The gathering on the bridge was a sombre one. Of course there was panic running through the very fibres of everyone in the room, but the overwhelming loss they had suffered was simply unfathomable. The bridge was the only place on the ship which could be entirely isolated from all other areas. It was also, should the need arise, the first module design of any starship, or space faring craft. Upon command authorisation from three senior officers, the bridge module could be separated from the rest of the ship. In effect, it was a very powerful Captain’s Yacht. And it was this very notion which Harry Ransome was now dismissing.
“But Admiral, you’ve seen these things. Whatever they are, they’ve adapted to our weapons, we can’t track them, and in a matter of hours, they’ve slaughtered a crew of nearly a thousand!”
Kelly Dresden’s voice reached pitches even she didn’t know she could reach. Her own experiences had told her to get the fuck out of dodge, and yet for some reason, their commanding officer was refusing to leave.
“I know Commander.”
Infuriated, Kelly threw the chain of command to the wind and launched a foul mouthed tirade at Harry, laced with expletives, and mistakes she felt he had made in pursuing the Darla craft that attacked them. Her rant garnered some groans of support, several wounded officers nodding their heads. Harry listened to every word she said, not breaking eye contact for a single moment.
“Are you done, Commander?” he asked calmly.
Kelly had nothing left. Her arm was throbbing, despite the wound being healed thanks to an emergency bridge medi-pack. But her argument had been delivered, and now she had exhausted what little remaining energy she had. Slumping into her own seat at the Operations console, she rested her head in her hands.
“Good. Now I understand that many of you wish to leave the Odyssey and fire us out of here on emergency thrusters. But that is not an option. There are thirty-six of you in here, right now. My scanner reports at least twenty more human bio-signs scattered throughout the ship. Put yourself in your fellow crew members shoes. Would you want to be left behind?”
Muffled noises suggesting the officers present would rather not answer, travelled around the bridge. But Harry wasn’t done.
“Exactly. Now there is another part of the ship’s design that is privy only to me, the designer, and the Chief of Security. It is only to be used in an emergency situation, and when I say emergency, I mean dire emergency.”
Harry looked up towards the ceiling, and scanned the surface for something. Everyone followed his gaze, but saw nothing in the dim red glow of the emergency lights. Moments later, Harry found what he was looking for. He withdrew his disruptor rifle from its resting place against the side of his chair, aimed it at the section he had been focussing on, and fired a single shot. Sparks flew down from above as everyone cowered, but the result of the shot surprised them even more.
The dim red lights were deactivated, and were replaced with a deep ocean blue, making the entire room feel as if everyone were under water. The lights were static, which came as a relief to those who were beginning to get migraines from the pulsing effect they’d spent the last several hours staring at. Harry strode back to his chair.
“Computer, emergency preservation order one. Confirm availability, authorisation Ransome, Tango-Alpha-Seven-Four.”
A brief silence.
“Authorisation confirmed. Emergency Preservation Order One is available. Request deployment or protocol details.”
The fact that there was available power surprised most, but the fact that there was an entirely secret protocol hidden within the ship was causing everyone to wonder what else the Utopia founders were hiding.
“Display protocol details, main viewscreen, include schematics.”
“Acknowledged.”
The viewscreen switched from the external view of nothing, to a split screen. One displayed what looked like an instruction manual, but details specific points of the preservation order. Harry gestured towards the screen, and everyone shuffled forward to read it.
“Are those schematics… for cryogenic suspension pods?” asked Teale.
“More or less, Commander,” replied Harry, patiently waiting for everyone to finish dissecting what they were seeing. “The Odyssey was designed for long service, and as such, it was anticipated that we may need a way to suspend ourselves in order to travel further. There are no families on these ships, and so we are all there would be. Not much use finding an inhabitable planet if by the time you arrive you’re ninety years old.”
Kelly turned on him.
“Why wasn’t I briefed? I outrank the Security Chief. You didn’t trust me with this?”
Harry shook his head.
“I opposed the system, Kelly. I remember the failed attempts at cryo-stasis during the wars. We lost some good people when it all went to shit. So I said no. The President overruled me. I only discovered the system had been installed anyway by accident. Even Drusilla isn’t aware I know. Before all of this kicked off, I had planned a meeting with you to discuss how best we could remove it. But now, seems like our only hope.”
Kelly softened at his words of encouragement. She had not been intentionally left out of the loop. Not with this information, anyway.
“This seems far more complex than those old tubes though Harry. How does it work exactly?”
Harry stood up and used his rifle as a pointer, explaining the finer points of the system. It also explained how the Security Chief was briefed but nobody else.
“Essentially,” Harry concluded, “each pod is a self contained shuttlecraft. Independent life support, food supplies, even a disruptor cannon albeit on a far smaller scale. Think of it as a one man escape pod, but it puts you to sleep too. In the event the ship’s integrity is compromised, while the crew was under, it would eject each pod into space, and activate the homing protocol. It was designed to take its occupant back to Earth. Obviously on thrusters that would take lifetimes, but in cryo-stasis that doesn’t matter. The introduction of weapons and shields was known only by the chosen Security Chief of each vessel.”
Finally able to take in all this information, it was Commander Teale who seemed to take charge of the conversation.
“So I’m presuming you intend to use this system in some capacity Admiral? Or are we meant to all stand around here with metaphorical dicks in our hands, waiting for these ugly bastards to fuck off?”
A mixture of surprised and impressed faces caused Harry to smirk. This one was a great asset to the team, and he still regretted the fact he was unable to convince her to join security.
“You’re damn right Teale. I intend to put you all inside the cryo-pods get you safely under, and then go and find the rest of my crew.”
Immediate protests came flying his way, first from Teale, then from several junior officers, and the from Kelly Dresden.
“No.”
“No?”
“You deaf? I said no. Fuck rank and fuck protocol. Right now Harry, you have a hugely dwindled crew, and aliens who can move through this ship undetected and unaffected by our defences. And you want to lock away those who are left and go hunting on your own? I don’t think so.”
Harry was furious at the amount of open defiance from his crew, but he simply knew they were right. The furious side of him was the rule obeying, academy graduate. But the realistic side of him was the man of experience. He knew Dresden was right. The question was, how many could he risk. He had already seen several officers, good officers, eviscerated, sliced up and full on eaten. He took a moment, followed by a deep breath, and decided he would create a team of four.
“You’re right. As usual.”
Kelly smirked, then winced as she moved her injured arm too quickly and felt the regenerated skin pull tight.
“Computer, deploy Preservation Order One.”
“Deployment in progress.”
As everyone watched, the ceiling of the bridge began to open up. The seams had been extremely well hidden, but once the doors had revealed their contents, dozens of pods began to slide down from above.
“Commanders Dresden and Teale, you’re with me.”
He glanced around the room, but there were several faces he still didn’t know.
“Our Security Chief is dead. Who was second in command of that division?”
A small cough emanated from the back of the crowd, and the officers parted to let them through.
“That would be me Admiral.”
A tall man, no more than late twenties stepped forward. His uniform had been torn in several places, revealing what appeared to be tribal markings on his arms. The man himself had a close shaved beard or darkest black, and long hair which was tied up in a tight ponytail as per regulation. There was steel in his eyes, and Harry wondered how he had not met this young man earlier. He certainly would have remembered.
“What’s your name, son?” asked Harry.
The man stood feet shoulder width apart, and back straight.
“Knight, Sir. Lieutenant Joshua Knight.”