11 – Ashes and Fallout
(Spera – Bridge – Year 3, Day 50, 1430)
Levine had briefed Vale and Cadman when they had returned to the ship. Vale had left Cadman and Levine to oversee things, while he went to write his report on Moon One and their findings there. While the team was still exploring Tango One, Cadman and Levine and the rest of the people on the bridge were studying the other asteroids with the obelisks.
“You are right,” Cadman said. “Each is bigger than the previous one.”
“And look at the chemical composition,” Levine said. “I’m no scientist, but even I can see that each one is more complex.”
“Bigger and more complex.”
“That all lines up with the Practice Ground theory,” Porter said. “What do you make of this technology the team reported about ?”
Cadman made her way from the Flight Control to Science One, where Porter was sitting. The team had reported their findings over the radio, while also sending back several photos. Cadman looked at the readings on the Science console, which were far more extensive then the ones on the Flight Control console.
“Well, it’s clearly not one of the races we’ve encountered so far,” Cadman began. “Which makes sense. The only known race we know to have visited this place, was the Order. And why would the Order establish an outpost this far outside civilized space ?”
“They wouldn’t,” Porter said.
“Okay, enough theories,” Cadman began. “Tell the team they have five more minutes, then I want them get back aboard. The colonel wants to go back into FTL at fifteen-hundred hours. I want to get some closer scans of the other asteroids with obelisks before then.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Levine said.
Levine opened a channel and contacted Hailey and her team.
(Spera – Briefing Room – Year 3, Day 67, 1207)
It had been seventeen days since they had left Sector 3325 behind. Yesterday, they had received a report that they had the war between the Jynacko and Nakai – which had been brewing for more than a year – had finally erupted. This meant that the Nakai Central Authority was no longer in the race for Destiny. Even if they won the war, they would be busy rebuilding their civilization. But the New Rebels Nakai had relocated all the people they would be able to. And they were worried about the Jynacko coming for them next, so they wanted Destiny. The IOA believed that they needed the Ancient technology to upgrade their defenses.
~Great, as if we don’t have enough to content with.~ Vale thought. It was a good thing that they upgraded the hydroponics bays, because the planets they had visited since leaving Sector 3325 had been rather harsh. ~And no more signs of the Zovaris.~ They had delivered a thick report on both Moon One and Tango One a week after leaving the sector. But there was nothing new since then. Vale was sitting it the Briefing Room, reading the latest from reports from Colonel Young when Spera dropped out of FTL. Two seconds later, Alec Colson walked into the room.
“What have we got ?” Vale asked.
“There are four Gates in range,” Colson said. “One is looking like a good place to stock up on water.”
“Okay, let’s see what the MALP has to say,” Vale said as he got up. “Hopefully, we’ll have better luck than last time.”
Colson nodded as the two of them walked out of the briefing room. The last mission had been to H3K-094. And that planet has been home to some very nasty predators. So the whole team had ended up running for the Puddle Jumper. In fact - even once they had reached the craft - it had been a very close call. Several members of the crew had ended up in the Infirmary.
(Chaser – Gate Room – Year 3, Day 67, 1207)
Nicholas Rush watched as the Kino went through the event horizon. The ship and crew’s current status was a good news, bad news situation. The good news was that Chaser was now only one or two days behind Destiny. It fluctuated a bit, but that was the average time gap they had managed to lock down. The bad news was they were still in Hal’Iry space. This made collection resource considerably harder. They hadn’t lost anybody yet, but there had been several skirmishes with their ground forces.
Furthermore, they had successfully identified the technology that Spera had found on the asteroid they had named Tango One as Hal’Iry. This proved that the reptilian species had travelled as far Sector 3325. But that was something for them to research later. For now, he had to worry about H4A-701. They had detected a beacon in orbit of the planet, which had taken some time translate. It said that the planet was off-limits to the Hal’Iry. And that was why Rush wanted to take a closer look at it.
He made his way to the Kino readings console. The atmosphere was breathable and their was no sign of radiation. Rush hit several keys, but there was no sign of any obvious hazard. Next to him, Colonel Young was also studying the readings. The team would consist of Young, Rush, Volker, Chloe Armstrong, Eli Wallace, James, Greer and Varro. Camille Wray and TJ would be running things on Chaser while they were away.
“Let’s go.”
Young was the first through the Gate, with Rush being right behind him. Varro went through last. And then the wormhole disengaged. As it did, Johansen turned to Adam Brody, who was manning the dialing computer.
“I want hourly status reports,” She said.
“You got it.”
Johansen took out her radio and contacted Sergeant Barnes. She knew that this world was officially off-limits. But she was not taking any chances, so she ordered Barnes to assemble a team to secure the Gate Room. ~Just in case there are any nasty surprises waiting on 701.~ She had just done so when the ship’s alarm sounded. So she headed for the bridge.
(Spera – Gate Room – Year 3, Day 67, 1215)
Vale was looking at the readings on H5D-228. The planet had a toxic atmosphere, but nothing that the spacesuits couldn’t handle. They had considered using the Puddle Jumper, but the atmosphere was corrosive to the ship’s hull. The suits, however, would not be affected. As for why they were headed through the Gate, the MALP was telling them that there was some kind of anomaly about three hundred meters from their potential arrival point.
At first, 228 had seemed like a useless rock with a toxic atmosphere. And temperature was minus seventy degrees Celsius. But then the MALP had detected an area where the temperature was only minus five Celsius. But the probe could not tell them why. And that was what they wanted to figure out. So NR-1 was putting on the spacesuits.
“Time to test the adjuster circuit.” G’Yal said as he put on his helmet. “This is the first time somebody not Human is using the suits.”
“Well, if the circuit works, they should be one sized fits all,” T’Zalo said. “Sort of.”
G’Yal pushed a button and the suit slowly shrunk to fit him. Then T’Zalo pushed the same button and his suit adjusted as well. Porter was already in her suit, so they were waiting for Vale. The colonel put on his helmet and then activated his radio.
=/\=Okay, people, here we go.=/\=
=/\=Yes, sir.=/\= T’Zalo said.
Vale led the way through the Gate. He had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting trip.
(H4A-701 – Field – Year 3, Day 67, 1225)
701 was actually a nice planet. So far, they hadn’t run into any nasty critters or lethal radiation. Instead, it was a wooded planet with two suns. The planet was further from the suns then Earth was from her own star. But because there were two of them, the planet was still habitable.
Rush and Eli were in the front of the team. Eli was holding a Kino remote and checking the readings. He had send the Kino ahead to make sure that there weren’t any nasty surprises waiting for them. ~So far, so good.~ He had barely completed the thought when the remote beeped.
“Colonel,” Eli began. “We have a town up ahead, but no life-signs.”
“What about bodies ?” Rush asked.
“Nothing so far, but the place is very overgrown.” The town was a ruin, with large chunks of the buildings having already fallen down. And what was still standing, was covered in vines and other plants. “From the looks of it, this happened a while ago.”
“So the bodies could have decayed in the time since.”
The Kino reached a building in the exact center of town. Worryingly, it appeared to be both intact and totally free of overgrowth. Eli had a bad feeling about what this meant. And he also knew that there was only one way for them to find out. ~We’re going to have to go in there.~ So, he looked at Young.
“What did you find ?” Young asked.
“One building, intact and free of overgrowth,” Eli said. “Right in the middle of town.”
“We’re going to have to go in there.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Chloe began. “But the last time something like this happened, didn’t Doctor McKay end up blowing up a solar system ?” Young gave her a look. “What ? I’ve been reading up on Atlantis.”
“She has a point,” Eli said.
“That doesn’t change the fact the Colonel is right,” Rush said. “Whatever is in there could pose a significant thread to the ship,” He paused, while gazing towards the settlement. “We’re going to have to deal with it. One way or another.”
Young nodded and they continued on their way. Soon, they were would reach the settlement. And then they would have to deal with the fallout of whatever had happened here.
(H5D-228 – Desert - Year 3, Day 67, 1228)
228 might have a toxic atmosphere, but it was pretty. As the planet’s lone sun rose above the horizon, it was turning the atmosphere into a rainbow of colors. It also revealed that the anomaly was located at a deep gorge in the surface of the planet. As they approached it, it had become clear that this was not a natural formation.
Instead, it was a square quarry that went straight down. As he looked over the edge, T’Zalo saw that the there was no bottom, but a plain of water instead. ~I wonder why it hasn’t frozen.~ Looking around, he spotted a flight of stairs that zig-zagged down towards the water. Colonel Vale led the way to it, with T’Zalo taking up the rear. ~Here we go.~
The stairs were made from some kind of metal. As he made his way down the first flight of stairs, Vale passed through a forcefield. The rest of team followed, before Vale activated his radio.
=/\=This is what the MALP read.=/\= He began. =/\=It just couldn’t make it out, because the atmosphere was too thick.=/\=
=/\=It’s like we’re walking in soup.=/\= Porter said.
=/\=True.=/\= G’Yal said.=/\=But the forcefield appears to keep it out. The atmosphere is clear underneath.=/\= He turned to Porter. =/\=Is it breathable, Allison ?=/\=
=/\=It appears to be, but we have no idea what kind of bacteria and viruses are in the atmosphere. So I recommend keeping the suits on.=/\=
=/\=Okay, let’s see if we can find any signs of inhabitants.=/\=
They continued their way down the stairs. The walls of the quarry appeared to be smooth at first glance, but he could T’Zalo could see that…~Well, whatever they were mining here, they took it away in chunks.~ He could see lines on the walls. As they headed down, he realized that G’Yal was right and that the atmosphere was indeed clear. Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs. The problem was that there was no way to tell how deep the water was.
=/\=Now what ?=/\= T’Zalo asked.
=/\=Well, only one thing I can think off.=/\= Vale said.
He stepped off the platform and ended standing in about five centimeters of water. The bottom of the quarry was gloomy, so Vale – and then then others – activated the light on his weapon. Using the extra lights to get a better look at the place, Porter spotted a rusty metal door in one of the walls. It was slightly bigger than an average humanoid and came with a handle.
Vale nodded and they made their way towards the door. The colonel gave several hand signals – which the team had been learning for the last couple of days – and Porter grabbed the door handle, while G’Yal took up a position to the left and T’Zalo went to the right. Vale took the middle and began counting down using his fingers. When he reached zero, Porter yanked the door open.
=/\=Bloody….=/\= Vale said.
There was no way to tell what the room had once been, but now it was a mass grave. It was clear that whoever the people had been, they had not been Hal’Iry. The remains were dressed in rags and they were handcuffed, with their legs being in chains as well. The walls were scared and black, making it clear that these people had died in a fire. Vale had the feeling that they were standing in the ashes of the other races of this galaxy.
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