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  "There is no power to the door controls," reported an unknown voice. Grunting was heard followed by, "The manual operator is frozen — we'll have to cut the door open."

  Two more suited figures approached and laid a strip of something around the hatch. After moving clear, a bright white flame surrounded the door. A repair drone appeared and used a low power tractor beam to remove the section of the door that had just been cut out. The speed and efficiency of the operation impressed Stricklen. He was glad he had followed Tasha's advice and assigned the miners to handle the explosives.

  The miners remained nearby, floating in space while the original group of suited figures entered the airlock.

  "Same situation at the inner door," the same voice reported a moment later. "Drilling a test hole for atmospheric analysis."

  A few minutes went by — then, "Internal pressure is zero. The ship is at a vacuum. Mr. O'Niel, we'll need your services again." The miners exchanged places with the first group and another voice took up the commentary.

  "Proceeding to cut the inner door."

  The cutting procedure was repeated and finally the crew had access to the inside of the ship. The miners returned to the shuttle while the three boarding crews entered the ship. The captain listened to the cross-talk between the search team members.

  "No power, no lights, no sign of damage or struggle. No sign of the previous occupants either. Crew one, take forward. Crew two, check aft. Crew three, you're with me to the cargo bay. One marine first and one last. Try not to damage anything and touch as little as possible. Record everything. Keep your eye out for any stray gravitational field. If you get too close to that beam you'll be crushed. Let's move!"

  Each team member had a miniature camera attached to their helmet. These cameras were sending their pictures back to the shuttle and from there to the Dragon where the images would be recorded. Each team also carried a small portable scanner and a tool kit.

  The search progressed slowly throughout the ship. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary was found. As far as the captain could tell, the team was searching an old Alliance ship which had simply been abandoned in space.

  "This is team one," a voice said. "We have reached the control room. No bodies and no apparent usage of power. No damage evident. Looks like they just shut everything down and left."

  "This is team two — we are passing through the middle of the ship. This appears to be the main engine room. Looks like a standard space-drive system. No damage evident so far."

  "This looks like a fusion reactor," remarked someone. "Wait… I think… yes, that's what it is. I can identify most of the components. This is an auxiliary power reactor and that over there must be the main reactor."

  "Is that what I think it is? Phil, is this the matrix coil?"

  "Let me look… Let's see… main reactor, power core, conversion unit, main feeder… Yep, it sure looks like the matrix field emitter. Wait a minute… take a look at this… no, this over here. Found out why this ship is dead. An inspection hatch has been opened. Looks like they overloaded and blew their matrix field array. There is an area of warping and heat discoloration along the upper side of the alignment rig most likely the result of a major overload. This sort of damage would require a space-dock to repair."

  "Copy team two. Team three has just found the cargo bay. There is a single large object inside. It looks like a large rectangular box about 15.5 meters high taking up most of the cargo bay. I don't know how wide or long it is. We will investigate further."

  "Team two, this is team one leader. We are working our way aft on the port side. Nothing to report so far."

  "Team one copy. We just left engineering and are passing through various storage areas on the starboard side. Nothing to report."

  "Base, team three leader: We have located an entrance into the structure. The door mechanism is powered and the indicators are lit. Request permission to attempt entry."

  Stricklen pushed his com button and said, "Team three standby until the other teams complete their search. Team one and two, after completing your search, report to the cargo bay to provide backup to team three."

  The rest of the ship was searched with nothing found. As far as could be determined, the ship had simply been abandoned and left drifting in space. With the single exception of the object within the cargo bay all equipment had been powered down or had lost power when the auxiliary reactors had run out of fuel. The two remaining search teams converged in the cargo bay.

  "All team members present," reported the boarding party commander. "Attempting entry."

  Stricklen had tapped into one of the video feeds from of the boarding party. The image was a sharp-edged contrast of blazing light and pitch-black darkness from the suit-lights. The camera which Stricklen had selected afforded a clear view of the person in front of the entrance. The door was barely visible.

  The person at the door had locked his mag-boots to the floor in the same position that someone would normally have stood to open the door had there been a gravitational field present. He extended his hand toward a faintly glowing button on the right side. He pushed it and a thin line of light appeared on the right edge. The door slowly slid to the left.

  Stricklen leaned forward in his chair. Only a hazy white light could be seen coming from the now fully open doorway. "Oh my God!" exclaimed a voice, probably that of the individual in front of the door. Stricklen quickly switched through the video channels until he found the one he was looking for.

  "Oh my God!" Ken repeated.

  The monitor clearly showed the cause of their surprise. Although the view through the door appeared fuzzy and out-of-focus the interior was clearly visible. The inside of the structure was packed with operating equipment which appeared to be in perfect condition.

  To the right stood a massive machine of unknown nature. Near the center of the room was a large horseshoe-shaped control console. To the left was a glowing, shifting, sparkling, ball at least ten meters in diameter. Stricklen had never heard of or seen anything like it before. The shifting patterns moving across the sphere's surface were almost hypnotic in nature. All around this sparkling ball were devices of a complexity Ken could only guess at.

  Suddenly, the picture blanked out. "What's going on?" Ken snapped. "We've lost our picture."

  Just as suddenly, the screen returned to normal. "You lost your picture when I stuck my head beyond the perimeter of the door sir," explained a voice Stricklen now identified as belonging to Corporal Franks, the marine in charge of the boarding party. "I received a loss of signal alarm from my suit diagnostics as soon as my head broke the plane of the doorway. I believe there is some sort of field in place that prevents signals from passing into or out of the structure. That explains why we have been unable to scan the interior of the cargo bay and it explains why the interior seems blurred. I've never seen or heard of a force field quite like this. Solid matter has no problem penetrating it and it's mostly transparent to visible light."

  "Acknowledged," Stricklen replied. "Send a team in to scan the interior. They are not to touch anything. As soon as you are done, return to the ship. We are way over our heads on this one. This sort of discovery should be explored by people trained in these matters. We're turning this over to the experts."

  Stricklen shut off the monitor and walked over to the communications station. "Send a priority message to sector command. Have the computer summarize what we have found and request instructions. Include the video from Corporal Franks' suit monitor. Send it encoded and send it priority one."

  After making sure that the message would be sent, Stricklen retired to his stateroom. On the way there he kept asking himself the same question, What is it? What have we found?

  3 - The Science Team

  The derelict was located 26.5 light years from sector command. The FTL communications equipment aboard the Komodo Dragon could force a signal across that distance at a maximum speed of approximately 41,000c (usually expressed as 41Kc) Although the Dragon could
send a signal at 48.4Kc, this speed was limited to a distance of about 8 light years. The power required to boost a signal to higher and higher speeds was tremendous and only a land-based transmitter or a very large spacecraft could send signals any great distance at the absolute maximum speed of 53.6Kc.

  The priority-one signal that had been blasted through space required just over five hours to reach sector command. After a delay of about three hours, SecCom shot off their reply. It took almost four hours to make the return trip. Stricklen was eating in the ship's mess hall when the message arrived. He had the ship's computer store it while he finished his meal.

  In the privacy of his cabin, Stricklen ordered the computer to decode and present the message. Like all fleet communications — the message was in encrypted text. Ken ignored the complex prefix codes that identified the originator, the destination, and the routing codes and skipped to the main body of the message:

  ********************************************

  REMAIN ON-STATION UNTIL AUTHORIZED TO LEAVE BY THIS COMMAND. MASTER-DREADNOUGHT MOBIUS EN ROUTE WITH ATTENDANT SUB-FLEET TO PROVIDE AREA SECURITY — ETA 0300.5/02/22. SCIENCE VESSEL S. W. HAWKING EN ROUTE FROM ALMARANUS ETA 2100.5/01/22. FURTHER ENTRY INTO THE ALIEN SHIP IS FORBIDDEN UNTIL ARRIVAL OF SCIENCE VESSEL. ALL PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS AND ORDERS HEREBY CANCELED. ALL INFORMATION REGARDING THE ALIEN SHIP IS HEREBY CLASSIFIED AS LEVEL THREE SECRET. KOMODO DRAGON TO BE TEMPORARILY ASSIGNED TO SUB-FLEET K140 (LEAD SHIP MOBIUS) UNTIL RELEASED BY THIS COMMAND. COMMANDING OFFICER OF KOMODO DRAGON TO COORDINATE ALL RESEARCH ACTIVITIES UPON ARRIVAL OF S. W. HAWKING. DETAILED ORDERS FOLLOW.

  ********************************************

  Ken had to read the message several times before he believed what it said. Once again the question popped into his head, What the hell have we found? After reading it and the accompanying detailed orders again, Ken convened a video conference of the senior staff and read it to them. Their response was pretty much the same as his.

  The times and dates specified in the message indicated that the science ship would arrive first in about ten days. Until then, Stricklen had no choice but to wait.

  After considering things for a few minutes Stricklen gave Scarboro a call and told him to give the crew three days of stand down. This meant that if a crew member was not on an assigned watch, he was basically free to do as he pleased. Stricklen was proud of his crew and he tried to make their lives aboard his ship as tolerable as possible.

  Stricklen used this time to visit his new guests. He asked the ship's computer to locate them and found they were all in one of the two staterooms which had been assigned to them. A hardy "Come on in, the door's open!" followed his knock.

  The four miners were gathered around a single table with several piles of poker chips scattered about. The players glanced up to identify the new arrival. One of them placed his cards down and approached Stricklen with an outstretched hand.

  Stricklen shook hands with the miner and introduced himself. "I'm Captain Stricklen. I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you until now but things have been a little busy around here recently. I want to thank the two of you who assisted in making the entry into the ship we discovered."

  It would have been obvious to anyone meeting this group for the first time that they had worked hard out in the open all their life. The man standing before Ken had deeply creased, callused skin. His eyes were alert and never seemed to stop moving. His grip was firm and strong which agreed with the general condition of the rest of his muscular body. "I'm Brian. That's Frank. We blew the door on that ship. This here's Maz, and that's AJ," he said indicating each of the others as he made the introductions.

  Ken had been surprised to learn that one of the survivors was a non-Human. Matlanaz (Maz according to O'Niel) was a Borillen. Ken had never met a Borillen before and he took a moment to inspect this species. Maz's body was shaped much like a one meter tall egg. It was propelled by six legs which also served as hands. The egg-shaped head was smaller and connected to the body by a thick neck. According to what Ken had read, a Borillen's head could be retracted into a recessed area of the body. A pair of eye stalks pointed directly at Ken.

  The Borillen homeworld was hot and dry and because of this the Borillen's body had evolved into its present form. A thick, leathery skin protected the dominant species from predators as well as helping to retain water. Each of the six legs ended in an appendage containing three fingers. Each finger ended in a sharp pointed claw. This arrangement helped the native Borillen's to navigate around the rocky mountainous terrain with ease.

  The other two miners were more or less normal enough looking Humans. The fact that they had worked in the mines most their life showed in their faces and strong hands.

  "We can't thank you enough for picking us up off that rock skipper," Brian said as he pulled a chair out for Ken to sit in. "Any idea as to who hit us?"

  Ken settled into the chair as he replied. "Not yet. We left a probe behind but so far it hasn't spotted anything unusual."

  "Just as long as you get the bastards and make them pay," AJ piped up.

  "Did any of you have your families with you?"

  Frank nodded his head. "My wife was in the main compound and my son was working at one of the smelters."

  "I'm very sorry for your loss," Ken replied then looked at Brian. Frank answered for him. "Brian's one of those perpetually single kind of guys. He likes his women but grows tired of them after a few days. I guess you could say that half the women in town were his girlfriends."

  Everyone, including Maz, chucked then AJ said, "I'm divorced, my wife couldn't handle living out on the fringe all the time. Ain't got no girlfriends either."

  Ken looked at Maz and asked, "How about you Maz."

  "Our females prefer to remain at home," he replied. "My two current companions are safely back at home raising my six children."

  The Borillen's voice was oddly pitched and reverberated as if it originated from deep within his body. His use of Galactic Standard, the universal language of the Alliance, was clearly understandable.

  AJ picked up the cards and began to shuffle them. "Are you a poker player captain?"

  "I have played a few times but I'm horrible at it," Ken replied. "Thanks for the offer. Don't let me stop you though."

  As AJ started to deal Frank said, "Maz here is a natural — nobody can read his face."

  Ken talked with the miners as they continued their card game for about twenty minutes updating them on the ship's change of course and learning a little about their lives as miners. He was surprised to learn that many of the miners routinely brought their entire families on expeditions. He did not realize it but many of the large mining companies provided teachers and other such support for the families of their miners. They had long ago learned that the miners would work harder and with fewer accidents if they had their families with them. In the end, Ken had a deeper understanding of them and the work they did.

  * * * * *

  About eight hours before the science ship was due to arrive, Stricklen's routine was interrupted by a report from the bridge.

  "Captain, HK-1 reports identifying a possible alien probe," Doug reported. "It looks like it was in the system the whole time. The computer believes it is an HK similar to our own. It appears to be performing a scan of Mintaka. HK-1 is remaining passive but requests instructions. May I suggest that we order it to blow the bastard out of the sky."

  "Suggestion noted," Stricklen replied more in jest than seriousness. "Confirm HK-1's original orders — it is to remain passive unless detected. I want as much information about this alien race as possible."

  "Yes sir," Doug replied. "Too bad they didn't send a ship to investigate. We could at least have learned something about them that way. What kind of information can we get from a probe?"

  "Not much," Ken admitted. "But if HK-1 remains hidden we stand a much better chance of learning more than if it was told to attack. This way is better. Who knows, they may yet send a shi
p."

  Several hours later, the science vessel S. W. Hawking arrived and, after a bit of maneuvering, settled into position near the alien ship. Prior to allowing them access, Stricklen had insisted upon meeting with the lead scientists. The team leader had balked at the request saying that she needed to begin her research immediately. Ken would not back down, therefore, before the Hawking's engines had begun to cool, a small transfer shuttle made the short journey between the two ships.

  Stricklen gave the scientists a few minutes to themselves in the conference room before making his entrance. He opened the door, took two steps, and froze. He found himself eye to eye with a creature the likes of which most Humans would have turned tail and run away from.

  The head was distinctly reptilian with two large deep black eyes spaced widely on either side. A bony ridge ran up the middle of the forehead and continued along the back. Two short arms jutted out from the chest area and the remainder of the large 3.5 meter long body was supported by four powerful stubby legs. The body was dark brown in color and covered with very fine, slightly iridescent scales. This was a Rouldian.

  Although Ken had been briefed on the members comprising the science team, he had apparently missed the fact that one of the most distinguished members and the senior scientist was a female Rouldian named Falnath. Stricklen had never before met a Rouldian, although he had seen 3-D's of them in the past. He knew they were a highly developed race and, despite their appearance, very peaceful.

  Stricklen watched in amazement as the Rouldian's head tilted slightly to one side and the corners of her mouth expanded in what apparently passed as a smile for her race. "I perceive you have never met one of my kind before," Falnath said through a translating vocoder which she wore around her thick neck. "Do not be embarrassed. Most Humans react the same way upon their first encounter with one of my species. I am Falnath, science team leader."