no other explanation. "Okay, Mordin will investigate it later."
- We will always have time to take out all the equipment from here. But first we have to try to find the crew..., or his remains. - the captain finished with a certain hesitation. - We need to find out what happened here, and a live witness would not be a bad help in this.
Approaching the big gate, she wanted to click on the blue hologram, but suddenly it changed color to orange, cutting off the opportunity to go further. Turning around, she noticed that the door through which they had come had also changed its color.
- Great. How did the system fail in time. - Catherine said sarcastically. - Jacob, have you figured out how to crack these doors yet?
The subordinate did not have time to answer, as in the next second, she realized that her mission to find survivors was over, as a man's voice was heard from the speakers of the room:
- Strangers, identify yourself.
Both pilots were unconscious in their seats after a kind of hyper-jump. Isaac began to show the first signs of life, opening his eyes with a groan. He slowly got up from his seat and began to examine himself, trying to find injuries or injuries on himself. His body ached terribly after that blow to the hull of the spaceship, and his neck was numb due to the uncomfortable position in which he was sitting when he lost consciousness. After warming up, he injects the drug into his body, provoking instant regeneration of damaged tissues. In general, this drug was initially distributed exclusively among the military and had a considerable number of side effects. However, a little later it was thoroughly refined, so it no longer had any drawbacks. He even healed the telomeres of chromosomes, as a result of which the limit of cell division did not change in humans. The engineer turned sideways, examining John for injuries. Approaching him, he began gently shaking him by the shoulder.
- John, hey, John. - Isaac tries to wake him up. - Are you okay?
In response to these shocks, the sergeant's body moved and he tilted his head towards the engineer. Leaning on the arm of a friend, he gets to his feet with a grunt and leans against the wall, breathing heavily.
- Isaac, is that you? - he says convulsively, - Are we really alive?
- Yes, it's me. And, as you can see for yourself, we are alive. Although I don't understand how.
- What do you mean? And why did we have to die? - the sergeant asks.
- Do you remember the tunnel started to get dark?
- Is that when you turned on the shock engine at the last moment?
- Yes. Due to its malfunction, it compressed the space in front of the ship too much and punched a hole in it. At first it seemed to me that this was a singularity. I thought she would disassemble us into atoms with her gravity. But if we consider that we survived, then I am inclined to believe that most likely it was a wormhole. - Isaac expressed his thoughts about what happened, and after a second he added, - At least this is the only explanation I can give. I've never encountered a defective hyperdrive before.
- We are surviving for the second time and it is not known how. - John said with relief, - By the way, where are we?
- I haven't found out yet. As soon as I woke up, I went to wake you up.
Isaac sat down in a chair, tapping on the display to check the operability of the ship's main systems. Glancing at the damage list, he cursed softly to himself: multiple holes in one of the rear compartments, and one of the nozzles was destroyed. The reactor was working intermittently, after all, two consecutive hyper-jumps had a bad effect on it. "Well, at least the life support system is more or less working. We definitely won't die from oxygen starvation." - Isaac calmed down. Swiping an array of information from the screen, he decided to figure out where they were. Scanners began to examine the local star system for the presence of familiar celestial bodies.
The illuminated hologram showed a star map known to her. However, Clark could not compare it with the luminaries that surrounded them now. After entering a command on the keyboard to detect constellations, he waited for the computer to find at least something. While the computer was doing the analysis, he turned to Carver and noted his far from perfect condition.
- Take the first aid kit. - he holds out the drug.
- Thanks. She's definitely not in the way right now. - John thanked him. - This push was quite strong. We were thrown not weakly.
Finally, the computer highlighted the nearest known star cluster, which was five hundred light-years away.
- That's weird. - the engineer said thoughtfully.
- What's wrong?
- The data on the stars do not match. They are not in the right place where they should be. The computer calculated that their coordinates coincide with those that were relevant 326 years ago. And we were carried almost 50,000 light-years from Earth.
- I take it we won't be able to use the hyper-jump? - Carver asked hopefully.
- It will work out. However, I wouldn't risk turning it on again. - Isaac rightly remarked, - If there was a quantum transmitter on board, then we could try to contact the nearest colony, but this ship is old. There is another option to send a radio signal into space, but given the dista... Before he could finish, the computer's voice interrupted him.
- An unknown spacecraft has been detected. - the computer reported, flashing his hologram.
Both men cast a wary glance at him, fearing that he might belong to fanatical unitologists, but after looking closer, they realized that the ship looked unfamiliar to them - they had never seen such a design. The ship was too elegant and elongated, with smooth and streamlined shapes.
- Handsome. - the sergeant voiced the appearance of the ship. - Normandy SR2. If it wasn't for the name, I would have thought that we had stumbled upon aliens. At least I'm not an expert in starships, but I've never seen such vessels, either in my life or in the archive.
- Even though he looks strange, but this is our escape ticket from here. If we manage to negotiate with them, they can take us away. - Isaac said with some relief.
- It's too early to think about it. We need to find out who they are first. If it's the damn unitologists, then we'll have to break through with a fight. - John landed a friend.
- In any case, we need to establish contact with them. - the engineer replied. - Staying here and fearing them is not an option either.
- Attention! The airlock was opened in the tail section. - the voice of virtual intelligence sounded.
- What are we going to do, Isaac?
- We can try to block them in one room, cutting them off from other paths. Here we can control the access of all the doors and gates of the ship.
Observing the movements of the intruders, he waited until they stopped. By pressing the lock button, he connected his X to the ship's internal systems and transmitted an audio message:
- Strangers, identify yourself.
