Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 155 of 365. Sol standard year]
Days after of Crash landing/ 4
Uninhabited Island / Clearing of Escape Capsule # 405
Galactic Standard Time / After 1230
Jessie
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As they all gathered together, Jessie looked around at the group and nodded. With all six of them going down, they had a strong chance they would survive. He looked at what they had prepared to carry away the opening they would make, and he nodded. They were as ready as he could think of, they had one chance. As long as they could make it into the structure or ship, they would be able to do this.
He looked around and saw the rest of the deckhands all standing by, ready to help. The plan was that the rest would help open the structure or ship, and some would guard the back. If anything got by the six, then they would come into a kill box. This plan was
âAlright, this is it!â Duncan said as he looked at the six people before him. âAny last words before we start this thing?â
âYeah. It might not be an AI after all,â Dalila said with a scowl on her face.
Jessie blinked and looked at her, his mind racing. The idea that there wasnât an AI trying to break into the shield system opened up a question. What had been trying to hack into it? Because it had failed so many times, the system went into defense mode. That meant it needed a âhandshakeâ protocol to allow them to add tech. and because of that, the shield had been down. That had almost killed when those bear monsters attacked. But what was it? A real sentient being?
âWhat else could it be then Dalila?â Duncan asked, his voice hard.
Everyone watched as Dalila swallowed and took a deep breath.
âI think. It might be either an AI or a very smart stupid program. Maybe something that was connected to a random word generator to break into an enemy system. Systems in enemy borders,â Dalila said with a hard look around.
âAn automated program? That wouldâ¦.. could it be?â Jessie wondered as he held a hand over his mouth, his mind racing. He could see the tactical potential for that, and he had to admit he wanted one. âAre you saying, this thing might be trying to break in to listen to us?â
âThatâs the only other thing it could be instead of an AI. But it might be an AI with laws that say it canât talk to Aliens. But I thought I should bring up my fears,â Dalila said as she looked around. âWe have to be on our toes. We canât let anything trick us. We need to look over everything so that this thing wonât kill us. We canât let any preconceived thoughts affect our efforts down there!â
Duncan looked at them and then he nodded. âSheâs right, and it was a good thing that you brought that up. And because of that, Iâm changing your orders. Your new mission is this. Get down there, and find out what this thing is. After that, get back here. Do not go farther than you have to.â
Jessie nodded, his mind going down dark places. He looked around, seeing the weapons he had modified in the hands of the deckhands. They had everything ready, there was nothing that could go wrong. No matter what, they had planned for everything. He had even spent the last hour going over everything with Duncan. Together, the two of them had figured out everything that might happen.
âSo letâs cut into this thing!â Zevortro called out, holding his right arm up.
There was a roar from the other deckhands, and Jessie felt his heart beat faster. The unknown, the danger, he was reacting to it. It was time to go to war once again.
Jessie watched as Bryke and Zevortro pulled off their rifles, activated the blades and then they started to cut. Zee took a step backwards on top of the object and Bryke started at the bottom. Watching them cut into it and move, he felt a small spark of the old battle lust. The last year he had been on the Spirit was the most peaceful time he had ever had. But it was so peaceful he was starting to get antsy before the crash.
âYou okay?â Terra asked from his left.
Jessie blinked, having not heard her come up behind him. He mentally checked and scowled as he saw he still had his nanite enhancements offline. He was going down into an unknown ship or station, he needed them active. He closed his eyes and then turned them all on. He opened his eyes and saw that all of his augments were back online. He smirked as he saw everything, and felt the mental radar turn back on.
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âI am now. You ready?â Jessie asked and Terra nodded.
âI almost wasnât. Youâve been off your game,â Terra said softly.
âYeah,â Jessie said as he took a deep breath and blew it out. âMy enhancements were off. Yours on?â
Terra looked at him and then she shook her head before closing her eyes.
Jessie chuckled and then rubbed her head.
She batted it away and glared at her, but he saw the relief in her eyes. Then they clouded and she sighed.
âI never told you why I joined the ship, did I?â Terra asked, a somber tone in her voice.
Jessie looked at her and then he felt that cold feeling he sometimes had return. From the tone of her voice, Jessie knew that he was not going to like anything that she told him.
âNo, you didnât. Trouble with something not the law?â Jessie asked and Terra nodded.
A roar from the pit caused them both to turn. Zevortro and Bryke had finished cutting, and they had removed the piece. From where Jessie and Terra were standing, they saw into a darkened void that went on a good fifty feet long at least.
âThereâs the way in! time to go!â Zevortro bellowed and there were cheers from everyone around them.
âWell done!â A loud voice caused everyone to turn and see Bradford on top of one of the dirt hills. He beamed as he looked down at them all and walked towards them, a wide grin on his face.
Jessie only shook his head and tried not to smile. This was just what he expected from the old senator, taking advantage of a chance to make a speech.
Jessie looked at Terra who looked back. For a second they just stared at each other before Jessie nodded.
âWeâll talk about this later after weâre back up here,â Jessie said. There was a hard edge to his voice, one that he used to get answers.
Terra only nodded back as Bradford started to give a speech.
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???????
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Damage report from the highest point. Sensors show that the upper area has been breached. All primary internal defenses are offline. Sending Secondary Mobile Defenses into the area around the breach. Orders are to hold off any borders.
Possibility of the source being the strange force âaboveâ, 50 percent. There is a possibility that another force has destroyed the first force, 50 percent.
Attempting to hack into unknown network unsuccessful. Code has proven difficult to breach.
Awaiting reports from secondary forces.
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Zevortro
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Zevortro looked at the cut in the hull plates as Bradford droned on. There were only a few wires here and there, and the rest was solid. He didnât know much about ship construction, but something about it bothered him. There should have been more circuitry here, was one of the wires for data transfer? Everything that he knew, told him that this was wrong.
ââ¦â¦ And I sault our brave explorers!â Bradford said, finishing his small speech.
âGO!â Duncan roared.
Zevortro nodded and fell into line behind Jessie as they walked into the breach. They all turned on the lights on their shoulders as they looked around.
Zevortro scowled as he took in what was here, he hadnât expected this. The room or chamber was as wide as the section they had cut.
âYou found anything already?â Jessie asked amusement in his voice.
Zevortro looked back and saw Dalila attaching a wire to the circuits the cut revealed. She looked at a small-handled device in her other hand, scowling as she did so.
âEverything is what I thought it would be. This is just a power line, with no coding at all. If there were shielding systems here, weâd need to take apart the piece to find it. But what carries the data?â Dalila asked herself as she looked down.
Zevortro looked at Bryke who moved his pointer finger around his right ear in a circle. He just chuckled as they watched Jessie walk over and cough.
Dalila looked up and then she winced. âSorry. Thought I could get something about this thing. Nothing. We need to go deeper.â
âI thought we would. Terra, what about the door?â Jessie called out.
Zevortro turned and looked at the door, seeing Terra there examining it. She turned back and shook her head. âItâs not an airlock. But I donât know what the handle is.â
With a look at Bryke and Vivis, Zevortro led the three towards Terra.
âSo we can cut into it right?â Bryke asked as he pulled out his pistol, and activated the blade.
Before he could cut into the door, Jessie was there and grabbed Brykeâs arm.
âHold on. We can see if we can get into the data net from this. We might not even need to go farther in!â Jessie said with a hard look in his eyes.
Zevortro looked at the wall the door was set in. There was nothing that told him that there was anything technical about it. As he looked around, there was nothing that would allow anyone to leave. There was something about this, something that bothered him.
âIf there is a way to hack into this thing, I canât see it. We might have to cut into it. And we might just destroy any data lines,â Dalila said with a scowl.
As Zevortro watched, Dalila looked around, her eyes slowly growing more troubled as she did so.
âSay, Jessie? This chamber is bare. I mean, thisâ¦.. what is this room?â Dalila asked, worry in her voice.
Zevortro looked around as well, and he heard Jessie muttering as he did the same. Everyone started to move around, examining the room more.
He didnât know about the others, but there was nothing here. He had been in some rooms back aboard the Spirit, but this was nothing like any of them! Even the storage rooms back in the escape capsule had something to open them from the other side! Here it was as if they just wanted the lock to be one way. It was almost like aâ¦â¦â¦ Zevortro felt his heart stop as he looked around slowly, and then he looked down. As he watched the lights on his shoulders sweep the room, he slowly started to see what he hadnât before.
âStars!â Zevortro exclaimed as he looked up. As the others all looked at him, he looked up. The more he looked up, the more saw what he hadnât before.
âWhat is it, bro? What areâ¦..youâ¦â¦.. looking at,â Bryke said as he looked up. As everyone joined them, they looked over the ceiling.
âI was right! I knew it!â Zevortro said, a note of anger in his voice
âWait! What were you right about?â Vivis asked.
Zevortro only moved his torso, showing the blank material of the ceiling to them all.
âDonât you see it? Or you canât see it. There are no light sources anywhere on the roof. But there is that!â Zevortro said as he pointed at a space teen feet from the opening. His lights were on a strange square that was set into the material, and Zevortro chuckled. âThat there? Thatâs an escape/entry hatch! Thatâs what they put on docking ports in old models. The ones that connected bottom to bottom!â
âWait, what?! Why is it on the ceiling?!â Terra demanded before her mouth dropped open. âYouâre not saying!?â
âYES! When this thing crashed, it did so upside down!â Zevortro exclaimed as he looked at the others. But then he looked towards the wall. His light went up and stopped on his target. But before he could say anything, the console he found lit up.