Frozen Soul, and other works: Chapter 215

(Unidentified Ship, Beta Darconyx System)

Beta Squad stalked forward, their weapons raised and at the ready. Lieutenant Sharel wasn’t sure what was worse, the interminable darkness, or the fact clearly something very bad had happened to this ship. The maintenance tunnels had atmosphere, of a sort, but they were filled with argon, basically making it impossible to breathe. Working theory was that it was either what the builders of this ship actually breathed, or it was deliberate design to prevent fires. They simply didn’t have enough data to be sure.

That they were in ‘maintenance tunnels’ that allowed them all to stand comfortably, when the main tunnels were insanely tall, was discomforting. She didn’t know what about it made her uncomfortable. Maybe this was ‘normal’ for the aliens, but they needed the main corridors bigger, for equipment. But what could they need to move that was so large?

“LT, we found another hatch, heading further into the ship. Looks like it has power, too.”

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, grateful for the distraction. There was no use getting lost in those weeds, just yet. Her team needed to see that she was on top of things. They had a job to do, and they were relying on her to help them do it.

“All right. Singer, you get to be first through the door!”

She was not surprised to hear Singer’s voice come through over the comms. “Aw, c’mon, LT! Why you gotta do me like that?”

Fortunately (for Singer), Qinren spoke up before she could. “Because you say shit like that, dumbass. Seriously, it is like you’re begging her to pick you. This isn’t one of those kinky things you don’t want to explain, is it? Because I had all I could take of that the time you started talking about your tentacle predilections.”

“Hey! It isn’t my fault! My Uncle was half-Japanese, and told me those videos were important cultural touchstones!”

“All right, that’s enough. There will be plenty of time to kink shame Singer later, assuming he doesn’t die from having my foot rammed up his ass. Which is what is going to happen if he doesn’t get through that door in the next ten seconds!”

Singer evidently didn’t want to test whether she was engaging in ‘friendly banter’ or was being deadly serious, because he stopped playing around immediately, and got serious, as did all her guys. Just like she knew they could. That was why she put up with some of their… ‘interesting’ ideas of discipline. The jokes kept morale up, but the team knew when it was time to stop joking.

The team stacked up to either side of the hatch, and Singer stood in front of the door, weapon raised and ready, just in case anything nasty was on the other side. From his place next to the door, Qinren hit the door control, and the alien door slid down into the floor, just like the last one did. They were expecting another dark corridor. Maybe another crackle as the forcefields held atmosphere in place. They were not ready for what they found.

Light flooded the tunnel. It was a dull, blue-white light, like something you’d see in one of those bars that catered to a clientele that came from planets where the star was a very different color from Earth’s. The light wasn’t any brighter than the normal lighting levels you found on many ships, but after the kilometers of absolute darkness, punctuated only by their suit lights, it was blinding.

Which is why it took the team a second to notice the body lying on the floor. It was humanoid, almost two and a half meters tall, with pale white skin and a bald head. It looked… almost human, save for the size, and the fact that it had a glowing orange gem on its skin, just below its neck. It was wearing a white one-piece outfit, which somehow combined a high collar, long sleeves, and cutting off just below the tops of its thighs, like a miniskirt, and made it all work. Actually, if the shape of the outfit and what remained of the body were anything to go by, ‘it’ was actually a ‘she’.

Recovering from her shock at seeing a dead body in the room, she looked around, and saw more and more reasons to be concerned. The room was small, certainly compared to the size of the body in the room, only being four meters on a side. That was another thing. This was the first room they’d found that was cube-shaped, instead of hexagonal. It looked like some kind of storage closet, and the door opposite the maintenance hatch showed clear signs of being blockaded. It even looked as though it had been crudely welded shut in places.

She quickly decided that she did not like the picture that this was painting in her mind, and could see that the others were starting to see the same picture. They needed something to distract them. “Qinren, atmosphere report. Gomez, give me an analysis of that door. Thanda, see if you can figure out anything about the body, especially cause of death. Singer, don’t touch anything. And Alvarez, let everyone know what we’ve found. Keep them up to date.”

Qinren was the first to report. “Atmosphere reads as 78% Nitrogen, 10% Oxygen, 10% Carbon Dioxide, 1% Argon, and trace amounts of other gasses, including tetryon particles. Pressure is two kilopascals higher than standard. Humidity is 92%. Temperature is 39.1 degrees Celsius.” He paused, and then said, “Ma’am, recommend everyone stays suited up. While there is oxygen, the CO2 levels are lethal, literally.”

“Lieutenant, this door is blockaded pretty well. It looks like one of these shelves thrown in front of the door was an engineering locker. Whatever they have that passes for welders did a good job on the door, sealing large pieces of metal across the door. The locker itself has also been welded in place across the door. But I’m showing signs that someone or something damaged the door from the other side. There are visible dents in the material.”

“LT, I can’t say for certain without getting the body to the Hammer and getting the machines in the infirmary to give me a full series of tests, but if this lady was anything like us, then I have a preliminary cause of death. Likely to be severe carbon dioxide poisoning. Not seeing any other visible signs of airborne toxins, disease, or injury. However, given the way everything else on this ship is falling apart, I would have expected the body to be in a more advanced state of decay. Instead, it looks like it was just sleeping.”

“Lieutenant, all other squads are reporting in. They’ve found maintenance tunnels as well, but they haven’t found any bodies so far. Most of the ship appears to be completely without power, and without atmosphere.”

Sharel took a deep breath as the reports came in. “All right, everyone definitely stay buttoned up. Qinren is right, those CO2 levels are way too high for us to be dealing with right now. Looks like our alien here blockaded herself in this room, probably to escape someone who was chasing her, and was trapped between whatever was on that side of the door, and the maintenance shaft filled with equally unbreathable air. So, she breathed herself to death. Not exactly the greatest way to go out, but not the worst, I guess. But, all this suggests that there were indeed boarding actions when the ship was attacked, whenever that happened. So I want everyone on alert.”

“LT, I’m getting a… I don’t know how to describe it. Some kind of psychic resonance from that gem. I think I might be able to try and reach out and contact it.”

Sharel frowned as she considered Raleda’s comment. Each squad of the Black Star Marines had at least a couple people who were able to freely use psy powers. However, even if one had the talent for psy powers, the general consensus was that combat powers did not scale far enough, fast enough, efficiently enough for them to be of significant use on the battlefield. Firearms and explosives simply did too good a job on the open field. In single combat or room-to-room urban warfare, however, the situation was a little more even-keeled.

Setniko Raleda was a knelfi, and one of the people recruited by Black Star following the initial successes they had during the Imperial Civil War. He was one of two psy-capable Marines in her squad. His specialty, if she remembered right, was in mental psy, with a definite focus in defensive measures, but he was also one of the rare people who developed technopathic powers. The combination of the two made for some ‘interesting’ situations from time to time, as the sergeant could sometimes swear that the machines were actually talking to him, even when they didn’t have an AI program.

So, when he was saying that there was a psychic resonance coming from the strange alien’s even stranger glowing gem, she wasn’t going to gainsay him. Of course, just because there was a resonance, didn’t mean that it was going to be anything approaching the word ‘safe’. Given the situation, she wouldn’t be surprised if this was as far from ‘safe’ as it was possible to be without waltzing through an active firefight bare ass naked.

Her first response was to kick the decision up to higher. The potential risks of interfacing with an alien mind, or an alien machine, with one’s brain was not something to take lightly. On the other hand, this could be their best chance of getting actual data about what happened to this ship, and its crew. She could definitely kick it up the chain of command, but she knew how that would play out. Those up the chain would support her either way, because she was the ‘boots on the deck’, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t affect her career if she went calling home every time she needed to make a decision.

They would support her either way, but the Black Star company needed this information. They couldn’t prepare defenses if they didn’t know what was out there, after all. Getting threat assessments and intelligence on current and future threats was a key part of preparing for the next battle while you were still fighting the first one. Still, she didn’t want to just throw one of her men to the wolves, without letting him (and the rest of the squad) know the score.

Looking at Raleda, she said, “You know that we have no idea what that system might do to you, or if your defenses can even hope to stand up to it, right? Which means that, I’m going to have to have the rest of the guys ready, fingers on the triggers. And, at the first sign of you getting compromised or taken over, I’m going to have to have to order them to put you down like a dog, so that you don’t become a threat to the team, or to Black Star.”

Raleda nodded slowly. “I understand, ma’am. But the possibility of finding more about this ship, and what happened to it, is worth the risk, in my opinion. If their weapons are even half as impressive as their hull is, then we could be sitting on a real game-changer. And, if this is some kind of ‘black box’ for the ship or its crew, then we may be able to learn all kinds of things, both about the ship’s builders, and their enemy.”

Sharel took a deep breath, and then said, “All right. I understand where you are coming from, and I approve, unless higher authority countermands me. I won’t make this an order, and I’ll take it up with the General about you going ‘above and beyond’ for this. Take ten minutes to prepare yourself, and anything else you need, and then we’ll begin.”

I turned to look at Alvarez. “Let everyone know the plan, and inform me if anyone comes out against what is happening. We might be boots on the deck, but that also means we can’t always tell what the strategic situation is.”

Alvarez just nodded once, before replying, “The General and Admiral both concur. You are cleared to proceed, provided everyone knows the risk. Anyone not willing to go through with it if Raleda is unable to maintain control should retreat to the maintenance shaft.”

She nodded once, and looked to her men. “All right, people. You heard what the deal is. Now, if you aren’t willing to shoot your friend if he becomes possessed or gets taken over by an alien entity, step outside. Sorry, but that’s just how it has to be.”

No one moved. Everyone knew the score. She sighed, and looked to Raleda. “Let us know when you’re ready.”

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Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J

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