The Sphere (chapter1)
The Sphere
As he rode the elevator, Corporal Ross Hawkins reflected upon his position. He was one of the crewmembers for the first ever manned faster than light travelling ship, the UGES Aurora Borealis."Fifty kilometres until docking at Munroe International Terminal. " Warbled Anya the ship's A.I.
"You heard the lady!" Yelled Lieutenant Lloyd Andrews "Move like 'ya got a purpose! Strap in, shut up, and get ready to lose your lunch!"
All of the military personnel on the elevator started to laugh while they did final checks on their gear and the few personal effects they were allowed and then strapped themselves in. The civilian scientists, however, got a shade whiter and grasped their inertial sickness bags closer. One must have taken the sergeant's joke too seriously, as he vomited in his, then and there. "Hey! Make sure that don't turn in to a vomit comet mate!" said one of the marines in an Australian accent, referring to when someone releases their already full bag in the turbulence of elevator docking, and the flying bag resembles a comet.
"Who says the damn A.I. will even stop this thing? I mean, last time I checked, DOS boxes didn't have feelings." Said Jason Church, a deadeye sniper with a cocky attitude and an almost pathological fear of all artificial intelligence or synthetic beings.
"Hey, at least it'll be better than Ridin' another paint shaker, eh?" Said Church's spotter, Josh Tucker. Although it sounded like a friendly joke, the pair soon started bickering and arguing. Although they were the best of friends, and nigh inseparable, they would constantly argue with each other, earning them the collective nickname of "the love birds". Of course, anyone unfortunate enough to be overheard by them saying such got a round through their next MRE while they were still eating it.
"Will you two quit 'yer 'bickerin?" said the sarge, "This 'aint no ice cream social!" the sergeant barked. "Anya, would you kindly start the countdown?" In any other circumstance, the sentence would've sounded alien and wrong, but unlike Private Church, the sergeant had a soft spot for the mechanical.
"Roger, activating emergency lights, locking safety harnesses, commencing countdown to inertial dampening. Dampening in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... acti-" and suddenly all noise was drowned out as the large boosters mounted on top of the elevator fired, and everything melted into a blur as the space elevator's car started to vibrate so violently that the resonations along the shaft connecting the station in orbit to that on the ground could be heard from kilometres around. It may not have been the most comfortable ride up, but it was the fastest way into orbit without the use of a shuttle, and could carry over 1000 personnel as well as an assortment of vehicles instead of the civilian's capacity of 500 with no vehicles. It did this by using both strands of the space elevator, as well as a third used only for military transport. And as an added plus, instead of the hour that it takes for the civilian cars to get up, the military ones only takes fifteen minutes from groundside to space dock.
And all you had to endure was being strapped in to a paint shaker from hell.
After what seemed like hours, but in reality were only a few minutes, the car slid to a halt at the orbital platform. As the rumbling and the shaking died down, the lights started to brighten and the automated safety harnesses unlocked and slid away with a click and a whoosh. Hawkins looked around at the others in their crash seats. Most of the military personnel were okay, with a few slightly, but barely noticeably green. The assortment of civilian scientists, engineers, doctors, and consultants, on the other hand, were visibly sick. Many of them were openly vomiting, and the man who had vomited earlier had vomited a second time and passed out. The sergeant ordered one of the medics in to make sure he didn't suffocate. As the teams started to filter out of the elevator, they admired the view. The station was built of thick titanium and was in high orbit above the city of Madrid, in Spain. As they peered out the window, the private was still taken aback by the view, even though he had seen it hundreds of times. While the station was in low orbit, he could see the surface of the earth and the horizon stretching out beyond. If he looked up, he could see the blue sky above it, but just above the thin band of blue was the cold emptiness of space, punctured by pinpricks of starlight. He marvelled at this. As he looked he kept walking. When he had finally torn his eyes away from the magnificent sight, he looked upon what was to be his home, if but for a short while. The giant star ship, Aurora Borealis was an awe inspiring sight. It was huge, the size of a small city. It was created and designed for one purpose, to travel outside of our solar system, to other stars beyond. The thought put shivers through the entire crew's spines, but the ship itself was another thing. It was shaped in a smooth curve, almost organic in appearance. He could see no protuberances from its hull. No comms arrays, escape pods, not even any hatches. He wondered what the ground crew would be doing to get inside the ship, but that had to wait. Their commanding officer for the trip, Rear Admiral James Stanforth was at a podium beside the docking bay beginning his speech.
"Attention crew of the Aurora Borealis, this is your commanding officer for this voyage, admiral Stanforth. We will be paving the way for humanity's future, testing the very first ship capable of carrying passengers to other star systems using faster than light travel. As this is the first ship, and voyage of this kind, you will have to live without many of the amenities of normal life. But although you must go through these hardships, you shall be remembered by history as the very first to go beyond the solar system to colonize a new world. There will be new technologies to use, and new rules to apply, but we will succeed!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the admiral finished his speech. The doors opened and crews on station started to assist in loading shuttles for the transfer to the ship. Hawkins and his squadron helped with loading, and then they filtered into their respective transports. As they strapped in and checked their equipment, Ross wondered how they were going to board the massive ship. As they travelled, the seemingly huge ship, it was revealed to be even bigger. The ship was the size of New Armstrong, the United Coalition of Earth Nations, or UCEN's largest colony, rebuilt after the terraformed moon succumbed to massive ecological disaster brought on by a lack of the usual pollution sanctions that had been raised when the governments of earth agreed the planet was dying. They got to the ship and everyone crowded to the small displays showing the exterior of the ship. Ross noticed that the pearly white hull was completely smooth, with no markings to show alliegance or name, as well as nothing in terms of communications gear. The only indication that it was even a ship that could contain people was the fact that there was a huge docking bay swallowing up the shuttles. As their shuttle flew through the opening, Hawkins and his squad marvelled at the sight before them. The pearly white exterior was just a shell covering a vast interior that closely resembled a city. There were strange squares all over the "sidewalks", and there were doors on the towers. Ross couldn't ponder this, because as the last shuttle entered, the doors closed and then red lights emerged from the "roof", and warnings blared across all frequencies. All the marines in the shuttle got steely eyed and grabbed their weapons, but didn't raise them. "Stand down marines!" the L T shouted, "it's just normal procedure!"
The shuttle approached a docking cradle and touched down. A clanking sound rang through the hull as it secured the small ship to the ground. Then as the last ship clicked into place, everything in the giant ship went quiet. Then there was a small whistle that grew into a deafening roar. Even though the lieutenant was screaming orders, nothing could be heard. Then the roar dwindled and soon it was silent. Then a synthesized female voice announced "atmospheric integration complete. It is safe to exit the shuttle and begin operations. Have a nice day."
The doors hissed open and fresh air rushed into the shuttle. The crew walked out and looked around. The curious squares on the floor were sliding open and trees were emerging. The personnel then familiarized themselves with the ship and scurried off to find their private quarters.
Two weeks later, and four test flights from one end of the solar system to the other at light speed, the UCEN naval command deemed the crew of the ship ready for long distance flight. They had designed a new tool to communicate with the crew instantaneously over any distance. By weaving tachyons into a ring around the earth, instantaneous communication was possible for everyone. The ship was equipped with a secure line to UCEN's NAV COM. The ship was powering up when it got revised coordinates. As they examined them, they noticed some discrepancies in the coordinates in a system they were to pass through. At the delivery of this news, naval command became weary, and realise that they may have stumbled upon another form of life in the galaxy. Then the entire system was waiting anxiously, as the final countdown to the ships voyage had begun. Everyone on the ship was silent, some praying, some working furiously to make sure the ship could travel, while others just stared, with mouths agape. Anya started the countdown. "Five" the ship started to turn
"Four" the entire ship rumbled.
"Three" the air grew hot.
"Two" electricity crackled along the outside of the ship.
"One" everything outside and inside the ship started to blur.
"Zero"
Everything in the viewports disappeared. No earth, no space, no stars, nothing but blackness. After that there was celebration in the streets, but soon the crew noticed that everything was different. Things that were liquid would start to move on their own, or solidify. Soon, things got worse. People would go flying from taking a step. Physics and all natural laws had become thinned, transparent, and even optional. It took a while to get used to, but soon the crew had familiarized thanks to training facilities located in the ship. With the training, familiarizing with, and working around the strange new physics, the crew noticed that time for them was flying by. The months passed, and they reached their destination. They dropped out of light speed to find themselves in an, until that moment, purely theoretical area of space. What was before them was a Klemperer rosette of suns, with an impossibly massive planet of some sort in the middle. The scientific department was abuzz, while the bridge crew was stunned into silence. The admiral relinquished command and went to report to the UCEN. He opened the channel and reported in to a confused looking tech that seemed to be adjusting the communications panel. "This is admiral Stanforth reporting to Director Anderson. We have reached our destination and have found signs of-" and the admiral was cut off by the unknown engineer. "Holy shit! Commander, we have the Borealis on comms, and they've reached their first stop!"
Stanforth wondered what they were talking about until he heard a familiar voice over the comms barked "what the hell are you talking about son? The borealis is still docked and awaiting orders to disembark!"
"But sir! Admiral Stanforth himself is the one making the call!" the man spouted nervously, trying to dodge trouble and keep his position.
"lemme see that!" the voice said, and the poor engineer was thrust out of the way and replaced with a stout, round, flat face sporting a salt and pepper moustache and goatee. The man was Brigadier General Tiberius Williamson. He and Stanforth had a history of a competitive friendship, neither of the men willing to admit defeat to the other. "Tiberius." Greeted Stanforth.
"James" greeted the general in kind.
"Ty, what in Sam hell is going on, are you crazy? We left months ago! Now, we've reached the first stop, and we need to see the director this instant!"
"Okay Jim," Williamson said, "it's your career."
Then the screen winked black, and then Director Anderson's stern face appeared, sporting a scowl. "Are you playing some strange joke Admiral? Because I do not find it funny. How can the Borealis be at the first checkpoint when I'm looking at it right now?"
"Sir, I assure you that this is not a joke, we have been travelling for almost a year, and we have finally reached our first stop."
"You're goddamn lying and I know it Stanforth! The borealis is right here, look!" and with that, the director turned the screen to a large bay window, revealing a view of the ship from a private office inside the top of the Munroe space elevator, looking over the huge top of the Aurora Borealis.
Stanforth went completely pale and felt a knot in his stomach. "Sir, th-this can't be possible..."
"You always were a poor liar Stanforth, you can't fool me..." said Anderson, although his eyebrows creased with the first hint of worry.
"Director, this cannot be possible, you see, we are at the first stop... I'm downloading some new intel we've gathered to you now."
Stanforth then tapped some keys, securing and sending packets of data to the director's desk. Stanforth saw the director open the files, squinting at the new photos of the star formation, squinting, and suddenly his jaw dropped and he seemed breathless. He stared for a few seconds, and then turned his attention back to the admiral. "Jim, for god's sake, you've made the most important discovery of all human kind. With this, and the new s about when it is for you, we'll get a lot of data from the eggheads in R and D. But now, I'd advise you to have some of that whisky you stash in your desk, and then address your crew with this news. And by the way admiral, the date is January fifteenth, 561 A.W.U." and then the feed cut out, signalling the director had cut the transmission.
Stanforth was shocked. In a trance, he stumbled to his desk and fumbled with the old fashioned key lock. The drawer slid open and he retrieved an old bottle of aged whisky and a tumbler. He poured himself a drink and nursed it, getting ready for his address to the crew. His intercom buzzed, and his assistant was on the line. "Sir, I'm aware you just had a call home, did you hear anything of my wife? She was going to induce labour about a month ago, and I'd like to know about my child."
"I'm sorry son, but you aren't a father... at least not yet." Said the admiral.
"w-what? Sir, did something happen? Is my wife okay?" the ensign stammered, sounding panicked.
"no son, everything is fine. I'll explain in the emergency address. Stanforth out."
The admiral felt bad for being so rude, but he had to have a few minutes to himself before he made the address.
Hawkins was walking to hi quarters after some training to get some sleep when the address came on. The artificial sky turned from peaceful blue to green, and then changed to the haggard and pale face of the admiral. "Attention crew of the UCENS Aurora Borealis, this is Admiral James Stanforth. Not all of you know this; we have arrived at our first stop. We have found a strange phenomenon." A picture of the star system, "this is called a Klemperer Rosette, or a ring of stars that have become a stable orbital body. Our science teams have deducted that this occurrence is not natural, and have found signs of energy harvesters in orbit around all suns, as well as this..." the picture zoomed to the celestial body in the centre of the rosette, "This, as far as we have gathered, is what is called by humanity, a Dyson Sphere. It is a construct built around an entire sun to harvest energy, but with analysis, we have deduced that inside... is a civilization."
The news hit Ross like a ton of bricks. That meant that there is other intelligent life in the galaxy. But he had little time to ponder it.
"I know that this is big news, but we are now scrapping the rest of the mission. This is no longer a research and colonization mission. We are enacting Prometheus protocol. We have found an entrance and are moving towards it. Our plan is to dock inside of the sphere and investigate. We have been hailing on all frequencies and have not received any responses. We are assuming that these extraterrestrials may be hostile. This is red alert people. I need all personnel at maximum combat readiness. This is Stanford. Good luck men, and if god is even this far out in the universe, I hope he's with us." And the screen turned into sky once again.
A few hours later, Ross and his squad were at their shuttle with all of their gear on. The ship had reached the construct, and to some surprise, they found that the entire thing was spinning, and according to the scientist's calculations, it was close to one standard g. They were all completely silent. They could feel the entire ship adjusting to the speed and readying itself for a strange new docking procedure. Then the emergency intercom blared and warning lights flashed. Admiral Stanford suddenly screamed "All hands! Brace for impact!"
The entire ship shuddered as something hit the hull. In the panic, no one had switched off the emergency comms system. The bridge crew was running diagnostics like madmen, assessing threats and damage to the ship. They could hear everything going on in the bridge. "Damage assessment!" Stanforth barked.
"Sir! Read outs report intermediate hull damage, extreme buckling at point of impact, and a point zero zero one percent ratio of air loss!" blurted lieutenant Avery.
"Thank you mister Avery, sound alarms and vent the air into th emergency holding tanks until we patch that hole. Mister Miles, where did this thing come from?"
"Sir! The object seems to be an asteroid of man mad- I mean, of unnatural origin. Sensors can't tell what's in it, or if it is even hollow. It's giving off strange readings, almost as if..." the ensign's eyes widened in horror "Sir! They're-"
An explosion rocked the entire ship. Hawkins was thrown off his feet and landed hard on the ground. His vision flickered and he could taste blood. He clambered to his feet and saw his squadmates readying for combat. He wordlessly grabbed his kit and armed himself. The external intercoms were useless in the vacuum, but their helmet's speakers were still on and they could hear everything the bridge crew was doing. One of the ensigns was screaming "Oh my god! We're all going to die!"
"Ugh... stow that talk ensign; I'll get every one of us out here. We're going to be fine." The admiral said. The bridge crew had gone silent. "This journey shall not end in failure! We are going to get through this, but only if we stay strong, stay courageous, and stay together. The rest of the UCEN isn't here to babysit us anymore, so we have to do this alone. But if we face this together, we will be victorious!"
The entire ship cheered, rallied by this speech. "Anya, guide teams of marine engineers to the site of the explosion so they can collect information and repair the damage."
"Admiral," the AI replied, "You just did. The ship wide communications relays have been left on."
"What? But how-? No matter. You all have your orders. Stanford out" and the intercom cut out.
Hawkins and his squad were relayed information about the crash site from Anya. They were seven blocks away when they started picking up chatter. They could hear it over the command frequency. "We've got strange readings around the site of impact, stay alert people" and "my rig is cutting out, I need a techie down here."
When they were two blocks away the fighting started. "Oh shit! We've got multiple contacts emerging from the impact!" reported one of the engineers "They're opening fire! Weapons free! Return fire!"
The squad was stunned, but the adrenaline in their veins pushed them to react without too much thinking. Tucker and church took up a sniping position on top of one of the buildings with a clear line of sight to ground zero while the rest of them started to move to the aid of the engineers. The snipers climbed to the roof and set up their nest. "Hey, LT, what should we use?" church said over the team channel. "Use something that can take out armoured personnel, but can't penetrate the ship." Andrews said. "And patch us into your camera to give us a bird's eye view."
The snipers were silent, but suddenly everyone's helmet displayed a small video of everything the snipers were seeing. It wasn't a pretty sight. The floor was almost destroyed, and there were small but ragged holes in places around the object. It would've passed for a normal asteroid except for the fact that it was a shining silver and perfectly smooth aside from the dimples caused by crashing into the ship and continued gunfire hitting it. There were strange creatures firing at the marines with even stranger weapons. They had large, ape like torsos, but that's where the similarities ended. They had four long insect like legs, and they didn't really have arms as much as tentacles. The tentacles had three digits on the end that were almost tentacles on their own. They were clothed head to toe, or whatever he could say they were, in shiny silver armour that looked fluid but ended in points. The armour, even if it was made of the same material as their humongous ship, was definitely not as thick. There were alien corpses laying all around the destroyed section of the city. The team was shocked by the spectacle, but questions and research would have to wait. They rounded a final corner and met up with a squad of engineers who were under fire. "What's your situation marine!" the lieutenant yelled over the gunfire and the strange sounds of the aliens' weapons.
"Sir! Under heavy fire with a few casualties!" the man screamed over the sounds of warfare.
"Who's in charge here soldier?" the lieutenant replied as an explosion hit a few metres from them.
"The LT got hit on the way here! Seargent Jolko-" and then the man stopped.
There was a small triangle on his chest. The man started screaming and jumped over the ramshackle cover. Andrews was about to follow the man and drag him back, but then there was a bright flash of light and a fiery pressure wave that knocked him back. All the lights flickered and the admiral was suddenly barking over the intercom, "We have a power failure in engines oh-four, oh-nine, three-five, and all positioning thrusters! All hands brace for impact!"
Everyone's helmets displayed a warning screen telling them that they were too close to an MDA, or massive damage area. Then there was a horrible shuddering throughout the entire ship, and everyone, human or alien, was suddenly thrown to the ground. The ship had grazed the side of the sphere. Hawkins knew this because he was still alive. Then they started to slide. The gravity of the sphere was interfering with the ships gravity! Then there was equilibrium of zero gravity, and for a split second, there was nothing but peaceful floating. The ship had made it inside of the sphere. Then everything was thrown as the ship slammed into the ground and Ross flew face first into an alien, who was, as far as he could guess, looking straight at him. His helmet cracked, and then explosive decompression shattered the protective glass and stole his precious air. He tasted blood and saw nothing but a sort of dark, and yet bright at the same time, vision blocking all else. He tried to salvage one last breath of air, and then passed out.
TO BE CONTINUED