Two weeks of double portals, including leaving relays behind for the first ten days, slipped past in routine. Training and days off blurred together as a sense of easy peacefulness lay over the ship and crew. It was only during the last couple of days, when they left inhabited systems behind to detour toward the strange signal, that people began to feel antsy. The unknown always caused uneasiness and worry, even among non-humans, but some also felt a sense of wonder and hope amid the rising stress.
One jump out from the mystery system, Veldiami called an officer meeting. Ping, Sage, Zander, Vorsa, Gravtemo, Gravtina, and Lozat joined Veldiami in the briefing room off the bridge. Zander hadn’t been in it until that moment. It was basically a meeting room with a large table surrounded by chairs. The only difference was that the table was a holographic display to share all the information they had.
“I had us pause last night so we’re able to jump in and out without stressing the ship if needed,” Veldiami said. “Dreams, would you give the briefing on what we know?”
“As you wish, Captain,” Dreams said. “Sadly, we don’t have much information. Assembly Eyes, the scout ship, entered the system as they did their job scouting for habitable worlds off the normal pathways. No habitable planets in the system, and they were about to jump out when they got a bunch of random noise across their scanners. They had to scrub the noise before they could get their systems clear for the jump out. That did let them know the noise was closer in toward the star, but since it was not a signal they recognized and their brief movement in caused the interference to begin to strengthen again, they pulled back and left to report it.”
“Can we deal with the noise that gave them problems?” Vorsa asked Ping.
“Our system is more robust than a scout's, and Dreams is far more advanced,” Ping said.
“It’ll depend on what the signal is and how it interacts and interferes with our scanners,” Dreams added. “Maker?”
“Thank you, Dreams,” Maker said. “I will be working with Dreams to deal with whatever we find. Slow and steady will be the best way to push in toward whatever is making the signal.”
“If Maker is involved and Dreams is helping, then we should be fine,” Gravtina said.
“We’ll be going in ready for hostility,” Veldiami said. “Vorsa, make sure you and your subordinates are ready to defend the ship.”
“That does seem like a wise idea,” Vorsa agreed.
“Gravtemo, I’d prefer you be on duty when we enter the system,” Veldiami said. “We might need all of engineering on duty, though, to be safe. The scout had a lot of trouble and I’d rather we not have a lack of workers.”
“I’ll inform them and make sure we short-shift tonight so we’re all ready,” Gravtemo said.
“Ping, I’m going to have you on navigation. If Maker and Dreams are working on the signal, they will take comms. But I want my best pilot ready to pull us out if needed.”
“Yes, Captain,” Ping said.
“Lozat, we shouldn’t be anywhere near being boarded, but do ensure security is prepared for that unlikely outcome.”
“We will be, Captain,” Lozat saluted.
“I’ll have the pilots on standby,” Zander said before Veldiami turned to him. “I know it’s unlikely, but just in case mecha are needed, we’ll be ready to suit up. I’m just going to have us nearby, though, because if security is called for and not mecha, I’ll be heading to join them.”
“I’ll take the help,” Lozat nodded.
“I’ll be under your command if that happens,” Zander said, meeting Lozat’s eyes. “Not going to confuse your people.”
“Copy that.”
“Anything for me to do, Captain?” Sage asked.
“Pray to the Antecedents,” Veldiami said. “It’ll depend on what we find and need to do. It might just be ensuring people have food and drink if things aren’t immediately dangerous, but we need time to deal with things.”
“Understood.”
“That is what we know, but now I’m going to turn this over to Zander. Zander, tell us what you think the worst scenarios are. You’ve said you knew stories from your old universe that sounded similar to this.”
“It was all sci-fi horror,” Zander said, sitting back. “Fiction stories that were designed to terrify the reader or viewer. You sure you want me to make everyone here more on edge?”
“That is a good point. Anyone who’d rather go, now is your time.”
“Okay then,” Zander said when no one got up. “Nightmare fuel, here we come. The oldest and easiest would be a new race that will kill and eat everyone. From small stealthy critters to big and powerful. Either impossible to hit or they just shrug off anything we can use.”
“Everything can be killed,” Gravtemo said bluntly. “We’d just need to find what works.”
“Not in the stories I know, then again, we didn’t have half the tech the Antecedents left behind,” Zander said. “Next, the breeders. An organism that will implant its eggs into you in a variety of ways, from the known to the macabre. The best-known of these had an egg layer that would latch onto your face and shove its ovipositor down your throat, pushing the young into your stomach. A little while later, it would burst out of you, killing you. The older versions of the creature wore an exoskeleton and could shrug off our guns. Fire, sheer force, and vacuum were the best ways to kill them. Or as one character said, ‘Nuke them from orbit, it’s the only way.’ That’s not the real quote, but it gets the point across.”
“Nuke, that was your world’s weapons of atomic destruction, right?” Sage asked, having spoken with Zander about his past over the last year.
“Yeah, only a good anti-matter explosion would probably be better,” Zander shrugged.
“That’s less than desirable,” Gravtemo grunted.
“So are Xenomorphs,” Zander chuckled. “I really doubt we’ll find them, and if we do, I’ll be really quick to call for getting the fuck out and breaking out the biggest weapons we have to deal with any that come onto the ship.”
“That makes it sound like we find a ship,” Veldiami said.
“Most of the stories are about derelicts found floating in space,” Zander shrugged. “But those same stories often include finding a world we can explore, too.”
“Anything else?”
“Sure, could be a space phenomenon that no one has encountered and survived,” Zander said. “I mean, for my world, blackholes were a big one. Being stuck in an event horizon was a solid sci-fi story. No idea what you all might have stories of that I can’t begin to understand.”
“We have the known ranges of black holes,” Ping said. “The scout wouldn’t have mistaken one for something else.”
“Cross that off, then,” Zander said. “Honestly, I’d put money on a planet, planetoid, or ship. No habitable planets the scout said, but what about one that is dead?” Zander sat forward. “What about one that had Entoma from before the Assembly formed? One with a Queen even?”
That got everyone in the room to shift uncomfortably.
“A stranded Queen that is trying to get off the dead world and back to the rest of the Entoma,” Zander went on, his lips twisting into an evil little smile. “Wanting to lure in some Antecedent tech she can use to assist her escape.”
“That’s enough,” Veldiami cut in quickly.
“And that’s the kind of story that would sell back in my universe,” Zander sat back, chuckling. “The kind that makes your spine shiver with a bit of dread. The more realistic and doom-inducing the better.”
“I wouldn’t watch that,” Lozat shuddered.
“To be fair, the audience for those stories was rabid for them if they were good, but others stayed away from them,” Zander shrugged. “Not my favorite genre, but the classics were always good fun.”
The idea that a story of an Entoma Queen luring ships to their doom could be fun had most of the table side-eyeing him.
“Dismissed everyone. Be ready for tomorrow after breakfast,” Veldiami said.
Everyone started getting up and leaving, but Zander stayed put. Since he did, both Veldiami and Ping did too. Sage gave them a smile as she left with the others.
“Something to add, Zander?” Veldiami asked.
“I’m betting on a ship,” Zander said softly. “Could be a new race, or something Shifted maybe. But off the beaten path for who knows how long, it could be anything.”
“Even Antecedent tech,” Veldiami smiled.
“We’d know it if it was, unless something is really wrong,” Maker said. “Dreams and I will have a better idea the moment we hit the system.”
“I had suggested to Maker that we send a probe,” Dreams said. “She countered that if the scout ship had the issues that it did, then a probe would be overwhelmed instantly.”
“Pity,” Ping said. “It would be far less dangerous for a probe.”
“We are being paid well to figure it out, so we’ll deal with what we have to. You’re both sure we won’t be rendered floating dead?” Veldiami asked.
“My systems are far more robust than the scout. Theirs have sharper sensors, but mine are made to withstand attacks,” Dreams said. “It’s possible it was worse for them because of how delicate and sharp their sensors are.”
“Which I concur with,” Maker said. “The scout’s AI might have just been overwhelmed by too much all at once. With Dreams and me working together, I don’t think we’ll be as bad off as the scout was.”
“That helps some,” Veldiami said. “I do regret letting Zander give us Entoma stories.”
“Entoma stories…like ghost stories,” Zander chuckled as he stood up. “I did ask if you were sure.”
“Yes, and I should have reminded myself that you keep changing how we see things,” Veldiami muttered. “Do you really think a story about an Entoma Queen like that would be something people would watch?”
“Oh yeah, the people who want the thrill of danger would eat it up,” Zander grinned. “I’m sure Maker can mock something up.”
“AI stories, Zee,” Maker snickered, bringing up a complaint Selda had before the shift.
“She would have hated that,” Zander said softly. “But you’re more than what our AIs were. Far more.”
“What?” Ping asked.
“Well, it’s a lot to unpack,” Zander said. “If you’re interested, why don’t we use the captain’s lounge to relax while I try to explain it?”
“Something distracting does sound good,” Veldiami smirked.
“Until tomorrow, then we’ll all be on edge and ready to go,” Zander said as he led the way.