Chapter 44: Discovery

Jem’s head snapped up at that last comment. “Quon, please confirm your last statement. Did we just find another Baglogi Star Cruiser?”

“Confirmed. At this range, the condition of the vessel is unknown,” replied Quon.

Jem was on her feet by now. She studied the map of the system with renewed interest. “Quon, any other vessels in the system?”

“Negative, Commodore,” replied Quon.

“We now have a reason to enter the system. Take us closer to the vessel,” replied Jem. This was the only other Baglogi vessel we found, other than the one on Yastri three. The entire Baglogi race was all but extinct.

“Confirmed,” replied Quon. Our vessels moved into the system.

“Commodore, it could be a trap. I recommend any communications with the vessel be via a surrogate probe, until we are certain of no risk to our vessels,” I said. Jem turned to me. We had been on the wrong end of deception more than once. I did not want us to get caught again.

“Agreed. Quon, Ship, you heard the Commander,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Quon.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

We continued to approach the asteroids. The nearby probes sent us more detailed scans of the vessel.

I stood up and walked over to where Jem was standing. “Ship, please configure a probe as a surrogate probe. Direct it to uncloak and assume the image of another Baglogi Star Cruiser.”

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Ship, the other probes are to continue exploring the system, and be prepared to form a perimeter defence. We may be here for a while,” I ordered. Jem slowly nodded her head. If it looked too good to be true, assume a trap.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

Jem’s facial expression was telling me to continue. “Ship, using the surrogate probe, hail the other Baglogi vessel,” I said.

“Confirmed. Hail sent ... I received a remote override protocol. You decommissioned that protocol, so it had no effect,” said Ship.

“Good!” replied Jem. Both Jem and I breathed a sigh of relief. Laine and Mina wouldn’t understand. I’d explain it to them later if they asked about it.

“Ship, can you communicate with the vessel’s AI and explain we are friendly and can render aid? It shouldn’t be so difficult,” I said.

“Confirmed. Please stand by,” said Ship.

We waited for about two minutes. Jem paced back and forth. I wondered why it took so long for AIs to communicate. Perhaps it was the extreme distances, or the relay through the surrogate probe.

“I have established dialog with the AI. I request authorization to share some of our history to convince it of our good intentions,” said Ship.

I looked at Jem and she shrugged. “Ship, you are to share with the other AI as much as you need to achieve your goal. Please hold back on the technology improvements for now,” I said.

“Confirmed. Please stand by,” said Ship.

“Why not share the improvements?” asked Laine.

“Because it could use them against us. We need to trust this AI before we teach it how to weaponize nano-bots.” Laine gulped. She had seen before how devastating the nano-bots were.

I turned back to the tactical display. “Quon, anything else detected in the system?”

“Negative commander,” replied Quon.

A few more minutes passed as we approached the asteroids. Jem studied the tactical display for updates.

Then we got a response from Ship. “Attention, I have progress to report. The AI has now accepted us as friendly and requests our aid.”

“Excellent work! Do you have a high degree of trust in this AI?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Then explain the surrogate probe. Discontinue the surrogate probe, and you and Quon are to both uncloak. Please apologize for our precautions to the AI,” I said.

“Confirmed ... The AI understands your prudence,” said Ship.

“Can you network in the AI?” asked Jem. In normal operations, all vessel AIs in a system or in a task force were networked together.

“Confirmed. Please stand by,” said Ship.

“Hello, I am the AI of the Baglogi Star Cruiser. My designation is Tal,” said the AI in Baglogi. Quon conveniently put a transcript in Ori on the tactical display so those less fluent in Baglogi could follow the discussion.

I looked to Jem. I figured it was up to her to make first contact.

“Greetings Tal. I am Commodore Jem. We were on patrol and discovered your vessel in this system. What is your status?” said Jem in Baglogi.

“Hostiles damaged our vessel. We escaped and the hyper drive failed as we arrived at this system. It is beyond my capacity to repair. I fabricated stasis capsules for the crew, and hid in these asteroids,” replied Tal.

“Understood. How many of your crew are in stasis capsules?” asked Jem.

“Over two centuries ago, five crew went into stasis. One unit has since failed. Four remain viable,” replied Tal.

“May we bring over a shuttle and transfer your crew to our vessel, where we can revive them. You can observe over your network link,” said Jem.

“That is acceptable. I can restore life support ready for your visit,” replied Tal.

“Thank you. We will deploy maintenance bots to assess your damage and work out a repair schedule,” said Jem.

“Thank you Commodore,” replied Tal.

“We will be there in a shuttle soon,” said Jem.

Jem turned back to face us. “We are to rescue and revive the crew, then repair the vessel. I need your help to make it happen.”

I nodded. “Quon, please find out the power requirements for those stasis capsules. Equip the shuttle to bring them over here,” I said.

“Confirmed. I recommend you take them to Ship, it has a larger medical facility,” replied Quon.

“Agreed. Ship, once you get the specs on the stasis capsules, prepare to receive them and handle the revival process,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Commodore, last time with the princess, it took several days to revive her. When the crew awake, they will react best to another Baglogi,” I said.

“You look as Baglogi as I do. I suggest you brush up on your Baglogi,” replied Jem with a smile.

“Yes Commodore,” I said. I didn’t argue with her.

“Attention, the shuttle is ready,” said Quon.

“Brian, let’s suit up and fetch the stasis capsules. Laine, please see what you can do with the repair efforts. Mina, please monitor the system for unwelcome visitors,” ordered Jem.

I stood, and we left the main bridge. We put on our away team uniforms and made our way to the shuttle bay. I took the pilot seat and Jem sat in the copilot seat. Soon our shuttle exited Quon, and we traveled towards the damaged vessel.

The airlock on Tal was functioning, and we docked without incident. We entered, and after a moment, the inner door opened and we stepped aboard Tal.

“Permission to come aboard,” said Jem.

“Granted. Welcome. The stasis capsules are in medical,” said Tal. Being another Star Cruiser meant the floor plan was familiar, so we knew where to go.

“I built each stasis capsule on a grav sled, so you can move it with little effort. They have backup power cells to sustain them until you reconnect to power aboard your shuttle,” said Tal.

“Thank you Tal,” replied Jem.

We took the first stasis capsule and disconnected the power cord. Then we pushed it back to the airlock and into the shuttle. We moved it into the cargo area and reconnected the power.

“That went well. Three more to go,” I said.

“Yes,” replied Jem.

We returned and fetched each stasis capsule one at a time. We brought them into the shuttle, secured them, and attached power.

Once complete, I took the pilot’s seat and did my pre-flight checks. Jem remained with the stasis capsules.

“Tal, please transfer crew manifest, including medical information, to Ship,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Tal.

“We will now transfer them to the medical facility aboard Ship,” said Jem.

“Acknowledged,” replied Tal.

I undocked and pulled away from Tal. I steered out of the asteroids and over to Ship. The shuttle bay on the dreadnaught was huge!

Once inside, the outer doors closed, and the bay pressurized. Jem and I took the stasis capsules one at a time through to decontamination.

Next we moved the stasis capsules up to medical and plugged in the power. After that, Ship took over their care.

Jem wouldn’t leave the stasis capsules. They were her people. I left her to it. I stepped into the corridor.

I walked up to the main bridge. I got a coffee from the food dispenser and took a seat.

“Ship, please connect me with Laine and Mina. I assume they are on the main bridge,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. A window opened on the tactical display. I saw them both sitting there smiling at me.

“Hello!” I said. It felt strange being in separate vessels.

“Hello Brian,” said Laine. They both waved at me. “How is it going?”

“Ship is working on the stasis capsules. It will take several days. I left Jem watching over them,” I said.

“They will keep her focus, at least for the next few days. She has been without other Baglogi since her parents died,” said Mina.

“I agree. I think for a while she looked to me to fill that void, but I am a poor substitute,” I said. Laine nodded at that. Our recent experience reminded her I liked my time alone.

“We have little to do here. Quon and Ship are handling the repairs and system defences,” said Mina.

“It is a waiting game for now. Ship, please dock with Quon. Then Laine and Mina can join me over here,” I said.

“Confirmed. Docking in twelve minutes,” replied Ship.

“Thanks! Hey, could you bring over some of our fresh food supplies from Quon. We can try out the new galley in the main dining lounge here. When Jem comes up for air, she will appreciate sustenance,” I said.

“Will do!” said Laine.

“I’ve an idea for a fun project to do over here. Do you want to work on it together or would you like me to surprise you?” I asked.

“What would you prefer?” asked Laine, throwing it back at me.

“Tell you what, I will ask Ship to get it started, and you can join in later. It will be a team effort,” I said.

“That sounds good to me. We better go select the supplies,” said Laine. The window and the communications channel closed.