Lines
of Symmetry
Breakaway + 7 yrs, 8 mos
Commander John Koenig sipped his cup of tepid coffee as he walked into Command Center, his thoughts still on the nightmare Stephen had had last night. He had spent an hour at the two-year-old's bedside comforting and reassuring the boy. John still wasn't completely sure what had scared the boy so, something involving witches and oranges. He'd have to speak with Helena today when he had the chance. Fatherhood was better than he could have ever hoped, but still, he'd rather strip and reassemble an Eagle's engine, blindfolded, than try to understand what made a toddler tick.
He stood by his desk for a moment and took in the room. Tony and Maya were in their usual places and running the morning checks. Alan was at Eagle Ops today and Alyssa Wyers was sitting at Data Analysis. The usual others were present and accounted for. Hmm. Alyssa was one of the younger microbiologists and was cross-training in communications and computer programming under Sandra's guidance. John frowned slightly. His check of the duty roster for today had Sandra at her usual station. He'd have to ask Alan if everything was alright with her and Danae. He raised his cup to take another sip.
"Hey, John, got a favor to ask." Alan had turned in his chair to face the back of the room.
John nodded agreeably and quickly swallowed the last few mouthfuls.
"Sandra is taking Eagle 1 up to test out a few new programs. She could use a co-pilot who doesn't know what to expect. You game?"
"Why not Fraser or Taylor?" John tossed the cup into the recycler and sat on the edge of his desk. Alan had a wicked grin on his face. The man was up to something.
Alan evaded the question by countering with one of his own. "You've said you wanted to fly with each of the new pilots. Here's a chance."
"Alright, Alan. Should I tell her you've put me up to this?"
"Oh, she'll assume that. Happy flying." Alan turned back to his console still grinning.
John looked at Tony who only rolled his eyes.
"Commander, a moment?" asked Maya.
John walked over to the science desk.
"If you head toward orbital reference 417, would you check if the Eagle's scanners detect any anomalies?"
John glanced at Tony but the security chief appeared as if the information was news to him, too.
"What's up, Maya?" Tony asked, alert as always to any abnormality in Alpha's vicinity. By now, Alan and Alyssa were following the conversation with interest.
"Perhaps nothing, just a flicker on the long-distance readings that I was going to ask Sandra to review. But if you are in the vicinity, perhaps she can assess it from there."
"Alright, will do." The occasional errant sensor reading was simply part of Alphan life.
Well, he'd first swing by Medical to let Helena know he was going out and then head on over to the pilot's ready room to grab his flight suit. Though he hesitated to complain, things had been on the dull side for the last eight weeks. The most recent excitement had been that still unexplained anomaly Alan had run into that had crashed all of Eagle 3's systems, and then Alan had all but crashed Eagle 3. It would be good to get off Alpha for a while. And it might even be fun at that to see what Alan had up his sleeve.
~~~~~~~
Sandra climbed into her orange flight suit deep in thought over what Alan might have meant last night and that particularly evil grin he had worn when he said it. Perhaps it had not been such a good idea to volunteer to be the first pilot to experience his latest training program, but he had asked her when her defenses were down. She had to smile to herself; he was very good in bed.
"You look like the proverbial cat with a canary, Sandra. Do I want to know?" The Commander's voice startled Sandra and she jumped and tripped over the only partially pulled up flight suit leg. Koenig moved quickly to catch her arm and prevent a fall. "Sorry, Sahn. I thought you saw me enter. Want some company today?"
Sandra looked up and smiled. "Woolgathering, Commander. And yes, company would be welcome."
"Good enough, pilot. I'll join you shortly."
Sandra nodded, picked up her helmet and left for Pad 2 where Eagle 1 was waiting. She walked to the embarkation area and entered the docking shuttle. Had Alan asked the Commander to join her? She wasn't sure. Alan did keep a closer eye on her flights than the other pilots credentialed since Breakaway, but that was no real surprise to anyone. Perhaps she would simply ask the Commander himself, after they had survived Alan's training' program.
She entered the waiting Eagle and looked quickly about the transporter pod. All seemed to be in order. She turned, walked into the command module and paused. Custom and rank dictated that the Commander sit the port-side pilot's seat, and yet he had given that mission title to her. Well enough. He had asked to join her, so she would work on the presumption he was along to assess her flight skills. Pilot's seat it was.
She took the left seat and hit the toggle that allowed her to modify its configuration to fit her. The Eagle maintenance team had just about modified all the seats to fit any size Alphan. Taking just a moment to once again hedonistically savor the feeling of being about to fly an Eagle, she picked up the check-board and focused on the task at hand. Shortly, the final pre-flight was completed and she was clipping the check-board back into its position at her side when she heard the Commander enter.
"All's ready, Sahn? Maya's sending the coordinates of a sensor ghost she wants checked out." The Commander dropped into the co-pilot seat and strapped in as he looked over the controls.
Sandra knew everything was as it should be, but awaited the senior pilot's independent confirmation. The moment he relaxed that small amount that told her he had found everything satisfactory, she opened a channel to Command Center.
"Eagle 1 to Alpha, awaiting clearance." Sandra's voice was quiet and confident; she was almost used to being on this side of the exchange.
"Command Center, Sandra. You have the all clear." Alan's voice from the Eagle Ops station actually sounded properly restrained. Which was not what Sandra would have expected given his anticipation of today's flight.
"And don't forget to tighten those seat belts extra snug."
Sandra could now easily hear the grin in his voice. "Affirmative, Alpha." Well, that was more what she expected. She glanced at the Commander, received his nod and then engaged the main motors. The thrill of the Eagle coming alive around her brought a smile to her face.
John watched the controls from the co-pilot seat as Sandra smoothly lifted the Eagle and turned it to head out to the quadrant in question. Thinking back, he realized he hadn't flown much with Sandra. He was glad Carter had suggested it today. Koenig made the effort to fly regularly with each pilot to learn their strengths and skills, especially the new ones who hadn't had the benefit of the rigorous flight simulator training available back on Earth. Unfortunately, the time constraints of command left him fewer opportunities than he would have liked, and he realized that Alan had almost monopolized Sandra's flying time. Well, in the confined living arrangements on Alpha, he couldn't blame the man for wanting some time alone with his wife.
Sandra handled the Eagle with a casual ease that rather impressed John. He took his hands away from the controls and rested them on his thighs as he relaxed back into the seat. He realized he had unconsciously held himself ready to take over at need. And it was quite obvious now that he wasn't needed. Sandra darted a quick look at the motion. He doubted he had fooled her with his casualness.
The Eagle quickly achieved the requisite safety distance from Alpha for Sandra to run through the standard review drills. "Ready?" he asked her.
Sandra nodded her head as the channel from Alpha came alive.
"Eagle 1 you have an all clear. Proceed when ready, Sandra." Alan's voice was calm and unruffled.
"Acknowledged, Alpha." Sandra replied and without further pause ran the Eagle through a standard drill pattern. John watched the Eagle's flight with growing respect. The standardized drills were deceptively simple, but difficult to do precisely. Sandra nailed them dead on.
"Alpha to Eagle 1. Not bad, Sahn. Ready for the phase 2? Remember, you don't have a laser." There was a hint of a grin in Alan's voice.
"Affirmative, Alpha."
Without warning, the Eagle's computer screens flared alive showing multiple bogies incoming at high velocity. In alarm, John questioned the silence from Command Center as he looked out the front viewports hunting for the threat. He moved quickly to grab the controls just as the Eagle rolled abruptly starboard. It was then he realized that this must be what Alan had been speaking about. Forcing his hands down and away from the controls, he watched as Sandra put the Eagle through evasive maneuvers that would have evaded all but a handful of the small alien ships.
After the first wave, a second wave came at them relentlessly from a different direction and using different tactics. Accordingly, the Eagle changed tactics. Feeling rather like an old-fashioned crash dummy, John tightened the restraining webbing across his chest. At one point, Sandra even slew the Eagle around 180 degrees and used the thrust of main engine to halt their forward motion, then punched the acceleration to evade a closing trap. Never one to have a touchy stomach, John was still glad he'd had a light breakfast today. Alan's program wasn't holding back and Sandra was responding in kind, throwing the Eagle into maneuvers its designers most likely never intended. Now John had a good idea of how those little icons must have felt in those old video games he had played as a kid.
The third wave was brief but nasty. He felt himself slamming against the webbing of the safety harness more then once, imaging a final tally of bruises that would undoubtedly earn him a scold from Helena. Finally, the wave ended as abruptly as it had begun. John actually sighed with relief.
"How'd she do, John? We register five simulated hits. The pod might've become a little drafty, but the engines and the Command Module would've held tight." Alan's voice definitely held a note of pride.
"She did well, Alan. How long have you two been planning this?" Actually, she had done very well, John thought as he relaxed the strangle hold of the safety harness.
"Sahn didn't know what I was up to, John. Just that she was going to be my guinea pig."
John looked at Sandra who was in the process of calmly calculating where they were against where Maya wanted them to be and paying minimal attention to the conversational chatter for the moment. Finally, she looked up from the monitor screen.
"I am resuming flight on coordinate line 417 to check out the sensor anomaly. Please confirm, Alpha."
"Confirmed. You did good, Sandra. Consider this a pass."
"Thank you, Alan. Eagle 1 out."
John watched as Sandra meticulously double-checked her coordinates and settings, and then placed the Eagle on automatic. She dropped her hands to her lap, sagged back into her seat and sighed. "That was almost as bad as I expected."
"You really had no idea what he was up to?"
She turned slightly to face John. "No. Just that Alan has been planning this for weeks with Bill and Maya's help. He is concerned that the new pilots have enough training in evasive flying. He has been drilling me constantly. This," and Sandra gestured to the monitors in front of her, "will probably be one of his new training programs." She took a deep breath and repositioned herself to sit straight again. "Still, I know he would rather have one of the old flight simulators from Earth." Sandra smiled at the Commander. "He worries about his pilots, but he worries about his Eagles even more."John laughed. That about nailed Alan's priorities. He personally couldn't see Alan risking an Eagle on repeated simulated attacks, not when there were too many possible chances for needless accidents, despite the obvious success of this run. He agreed that a simulator would be an invaluable asset right about now. They seriously had to train back-up pilots. At present, Alpha would be hard pressed to get a pilot in every Eagle if they called an emergent Operation Exodus. John looked at Sandra for a few minutes. If asked, he never would have thought she would've been the first of their new pilots. But, then again...
"What did Alan say when you told him you flew Eagle simulators back on Earth, Sandra?" During a vigil for a seriously wounded Alan years ago, back before Alan and Sandra were married, John had discovered that he'd been the one to unknowingly grant Sandra permission at the European Space Agency's Eagle simulator site in Germany.
There was a long pause and John looked over at Sandra. "You did tell him, didn't you?"
Sandra shrugged her shoulders slightly. "It has never come up."
"Why not?" John was surprised. "I'm
sure he'd be proud of you..."
"Probably, and would undoubtedly tease me at every opportunity."
Well, there was that, John had to agree. "He does know you flew on Earth?"
"Yes, he found out the day Roberto was born."
John shot Sandra a quick look. Tony and Maya's son had been born less then two years ago. He and Helena withheld few secrets from each other, so Sandra's reticence seemed odd to him to say the least. Especially given she and Alan had known each other for years longer than he had known Helena. Well, Alan didn't seem to be holding any grudges, and he was the only one entitled. John shook his head slightly in thought; he wondered what other secrets Sandra might have.
"How many times did you get to fly in a simulator?" John could well imagine the determined woman finagling two or three more occasions.
"Dozens. I flew in one every chance I had on my visits to Earth." Sandra smiled at the memories, obviously happy ones.
"And who authorized those visits?" John frowned with surprise. That went entirely against protocol. He had only granted permission for a one-time event and that only after extensive persuasion from Peter Rockwell.
"You did, Commander."
"What!? I most certainly did not."
"I kept that original pass and modified the embedded authorization code prior to each visit Earthside. Peter would be my escort. He never asked questions and neither did the duty personal since Peter always accompanied me in uniform. I do not think Peter really wanted to know the specifics."
John guessed not. "How did you manage that? Those codes had some of the highest level of encryption."
"And Alpha's Computer was the most advanced available, and had access to the same encryption codes for use on the Meta project. I probably knew your schedule as well as you did, Commander. I needed to make sure you were in a position to grant authorization and yet not near enough to actually find out about it." Sandra shrugged as she looked at John, a small smile on her face. Such indiscretions were now in the past.
John looked at his Data Analysis head with renewed respect. She must really have wanted to fly. Any number of the broken rules would have gotten her drummed out of the Space Service and quite possibly brought up on charges. He was very glad she was on their side.
"Alan wants a simulator on Alpha." Sandra shrugged again. "He is motivated and has the engineering knowledge to make it possible. And I have promised to help with the programming."
John smiled. They would make quite the pair. Alan had the well-deserved reputation of coming up with some of the most hellacious training programs available back in the late 90's. With Sandra to help with the programming, the pilots were in for some interesting times.
~~~~~~~
Eagle 1 closed on the area where Maya's anomaly was situated. Sandra checked her monitors, growing more confused by the moment. The Eagle's computer registered only slightly more then the statistically expected background noise,' yet to visual inspection there was an indistinct haziness blocking a growing expanse of the light from distant stars.
"Sandra, let's get nearer. Alpha is going to be passing close to this area and I'd rather not have any surprises." John looked repeatedly between the Eagle's screens and what was in space in front of them. "Why is Computer not at least telling us something is there?" He glanced at an equally baffled Sandra who only shook her head.
Eagle 1 soon enough found its answer.
John hailed Alpha. "Tony, Alan... this is incredible..."
The matte black ships were small, each only slightly larger than half the size of an Eagle, and there were thousands of them. They were beautiful, reminding John of the old stealth fighters on Earth, with clean aerodynamic lines that spoke of planetary as well as space flight. Each small ship was held, somehow, a bare ten or so meters from the next, static in a rigid conformity. The three dimensional lattice that the ships presented made some sort of geometric shape that was just beyond his comprehension. As he took in the magnificent sight, he realized that there were occasional gaps in the array, but not in any predictable pattern. There was no obvious indication of intent, or age. No lights or other signs of life were seen as they cautiously approached.
Sandra sent a visual back to Alpha as John described what they faced. She stared intently at the lattice of ships. The overall configuration was tantalizingly familiar. There appeared to be innumerable lines of symmetry to the irregular array. She could not yet see an overall pattern but sensed there had to be one. Some outlying parts reminded her tantalizingly of a spider's web. As she watched, the field of ships soon encompassed their entire forward visual field. They were getting too close. She attempted to check their forward momentum but found the Eagle unresponsive.
"Commander, we are being pulled in."
John looked at the controls, Sandra had all the positional thrusters engaged and on maximum.
"Let's turn around and put some distance between us."
Sandra shook her head. She had already attempted that. "The Eagle is not responding."
John verified that for himself.
"Eagle 1, you're getting too close." Alan's voice held an edge, the curiosity they all felt tempered with memories of too many hostile derelicts. The Eagle continued to drift closer and closer, rotating as it did so to align itself with the alien lattice.
"Confirmed, Alan, but the Eagle is no longer under our control." Sandra's voice was dispassionate but her actions were becoming more agitated.
"Eagle 1, can you boost the visuals and relay any additional information? Our readings are nil. As far as Computer is concerned, you're doing slow maneuvers in empty space." Tony's voice held obvious concern, the last time Computer read nothing in the presence of an obvious something, Tony Cellini had died.
Sandra paused and looked at her monitors and then outside. The Eagle had finally stopped. It was now neatly filling a gap on the perimeter left by two or more absent alien craft.
Also remembering hostile aliens, John turned away from the fascinating outside view. "Hang on, Alpha. I'm going to try to put some distance between us and these ships."
Quickly reviewing what sensor readings they did have and manually disengaging several safety cutoffs, John attempted to blast the Eagle out of the array. The ship vibrated tremendously at the immense forces rippling along the support superstructure, but the Eagle didn't move so much as a meter. Frustrated, John powered down.
"Commander, look." Sandra pointed at the monitor showing the image of the ship directly behind the engines. There wasn't a mark on it.
Koenig looked frankly surprised. "That's a trick I'd like to know how they accomplished." At a distance of less then ten meters, the damage should have been obvious and considerable, to say the least. "Sandra..."
Koenig's quiet voice brought Sandra out of her morbidly fascinated stare of the ships now almost surrounding them. Correcting interpreting his request to gather what information she could, she shunted formal Eagle control over to the co-pilot's position and focused on the computer information in front of her, calling up as much data as she could.
"Eagle 1 report." Tony's voice sounded distant. "Computer is having difficulty reading your telemetry. Can you send us any visuals? We can't pull anything down from the onboard computer."
Sandra opened a channel to Alpha. "Alpha, your signal is fading. Reattempting visuals now. Even this close the ships barely register as present..."
"Ghost ships?" Tony's distant mirthless snort interrupted her.
"... but as they most certainly are, I am doing a full sensor sweep and will send the information unfiltered back to Computer." As she worked, Sandra bit her lower lip slightly in frustration over the limited resources available to the Eagle's computer.
John watched Sandra do things with an on-board computer that he hadn't known were feasible. She linked and cross-linked sensor relays and on-board analysis programs and collected information to the point the computer was actually starting to bog down.
"Eagle 1 to Alpha."
"Alpha here, Sandra. How do things stand?" Tony's voice was growing yet more distant.
"I have collected as much information as I can at present. Is Maya still there?"
"Yes, Sandra." The woman's faint, static-filled voice acknowledged.
"I am sending the data as compressed as I can, and it is completely unfiltered. The ships are almost invisible to the sensors but we are now surrounded on all but our port side."
"Understood." Maya acknowledged. "Data is now arriving. There is a great deal of interference."
The Commander and Sandra glanced at each other and then back outside while awaiting additional word from Alpha.
"Received, Eagle 1. We will start analysis immediately."
John nodded. "Good. We'll see what we can learn from here. Next check-in in fifteen minutes. Koenig out." He pushed himself out of the seat. "Sandra, are we close enough to board one of the ships?"
Sandra started to gather data to answer the question, then stopped. Did he actually mean to do so? Helena had vividly described what they had encountered on the Ultra probeship and Sandra had lost many nights sleep since then recalling that voracious alien and Cellini's horrific death.
"Commander?"
Koenig turned back around from the walkway.
"Do you mean to enter one of the ships?" Sandra was embarrassed at the quiver of fear in her voice. She did not want the Commander to think her cowardly, but she admitted to herself the thought of blindly entering one of those ships scared her. To be trapped like a moth in a spider's web...
Koenig knelt down beside her and his expression was understanding, she saw with relief. Sandra, though, had no doubt he wished for stronger, not to mention braver, backup. Koenig rested his hand on her suited shoulder.
"We need to check every possibility. Perhaps the portable scanners will work better once they're inside one of those ships. Right now, we're sitting blind. You're aware of that better than anyone."
Sandra had to nod her head at that. They needed information, and quickly. Alpha would be approaching this... lattice ...in two days time.
Koenig nodded to the data in front of her on a small auxiliary screen. "Will the boarding tube work?" His voice was soft but persistent.
One glance gave her the answer. "Yes, Commander."
He smiled tightly at Sandra then stood to walk back to the transport pod. Sandra locked down the Eagle's controls, sighed deeply and then pushed herself up. She could wish Alan were here, or Tony, or Maya. But, if wishes were horses, then, well... and she did have to smile just a little at that thought. Well, Danae would be delighted. The child was mad about horses.
Sandra picked up a life pack, slipped it over her head, and adjusted the straps. Taking another deep breath, she tucked her helmet under her arm and walked the rest of the way into the transport pod. She would gather what information she could about the environment that awaited them and then join her Commander in finding out what was over there.
~~~~~~~
Maya focused on piecing together what she could from the interference-laden information sent by Eagle 1. She vaguely registered Helena's arrival from Medical Center and her soft conversation with Tony and Alan.
"Mr. Verdeschi, look." Alyssa's voice drew the attention of everyone in Command Center to the Main Screen. The visual relay from the Eagle, hazy as it was, showed the small ships surrounding the Eagle to be in motion.
"Damn. Get hold of Eagle 1, now," snapped Tony.
"I've been trying to, sir, but there is no response." Alyssa continued to try even as she spoke. "And since the ships started moving even the visual images are degrading. It's almost impossible to make out anything through all that static snow."
"Keep trying."
Alan stood and pulled his jacket closed. He wasn't going to just sit here and wait. He caught Tony's attention. "Tony, I'm going up. We need a better view of what's going on."
"What if the same force draws you in?" Maya asked Alan logically, looking up from her screens.
"We'll use the anti-gravity screens that worked against the Triton forcefield. And if that doesn't work to get John and Sandra free, well, we'll try something else." He grinned tightly at the clever Psychon. "I'm sure you'll come up with something."
"You might need medical backup, Alan. I'll join you." Helena stood to leave.
"No, Helena," Tony nodded permission to Alan to get going but held Helena back with a light hand on her arm. "Not this time. Bob or Ben can go." He spoke with quiet authority.
Helena turned to look at Tony in surprise. "And why should I not?" She had the greatest experience under these conditions and was the best person for the job and Tony knew that.
Tony answered simply with a calm expression on his face. "Too many Command Staff might not return."
"John needs me there."
Tony nodded agreement. "And the children need you here."
Helena slowly sat back down. He was right, damn it. Grudgingly, she nodded her reluctant acceptance.
Alan had to agree with Tony, although Helena was his choice for medical. He pressed the button on his console to link with Reconnaissance. "Miriam, prep three Eagles, all laser equipped and with booster pods. We'll launch as soon as they're ready."
Helena caught Alan's eye as he turned to head out of Command Center and followed him out. Once they were alone in the corridor, she took his arm and pulled him around to face her.
"Alan, if you aren't able to rescue them..."
"Helena..."
"Let me finish, Alan. If you can't get them out, you will come back?" Helena could see the mulish expression she knew so well on his face. Alan would not want to give up until he had Sandra and John, or he died trying. She took a deep breath. Time for another reality check. "Danae will need a father." And while she'd never say it aloud, so would her boys. Not so long ago, John had told her that if anything ever happened, Alan was his choice to step in as surrogate father. She shivered to think that day might be now.
Alan looked thoughtfully into Helena's worried green eyes and returned her look in kind. "Yeah, I'll come back." He walked a few steps and then turned back around. He saw Helena still watching him. "But Danae needs her mother, too."
~~~~~~~
Heading to Pad 1, Alan took the few minutes necessary to duck into the crche near Command Center. He didn't want to leave without saying good-bye to Danae. He nodded to the Alphan on duty and walked over toward the napping toddlers. The small bodies looked lost on the standard-sized pallets, even when two shared. Stephen Koenig sat up at his approach and Alan put a finger to his lips. He wiggled his fingers at the wide-awake little boy who smiled and laid back down watching the interesting break in routine. Still grinning, Stephen pointed to the ground near to him.
Alan sat down cross-legged on the floor by the closest pallet and stretched over the sleeping toddler to pick up what was on her other side. It was Danae's stuffed animal, Horse. He gave Stephen a cheerful thumbs-up which the little boy gleefully imitated. Alan turned back to look at the little girl sound asleep on the pallet next to him and couldn't help but get a little mushy inside. It was still hard to believe he had a daughter. He reached out and lightly touched the small girl who was all alone on her pallet. Alan had to grin—Danae flipped and flopped when she slept, just like a little silver fish out of water.
"Danae, little love, wake up."
"What?" Danae rolled over and smiled sleepily to see her papa. "Time to go?"
"No, love. I have to take an Eagle out for a little while. Aunt Maya or Aunt Helena will take you to their quarters tonight, alright?"
Danae nodded but then frowned. Her mommy had told her she would be back before dinner. "Where's Mommy?"
"I'm going to get her."
"Oh," that was all right then. "I love you, Papa," and the tiny not quite three-year-old stood up on the pallet and trustingly wrapped her arms around Alan's neck and kissed him on the cheek.
Alan gently hugged the lightly built child against his chest and then picked her up to lay her back down. He covered her with the light blanket and tucked the stuffed horse in bedside her. He smoothed the silver hair from her forehead and leaned over to kiss her.
"And I love you, too."
He stood and smiled down at his already sleeping child and then turned away to leave, the smile dropping from his face. Yeah, he'd come back, even if it killed him to do so.
~~~~~~~
The change in position had taken John and Sandra by surprise, but the motion had been brief and the inertial dampers had kicked in quickly. They looked at one another with concern, but the unexplained lattice shift made their exploration of a nearby ship all the more urgent. They were facing a virtual unknown. Very little information was forthcoming via the sensors and their communication link with Alpha was now sporadic and static filled. It was as if the Eagle was being mothballed in some sort of bizarre anti-sensor insulation. John and Sandra were on their own for the present.
The boarding tube was in place and the seals confirmed. They had chosen to evacuate the air from the Eagle and then close its door to the boarding tube behind them to further protect the interior of the Eagle. If the atmosphere, or anything else for that matter, from the alien craft proved hostile, they could latch onto the inside of the boarding tube and quickly purge the danger to space. John had left the door commands on standby and just a commlock signal or the manual trigger of the boarding tube's control panel would then allow them quick entrance to the safety of the Eagle. Though it was a cumbersome arrangement, the Eagle's interior would not be contaminated.
Visors down and sealed, suitcoms tested and online, they walked the short length of the boarding tube and stood ready, lasers in hand, to open the final doors.
"Ready, Sandra?"
Sandra rather suspected the answer of absolutely not' would not be what he wanted to hear. Exploring new worlds was fine; walking into small, unreadable ships was quite another. She held her own laser at the ready, competent in its use through many years of practice.
"Yes, Commander."
John opened the boarding tube's outer door and the matte black surface of the alien ship was now, finally, seen. Sort of. It was hard for Sandra to look at the ship's skin in front of her. Her eyes wanted to look away.
"Sandra?"
She walked up next to Koenig, held up the portable sensor and scanned the ship's surface. Besides finally reading something' present, the Eagle's computer still had little to offer. At least there was no radiation in evidence. At a loss, and lacking any other current means to gather data, Sandra inhaled carefully and reached out a gloved hand to touch the surface. It was extremely course, almost like sandpaper. When she closed her eyes, she could more easily focus on what was in front of her.
She was not surprised when Koenig immediately reached up to brush her hand off the ship, but the expected reprimand was aborted when the surface of the ship rippled open.
~~~~~~~
Alan ran the pre-flights quickly and glanced at his monitors to confirm the other two Eagles were on-standby. He opened a channel to Command Center. "Alpha, Eagle 4 ready for launch." Over the open channel he heard Fraser in Rescue Eagle 9 and Singh in Eagle 12 announce their readiness.
"Confirmed, Eagle 4." Kevin Taylor now sat at Eagle Ops in Command Center. "You're clear for launch. Eagles 9 and 12 also cleared for launch."
Eagle 4 was up and away in record time and quickly flanked by the two other Eagles in tight formation. A quick glance told Alan all was as it should be.
"Alright, let's have a look see what's out there."
~~~~~~~
The opening was small and irregular, just over a meter in height and narrow. Their handheld lights did not penetrate far into the gloom inside the ship. There was an atmosphere, although its pressure was very low. The rough equivalent of standing on a peak in the North American Rocky Mountains. It was breathable according to the Eagle's computer, but also included several unrecognizable compounds that while appearing non-toxic, were also non-recognizable. Neither John nor Sandra wanted to chance that yet.
John looked dubiously inside from his 1.9 meter height. "Gulliver in Lilliput indeed," he muttered.
Sandra caught the reference and smiled, her tension easing somewhat. "I will go first, Commander."
Koenig was not at all pleased at the suggestion but acknowledged its practicality. They did need to find out something, anything the ship had to offer. Telling Sandra to stay put, he went back into the Eagle and returned with a helmet cam. He removed the camera from the spare helmet and affixed it to Sandra's.
He looked at her solemnly. "Alright, but be careful in there. It's going to be bad enough trying to explain to Carter why I let you go in first, much less if anything happens."
Sandra simply nodded. There was nothing else to say. She bent over, turned slightly and slipped into the small opening barely big enough for her small, slender frame and life pack.
~~~~~~~
Alan's long-range sensors had the same not-quite-normal readings that Sandra had reported. Without any real hope of getting through, Alan changed the Eagle's secondary frequency to match the private channel in Sandra's flight suit. Very quietly, his worry apparent to any who overheard, he whispered, "Sandra, be careful, love."
Trusting his wingmen to follow, he kicked in the booster to make quicker time
~~~~~~~
Sandra crossed into the alien ship and immediately found herself floating off the floor. Surprised, she grabbed for the receding entryway, checking the abrupt motion too late. Tumbling head over heels in zero gravity, she drifted slowly away from the door.' In this haphazard, tumbling fashion, the ship around her gradually opened up into a central hold rather like an Eagle pod, but the margins of the small space remained frustratingly shrouded in darkness. The light on her helmet and the handheld flashlight provided only partial illumination. It was as if the light were being swallowed. Not a reassuring thought.
Limited to what the tumbling light revealed, Sandra searched for a handhold. Everything was... odd. As much the outside of the ship had lacked distinguishing features, the interior was an overwhelming confusion of texture. That the patches' of varying textures followed absolutely no predictable pattern did not help. Things were bumpy or prickly or slick or even furry' appearing. Nothing was simply smooth and regular as was typical of human construction. The colors all seem muted and prominently in the grays, with some muted blues and the occasional patch of light-swallowing black. The walls coved inward, nowhere a clear separation of wall, floor or ceiling. All in all, a very alien environment. Her apprehension was lost in growing curiosity.
Floating onward, Sandra finally bumped up against the wall.' By grabbing a furry' patch, she found enough purchase to hold steady. Her breathing sounded loud in her ears and she startled when Koenig's voice addressed her over the suit com.
"That's better, Sandra. Is there any way to increase illumination? I can barely make out what is in front of you."
"Negative, Commander. The lights are on maximum."
"Alright then, get a good look around then come out. We'll see if we can't get through to Alpha and see what Computer makes of all this."
"Yes, sir."
Gently this time, remembering her embarrassing tumble, she pushed herself off the wall and floated to the narrowed end of the ship, what in a Terran craft would be the cockpit. Nowhere could she see anything that resembled a monitor. In fact, there were no obvious controls or readouts that she could see anywhere. Just more patches of irregularly textured surface in slashes of muted color. She turned around to push off to make an inspection of the aft reaches of the small ship when her attention was caught by a small, translucent basket' of some sort set within a recess of the wall.' The light from her helmet suddenly flared iridescently off the surface, but not quite enough to completely obscure the contents to her dazzled eyes and she gasped in surprise.
There was a body inside.
"Sandra, what is it?" Koenig's voice was both worried and questioning.
"Commander, I believe I ..."
Just then, the ship's wall abruptly slammed into Sandra and knocked her unconscious.
~~~~~~~
"Damn." Alan disengaged the boosters and brought his small Eagle fleet to a relative standstill in front of the field of ships. John had been right; there were many hundreds, perhaps thousands of the things. At any other time he would have dearly loved to go exploring the small, sleek craft-- right now he just wanted to make sure Eagle 1 could get out of the middle of that carpark. He kept Eagle 4 at a distance that was further out than the recorded onset of Eagle 1's involuntary drift. Without taking his eyes off the view, Alan reached out and opened the commline to its widest bandwidth so Alpha could listen in if possible.
"What do you think Bill, Deepjot?"
"It looks like a bloody mess," was Ed Spencer's unexpected comment from Fraser's rescue Eagle. Alan had to agree with the doctor's assessment, although he fervently hoped they wouldn't need the trauma surgeon's skills this time.
"They're pretty far in," said Bill. "If they're dead in the water we've got a problem. Those ships are packed in tight."
Alan nodded deep in thought. Finally, he whistled in astonishment as he comprehended the magnitude of the enclosed volume of space represented by the ships. It was unbelievable. Enough to account for a sizable fraction of the moon. He shook his head to refocus on the current crises. Sandra had reported their port side had been free which had implied they were also on the port side of that array. Now he could just get a glimpse of white several kilometers in. Given the apparently rigid nature of the lattice, he was at a loss to explain how the Eagle could have shifted like that.
"Eagle 4 to Alpha. We're on site and have Eagle 1 in visual contact, but there's no way to get to it without going through an awful lot of those alien ships first." He sent a high-resolution active feed back to Alpha, hoping it would get through the jamming signals these things seemed to put out.
"Got it, Alan. Can you...what the hell?" Tony's voice matched Alan's amazement. In front of his eyes, the ships... moved. The array folded upon itself like a child folding origami paper, folding and refolding lines of ships in a flicker-fast fashion that astounded Alan even as it sent a wave of fear through him. How would John and Sandra inside Eagle 1 take to that sudden change in velocity and direction? They could end up smeared against the ceiling unless the inertia dampers were able to compensate fast enough. And he wasn't sure they could.
~~~~~~~
Sandra woke up floating upside down next to the door.' She shook her head to clear her vision, then winced at the pain the motion caused. Her head throbbed.
"Commander?"
The lack of an answer worried her. She righted herself in relation to the Eagle for the sake of her confused sense of balance, although she knew intellectually it didn't really matter in weightlessness. A quick internal diagnostic found nothing wrong with her suitcom. She reached to retrieve the portable light spinning in its own small orbit about her when its light caused the basket' to briefly scintillate. Groggily gambling that an extra moment wouldn't matter, she pushed herself off the wall. Carefully keeping the handheld light at an angle to provide only indirect lighting, she again looked through the translucent material to the basket's contents. Yes, it was a body.
It was small and curled up in a fetal position, the size of a small child, perhaps, but absolutely not human appearing. The fine bumpy texture of the skin? hide? over the delicate bones almost had the regular appearance of a wide mesh needlepoint canvas. Bracing herself against the wall, Sandra reached out to touch the surface of the container. I looked like woven crystal but was soft and yielding. Withdrawing her hand, the basket came with it. Sandra shook her glove, but the material adhered tightly. Well, then. She took a few breaths to clear her thinking. Carefully not touching it with her free hand, Sandra withdrew the basket' further from its resting place in the wall. It slid out easily.
The top was open and she looked inside. With her free hand, Sandra could not help but touch the small, multicolored and fragile seeming creature. Through her gloved hand, the skin felt stiff and only marginally yielding, but that could have been due to the extreme cold of space. Her hand brushed against a small amount of desiccated vegetable matter adhering to the body. The arms? paws? cradled an even smaller basket,' but this one was opaque. The creature seemed peaceful in its death.
As Sandra looked closer, she realized that the proportions of the limbs to the body seemed wrong, somehow. And there definitely appeared to be more than four limbs. As she considered the creature's origins, Sandra suddenly realized she had yet to hear from the Commander. She turned to face the door' back to the boarding tube and then realized the basket was still stuck fast to her left glove. She would have to take the container and its contents with her. Sandra stopped briefly to worry about the risks of contamination, but then sighed. Worrying about contamination to the Eagle and Alpha was moot if they remained trapped. In any case, knowing more about the creature might help them understand the incomprehensible configuration inside this ship.
Sandra navigated the transition through the small, narrow portal with something less than grace. The basket' affixed to her glove made things all the more awkward, especially when the Eagle's gravity in the docking tube took over and she stumbled hard to the floor. She picked herself up, glancing absently to where the basket had landed right side up about half a meter distant. Much more concerning was the Commander laying face down and still at the other end of the docking tunnel near the Eagle.
Deciding quickly, Sandra sealed the far doors of the docking tube isolating them from the alien ship and bled out the alien ship's atmosphere from the docking tube. She opened the Eagle and dropped the gravity to 0.35 g. With that, she was able to pull Koenig the remaining distance into the Eagle proper. Looking back down the tube, she saw the basket where it had fallen. It had come too far to be lost to space without cause, she thought. Quickly fetching the basket, she reentered the Eagle and placed it on the storage rack just inside the door, and closed the Eagle's door, triggering the docking tube's return. Once the Eagle was repressurized and the gravity normal, she felt better for being on her own, familiar territory. Gratefully, she removed the helmet and walked over to the Commander. She knelt down next to his head and unsealed the visor. He was still unconscious.
"Commander?" No response. Standing, Sandra made her way passed tumbled storage cubes and dislodged containers that cluttered the floor. Looking through the storage compartments just aft of the Command Module, she finally found the Eagle's medical kit. She opened it up and rummaged through it until she found the small, portable biosign scanner. Turning on the scanner she walked back to the Commander, placed the unit against the Commander's forehead and sat back to wait. The information it could provide was limited, but more than she had now.
After what felt much longer than it truly was, the small unit flashed its blue completion indicator. Sandra looked at it closely. Her medical knowledge was limited to the mandatory first aid training required of all Alphans, but the line of solid green lights was immensely reassuring. His biosigns looked good and there was no scanner evidence of severe head trauma or internal bleeding, but beyond that she could not tell. If only he would wake up.
Somewhat reassured, Sandra straightened the Commander's arms and legs and placed a folded emergency blanket under his head as a pillow. He weighed too much for her to move further unless she again modified the gravity generators. Improvising with cargo restraining straps, she attempted to secure the Commander against another sudden position change. That done, she looked around the transporter pod and quickly stowed loose items in case another shift should take place. She really didn't want to be hurt by one of their own pieces of equipment. It was then she noticed the alien basket and its contents. It dawned on her that whatever it had been that caused it to stick to her glove, it was no longer operating under Alphan conditions. She walked over to the basket, picked it up in her still gloved hands and shoved it under one of the seats until it was wedged tight. It was the best she could do at present given its awkward dimensions. That done, and the Commander still unconscious, she stepped into the Command Module to see if she could raise Alpha.
~~~~~~~
"Eagle 1 to Alpha, come in Alpha." The voice was faint but undoubtedly that of Sandra. Alan sat up straight and slammed home the transmit button harder than he intended.
"Sandra, thank God. It's Alan, I'm in Eagle 4. It's good to hear your voice." He boosted the reception strength to maximum and was rewarded with a snowy image of Sandra. He saw her anxious expression relax just a little. "I can just make you out in the middle of that flippin' mess."
"Alan, do not come any closer. We have been unable to break ourselves loose of whatever force is holding us here."
"Yeah, and I'm sure you tried. Look, where's John?" He saw Sandra look over shoulder back toward the main compartment.
"He was knocked unconscious, but is coming to now."
"What happened to him?"
"The lattice...rearranges itself periodically without any warning. We have been thrown around some." There was a pause that in Sandra-speak probably meant bad news. "We are... bruised, but alive."
"Alright, Sahn." Alan figured there was more, but there was nothing he could do about it yet. "Let's figure out how to get you two out of there and back home."
Alan watched Sandra nod and reached out a hand to tenderly touch her face on the monitor screen. "Don't worry, love, the cavalry's arrived."
~~~~~~~
Maya looked between Tony and Helena and then quickly at the images that Alan's Eagle had boosted from Eagle 1. They were the enhanced images from Sandra's helmet cam of the interior of the alien ship. She knew she had a puzzled look on her face. "You see everything as grey?"
"Yeah." Tony verified as he squinted at the still hazy and tumbling scenes. "Looks like Sandra needs a refresher on how to move in weightlessness."
"Maya, what do you see?" Helena ignored Tony's stress-induced flippancy, suspecting Maya had discovered something.
There was no answer as the Psychon immediately forgot any others were present. She quickly clicked away at the simplistic keys in front of her with complete determination. She absorbed Computer's answers and posed more questions before Helena could comprehend what was on the screen. Tony had seen Maya like this whenever she was on a strong lead. He simply shrugged in Helena's direction, leaned back in his chair, and waited, masking his impatience imperfectly.
~~~~~~~
Sandra listened to Alan's directions carefully as she reset the engine parameters. She had relayed the settings the Commander had used earlier and Alan was improvising another way to increase engine output short of adding a booster pod. They would try blasting free from the lattice one more time before Alan risked a closer approach with his Eagles.
"Good, Sahn. That's about it. Make sure John is strapped down tightly, it's going to get pretty bumpy in there."
"No need." Koenig eased himself down into the co-pilot's seat, one hand still holding the retraining straps, and winced from various aches. He scanned the settings and raised an eyebrow at Alan's snowy image on the monitor. "Not holding back, are we?"
"Yeah. I thought we'd give it a go. The computer sims say it's within tolerance."
"Barely," muttered Sandra.
"Have faith, newbie. The old bird will take it."
John saw the banter had Sandra calm and focused, which is just what she needed to be for them to try this stunt. He was tightening his safety harness when the Eagle lurched violently down and rolled port-ward. After 15 seconds of vertigo, the motion stopped.
"What the hell was that??"
Sandra was pushing her hair out of her eyes as she called up images of their current location in the lattice. "That is how you were knocked unconscious, Commander. The lattice shifts have become more violent. We are now... oh."
"You lot alright?" Alan's anxious staticy voice was heard before visuals were re-established.
"Yes, Alan. We are almost back to the periphery."
"Yeah." Sandra could almost hear the gears grinding in Alan's brain as he ran through new options. "And seeing that crazy flip-flop up close gives me an idea."
~~~~~~~
"Ah. Tony, Helena, is this what you see?" Maya pushed a few final buttons on her console and then looked up at the Main Screen.
Helena turned about immediately from her pacing to look at Maya. It had been fifteen minutes since Alan's last update concerning Eagle 1 and her anxiety level was rising again. She wished she could be out there. She looked up at the Screen. It was the same image of the ship's interior in the same shades of grey. She looked at Tony who just shrugged.
"Yeah, it is."
Maya smiled slightly and then reached over and pushed one final button. "And now?"
Alyssa's inhaled breath of surprise was echoed by everyone in Command Center.
The Main Screen was now alive in vivid shades of violet, yellow, purple and red. The patches of different textures could now be seen in high relief.
"What did you do, Maya?" Helena's face held a trace of wonderment even through her worry. Memories of Chicago's Morton Arboretum briefly crossed her thoughts. "It almost looks like a flower garden."
Maya nodded. "Exactly, Helena." Maya slight smile of success faded. "And now look at this." She pressed a few more buttons and the image altered slightly. Now, among the deep violet patched that represented the fur' that Sandra had clung to could be seen pinpoint spots of white.
"What did you just do, Maya?" asked Tony.
"This is with an ultraviolet filter added."
The small, faceted glittering jewel-like spots reminded Helena of something. "They're like insect's eyes," she said softly.
Tony glanced quickly at Helena but then looked back up at the Main Screen. As the images of Sandra's travel through the ship continued, he saw something that made the hairs on his neck stand on end. Still staring at the Screen he asked, "Do you see what I see?"
"Yes, Tony." And Maya added softly, "And I do not think it wise for Sandra to re-enter the ship."
~~~~~~~
"What is the time interval between the lattice's rearrangements?" Koenig voice was tense as he tapped his gloved fingers on his thigh. Sandra suspected if they had been in Command Center he would be pacing about now.
"Unknown, Commander. There were 42 minutes between the first recorded repositioning and the second, and 74 minutes before the third. That is all I can tell you."
"Alright Alan, and you think this sling-shot' idea will work?"
"Should. We'll harness the momentum of the Eagle's motion from the lattice flip-flop and give it an extra kick for all you're worth. Just stay awake through the g-forces to make sure you don't hit me on the way out."
Koenig snorted. It would take a lot to make him pass out, and Carter knew it. He sat quietly and listened to Carter keep up the distracting chit-chat, interrupting himself periodically for scheduled reports back to Alpha. John wished he could speak directly with Helena, but he did record a private message for her... just in case. He forwarded it on to Alan who paused his monologue long enough to acknowledge its receipt with a thumbs-up.
When the shift finally happened at 61 minutes, it was without warning.
"Now, Sandra! Hit the main motors NOW!"
The Eagle twisted and bucked worse than any simulator mission either John or Sandra had even flown. Smoke poured from overloaded and fused circuits and sparks arced between control panels. The lights in the command module strobed eerily and the superstructure screamed in agony as the ship hurtled twisting through space.
They were free.
Fighting to retain consciousness, Sandra was mortally grateful to have the experienced pilot at her side. She knew she could never have handled the Eagle alone under these conditions. The hellacious flight seemed to last forever, or at least long enough for Sandra to think her good-byes to Alan and Danae as she grayed out from the g-forces when... the violent spinning subsided.
As her vision slowly returned, Sandra listened to the sounds of her own panting in her suit. Sometime during that flight, her helmet's visor had dropped down into position and she was still too shaky to raise it back up. Looking to her right she could see Koenig fighting to keep control of the Eagle.
"You okay, Sandra?"
She nodded as she raised the visor and coughed at the sharp smell of ozone. "Yes, sir. Yourself?"
"Good enough. Can you raise Alan from your side? These controls are just about fried."
She nodded and forced her leaden arms and hands to work.
"...dra, John, can you read me? Eagle 4 to Eagle 1, come in."
"We copy that, Alan. We are attempting to regain control, but damage is extensive." Sandra looked around at the banks of red flashing tell-tails.
"Eagle 4 to Eagle 1, you need to..." The line died.
Sandra was unable to raise Alan again. She doubted he had heard her.
"Pay attention, Sandra, you're about to see some tricks that aren't in the manuals." The Commander's voice sounded amazingly calm to Sandra, but then again, he always did so in a crisis. "Keep the Eagle as steady as you can."
Sandra nodded and assumed primary control.
Koenig opened up several small hatches to his right and pulled out a few minimally singed circuit boards. Unlatching his harness and flinging himself on his back in the center of the Command Module, Koenig quickly opened hatches under the main control panels. He jump-wired controls and switched out control boards. His head still partially under the control panel he called, "Now, Sandra, engage retros."
Sandra hastened to comply, and amazingly, the Eagle slowed and control of the wayward craft improved. About a quarter of the tell-tails were again green.
"It's only temporary, Sahn. But hopefully enough to get us back to Alpha."
"If needed, we could transfer to another Eagle."
"If we have to, but I'd rather nurse this one back if we can. We need every Eagle." Koenig returned to his chair more slowly this time, wincing at overstretched and bruised muscles. He and Sandra quickly ran an emergency checklist and then Sandra focused on trying to reach Alan.
"...dammit, John, you've got to be alive in there. I recognize some of those moves from the last time you abused one of my birds. I've got Helena on the line demanding to know your status and you'd better give me something good to tell her, or I'm not sure I want to go back to Alpha. Come on, Sandra, at least flash some running lights..."
Sandra grinned at John. Alan sounded more exasperated than worried now. She finagled a few connections and was finally rewarded with a viable channel.
"Eagle 1 to Eagle 4, we are alive and well." Sandra reviewed her coordinates and sobered as she realized they would have to once again pass closely by the lattice to rejoin the other Eagles. She looked at John who had realized the same. Neither she nor the Commander fully trusted the Eagle to respond to complicated flight commands that would put more distance between them and the lattice. Straight was best, if they could cut it that fine. "Alan, we will give the lattice as much room as we can, but please advise of any changes. Our sensors and thrusters are working on minimum."
"Understood and will do, Sahn. Eagle 4 standing by."
Sandra knew Alan had calculated the same. And she could tell Alan's nerves were again stretched thin given the brevity of the answer. Everyone would feel better once Eagle 1 had managed to get past the lattice. Well, that would be soon now. Hopefully.
~~~~~~~
From Command Center, Tony, Helena and the rest of the staff watched Eagle 1 start its limp past the array.
Tony turned to face the pilot sitting at Eagle Ops. "Kevin, is there any clue which ship in that lattice might control the rest?" Maybe he could send the other two Eagles with Alan on a strafing run just threatening enough to provide a diversion for John and Sandra to get past.
Kevin Taylor looked up from his studies of the data forwarded from Eagle 1 prior to their encounter with whatever it was that had drawn them in. "No. The initial images are poor and incomplete, but the ships appear to be of uniform size and appearance. I've compared them to images sent by the Captain after the lattice rearrangements and still all ships appear to be uniform in appearance. Function, of course, remains a unknown matter."
Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration. They had so little information to go on. "Is there any way to get Eagle 1 further away from those ships as they make their return pass?"
"Given the readings forwarded by the Captain... no. Eagle 1's control system is fragile at best." Kevin wished he had more to offer.
Maya watched the Eagle's progress and was the first to notice the oddity.
"Tony, the ship array is contracting in volume."
"What?" Tony spun around to face the Screen.
"The ships are becoming denser on the side facing the Eagle 1." Maya looked at Kevin for confirmation.
Kevin watched the Main Screen with a squint of concentration. The alien ships were recoiling in a very fluid manor, nothing like the folding flip-flops of earlier. "It's almost as if they are trying to move out if the way. To put more distance between them and the Eagle." Kevin looked apologetically toward Tony. It wasn't the most technical analysis of the situation, but it was accurate.
Tony quickly glanced back at Kevin. "Could the alien ships be preparing a retaliatory strike?"
Kevin shrugged. "Unknown."
Tony reopened the channel to Alan. "Stay alert, Alan. Those ships are acting odd."
"Affirmative, Alpha. We're standing by."
The staff in Command Center and Alan in Eagle 4 held their collective breaths until Eagle 1 was safely and uneventfully pulling away from the lattice. The alien ships appeared to stay in their bunched up position, almost as if they wanted nothing further to do with the Eagle.
Helena waited until she saw Alan and his rescue fleet move out of their stand-by positions and spread out around Eagle 1 in a protective flanking pattern. She then sat down with a sigh and ran her hand through her blond hair. She'd not completely relax until she heard John's voice, but at least he was coming home.
"Maya, how did you know to look in the expanded visual spectrum?" Tony was looking somewhat more relaxed now that Alan had confirmed the Eagles were exiting the lattice array's sphere of influence.
"When everyone in Command Center complained of how dark and gray the image was I was confused. The image was dark, but I could see many hints of purple and red, and even a little white."
Helena nodded in response to Tony's doubtful expression. "Her visual spectrum is slightly broader then ours, even with some small ability to see into the ultraviolet, although not quite that broad, I think." Helena nodded toward the vivid images still on an ancillary screen.
Maya grinned at Tony and stuck her tongue out at him just as Alyssa's communication board alerted her to an incoming message directly from Eagle 1. The image of the Commander popped up on her small monitor.
"Dr. Russell."
Helena stood and walked over to Alyssa's station, taking the offered seat when she saw John's face on the small monitor.
Alyssa stood quietly back and watched the interplay among the senior Command Staff with fascination. Maya was still a mystery to many Alphans and Alyssa was amazed at the combination of raw intelligence and playful whimsy. She and Mr. Verdeschi seemed well matched. As she watched the two and listened to their verbal repartee, Alyssa noticed the doctor sit back in the chair and sigh with relief. As much as Maya fascinated her, so did the doctor. Dr. Russell was usually the personification of cool intellect, although Alyssa knew from experience her bedside manner was kind. Seeing the anxiety and fretfulness humanized her in a way nothing else could.
Seeing Alyssa watch her, Helena rose from her seat with a smile of gratitude and moved back to life sciences. "Thank you, Alyssa."
Alyssa nodded and sat back down. She did not see Dr. Russell laugh almost silently at the sight on the Main Screen as the Eagles headed home.
"Quack, quack."
Maya looked over at the physician with a questioning look. "I beg your pardon, Helena?"
Helena smiled. "A story I was reading to Stephen the other night. Make Way for Ducklings."
Maya looked perplexed, then turned to her monitor and pulled up an auxiliary screen.
Tony sat heavily in his seat rubbing his eyes, a tired smile on his face. He turned to the life sciences console. "I don't know that one, Helena, can I borrow it sometime to read to the children?"
Maya pre-empted Helena's answer.
"Ah, water fowl that lay eggs from which live young hatch. The newly-hatched will follow their mother or any large creature that they imprint upon and will follow her or him through all sorts of hazards." Maya looked up from her screen at Helena who was wearing a grin at her confusion. Maya looked over Helena's shoulder up at the Main Screen with a puzzled look that quickly cleared. "Oh."
Tony turned about quickly to look up at the Screen. Without taking his eyes of the Main Screen, he reached down and opened the channel to the Eagles. "Uh, John, did you intentionally mean to bring along company?" Concern was evident in his voice.
"Clairfy please, Alpha." Sandra's voice was exhausted but correct as always.
"Look behind you."
There was a pause as shipboard direct vision monitors were engaged.
"Well, I'll be damned," Alan laughed over the common channel.
Eagle 1 was chaperoning a small flock of dark ducklings' that trailed behind in a neat line, approximately six or so. The small ships were still almost transparent to the sensors, but direct visualization worked just fine.
"Technical is going to have a field day taking one of those things apart." Tony muttered as Alyssa sent orders to Eagle Maintenance to prepare for the arrivals. Tony turned sharply toward her. "No, I want them parked far away from Alpha. Alan can pick up John and Sandra after they're down."
Alyssa nodded and amended her instructions to the inbound Eagles and Reconnaissance.
Helena stood and stretched her back. "I need to check in with Medical, and then I'm off to pick up Danae and the boys. Tony, I'll send the book in with John tomorrow." With a nod toward the others, Helena left Command Center.
~~~~~~~
Several hours later, Eagles 1 and 4 and their flotilla set down approximately a third of the circumference of the moon away from Alpha. Eagles 9 and 12 maintained a watch overhead and were to stay until a pair of laser equipped relief Eagles arrived. Tony was taking no chances.
"Hey, what do you know, they are acting just like ducklings." Alan's amused voice said. The small craft made no effort to break away from the rigid formation they had held in space, but set down without any visible effort in a tidy line behind Eagle 1. There was only the smallest amount of moon dust kicked up by the ducklings', unlike their mother Eagle which created plumes of dust.
Sandra set Eagle 1 down on the starboard side of Eagle 4, and then powered down all systems. Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out how to get the alien spacecraft to not follow their adopted mother.' She and John wearily pushed out of their low chairs and headed back to the pod to strip out if their orange flight suits. Alan's Eagle should be in position to dock with Eagle 1 soon. As important were the finds they had made, all Sandra wanted to do right now was see Alan and Danae, eat and rest. She could wait until tomorrow to explore the tantalizing alien computer operating systems. She hoped the Commander would put off debriefing until after a good night's rest.
"Pass your suit, Sahn." Sandra turned to find the Commander just finishing stashing his on the hanger and now holding his hand out for hers. She was still pulling her legs out of the pants. Well, he had had years of extra practice. The sounds of a docking tube connection could be heard. Alan must have remotely triggered its extension.
"John, ready to open the door whenever you are. Seal is engaged."
"Right, Alan."
Sandra opened the transport pod doors gratefully and passed through the short passageway. In Eagle 4, she sat down tiredly, looking around but not seeing Alan. He must still be up front, which was where the Commander undoubtedly would head directly.
"We're in." The Commander closed the door and remotely signaled the docking tube to return to Eagle 1. Once clear, Eagle 4 lifted off as the Commander sat down beside Sandra.
"Nice job, Sahn."
"Thank you, Commander." Sandra expected him to head to the Command Module, but he surprised her.
"And Sandra, I do have a first name."
Sandra was surprised. "Thank you." Koenig gently squeezed her shoulder and then stood and walked forward. Sandra didn't know if she could ever find it in herself to be that informal with the Commander, but she was touched by the offer of esteem and friendship, nonetheless.
Sandra sat quietly, eyes closed, grateful not to have to think of anything, but she couldn't completely relax, not quite yet. There would be a medical exam to get through, possibly the debriefing. But after that, she was looking forward to a hot shower and time alone with Alan and Danae. Sandra involuntarily shuddered a little. Throughout it all, she had tried very hard not to consider the possibility she'd never see Danae again.
"Hey, there. Eagle 4 calling Sandra, are you receiving?"
Keeping her eyes closed, Sandra smiled. "You are coming in clearly, Captain."
"That's good."
Sandra felt Alan's fingers touch her face and looked up to see him sit down next to her. He had already striped out of his flight suit. "Should you not be up there?" Sandra gestured toward the front of the Eagle. Alan made for an exceptionally poor backseat driver.
"Nah, John told me my services weren't needed." Alan put his arm around Sandra and pulled her close. He felt no guilt in letting John stay up front. He'd minded the store often enough when John and Helena had wanted a few private minutes after a mission. It was a short, routine flight in any case, and John was a good pilot. He kissed Sandra gently and pulled her to him closer still. "How much do you want to bet that either Helena or Maya brings Danae to meet us?" Alan whispered in her ear.
Sandra melted into Alan's embrace, soaking up the comfort he offered. She felt the tension is his body relax as he convinced himself she was unhurt. Knowing her husband well, she smiled slightly in anticipation of later. She knew Alan would be a gentle lover once Danae was asleep and they were alone. But then, in the middle of the night, she also knew he would awaken her with great need after such a scare as today, that he would press into her with an urgency she knew she would meet. As exhausted as she was now, Sandra shivered in anticipation, and with her thoughts still drifting idly, she thought of how Alan still felt guilty whenever he fell asleep on her afterwards. She had yet to convince him she enjoyed the press of his replete body against hers, her legs wrapped about his, her hands free to caress the firm muscles of his back, waist and buttocks. Well, she would try to convince him again tonight.
Sandra chuckled, leaning in against Alan's warmth. "If Danae is there, I suspect she will be hungry and will want dinner." The fact that Danae ate lightly but grazed frequently was a standing Carter family joke.
As Alan's attentions became more earnest, Sandra looked quickly toward the front to make sure the door to the command module was closed. Her glance fell aside as Alan took her face and tilted it up to his.
"Yeah, well, we'll feed her and then put her to bed and then..." Alan's kiss was interrupted by the sounds of the landing pad boarding tube latching on. Sandra hadn't even felt them arrive. She again looked to the front of the Eagle. It was unusual for the pilot to stay up front so long. Alan saw her glance. "John's just paying back a favor or two." He pulled her back to his side, turned her face toward his and finished the interrupted kiss.
~~~~~~~
"Are we really going to see my Mum and Papa, Aunt Lena?" Danae skipped along beside Helena clutching Horse in her thin arms. Helena looked down and smiled tiredly at the tiny girl and her bedraggled stuffed horse. There was no doubt the girl dearly loved the small animal made by Maya for her first birthday.
"Yes, sweetheart. They should be down in just a few more minutes." They walked through the last short length of corridor to the embarkation area. Helena carried infant David and held Stephen's hand as the boy walked sleepily beside her. She was very glad they were almost there. The distance had not been far, but short legs tired quickly.
The entourage walked into the embarkation area for Pad 1. Helena gratefully sat down and rearranged David to rest more comfortably against her shoulder. Stephen sleepily curled up besides her, his head in her lap and sucking his thumb. Helena looked down on her eldest and ran her fingers through his soft, silky brown hair. She smiled gently as she watched the tired little boy's eyes sag and finally close. He always collapsed early, usually right after dinner. Stephen was a morning person and vigorously resisted any inconvenient interruption in his daily activities, like napping.
Helena looked up to keep track of Danae. The small girl was plastered against the viewing port watching the arrival of the approaching Eagle.
"They're here! Aunt Lena, they're here!" Danae jumped down from the low ledge and ran to the boarding shuttle.
Answering the pleading look from the almost three-year-old, Helena opened the doors with her commlock so the child could be the first to welcome her parents home. Helena knew the multiple and redundant safety features would keep the child safe as the tube car took her to dock with the arriving Eagle, but still, Helena wondered if as a small child she would have been brave enough to travel alone in such a strange conveyance. Sadly, however, Alpha's children knew no different.
Helena would have liked to meet John in the boarding tube, but the warm, heavy weight of Stephen across her lap told her he was deeply asleep. Helena put her arm around the little boy protectively. Suppressing a shudder of fear, she rested her cheek against infant David's unruly mop of black curls. Thank goodness, John was coming home safe. She knew she would carry on if anything ever did happen to him, for the children's sake and Alpha's. But Helena also knew that an important part inside her would wither and die if she had to. Eyes closed, she rocked back and forth very gently as she waited.
~~~~~~~
Danae sat very properly in the chair closest to the docking end of the tube car. Her Mum had told her many, many times to always sit down when the car moved. And since her Mum was going to be there when the door opened, she'd better be sitting. Sometimes though, when it was just her and Papa, he held her up in the seat so she could feel the movement of the car as it went really fast. Sometimes they even took long tube trips around Alpha just so she could feel the wonderful pushing and pulling feelings as they sped up and slowed down. Soon, Papa said he would take her up in one of his Eagles. Not just a safety drill where she had to sit in the back with the babies, but up front with him. She couldn't wait.
The car slowed and stopped. After a long, long wait, the door finally started to open. Even before the door opened all the way, she could see grown-up bodies moving inside the Eagle. She knew she had to wait until the door completely opened and people walked out, but it was so hard.
"There's my girl!"
Danae wriggled with anticipation. Even without being able to see him, she knew her Papa's voice. No one else on Alpha sounded quite like him. Soon enough, the door opened fully. "Papa!" Danae launched herself out of the chair and into her father's arms. He had already taken off his orange suit, which was good. She wasn't allowed to touch him until it was off. She knew that red and orange meant be careful' and don't touch.' More safety rules.
"Hey, don't forget your mum."
Danae giggled as her papa's whiskery face rubbed against her ear as he whispered into it. She looked down from where she had a tight grip around her papa's neck and happily held out her arms to her mum who took her and held her close.
"I missed you, Mommy."
"And I missed you."
Danae thought her mum held her a little tighter than usual.
"Don't I have any visitors?"
Danae looked up at Uncle John. Some of the kids thought he was scary, but she liked him. He was her third most favorite papa. "Uh huh, Aunt Lena is waiting, but Stevie and Davie fell asleep on her. She's in the barking room'."
"And probably about to go howling mad at the thought of putting those boys to bed by herself."
Danae smiled at her Papa although she had no idea what he meant by that.
"Funny, Carter."
Danae felt Uncle John's hand pat her on the back and then the tube car's doors opened and Uncle John walked out to see his family.
"I'm hungry!" Danae watched her parents look at each other and smile. What was so funny? Papa held out his hands to her.
"Alright then, little love, let's go get some dinner. Come here, I'll carry you. Your mum's had a long day."
And after giving her mum one more tight hug, Danae let her Papa take her and Horse from Mommy's arms. She snuggled down against his warm, strong shoulder as they walked through the barking area. Looking back, she could see Uncle John kneeling on the ground hugging Aunt Lena and the boys. Aunt Lena looked sad and happy all at once. Why? She'd ask her mum later. For now, she was happy to be with her Mommy and Papa. All she needed now was dinner.
~~~~~~~
Later that night, curiosity winning out over the need to sleep, Alyssa sat at her station in the Xenobiology labs. She knew she should head to her quarters and get some rest, but she was still curious about what it was that had alarmed Maya from the images sent back by Sandra.
She ran the data through several programs without much result. Finally, recalling a comment from Dr. Russell, she pulled up a program from the natural science files and added a few selective filters. The results caused the fine hairs on the back of her neck to prickle. Although her speciality was microbiology, Alyssa had a firm grounding in the biology of multicellular life forms. She set the images to loop continuously and then sat back in her chair and watched with horrified fascination.
Once the filters were in place to enhance the ultraviolet range and to show the effects of light polarization, the sheer strands had become apparent, glistening iridescently as they criss-crossed the interior of the alien ship. Where Sandra's passage had torn holes in the delicate weaving, there was the scittering of tiny lifeforms in her wake that re-wove the damaged skein. And the tiny life forms had come from and always returned to the shaggy, hair-like patches that had offered Sandra an easy handhold. The same patches that held the glittering eyes that seemed to watch everything inside the ship.
Alyssa shuddered.
~~~~~~~
Across a not too far distance of space, as Alan and Sandra fell asleep for the second time, the alien ships silently repositioned themselves to the accustomed distance between each member of the whole. There was an infinitesimal quiver as lines of communication and companionship were re-established and strengthened, and then the ships folded and refolded themselves moving ever further away from the sphere of influence of the approaching moon. They had again fulfilled the prime mission to touch and be touched. That these strange star-kin had celebrated their encounter by sending one who was bearing new life was a rare honor that had been reciprocated. The gift of the small ships left behind would, perhaps, eventually be appreciated by the strange, timid visitor and her kind. As, just maybe, she and her kind might unravel the mystery of the small box held by the guardian. Perhaps.
20 June 2006
MDG