Chapter 6: The Ghost Ship

“It is crazy to think there is so little light out there,” Chuang commented.

“Yes,” Bekra commented as she watched the camera feed.

“If the Itreans have taken the Columbus, is the Paul Jones in any danger of being attacked by the Columbus?” Felix asked.

“We are pretty far from it,” Carlos answered. “There should be enough distance from Columbus to warrant a defensive response from the Paul Jones. The Kig is also here to provide some backup as well. I am more concerned about the cloaked ships, honestly.”

They could feel the shuttle’s rear engines begin to activate. They could feel a slight amount of constant acceleration being pushed onto them as the shuttle was heading toward the Columbus.

“You really think that the Aksren and Shal’rein are waiting to ambush us?”

“Well ... they found that one cloaked ship on the distant gas giant at Aphadus. I even heard some wild rumor that it was a traitor among one of the clans that helped reveal it. Yeah, the clans have cloaked warships. There could be one watching us right now. Before we reach the ship ... BAAM...” he exclaimed as he slapped his knee. “The cloaked ship attacks us, blows us to pieces, and then starts to attack the Paul Jones.”

“This would not be a typical way of attacking one of your ships,” Bekra explained. “The Aksren maybe ... but even then, cloaked ships are hard and expensive to produce and don’t have the same attack capabilities as our battleships. Even if they tried to do this, the Kig would still escape and warn the others about it. The UHN would be even more cautious about responding to unusual phenomenon, and the clans would fail to do it.”

“I am beginning to think that the crew has been kidnapped,” Felix said. “No way would a ship just remain idle like this for this long.”

“Didn’t we already discuss this before?” Zalika asked. “We are running around in circles, and this shit is just getting me spooked.”

“I agree,” Kole jumped in. “Mindless speculation on what is going on needs to end right now. This is just wasted energy.”

“Yes ... I agree,” Ruby said. “Can we please talk about something else?”

“Right...” Felix said. “How about some music? Get some beats going on in this bucket.”

“I hear you,” Darshit got into the conversation. “Anything to end the quietness of this.”

Kole decided to go ahead and interface with the shuttle’s systems. He tapped his arm keyboard interface as he could see a menu screen pop up. He was spending at least twenty seconds as he finally nodded.

“I found it...” Kole said as he tapped the button.

The moment that he did, some music began to kick in. Zalika recognized it as Cebravin rock music. The music was by something that she recognized immediately. It was a popular soundtrack that was made by one of the veterans of the destroyed UHN warship “Gabatrix.” It consisted of guitars, heavy singing, and a little mixture of rap and dance music.”

“Oh yeah,” Zalika nodded. “Fuck yeah, I love ‘Rampaging Comet Hound.’ I could never get enough of it. See? Chuang even enjoys it.”

Chuang nodded his head in agreement.

“You like this group?” Harper asked him.

“Yeah, man.”

“Happy man. I love this group too. Happy to see the marines adopted this as their main song.”

“Almost...” Zalika said, shaking her head. “Almost...”

Some people were nodding their heads to the beat. Darshit and Harper were almost singing the lyrics to the song as Hakizamana finally began to talk.

“Zalika ... from one Oshunian to another,” Hakizamana asked her. He seemed like he was ready to break up the lack of conversation. “I wonder. What continent were you born from?”

It was the first time that Hakizamana had ever really struck a conversation with Zalika that it almost took her by surprise. “I come from Mendelland,” Zalika answered.

“Ellena,” he answered back.

“You were lucky. Ellena has way more jobs available than Mendelland. Bullshit that they had all the tourism on Mendelland even though they keep the tourists away from the poverty-stricken areas.”

“You came from that area?”

Zalika nodded.

Hakizamana shook his head. “You wish to get into politics, Zalika?”

“Haven’t really considered it.”

“You should. Oshun needs good politicians. The ones that grew up in the worst will be the ones that make a difference.”

“Tsh...” Zalika said as she shook her head in return. “I would be the one that would be bought up by the industries in the end. I would be just like the corrupted.”

“You don’t know that. Somehow I would have a hard time believing that.”

“Well ... I am glad you have some faith in me. My first act of legislation would be free bear for everyone...”

Bekra could tell that Zalika was diverting the conversation away by making a joke. It was something that she took careful note of, though, as she looked at the two talking.

“I would vote for you,” Bekra said.

“Yeah, whenever that happens,” Zalika replied.

The conversation was something that spurned Chuang to ask a question as he looked at Adrian. His Chinese looking facial features was something that made him curious.

“Umm ... Adrian?” Chuang asked, directing his question at him. “Are you from Batrice?”

Adrian simply shook his head no.

“I think you will have a hard time trying to get him to talk,” Zalika commented. “Adrian is the only person who won a bet by having less than three words to say.”

“Then, where do you come from?” Chuang pressed his question.

Adrian reacted by looking at Harper and pointing his finger at him.

“Cebravis?”

Adrian nodded his head. His face and composure was something that seemed to peer into his soul. Finally, Chuang seemed to acknowledge what was told about him and decided to challenge him.

“Alright then...” Chuang said, shrugging his shoulders. “We play a game where we say the shortest sentence possible. Three seconds, come up with a sentence with no more than two words.”

Adrian seemed to wait patiently as one second went by and then two. Finally, he said it with a smile. “You lose.”

Chuang knew that he made it too easy for him as a few began to chuckle.

“Chuang,” Karine said. “You would have more luck in getting me laid than ever getting Adrian to talk.”

“Really?” Felix jumped in. “Now, that is something I will really have to try.”

“Speaking of which...” Karine said as she focused on Chuang hard. “Hey Chuang ... got anybody waiting for you from I am assuming ... Batrice?”

Chuang shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

“Virgin?”

He seemed somewhat embarrassed to answer the question. Cruz appeared to get a good kick from it.

“Hey!” Karine directed her anger at Cruz. “I am making sure that he is going to have a good time once we get done with this. More luck than you will ever have with me. What say you, Chuang? You ... me?”

Chuang looked at Karine closely. He was trying to figure out if she was serious or not. He could even feel his heart jump the moment that he heard it.

“Look at that face!” Karine smiled as he looked and pointed at him. “It gets men every time! You can always meet the true man every time you ask.”

Zalika was keeping a smile as she looked at him. “Yeah ... I see what you mean.”

Chuang seemed embarrassed at saying anything further.

“Don’t you worry,” Karine told Chuang. “I like the innocent shy man.”

“Karine...” Kole hinted at her to try to slow her down.

“Don’t worry, Staff Sergeant. I am just trying to keep his head up.”

“And more...” Felix added.

The rest of the cabin seemed to either chuckle or shook their head at the event. Chuang’s face seemed to turn a little bit red. For Zalika, she leaned back to her seat as she looked at Bekra.

“Are you doing alright?” Bekra asked her.

“How many times do you have to keep asking that? I am fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“You should listen to your girlfriend,” Cruz almost interrupted them.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zalika asked.

“Well ... I just noticed that there was very little activity last night from your barracks room.”

“And?”

“I just wondered with these nice little augmented ears how good I could hear the moaning going on in the forest.”

“Hey, fuck you!”

Cruz shrugged. “I swore I heard something going on out there. Sounds like the activity from Darshit and Ruby’s room.”

“Cruz...” Kole said as he sighed. Bekra could tell from him that it was like having to contain many kids who were getting rowdy.

Ruby shrugged and shook her head a little upon hearing it. Darshit almost put his hand to his helmet in disbelief.

“Yeah, and that is as far as you will ever get,” Zalika replied. “You should have gotten some augmented eyes. With the hearing, that is all you will ever get.”

“Cruz, I swear man, you are the incompetent lady’s man,” Karine said. “You should just go to the T’rintar ladies and just ask them that you are looking for one. I would suggest it further, but I would even wonder if they would take you or not.”

“Sorry...” Cruz explained as he smiled. “Not really into the whole ... going reptile sort of thing. I prefer the ... one night stand sort of variety.”

Bekra decided that it was best to stay out of the argument. She could feel a sense of prejudice that was coming from Cruz. His passive-aggressive comments and past actions had always suggested something more of his character than what it seemed. He just seemed mean to her and how he behaved, but at the same time, he would try to mask it a little bit with his jokes and not make it obvious.

The song ended as a new took its place from Kole’s album. It was a form of Cebravin swamp rock. There was a form of heavy rock guitar mixed with a minor combination of synth that mixed together. A few of the marines began to bob their heads, listening to the beat.

Chuang looked at the camera feed as the shuttle was getting closer to the Columbus. The ship was too dark to see, but there were a few lights here and there that were well lit. It gave some silhouette that could be seen in the darkness. Another thing that was happening was that as the shuttle was getting closer to it, the vessel’s mass was blocking the stars in the background. It was the only other hint that they were getting closer to it.

“It’s like going to a black hole...” Kole remarked as he looked at the camera feed.

“Staff Sergeant?” Chuang asked.

Kole simply took a deep breath as he remained entirely composed. “I assume you know what a black hole is, right?”

“Yeah, it is a collapsed star.”

“Well ... the idea is that you have a collapsed star that is in space. Its gravitational pull is so strong that light cannot escape it. Even radiation that it may seem to give off is pulled into it. What we see is ... nothing. Since it absorbs light, our eyes can’t track it.”

“Yet we can, though. I remember the science channel documentaries. Black holes have been photographed.”

“That is because it is pulling matter into it. The matter is undergoing friction, and you can see the light that is being generated before it is brought closer to the event horizon. That is also the radiation and electromagnetic waves that we pick up ... but there is one problem to it, though. What if the black hole was alone?”

“Then, there would be nothing happening.”

“Precisely. It would still be working as usual, but we couldn’t see it. The only way we could see it is if there was starlight, but if it is in the way of it...”

“Then we just see a big black ball,” Chuang answered.

“Yep.”

“Are you saying that the Columbus is a black hole?”

Kole almost started to chuckle a little bit, but he seemed to keep it reserved. “No ... no, Chuang. Just observation. I am just saying that the way the universe works if a black hole is knocked from its course in a galaxy, it would wonder the space between galaxies. There would be nothing for it to consume, and it would simply just be a starving black sphere until it finally finds something to eat. If you were traveling out in space, you wouldn’t even know that it was there until it was too late. Much like the Columbus, it is just hovering out there ... waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

“For us to check it out.”

There was nothing else said as Zalika heard it. The talking of the black hole was bringing her thoughts of what she saw in her nightmare.

“It was just like a black hole...” Zalika whispered. It was barely enough for Bekra to hear it, but her eyes looked at the dark mass ahead of her. She tried to chase away her thoughts, but Bekra helped break her thinking.

“Let me ask you, Chuang,” Bekra asked. “You said that you had a brother. Can you tell me more about him?”

“Yeah. I have one brother,” Chuang answered. “He serves the UHN as a pilot and engineer. I am the youngest brother by one year. He is stationed on Fort Batrice.”

“Wow, that big battle station?” Felix asked.

“Yes. He serves as a shuttle pilot.”

“And he never had any interest in joining the marines?”

Chuang shook his head. “Nah ... that was my job. I was into it a little bit, but I was pretty bored working on Fort Batrice. I wanted to work with guns and other good stuff. I had to join the marines ... basic training though ... phew...”

“Ha,” Karine added. “It only gets better from then on.”

“Attention, everyone,” the pilot interrupted the cabin. The music died down as her voice filled the area. “We are nearing the Columbus. We will be docking with the starboard entry hatch in about three minutes.”

Kole didn’t need to say anything as he went and tapped the button to end the music. A few marines seemed bummed out, but it was time to get serious.

Zalika was looking at the camera feed from the shuttle as it was aimed at the Columbus. A couple of searchlights from the shuttle began to scan the object ahead of the vessel. It was barely enough as she could make out the battleship closing in on the shuttle.

Even as the shuttle was getting closer and closer, barely anything could be made out. The battleship was too dark. What could be seen was a gray cylindrical vessel. It was a little bit smaller than the Paul Jones. One of the lights near the dorsal railgun turret was on, but they couldn’t see the ventral on top. There was another light near the centripetal ring, but it wasn’t spinning.

“If the ship has been taken over, are we in any danger of being shot down?” the Master Sergeant asked.

“It still might be a possible ambush,” Carlos answered. “Looking at it right now ... it just seems to be adrift. Even with emergency power, it wouldn’t be enough to fire the railgun before draining the cells completely. It could power the AIO turrets, however. Again ... telling it from here? It just seems unlikely.”

“What the hell happened on that ship?” Darshit asked.

“ ... I don’t know. It just seems to be dead.”

The shuttle’s nameplate could be seen as the camera focused on it. The light illuminated it to reveal the word “UHN Columbus” written in both English and Chinese near the hatch. The words “MBB-81” were written as well. Another light was scanning the ship’s sides and hull as the shuttle’s forward thrusters began to fire. It was slowing down more and more as it was nearing the fallen battleship.

“Everyone!” Uluwehi called out. “We are about to head into a possible contaminated area. I won’t remind everyone again. Check your O2 cyclers, and do not take your helmets off until I say that it is ok.”

“Alright, alright, man,” Cruz said with annoyance.

Every team member began to look at their wrist-mounted displays and keyboard. The clear visors had secured cleanly as the oxygen and air units activated in the armored suits. The communication headpieces all turned on immediately as they had to speak to each other through a mike and helmet headphones. A small series of dim lights lit up in the helmets so everyone could see each other’s faces.

Chuang, for the first time, had a chance to see the T’rintar Aksren helmet as her armor began to stretch outward. Much like how it was an extra layer of skin, the metal grew outward as it began to cover her neck and head. A series of glowing lights lit up near the eyes so that she could see through. The metal even closed around her crest as it covered up her beak, nose, and then her mouth. With that, she was entirely enclosed in her suit. It looked like you would need some of the best cutting equipment the UHN had just to get into it.

“Final comms check,” the Master Sergeant ordered.

One by one, each of the marines said the words “Check.”

Chuang felt nervous. At first, looking at this might have been some cause for celebration. To have a mission and action on the first day of arriving on Eutera was a level of excitement, but he also could feel his nerves begin to kick in. The Columbus was an ominous sight to behold. It was seemingly a ghost ship. No effort was made by the vessel to contact them. It was nothing but pure silence. There was no activity or any sign of life on it.

“No blast marks ... nothing,” Carlos commented. “Whatever happened, happened effectively.”

“You said that the only way to disable a ship was from the inside, right?” Chuang asked.

“Yeah ... unless the Itreans have some secret weapon available. Even if there was a bomb in that piece of debris, look at the shuttle bay doors.”

The camera was looking down the aft section of the Columbus as the shuttle’s vectoring thrusters was bringing it in for docking. One of the lights was focused on the massive starboard forward thrusters and starboard hangar bay doors. There was no sign of an explosion, but the doors were closed.

“Even if there were an explosion,” Carlos commented. “If you had a powerful enough explosion, it can rip the doors wide open. If there is an atmosphere in that bay, a nuclear explosion can tear the ship apart. Conventional explosives could still do heavy amounts of damage and yet ... nothing.”

“It at least warrants out explosive decompression,” Kole remarked.

“We haven’t had a chance to see the other side yet, but yeah ... at least from this viewpoint ... there isn’t too much of a sign of struggle.”

“Should we try to enter in from the hangar bay instead of the hatch?” Kole asked.

“Negative,” Carlos shook his head. “Judging from the lower power output, opening the doors would only drain the power reserves of the ship, plus ... do we know if there is even enough room to get in?”

Master Sergeant Wei shook his head. “No. The Columbus has both its shuttles. The bay might be able to hold three, but it will be way harder to push them.”

“In other words, we stay with our main goal,” Kole answered.

“We will be using our own power from the shuttle to connect to the hatchway of the Columbus. It won’t drain the reserve power of the warship.”

There were more tremors in the shuttle cabin as the vessel was in perfect parallel with the warship. The ship was at a full stop as it began to use its vectoring thrusters to stick with the massive hatch. Everyone inside was ready, though, as the shuttle had arrived.

“Master Sergent,” Uluwehi asked. “I recommend that after we get inside, the shuttle will disconnect and remain at a safe distance.”

“Your reason for that idea?”

“To limit any possible contamination. The pilot is already in her suit, but I don’t want to risk us taking anything in that we can transfer somewhere else.”

“Yeah, but what if there is an Itrean team ready to attack us?” Zalika asked. “We would be slowed down in our escape if the shuttle has to reconnect again.”

“It’s your call Master Sarge,” Kole told him.

He seemed to think about it as the older man looked at the camera feed. It didn’t take him long for the highest rank to reach a decision that felt the safest.

“Pilot,” Wei commanded. “I want you to disconnect the shuttle when our team gets in. I want you to remain 50 meters away until the Paul Jones or our team calls to reconnect. We can’t risk the threat of a contagion from getting loose.”

“Understood, sir,” the pilot replied. “Don’t worry. I won’t go anywhere unless told otherwise.”

The shuttle’s port hatchway was extending outward toward the starboard hatchway. Like a long rectangular tube, it was the vein between both vessels. The shuttle was seemingly tiny compared to the enormous battleship. The shuttle only had a length of about 25 meters compared to the battleship’s 300-meter size. Regardless, the shuttle had to be squeezed to an area where the starboard anti-missile turret was near the shuttle’s nose to make the perfect connection. Both vessels had to move at the same speed and trajectory or both not moving at all to ensure a safe docking.

The docking tube slowly extended until it made contact with the hull that led to the hatchway. The shuttle’s power core and computer’s accessed the hatchway lock. A small amount of air pressure was pumped into the tube as the tube’s door interconnected into one. The hatchway lock disconnected, but the door remained closed.

“Alright, everyone,” Wei announced. “You know of our current adjective. We will be going through the hatchway tube and securing the passageway of the hatchway. Once that is done, await further orders from me.”

“Aye!” Many of the marines called out as they undid their straps and began to stand up. Their magnetic boots clicked and held them to the deck as each marine readied their weapons and equipment.

Zalika, like many of the marines that had their M18s, had their guns pointed up. Each soldier was loaded to the maximum capability. In zero gravity, weight was no issue, only mass.

“Let’s do this,” Felix almost yelled.

Chuang had his armor at the reduced settings, but he had full control of his PDW-20c. With both hands, he had the gun cradled to himself. Essentially, the smaller gun did make sense for his load out. The other marines were bulkier with the M18s. Karine looked like a titan with the M19 grenade launcher. The guns alone took up such a large amount of room that the space inside the shuttle was fully being utilized. However, Chuang felt more at ease with what he had and still felt ready to do his job. Regardless, he always felt a small form of anxiety at the events that were transpiring.

“Safeties are still on until we get inside the Columbus,” Wei ordered.

“Yeah, Harper,” Felix joked, looking at him. “Remember that drill with the vehicle two weeks ago?”

“Ah, shut up,” Harper replied with a smile. “That was an accident, man, I swear.”

“Chuang, you are mine,” Zalika ordered. “I want you glued to me and Bekra at all times. I will not repeat it again.”

“Understood,” Chuang replied as he stepped towards them. He again remarked on the power armor that Bekra wore.

Bekra was calm as she kept her rifle stuck to her chest. She had one hand on the handle to ensure that it didn’t go anywhere.

Felix was busy looking at the data that was being displayed on his suit. It interfaced with the shuttle and the Columbus’s hatchway.

“Alright,” Felix said as he nodded. “We got a green light to the Columbus. Magnetic locks are perfect.”

“I am checking the medical scanners of the hatchway,” Uluwehi said as he was looking at his own data. “The scanners don’t pick up any harmful contagion, but that doesn’t mean anything. We can go ahead and go, though.”

“Then let’s move out,” the Master Sergeant said. He pressed a button near the hatchway door as air pressure equalized between the hatchway and the shuttle’s interior. This pulled some of the marines a little bit, but the magnetic boots anchored them in place.

The marine team was staring down the long rectangular hallway. It was the only separation between the void of space and inside, but the teams stood ready in their suits. The Master Sergeant was first as he aimed his M18 down at the hatchway. Felix was next as he kept his PDW-20 pointed at the hatchway.

The team, even with their numbers, all moved as one. Marines moved in two rows together in one formation as they kept their equipment and guns aimed away from one another. Zalika, Chuang, and Bekra were near the rear. The end of the column of soldiers finished up as the team cleared the shuttle’s hatchway door. The last thing that could be seen was Bekra’s armored tail before the door closed.

Only the sound of clicking boots could be heard with the faint sounds of breathing as the marines closed in on the Columbus’s hatchway. Felix then touched his keypad as he looked at the Master Sergeant. The older man gave the nod for the go-ahead.

With a simple button press, the hatchway opened to reveal a dark passageway. There were no lights on the inside of the ship. It was pitch black as the lead marines pointed their guns into the interior of the warship.

“Clear so far,” Felix said. “Switch to your night vision modes.”

With a simple click, all the marines helmets began to place an overlay on their terrain. Pitch black darkness became day as the marines could see correctly in the dark. The infrared scanners provided data that fed to the visors of the helmets.

What they could see was an empty crossway. There were no sounds that could be heard. The lack of power was daunting but not to a well-equipped team.

Zalika could see each marine like they were glowing. Their infrared and enhanced illumination allowed anything to be seen out of the ordinary from a certain range. Each marine stepped forward as their weapons powered up and began to aim at each point in the crossway. Using the walls as partial cover, they got to a good vantage point as they looked at each corridor’s direction.

“We are clear here,” Zalika said as she watched Bekra and her tail step past the open hatch of the warship. “We can tell the shuttle to depart.”

“Agreed. Do it,” Wei ordered.

Zalika went and tapped a few buttons on her arm computer. A channel opened up. “This is the Euteran Marine Boarding Team. All marines are on board. The shuttle is clear to go ahead and disconnect.”

“Roger that,” the pilot replied on the intercom. “God speed, marines!”

With that, the intercom closed. The hatchway closed up quickly as Zalika was watching out of a small transparent window. She could see that the air pressure was being moved away from the shuttle hatchway docking tube. Within less than a minute, the shuttle had fully retracted its hatchway and began to use its vectoring thrusters to keep it at a safe distance.

There was so little silence that it was unsettling for Zalika. Only the subtle sounds of breathing could be heard from the comms channel that was active on the helmet. There was no sound coming from the passageways. It was dead silence.

Ahead of Zalika was the crossway that led to the hatchway on the other side of the warship. She could go left or right as she saw the marines rush forward and establish a perimeter. The rest were close to either Kole or the Master Sergeant.

The moment that the marines pointed their weapons downrange, they would be powered up. The passageways alone in the warship were enormous enough to allow the room needed for the marines to move around quickly, even with their equipment. The M18s were pointed from the hip depending if the person was right-handed or left-handed. The gun’s camera systems would feed the information and display it to the marine’s helmet to show where the gun was pointing. You had no excuse for missing a target. Where the camera was looking at was where the bullet would go when you pulled the trigger. The displays on the M18s also showed a sensor and data display showing the number of rounds available to it and the gun’s condition. There was also an environmental display system that fed data to the marine as well.

Bekra went and took a position near the alcove. Her smaller size allowed her to get next to another marine and almost part herself next to their weapon. She had both hands on her rifle as she disconnected it from her armor and pointed it downrange. The rifle’s scope was also fed to her armor system. With her, she had her gun more upright towards her head to look through it. Her helmet also adjusted to the scene as it lit up everything that was too dark to see. In the darkness, only the red-lit slits glowed. If you were in pitch darkness and saw normally, you would have just seen red glowing eyes looking around.

Karine took center stage of the marines as she got directly in the center of the marines and aimed her large M19 down the long passageway towards the warship’s rear. The grenade launcher functioned very much like the M18 but was heavier due to the grenade rounds present.

Uluwehi was lightly armed. He only had an M80 pistol in his possession, but he also had a wrist computer that he was focusing on. His role as a medic was seemingly more important than anybody else. He was processing the data the sensors were giving to him. A display showed an empty corridor devoid of life.

“So far, I am not picking up any heat signatures other than ours,” Uluwehi commented. “Air pressure is ... normal. Air content is good. Temperatures are a little below than expected ... It is at 11 degrees Celsius. Scanners so far don’t detect any pathogens.”