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  The communications operator punched in a command on his console and the main viewer shifted to show a spacecraft of a type unknown to Ken. One side of the screen displayed the ship's statistics. Length — 850 meters; Width — 280 meters; Height — 160 meters; Type — unknown; Origin — unknown. The ship was slowly rotating as if it had lost stability control. As Ken watched, a badly damaged area came into view.

  "Do we have any additional data on the ship?" Stricklen asked.

  "Yes sir," the tactical station replied. It was this station's job to analyze all externally gathered tactical data, including that obtained from remote probes. "The computer has been analyzing it."

  Ken touched a button and spoke, "Dragon, identify the ship that is currently being scanned by probe one."

  A soft, almost boyish sounding voice replied, "The ship is of an unknown configuration. No match in the Alliance ship registry can be found. It is drifting in space and appears to have no operational propulsion system. At least one power source is known to be operating within the ship. Microstructure analysis indicates the ship has been adrift for several thousand years. A more accurate determination of its age will become available after all data has been received. The ship has been preliminarily classified as a cargo vessel similar to an Alliance heavy cargo carrier. Additional information will have to wait until the probe data can be further analyzed."

  "A thousand year old derelict with something still operating onboard?" exclaimed the captain. "Another damn mystery! I hate mysteries."

  "Captain!" yelled the communicator. "A signal has been detected from the planet — possibly a survivor!"

  Stricklen forgot about the probe and its mystery ship. "On speaker!" he almost shouted out the order.

  A loud static-filled hiss issued from the speakers. The crackles and pops indicated extreme amplification. After a few seconds a faint voice was heard. "… ee nothing. What ab … " The entire bridge crew burst into cheers of joy.

  "Quiet!" Stricklen yelled out. "Can you get a fix on the source of that signal?"

  The communicator turned to his console and spoke softly to the computer. After listening to the reply he announced, "Probe 9 picked it up sir. Computer estimates the signal to originate about 300 klics Southwest of the OM-3 mining area. The probe is continuing to close in on the signal's location. Probe 5 is being redirected to assist in triangulating their exact location."

  The static continued for a moment, then — "The rover has … CRACKLE-POP-POP … ay supply. Unless … POP-HISS … or we're screwed." The signal was getting stronger and clearer as the probe homed in on it.

  "Wilks," Stricklen called the communicator by name. "Can you route a transmission through the probe on the same frequency the survivor is using?"

  "Yes sir! Just one moment… Ready on com channel three."

  The captain selected com channel three and said, "This is Captain Ken Stricklen of the Alliance heavy-cruiser Komodo Dragon. We are about to orbit Mintaka. If you receive this signal please reply."

  There was a moment of silence then a clear voice said, "Frank, did you pick that up?"

  This time another very faint voice could be heard. "Yeah — better answer them. Even if they are the enemy we're going to run out of air in a few hours anyway so what the hell."

  "Hey!" said the first voice. "This is Brian O'Niel and I read ya loud and clear. We received a message that the town was under attack and then all contact was lost. What happened?"

  Stricklen decided not to tell them that their home and families had been wiped out. That job would be left to the ship's psychologist. Instead, he replied, "We are still investigating. How many people are in your party?"

  "Myself and three others. We're running short of air and supplies. How soon can you get us out-a-here."

  "We should have a shuttle there to pick you up in under an hour," Stricklen replied. "If you have an emergency beacon, turn it on and we will home in on it."

  "We have a beacon," came the reply. "As soon as I make my way back to the crawler I'll dig it out and turn it on. Captain," Brian said in a more serious tone. "Don't give me no political or psychological bull. The town's gone isn't it?"

  Ken glanced up from his console and noted several of the bridge crew looking at him. These are miners, he thought. They're a tough breed and, as men, they deserve an honest answer to an honest question.

  "Mr. O'Niel," Ken said. "As far as we know, you and your men are the only survivors. Do you have any information as to who attacked you?"

  A long silence was eventually broken by Brian's subdued reply. "No — the only transmission we received told us that the town was under attack and that we should make ourselves scarce." After another moment of silence, "Thank you for being honest with us captain."

  "Welcome. Sit tight. A shuttle will be there as soon as possible. Komodo Dragon out."

  Ken leaned back in his chair for a moment then put in a call to the ship's psychologist. Tasharra Harper stemmed from a family with deep roots in Kentucky. The 37 year old had been assigned to the cruiser eight months ago. Her short cut brunette hair and greenish eyes gave her a pleasant, if average, look. She always seemed to have an optimistic outlook and Ken had taken an immediate liking to her. "How can I help you captain?" she asked as soon as she saw who had called her.

  "We're picking up four survivors from Mintaka," he said. "I thought you might want to greet them when the shuttle gets back aboard. Nobody else is alive down there."

  Tasha nodded her head in understanding and replied, "I understand captain. I'll be there."

  Ken thanked her and cut the link.

  The search of the remainder of the planet took just over 18 hours. Only the four initial survivors were found. The remaining 4,628 men, women, and children were listed as killed by the actions of an unknown enemy. The destruction had been so complete that no records or other means of identifying who may have attacked the outpost could be found.

  As the last probe was being brought aboard the Dragon, the ship prepared to leave. "Preparations for departure are complete," the XO reported. "An HK has been programmed and is ready for launch."

  The HK was a hunter-killer probe which Stricklen had decided to leave behind. This device would be placed into a passive orbit where it would wait and watch to see if the enemy made another appearance. If they did, it would report that fact and any other information it could gather concerning the attackers to the Dragon.

  HK's were specifically designed to remain undetected. They were invisible to most direct scanning devices and heavy shielding reduced their electromagnetic emanations to virtually undetectable levels. There was the possibility that the attackers had left a similar probe in the area and was even now watching their every move.

  If an enemy ship did decide to return to the scene of the crime, the HK could be switched to kill mode and attempt to destroy the enemy ship. The HK was armed with a ten megaton thermonuclear warhead for this purpose.

  "Deploy the HK," Stricklen ordered. "Helm, set course for the location of probe one. Coms, inform sector command that we have recovered four survivors from Mintaka. Send them a copy of our planetary scans and tell them we will be investigating an apparent derelict prior to returning to Almaranus."

  Stricklen consulted his computer screen then activated the ship-wide address system. "Attention all hands. We are leaving Mintaka after recovering four survivors of a brutal attack on the mining colony there. Cancel battle stations and return to normal watch rotation. Commander Billings please report to the bridge. All command staff report to the conference room in ten minutes."

  Stricklen turned the bridge over to Commander Billings and headed for the conference room. While the probes had been completing their search of Mintaka, he had been periodically reviewing the data from the derelict ship. The information disturbed him. Normally he would have left the investigation of such a discovery to a better equipped science and salvage ship, but the information returned from the probe had caused him to rethink this philosophy. As a
precaution he had instructed that all information concerning the derelict be classified.

  On his way to the conference room, Ken used his wrist-com to call the ship's psychologist. "How are our guests holding up Tasha?" he asked once the connection had been made.

  "They're doing fine," replied the tiny voice from his earpiece. "It would be nice if we could find something for these men to do. They're not used to just sitting around and they need to feel useful. With your permission, I'll look into their backgrounds to see if we can't give them something to keep them busy on the way back."

  Ken trusted Tasharra's judgment in this matter. She was, after all, the ship's psychologist.

  "Permission granted. Thanks." and Ken broke the link. Two minutes later Stricklen walked into the conference room.

  After waiting another few minutes for the rest of his staff to assemble, Ken began the meeting. "As you are all well aware, prior to reaching Mintaka we discovered a gravitational anomaly. A probe was sent to investigate and the results are now available for our scrutiny. This information is a little unsettling and I have classified all information regarding the derelict. We are now en route to the alien ship to gather additional information and possibly to board it for inspection."

  Ken typed a command on the keyboard in front of him. The lights dimmed and an enhanced view of the drifting spacecraft appeared above the conference table in full three dimensions. "Take a good look at it," Stricklen continued. "Something in its cargo bay is generating a gravitational field with a mass equivalence of over 30 billion metric tons. So far, none of the probe's scans can determine what is generating the field nor can it find the power source."

  He paused for a moment to let that fact sink in. After an appropriate delay he hit them with the bombshell. "According to the data returned by the probe, this ship is over forty thousand years old."

  2 - Mystery

  Silence filled the conference room. The impact of the captain's last statement was something that could almost be felt. Finally, Skip Bucannon, the chief engineer said, "Forty thousand years? Our analysis must not be correct. Either that, or whatever is generating that grav-field is a recent addition. Do you have any idea what kind of power is required to generate a field of that strength?"

  The chief engineer was an unimposing figure. He stood only 162 centimeters tall and had a soft, round, clean-shaven face. Even though he was only 41, the top of his head was as smooth as a ball bearing. He always spoke quietly and was well respected by the entire ship. He probably knew more about the innards of the Dragon's engine room than the people who designed it.

  Ken sat down and motioned to Doug Scarboro. The XO stood up and said, "I have been doing most of the detailed analysis and I assure you that the age, as far as we can determine, is correct. The probe has scanned the ship from stem to stern and we have found no evidence to suggest that it is any younger. And yes, we are aware of what the power requirements are.

  "Using our current method of gravitational field generation, such a field would require a power source capable of delivering well over 100 terra-watts of power. A power plant capable of generating that kind of power, provided we could build one, would be enormous. It would also be creating a tremendous amount of EM radiation. No such leakage can be found. In fact, we can't locate a power source at all anywhere on the ship. Only the evidence that such power is in use."

  Doug started slowly pacing around the room as he continued. "The ship is constructed of more or less standard materials. The alloy used in the hull is very similar to what the Alliance used up until about 20 years ago. The area of damage which you see, appears to have been very recently made by an impact of some sort. This impact is what set the ship spinning. The damage is near the cargo area which is where we have pinpointed the energy leakage to be originating. This is also where the gravitational field is being emitted. Our scans have been unable to determine what is in the cargo bay. Something is blocking our sensors.

  "It is our belief that some sort of shielded mechanism is responsible for the energy leakage and the gravitational field. We think part of the shielding was damaged during the impact. The bulk of the device and its power source are still shielded and thus a visual examination is needed to investigate further."

  "Excuse me," Commander Stiles, the Dragon's weapons officer, interrupted. "Is that some sort of marking on the side of the ship? I can't recognize it."

  "Dragon, display anterior section H-4 on the main screen and enhance," the XO commanded after looking where the officer had pointed.

  The ship's computer properly interpreted the command as being directed to itself and reacted accordingly. An enlarged close-up view of a section of the ship appeared on the large screen in the front of the conference room. The holographic image of the ship vanished to allow those on the far side of the table to see the screen. A faint symbol was discernible.

  Doug walked up to the screen and pointed. "This symbol has been compared against all known markings from all civilizations known to the Alliance. No match has been found. The ship is a true unknown."

  "Where did it come from then?" someone asked.

  "Dragon, display probable point of origin," Doug commanded. The ship's master computer created a holographic display over the conference table showing a star chart and a yellow cone. The cone's point coincided with the current location of the alien ship. The cone pointed out into unexplored space.

  "An attempt has been made to back-track the ship's course as it has drifted through space. Because of stellar drift and the unknown density of space along its entire path, a considerable margin of error is included in the resultant course as you can see from the size of the probability cone. Based upon this back-tracking we have found that the ship must have been in interstellar space when something happened and caused it to begin drifting. It has not passed within one light year of any star system as far back as we can plot its course with any degree of accuracy."

  "Can this be some sort of trap?" This question was from Commander Mikial Kovalesky, the security officer.

  "Possible, but even if it is, we are but one ship in the fleet. Setting a trap for a single ship does not make any sense. Besides, this would be a tremendous amount of trouble to go through to capture or destroy one or even several ships. The captain and I both agree that the derelict warrants immediate attention and since we are the only Alliance ship in this area we are the ones who will be investigating this discovery."

  "What other information do you have for us Doug," Stricklen asked.

  "Not much I'm afraid. The ship is unique in that although it appears to be a large cargo carrier, it is also quite heavily armed. The weapons appear to be similar to ours and, if so, the weapons array would be comparable to those found on a light destroyer. The energy leaking from the damaged section has a spectrum unlike anything on record so we can't use it to speculate what sort of power plant is in use. The ship has a high relativistic speed compared to other objects in this area of space. Finally, it is heavily armored, suggesting that it could have doubled as a combat vessel of some type."

  Doug finished and took his seat. Ken glanced around the room and said, "I want to put together a small boarding party to inspect the ship. Three teams each made up of two armed marines, an engineer, an electronics technician, and someone from medical. Our ETA is 2000 tomorrow. I want the names of the team members plus one back-up team on my desk by 1500. I also want a complete inventory made of what each team will take with them. All the equipment should be checked and ready before arrival. Finally, in the event we have to force entry, I want a demolition team to go along. You have your assignments, dismissed."

  Tasharra intercepted Ken before he could exit the room. "The miner's we rescued from Mintaka make a living working with explosives. Wouldn't they be more qualified to be on the demolition team than any of our regular crew members? It would also give them a sense of purpose and give them a chance to repay what they feel is a debt owed for our rescuing them."

  Stricklen thought
about that for a moment and liked the idea. It would free up two of his own crew and it would give the miner's something to do. Security would not be a concern since the miners would not be part of the search teams going inside the ship. As far as the miners were concerned they would be helping gain entry into just another derelict ship. "I like it," Ken replied. "I'll let the XO know of the assignments. Thanks Tash."

  "Just doing my job. These men went through a horrific experience and so far seem to be dealing with it just fine. I want to make sure they feel as useful as possible. You really should make some time to meet them. I think they would appreciate it."

  "As soon as things calm down a bit I'll do that."

  "Thanks captain."

  * * * * *

  Just to be on the safe side, Stricklen placed the ship at battle stations at it approached the drifting spacecraft. For the last two hours, the Komodo Dragon had been applying near maximum acceleration in order to match velocities with the derelict. Once in range, the more powerful sensors of the heavy-cruiser scanned the unknown craft. The results were much the same.

  The presence of a periodic, powerful gravitational field would complicate the approach to the unknown ship. As soon as the Dragon's velocity had matched that of the derelict Ken ordered a slow approach. As soon as the two ships were within 100 kilometers of each other a small hatch opened on the side of the Dragon.

  Two repair drones were deployed and made their way across the vacuum of space to the spinning starship. The cruiser carried six of these small multi-function robots. They were normally used to repair any external damage the ship may sustain in combat. After some maneuvering they attached themselves to the drifting ship and, using small thrusters, stopped the spinning motion and stabilized it. This allowed for a more direct approach by the shuttle.

  So far the ship had been totally unresponsive. The presence of an operational power source, however, kept Stricklen on alert. The captain watched as the shuttle settled into position close to the now stable ship. The entry team exited and examined what appeared to be an airlock mechanism.