The system search had been a dud. After spending close to a week surveying the
planets and their many moons, the crew had come to the conclusion that there
was nothing that they could discover among them, at least not safely.
One of
the gas giants had a series of a couple of dozen moons, one of which was large
enough to support regular life, and indeed, it had a passable oxygen-nitrogen
atmosphere. There were what might have
been structures on its surface, long eroded and gone into disrepair – or might
have been old hills, hollow and pockmarked.
Despite the atmosphere, the radiation levels on the moon would have been
downright deadly to any of the crew, and they didn’t have any atmospheric
probes handy.
The
rest of the worlds were quiet, and free of any detectable life-forms. Given that the ship was not well equipped to
land and take-off from anywhere with appreciable gravity, more direct
exploration was not in the cards. Thus
they had returned to the outer reaches of the system, hovering near the spiky
ball of a hyperspace gate and the strange, oblong structure that they were all
referring to as a space station.
Ahrottl
and Gerry were pouring over the records that the drone had produced of the
station. The structure was one and a
half cubic kilometers in volume, rectangular and blocky, and made of what
appeared to be a nickel-iron alloy. The
probe had discovered large spaces on one side that suggested docking bays, and
several darkened circular panels that might be ports. Visible light would not penetrate them – at
first – suggesting shutters.
The
remarkable thing, however, what had them excited, was that after making a few
passes around the station, the probe had noted power output in the form of
visible lights. Reviewing the holo
records, the crew had originally noted whitish lighting flooding the docking
bays, and some of the circular panels on the outside of the structure.
Ahrottl
manipulated the image of the glowing panel, wiggling her whiskers in
frustration. It looked like there was
the ghost of an image inside of it. “I
swear, Gerry, I think they’re windows.”
Gerry
nodded. “At first I thought that they
might be guides or warning lights, but I can see what you mean. Tommy, can you bring the probe around to one
of them?”
“Yes
sir. It will take a few minutes.” Tommy replied. They continued to turn the images that they
had every which way, examining them idly while they waited.
“So
what do you think?” Ahrottl asked.
Gerry
shrugged and pushed his glasses up his nose.
“I still don’t think we should go inside, if we find a way in. Sending the probe in would be safer.”
“Would
you let an alien probe into your space station?”
“Would
you let a bunch of aliens into your space station?” Gerry retorted. “I wouldn’t, unless we’d established some
kind of communication. We’re receiving
no signals from it yet, at least none that we’ve been able to identify. It looks like the lights are on, but nobody’s
home.”
They
watched as the probe scanned the surface, occasionally coming across strings of
the unfamiliar script. “What if they
don’t try to contact us?” Ahrottl asked.
“Then
we try and have the AIs contact them.
Failing that, we send a probe inside, if we can. Then…”
“The
probe has arrived at one of the windows.”
Timmy pointed out. Given the
image that was now showing, no one was questioning his use of the term.
The
circular port seemed to be roughly two meters in diameter, and a soft
whitish-yellow light was being emitted from within it. Ahrottl and Gerry could see clearly inside –
what appeared to be beige, tiled ceramic floor, and what could only be
high-legged and high-backed couches.
“I
don’t think that we’re going to be hearing from them.” Gerry said in a raspy voice. He took a shuddering sigh, and Ahrottl
stilled at what he was pointing out.
As the
perspective of the image shifted, she could see figures splayed out across the
floor. None directly beside the window,
but further in, where she could make out what was probably the juncture of a
corridor. Bodies, almost certainly. Two long arms, two long legs, trunk, and a
head. To Ahrottl they looked like…
“Humans? Are those humans?” She asked in wonder.
Gerry
squinted. “No, they can’t be. It doesn’t make sense.”
“But it
does look like humans.”
The
door of the bridge slid open. Maria,
shaking sleep from her eyes, stumbled out.
“What’s this? Ohhhhhh…” Her gaze followed theirs to the images on the
holo from the probe. “They look like
Vessels.”
Both
Ahrottl and Gerry turned around to her with quizzical looks. Vessels, in the context off humanoid beings,
was the term used for the vat-grown bodies that the Awakeners employed. Bereft of sentience and self-will, these
husks were used as transportation and tools to manipulate the environments of
their fungal creators. They resembled
humans and Zig closely with a few key differences.
“You’re
right. Their knees look like they bend
the other way.” Ahrottl pointed out.
“Unless
someone was trying to hobble them.”
Gerry added.
“They
don’t look decomposed. Could this have
been recent? What happened in
there?” Maria asked. “They sure don’t look like they’re sleeping.”
“Considering
dried circulatory fluid on the floor and walls, I’d have to agree.” Mother Sueprior said primly. “As to age of the bodies, we won’t be able to
tell unless we examine them more closely.”
Maria
shuddered and Gerry grimaced. Ahrottl
stayed stilled, but for her whiskers, which were making furious figure-eights
as she thought. “Could this be an Awakener
experiment gone wrong?”
“Hull
metal composition is similar to Awakener make.
There is no other indication of their indigenous technologies,
however. The lighting, for instance, is
far brighter than is their preference.”
Mother Superior supplied.
“Also,
the Awakeners aren’t exactly known for resorting to physical violence. The similarities may be coincidental.” Maria noted.
“Maybe.” Ahrottl was unconvinced, though. Something was bothering her about the
scenario. “Should we check the other
ports? Maybe we’ll see some activity.”
“Doubtful.” Mother Superior said. “Remember, the lights on the station were off
from the time we arrived until when the probe made its first close sweep,
approximately four hours after we departed for the inner system. I would say that it’s likely that we will see
similar scenes, or no activity at all, in the other ports. It is best for us to search and examine,
though. Tommy? Please move the probe to each of the
available ports in turn.”
The
five of them watched, mostly in silence, as other windows offered similar
views. A collective gasp rose as they
witnessed one rise into view with a figure leaning against the glass, trails of
dried, crusted blood smeared beside it as though it was attempting to claw its
way out into the vacuum. Maria spoke up.
“I’ve seen
enough. We know… we know something
happened. Shut it off, would you?” The holo vanished. All three organics looked at each
other. Maria got up and moved to sit on
Gerry’s lap, and Ahrottl scooted over next to the chair, leaning against her
knees.
“What
do we do?” Gerry finally asked, his
voice cracking.
“Try
and send a probe in.” Maria said.
“What
if that doesn't work?” Ahrottl asked.
Gerry
pursed his lips until they turned white.
“We try the gate.”
“We
have no idea how to use it successfully.
It could have killed you – or all of us – last time.” Maria said, frowning.
Gerry
shook his head. “If you want to walk
into that-“ he foundered for a word.
“Abattoir.” Ahrottl supplied. Both of them gave her blank looks. “Slaughterhouse?”
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