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It was two o'clock in the morning in Charamand City, and just a couple of hours earlier on board the Athena. Captain Thorpe had made the decision not to head down to Adamsburg in the lander until the overnight period, in case Governor Whitmore put up some kind of objection. On the other hand, once the lander was on its way, Thorpe realized that nothing Whitmore could do could stop him. All she could do was to put into motion a process that could ultimately see him lose his command of the ship and be expelled from Starfleet in disgrace. That could happen assuming he made it back. If he did make it back, that would mean that he had accomplished his mission and brought back the others from that planet in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Under those circumstances, he could accept whatever the consequences of his actions were. * * * Johnson's voice was heard through the ship. "Attention all crew," she said. "Those individuals who were assigned to, or volunteered for, the lander mission, report to the lander now and assume your stations. Departure is in thirty minutes." She repeated the message, as if nobody had heard it the first time. * * * The thirty minutes were almost up. Thorpe was about the last person to head to the lander, and he got as far as the main turbolift in the docking pylon before he encountered his first officer again. "Commander," Thorpe said. * * * Johnson was sitting in the captain's seat on the bridge, and more than once, the thought crossed her mind that she could soon be the primary occupant of this seat. She reflected on the fact that it was not exactly the most desirable way to become commander, by replacing the commander who had died or otherwise had departed. Thorpe had assumed command of the Athena in that fashion, as its previous commander, Lawrence Berricks, had died during the Borg attack on Earth. Now, there was a chance that Johnson could become the commanding officer because Thorpe was gone. It was not what she wanted. * * * Matsubara and Kayaha did not have to wait long for the twenty-two captured individuals, lead by Lieutenant Margaret Stanislava and Ensign Craig Warner, to be led back into the compound by a smaller number of rough-looking Dorans. The latter were all rather unkempt, wearing worn and tattered clothing, but carrying their directed-energy weapons, the same kind used in the attack at the transit station, with some degree of authority and attitude. The humans looked tired and dirty, with dirty hands and clothing that was splashed with mud or covered in dirt, or with the knees and lower legs covered in a dark grime. * * * "Incoming!" somebody shouted from the cavern. The Adamsburg people, assisted by a few Athena officers, were still sorting through the vegetation mass, and as soon as they could see the coils above and in the floor start to glow red, they ran off of the surface in something of a panic. Hearing the yell and sensing the commotion, Guerrero and Turokuot returned to the steps that led up to the cavern floor. The glow was decidedly there. A gust of wind suddenly appeared, tossing up leaves and drying strands of grass and lost dust and dirt. A large area of blackness appeared, filling the chamber from a height of fourty metres up and accompanied by a blast of wind that was hurricane strength. The others, some of them knocked down by the sudden gales, looked up, and saw that blackness resolve itself into a rather distinctive and-to the Athena officers anyway-familiar shape. * * * One instant, Thorpe and the others were watching the mining machine phaser fire in its circular arc. Without any real warning, the screen blanked out for a few seconds. With the system no longer receiving the data stream from the equipment on the mining phaser, it defaulted to the standard forward view. That showed much the same thing as the windows on the lander bridge, a reddish environment in what was clearly a hanger of some type. It was also a large hanger, since Thorpe knew that the lander was a large ship in its own right, and the hanger seemed somewhat more vast. * * * Turokuot scrambled down the stairs to the control panels that he had figured out. Guerrero, keeping an eye on the lander and not really believing what he was seeing, followed after the engineer, and said, "When are we going to tell them?"
Chapter 11
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Thorpe was in the ready room, again reading the reports that Takoo had provided him covering the incident at Norg and the subsequent investigations by the Odonans. He heard the door chime sound, and said simply, "Come."
The door snapped open, and Johnson entered the room. As she had done so many times in the past, she walked over to stand in front of the desk, to give her report. "Sir, Commander Dewuchun reports that all systems on the lander are ready, all equipment and stores are on board, and the crew that volunteered or was assigned to the lander have been notified. They are waiting. Because Governor Whitmore had prohibited the mission, the Charamandian doctors who had volunteered returned to the planet. We do have the chief medical officer from the Bluestar coming on board to meet and deal with any Odonan survivors, if we can find them, and we have their twenty-man security detachment, with their 'shock troop' equipment."
"Very well," Thorpe said. "We will be departing shortly. Have you heard from the governor or any other local official lately?"
"No."
"I'd imagine that most of them are asleep right now."
Johnson changed her tone to a slightly less formal one. "Sir, are you sure that this course of action is the correct one? Is it worth the risk of what could happen if Whitmore carries through with her implied threats?"
"I believe that it is. I also believe that if I succeed and return with the citizens of Adamsburg, and the others, there's not a chance she could carry through with that threat. If I don't return, then the threat becomes worthless anyway."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
"What do you mean?"
"These governors on the outlying areas, they're ambitious. You don't think Whitmore wants to spend her entire career out here, do you? She wants to move up and onward, and that means, basically, doing what she says she's going to do. It's the nature of being a politician. You have to follow through, or else your reputation and hence your career could be in ruins. It is highly possible that if you do carry out this mission, and return, even successfully, all that might get you is an honourable discharge instead of a dishonourable discharge."
"I know," Thorpe started. "However, what choice do I have? Whitmore's idea is to simply abandon them. It's possible that the Federation Council-and even the Odonans-might put pressure on her to allow us to conduct this mission, but we have to consider the time factor. Those Adamsburg people went across there completely unprepared or untrained for what they might encounter. Our people already there might be able to help the best they can, but still, it's an impossible situation, and they are in some danger even now. We don't have the time. I'm still thinking that if we can pull off this mission, then the cost would be worth it."
"To get Damiko back?"
"And all the others too."
"But you think of her, mostly, don't you?"
Thorpe hesitated for a few moments, before continuing, "It's true that I think of her, but mostly in the sense that she personifies the people who are trapped two hundred thousand or so light years away. I don't know a single person in Adamsburg. They're just numbers, abstract figures with names attached, like those ships and worlds lost to the Dominion in this war. If that's all they are, then it's easy to walk away from that, and follow Whitmore's advise and abandon them. But it's not. I see Damiko's face. I see the other members of the away teams. They make this real for me. It means I can't just walk away."
"But Damiko."
"If she was here, and other members of the crew were there-say if you had led that away mission into the mines and not her-I'd still feel the same way and would want to do the same thing."
"Of course," Johnson remarked. She noticed the expression on the captain's face, and said, "Sir?"
"I was just thinking... about Whitmore's threat and perhaps the end of my time in Starfleet. Remember the Armageddon?"
"The ship from the future, with... Hiroshi Thorpe on board?"
"Yeah," Thorpe said, with a slight laugh. "That ship from the future. It still surprises me what we learned that time, and yet I can't help but to think that it had to happen. Maybe this is it. Maybe we come back, and maybe Whitmore carries through her threat. Maybe that's the moment."
"Maybe, but I'm still very worried..."
Throughout the ship, those who had made the decision-or in the case of a few, had it made for them-left the lounges and common areas that they had been waiting in, and started for the lander. In the Acropolis, Sandra Ochi, who had been assigned the task to pilot and lander, was with the other second-shift officers. None of them were going.
"This is it," Ochi said, as she stood up. "Wish me luck."
"You'll come back," Torin replied.
"You're confident."
"You're not?"
Ochi answered, "I was thinking about it. Maybe, probably, but not certainly. Yet, I still feel like I should do this. We have to believe what the captain is doing is right, don't we?"
"Of course," second-shift tactical officer Lorne Hathson remarked. "The captain sticks up for the crew, and we have to stick up for him. This is about the missing fifteen, and how we can't leave anybody behind like this."
"Indeed."
"Good luck," Torin finally said, "not that I'm the superstitious type or anything..."
Johnson laughed, saying, "Well, this was the point where I would get all choked up saying that it was a pleasure to serve with you, captain, and all of that stuff one says when facing a person going on a mission that he might not return from. I'm not going to say that, though."
"But you did."
"Anyway. Any final instructions? What if Whitmore finds out and gets livid?"
"Okay. Inform her once we're gone, if she doesn't find out by herself. Once we're gone, there are to be no further attempts to transit to the Small Magellanic Cloud, and that applies particularly to the Bluestar. There will be no further attempts to break into the structure at this end. It'll be us or nothing."
"Understood."
"Once we make the transit, inform the governor that the larger exclusion zone should be cancelled, but keep the original zone around Adamsburg."
"How long do we wait?"
Thorpe had to ponder that one for a moment, before he finally said, "That's at your discretion, commander. I don't know how long it'll take to learn what we need to know, but remain here until Starfleet Command contacts you and orders you home-likely since the Athena would be missing its lander-or gives you further orders. If the unthinkable happens and we never come back, at least I know that the Athena is in good hands. If they name you captain, take good care of the ship and the crew."
"I will, sir," Johnson said softly. Before the captain could step towards the turbolift, she added, "You know, I honestly don't think I could do this so easily. I keep thinking of the consequences. I wonder what it must be like to be trapped on some distant planet, a long way from home, unable to get back, and forced to live out my life on that world. I can't imagine it. It would be very hard-no, impossible-to tolerate."
"That happens to so few people that you really can't worry about it. I mean, it's just one of the things I've got to do. Captains do things like this once in a while."
"I've noticed. Anyway, good luck, sir, and I hope you'll be back soon."
"So do I."
Finally, Johnson moved off, and Thorpe climbed onto the turbolift, saying simply, "Lander bridge." Moments later, the turbolift came to a stop just outside the bridge. As he walked onto the bridge, he saw that the other officers were already present. Bayanhong, who had volunteered, was on board and functioning as the science officer, while Ochi worked the flight control console. Rocha was also on the bridge, and at the tactical station. At engineering was Mark DeWillis. Dewuchun had volunteered, but Thorpe wanted him to stay on the Athena for reasons he did not want to immediately disclose. He was surprised at the readiness of his crew to volunteer for what could well be a one-way mission, and which some might even view as a vanity mission on the part of the captain. If he never returned, he was pretty sure that would be how his last mission as a starship captain would be portrayed.
Takoo was also on the bridge, and she was pacing around-and she had the first complaint. "I think I like your main bridge better, captain," she started. "There are the three command-level chairs. Here, there's only one seat. I guess I've got to stand."
"I'm sure you'll make due," Thorpe said, as he took that seat. Takoo said nothing, so once he was settled in, he asked, "Status report?"
DeWillis reported, "All systems are operational. I'm prepared to transfer all control functions and all power demands to internal sources."
"Very well, do so," the captain replied. "Rocha, put me through to the main bridge."
"Link open," the security chief replied.
"Johnson?"
"I'm here," the first officer replied.
"We're ready."
"So are we," Johnson said, with a reluctance on her voice that was obvious to everybody on the bridge. "I guess, sir, all I can say is... good luck... again."
"I have confidence," Thorpe said. It was certainly easier to say that word rather than to believe in it. He did feel a little nervous, and a little apprehensive. On the other hand, those feelings were normal to a starship commander. Any commander that did not feel as he did right now at some point in his career clearly were not a very good commanding officer. He had to constantly remind himself that this was the right thing to do. He did not necessarily have to think of Damiko all that much to get into this frame of mind, but she was always on his mind.
"I wish I shared that sense of confidence with you, captain," Johnson continued. "We don't know a fraction of the real situation out there, and what we don't know could have serious repercussions."
"I know. This is the only way."
"Except for Whitmore's way."
"Of course."
"What is Whitmore's way?" Takoo asked.
Thorpe answered, "To simply abandon the people that have been lost."
"Impossible. There are those-including people in my government-that wants to know what happened to the people at Norg. This is important to us."
"I know. That's why Whitmore's way is no way at all."
"Lander," Johnson continued, cutting in to the conversation. "All status indicators here are clear for separation. You can proceed at your own discretion, sir. And... once last time, good luck."
"It's appreciated nevertheless. Lander out." With those words, the link to the main bridge on the Athena was cut off, leading the lander and its crew seemingly alone now. It was all up to them, and the chance that they were taking. "DeWillis, begin separation routine."
"Aye, sir," the engineer said, as he entered a series of commands into the console. "Docking plates are separating, and retracting." Those on the bridge could hear the heavy sounds of the docking plates retracting seemingly echo through the spaceframe of the lander. "We're free."
"Helm, take us forward, until we clear the ship. Rocha, activate the cloaking device." The lander, close enough to the main ship that it looked like it was still attached, slowly started to move forward, momentarily obscuring the bridge before the whole wing-shaped ship seemed to simply fade out of existence.
The journey to Adamsburg took almost an hour, mostly because the cloaked lander had to slow down sufficiently that the friction caused by the re-entry into the atmosphere would not cause the ship to glow. The local time in this section of Charamand was four o'clock in the morning, with dawn more than two hours away, as the lander completed its final approach. Bayanhong used the sensors to see if anybody was in the exclusion zone, but she detected nothing. What she did detect was some of the deadest land she had ever seen on a class-M planet. She remembered a planet called Pusar, which due to topography and location, had this huge desert region that saw rain maybe once a decade. On the surface, it was nothing but rock and sand, with bedrock just below and no underground water at all. Nothing moved, not even the insects. And yet, the Great Desert of Pusar was a veritable fountain of life compared to the exclusion zones around Adamsburg.
Finally, Ochi reported, "Captain, we're coming up to the transit point."
"Helm," Thorpe ordered, "position as in the same location and manner as the probe."
"Aye, sir."
"Bayanhong, anything?"
"Nothing, sir. The Charamandians are staying out of the exclusion zones, especially the one around Adamsburg.
"Good."
Seconds later, Ochi said, "We're at the location, all stop."
"Rocha, deactivate the cloak."
"Cloak deactivated," the officer said, after tapping a few icons on the panel in front of him. Thorpe wondered if the act of simply appearing close to the alien structure would be enough to make it transport them to the Small Magellanic Cloud, but nothing happened. He did feel concerned that they were vulnerable to any sensors or observations that the local authorities might be making. Again, though, nothing happened. "Establish contact with the phaser mining machine." The security chief complied, sending out instructions to the device to turn on the lights and the imaging sensor, and transmit the information back to the lander bridge. On a small monitor between the pilot and the tactical officer, Thorpe and Takoo, and the others, could see the smooth, gently-curving rock face that marked the edge of the alien structure. Perched up against it, and almost fitting into the curvature, was the assembly for the antimatter charges that was going to be their last attempt to break into the structure. "Bring up power to activation levels." Once more, Rocha simply carried out the order, and transmitted the instructions for the device to charge up its capacitors. That would take a minute or so. It was just another minute that Thorpe spent sitting there, trying not to visibly clench the armrests of the chair. He tried to feel calm and relaxed and in control, but that did not always work. These people around him were very good at what they did, but what if they slipped up? What if something happened?
"Ready," Rocha finally said. "The capacitors are charged. The same circular targeting routine is in use. Should we change it?"
"No, that's not necessary." The moment had come. Upto now, they still had a chance to come back, and he still had the very faint hope that the main ship was going to call, and say that the away teams were not only alive, but had activated the system from the other end and were coming home. It did not happen, though. It had all come down to this. Calmly, Thorpe said, "Fire."
The circular, pulsing beam came on. In the first instant, it blasted apart the antimatter charge assembly, causing bits of superheated metal to be shot around the room. Thorpe said, "When it happens, it'll be sudden."
"How long?" Bayanhong asked.
Takoo answered, "I imagine just seconds."
For five seconds, the smaller viewscreen showed the beam as it continued to fire, tracing out a glowing circle on the wall of the alien structure, but again, showing no signs of breaking through. Then the viewscreen went blank.
The Athena continued to hold a fixed position about three hundred and twenty kilometres above Adamsburg. The visual imaging sensors on the underside of the ship were providing the image currently on the screen, which did not show very much. It was the deepest part of the night on the surface, and the power in Adamsburg had been shut off. The lander was only visible by its running lights and the computer enhancement of the image to make it stand out.
Torin reported, "Commander, the lander has activated the phaser machine, and it is firing now."
"Understood. It won't be long now."
Within seconds, it seemed to Johnson, the science officer was reporting, "Power surge, blanking event now detected, and... the lander is gone." Johnson looked up at the viewscreen, and saw that the running lights and the faint, almost ghostly shape of the lander was gone.
Tentatively, she asked, "How widespread was this blanking event?"
"It was confined to the immediate area, hardly extending outside of Adamsburg itself."
"And now the waiting game begins."
"Yeah. I wonder how long?"
"Maybe hours, maybe days, maybe never."
With the lander having departed, Johnson allowed this extended second shift to end. The third shift officers, with T'Kor in charge, were called to the bridge, and Johnson decided to call it a night. In the morning, she hoped, she would have answers, and perhaps a better idea of what lies ahead and what she should do. However, before leaving the bridge, she was interrupted by a transmission from Charamand City. Tactical officer Ensign Mohammed Hassen spoke up, "Ma'am, it's the governor, audio only."
That did not take long, Johnson thought, as she sat down in the captain's seat again. Strangely, that made her realize how tired she was and how much she was looking forward to a good night's sleep. "Put it on," she finally said.
"This is Governor Whitmore contacting the Athena. I demand to speak with Captain Thorpe."
"That's not possible," Johnson said.
"Whom am I talking to?"
"First officer Johnson."
"Then that means that the captain did what I strongly recommended that he not do. He endangered many lives, not only those of himself and those he took along, but the lives of the citizens of this world."
"There was no risk. The blanking event barely extended beyond the position of the ship. There was at no time any risk to anybody who was outside the exclusion zone."
"You know that's not true."
Johnson interrupted, "Nevertheless, in hindsight, it was true. Nobody was affected by this transit. The energy effect did not get anywhere near the limits of the largest blanking effect."
"The point remains that as the governor of this world, I had the authority to deny him permission to carry out this mission. He ignored my authority."
"He understood the consequences. He simply decided that this was the best option for retrieving all the lost people. The other alternatives were not acceptable to him."
"There will be consequences."
"Assuming that he comes back."
"Of course. Now, I just wonder what will happen next."
"Actually," Johnson started, "there will be no more blanking effects, and no more transits. It is entirely up to Captain Thorpe, the crew on the lander and those already there to solve this problem at their end. Because there will be no more of these events, you can lift the larger exclusion zones, and allow the people of Jonesborough and the other town to return to their homes, such as they are. I would recommend that the original sixteen-kilometre exclusion zone around Adamsburg remain."
Somewhat less harshly, the governor answered, "Of course. And what of you and your ship?"
"We will remain here, at least until the captain and the lander return, or until we are called away by Starfleet Command for another mission." And in the meantime, I personally, Johnson thought, will get that much-needed sleep.
Stanislava was surprised at who was sitting there, especially the Odonan. "Commander?" the archaeologist started. "You are... not here to rescue us, I gather?"
"No," Matsubara admitted. "I came to talk to the Dorans, and see if something could be worked out."
"Not the best idea, based on what I have seen."
The science officer ignored the comment. "How are you?" she asked, and by extension, she asked the question to the others in the group.
Stanislava answered, "As well as can be imagined, given what we've been through already. I mean, for Craig and me, it's one thing, but for all of those other people." The Adamsburg civilians looked sullen, and even a little angry. They had not asked for this, and had not volunteered to be put in harm's way, like Starfleet officers sometimes found themselves. They were cursing the bad luck that put them into this position in the first place. "This farming bit, I mean, I haven't worked the ground like this since I spent those summer weekends at my grandfather's hobby farm outside of Gdansk. We've been planting, and digging out the drainage ditches and the irrigation ditches, and watering plants and removing these aggressive weeds that have a different xenotype, and man, it's tiring, back-breaking work."
"And we're little more than slaves," Warner added.
"On the other hand, we haven't been abused too much," the woman continued. "Conditions outside are not hellish, as it is cool and dry, and the Dorans give us breaks and even allow us to drink water. Of course, I think they do this since their supply of farming slaves is limited and they can't waste what they have."
"If push came to shove, I'm sure that they would," Matsubara remarked.
The presence of Kayaha did not escape the notice of Stanislava, who asked, "If you have an Odonan officer here... does that mean you had contact through the device with Charamand?"
"No," Matsubara said.
Kayaha added, "Actually, I'm Shad Kayaha, one of the Prodakh officers who got trapped over here when the structure on Norg was destroyed."
"That was sixty-one years ago! You mean, the Odonans survived? How did you survive the slave raids?"
"We built a forcefield to block off the transit station after the first attack. The Dorans tried to attack again, but failed each time. They haven't bothered us in a long time."
"That's incredible."
The humans who had been assigned to prepare supper for the twenty-three humans and one Odonan brought out the food. It was not much, basically just some type of boiled tubers that came out as a pale brown, accompanied by a type of bread and something that might have been cheese. A few rather sweet, strawberry-like fruits, coloured a bright lavender, were also provided. "The Dorans are sharing their harvest," Stanislava said, "such as it is."
"Is this food safe to eat?"
"Yeah, it is. It even contains vitamin C, so we're not going to get scurvy anyway. However, it lacks key proteins, so I don't know how long we'll last on this diet. That's ultimately our fate. That's why I was hoping you were here to rescue us, and that a strike force from the Athena was here with you."
"I know. I'm not sure what we can do right now, but maybe something will present itself. Maybe the Dorans are more civilized than we think they are, and we can talk to them, or reason with them, especially those who are not like their leaders that like it here because they're in charge."
"Yeah..."
"Oh my god," Turokuot said softly.
Guerrero, picking himself off of the floor, added, "You got that right, man."
Turokuot found himself slapping his commbadge, saying, "Whoever is on the lander..."
"Are we there?" the captain asked. "Is this it?"
"Whatever it is," Ochi continued, "I've lost all the navigational grids, and I'm picking up nothing else that is similar."
"Sensors?"
Bayanhong reported, "The floor is a mess, covered in vegetation. Sensors are picking up some people, all human. The sensors cannot penetrate the walls."
"Do we land in here?" Ochi asked.
"Hold for now."
"Sir," Rocha spoke up, "we're being hailed, commbadge audio."
"Whoever is on the lander," came the voice. Thorpe recognized that it belonged to Turokuot. He was momentarily disappointed to hear that it was not Matsubara. He had been feeling this rising expectation of hearing her voice. Of course, she could be elsewhere at this moment. "Can you hear me?"
"We can," Thorpe replied. "What is the situation there?"
"Right now, very confused."
Thorpe had glanced at the sensor displays that he could see, and did not think that the floor of this structure could support the weight of the lander. He had the feeling that this space was not designed for large ships to land on it. Believing that if anybody was studying the alien machinery, it was Turokuot, Thorpe asked, "Can you open this primary door here?"
"Yes, sir, I can."
"We need to land. Is it possible to land outside?"
"Yes, sir, there is a large open area directly in front. I'll get right to opening the door."
"Tell them what?"
"Two things, no three, that the Dorans came and grabbed a bunch of people, and that Commander Matsubara and the Odonan guy went after him, and third, that we can't go back."
"We'll give them a full report when we get on board, or they come off, or whatever." Turokuot had to pause for a moment, and think. He had not seen Matsubara leave, and had not spoken to her. However, he realized that he outranked Guerrero and was now the senior officer-and the one in charge. He was going to have to tell Captain Thorpe something that he did not want to hear. "Right now, lets get the door open."
"You've figured that one out?"
"Yeah, that was easy." Turokuot approached some of the controls. One consisted of a large wheel-like structure, with some labelling on it and around it. The engineer grabbed that and turned it a quarter turn to the left. Almost immediately, and with a deep, rumbling sound, the two halves of the huge hatch split, with one rising and one sliding into the floor. Light poured into the cavern, along with the cold.
Thorpe, and the others on the lander bridge, watched through the windows as the thick hatches parted and retracted into the floor and the ceiling. Beyond, the planet began to reveal itself. Although sunlight streamed in like it was daytime, they could see that the sky, beyond a narrow strip around the horizon, was quite dark and a multitude of stars was visible.
"An unusual sky," Thorpe remarked.
Bayanhong, watching the scene unfold, said, "I can't explain that. The sky should not be like that, unless there is some non-natural process at work here."
Takoo was standing beside the captain, so he looked at her, and asked, "Do you remember this?"
"It doesn't feel like sixty-one years ago. It feels like yesterday, all those days in the sunshine, the endless starry, starry days."
"It is weird."
"But wait until you see...it."
"What?"
"You'll see."
As the hatch panels retracted, and they were going even slower than the space doors on the main Earth space station, the officers on the bridge could see the appearance of the structure at the other end of this place. They could see the black structure, its metallic forms both dark and yet reflective. The structure looked like metal parts, mostly round metal parts, all stacked together and supported with columns and all built to weird and different dimensions. It was not all that different than what humans could construct, but it just felt alien, and it felt so cold too.
"What do scans show?" Thorpe asked.
The lander could not scan through the walls of the structure, but as the hatch opened, more of the world was revealed to them. "The structure is made of a variety of metals in unusual alloys. I don't think the Federation has as much palladium as I'm scanning in that structure over there. However, it is all energized and I can't scan through the walls, or compensate for this. I'm reading people... outside, though. It's cold, minus eleven."
"And nobody equipped for that," the captain said.
"Indeed. We're going to be busy."
The hatch finally completed opening, and Thorpe and the others could look through. It was clear that the structure across the open area was part of the one that they were in, and was connected to it by a pair of low, sweeping structures. It enclosed a rather large open area, except that it was studded by concentric rings of five-metre tall columns. "Is there enough space between the columns for us to land?"
"Yes," Bayanhong said. "The innermost circle is larger than our size. We can land there. The ground reads as stable and sturdy enough to support our weight."
"Then that's what we will do. Helm, take us out."
Ochi worked the gravitonic induction drives, imparting some forward momentum to the lander. It moved silently through the opening, and into the sunlight and dark sky of this world. Ochi carefully monitored their position as the lander moved slowly into the open and into the centre of the rings of columns. "Sir," she started, "I'd recommend turning ninety degrees to starboard and then landing so that the ramp opens up onto that walkway that connects the two parts of the structure."
"Very well, proceed."
The lander turned, which caused Takoo to look carefully through the windows at the object she wanted to see. As the lander came into the right orientation, she saw it, and the others could see it as well, especially Rocha and Ochi since they sat at the front of the bridge. Even Bayanhong had to turn and look, while Takoo and Thorpe stepped forward for a better look.
"Incredible," Rocha said.
Ochi added, "Imagine having that in the sky."
Takoo admired the shape, the graceful spiral arms, the central bar of light that seemed to make the galaxy look strong, the bright bulge in the centre and the bright spots from the halo of globular clusters that fringed the galaxy. In between the spiral arms, the mass of stars looked thinner, more like a fog than light. It was a brilliant image, something that would stop anybody in their tracks when seeing it for the first time. One could imagine what the galaxy looked like, and it was possible to step into a holodeck and take a look, and barring that, there were a number of simulations developed based on the long-term data from the galaxy-mapping probes sent out two centuries earlier. Despite all of that, there was nothing quite like seeing the galaxy, to see home so distant and yet so large. Takoo stared that the image. That was home there. Lost in the mass of light was the starlight coming from her home star, and also the home star of the rest of the people on this bridge.
"It does have an effect on you," Takoo finally said.
"Indeed."
"And then imagine seeing it for the first time, when you don't expect it, when you walk through the gateway and there it is, the galaxy, visible all at once. You can't help but be moved by it. Not a day goes by when that image is not in my mind, and now when I look at it again, it is almost exactly as I remember it. The only difference is given to it by the rotation of the planet. And to think I looked at it just once, and for only a few seconds. That image never leaves."
Outside, Turokuot and Guerrero left the structure and entered the walkway. Many of the others in the cavern did likewise, and the presence of the ship caught the attention of a few people who had ventured out to gather water. Rumour of the appearance of the ship must have spread very quickly in the residential structure since people started to come out. Turokuot just hoped that the people were not expecting immediate rescue. Although people were appearing, they were staying along the perimeter, and not moving towards the centre, where the ship might land. Turokuot, Guerrero and the rest watched as the lander turned ninety degrees, and then began to descend under the expert touch of pilot Sandra Ochi-or at least Guerrero suspected it was her at the controls. With a slight but deep sounds, the eight landing-leg pods opened up and the landing struts were extended. The support beams were lowered and locked into position, as the lander slowly approached the ground, while drawing barely a puff of dust. The landing struts touched the ground, and sank in a few centimetres. The hydraulics locked into position, adjusted for slight differences in the topography of the ground and stiffened as the antigravity fields were shut off, forcing the landing legs to bear the entire weight of the craft.
"Well, they're here," Turokuot remarked. "We might not be any closer to getting home, but at least we'll be a bit more comfortable now."
"You think?"
"You don't think they came here without enhancing the replicators, bringing emergency supplies, the things we need?"
Guerrero pondered that, and said, "I hope so."
On board the lander, Ochi reported, "Captain, we're down. The landing struts are firm and locked in, so I'm shutting down the antigravity field. We're stable."
"Good," Thorpe ordered. "Lower the gangway. Bayanhong, Takoo, lets go down and see what's going on." The two women followed him off of the bridge.
Turokuot and Guerrero made sure that nobody got too close to the lander. Just in front of the docking plate was a long and narrow band of darker metal, which represented the gangway. The two officers made sure that nobody got underneath or near the gangway as it started to lower. The underside of the lander was only six metres above the ground, so the gangway did not have to lower so that it was at an extreme pitch. In fact, the incline was on the shallow side. Once it was locked into position, the portal on the other side opened. Turokuot and Guerrero, and a growing crowd of the curious and some of the other officers, approached. They watched as Captain Thorpe and others, including executive officer Bayanhong and an Odonan woman and two security officers, came down. They came wearing field jackets, prepared for the minus eleven conditions. At least the sun was shining and no wind blew.
Turokuot did not know what to say, or at least what to say first. He had the feeling that he was simply going to burst out with an incoherent stream of information. "Captain," the engineer finally said. "Welcome to this unnamed world in the Small Magellanic Cloud."
"How's the situation?" the captain asked.
"Complicated." All of what was on his mind, and Turokuot could not come up with more than one word. Many were vying to be the second word out.
"Where's Commander Matsubara?"
Of course, Turokuot thought, the captain would get to that. Everybody on the Athena knew about the relationship between the two. If they were trying to hide the relationship, they were not doing a good job. It was only natural that he would ask that question. Others, no doubt, would have taken bets as soon as the lander appeared that Thorpe was on it and he would ask about Matsubara. It was up to him to explain. "She's not here right now."
It was as if Thorpe had a look of anger, and perhaps even rage, on his face. It was nothing that Turokuot had seen before. "Explain," the captain demanded.
"I'll have to start at the beginning. It'll answer some other questions too. We're not alone on this planet."
"The Odonans?" asked Takoo-at least, based on what Kayaha had said when he was here, Turokuot surmised it was her.
"No, more than just the Odonans. They call themselves Dorans. They attacked us, and captured a number of individuals, including Lieutenant Stanislava and Ensign Warner, along with Adamsburg civilians. They were taken to the Doran compound, and the implication that we got was that they were going to be slaves, to grow the crops that the Dorans needed to survive."
"And Damiko led a group to attempt to get them back?"
"No, not exactly. She went there not so much to attack and capture, but to negotiate, and to negotiate for one thing that is very important, more important that perhaps the people." Thorpe just gave him that look again, making him wonder what could be more important than recovering the captured people. Turokuot knew the answer. "The thing is, the Dorans apparently control the master location, and they have set things so that the inbound function-which brought us here and you too-works, but the outbound function does not. As things stand right now, we can't go back home."
"That's impossible," Takoo blurted out. "Sixty-one years ago, I was able to step through the gateway and go back home. Have the Dorans taken control more recently?"
"No, they've been here for a long time. The thing is, you activated that gateway from your end, so it works. We've got a gateway here too, but I've studied it and studied it until I know its electronics and subsystems better than I know anything on the Athena, and I can't make it work."
"How'd you find out this information?" the captain asked.
"We had contact with the Odonans."
"I knew it!" Takoo said. "I knew that they would survive. Captain, I must make contact with them!"
"In time, commander. First, we must get organized here, and learn more. Now, going back to Commander Matsubara, you said she went to where the Dorans live. How?" Turokuot explained the alien transit system, and described the station and the Doran raid there. "Commander Bayanhong," he started, turning to face the Mongolian officer. "I want you to co-ordinate with Rocha and study that transit station and make sure that it is defended. I don't want any more raids."
"Understood."
Facing the engineer again, Thorpe added, "Do you have any idea where Matsubara went to?"
"No, sir. I don't believe that the map we have actually correlates with the location on this planet. They seem to agree more with the location of the originating worlds in our galaxy."
Takoo remarked, "This really is some kind of galactic waypoint, allowing travel throughout the galaxy in some weird manner."
"Yes, that seems likely."
Thorpe knew what his first instincts were to take the lander back into the sky and search for Matsubara. He could scan from orbit, until he realized that the sensor beams were still being blocked by the alien material. He would not be able to find the lifesign through that. Perhaps he could find some sign of activity, since it seemed unlikely that many of these structures were occupied. This planet could not be teeming with life. As much as Thorpe wanted to do this right now, and find Matsubara and get her securely on the lander, he knew that he could not. He saw the Adamsburg people, the majority underdressed for the conditions, and likely hungry as well.
"Okay," the captain finally said, and he realized how painful this was. "We'll have to hope that Damiko can do her thing. Maybe she can even convince the Dorans to activate the outbound function of these structures." Just saying that was enough to give Thorpe some hope. It was as if it was that easy. All he had to do was to activate the outbound function, and he could return home, with his officers and the Adamsburg civilians. It could be done in hours, he thought. Imagine the shock on Whitmore's face when he returned. If the Dorans were not going to co-operate, he did have the power of the lander behind him, and he had fully armed and trained squads of Odonan and Federation officers to enhance that power. He just felt that he should, and would, get his way here. "For now, we've got a lot of people to worry about. We've enhanced the replicator capacity on board the lander to handle the expected number of people, and as long as we can get raw materials-and I saw a lot in the open area that we appeared in-we can do this. I just hope that all they'll need is one meal and by that time, we'll have completed our mission here."
"It's not that easy," Turokuot cautioned. "The Dorans seemed... ruthless, like they enjoy being here and lording it over the other races which had the misfortune of getting trapped on this planet. They might not be easily convinced. Look at the Odonans. They had sixty-one years."
"But nothing to return to," Takoo said. "The structure on Norg was destroyed."
"We'll simply have to find a way," Thorpe said, firmly. "If the method exists that allows us to return home, then we're going to use that method. I can assure you of that."
