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Episode 9: Preparing for Warp
"Colonel Gantz, the entire wave of missiles - it's been destroyed!" The cowering crewman reported to his superior, who scowled back at him.
"Send another wave," Gantz ordered.
"We… cannot, Colonel..." The crewman replied, looking away from Gantz and biting his lip.
"And why not?" Gantz challenged.
"Umm… well… you see, Sir… we sent all of the functioning missiles in the first wave," replied the crewman.
"What do you mean 'all the functioning' ones? Weren't they all 'functioning'?" Gantz demanded.
"Yes, Colonel, they were, but… when we launched them, a number of the missiles wouldn't activate, so… we could not launch them all."
"Well, how many did you launch?"
The underling cleared his throat and edged away from the officer, "Of the two hundred… Only thirty-four were launched successfully, Colonel."
"Thirty-four!" Gantz exclaimed, "Outrageous! Why so few? Certainly at least half should have been launched. Correct the problem immediately and send the rest."
"Y-yes, Sir," the crewman stuttered and hurried away to attempt to do as he was bidden.
"Cursed Eratites!" Gantz whispered, and then thought, "For the sake of my daughter and the people I hold dear, we must prevail against this last ship… or else we have sealed our doom." A deep dread was starting to grow in his mind. The strange itch made Gantz nervous – especially in the wake of this most unexpected event. These Eratites could ruin everything, destroy everything they all loved. He had to fight – harder than he ever had before – to keep that from happening.
"Whew!" Mark used his damp sleeve to swipe the beads of sweat from his forehead and face. "How on Earth did we survive that?" he sighed in relief.
"Dumb luck, I guess," Derek put in, "What was that power surge we got right at the end of the engine charge?" He shot a glance back at Orion.
"Don't be askin' me, Wildstar. I haven't any idea," the old engineer shook his head, then looked over his shoulder, "Captain Avatar?"
"Whatever lent us that power, we can be certain it wasn't something we can control. Counting on it to save us in the future isn't an option" The captain took a moment to study the many indicator lights and monitors scattered around the command center. He allowed himself a small smile, "But it was certainly a Godsend today."
Avatar stood to address the entire bridge crew. "We are not alone. Even though we travel through the unknown, we go with the thoughts and good will of our loved ones and friends. We go with the hand of God Himself, as we have witnessed today. But be warned," he held up a forbidding finger, "we are not invincible. I am certain we will return," Avatar looked at the faces staring back at him and felt again the weight of his responsibility, to see to the safety of all of them. "And I hope we all will see the Earth alive and well again. Do not be discouraged, my friends. We will come back."
The Captain settled back down in his seat. As the bridge crew watched, the chair rose on a track attached to the wall. It ascended up through the ceiling and into the captain's quarters, above the bridge.
"You know you can't last more than a few months like this," Dr. Sane said once Avatar turned around to face him.
"Perhaps, Sado," Avatar winced as he stood.
"That wound of yours isn't getting any better, Abraham. And being under the level of stress that you're bound to be subject to as captain is only going to make it worse," Sane chided. "Why did you take this position? Certainly someone else could have done it."
"Maybe so," Avatar granted. "Perhaps someone else could have captained this ship, but none of them were chosen to do it. I was. And because I was, I must do everything in my power to see to it that this endeavor succeeds. I have faith that I will live long enough to see this mission fulfilled."
Dr. Sane's face turned grim, "Whatever you say, Captain. But do yourself a favor. Don't do anything too crazy. The more you do, the less time you'll have."
"I know, Dr. Sane. That's why I already have a replacement in mind if it comes to that."
"Really?" Sane asked, surprised, "Who?"
"Someone who has more potential than he thinks."
Science officer and XO, Stephen Sandor sat staring absently at his station, thinking. The sudden energy surge they experienced was a mystery. Just before it happened, there was a spike in the engine core's temperature. Perhaps it was a result of the stone they'd used as the engine's core - the heart of the message capsule from Iscandar.
The stone was sapphire and emerald, shot through with gold – quite a sight to behold. He had no idea what to call it, other than "the core," and that held no true meaning, so Sandor secretly opted to call it "Iscandarite."
Before deciding to do as the instructions in the engine plans said and use the capsule core as the heart of the engine, Captain Avatar consulted him. Sandor remembered the extensive testing, looking for anything that could cause potential for harm. Finding nothing, he'd given his approval to use the alien rock.
Thinking about it brought him back farther in time to the day Avatar asked him to fill a role on the Argo.
The old-style corded phone mounted on the lab wall near the door rang and rang, and rang a third time before Sandor picked it up.
"Lab 42,"he answered absently.
"Is Dr. Sandor there?" the switchboard girl asked.
"Yes, this is he."
"Sir, you have a call from Abraham Avatar, do you want me to send it through?"
"Of course, Miss Forbes," he replied, wondering what on Earth a seasoned officer like Captain Avatar might want with a science professor.
A second of dead air preceded Avatar's familiar old voice. The phone systems underground weren't the best. Until the national governments banded together and agreed on a communications solution, landlines and short radio messages were the best form of audio communication.
"Sandor, glad you're there; I was afraid I'd have to come over and hunt you down myself."
Sandor laughed, "Yes, Captain, I'm here. Where else would I be these days? Earth needs a lot of help right now."
"Sandor, would you be able to find time today to come over to EDF headquarters? There's something that I need to ask you. It's quite urgent."
"With all due respect Sir, why can't you ask me now?" Sandor looked over his shoulder at the mess he was in the middle of working on.
"Let's just say I'd rather show you a few things before I ask you," Came the reply.
"I'll be there around three."
"Good. I'll be in my office."
The phone went dead and Stephen set it back in its cradle. Stranger things had happened to him, but he wondered what this particular one was about. Whatever Avatar needed, it sounded urgent.
Stephen packed up his things and left the lab by a quarter 'til three.
Sandor remembered his surprise when, after being shown the message and plans from Iscandar, the Captain didn't ask him for recommendations about the proposed mission, but instead, asked Sandor to come and serve as chief science chief and executive officer on board the rebuilt Yamato.
Stephen stood speechless. Him? Be a science officer – and more, an XO? "Well… Abraham, I've never done anything like this before-"
Avatar held up a hand. "I know, Sandor, and I know you won't take this request lightly. All I ask is that you think about it for a while."
Sandor sighed, letting out some of his surprise and anxiety. The request was only fair. "Of course I'll do that."
"Now, get back to your lecture notes. You do still have a job after all," Avatar turned his back to Sandor. Stephen made no move for the door. "Go on," Avatar made a dismissive shooing motion with his hand.
"Yes, Sir," Sandor said as he trudged out of the office, thinking seriously about what Avatar asked.
Sandor breathed a short laugh at the memory of Avatar's confidence in his choice of an executive officer. Sandor, on the other hand, didn't have any of the old man's faith in him.
A few hours after Sandor left EDF, he returned, this time to ask for a copy of the Iscandar message. Minutes later he left with his prize.
At his apartment off campus, Stephen watched the message over and over again, looking for any hint of fraud, but even after six hours of study he could not find a single incriminating thing.
Stephen played the message one more time. He listened to Starsha of Iscandar's message of hope for him, and for the world. As she spoke, Stephen found he couldn't look away. She spoke the truth. Deliverance had come, but they, with God's help and strength were tasked with retrieving the answers provided for them.
Sandor remembered exactly what went through his mind as he accepted Avatar's offer and helped in the rebuilding of the ship. He remembered the doubt, the questions of how it would ever work, and then, he remembered the overwhelming assurance he found when Avatar renamed the ship. He could still cling to the promise the Captain reminded them all of; while the Earth remained, hope existed for its restoration.
Time crawled by once the ship reached open space. The peace was a welcome relief after the frightful encounter with the missile barrage.
Most of the crew were on edge about what was to come, though their nerves were somewhat soothed by the veterans on board. One of them, Engineering Chief Orion stood, arms folded, deep in thought, staring at the dozen monitors lining one section of the ship's massive engine. He'd checked everything, making sure the engine was functioning normally after the initial surge. Everything seemed fine – better than fine. The engine was working more efficiently than they'd anticipated.
One thing about this new engine puzzled the old man. Why had the Iscandari Queen insisted that they use the message core as the main component of the engine? It made no sense to him. Engines didn't have tiny rocks embedded in their centers. At least, no engine he'd ever worked with.
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw someone approaching out of the corner of his eye. A flash of red. Maybe Dash, the gunnery chief, needed to consult with him about the weapons' power systems.
Orion turned to look at the visitor and was surprised to see, instead of Jordan Dashell, Derek Wildstar. The young man trudged towards him, head down, hands in his pockets.
"What's on your mind, Wildstar?" the old engineer asked.
Derek didn't look up right away. He stopped and leaned against the engine's bright orange covering. He didn't speak immediately, but the look on his face told Orion Wildstar was holding too much in.
"Why did he do it, Orion!? Why!?" Derek suddenly exclaimed. "Why did he leave Yukikaze behind? You've been his chief engineer for a long time. How does he live with himself doing something like that?"
"Ah…" Orion nodded, "I thought it might be something like that…" he sighed. "Wildstar, there are some things about the Captain that you and I will never know, but there is something I can tell you right now, and it's that the Captain's a good man. Everything he does, he does for a good reason. You weren't the only one who lost someone they loved at Pluto."
"I know that, Orion," Derek replied, irritated. "I think all the families of those men and women ought to know why he left them behind to die."
"All of them?" asked the engineer.
"Yes!"
"Then you'll have to include the Captain himself."
Derek's eyes widened, "Wha…?"
"You may have lost a brother at Pluto, Wildstar, but Captain Avatar lost his son."
Wildstar's face went blank. His anger vanished, replaced by disbelief.
"The Captain had to leave them, and from what I heard while I was aboard the flagship that day, your brother forced that decision. Before we all knew it, Alex turned his ship around and made a run into the enemy fleet, scattering them and taking some of them with him when Yukikaze was destroyed."
Wildstar's face melted into a look of horror, "Alex… he left the ship to – He left knowing he would die?!"
Orion nodded slowly, "Yes, Wildstar, he did. He did a very brave thing so that we could be here today. And he made it so we could deliver a lot of the data we have about the Gamilons back to the EDF. His sacrifice is the reason we have a lot of the defensive information in the ship's database."
Derek hid the bitter tears welling up in his eyes. Without another word, he left, head hung low.
"All officers, please report to the operations room." The announcement echoed through the whole ship, interrupting many of them as they unpacked what few possessions they could bring with them. Everyone hurried to the meeting, anticipating what was to come. When all were assembled, Avatar began the meeting.
"In order to reach Iscandar, we must travel as quickly as we can to the Magellanic Cloud. To do that, Queen Starsha sent us detailed instructions on the execution of a space warp."
Murmurs of disbelief and fear, echoed in the assembly.
"Everything she's given us has proven trustworthy." The captain let his gaze sweep across the assembly. When he came to Wildstar he was surprised to see the young man's defiance replaced with a deep determination. He was glad to see the change. Turning his eyes to the rest of the officers, he continued, "Science officer Sandor will now explain how we will accomplish the warp."
Everyone's eyes went to the professor turned military recruit.
"Time consists of thousands upon thousands of waves," an illustration of time rolling by appeared on the giant panel installed in the floor. "Each wave consists of a crest and a trough." Sandor indicated the top of several waves and the valleys between them. "Right now, we're traveling along those waves normally." The Argo appeared in the image, floating on the waves. "But, in order to move more quickly through space, we must jump from one wave crest to another, skipping the trough entirely and thereby significantly cutting our travel time."
"So how're we going to do that?" The question came from Chris Eager, one of the tactical officers.
"The specifics are for Orion and me to work out, but I can tell you it will require precise timing on our part. Warping too early or too late could land us inside a planet." Sandor searched for the faces he needed, "Also, Venture, Forrester, we will need your assistance along with Eager's to prepare for this."
Mark gulped. His skin turned clammy as he thought about executing such a precise operation.
Nova looked over at Venture and noted his anxiety. She laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder, then looked back at Sandor and said for them both, "Yes, Sir,"
"Yeah, fine," Chris consented from the other side of the group.
"Very good," Captain Avatar stepped back into the spotlight. "All of you, get back to your stations. Instructions on how to prepare your division for the warp are available to you on the ship's network. Read them thoroughly before you begin your preparations." To the trembling navigator he said, "I have the utmost confidence in you. Venture,"
Mark's eyes shot up to the Captain, fear etched into them as Avatar approached. "Sandor will coach you on what you're to do. He was a professor after all. I'm sure he can teach you what you need to know." A nervous laugh rippled through the officers. "Miss Forrester, we will need you to help us calculate the best location for our first warp."
Nova nodded.
"Go," the Captain gestured toward the ops room door, "Make this old ship proud."
A chorus of "Yes, Sir's" rang through the room as the officers disappeared to do as they were instructed.
Episode 10: Place of Remembrance
"All hands, prepare for warp," Captain Avatar announced.
Everyone scrambled to get into place – everyone except Venture who was sitting quietly in his seat. Ever since Nova left to do the launch prep he'd felt uneasy.
"Mark?" Wildstar waved a hand in front of his face, trying to get the helmsman's attention. "Mark?!" Derek socked him in the shoulder this time.
"What? What?" Mark jerked like he'd been shot. "Are we there?"
"Uh, yeah, Venture. You don't hear the alarm going off all over the ship?"
"Oh… Right…"
"What's wrong with you? You're acting like a big baby, now put on your 'big boy shoes' and get us to Mars."
"Yeah, I'll do that," Mark replied, his stomach knotting up, ready to deliver up his last meal. The Captain's words to him still echoed in his head and he wasn't sure if he could do what he needed to do.
The computer will do most of the work for you. But – " the Captain paused, his face much too serious for Mark's liking. "You and only you can tell it exactly when to make the jump. Go too early or too late, and there's no knowing where we'll end up."
Avatar looked the young man in the eyes, "But I trust you'll be able to do this. There is no doubt in my mind that you are the best man for this job." He gave the young helmsman a fatherly clap on the shoulder. "Just trust those instincts you've been honing during your time at the Academy. When it's time to jump, you'll know it."
Those words were a great burden, but they also gave Mark a spark of hope that he wouldn't completely botch this historic moment.
The thirty second countdown appeared on the display before him.
"What are they doing?" Gantz asked, squinting at the enemy ship. He received no reply. "Will someone please tell me what the Eratite ship is doing?!"
"We don't know, Colonel," one of the bridge crew finally replied. "Their energy signature is building quickly, but their weapons haven't been charged." The officer blanched, his sapphire skin turning a pale blue, "Sir, certainly they aren't capable of –"
"Apparently they are," the colonel gritted his teeth. "What luck – we find them again and now they know how to jump across space. Who gave them this knowledge? How did this happen?" he muttered.
With a flash of light, the Eratite ship vanished.
"Masterson!" David Lysis' voice echoed through Leader Desslok's former second-in-command, Masterson Talan's quarters as the officer burst in, chest heaving. "There's been – a – a change – in the Eratite offensive."
"What kind of change?" Talan asked, turning his back to the large viewport he was looking through.
"They've – warped."
Masterson's head shot up, "They have?"
"Yes, and it appears Gantz's fleet was caught completely off guard. It was a good idea to stay tuned in to their main frequency. We can hear everything – even if it's encrypted we can access it with your authorization codes."
"Yes…" Masterson replied to David's enthusiastic speech. "Yes, it was a very good idea. Thank you for the information."
"I'll let you know if I hear anything else," the officer stepped out of Talan's quarters, heading back to the bridge.
Masterson barely had time to say, "Thank you" before David disappeared.
Lately they'd all been on edge. When Desslok sent the Hadar out to this forgotten sector, he did it in the hopes that they wouldn't be able to interfere with his plans for Erats. They were a ship of dissenters. Every one of them expressed sentiments of contention with the Leader's decision.
The day Desslok sent him away Masterson knew it was the beginning of something far more than the Leader's efforts to obtain a new home for the Gamilon people. He'd felt the coming storm as it brewed in the air. Until he'd heard the rumors about the Eratite's ship, he'd been unsure as to what would begin that storm. Now he knew. Astra's journey to Erats was a success.
"So," Masterson turned back to the window and whispered, "If you gave them this technology, Starsha, what else did you give them? If they have what I think, then no one, not even Leader Desslok himself will have a prayer against them. But with the knowledge you gave them comes a responsibility to use it wisely. I hope that it will not cost any lives for them to learn the gravity of what they've been entrusted with."
Nova had never felt so strange in her life. All around her floated the distorted forms of her fellow crew. Some were so grotesque she couldn't bring herself to look at them. Time slowed to a painful crawl and the whole universe seemed to stand still around her. She tried to look over her shoulder at the Captain, but she couldn't move. She was glued to the seat, her head pulled back, like she was a rock in a slingshot about to be slung. Her distorted vision made her dizzy.
She blinked.
The warp was over.
"Are we there yet?" Eager's Southern drawl broke into the moment and shook everyone out of the deep silence.
"Yeah," Wildstar replied for Venture, then saw the timer on the helmsman's display "And only sixty seconds gone by."
"That's amazing!" Homer exclaimed from his post.
"That may be so," Sandor interrupted, "but that jump fried some of the computer components. I'll have to repair or replace them. We still have some work to do before we can say we've mastered warping."
This sentiment earned him sober nods from most of the bridge crew.
"Captain, I'll take my leave now if you have no objection," Sandor looked up to Avatar's chair.
"No, of course not. Go ahead."
"Thank you," Sandor nodded his appreciation and left to gather his repair group.
Several hours passed before Sandor returned and announced, "Everything's fixed. We should try again, Captain. It will give us a chance now to see if we have bigger problems than just a few bugs in our simulations."
The Captain took a moment, then agreed. "Miss Forrester," he indicated Nova, "Make the necessary preparations."
"Yes, Sir," she replied, and immediately began working on the new calculations.
The process took less than twenty minutes to complete this time, and soon a second warp was scheduled.
Mark, still sweating, stared at the countdown at the top of his duty station. His heart still pounded, but the feeling of overwhelming dread ebbed as the ticking number cycled closer to zero.
It ticked down to one second.
Mark took a deep breath and the instant the counter hit zero he initiated the warp, this time closing his eyes to avoid another case of vertigo.
The warp felt strange – like he was somewhere out of time, embedded deeply in the fabric of another universe. When the ship appeared again, just outside the orbit of the gas giant, Jupiter, he opened his eyes. The feeling of displacement eased, but his stomach still churned from the jump.
"Good work, Venture," the captain said almost as soon as the warp distortions faded from sight. "Sandor, what –" Avatar didn't get a chance to finish his question. At that instant the ship jerked forward.
"Wha –?!" Wildstar exclaimed, immediately calling engineering, "Orion! What are you doing down there?"
"It isn't us, Wildstar," the old man defended. "Whatever that was, we had nothing to do with it."
"It's Jupiter's gravity," Nova broke in. "We've just slipped into it. The warp… I miscalculated…" she said, an apologetic look on her face.
"No time for regrets now, I'm afraid," Sandor said. "If we don't get out of this gravity field we'll be pulled to Jupiter's surface and the hull can't withstand pressure that high."
"Well what do you suggest we do then?" Wildstar asked wryly.
"Find a place to land between here and the surface," the science officer replied.
Derek rolled his eyes, "Oh right, just find some little patch of ground floating in the –"
"There's a landmass orbiting the planet not too far down into the atmosphere," Nova announced.
"Sky…" Derek looked around sheepishly hoping no one noticed his previous statement.
"Venture, take us down," the Captain ordered.
"Yes, Sir," Mark said, his mind still racing from the warps. Questions swirled in his head: "What are we doing here? How are we ever going to get out again?" Fear swelled up in Mark's gut as he pushed the throttle forward and took the ship down towards the strange floating mass.
"All hands, prepare for impact," the announcement rang through the ship, sending everyone headed for the nearest nook or sturdy chair.
Less than a minute later, the Argo crashed down, forced into the landmass by Jupiter's gravity. Outside, plants and trees snapped and groaned beneath the old ship. The crew lurched forward, then jerked to a grinding, screeching halt. Every light onboard flickered and went out. With a pained shudder, the emergency lights glowed to life, bathing the crew in a crimson haze. For a full ten-count there was silence onboard, broken only by the ringing of alarms.
"Sandor, damage report," the Captain barked through the shrill ringing.
"A hull breech on the third bridge; and moderate damage to the port gun turrets," replied Sandor as he silenced the alarms.
"Evacuate the third bridge and contain the breech," Avatar ordered.
"Already in progress, Sir," said Sandor. "The last of the crew are leaving the area now."
"Once everyone is accounted for send IQ-9 to survey the area and determine whether it's safe to send anyone out there."
Sandor switched off the last emergency measure and the bridge lights came back on, "Yes, Captain."
IQ-9 rolled into the recon plane's docking area and swiveled his photoreceptors to make sure everyone was off the dock before he opened it to head outside. Seeing no one, he pressurized the dock accordingly and waited for the airlock to open so he could leave.
Once outside he immediately noticed the atmosphere change. Heavy gas clouds skirted past him as he hovered over the ground on his own mini-repulsors. Sandor built them for him just before the ship's launch. The air was much thicker here than on Earth and the ambient temperature was higher than the crew would consider comfortable, but the outside conditions were sufficiently safe for the crew's EVA suits.
IQ hovered farther away from the ship, scanning everything. He didn't see anything nearby he would consider dangerous or harmful. He roamed over a mile away from the Argo, reporting in every ten minutes with a summary of what he had found since his last check-in. Nothing truly unusual struck him until he came to a clearing half a mile from the ship.
IQ logged it and reported back to the ship. His message read, "I found something of interest."
His message sent, he headed back quickly, the strangely marked rock face that now towered behind him slowly disappeared into the jungle-like undergrowth.
"There's a tomb out there? Are you serious?" Wildstar exclaimed as he and the rest of the team suited up to go outside. "How can you be sure about that? It doesn't make any sense."
"This could be a piece of another planet," the robot offered.
"Yeah right. What world? Gamilon?" Wildstar quipped.
"That is a distinct possibility," replied IQ. "Or it could be a piece of a world that has been dead for hundreds of years. There is no way to know much about it without future investigation."
"We're… going in?" one of the other crewmen asked, looking unnerved at the prospect.
"Yeah, Royster," Wildstar turned to the squeamish guy, "Of course we're going in. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"I think I lost it somewhere under my bunk. Or maybe I left it at home," Royster replied, trying to disappear behind Sandor as he said it.
"Come on," Sandor stopped the short science team member from trying to scurry off, "We won't be gone long, and I'm sure there isn't anything left in that tomb that can harm anyone."
"You're sure?" Royster asked, his whiny voice screeching just a little.
"Yes, I'm sure," Sandor replied.
Derek muttered, "I hope he's not like this all the way there..."
"Okay…" Royster acquiesced. "Fine."
"Everybody ready?" Wildstar asked all gathered. His question was met with a chorus of affirmation. "Well, let's get going. The sooner we get outta here, the sooner we can be back."
They set out towards the strange monument.
The hike was short and if they were on Earth, no one would have complained, but the high pressure – even high in Jupiter's atmosphere – was enough to leave them all huffing and puffing by the time they were half-way there. Even in their discomfort, once they reached the site, all thoughts of fatigue vanished and looks of awe and curiosity appeared on every face.
"So… how do we get in?" Wildstar stared at a tall door, long sealed.
"Maybe we should tell it we're friends and the door will open," offered Royster.
"Yeah, and I'm an Elf," quipped one of the other group members.
"Shut it, Clemens," Wildstar shot back at the offender then to the science officer he said, "Sandor, any ideas?" The XO didn't reply right away and Derek turned to look at the man and was surprised to see him staring at the rock face. "Sandor?" Derek tried again.
This time the man stepped towards the entrance, suited hand outstretched. Without a word he touched the stone edifice.
Nothing happened.
"You okay?" Derek tried one more time to get through to the strangely entranced science officer.
Instead of replying, Sandor moved his hand from the center of the door to six indented points placed at intervals around the center.
Nothing happened.
Derek was reaching for his pack when, from the middle of the door, a shaft of light blazed to life. Wildstar threw a hand up to shield his eyes. Gradually, more light began to emanate from the door and streaked from one indentation to another, creating a six-pointed star.
Sandor whispered, "A Shield of David? On Jupiter?"
No one replied to his query. They were all too busy staring at the door as it slowly began to rise from the ground, opening the tomb. It rumbled to a stop as the bottom point of the star disappeared into the door track.
"Alright, Clemens, you and Harrison stay out here, just in case something unexpected happens." Wildstar looked at the two men in turn, "Got it?"
"Sure, Wildstar," Clemens replied. "We'll let you know if anything happens."
"Alright. Let's go in. Everyone have their lamps ready?" In response a host of artificial lights flickered on. "Great. Don't want anyone getting lost in here. Find a partner and keep in radio contact at all times." Wildstar paused, then continued, "And remember, your handhelds are your friends. Scan everything with them. I'm sure Sandor will have a great time later going through everything we find. Let's move out. Meet back here in an hour."
The group scattered into the tomb, most moving cautiously into the unknown.
Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed Sandor walking straight into the thick darkness. Derek hurried after him muttering to himself, "I guess I'm stuck with him for this one." Through the radio he called out to the science officer, "Hey, where are you going?"
Wildstar stumbled through the darkness, looking this way and that, trying to see what lay beyond the light of his lantern. The air turned misty and a chill ran up Derek's spine. Shadows played at the edges of his light.
Sandor stopped just ahead of Wildstar. Derek raised an eyebrow at the other man as he stepped into a cavern. The doorway was circular and looked hand-carved instead of naturally formed. Derek followed the science officer and stepped inside. Light from Sandor's lantern shone all through the room, refracted through crystals lining the walls. Instead of haphazardly dispersing the light, the beams coalesced into the center of the room, which Wildstar now realized was also circular.
Wide-eyed, Derek stared at the last thing he expected to see, a stone altar. On it were carved symbols. Their shapes were foreign to him. "S – Sandor, can you read that?" Derek pointed to the writing.
"Don't know," the science officer replied and stepped up to the altar. He studied the symbols intently. "It's in a form of ancient Hebrew."
"So can you read it?" asked Wildstar, still standing just inside the room's entrance.
Sandor took a deep breath and sighed, "No, unfortunately not…" he continued to stare at the altar, "I think I can make out one word…" he squinted at the symbols, "Remind…. Remember… Remembrance…"
"What? So this person's tomb is about remembering something?" Wildstar asked.
"This is no tomb; a place of great sadness, perhaps, but not a tomb." Sandor documented all of the writing and circled the strange room. As he did, the light danced with him, lightening the sense of sadness and melting away some of Wildstar's anxiety.
"Wildstar!" The radio crackled in Derek's suit helmet, "We've got a problem out here!"
"What's going on?" Derek barked back.
"Looks like a Gamilon scout group heading our way – they've seen us!"
The sound of laser-fire cut through the mic.
"Everyone out! Now!" Wildstar ordered the entire party. "Weapons ready; we've got company coming."
Sandor took one last look around the crystal-lined room.
"Come on. We have to leave right now," Derek insisted.
"Just a moment," Sandor held up a hand and stared at a crack near floor on the far side of the room.
"We don't have a moment," Derek reached out to grab the XO and haul him out when Sandor dashed to the crack and reached down to pick something up. He shoved the small item into an outside pocket and zipped it closed.
"Let's go," the science officer brushed past Derek on his way through the opening.
Wildstar wrinkled his forehead at Sandor's back as the other man hurried toward the entrance. Deciding the XO's odd behavior wasn't important for the moment, Wildstar rushed after him.
"They came outta nowhere. One minute it was quiet out here, then Harrison says he sees somethin' out in the brush. I thought was just some wind, but then those guys pop up and start tryin' to fry us like eggs in a skillet."
"You don't have to apologize, Clemens, just don't get killed on the way back to the ship." Wildstar replied as he crouched next to the former Marine, the rest of the group huddled behind them.
"Yeah, I think I can do that," Clemens replied, staring through his weapon's sights at the oncoming enemy.
"Alright, now all we have to do is figure out a way to distract them while we get out of the area." Derek looked around, wracking his brain for some way to do this without getting himself or anyone else toasted.
"I have an idea," Sandor's voice interrupted Derek's thoughts. "But I'll need everyone's help to do it."