Chapter XIII
—Suspicious Activity—
0906 Hours, December 17, 2550 (Military Calendar) \
UNSC Vessel Nightfire, Slipstream Space, unknown
coordinates toward 876 Gliese Majoris.
The voyage would be lengthy, for the distance between Epsilon Eridani System to the unknown 876 Gliese Majoris System was roughly a seven month trip. To pass the time, the Spartans of Nova Team had the option to remain in their cryopods until the destination had been reached. As for the rest of the crew, they'd cycle shifts. No one had a clue what this new star system would contain.
Whatever the case, one of the main objectives was to stay below the Covenant's radar. ONI wasn't taking any chances, so the discovered relic was sealed deep within the Nightfire in a protective metallic cocoon to negate energy leakage. Covenant technology surpassed the humans in every form, especially their detection capabilities. Commander Vasher, for one, wasn't about to be tailed by the Covenant to wherever the relic was leading them.
The Nightfire was Vasher's personal vessel, equipped with a state-of-the-art stealth system. Such a system would make a Prowler vanish within a Covenant fleet, so the Commander was confident they could avoid the enemy, for it would be a long journey.
Dr. Luka Asari was hard at work in her personal quarters, a medium-sized room packed with running computers, an unkempt bed, and a single dresser decorated with her personal effects from home. On her desk was the artifact the Spartans had discovered. She had been fixated on the little relic the moment it fell into her hands. It was an interesting little object.
Dr. Asari continued to replay the star system the relic displayed, studying every frame and angle of it. For it have selected this particular region of space, something about it had to be important. But what was it exactly? Mirage watched her creator, analyzing the stress on her face.
"You should rest, y'know?" suggested the AI. "You'll be useless to anyone if you're needed."
Luka pulled from the bright computer monitor before her, feeling herself becoming nauseous. "A way with words you have," Dr. Asari commented, seeing Mirage's point.
She stood up from her peninsula-shaped desk, stretching her arms and marching in place to return feeling to her legs.
"I'll figure you out," she uttered to the artifact, challenging herself.
The xenoarcheologist went over to her bed, looking to snag a couple hours' sleep. Before her head could even strike the pillow, however, her computer chimed.
"Ugh," Luka grunted, dragging herself out.
She staggered over to the console, adjusting her eyes to the screen once again. A flashing window throbbed on-screen, indicating a transmission was waiting. Dr. Asari opened it –
United Nations Space Command
Order 23678-SD
Encryption Code: Red
Public Key: file/breaking dawn/
From: UNSC Day Breaker - M. Erikson
To: ONI/ Dr. Luka Asari
Subject: "Upon Your Discovery…"
Classification: Restricted
/start file/
Dr. Asari, word just came to me about the artifact. ONI wants as much intel as they can get, so I've been ordered to take a look. They want some fresh eyes on it. An order as already been sent to the Nightfire's commanding officer to redirect you to my lab on the edge of the 16 Cygni system… where one of our drone-operated Prowlers were captured a few months ago. There, we can further study this discovery.
-M. Erikson
/end file/
Press ENTER to reply.
Dr. Asari closed the window, saving the message in her memory bank. Once again, Mirage studied her face, matching the twisting of her mouth and wrinkled with frustration—and she was right.
"Erikson," Mirage spoke, her words floating. "Friend of yours?"
Dr. Asari adjusted her facial expression, masking them from the inquisitive AI. "Former colleague."
"And your rival, I assume?" Mirage excavated.
Luka shot Mirage a quick glare but dissolved it. It took the AI a tenth of a second to comprehend the look. It held mixed emotions. Was Erikson more than just a former colleague? Mirage didn't dig any further. She never understood the makeup of human emotion. Frankly, she didn't care. It served no purpose for her.
"Get some rest, Doctor," was the advice from the AI.
Mirage vanished from Dr. Asari's vision, transferring herself to bridge to change the course of the Nightfire to the coordinates embedded Erikson's transmission. Luka struck a single key, placing her numerous consoles on standby. She removed her glasses, lied down on her bed, and closed her eyes.
2210 Hours, March 18, 2551 (Military Calendar) \
UNSC Vessel Nightfire, fringes of 16 Cygni system, near
UNSC/ONI Frigate Day Breaker.
"Docking successful. Welcome," an artificial voice stated.
Dr. Asari stepped from the Pelican's aft troop bay, clutching the casing that housed the relic. It had taken several months to reach the frigate, elasping into a new year as well. Commander Vasher accompanied her, while Nolan and the Spartans of Nova Team remained on the Nightfire. This was simply was a second opinion in Vasher's mind, and it taken a considerable amount of time from their current mission. ONI must've wanted to know exactly what they were dealing with. Following orders had lead to the Day Breaker - an ONI Frigate assigned to monitor the goings-on of the 16 Cygni star system.
In addition, they wanted to bring in someone who also specialized in alien artifacts – Xenoarcheologist Malcolm Erikson.
He was considered one of the best young minds in his field, so he had been better worth the trip in the Commander's eyes. At the moment, the Frigate was collecting probes sent out along the edges of the system, a routine process before returning to UNSC-controlled space to study their contents before revealing their findings to the UNSC. Vasher just hoped this would soak up a considerable amount of time. They were already faced with a seven mouth voyage to some unknown star system, so this had better take no more than a few hours.
Once traveling through the ship's interior for a time, the pair arrived to Erikson's personal lab. Dr. Asari nearly spit up. He had his own lab, an entire section dedicated for his work. And what did she have? Nothing, just an insignificant room in a massive Cruiser that anyone could ignore.
She was so flustered she didn't realize the middle-aged man standing outside the lab door to greet them.
"Andrew Rivers, Captain of the Day Breaker," the naval officer introduced.
Commander Vasher promptly shook his hand, having a light smile. "Pleasure, Captain. This is Dr. Asari."
"Doctor," Captain Rivers smiled.
Luka shook his hand, forcing a fake smile.
Rivers cleared his throat. "Well, Dr. Erikson is inside, so I'll leave you to that. Once you're finished, I'd like to meet you in the bridge, Commander."
"Sure," Vasher complied.
The Captain nodded once and walked away.
The door to the lab hissed open after Asari and Vasher gained authorization. Once passing through a sterilization chamber, the two were allowed to enter into the main lab. It was every scientist's dream –clean and state-of-the-art. A number of lesser scientists moved about the lab, but one caught Luka's eye.
Malcolm Erikson – 31, handsome, and commanding. He looked almost airbrushed.
A colleague came up beside him, whispered to him, then went away. Dr. Erikson looked up, saw Luka, and dropped what he was doing. With a metallic clipboard in hand, he hurried over her, smoothing his dark hair with his free hand.
"Dr. Asari," Erikson greeted, giving Luka a polite handshake.
Her gaze made him uneasy, making him tongue-tied. "You're, you've, I mean, how have you been?"
"Never better," she quickly answered.
Commander Vasher sized the two of them up, growing uncomfortable with the tension. Dr. Erikson looked away again, unfortunately meeting another hard gaze from Vasher.
"Um, you must be Commander Vasher. Pleasure to meet you, sir."
Vasher shook his hand firmly and quickly, not even giving the scientist a chance to grip. "Time is of the essence, Doctor, so could we proceed?"
"Yes, sir," he nodded, gesturing to the relic in Dr. Asari's hands. "If I may…"
She reluctantly handed the case over. Dr. Erikson took it, bringing it over to his main desk of study. He cracked open the case, gingerly extracting the disc-like artifact. In a flash, the relic displayed the star system as it had done before. Malcolm's brown eyes lit up, like a deer caught in headlights. He was fascinated.
"Wow," he whispered to himself, just in earshot of Luka. "Were you able to figure out what system this is?"
Dr. Asari held her tongue, taking offense to Malcolm's tone of which he asked the question. "That we were able to do. The 876 Gliese Majoris star system."
Dr. Erikson raised his brows, taken aback. Luka smiled inside. She knew something he didn't.
"I don't recall that in any of our databases," Malcolm forwardly assumed.
"Because it's not," Dr. Asari pointed out, whipping out her data pad. "There was also a message encoded in the coordinates, a message, a language of some sort. Our AI was able decipher pieces of it, but it doesn't make any sense. See…"
Dr. Erikson took the data pad from her hands, reading what they were able to fill in for the overall language highlighted above. A few random words were displayed, but she was right, they didn't make any sense.
"Huh, there is obviously a message in there. But I've seen some of these character phrases before… from some of our previously excavated artifacts. If you can just give me a few minutes, I think I can translate the rest."
"Y'got ten minutes," the Commander proposed.
With a pencil in hand, Dr. Erikson worked furiously to translate the message embedded inside the relic's display. He began matching the characters against similar fonts, hyphenated letters, and those having apostrophes. Dr. Asari stood across from him, watching write, erase, underline, erase again, and write some more. A diligent worker Malcolm was, a quality Luka had yet to forget over the past few years. He was brilliant beyond his years, channeling his once far-fetched knowledge into everything alien life had to offer.
When it came to human interactions, however, Erikson failed miserably. He was one of the great minds ONI had at their disposal, but even his high IQ wouldn't grant him interpersonal skills. Luka, though, centered her concentration. She had to focus on what was in front of her, what was most important. There, just as Dr. Erikson's restricted time limit was about to elapse, he set the worn down pencil.
"It's… it's translated," he exhaled in relief.
Commander Vasher rotated his hand with an extended index finger, wanting the scientist to stop soaking in the moment and get on with it. "Well, what does it say?"
"'Learn the gifts of all sights, or finish in the battle of the fallen gods,'" Malcolm read. "Huh…"
"What does that mean, 'learning gifts… finishing the battle?' Is this some kind of alien poetry?" Vasher questioned.
"No," Dr. Erikson uttered, thinking as he spoke. "It's a battle cry, or some type of speech before an engagement. In the past few years, we've uncovered numerous alien artifacts with similar messages."
The doctor took out his own data pad, selecting a folder of restricted files containing previously translated alien text. He pinched out the screen, expanding the size of the phrases and read them aloud.
"This was translated eight months ago after years of studying them. Here, listen: 'Nain-desintye-de.' 'The pure win, an absolute victory.' Here's another – 'Mesh'in'ga.' 'The battle of dreams.' And lastly – 'Dtai'Kai-dte sa-de nau'gkon dtain'aun bpi-de.' 'The fight begun will not end until the end.' Whichever alien civilization spoke these words, they must've been in some kind of conflict, or war."
"I don't like the sound of that," expressed the Commander. "How do we know this star system we're heading into isn't some kind of warzone waiting to happen? This civilization was obviously fighting something out there, and what if it's still there?"
"I highly doubt that, Commander," ensured Dr. Erikson. "These very words were probably spoken millions of years ago. The conflict this civilization faced could be well into its aftermath. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if those coordinates lead into the ruins of their battleground. And there could be some ancient material that could be salvaged there. Maybe that's what the Covenant's after, something they can use. This is good news, Comman…"
"All the more reason we should get there first," Dr. Asari interjected. "The Covenant knows we have this thing, so I wouldn't recommend we lollygag."
"Right," complied Malcolm, returning the relic into its case. He handed it back to Luka, then turned to face Vasher. "Commander, permission to join your expedition. I believe I could lend further assistance if needed."
Luka's face dropped and her eyes expanded.
"We could use an additional mind… help move things along. Clear it with your CO first," Vasher allowed, turning to leave.
"Sir!" Erikson said excitedly.
Dr. Asari fixed her mouth to speak, seconds away from bashing the Commander's orders. She said nothing. Her career had already been tainted by such actions, so why keep digging her pit deeper?
The scientist stepped back into the hall outside the lab, brooding inside. Vasher noticed this, but he didn't comment. Whatever history Erikson and Asari shared in the past didn't even register on his radar. The two of them had better squash it and keep it professional. He wouldn't tolerate anything less.
Dr. Erikson was still in the lab, speaking with Captain Rivers via the communications monitor. His request to join the Nightfire had been granted. The leave was temporary, so he'd report back to the Day Breaker the moment this op was done.
'At least it's not permanent,' Dr. Asari said to herself.
With numerous materials in hand, Dr. Erikson finally exited the lab, saying his farewells in the process. He sealed the door behind him, glancing over at the Commander.
"I can't tell how thankful I am, sir. The knowledge we could learn is exciting!"
"I'm sure," Vasher replied, his interest elsewhere.
In the midst of the trio proceeding to the bridge of the Day Breaker, red lights extended down from the ceiling, accompanied by a wailing alarm. Captain River's voice boomed over the intercom:
"All personnel report to battle stations ASAP! This is not a drill. Combat unit Alpha to posts!"
"The heck's going on?" Erikson asked.
"I'm going to find out," the Commander said, keying his earpiece COM-link with the Day Breaker's bridge. "Captain Rivers, respond. What's happening?"
"A Covenant Assault Carrier just exited slipspace! It's inbound to our position."
"Christ!" Vasher spat.
"Asari, Erikson, get back in the lab and stay there! Seal it down, got it?"
"Yes, sir," Dr. Asari agreed.
Commander Vasher departed from the pair of scientists, running to the nearest lift to the bridge. Upon finding one, he shoved aside a few crewmen, stepped inside, and punched the key designated for the bridge. Numerous questions loomed in his mind. Firstly, what was the Covenant doing here? Were they tracked? The Commander had a difficult time viewing this as a random chance.
The lift doors could barely part before Vasher squeezed himself out and into the bridge. His eyes instantly magnetized to the Covenant ship in the distance. Crap. It was accelerating rapidly. At this rate, it would on top of the Day Breaker in minutes. This wasn't good. No, it was worse. It was time to act, and quick.
"Captain, raise the Nightfire. I need to speak with my second-in-command."
"Of course," River obliged, shouting the order to his Communications Officer.
"Nightfire raised, Captain, aye. You're clear to speak."
Vasher hit the key. "Lieutenant Commander, answer me! C'mon, Jon!"
"Nolan," the Lt. Commander responded. "Go ahead, Commander."
"We got a Covenant ship inbound. I'm relinquishing temporary command to you. You have full authorization to engage. Keep them off us!"
"Understood, Commander. Nolan out."
The Commander processed what was happening for a moment, gearing up. His hands gripped the metallic rail surrounding Captain River's station, his knuckles white. Beside him, the Captain looked to his junior officers. They would have to be at their best, for getting out of this mess wouldn't be easy.
"Ensign Griffin, course correction. Set course for zero seven five. Get us in under the Nightfire, then up heading zero nine zero."
"Setting course correction, Captain. Aye."
The Day Breaker lazily began to make its maneuver as the Nightfire released a salvo of Archer Missiles. A total of sixty missiles streamed from the pods, leaving trails of exhaust as they burned toward enemy Carrier. Like cotton hitting glass, the missiles harmlessly impacted the Carrier's shields, like a baby poking a sleeping bear.
The response was instantaneous.
Their plasma turrets warmed, lining up with the Nightfire.
"Look alive, Breaker!" said Lt. Commander Nolan to the bridge. "Deployment of Covenant boarding crafts has been dispatched. You better punch it. Outrun 'em!"
Vasher and Rivers looked out into starry darkness. Several boarding crafts—five total—had been expelled from the Carrier's hangar, maxing their engine output to reach the Day Breaker before it concealed itself behind the larger human ship.
"Boarding Crafts?" Captain Rivers said aloud. "Why would they attempt to board us? We have noth…"
"The relic," Commander Vasher announced. "They must've tracked it!"
"That's not possible," Captain Rivers responded. "You were out-system, and unless they were on your tail, they couldn't have known you'd come here."
The Commander started to ponder. "Unless…"
A flash of violet-amber suddenly occurred. Twin plasma torpedoes rocketed from the scarred prow of the Covenant ship, burning toward the Nightfire. The massive Marathon-class Cruiser immediately began evasive maneuvers. Emergency thrusters hissed from the portside as another pod of Archer Missiles were fired. The guided plasma and the Archers collided, erupting into a flash of pulsating violet and fire. It shook the interior of the Day Breaker, nearly shaking the teeth from the Commander's head.
Robert Vasher pulled himself back up onto the railing, helped Rivers to his feet, and raised the lab. "Dr. Erikson, man this COM immediately! I repeat…"
"I'm here, Commander," Erikson retorted, his voice shaken.
"Are you and Dr. Asari alright?"
"Still alive, sir."
"Good. Now think back, Doctor – the messages sent to us a few days ago, what we're its encryption key and classification entries?"
"Um, you got me there, sir," Dr. Erikson answered.
"Think!" roared Vasher.
"Red and Restricted!" Dr. Asari shouted out in the background.
The Commander ended the link and faced Captain Rivers. "This system, it's patrolled by the Covenant, right?"
"For the past few months, yes."
Robert laughed with a wagging head. "Those crafty pieces of alien scum. They hacked your transmission, breaking the encryption and reading the messages you and Dr. Erikson sent us. They knew were coming. That's the only way they could've gotten the artifact back. It was a trap, and we walked right into it."
A heavy vibration then slammed against the hull of the Day Breaker, then another and another. The boarding crafts had latched. Cameras throughout the ship displayed on monitors behind the Captain, showing the aliens force their way into the ship's interior and begin killing all who weren't killed in the initial boarding blast.
Vasher held his nerve long enough to raise the Nightfire. "Nolan, they've boarded. They're after the relic. We'll stay alive as long as we can, but we have to get Dr. Asari and that artifact off this ship and back on the Nightfire."
"I understand, Commander," Jon replied, sensing the tone in Robert's voice that suggested he was either really calm or keeping calm for appearances. Nolan voted for the latter.
"Do you? Know this – priority Alpha is Asari and that relic. Everything else is Beta-level priority, Jon. You jump system the moment they're aboard."
"Noted, sir," the Lt. Commander acknowledged.
"And, Jon…" added Vasher. "Mobilize Nova Team."