Conflict: Rise Of Mankind Book 4 Read online

  “Hello, Ma’am,” Paul’s voice piped through the speaker. “I’m sorry to bother you but is Captain Atwell with you?”

  “He’s right here.” Laura turned to Gray. “Go ahead, I’m still going over the data I collected.”

  “What’s going on, Paul? What did you find in Engineering?”

  “Controlled chaos, sir. Something happened to the pulse drive. I’ve managed to rouse Chief Engineer Higgins and we have a small crew up and functional. They’re going to focus all their attention on restoring power.”

  “Good.” Gray frowned. “Did you encounter anyone else on your way down there?”

  “Yes, sir. Many people were moving about and heading for one of the medical bays. I considered finding Lieutenant Darnell and seeing if he can help with the tech station on the bridge.”

  “Good idea. Olly was off shift so I’m guessing you’ll find him in his quarters. Unless he already woke up. Head over there. When I’m done here, I’ll head back to the bridge. Contact me there.”

  “Yes, sir.” Paul killed the connection.

  “Why is communication working?” Laura asked. “If we’re down on power?”

  Auxiliary maintains absolute essentials. Life support and communications are both on that list. The latter because we need to be able to talk to one another to fix the problems.” Gray stretched. “What’s your prognosis?”

  “You’re fine,” Laura replied, drawing a glare from Gray. “Oh, you wanted more?”

  “After what I just went through, yeah, I expected something else.”

  “Your body is in the process of recovering from shock. A full shift of rest would fix the problem. However, I know you don’t have that kind of time so I’m going to give you a stimulant combined with some nutrients. The combination will buy you several hours but you’re going to need rest.”

  “When we’re mostly recovered, I’ll take your advice.” Gray rolled up his sleeve. “Until then, let’s make this happen.”

  Laura left him alone for a moment to prepare the shot and he stared off into space, contemplating the next several hours. Engineering already jumped on their first priority. The Behemoth at least needed backup power. That would engage several systems making it possible to fix the engines.

  They also needed to figure out where they ended up. Did the ship get home? Lieutenant Timothy Collins, the navigator, should be able to go to astrogation to determine their position. They used it for star mapping, a concept Clea stated was aboard every alliance ship. Once Gray knew Tim was okay, he’d send him there right away.

  Establishing long range communications also fell into the essential task bucket. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Sleep sounded like such a fantastic idea, especially with the queasiness still gripping his stomach. Discipline made him sit forward and fend off exhaustion then Laura pierced his skin with the shot.

  “Ow…” Gray scowled. “Some warning would be nice.”

  “I find the surprise approach tends to work far better. Besides, you looked deep in thought. I didn’t want to interrupt any plans you might have for saving us all. I’ve seen that expression before and it tends to mean you’ve got a good idea.”

  “Sadly, I’m just prioritizing what we need to do…no good ideas, just reactions.” Gray sighed. “Thank you, Doctor. How long before this stuff kicks in?”

  “A few minutes at most. Take it as easy as you can.”

  “I have to climb a ladder all the way back up to the bridge,” Gray replied. “How easy is that?”

  “Um…sounds awful.” Laura frowned. “Do be careful, Gray. We can’t afford to lose you. Can’t you just run things from here?”

  Gray shook his head. “I need the resources up there. When backup power’s restored, all the computers will come back online. Coordination is easier with my terminal.”

  “Take a break every two decks then,” Laura suggested. “Might make it easier and you won’t overtax yourself.”

  “I probably didn’t have a choice on that matter. See you soon…keep up the good work. Oh,” Gray paused, “essential personnel should receive the same shot I did. We’ll need to get at least one good shift out of these folks before we all collapse from exhaustion.”

  Laura nodded. “Yes, sir…” He knew she didn’t like the idea but at least she had the sense to keep the complaint to herself. They didn’t have a lot of options. This was an extreme situation and it required some sacrifices. Of course, if they happened to be drifting near Jupiter, they probably didn’t have much to worry about but Gray had a bad feeling they were somewhere else.

  In Alliance space? Enemy territory? Neutral? So many options…I hope we find out before it’s too late.

  Back on the bridge, the drugs kicked in and he felt more like himself. He tried waking the others and put a call out for a medical team to make their way to the bridge when they wouldn’t rouse. While waiting, Gray busied himself by checking systems with his computer, cataloging what they needed to work on.

  The bridge communicator began flashing, indicating a variety of messages in coming in from all over the ship. Gray checked the intercom and cursed when it proved to be down as well. He sent a quick blast message with what little information they had: auxiliary power only, engineering was working on it, medical bay can provide updates.

  Laura won’t be thanking me for that later but at least she can explain what’s happened to them all better than I can.

  Gray rubbed his eyes and returned to his station. He had a text message from Timothy, stating he was on his way to astrogation to determine their position. Gray sent along his approval and thanks. The young man proved to have initiative many times before. This just solidified him as one of the better officers on board.

  “Captain?” Gray jumped, surprised by Clea An’Tufal’s voice. She didn’t look too bad considering what happened. Her purple-black hair remained perfectly in place and she didn’t have the dark circles under her silver-blue eyes Gray expected. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “You move like a damn cat,” Gray grumbled. “Anyway, I trust you’re feeling okay if you ventured up here.”

  “Yes, sir.” Clea moved over to the tech officer station and began tapping at the console. “I trust Lieutenant Darnell has been contacted?”

  “Paul’s going to find him. Do you know everything that we’re dealing with?”

  Clea nodded. “Yes, sir. I got your message. Seems strange to me…a jump should not have done all this. We’re dealing with a much bigger problem than an FTL disaster.”

  “That’s our luck, huh? Are you sure this isn’t just a fringe possibility? One of the risks one takes in hopping through the speed of light?”

  “Not that I’ve ever read about,” Clea replied. “And note, I’ve read extensively on the subject.”

  “I’m sure you have. Do you have anything?”

  “No, there’s no power to this station.” Clea stepped away. “I’m heading down to engineering. I should be able to help them get the generators back online quickly. By that time, hopefully Lieutenant Darnell will be up here. He can start rebooting the various systems for us. But we’ll need a pilot…is he okay?”

  Gray shrugged. “I’ve left him there just in case but medical’s on the way. As you can imagine they’re a little busy.”

  “Of course. I’ll keep you informed of our progress. See you soon.”

  Gray watched her go. Once again alone, he felt a tickle of dread touch the back of his neck. He didn’t tend to give in to pessimism but something seemed different about this situation. If what Clea said was true and this was not a normal malfunction, then what could’ve happened? One answer seemed obvious: sabotage.

  But why? Why on the way back to Earth and not sooner? Why allow them to finish the mission at the mining facility if they intended to cause catastrophic damage? All these questions would be answered once they found the person. There were few things Gray found more reprehensible than treason and this certainly qualified.

  If t
hey didn’t die from their actions, we’ll find out what they’re up to.

  Lieutenant Commander Stephanie Redding stepped onto the bridge followed closely by medical personnel. She stepped over to Gray as the others provided aid to the unconscious folks on the bridge. “Captain.” She offered a salute. “Reporting for duty.”

  “Not much you can do right now, Redding but have a seat when you can. I have a bad feeling you’re going to have your work cut out for you once we get power back online.”

  “Yes, sir.” Redding waited patiently as they took the others off the bridge, using harnesses to take them down the ladders.

  We have GOT to get elevators back ASAP!

  Communications flowed through the ship but the central relay from the bridge wasn’t available to route them when necessary. The Behemoth crew operated incredibly well when their technology functioned properly and they seemed to be doing an admirable job without it but Gray knew the inefficiencies had to be annoying.

  “Captain?” Clea’s voice pumped through the speakers. “Can you hear me?”

  Gray tapped his com button. “I can! How’d you do that?”

  “We’ve restored one of the primary generators and are working on the others now. Engines are in the process of rebooting. Pulse drive sustained minor damage but we’re already in the process of bringing it back online. The jump module…will require more time. Full power will take a while but at least elevators, communications and computers will be back momentarily.”

  “Great job down there,” Gray said. “Is Maury working?”

  “I’m here!” Maury Higgins answered. “I just let her do the talking. I’ll give you status reports as they come in. Clea’s heading back to the bridge I think.”

  “Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.” Gray patched into the crew quarters area where Oliver’s room was. “Paul, if you can hear me, get to one of the wall coms and report in.”

  A moment later, he received a connection from the younger officer. “Hello, sir. This is Paul.”

  “Did you reach Olly?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s gone to the medical bay to receive his shot and will be on the bridge momentarily. I’m going to join the tech crew to start working on repairing the systems that overloaded during the…well…the event.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  The event. Gray couldn’t think of a better term for it, at least not yet. Whatever they experienced certainly qualified. Circuits all over the ship gave out, burned by the sudden surge in power, the same surge strong enough to take all the generators offline. Of all the scenarios he played out in his head, the ship becoming disabled outside battle only peripherally occurred to him.

  Plenty of accidents might occur in space. Obstacles and strange radiation bursts were only two of the many dangers waiting out there for the unwary. Gray remembered back when they planned to leave the solar system just before the first attack. Every man and woman who were part of the mission had to meet with a therapist and watch videos about space travel.

  They reminded him of old driver’s education videos put on for children. They long since ceased to show those horrific segments but some still survived. Many people caught them online, uploaded and restored to the highest quality such ancient footage was still capable of. Accidents and mayhem were supposed to give students a proper respect for what could happen if they weren’t responsible behind the wheel of a car.

  The space versions talked more about proper airlock protocol and ensuring everything was secured in your quarters at all time. Even with artificial gravity, back then the scientists didn’t fully trust their inventions. No one wanted anything to float off only to crash down and hurt someone when a key system was restored.

  Gray went through those videos skeptically but sitting on the darkened bridge, waiting for the elevators to come back online, he felt his mind drift back to them. In case of an emergency, be sure you establish communications with your direct supervisor. From there, you can begin the process of repairing your vessel and saving everyone on board. Remember, safety is your duty.

  The last line always made him groan. They used it after every module as if pounding it into their heads would elevate the importance of the whole process. Most of the crews didn’t buy it. They came from military backgrounds or at least, educated enough to feel like they had common sense. Even if Gray disagreed with half of them, he had to admit, some of the videos felt condescending.

  “Captain.” Lieutenant Oliver Darnell, Olly, stepped on the bridge. “I’m reporting for duty.”

  “Have a seat, Olly and be grateful they got the elevators working before you came up here.” Gray smirked. “Believe me, it was no picnic.”

  “Understood.” Olly flopped in his chair and winced. “Sorry, sir. I guess the shot hasn’t kicked in.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I think we’re all allowed a little fatigue right now. Especially those of you who were on downtime.” Gray glanced at his computer. It read offline still. “Clea said what they were doing would let us have elevators, computers and proper communications. Let’s get stuff rebooted so we can start tallying the damage.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m on it.” Olly paused. “I’m getting a message from Tim. He says he’s got some bad news.”

  “Lovely,” Gray grumbled. “Let me guess, astrogation is gone?”

  Olly shook his head, “no, sir…but he stated we are in uncharted space. None of our maps match up with the current star configuration but um…it gets worse.”

  “I can’t wait to hear.”

  “I’m patching him through the speaker.” Olly paused. “You’re speaker hot, Tim.”

  “Thanks,” Tim’s voice echoed in the bridge. “I’m in astrogation now, working on relative position, sir. We’re in an uncharted solar system with fourteen planets. I’m trying to find…well, anything to give me an idea where we’re at.”

  “Do you have any tech working there?” Gray asked.

  “Basic computers, sir.” Tim paused. “And those are running offline. I’ll need to get these systems back to perform some long range scans of surrounding star systems I think. Oh…hold on a moment.”

  Gray rubbed his eyes. He normally had exquisite patience but today, he struggled. Tim wasn’t wasting time but his research would indicate where they were and how they might get home. But without tech, they were stuck there. Without a position, they wouldn’t even know what direction to try to go.

  “Sir,” Tim spoke up. “Um…we have approaching ships.”

  “Excuse me?” Gray’s brows shot up. “Repeat that?”

  “There are four ships on approach. Not fast, but definitely steady. None of their profiles match any vessels I’ve seen before. I ran them through the computer. They’re small…probably scouts. In other quick news, there’s no debris to worry about drifting into, not for a long way out at least…just an asteroid nearly two-hundred thousand kilometers off.”

  The bridge operated on screens rather than transparent glass. They were blind up there until sensors came back online and they could transmit the camera shots. Astrogation had a massive window both on the roof and on the wall outside the ship. It was meant to provide astronomers with a real view of what they were studying.

  So we’re drifting, ships are approaching and we’re somewhere totally new. Well…it could be worse. They could’ve fired on us by now.

  “Olly, will you get sensors back up when you reboot the computers?”

  “Maybe, sir…probably. They don’t require too much power to operate.”

  “Good.” Gray stood up. “Tim, can you do what you have to from the bridge? If the terminals come back online, I mean.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m on my way.”

  Gray turned to Redding. “Stephanie, you ready to right us?”

  “You give me engines and I’ll do a barrel roll, sir.”

  “Okay, we should have something shortly.” Gray checked the time. They were most of the way through third shift. “Let’s hope we’re operational right around t
he start of fourth shift. Keep the reports coming, folks. I want to know the moment a key station is back up. Sounds like we’ve got a lot to do.”

  Chapter 2

  Raeka knew the Founder captain well. They’d fought on many occasions but never managed to take the other down. In some ways, their rival became a dangerous game, one neither side seemed capable of winning. Draw after draw marked their record, one side losing more than the other in every engagement.

  When are we going to give up this senseless fighting? Today. When an alien arrives and interrupts another attempt to kill each other.

  Darm appeared on the screen, wearing a very similar uniform to the Emancipated officer. They came from the same place and didn’t deviate much from aesthetic. Raeka’s counterpart donned red hair similarly short but he was shorter and much broader of shoulder. He worked out in a very different way.

  “Is this some sort of new Emancipated trick?” Darm instantly started in with the accusations, but Raeka couldn’t blame him. He thought the same thing at first.

  “We haven’t the technology to field such a giant,” Raeka said. “And I do not believe you do either. We have sent our scouts to check it out.”

  “Why didn’t you contact me first? We would like to send some as well.”

  “By all means, feel free. But you didn’t answer our hail immediately and I had to take action. This thing could be a threat to both our planets, not one or the other.”

  “And you hope to coax them to your side, is that it?”

  Raeka sighed. “Do not be daft, Darm. This is serious. Do you honestly think I’m going to attempt to subvert…you know, I’m not even going to finish that sentence. It’s absurd and I know you better than that. We are talking right now because I believe we must work together. This is far more important than you or I or even the battle.”

  “How so?”

  “Imagine what it could mean if we have proof of intelligent life beyond our sector. This is tremendous. Bigger than space travel or colonization. It might just be something that could unify us again, put an end to the war.”