Everywhere Chapter 10; Sigma 4

Dragonstone dropped out of warp in the Sigma system right on time.

“Right on target Skipper,” Astra said putting the warp generator into standby.

“Excellent. Colin, send our number to system control,” Rory instructed.

“Aye aye skipper,” Colin said, sending the routine arrival message.

“Skipper, system control is hailing us,” he said a moment later.

“Play it.”

“Dragonstone, this is Sigma System Control. Please state your purpose and send your authorization for this visit,” an officious voice demanded.

“Well that’s interesting,” Rory said. “Transmit our flight plan and put me through.”

Colin opened the comm app and nodded to Rory.

“Sigma Control, this is Dragonstone, is there a problem?” She asked.

“Dragonstone, I do not have you on my list of arriving ships, please make orbit around Sigma 3 immediately and stand by for inspection.”

“Sigma Control, we just rebroadcast our flight plan and authorization, did you receive it?”

“I did, however you’re not on my list of ships cleared to land on Sigma 4.”

“Sorry Sigma control, I’ve got Federale orders to deliver a survey team to the surface soonest, as you can see from my manifest. Absent suitable authority countermanding those orders, I’m proceeding to Sigma 4.”

“Negative, Dragonstone,” the officious voice continued. “You are not cleared to land.”

“Look, control, I’m the bus driver. I’ve got orders from the Department of Planetary Ecology to deliver a team to the surface and then take them back to Nueva Espana. I don’t do that, I don’t get paid. Federale authority trumps planetary authority. Take it up with them and get me new orders, otherwise I’m proceeding to Sigma 4. Please note I’ve logged this conversation and am transmitting a copy to my patron.”

Rory made a cutting motion to Colin and he killed the connection.

“Well THAT was interesting,” Rory said. “Forest, thoughts?”

“Someone doesn’t want us on Sigma 4,” Forest said.

“But will they use force to stop us?” She asked.

“32% probability,” Forest replied. “It was 10% higher before you advised you were sending a copy of the transcript to Nueva Madrid. They have no legal jurisdiction to do anything.”

“So I’m guessing that this is an example of suborned humans?” Colin asked.

“87% probability,” Forest agreed. “The Port Master, their superior or possibly both.”

“Well then I guess this confirms that there’s something to see on Sigma 4,” Rory said. “Astra, put us in orbit. Colin, eyes peeled. Don’t go active yet, I don’t want to give away our capabilities, but full passive scans.”

“Aye, Aye Captain,” they chorused.

“We’re being tracked Captain,” Colin confirmed. “So far it’s Sigma 3 orbital facilities only, but they could be directing a ship onto us. No evidence of anything headed our way. I’m fairly certain I’d be able to pick up a stealthed ship with our new passives. I know our actives would burn right through a stealth field.”

“Keep it to passives for now. Rock, I want to know about anything at all that is out of the ordinary.”

“Yes Captain,” Rocks voice replied.

The Dragonstone made orbit around Sigma 4 without further incident. The planet was in the habitat zone of the Sigma star system but had an eccentric orbit which made long term habitation less desirable. At the moment it was in it’s ‘summer’ with temperatures averaging around twelve degrees C. Winters dropped to minus twenty. The planet was small, almost a planetoid, but dense and had been extensively strip mined by Sigma 3. It was a wasteland of barren soil and industrial detritus with high ice-clouds trapping much of the planet’s moisture. A constant wind contributed to the aridness and frequent dust storms grounded air traffic. It had surprisingly strong gravity, .72 standard, in spite of its small size due to it’s density.

“Got the signature on the surface Captain,” Colin announced. “Screen four for a map.”

They all looked.

“It’s in the middle of a dump,” Sheila noted. “Looks like the trailings from a strip mining operation.”

“Can you get a look at it from up here?” Rory asked Colin.

“Too much cloud cover over the area for a visual. Nothing on IR. Whatever it is, it’s not giving off heat.”

“Can we land there?” She asked.

“Negative, Skip,” Astra said, shaking her head. “Grounds too unstable. Best site is three miles away.”

“OK we expected that, but I was hoping,” Rory sighed. “Rock, can you sound like me if they contact you again?”

“Yes Captain,” Rock replied in Rory’s voice.

“Do I really sound like that?” She asked.

“Yup,” Colin said.

“Ugh. Excellent, Rock. Feed them more of the same Garum if they contact you. If you detect anything breaking away from the planet towards us, come get us. Closest you can get to us. We’ll leave the pickup behind if we have to, hover over the sight and we’ll do a combat pickup.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Rock confirmed in his normal voice.

“Astra, take us down. Overfly the target site on the way in, I want images of what we’re looking for.”

Dragonstone dropped in towards the planet to low orbit.

“Buckle in folks, these winds are gonna toss us around,” Astra warned.

“Sorry dears,” Rory said to Forest and Sheila. “You need to get back to your cabin and buckle in. We’ll ensure that your displays are fully active, you can see whatever we do.”

“Engineering, secured for atmospheric flight,” Dee confirmed over the intercom.

Forest and Sheila left the flight deck and a few minutes later confirmed they were secured.

“Deactivating artificial gravity and beginning descent,” Astra announced.

Suddenly the crew experienced a moment of free-fall before the engines cut in and caused the ship to de-orbit.

“Grazing the Troposphere,” Colin announced. “External temperature is going up.”

The ship began to buffet as the atmosphere thickened around it.

“Vomit Comet time,” Astra grinned after a particularly strong bounce.

“Feh,” Colin grinned back. “Try doing this in a drop-ship when someone’s shooting at you. If you’re not pukin’, you’re dyin’. Good times! Good times!”

The crew quieted down as they got closer to the surface. Sigma 4 was an example of industrial rapaciousness run wild. The planet was entirely lifeless, with pit-mines visible from height.

“Over-flying the target now, Captain,” Astra announced.

“You getting this Colin?” Rory asked.

“Screen two,” he replied.

“There! Freeze image,” Rory said.

“Well fuck a duck,” Colin swore.

“Any of you recognize that?” Rory asked.

“Dropship size, but not a mark I’ve ever seen,” Astra said.

“Nope,” Colin agreed.

“The target item appears to be an orbital shuttle of some kind but matches no known ship-type,” Rock added.

“Looks like it crashed,” Colin observed. “Look at the debris trail.”

“Approaching landing site,” Astra announced.

Dragonstone flared and her main thrusters gimbaled to allow him to hover and then land vertically.

“We’re down and secured,” Astra confirmed. “Rock, shut down drive but keep the reactor hot.”

“Roger,” the AI responded.

“Let’s move quick people,” Rory said. “I don’t want to have to spend more time here than we have to. Rock, get the pickup unloaded. I want provisions for four days, just in case. There is no water or food on this planet, I don’t want us stuck. Combat load out for the guns.”

“Aye, aye,” they chorused.

The team quickly loaded up the pickup while Rory reviewed the plotted approach with Forest and Sheila on her tablet.

“The terrain is a mess, I want everything locked down. We don’t want cargo or people shifting,” she told the crew.

Once the pickup was loaded they climbed aboard with Astra taking the left-hand seat. Rory didn’t argue but sat in the right hand seat.

“Buckle up folks, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride,” Astra said as the side doors slid shut and the back ramp closed.

“Rock, put the Dragonstone back in orbit once we’re clear,” Rory ordered.

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

The pickup pulled away, jouncing strangely in the low gravity. Once the vehicle was clear of the blast zone, the Dragonstone lifted and climbed to orbit in a cloud of dust. The crew encountered the debris field from the pit mine almost immediately. The pickup skidded and slid, the six large wheels occasionally spinning as the terrain shifted under them. Astra shifted power smoothly to the wheels with traction and while Rock did much of the work, it still required a deft hand on the joystick to guide the large transport. The gravity may have been lighter, but mass was still mass.

“There it is,” Rory pointed as the pickup crested a pile of debris.

‘It’ was a long, narrow spacecraft. It’s general boxy, lifting body shape suggested it was an orbital shuttle of some kind. It was a small one however and unfamiliar looking.

“Anyone recognize it?” Rory asked.

“It doesn’t show up in any data bases,” Rock advised.

“It’s weird though, I mean, it doesn’t ‘look’ alien. It looks like an orbital shuttle,” Colin observed.

“To an extent, form defines function,” Forest said. “A well designed orbital shuttle is going to look like an orbital shuttle unless the laws of physics don’t apply where they’re from.”

“This is as close as I can get us,” Astra said, bringing the pickup to a halt.

“OK, everyone out,” Rory said. “Sidearms all around. Colin, Rock, I want you armed with blasters too. Set up a picket at twelve and six. Astra, I want you in the pickup on the sensors. You see anything at all, hit the siren. Dee, Forest, Sheila and I will check out this ship. Let’s go.”

The sense of weirdness grew as the small group got closer to the ship. Weird because it didn’t look weird. It looked like a small spaceship.

“Conventional materials,” Forest said, running a scanner along it. “Titanium, duraluminum, various alloys. Nothing exotic.”

“Check out this weld skipper,” Dee said pointing to a seam between panels. “It’s hand welded. You can see the imperfections. Variations. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great weld. As good as I could do, but it wasn’t done by a robot. They’re all like that.”

“That isn’t how we build a ship?” Sheila asked.

“No, we use 'bots. They’re more precise than a human can be. Shipyards are almost fully AI, there’s one or two humans on site to handle the unexpected but most ship building is automated.”

“Boost me up,” Rory said, “I want to see inside.”

Dee made a stirrup with her hands and boosted Rory up to one of the windows.

“It’s empty,” she confirmed. “Either the crew survived and got out or something came and picked up the bodies. I’m recording the interior. It’s weird. The chairs are all wrong and everything is proportioned a little larger than it should be.”

“Rexes are three meters tall,” Dee said.

“And that’s about what this is proportioned for.”

Rory stepped down.

“Let’s see if we can find a way in,” Forest said.

“Captain,” Rock’s voice said in her earbud, “This is Rock B on the ship. We have activity planet-side. I’m showing drive signatures. Two. They’re burning too hot to be civilian but they don’t match navy signatures either.”

“How much time do we have?” Rory asked.

“Enough. If you leave now I can bring Dragonstone down to our original landing spot, pick you up and be back to orbit before they’re too close.”

“Make is so,” Rory said. “People! Back to the pickup.We’re leaving. We’ve got company inbound!”