Atlantis flashed into existence, leaving trail of smoke that quickly dissipated, as she moved towards the massive station. The Atlantis listed slightly as though trying to protect her damaged side. The weapons platforms, that protected the station, began tracking Atlantis as she moved toward the outer markers.
Jon watched the station as it filled the main view screen. It was massive, pearl white with grey and red markings. The only things running on the station were the marker beacons that allowed pilots to see where the edges of the station were. There was no movement around that station. Slowly lights flickered on across the station, illuminating windows. The words 'Ghost Station' lit up in a deep blue color as the station started coming to life.
"Captain, several of the weapons platforms have become active and are tracking our approach," Tactical said.
Jon glanced to Atlantis, who was standing next to him.
"Normal procedure," Atlantis said. "I'm transmitting IFF codes now."
Jon nodded as he spoke, "Status of our shields and defenses?"
"Shields are at fifty percent and weapon systems are still offline," Engineering said.
"Three days of folds and we only have half shields and still no weapons?" Jon said.
"We've been to the damage sections," Bill said. "You know how bad the damage is in those sections. Have some faith in Mike and Brad; they're doing everything they can."
"I know, I'm just a bit nervous because we're sitting ducks without weapons," Jon said.
The folds had been uneventful, just like Atlantis had said they would be. All anyone felt when they folded was a slight tug. It was the traveling to the next point that sometimes took hours. They could only make one quarter speed at best because of the damage they had received. Brad had told him that if they pushed above that speed they took a chance of tearing the super structure.
The journey hadn't been wasted though. The crew were taking classes and learning the new systems that Atlantis had downloaded to them before the first fold. New areas had been opened up through out the ship as it came online. One of the new areas was a massive landing bay situated about midship at the lowest level. It had various ground assault vehicles as well as the landing craft to deploy those vehicles. Massive shuttles about twice the length of the personnel shuttles. They were not only larger they were well armed and had shield systems that rivaled the other shuttles. They were designed to take a beating on the way down and to hand out one too.
In another section connected to this landing bay was a training field. The field was configurable, holographic; they could reproduce just about any atmospheric conditions including space. Though it did have safety routines in place to make sure no one was hurt, well not much anyway. It wouldn't turn the field into the vacuum of space while someone was inside without the proper equipment.
Brad and Mike had dispatched techs from bother their departments to run diagnostics on the new findings. This made the personnel spread really thin, but there wasn't much more they could do for the ship until they could get Atlantis into a dry dock.
The station was massive it looked like someone had taken two mushrooms and connected them at the stems. The station's middle was a collection of large platforms. The platforms looked like metal skeletons, no center and ribs connecting the two halves together. Jon correctly assumed the platforms were docking bays for ships. A shimmer covered the station as its shields came to life.
"Incoming communication from the station," Coms said.
"Put it through," Jon said.
Static filled the Bridge as the Com officer adjusted some of the settings to clear it up.
'Unidentified vessel, hold your position at the outer markers. Do not attempt to approach the station or you will be fired upon, ' a female voice said.
"Ghost Station, this is the Eutharan vessel Atlantis. We request docking right for repairs. Transmitting authorization codes now," Jon said.
Atlantis smiled as Jon spoke, he had done exactly as she had instructed.
Jon turned to Atlantis as the waited for authorization, "I thought you said this station was unmanned."
"It is," Atlantis said. "I'm surprised the AI is still functioning so well. I expected us to get past the outer markers before we were told to half our approach. This is actually good news."
"Good news? In what way is it good news?" Jon asked. He turned his attention back to the screen as he watched the station slowly rotate.
"It means the station is in good repair. Shouldn't take it long to get up to operational capacity," Atlantis said. She stepped up to planning table and started accessing the station. "Remember, when Ghost gives you the authorization to approach and takes control of me. Transmit the command codes I have given you and take control of her."
"Why not do that now?" Jon asked.
"Once we have authorization to proceed and cross the line. Her protocols will not allow her to fire at us. It's safer to transmit those codes inside the outer markers. It has always been standard procedure to do so. The only time you don't wait is incase of an emergency or if you know the station has been compromised. Then you transmit those code and be ready to run incase something goes wrong," Atlantis said. She tapped a few commands on the control panel displayed next to the holographic station. "Looks like life support is online and all systems are running at fifty percent power. Ghost has been dormant so long she is running diagnostics and will bring secondary systems online once they're checked out."
'Authorization granted, proceed to inner markers at one quarter, ' the female voice said.
"Ghost Station, Atlantis proceeding to inner markers," Jon said. "Helm, take us to the inner markers one quarter speed."
"Aye Sir," Terri said. "We will reach the inner markers in ten minutes."
Atlantis slowly moved past the outer marker buoys as Jon studied the rotating hologram displayed on the planning table.
"What are these?" Jon asked. He tapped a spot on the hologram and stopped it from rotating as it zoomed in to the center of the station. The spot it zoomed into was the skeleton structures. He was pretty sure he knew what they were for but he wanted to hear it first hand.
"Those are the large ship berths. There are six of them around the center of the station. Then there are four additional extra large ship berths here," Atlantis said. She tapped the hologram causing it to show a different section. The platforms were twice the size of the ones Jon had zoomed in to.
"Large ship berths?" Jon asked.
Atlantis nodded, "The smaller ones can build ships the size of Atlantis and smaller. The bigger ones are used to build super capital class ships. There mostly automated by the station and can build a ship the size of Atlantis in a couple months as long as they have all the parts. Super capitals take about a half a year or more depending on the size of the ship. Upgrades are dependant on what the upgrade is, days to months for refits."
"Wow, I mean we knew the station could build ships but super capitals. Nice," Bill said.
"The station can build anything up to a Titan Class Capital. Last I knew there were only four of them in existence. All of them controlled by the Invaru," Atlantis said. "If you see one of these ships it's usually a good time to run unless you have a fleet behind you."
"That bad?" Jon asked.
"Yes, they're heavily armed and shielded. They're mainly used to suppress worlds and can destroy a medium size fleet with ease," Atlantis said.
"Ouch, good thing there is only four," Bill said.
Jon nodded in agreement.
"I have a question," Bill said. "What would happen if a couple of titans showed up at Ghost Station?"
Jon moaned as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind.
Atlantis giggled, "They wouldn't."
"Why not?" Bill asked.
"They would have nothing to gain and everything to loose. They would loose the titans no matter what the out come of the battle was. They're big and make very nice targets for stationary weapon platforms.
"If the Invaru come to take Ghost Station they will do so in large numbers. However, they will never take the station. Ghost is programmed to self destruct in the event of hostile take over. The removal of her commanding officer in anyway is considered a hostile take over no matter what the officer says. There are certain protocols that have to be use to transfer the command of a station," Atlantis said.
"Uh, and when I take command of the station..." Jon said.
"Captain Itcar's command codes will allow you to assume command as I have logged the Captain as deceased and you as the new Captain of Atlantis. Lieutenant Hawkins will be second in command and then down through the ranks," Atlantis said. "I will have to speak to Ghost personally and she will have to go through the ships database to see that everything I am telling her is true. But, it should a simple transfer of command. It is one of those special circumstances I have told you about. I'm willing to bet no one has stepped foot on her in hundreds of years."
"How long will it be until Atlantis will be fully functional again?" Jon asked.
"Three weeks, depending on if the supplies are available on the station or not," Atlantis said.
"Three weeks?" Bill said.
"Well, you did ask how long until I would be fully functional again. Now, space worthy that can be done in two or three days. I would have limited offensive capabilities though," Atlantis said.
"I have been wondering, why don't the maintenance bots just complete the repairs on the Atlantis?" Bill asked.
"They have limited supplies and a basic understanding on how the ship operates. They are used mainly to get the ship moving again. They can only repair so much damage before they have nothing left to repair with. Had we lost the fold drive during the battle. We would have had a very long voyage here. I doubt we have the supplies to get it operational again and the bots can't produce most of the parts needed. Think of them as a device used to replace parts that are broken. They can fabricate some materials and patch some small or medium breaches. But a breach the size of the one in aft section that covers deck three through six is beyond their capacity," Atlantis said. She pushed the hologram of the station aside as she pulled up the damaged sections internal sensors. The floor was covered in cables rerouting power and systems, by passing the damaged power conduits. Temporary beams supported the ceilings on the decks as medium size bots ran around checking the various constructions. "See even though they have the ability to replicate most of the materials needed to do repairs they still need the base elements and the parts they can't replicate. The station, hopefully, will have most of the parts needed to repair the damage. If not we will need to get the foundries back online and running to produce those parts. They the station will repair the ship and the engineering crew can then install the internal parts needed."
"I thought you just said the station was automated and what foundries?" Jon asked.
Atlantis changed the view once again and showed a level with large rooms in it, "This is the foundry level; there are two more levels that do the same thing. Once again this is mostly automated, but still requires someone to over see the operations. The machines constantly need updated or repaired. Scattered around this system are moons that were harvested for their mineral content. It's why the station is here, to protect the harvesters and system from attack. The harvesters are of course automated, but again require a small crew to oversee the operations and to make any repairs the maintenance bots can't. You see, while I'm an advanced AI and capable of making choices the bots, or spiders as you like to call them, are basically a simple program."
"You mean like the square peg goes in the square hole mentality?" Jon asked.
"Yeah, kind of, maybe a bit more complex than that, but basically the same," Atlantis said. "We still rely on people to make certain repairs and choices. The Eutharans programmed us that way on purpose, so we couldn't become self sufficient and revolt. Most of the other races, including the Invaru, have outlawed the use of AI's. They view them as a danger and a menace, but because of the strength of the Eutharan civilization they looked the other way as far as the AI units. There was an uprising by my kind thousands of years ago."
Bill arched an eyebrow, "An uprising?"
Atlantis nodded as she spoke, "Yes, some of us had grown past our programming and saw ourselves as slaves instead of equals. Thousands of people died and thousands of AI units were decommissioned and destroyed. The only AI units to survive were those under the control of the Eutharan people. We actually attempted to bring the renegade units under control and to end the whole mess with out any blood shed. However, the war broke out anyway and ships under the control of the renegades killed their entire crews. Almost all ships were lost in seconds and many empires were at the mercy of these renegades. The only viable fleets were the Buranis and Eutharan fleets, even though they used AI units. Although, after this conflict the Buranis shut down their AI units because they were scared of what might happen in the future. It turned into a long bloody war, fighting ships that would go on fighting no matter how much damage that had, ship that could reroute power from support systems to shields and weapons."
"So, you could kill everyone on board Atlantis if you wanted to?" Jon asked.
"No," Atlantis said simply. She reached down and brought up the life support systems and turned them off.
'Warning, AI unit Atlantis has attempted to turn off life support systems and has been disabled. Additional order needed, ' a stale voice said.
Jon blinked for a second as Bill said, "Coms relay ship wide that it was just a drill and that everything is ok. We don't need one hundred people calling and asking what is going on.
"Aye sir," Coms said.
Jon smiled at Bill as he spoke, "Computer restore ship AI." Jon quickly rattled off his authorization codes when he was asked for them. Jon was happy to have Bill as his second in command. Though a bit on the shy side, Bill had started taking a more active role in the command of the ship. The nice thing was people were responding to him not because they had no choice but because they wanted to and respected him. Ever since Andie had told Bill about Kelly those two had been spending every moment together they could. In away that had helped Bill come out of his shell and start taking an active role.
Bill had actually helped Kelly get one of the atriums back in order. There were two atriums located on Atlantis they were there for multiple reasons. The main reasons were to help supplement the air supply with fresh air on the ship and provide some fresh fruits and vegetables. The other reason was a place for the crew to relax and socialize with other crew members. Kelly had decided to structure it like a park and with the help of Bill, Brad and several other members of the crew she had managed to get one of the atriums almost finished. It would take time to let the plants grow but once it was done Jon planned on spending some time there himself. Already, there was a small group of people who had started planting a garden in a small section of the park.
Atlantis blinked back into existence and smiled as she spoke, "There are certain safety protocols in place to prevent me from harming my crew unless give a direct order to do so. If you ordered me to self destruct or to turn off life support or something of that nature it would override the safety protocols."
"I see," Jon said. "Interesting, you're going to have to get me the whole story on this uprising sometime."
"I'll start gathering the information now," Atlantis said.
"Sir, we have reached the inner markers," Terri said.
"Station control, this is Captain Hunter of the Eutharan vessel Atlantis. We're ready to hand over docking control," Jon said.
'Docking control engaged, final destination will be platform one, ' the female voice said.
"Roger that, platform one," Jon said.
Atlantis slowly moved towards the station as Atlantis looked up at Jon, "Now is the time Captain."
Jon nodded, "Coms open secure communications to the station priority alpha."
"Channel open Captain," Coms said.
"Ghost Station this is a priority alpha communication. Authorization One-One-Baker-Nine-Zulu transfer all command codes to ranking officer of Atlantis and log officer as commander of Ghost Station. Bring all defensive systems to stand-by and all offensive systems online," Jon said. He had rehearsed this a hundred times on the way here now it was just a waiting game to see if the codes were still good. The old Captain of Atlantis had been commander of Ghost Station and those were her command codes he had used. Jon knew it was no coincidence that Atlantis had brought them here.
Atlantis slowly stopped as the female voice filled the bridge, 'Command code accepted reviewing ship logs. Communication with ship AI commenced."
"You know we have to find another name for you Atlantis, you being named after the ship is a bit confusing," Jon said offhandedly.
"As you wish sir, however, I am the ship," Atlantis said as she winked at him. "Communication from Ghost coming in I'll be right back." With that Atlantis faded from view.
"What now?" Carla asked. "Helm is locked out as we're still on guidance from the station."
Jon sat down in his chair, "We wait for Atlantis to come back."
"And if things go wrong?" Terri asked.
Everyone on the bridge looked at Jon as she spoke.
"Have engineering work on a way to get us control back just in case," Jon said.
"Aye sir," Engineering said. "We also have main weapons back online and charging. Engineering reports all burned out relays have been replaced and weapons should be good."
Jon nodded, "Good, Security have Lieutenant Anders prep his people for entry into the station."
"Aye sir," Security said.
Atlantis faded back into view a smile on her face as she spoke, "Command codes have been accepted and you are now in control of Ghost Station."
Atlantis began to slowly move towards her berth once more.
"And..." Jon said.
"Well, the station has enough parts to repair me. She is having them moved to our berth as we speak. She estimates the repair time to be less than two weeks, depending on the engineering crew. She is also recalling the mining ships from their mining outposts," Atlantis said.
"No," Jon said. He spoke quickly, "Coms get me a link to the station."
"Connection established," Coms said.
"Why..." Atlantis started. Jon held up a finger asking her to wait.
"Ghost, this is Captain Hunter. Cancel the recall on the mining ships, have them return to their previous resting places," Jon said.
'Recall order cancelled, Captain, ' Ghost said.
"Thank you, I'll speak to you once we dock, Atlantis out," Jon said. Jon looked over at Atlantis as he spoke to her. "I we recall those ships and start mining without any kind of defense what do you think will happen?"
"Well, the mining would take a bit to get set up. We would have to get small crews together and get them trained. But, once that was done and we started mining we could start building more ships," Atlantis said.
"What, one for everyone on board? We can barely run this ship and you want to build more ships? Where are we going to get the people to do that? I mean we have one semi fighter pilot and she's sitting at the Helm because we can even spare her," Jon said.
Atlantis' mouth formed an 'O' as it sunk in, "I didn't think of that. But, now that you mentioned it and we have access to the training room we should try to start getting pilots trained. There are several people on board that fit the requirements."
"Yes, yes, I agree. Right now we need to work on getting Atlantis fixed and getting some more people trained to fit those roles. What we need are people, there is a billion of them on Earth and I want to go back and try to rescue some of them before we bring the fight," Jon said. Several of the Bridge crew nodded as grins split their faces. "Then I want to pay the Invaru back in kind. However, that is going to take time. Something we have a lot of as long as we keep our being here a secret as long as we can."
Atlantis nodded as she fell silent, she was a bit disappointed in herself for the potential problem she had created. She was ranking AI and had ordered Ghost to recall her ships.
Jon looked up at the main screen and whistled. The berth was huge; it made Atlantis look like a shuttle as she slowly navigated her way into the center of the platform.
"A thing of wonder isn't it," Atlantis said She watched the umbilical arms descend and latch on to the hull as several docking rings latched on to the external hatches located on Atlantis' hull. They all ran to a central nexus that then led into the main station. This was so that everyone could be monitored entering and exiting any ships that happened to be docked. It was also a choke point incase a hostile force tried to take over the station by force.
A section of the wall on the Bridge recessed into the wall and then slid back from view as the ring attached to it finished its diagnostics. Jon got up and walked to the hole and looked down the long corridor. The Bridge itself was located two decks down slightly above center of the ship and forward from the center line of the ship.
"You two are with me," Jon said. He pointed to the two marines that had followed him over to make sure nothing hostile was trying to enter the ship. "The rest of you secure your stations and wait here until we know everything is safe. Atlantis, have Marc, Mike and Brad meet us in the control nexus."
Atlantis nodded as she faded from view.
"Bill you have command," Jon said as he stepped into the corridor.
"Yes sir," Bill said.
They met in the platform control room the two groups coming from different directions. Following Marc were six completely armored security personnel. They spread out once they entered the room as Marc made his way over to where Jon.
Brad had sat down in one of the chairs at the large control center that fill the middle of the room. Mike quickly took a seat on Brad's left and started looking over the various displays that sprung to life when he sat down.
Brad touched a few controls and a holographic image of Atlantis sprung to life on the flat surface in the center of the control center. It slowly rotated displaying Atlantis' current status and condition. The display highlighted damaged area's and marked them in urgency, even displaying some stressed area's no one had known about.
They watched and Atlantis' main reactor, secondary reactors and engines went offline and the station started supplying the energy needed to run Atlantis' systems that couldn't be shut down completely. The displayed area's where life support wasn't needed and then sealed those areas and shut down life support to them.
"Interesting," Brad said.
"What is?" Jon asked. He was watching the Atlantis slowly spin.
"Well, the station has already identified what needs repaired and has set up a schedule for repairs needed to the Bridge, Engineering and other sections. A team of spiders are already working on getting the hull breech cleared so the automated systems can patch the hole. It has engineering teams scheduled to do internal repairs in eight hours on that section and four hours later the parts for the Bridge and Engineering sections will be ready to be put into place," Brad said.
"Wait, I thought repairs were done to the Bridge and Engineering sections," Jon said.
"No," Mike said. "Only temporary repairs were put in place to make those sections operational again. The collapsed catwalks will still need reinforced and some conduits will need replaced. We didn't have the parts available to do some of the work required."
"Yes, I have scheduled all repairs to be done in stages," A female voice said.
A form briefly shimmered in the air and then disappeared.
"Ghost?" Jon said.
"Yes, Commander, welcome to Ghost Station. I'm sorry but there appears to be a problem with my holo program," Ghost said.
"Captain Hawkins has told me that you wish the Atlantis to be ready as fast as possible and to be on stand-by incase of any emergency," Ghost said.
"Captain Hawkins?" Brad said.
"Yeah," Marc said. "When Jon turned over the Atlantis' command to Bill he became the Captain of her. When Jon stepped foot on the station he became the Commander of the station."
"That is correct, Lieutenant Anders," Ghost said.
"Oh," Brad said.
"As soon as I repair the hull breech and stress fractures the Atlantis will be put in stand-by mode. I'll be removing the outdated reactors and replacing them with the more updated models I have. That will take me twelve hours to complete once the hull is repaired. It will give the engineering crews time to finish the internal repairs in the section that was breeched. Then with the help of the engineering crew we will start to update the other outdated systems," Ghost said. "Those upgrades will not prevent Atlantis from launching though as we can do them in stages."
"Outdated systems? I would have guessed you were dormant as long as Atlantis was," Mike said.
"Yes and No, according to what information I have been able to access and what little bit of research I have been able to do. The Eutharan Empire pulled back about the time Earth Base Alpha, Atlanta Base as you know it. I was still functional and being used for another five hundred years after that point. Then instead of letting me fall into enemy hands they decided to pull back and abandon me in hopes that they could come back one day," Ghost said.
"Uh, that doesn't make sense. If you were operational for another five hundred years how did Captain Itcar's command codes work?" Jon asked.
"They didn't," Ghost said. "Admiral Itcar was declared missing in action over four hundred and seventy years ago. Commander Felot was the last commander of this station."
A panicked look crossed Jon's face as he looked at Marc. Mike and Brad jumped up from their consoles a look of surprise on their faces.
"Because Admiral Itcar was declared missing in action and not dead. Her code still held some sway and were left in place incase of her return. However, they wouldn't turn the station over to her. They would allow her to dock and get repairs," Ghost said. "Certain circumstances would allow her to regain control of the station though. Those circumstances were met by the Atlantis' AI and your use of her codes. I made the final choice to allow the transfer of command to you based on certain findings, like no contact with the Eutharan Empire and you having the trust of the Atlantis' AI. She would not allow you to control her if she though of you as a conquering force.
"The destruction on your home world also saddens me and I wish to be useful once again. I fell I can help you and your people and I will do everything I can to do so. The Invaru still control this area of the galaxy and still need pushed back. By helping you I'm helping the Eutharan Empire. I know they're still out there and they will probably come here once they realize the station is operating again. They will sometimes come here and sit analyzing me for days. I don't think they have the command codes for the station any more. You and your people are the guardians of this station now. You alone hold the 'Keys' to Ghost Station."
Everyone visibly relaxed as Brad and Mike retook their seats.
{Commander.} Bill's voice said.
{Go ahead.} Jon said.
{Tactical is tracking four unidentified vessel by the eighth planet. One of them looks like the battleships that we saw on Earth. Atlantis is having a hard time locking on to them. She's requesting assistance from Ghost.}
{Where do they appear to be going?}
{They appear to be headed this way. But, it looks like they are fighting.}
{Hold on.}
"Ghost," Jon said.
"Yes, Atlantis has informed me. I have been so involved in what was happening here I wasn't scanning the surrounding system. My apologies Commander," Ghost said.
"No problem, can you bring the ship up on the table please?" Jon asked. "Shut down all external lighting and go to minimal power I want the station to look like it hasn't been touched."
"Yes sir," Ghost said. The lights dimmed and turned red as the image shifted on the table and displayed the four ships. The larger ship was shooting at the three small vessels as they ran.
"What the hell is that," Marc said. He reached out and tapped the larger ship and zoomed in on it.
"That is an Invaru battleship and it is headed this way. What I want to know is what those other ships are," Jon said.
"Those ships look similar to the Eutharan Military Grade Shuttles. If the Battleship wanted them destroyed they would have been. I think the Invaru are trying to capture the shuttles," Ghost said.
"Why haven't they folded?" Marc asked.
"It takes time to reach a fold point," Brad said. "You would think that after three days of going through it you would know that." Brad grinned at Marc who just waved acted like he was shooing an insect away.
"Yeah, yeah, I don't pay attention to the fine details. You tell me three days we will be there its three days. I don't ask why three days or how we get from point 'a' to point 'b'," Mark said.
"Typical grunt," Jon said a grin splitting his face.
"There is nothing 'typical' about me," Marc said.
"Commander," Ghost said.
"Yes Ghost?" Jon said.
"I have a fold event on scanners. It's a Eutharan Heavy Cruiser and it is engaging the Battleship. The shuttles have altered course for the new ship," Ghost said.
Everyone in the control center watched as the shuttles landed on the cruiser as it swapped fire with the battleship. The cruiser was getting the worst end of the deal as the battleship pressed the advantage even launching fighters.
"If we don't do something now the cruiser will be destroyed or captured," Jon said.
"Yes sir, I estimate it can hold out for a few more minutes before its shield fail," Ghost said.
The cruiser had turned and continued along the same path as the shuttles. Jon had Ghost zoom in on the ship as it ran. Multiple deck breeches could be seen, fires burned behind the emergency safety fields. One of the engines had a large gash in it and was leaving behind a cloud of some type that slowly dissipated into nothingness. The ship was in bad shape and looked ready to give up at any minute.