/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 13: Failure Surprise pt1
/ word count: 2033
Washington Platform:
There was a mass funeral, the body count rose as we neared the first planet. Every person that did not survive their hypersleep or could not handle being asleep for so long, all perished. Now we've lost over 500 elderly, men, women and children, including VIP military personnel. We laid the bodies in hangers that pointed towards the current star we we're now closest to. Family and friends were allowed to walk amongst them and pay last respects. At the front of the groups lay the dozen or so military personnel, and just in front of them, on a short, makeshift pedestal, lay Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson Eastwood. It was discussed by a committee of scientists, that since we do not know the exact composition of the new planet, we cannot bury our dead their. Some protested, infuriated that they could not keep the bodies near until the time of such a discovery was made. It was agreed that a funeral, such the likes Earthlings have never done before, every body would be dealt with at the exact same time. No single body would remain to be tested on or mutilated in some cannibalistic way. So every ship with their dead, we're now in stationary orbit around the new solar systems sun, when the signal was given, all of the deceased will be released to space and given over to the gravity of the new star.
Kepler 438b:
Only a handful of individuals were chosen to go down to the surface. One Carrier, a couple Cruisers, and six Transport crafts, all with their full complement of personnel. Anyone that was pregnant, elderly, or with a newborn, were asked to remain behind. So Jackson was told to report to the Washington with her new in-laws. Lee requested to remain with his family, but I told him I needed my best tech to go with us.
"All ships, this is the Enterprise, get ready for descent." Came the call over the comms.
The order was given to make sure all compartments were secure and ready for re-entry. Orbital cameras couldn't detect signs of life, which is odd. Visuals on what appeared to be water in certain locations were confirmed. The order was given, and the descent wasn't long, and the atmosphere may be a bit thinner than Earth's, so it wasn't very rough. The ships hovered roughly two miles from the surface, the new engines, really any engine in this atmosphere, started having adverse effects.
The platforms above radioed down, "All ships, fallback! Fallback!! The engines and exhaust is going to destroy what little ecosystem may be on that planet!"
So we had no choice but to leave the first planet, as it was unsuitable for us to even try to remain. So we went back to the fleet and had to discuss on which direction we would go from here.
Just on the outskirts of the Kepler system, a small ball of light came zipping into the system, around a planet and in view of the red sun. It made its way silently through the expanse, zeroing in on the human fleet. A decent sized rock drifted in front of the small ball, it shifted a little one way, then the other. It then seemed to grow a little brighter, then just as it was to strike the surface of the rock, it shot a beam of energy straight ahead and the rock shattered into millions of pieces. The small ball shot through the newly made empty space and kept heading for the Earth fleet.
Washington Platform:
"Well what the hell do we do now!?" The newly appointed head of the platform, Major Bensen asked. "This was our only chance at.."
"Not..our only chance, Major. Kepler 438b was just the closest option and technically, if we hadn't of been able to develop the new engines, we would still be out in dark space floating in this direction." Doctor Malone stated.
"Not our only chance!? Woman, do you realize just how far it is and how long it will take us to reach the next potentially suitable planet!?" He questioned.
"1200 light-years Major, and I would suggest you refrain from using my gender in such a demeaning tone." She threatened. "You may refer to me as Head Doctor of the.."
"Shut your damn pie hole woman!!" He interrupted.
A few fists clenched under the tables surface, a sexist was not a welcomed change to the command structure.
The voice of General Marcellus, over the collective communication with the fleet, chimed in.
"Major Steve Bensen!! Speak like that to the good Doctor one more time, and I will personally see to it you're removed from command and given latrine duty everytime you're awakened from hypersleep, do I make myself clear PRIVATE!?!" He warned.
"...Aye sir." Bensen slouched in his chair.
"Now, as I was saying," Malone started, "there are a number of planets we could just barely make out from Earth and the Kepler Satellite mission. However that is not the only means we have to search for planets now."
All eyes and ears turned her way.
"Just as we were able to develop the new engines and are now capable of traveling beyond lightspeeds, we didn't stop creating or searching for new things. I pushed my science teams to think radically and come up with theories we never were able to test on Earth."
"What sort of theories?" Marcellus asked.
"For starters, point-to-point travel. Meaning we could open a hole in space here and pop out at a different location near instantaneously." Malone explained. "However, that theory requires more resources than we currently have available to even begin testing, so it has been shelved for now."
"Anything else we can use right now?" Bensen asked mockingly
"Sort of." She answered.
"Sort of!? What kind of an answer is that!?" Bensen questioned.
Eyes looked to the Major, soon to be private, and he turned away from everyone's gaze.
"What theories we can test now are somewhat dangerous. One in particular needs a ship to be moving at her top speed to be able to even activate the necessary components. It would actually give us a huge boost in overall speeds, but seeing as it is untested, it could completely destroy whatever vessel that tries it."
"Doctor." I moved to speak. "Not meaning to change the subject here, but something has been bothering me."
"Yes Captain Freeman?" She acknowledged.
"How did you create the new engine components and crystals we are now able to enjoy these new found speeds with? I'm aware of much of the materials we brought with us, but I don't recall giant crystals in that list." I pointed out.
"Well we actually used some crystals we brought with us as the base, however, as you said, none of them were that big, nor were they that numerous. We've discovered that the same energies used to combat the goo, is able to be harnessed and used for other purposes." She explained.
Eyes around the room went wide with shock, even everyone on the comm links never spoke until the next question was posed.
"You mean to tell me that we had access to another energy source this entire time!?" Bensen asked. "And it is able to be applied to pretty much anything else besides fighting!?"
"Essentially, yes. And in that regard, we have also learned, the harder you duel, the more energy gets produced. So we will need to start creating a new routine to be added to everyone's schedules. In order to generate all the energy to run major systems, engines, life support, artificial gravity generators, and so on, we'll no longer need to pull on the nuclear crystals we brought from Earth. And those crystals can be used to run minor systems. Water regulators, air conditioning, and so forth. That way we will be splitting up energy resource responsibility and not one source to run all things."
What happened next, was not a fun experience, as it quite literally rocked the entire platform, pitching it a few degrees, causing every individual currently standing to fall over. There was an alarm klaxon going off in the main command area and in the affected areas of the ship.
"All hands!! We have a hull breach on deck 13,14,and 15, port side!! I repeat, a hull breach has occured!! Emergency personnel head to decks 13, 14, and 15 immediately!!" The announcement rang out.
"Washington!! What in the world was that!!" General Marcellus asked.
"Unknown sir!" Bensen responded. "I'll check it out and report back! Everyone, return to your respective ships and fighter crafts!! We could be under attack!!" He ran to the command deck just down the hall. "Report!"
"Something came out of nowhere and struck our portside with enough force to roll the ship sir!" A soldier furiously typing across his keyboard answered.
"I know that much already soldier!! I meant, tell me something I don't know!!"
"The object came from beyond this solar system and struck us sir." A sailor offered up. "I was standing looking out a portside window when I saw it coming in, but before I could even yell out, it hit us and threw everything into chaos."
"Teams are moving in, the object or whatever struck a non-essential section of the ship, minimal damage to one ship systems. So far no casualties reported." Sergeant Brier, newly minted in rank, the last act of the previous commander of the Washington, reported after she got to her station.
"I want eyes on now!" Bensen ordered.
Helmet cams filled the view screen, as soldiers and sailors moved to patch the holes and check any electronic systems in the area.
"Patch this through to the rest of the fleet! General, everyone, eyes are up, sending visuals now!"
"External crews are making their way to the holes to begin repairs from outside." Brier added.
"Who's in charge at the incident location?" Bensen asked over the radio.
"Sergeant Major Ackles sir, there seemed to be no decompression of the affected areas. It's almost like whatever hit us, also sealed the holes behind it. Repairs are already underway." He reported.
"Did you find whatever did hit us Sergeant Major?" Bensen asked.
"Negative sir. There was a hole, indention in the deck plating where something impacted it, but an empty crater." The camera panned down to show exactly what he was talking about.
"Nothing's there!?" Doctor Malone questioned over the comms. "Do a spectral analysis, and filter through everything while scanning the whole area!" She suggested.
Bensen gritted his teeth for not being allowed to tell her to be quiet while he ran this ship.
"Women should stick with where they belong!" He said to himself.
"This is the Baddeck, we're off the platform and heading to provide overwatch of the damaged section!" Came over the comms.
"Acknowledged Baddeck." Brier responded. "All other cruisers and fighters keep your distance from the Washington until the situation is under control!"
The Baddeck:
"Maneuvering thrusters only. I want us broadside starboard to the Washington." I ordered.
"Aye sir." Executive Officer Carson responded, turning to relay my orders.
I got a good view of her uniformed back side. "Lordy that's a fine ass." I said to myself. Then went back to work. "Baddeck to Washington, has there been any clue to what caused this yet?" I asked.
"Negative Baddeck, no item or object has not been found as of.." the speaker was interrupted by screaming and small arms gunfire. "Gah! What is that thing!? Fire! Fire! Fire! It's moving too quick! It's on me!! It's on me!! Hold fire!! It's running!! Lockdown this sector of the ship, all decks!! Lock it down now!!"
There was a faint noise barely audible behind all the yelling and shooting. I ordered the techs to go back over the playback and try to cut out the guns and words, then to slowly remove any other noises that was recognizable one by one until…
"KURI!! KURI!!"
"What in the world is that noise?" Shelly asked.
"I don't know yet, it sounds familiar but strange. Analyze this thoroughly!" I ordered.
To be continued...