Go to:
As Captain Thorpe arrived on the bridge, Johnson remarked, "Sir, the Odonan starship is now ready to drop out of warp. They have refused all hails." Go to:
Copyright December 2002 by White Tornado Publishing. "Star Trek" is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement intended by this non-profit, hobby site. Characters and situations unique to this story are the property of White Tornado Publishing. All characters and situations in this work are fictional, and any resemblance to real individuals or situations is strictly unintentional. Do not publish any contet from this site to any other site without permission of the site creator.
Chapter 5
Next Chapter, Previous Chapter, or Novel Home Page
or jump to a chapter:
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20 and Chapter 21.
"It won't be long now," Thorpe said, as he sat down in the centre seat. "We've waited this long... I presume they're going to communicate."
The final moments counted down. On the screen appeared the Epic-class starship Bluestar, a ship that when seen edge-on looked to be very insubstantial, with its narrow deck of warp emitters that ringed the ship, and the barely more noticeable main hull of the ship. It was a ship, Thorpe knew, that was built with the sole purpose of being able to go fast. The sensors on the Athena tracked it until it dropped out of warp, and as it did, and completed its approach, the viewscreen automatically shifted over to a real-light view.
"We're being hailed," tactical officer Henrietta Vorwoorts announced. "Electromagnetic signals."
"Talk about paranoid," Johnson remarked.
Thorpe added, "Only natural, since if the Dominion wants to monitor this signal, it'll be years before they can detect it. Open the link."
The spacious and brightly-lit bridge of the Odonan ship appeared on the viewscreen. The person in the centre seat was an Odonan woman, who looked even more petite than was typical of her race. She seemed unusually small for the chair that she was sitting in. "This is Captain Nozhe Padda of the Imperial Odonan Starship Bluestar. To whom am I speaking?"
"This is Captain Leonard Thorpe of the Federation starship Athena."
"Are you the starship that came in response to the distress message sent by the inhabitants of this planet?"
"Yes."
"I have been instructed to bring to this planet one individual who is not normally a member of my crew, and to remain here and render assistance as needed. She has requested to meet with you as soon as possible."
"Good," Thorpe said, a little too eagerly, he quickly realized. "I'll transmit co-ordinates of the transporter room, and you can beam her over as soon as possible. Johnson, meet this individual, and then escort her to the ready room."
"Understood..."
It was only a courtesy, of course, that the Bluestar was beaming its passenger to transporter room one on the Athena. They did this only because transporter rooms were set up to be reception points for people coming and going from the starship. However, the transporter itself would not be used, as the Odonan and Federation systems were incompatible. The Bluestar would be handling the whole thing. Johnson was alone in the transporter room. As she stood there, she tapped at her commbadge and after the chirping said, "Johnson here. I'm in position. Have the Odonan starship beam over its passenger."
"Right away."
Seconds later, the reddish outline of the person appeared, and this soon was filled with the glistening reddish and gold lights that sparkled and intermingled and solidified into the person being beamed over. Unlike the captain of the Bluestar, this Odonan woman was somewhat taller and somewhat more filled out. In fact, she was only a few centimetres shorter than Johnson. She had dark features, and long black hair worn in a single, thick braid. Even braided, the hair extended below the waistband of her uniform.
"Welcome on board the Athena. I'm Commander Nadine Johnson, first officer."
The Odonan answered, "I'm Commander Zhi Len Takoo, Odonan Space Service inactive list, currently assigned as an aide to Counselor Hualei Chiang of the Odonan Grand Council." Johnson noticed that Takoo was speaking English with hardly a trace of an accent.
"And you're the expert on this event that happened here, and which took the inhabitants of Adamsburg and fifteen members of the crew?"
The two entered the corridor, as it was only a few metres to the nearest turbolift. "Yes, perhaps, at least the best expert you'll find."
"And what do you base that on?"
"Quite simple, commander. I've been there, and came back. Now, we must get started."
"The captain wants to see you first."
"Of course."
The two said little more as they rode the turbolift to the bridge. Johnson gestured in the general direction of the ready room, but Takoo seemed to know the layout of the bridge of a Nebula-class starship and headed in that direction. She tapped the door chime, and heard a voice from within telling her to enter. She found the captain of the Athena-a man she had heard about after the incident at Pusedchou-sitting behind the ready room desk. She was momentarily taken aback by an expression on his face. She was generally expecting him to be relieved that assistance was at hand, but she saw anger instead.
"I'm Commander Zhi Len Takoo," she said, repeating her introductions. "I'm the person sent here after what happened at Charamand. I don't know what is the purpose of this meeting, as I should be meeting with all of your officers so that we can get underway."
"Yes, of course, or at least, most of my senior officers."
"What do you mean?"
Thorpe now stood up. Takoo remained standing in the middle of the ready room, but watched as he paced. "I'm assuming that you have first-hand knowledge of the event that happened on Norg, which is similar to what happened on here."
"Yes," the woman answered. "I was on the Prodakh at the time."
"And you lost members of the away team there?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking."
"Okay," Thorpe started, turning to face the woman. He was surprised at the level of anger that he was feeling and how difficult it was to control it. "You apparently heard about this event here on Charamand rather quickly, and right away, you got on board a starship and came here."
"I was ordered here, captain." She sensed the anger in the man, and was responding with her own raised voice. "I was just getting out of teaching a class at the Training Directorate, and these two men came for me, and told me to report to the Bluestar. I had no time to gather anything, no time to arrange a replacement for my class, or even to leave a message for my family. Before I'm fully even on board the Bluestar, I found we were heading towards the hypergate at Odona, top priority slotting."
"That's not my point. My point is that you and your people have information on this phenomenon. This is information you've undoubtedly brought with you, but why didn't you share that information earlier? If I had known these things, then those away teams might have not been trapped. I requested information, and just got silence."
"That's not my decision, captain. I wasn't even aware of what information you had or what had been transmitted to you. I can see why the Bluestar didn't want to transmit information. There is a war going on, you know, and this kind of information could be possibly useful to the Dominion."
"Really?"
"Yes, captain, really."
"But I lost fifteen members of the crew because you were unwilling to share the information."
"I'm sorry for that, but the crew is not really lost. We are wasting time in here." Thorpe just glared at her, as he found it difficult to admit to this stranger why he felt this anger and why he felt so strongly about one of those fifteen.
"What do you mean?" he finally asked.
"Captain, I could explain it all to you and hopefully, you'll relay the information to the other officers, or else I would have to explain myself twice. The reality is that the people from this ship and that town below are not dead. They are very much alive, or at least they were at the moment they were transported. However, their ability to survive where they are is limited, so time is very important here and I feel it is a waste of time to be standing here, listening to you and your accusations."
"I see."
"I also get the feeling that one of those members of your crew is, perhaps, just a little more than another member of the crew."
Thorpe, by this time, had gone back to his seat and sat down. The flash of anger was gone, and it had done absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Anger was like that sometimes. "That is not a subject I want to get into right now." He tapped his commbadge, and said, "Thorpe to the senior officers. There will be a staff meeting immediately in the conference lounge. Report at once."
Takoo, her voice a bit more subdued, said, "We can do this, I believe."
"One question, though. Where are they exactly?"
"A long, long way from home..."
The four officers stood around the open hatch, and were not really that aware of the icy cold. Instead, they were looking and trying to take in at once all that they were seeing. As far as the eye could see, and with the land flat and the air crystal clear, they could see a great distance, they saw ruins, tall, dark structures that looked to be made of metal. The buildings appeared to consist of layers in various sizes of a dark metal stacked on top of each other, supported by pillars, which also could be seen in an assortment of shapes and sizes. Some spires rose hundreds of metres in the sky, and elsewhere, large, flat buildings were dark and utterly featureless. The massive structure that Matsubara and the others were in was part of a rather large complex, with a similar, imposing structure on the other side, connected by two curving structures that surrounded a more open area that was at least two kilometres across. The open area was not completely open, however, as concentric rings of narrow poles surrounded the centre of the open area. Beyond the immediate structure, the four could see many others, stretching to the horizon. They were all approximately the same in shape and design, and made with the same dark, metallic materials. They also appeared to be utterly lifeless as well.
The structures on the ground did draw some initial notice, but it was what was in the sky that drew most of their attention. The brightness of the landscape suggested that this planet's sun was above the horizon, but the sky was a dark blue, though paler towards the horizon. They could see tens of thousands of stars, certainly many more than were visible in the night sky on Earth. Even all of those stars did not draw their attention. Instead, they saw something that was never seen from the sky on Earth, and which could never be seen. The centre of it was about fourty degrees above the horizon, and it easily spanned thirty degrees, maybe even thirty-five, of the hundred and eighty degrees of the sky. What they were looking at was a barred spiral galaxy, brilliant in the centre, and less bright out in the arms. The five arms, their fields of stars now seemingly an indistinct cloud of light, were clearly visible, as were the clouds of gas between the arms and the globular clusters that surrounded the galaxy like a halo. They could even see a small vaguely-spiral galaxy that was distinct from the main galaxy but close to it.
It was Guerrero that finally said, "You don't think?"
"That's the Milky Way?" Matsubara remarked. The man just nodded. "If it's not," she continued, "then we're a lot further from home than we ever thought possible."
"Where are we then?" Turokuot asked.
"I'd think in one of the Magellanic Clouds."
"The alien device took us from there," the engineer said, as he pointed to what he thought was the Orion Arm and their home, "and brought us all of this distance? The technology involved is... indescribable."
"Yeah, and if we can't make that technology work, then we don't have a hope in hell of ever getting back home. They won't send a ship out here."
"Maybe we should go outside and search for the Adamsburg people," Stanislava suggested.
"Yes," Matsubara said softly. She found that she could not take her eyes off of the galaxy that was such a prominent feature of the sky here.
The senior officers gathered in the conference lounge behind the bridge. Takoo spent several seconds looking around the room, and through the windows that offered such a splendid view of the lander and the docking pylon. She had been introduced to the other officers on this ship, including Johnson, the first officer, and even the Odonan chief engineer, Rodall Dewuchun, with whom she had exchanged a few words in their native language. She saw Vorwoorts, the tactical officer, and Julia Bayanhong, who was standing in for the missing science officer. She had been introduced to the pilot, Sanjay Indesakar, and the security chief, Aleksandr Rocha. Doctor Ger Psakolaps was also in attendance. Takoo realized that she had seen very few Kentyans in her time in space. Very few ever got as far as the Odonan Empire.
Finally, she composed her thoughts, and faced these Federation Starfleet officers. For many years, she had known that if an event similar to what had happened at Norg happened again, she would be involved. She would likely have to deal with an alien crew, and present to them a course of action. She knew so little about this whole artifact, the civilization that built it and even where the others had gone to, and yet she was the expert.
"Very well," she started, speaking up to get the attention of the seemingly restless humans-no more exemplified than in the person of the captain. "I'm Commander Zhi Len Takoo, of the Odonan Space Service, inactive division." She looked down at her uniform, which was the current design among the Odonans, featuring the familiar black leggings, the vest in the command-level beige colour and the pullover underneath in white. The pins around the O.S.S. insignia over her left breast identified her as a crewmember on the Bluestar. Right now, she did not feel inactive. "As you all are aware now, something similar to what happened here on Charamand happened on Norg sixty-one years ago. In that incident, a mining operation penetrated what was revealed to be an alien structure of unknown construction. The penetration caused what we eventually termed a 'blanking' incident. All life within a certain radius of the mine, including an entire town, simply vanished. I was on board the starship Prodakh. I'm sure that you've heard of it." Thorpe had, and not only because of the current incident. The voyages of the Prodakh under Admiral Hualei Chiang were well-known in the Federation for the things she accomplished, and the ship had its mystery too, as it vanished within a year of Chiang relinquishing command due to health reasons. No trace of the ship had been detected since. "I was part of a landing party that examined the artifact once the ship arrived, in much the same manner that your people examined the mining operation and the artifact here. We detected much that you detected, the strange rock, some kind of cloaking field, and a ruin perfectly hidden within the ground of Norg. We then used the mining equipment still present to penetrate the structure and enter it."
Johnson spoke up, asking, "And that did not cause another of those 'blanking' incidents, or is that how you said you made it to the other side?"
"No, the blanking did not happen at that time. In fact, the mining equipment finally did penetrate the artifact, although the strange fields continued to persist over the opening. The only way to learn more was to enter the artifact. Four of us entered. The fifth member of the landing party stayed behind. Inside, we suddenly had to contend with the alien defense systems, and in so doing, the blanking started again. The fifth person, the one still outside, disappeared. In fact, any attempt to leave the device caused the blanking, and continued to do so."
"So you were trapped inside?" Bayanhong said.
Nodding, Takoo answered, "Yes, we were. We were, in fact, inside the artifact for eight days, and we used that opportunity to explore the structure. It is actually quite extensive and complicated, stretching over many kilometres. Eventually, we came to a rather large structure that was like a hanger, with rather large but unknown mechanical devices above and below. We found the power source, and we found a control panel that we were able to decipher and use, at least basically. We also found a portal that provided a direct link with the location where the inhabitants of Norg had been taken. We made it through, and made contact, with them, and our missing officer. The portal remained open, and we could pass easily back and forth, from that distant point to back at Norg."
"And where was this distant point?" asked Johnson. "How far?"
Takoo closed her eyes momentarily, and looked upwards. "I was there. I stepped onto that distant world, and looked into the sky, and saw it. I saw the Milky Way galaxy as this dominant feature in the alien sky." The Odonan woman hesitated for a moment, with the others simply looking at her, and contemplated what she had said. "I remember it vividly, to this day. It was an image I'll never forget. Later on, that image I had, and the tricorder readings, were used to help us determine approximately where that alien planet was. As close as we could determine, it was located in the Small Magellanic Cloud."
"You're sure of that?"
"Commander, it's pretty easy to simulate these views in a holodeck. Given how we know the distances to the satellite galaxies and how the main galaxy is oriented towards it, it's easy to show views of this in a holodeck and look upon them. The view from the Small Magellanic Cloud by far was the closest to what I saw."
"The bond-links told you nothing?" Dewuchun asked.
"That distance, given the instantaneous separation, is too far. The bond-links simply could not reconnect. When I stepped through the portal, I had the most disconcerting feeling of being separated. The link to my husband, and the rest of my family, simply vanished. Even worse, when I stepped back, they did not instantly reform. They did come back, but the bonds were somehow disrupted. They have never been the same, even to this day."
Bayanhong added, "If you knew where the Norg survivors were, and if you had determined that they were still alive, did you ever send a ship?"
"The journey would have been a long one, even for us," Takoo started. "The Small Magellanic Cloud is two hundred and ten thousand light years away. In theory, one of our ships could have made the journey in about fourty years, but you must also remember that the Small Magellenic Cloud contains some five billion stars. We were not able to determine which of those five billion stars was the one where the people had gone through. We could think of no conceivable way to recover them directly. Instead, we were waiting for this opportunity, to find another of the alien structures, to attempt to contact them again."
Thorpe finally spoke up, saying, "Commander Takoo, there is one step missing here. You said you were there, on that planet in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and now you're here. How'd you get back here, and how come the others did not?"
"That was... the mistake. We were inside the artifact for eight days. Just as sensors cannot penetrate it because of its cloaking fields, neither can communicators. We were out of contact for eight days, and Admiral Chiang started to fear the worst. All attempts to get somebody else into the device at the mine site were futile, since each time she attempted it, the device reacted by blanking. Each time it blanked, it covered a larger area, or more strictly, a volume, a half-sphere centered around a point."
"This so-called blanking reached into space too?"
"Yes, as the volume expanded, the Prodakh started to become vulnerable. As the volume expanded, so did the energy expended, and in the process, more of the structure became visible to our sensors. Chiang located the power source, and started to fire upon it with the main ship phasers. You see, at this time, Admiral Chiang had no reason to believe that we were alive, or that the Norg survivors were alive, or that the missing crewmember was alive. She had no idea what the device was, and assumed it was destructive and that it was coming after her and the ship. She felt she had no choice. Eventually, the phasers penetrated the structure, and destroyed the power source. When it did, the portal linking Norg with the planet in the Small Magellanic Cloud simply vanished, and the full separation was restored. I just happened to be on this side when that happened. Those on the other side were not so lucky. Destroying the power source also set off some kind of reaction, perhaps a self-destruct reaction, that obliterated a rather large section of the planet. In fact, the blast was so powerful it ejected a significant amount of mass into space, shredded the atmosphere and changed the classification of the planet from M to R."
"That meant that you could not study the structure, even when inert, for clues on who built it, or why, or when?" Johnson asked.
"We had our tricorder readings. Our studies indicated an age of between two and two and a half million years old."
"Incredible, and it still worked?"
"We suspect that it was self-sustaining and self-repairing."
"Any indication on what it did?"
"Beyond allowing travel between these distant points, no." Thorpe had no immediate questions, so Takoo continued. "To this day, Hualei Chiang regards that incident as the worst mistake in her long career, the one mistake that she would like to correct."
"And now she has the chance?" Thorpe asked. Given what Takoo had said so far, he was beginning to get an idea of the plan she was going to propose.
"I believe so."
Psakolaps now spoke up, saying, "This happened sixty-one years ago. What are the odds that anybody survived? How would they have eaten? How could they survive without support, without equipment, without even being prepared for it?"
"I do not know," Takoo admitted. "One reason why we did not send a ship was that because many did not feel that the survivors from Norg could survive there. On the other hand, those survivors were mainly people with experience in establishing the presence at Norg, and even among us, the first colonists on a planet can have a difficult time. It can be difficult to establish that presence. Like here, all life, vegetation and animal life, was transported to the Small Magellanic Cloud, and it is certainly possible that, conditions permitting, crops could have been established. It is possible that the survivors might have been able to access the alien technology and make it work for them. We simply do not know."
"And so the Charamand survivors could do likewise?" Thorpe asked.
"It is possible, but on the other hand, we have the means to rescue them here. We can access the system, and avoid the mistakes that Admiral Chiang made. I strongly believe that the layout of this facility is the same as the one on Norg. We have maps of the internal structure, and some information on the power source and the console operations. We did open that link to the distant location. We believe that it can be done."
To Thorpe, this was exactly the kind of thing that he wanted to hear. He had just heard that Matsubara was on a planet in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and he would not be surprised if she had surmised that by now. It seemed that she would be lost there, but now Takoo had shown up and told him that was not necessarily so. The missing away teams and the Adamsburg inhabitants could be recovered, and surprisingly easily too. This almost sounded too good to be true, so he just knew there had to be a catch. He finally asked, "How can we do this?"
"This is not entirely without risk, captain. The first thing that we will have to do is to penetrate the artifact. As far as we can tell, there's no designed way in, so we have to cut our way in. The mining operations provide the means to do that, since they have high-powered rock-cutting equipment down there that we can use to break into the structure. As we do that, the artifact will attempt to protect itself by doing the blanking, and over an increased radius-and volume-as well. I can't predict how far it will extend, or whether it will recognize the ship as the source of the attack."
"What about those operating the mining equipment?" Rocha asked.
"Can it not be operated by remote?" Takoo replied, causing puzzled looks from the security chief.
"We'll have to look into it," Johnson said.
Thorpe added, "I'm still worried. This 'blanking' could come even if we send another team down to make adjustments to the mining equipment to cut through and vapourize rock rather than just break it up."
Takoo had no immediate reply, but Dewuchun spoke up, "Depending on the size and the self-contained nature of the main machinery, it might be possible to beam it up through the cargo transporter and make the adjustments here before beaming it back down."
"But that doesn't solve the overall problem. The device could react to anybody who beams down and enters the structure, and the same when people start coming back out."
"Yes, that could be a problem, and there's also the problem of internal security measures. The structure is capable of generating holographic spheres that can throw pretty powerful energy jolts at people. I still recall vividly the sensation of being knocked down by those things, even with the forcefield belt. However, we did develop a means to neutralize the defense systems. As for getting into the structure, we can use technology that we did not have sixty-one years ago."
Dewuchun spoke up, "Subspace transporters?"
"Yes. We need to penetrate the structure at least enough to allow us to scan the dimension the interior, since we can't scan the target co-ordinates. We'll need to do generally blind beam-ins with transport chambers, and on board will be a preliminary group of shielded and armed shock troops-using training and technology that we didn't have sixty-one years ago either. This would appear to be the safest means to get inside the structure, since the blanking effect doesn't happen to people inside. Once inside, and once the defensive systems are neutralized, we can enter the structure and make our way to the control centre and the portals. We can complete the rescue process, and I can determine what happened to the Norg survivors, and my two missing crewmates from the Prodakh."
Thorpe added, "There's still the problem of getting people out of the device, especially if that blanking mechanism is still working."
"I am hoping that once inside, and with time to study the technology and the machinery, we can stop the blanking effect. The alternative is to use the subspace transporters and take them out bit by bit."
"That hardly seems practical," Johnson said.
"Maybe, but the alternative is to leave them stranded there."
"You are right."
Takoo turned to the captain, and said, "That is, Captain Thorpe, my report and my proposal. We can work on a more detailed analysis of this plan, and I can confer with Captain Padda on the Bluestar to get the use of the subspace chambers and the ground troops on board her ship."
"Ground troops on an Odonan ship?" Johnson said, puzzled.
"This is wartime, commander," Takoo replied.
Thorpe asked, "You didn't confer with Captain Padda already?"
"Not in specific terms, not until we learned exactly what the situation is. However, since I'm here on the authority of Councilor Chiang, the captain will co-operate to the best of her ability."
"I'll have to confer with Governor Whitmore on this one. This is her planet, and she deserves a say. In addition, we might need to evacuate some areas around Adamsburg if this blanking effect does expand."
"Of course." Takoo looked around the room, and saw the appearances of the human officers. She was not all that familiar with humans, since she spent little time with them. She had been told that humans do not always speak what was on their minds, as they tried to hide their thoughts with pleasantries and a sense of co-operation, but supposedly, she could see what they were really thinking based on their expressions. These people were puzzled. She had provided them with something fantastic, something that they could not readily accept simply because she was telling them so, but what else could she do? "Are there any other questions?"
Of course there were some, and the meeting went on for some time yet.
Stanislava stepped outside. It was noticeably colder outside, perhaps around minus five or six. The Starfleet uniform did provide a little protection from the elements. The high-tech fibres involved held in body heat when necessary, and allowed the body to cool under warm conditions. Regardless of whether the temperature was high or low, the wearer felt comfortable in the uniform, as long as conditions were not extreme. Right now, they were not extreme. Standing outside, Stanislava felt no wind. She saw that ice, or snow, was clinging to the less sunlit areas of the ground, so at least they had some water. Standing several metres outside of the structure, she scanned her surroundings. She scanned for lifeforms, in particular human lifeforms. The building across the open area was mostly hidden from the sensors, but a few parts were open to her tricorder, and she got the readings she was expecting.
"Commander Matsubara," she called out. "I'm picking up human lifesign readings, lots of them."
The science officer joined her outside. "Where?"
"All around, in these buildings, the low ones on the side, the big one over there."
More tentatively, she said, "Maybe it's time we visit them."
Matsubara and Stanislava began the trek across the open area, accompanied by Waye and Ensign Gheorghe Carbiniciu. It was a surprisingly long trip, almost two kilometres across. They had travelled briefly across the rough ground, but soon came to what looked like a walkway paved with cement that extended from what could only be a grand entrance-Stanislava wondering why they had not seen that earlier-to another. As they walked, Matsubara wondered what was the purpose of the open area and its concentric rings of five metre tall columns. Up close, they were nothing more than a featureless metal pole, with a clear enclosure on top that might have housed something like a light. At best, they might have been some kind of guidance system for approaching spacecraft. She glanced backwards, and saw that the huge hatch that opened to the cavern also opened to the clearing.
"I'm getting some strange ideas about this," Matsubara started.
The archaeologist answered, "What do you mean?"
"These columns, what is the purpose? That space-door sized hatch, and the cavern on the other side, where we appeared. That's easily large enough for a starship. The whole Athena might not fit, but the lander certainly would. Anything but the biggest ships could enter."
"For what purpose?"
"We know about the structure on Charamand, and we've heard about the one on Norg. Now, look at all of these similar structures, all the way to the horizon. What if the whole planet is covered in them? This is like a galactic transport system. A ship would emerge here, travel across this planet to another similar site, and then be transported to some other location in the galaxy, in the Delta Quadrant or the Gamma Quadrant, or perhaps throughout the Small Magellanic Cloud, or even the large one. It would be an extremely efficient way to travel across the galaxy."
"But how could the ship emerge on the other end?" Waya asked. "The whole structure is buried."
Matsubara was able to come up with an explanation for that. "The structure at the other end is hidden. I think that's intentional. A ship able to transmit the right signal can activate the device and ultimately be carried here. There could be a buried stage back at Charamand to get the ship under the surface, and then the technology beyond our understanding would get it here. I wouldn't be surprised if all the truly advanced technology is here and the other end is nothing more than a reception station, with limited technology."
"That could help us, if we could somehow activate the system," Stanislava added.
Waya continued, "But if it was designed to transport ships here, why did it send the people of Adamsburg and all of those plants and things over here?"
Matsubara answered, "That could be a defensive system built into the structure. Each time, someone clearly unauthorized was attempting to break in. That could be the system's way of dealing with it."
"And I would imagine that the armadillo aliens came here the same way?"
"Perhaps."
"They never found the way back."
As the four approached the structure on the opposite side of the open area, their presence attracted notice. A number of people came out of the building and approached. They were all human, and were wearing common civilian clothing. Fortunately, those who had been outside when the event happened were dressed for cool conditions. They had jackets on.
Once the group approaching the officers got close enough, one called out, "Starfleet officers!"
A second shouted, "They're here already?"
"It's about time!" added a third.
Matsubara and her group met up with the civilians, and introductions were made. The man in charge was Reginald Thornton, who was the director of public security for Adamsburg. He was the highest-ranking officer in Adamsburg, since the mayor was away on business during the incident. Matsubara also had to quickly get one detail out of the way. "Actually, rescue is not immediately at hand. The four of us, and eleven others, are in fact trapped here just like you did. The same event that brought you here brought us here too, although later."
The disappointment in Thornton and the others was immediately obvious. "I was hoping for better news. This is not a good situation."
"I know."
Thornton elaborated. "We came here unprepared, many of us still asleep at the time and poorly dressed and prepared for the conditions. Although the animals and the plants from the town and the area around us came with us, trying to survive on that for any length of time is not desirable. The total darkness in there, and the strange bodies all around, upset and scared a lot of people, so we got out of there. We found that the structure on this side, with the windows and the like, has more light, and more room-and fewer of those bodies."
"I understand."
"Is there any chance that we can get back home?"
Matsubara answered, "To be honest with you, I don't know. The technology to make this device work and send us back home is inside that building. All we have to do is understand how it works, and to make it work as we want it to."
"I hope that you can figure it out," Thornton continued. "I mean, I don't know what's edible back there, but even if it is a lot, we won't be able to hold out forever. Even if there are seeds in some of the crop plants, I'm not sure of the fertility of the soil and the suitability of the climate. This just might be summer here." Thornton pointed upwards, and showed Matsubara that the star this planet orbited was a small but bright white star, either a white dwarf or a somewhat larger, brighter star that the planet orbited form a considerable distance. The star was some sixty degrees above the horizon. Despite its height and its brightness, the star could not turn the sky blue. The galaxy was a dominant fixture high in the sky.
"How long is the day?"
"My guess is around twenty-one and a half hours. The nights are short, but the temperature really drops. It would make planting and tending crops that much harder."
"And it would make us more determined to figure out this technology and use it to return home."
"Yes..."
Next Chapter, Previous Chapter, or Novel Home Page
or jump to a chapter:
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20 and Chapter 21.
