GHOST IN THE MACHINE

As Eagle Four touched down safely, the gathered in Main Mission turned their attention to the latest mystery to visit moonbase Alpha. Professor Bergman stood next to Morrow and Koenig, reading from a print out handed to him by Kano. He pressed his thumb into the top of a fist and waved it at the strange glowing entity featured on the main viewer.

"Yes, well, our scanners can't tell us much. The object has mass, but a precise calculation eludes our instruments. It is surrounded by an energy field of undetermined composition."

Paul stood at his station and fidgeted as his aggravation took physical form. "That is obvious, professor."

"Hey now, wait one second," Carter chimed in and moved closer to the conversation. "This thing hit one of our Eagles with some kind of, what, weapon?"

Koenig sighed, glanced down for a moment, then told Alan, "Maybe. Maybe something else."

Nearly losing two of his fellow pilots had first caused fear in Alan Carter's gut, but with the danger gone, that fear translated to anger. "That's not much of an answer, is it?"

"It's all we've got," Koenig shot back with a glare that warned his longtime friend there were lines not to be crossed. To Kano: "What happened to their onboard computer?"

The computer expert grimaced and shook his head before answering, "I don't know, commander. It may have been an external intrusion into their computer."

Paul Morrow stiffened. "What you're saying is that something hacked into their system."

"Something?" Carter said and narrowed his eyes. "Not something. That ship up there. In my book, we call that an attack."

"One moment," Professor Bergman raised a hand while also nodding his head like a grandfather might to calm his grandchildren. "We can't gauge intent. This very well could be an attempt at communication."

"Hijacking one of our ships?" Paul said. "Nearly crashing it? You must be joking."

The commander lost tolerance for the debate and took control of the conversation. "Enough. We will deal with what we know; not guesses." He looked at Carter. "We can't assume the intention was hostile." Then to Victor. "But we will protect ourselves. Alan, I want two laser equipped Eagles ready to go."

"With pleasure, commander," Alan answered and strode from the room.

"Paul, get a technical team to launch pad two. I want a thorough diagnostic run on Eagle Four's systems. See if there's anything in their data banks or logs that can point us in the right direction. Sandra, pull the senor tapes from—"

"Commander!" Kano interrupted.

Random undulating lines appeared on half of the screens in Main Mission.

Bergman: "It's happening here, John. Same as Eagle Four."

"Computer is overloaded," Kano said, exasperated.

The same fear that had engulfed the staff as they had watched Eagle Four race toward destruction returned, but this time it was more immediate; more personal. Computer was the lifeblood of Alpha, controlling everything from water recycling to surgical procedures. To lose control of computer was like losing control of one's own body.

Koenig stood transfixed, his eyes darting from screen to screen, his mind trying to analyze the chaos, memories of similar experiences in the past raising alarm.

"Kano! Shut down computer."

"Commander, if we—"

"Do it!"

Kano, sitting at his desk at the heart of Main Mission, hesitated for another moment before relenting. He shook his head in disagreement, but punched in a series of codes turning off main computer. One by one, the screens went dark.

The lights in Main Mission flickered, as they did across the entire facility.

For a long moment, silence in Main Mission as the operators looked at each other, befuddled and frightened. Emergency power kicked in and the monitors and screens in Main Mission came back to life, but without computer they were far less efficient, far less capable.

Koenig tapped an input on Morrow's desk and sent a broadcast throughout the base. "Attention all sections Alpha. This is Commander John Koenig. Main computer is offline temporarily. Use manual controls and inputs to maintain life support and critical systems. Limit non-essential functions."

Morrow spoke to the commander in a softer tone than normal. "Without the main computer, it's going to be difficult to keep Alpha running."

Koenig did not feel the need to respond to the obvious.

Professor Bergman offered an alternative. "Perhaps we should keep computer functioning. Let's see what they're trying to do. It might be a message, John."

Memories of entranced Alphans, corrupted data, and dead colleagues shot into Koenig's mind: a siren warning of past dangers.

"Might be. The guardian on Piri sent a message. So did the Triton sphere."

He needn't say more. In both instances, an alien force attempted to control the base and the Alphans within by first controlling the main computer. John Koenig couldn't risk that happening again.

Kano said, "Without computer, it will be impossible to analyze the intruder with any detail."

"We've had experience with alien entities getting into our systems, and we've been hurt," Koenig said. "So that's a problem we'll have to deal with in the short term." He turned to Victor and led, "But in the long term..?"

Victor tilt his head

"But we could bring isolated systems back online, one at a time—"

"No, Kano. It's not worth the risk. We—you—will have to live without computer for a while."

The computer expert bit his lower lip and stifled further verbal dissent, but his body language spoke of frustration.

Dr. Helena Russel arrived in Main Mission. "John?"

"We don't know yet."

Paul Morrow checked a message at his workstation and said, "Combat Eagles One and Two are ready to go." His words were backed by monitors showing the ships rising onto landing pads, docking tubes extending.

"John," Victor tried to reason. "We don't know what our visitor is up to. If we take hostile action, it might provoke a response."

The commander considered the professor's words for a moment and then transmitted, "Alan, your combat flight is cleared for takeoff. Get close, take a look, but under no circumstances are you to fire upon the target without my authorization."

"Received and understood, commander."

Koenig looked at Bergman and said, "I'm sorry, Victor, but Alpha is wide open. We must be prepared for any contingency."

Victor sighed, but said nothing.

# # #

Alan Carter and co-pilot Pete Johnson boarded Eagle One, hurried into the cockpit, sat in their respective seats, and slid forward. Johnson flipped a switch, sealing the ship's bulkheads while Carter punched the main motor power-up toggle.

"Eagle One, preparing for liftoff."

Morrow's voice answered, "Got it, Eagle One."

Another voice, that of pilot Stuart Parks, joined the airwaves: "Eagle Two, in launch position. Ready for liftoff."

Paul Morrow broadcast to both ships: "Combat flight, your orders are to observe. Do not engage without authorization from Main Mission."

Carter looked at Johnson and responded, "Yeah, sure, Alpha. Orders understood."

"Eagles One and Two, you are cleared for liftoff."

Parks: "Eagle Two, ignition."

Carter leaned forward and activated the launch cycle with a push of a button... which sparked and spewed smoke. No roar from the engines, no thrust, no lift off.

"Eagle Two, we are airborne and proceeding to target at orbital reference 337."

"Eagle One to Main Mission." Carter waved his hand to chase away the smoke cloud. "Malfunction. Repeat, we have a malfunction. Negative lift off." He reached down and pried open an access panel between the two pilot seats. More smoke. "Damned ignition switch overloaded! I told you our fleet is buggered. We're falling apart piece by piece."

Morrow did not respond to the grievance but, instead, broadcast, "Stand by crew to Combat Eagle Three."

To which Carter growled, "Combat Eagle Three is grounded. Stabilizer malfunction. Alpha, we'll try to rig a quick fix. Tell Parks and Bannon to keep their distance until we get up there." Then to Johnson: "Pete, pull the circuit board for the forward capsule thrusters. It's compatible."

Cater knew he was fixing one problem but creating another. If they needed to eject the cockpit from the ship's superstructure, they would be without propulsion.

Johnson found another access panel and wiggled a circuit board free, which he handed to Alan.

"Alpha, we're trying a work around. It's iffy, but it should get us airborne. What's Eagle Two's status?"

Stuart Parks answered over the open channel: "Eagle Two here. We're approaching the object. Range, five thousand kilometers and closing."

"Hey, Parks," Alan transmitted. "Keep clear until we can get up there. Gimme two minutes."

He blew dust off the replacement board and worked it into a slot which it was not originally meant to fit.

Johnson said, "It's not compatible."

"It is," Carter insisted, because he knew every inch of an Eagle transporter. "The access port is a little off, but the board will work. Let's hope we don't have to eject." He lowered his voice and mumbled. "C'mon, get in there."

Above the rogue moon, Eagle Two approached the glowing rhombus.

"Alpha, we're reading an energy buildup," pilot Parks called. "I don't know if it's reacting to us or not."

"Safe distance, Eagle Two," Commander John Koenig joined the conversation, although no one knew what distance would be safe, if any. "We don't want to provoke. Just give it a good look."

Inside Eagle One, Carter finished his work, closed his visor, and hit the ignition switch. This time, the launch cycle activated and the armed transport rose straight up and away from the launch pad, blowing moon dust in its wake.

"Eagle One, we are airborne."

"Good work, Alan," Koenig's voice came over the radio. "Get on Parks' flank and keep an eye on our visitor."

"We'll be there in a minute."

Eagle One hurried skyward, aiming for the object that appeared to spin or blink or... something.

Eagle Two, however, was close enough for a close inspection. From the pilot's seat, Parks transmitted, "Without our onboard computer, scanners aren't very helpful. But Alpha, there is something inside this, well, ball of light. It could a ship."

A brilliant white flash erupted from the unidentified object. Parks and his co-pilot, Bannon, instinctively shielded their eyes and screamed.

Their screams of duress carried over the radio to those watching from Main Mission.

Koenig shouted, "Parks! Bannon! Get out of there."

Sandra relayed data from sensors. "Commander! A tremendous burst of energy."

Professor Bergman stood between Paul Morrow and John Koenig, his chin cradled atop a clenched fist. "Yes, but what kind of energy?"

Carter's voice carried through Main Mission as he frantically radioed for the other flight crew: "Eagle Two! Parks, do you read me?"

Morrow spoke as the glob of energy that had emanated from the intruder faded. "Eagle Two is intact but not answering hails. Ground-based telemetry indicates..." he read from his screen and looked up at the main viewer that showed the transport falling away from the object, caught in the moon's gravity. He finished his sentence: "total loss of control."

Koenig stared at Morrow for a long moment and then tried to contact Parks: "Eagle Two, answer! What's your status?"

"We may be dealing with an electromagnetic pulse," Bergman hypothesized. "It's possible they could reboot their systems, given a chance."

"They are falling from the sky!" Morrow shot back.

"Our Eagles have some protection against EMP," Bergman said. "We're still getting data from their ship."

Dr. Russell stood beneath the main screen, monitoring vital signs. "Both pilots are alive, John, but I'm reading minimal respiration and limited brain activity. Without computer, I can't be sure of these indicators."

Bergman said, "Yes, well, they are experiencing extreme g-force. John, it's likely they are unconscious."

Kano said, "Commander, if I reactivate computer, we could analyze the data more precisely."

Morrow: "Analyzing data won't do us any good right now. Turning on computer would be like opening the front door for them to come right into Alpha."

Kano looked at Morrow and his mouth opened, but whatever words he planned did not come out. Instead, out came a groan. A groan of pain.

"David? What's wrong with you?" Morrow asked, while everyone else remained focused on the chaos above the moonbase. But when he tumbled from his chair and collapsed motionless on the floor, everyone took note.

"Helena!" Koenig drew her attention to the fallen man. She hurried to his side and knelt.

"David? Can you hear me?"

His eyes were closed, his body stiff.

Koenig returned his focus to the quickly developing disaster outside and radioed Eagle One: "Alan, do you see them?"

On the main viewer, the silent transport continued its death dive, nose first toward the wandering moon.

"Alpha, I'm closing on their position now. Parks! Bannon! Are you there?"

No response.

Carter again: "It's no good, commander. She's a dead stick. Eagle Two is going down. Do something, Alpha!"

Dr. Russel pulled her commlock free of its clip and transmitted: "Medical team to Main Mission."

Sandra glanced at a readout on her console and gasped. "Commander. Paul." Her face was drawn and pale. "Eagle Two is headed straight for us."

Helena looked away from her commlock and asked, "Alpha?"

"No," Morrow noted the same information on his console. "Us. Main Mission. Impact... fifteen seconds."

Commander Koenig stood straight and translated the grim news. "That doesn't even give us time to evacuate. Paul," Koenig commanded. "Try to take automatic control."

"But they're on manual!"

Sandra said, "Ten seconds."

Above them, the pilot-less Eagle tumbled toward the heart of moonbase Alpha while Alan Carter's ship closed the distance and radioed—begged—for Parks or Bannon to wake up. To take control.

"Parks! You have to wake up," came Carter's voice. "Snap out of it, man!"

No answer. No reply. No hope.

"Eagle Two! You're out of time! You must respond!"

Fifty meters... twenty-five meters...

Tanya Alexander threw her arms around Paul, her head into his chest. Koenig stood resolute.

Fifteen meters...

Eagle Two exploded. The superstructure split in half, the passenger compartment turned to shrapnel, the nose cone erupted from the inside out, the result of explosive decompression. Most of the debris fell to either side of the Main Mission tower; some fell on top.

Inside, the eruption shook the walls, cracked monitors, sent ventilation and power conduits falling from the ceiling engulfed in clouds of dust and fibrous insulation.

But the walls remained. The roof intact.

Collision would have obliterated that entire section of Alpha, but with the Eagle turned from a falling, solid object into a cloud of debris, the outer shell held.

Koenig uncovered his head and glanced around, shocked that he still lived. Surprised the nerve center had not been torn asunder.

"Sandra... what happened?"

She wiped grit from her eyes, blinked, and checked her monitor. "Eagle Two... Eagle Two was destroyed before impact."

"Destroyed?" Morrow's voice was filled with incredulity. "How?"

Bergman looked at the main viewer. On it, only Eagle One, hovering not far above. The professor tapped his chin and spoke in a soft voice, "Yes, well, I think we know how."

On board Eagle One, Carter sat in the pilot's seat, his arm outstretched, one finger slowly pulling away from the laser trigger.