Jonathan slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He noticed he was in what looked like an airlock. He tried to stand up but his grief overwhelmed him and he slumped back against the wall, tears coming unbidden to his eyes. He looked over and saw his sister starting to regain consciousness, she shook her head to clear her mind. Terri slowly looked around the room until she saw her brother. When she saw the look on her brother's face, she knew it hadn't been a dream, no matter how bad she wanted it to be one. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she crawled over to her brother. They hugged each other and started weeping silently for the loss of their parents.
Brad slowly got to his feet and took in the room they were in; he had never let his feelings rule him. He knew his parents were dead and he would grieve later in his own way. His brother on the other hand lost it when he finally woke and remembered what had happened. Brad comforted his brother telling him it would be ok and not to worry.
Andie on the other hand just curled up into a small ball not doing much of anything. She jumped when her brother touched her to make sure she was ok. He had tears streaming down his cheeks and made soft sobbing noises as he tried to be strong for his sister. Terri saw that Andie was just laying there and separated herself from her brother telling him she was ok and that she needed to check on Andie. Jonathan just nodded as looked over at Mike and Brad; he slowly got up to see what they were looking at.
Terri shook Andie slightly trying to get a response out of her, "Come on Andie do something."
Andie's head turned slowly in Terri's direction. It was as if someone threw a light switch in her. Andie grabbed Terri and let out a long wail and started crying, William's crying renewed with his sister's and he hugged both of the girls, putting his head on their shoulders. Slowly Andie's crying became a low sobbing and then stopped. After a few hours, everyone had recovered from grieving and they started to explore the small room.
"Well what do we do?" asked Terri. Her voice still showed signs of grief.
"I don't know, see if we can get out of this room and figure out where we are." Jonathan said as he looked over at his sister.
"I know where we are..." Mike said to no one particular
They all looked over to where Mike was standing and looking out of a small window.
"You do?" Brad and William said at the same time as they moved to where Mike was standing.
"Yeah," Mike said as he turned his gaze from the window and looked at Jonathan, who now stood beside him.
"Where?" Jonathan asked as he leaned over and looked out of the window himself.
"Underwater." Mike said, as he paled a bit.
"What?!" they all managed to say at the same time while crowding around the window trying to look out.
As they watched several different types of fish swam by, a few even stopped to look back at them. Brad just shook his head and moved off to look at the panel he was studying before. While the girls stood looking out the window, pointing to the different fish the guys moved off to continue exploring the small room. Jonathan looked over at his sister and noticed she was very involved in trying to name the different species of fish she saw. Well at least she has something to keep her mind off our parents. He thought.
Later, after the girls had gotten bored of looking out the window, they gathered around the panel that Brad had been studying for the past hour.
"This looks like a control mechanism for the inner door. I've no idea what this writing means; it looks like a mixture of Japanese and Egyptian. I could try to cycle the inner door open," he said looking at the others.
"Might as well, we're not doing anything sitting here," Jonathan said.
"Ok... here goes nothing," Brad said. He reached out and touched a small flashing green symbol on the screen.
'Peocha... Comos deatra... ' A female voice said.
Jonathan looked at the rest of them, lost as the strange words spilled out around them. Jonathan looked over towards his sister for help. She loved languages, she had studied and learned almost every language on the planet, and she was just now starting to learn ancient languages.
Terri shrugged helplessly while listening to the strange language. Concern crossed Andie's face as she looked over at Terri and William.
'Peocha... pearlad deatra hoiste... hin... muh... wer... oner... ooj.' The female voice said.
The inner door groaned as it started to open, shuddering briefly. Air flowed into the room chilling them all to the bone. The inside of this structure was definitely cooler than the room they were in. Brad peered around the edge of the door looking into the darkness. Jonathan edged up, crossing the threshold of the door. Lights suddenly flared to life, flickered and then dimmed, illuminating the darkness. The outside wall of the corridor was transparent from about halfway up. The lights in the corridor flickered off and on, briefly illuminating the murky water.
"HELLO," Jonathan yelled "ANYONE HERE?" The silence that answered let them know two things. One, there was no one here that was in earshot. Two, the corridor was huge, the echo was impressive.
"Well, I'm freezing let's go see if we can at least find something that's a little bit warmer than these bathing suits." Andie said.
"I don't know..." A scared Terri said as she shivered from the cold.
Jonathan walked over to his sister and put his arm around her, "It'll be ok sis, we need to find out where we're at."
Jonathan looked around the room, seeing if there was anything they might be able to use. It was then that he noticed the strange suits hanging up. They looked a lot like shark suits, the outside of the suits being made out of a kind of meshed metal woven to be strong but flexible. The inside of the suits had a soft cloth that felt almost like velvet to the touch.
"As far as warming up, I agree, these bathing suits are a little bit too cool. Let's all find one of these suits to wear, they should warm us up a bit." They all selected suits from the racks and put them on over their bathing suits. When the suits were zipped up several small lights lit up along the collars. The suits started to warm their bodies up, Brad looked closely at his collar but couldn't make heads nor tails of the small indicators.
Mike's voice summed it all up in one word, "Cool..."
"Alright, let's explore and figure out what the hell is going on." Brad said as he stepped out into the corridor. William followed close behind him, then Mike and Andie.
"Come on sis, it will be ok," Jonathan said, as he took her hand to lead her out of the small room.
Terri hesitated, peering out into the corridor, "Jon, I'm afraid; we don't know what's out there or what language that was. How did we get here? Did who ever is here blow the boat up and kidnap us?" Terri's eyes welled up.
Jonathan hugged his sister, trying to calm her a bit, "Sis, I don't know and I mean to find out. You have nothing to worry about; William, Mike, Brad, and I will protect you and Andie. Why don't you concentrate on the language thing, it would help us a lot if you could figure it out." He said. He wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled his best, I'll take care of your smile.
Andie put on her best grin, "See Terri, they already have big heads. I think it's the other way around, we'll be the ones protecting their collective asses. You know how men are, always painting themselves into a corner with no escape plan."
All the men in one voice said, "Oh pleeeeasssseee." That got a laugh from Terri who straightened up, Andie just giggled and winked at Terri.
They started down the corridor, passing several signs that were in the strange language. Terri stopped and took some time studying the symbols. She had never seen anything like it in all the books she had read on languages.
"What do you think it says?" Jonathan asked Terri as he peered over her shoulder.
"We come in peace?" William quipped grinning broadly.
Terri stifled a giggle and Jonathan groaned as the others started laughing.
"Hrm... I have no idea; I've never seen anything like this." Terri said getting serious.
The corridor ended at a large door. As Jonathan approached the door it suddenly opened. On the other side of the door, a new corridor led left and right. The first thing they noticed was this corridor didn't have any windows. The lighting seemed brighter, although it flickered more often. Jonathan took the lead with Brad and turned right continuing their exploration. Several feet down the new corridor, they came to a double door with more of the strange lettering in bold print. Terri stepped up to the door to examine the lettering and it suddenly opened.
Lights flickered to life dimly, filling the room in a murky light. Jonathan and Brad stepped into the room and several holographic displays sprung to life along the walls and above several tables. The room was about the size of a basketball court. The strange characters started to scroll on the screens with diagrams that made no sense. Terri dusted off one of the chairs and sat down in front of one of the screens, studying what was scrolling. It was then that Brad, William, and Jonathan saw the corpse lying across a desk. The corpse's arm was stretched out and pointing at a flashing symbol on the screen in front of it.
"Human?" Jonathan asked
"Looks like it to me," William replied as he watched his sister walking towards them. "Andie would know better, she's the medical expert."
"Andie," Jonathan said, as she got close enough. "What do you think?"
Andie crouched down at the corpse, as she examined it. "Looks human but there's some differences."
"Like what?" Brad asked as he examined the flowing letters in front of him. "Mike come here would you?"
Mike walked across the room and stopped before he got to his brother, "Is that what I think it is?" He asked as he paled a bit.
"Yeah, never mind that... what do you think this is?" Brad said pointing at the hologram in front of him. "The corpse here is pointing at this flashing yellow box with more of those strange letters."
"Four fingers, double joined I think..." Andie said as she pointed out things. "I would need to do an autopsy to know for sure."
"Well, it's wearing the same suit as us." William said as he pointed to the suit.
"He must have been someone who worked here at one time." Jonathan said as he walked to another one of the holograms. He shook his head in frustration; he couldn't understand a damn thing. He glanced up to where his sister was involved in the scrolling letters. He hoped she could start making sense of it; she had won numerous awards on her ability to absorb languages.
"Terri... Terri," Jonathan said as he shook her.
Terri jumped slightly and looked up at her brother, "What's up?"
"I called you about a dozen times trying to get your attention. I asked if you have any clue as to what any of this writing means?" Jonathan said softly.
Terri looked around and saw the others looking at her, "Oh, bits and pieces but nothing substantial." she replied blushing slightly.
"Ok, well keep it up we need to know what this all means." Jonathan said as he walked back to the others.
Mike and Brad were in a discussion about what the corpse might have been doing. William and Andie had moved the corpse out of the way and were still examining it. Jonathan joined Andie and her brother. Brad and Mike were still discussing the significance of the color yellow.
"Caution, be careful, uh..." Brad said looking at the symbols inside the box.
"Brad that box could mean anything, besides I don't see any switches or knobs anywhere, do you?" Mike huffed looking around.
"No," Brad said as he glanced around. Brad reached out and passed his hand through the hologram, "Well, it's not solid, my hand passes right through it."
"Well, if one of us is going to be stupid lets both be..." Mike started to say as he pushed his finger through the yellow box. The sleeve of his suit shifted and flowed down around his hand covering it completely. A tingling sensation flowed up Mike's hand and several lights lit up on the glove that now covered his hand. Mike snatched his hand away from the hologram looking at his hand as though it had just fallen off.
"Oh, I forgot one... don't touch" Brad said dryly "Are you ok?"
"Ye... ," Mike started to say but was cut off by the strange voice.
Indentisa jahosite
The others looked up from what they were doing when they heard the voice again. Jonathan looked around the room to make sure everyone was ok. That's when he stalked over to where Mike and Brad were.
"He looks a bit upset..." Mike murmured.
"Yeah, I would say so," Brad whispered back. "How's your hand?"
"My hand and arm tingled slightly but that was about it. It doesn't feel any different and the sensation has stopped." Mike murmured back to Brad as he looked down at his covered hand.
Brad and Mike never turned to look at Jonathan as he approached them. They acted all involved in the displays in front of them. Terri turned back to her work on the languages watching the display scroll the stranger characters. Andie and William turned back to the corpse to continue their examination of it, shaking their heads slightly. Only when Jonathan got right beside them did they look up at him.
"What did you two do?" Jonathan demanded
"What makes you think we did anything?" Mike and Brad both said at the same time, while trying to look innocent.
"Uh... because you were the only two who didn't look up when the voice spoke?" Jonathan replied as he calmed down a bit.
"Oh, in that case we touched the little yellow flashing thing." Mike said pointing at it with his covered hand.
"Correction, MIKE touched the little flashing yellow thing. Brad said 'Yellow means don't touch'" Brad said as he hit his brother in the shoulder.
"Bah... You touched the hologram first." Mike muttered as he rubbed his shoulder.
"The SIDE..." Brad said
"Ok... Ok... relax, doesn't seem like any harm was done. Just don't touch anything else until we get this language thing figured out. By the way Mike where did you get the glove?" Jonathan asked as he examined Mike's covered hand.
"The suit formed it when I touched the yellow button." Mike said.
"Hand feels all right?" Jonathan asked
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt or anything." as Mike said this, the covering on his hand slowly melted back into the suit.
"Cool," was all Jonathan could say. "Well your hand looks fine, just remember don't touch anything until we can halfway understand what we're touching. See if you two can figure out what was up with the glove."
"Gensu indentisa justara owera." a voice said behind Jonathan.
Jonathan jumped as he heard the voice, spinning around as both Mike and Brad paled. Standing behind Jonathan was a 6-foot tall woman, with pale green eyes and mid-back fire-red hair tied into a tight braid. She had an hourglass figure and looked to be very fit. She was wearing the same suit as the rest of them, except her hands and feet were covered too. She blinked slightly, looked over the trio in front of her, and again repeated what she had said earlier. She took a step towards Jonathan, lifted her hand, and made a flicking motion. Jonathan felt a tingling sensation at the base of his neck, which spread slowly through his brain.
Mike and Brad started to move to intercede but the last thing they saw as they passed out was the woman motioning to them. Unseen to Jonathan the rest of the group all slumped over where they were. The woman turned her attention back to Jonathan as the sensation he was feeling grew steadily to the point of unbearable. As suddenly as it started it stopped, receding from his brain back to the base of his neck and then disappearing completely. The young woman stepped back closed her eyes and seemed to stand there for several minutes.
"I'm sorry I don't understand what you're saying. We were in an accident and someone here saved us. All we want to do is get..." Jonathan was saying when the woman opened her eyes and spoke.
"Yes, I know what happened I was the one who saved you." The woman said. "I am Atlanta, you are in Atlantis Base. I brought you here to save your lives, I'm sorry there was nothing I could do to save the others."
"You speak English?" Jonathan said in surprise.
"I do now that I have scanned you." Atlanta said as she crossed her arms in front of her.
Jonathan tried to move but found out he couldn't, he started to panic "Atlanta, I can't move..."
"Yes, I have a neural block at the base of your brain preventing you from moving while the nanites do their work." Atlanta said calmly.
"Nanites? Work? What work, what are you doing to me?" Jonathan strained to move as he started to panic more. "Please, just let us go..."
"Relax, Commander. The more you strain the longer it takes." Atlanta said as she stepped up close to Jonathan and put a calming hand on his shoulder. "The nanites are simply repairing some problems with your and your crew's bodies; like removing all cancer cells, increasing muscle mass and lung capacity. They are also giving you the ability to comprehend our language and interface with our base. They will do you no harm I assure you."
Jonathan did notice he could make out some of the words on the screens he could see; most of them were still incomprehensible. Jonathan also noticed his vision had improved drastically; he used to be 20/40 but now he was sure it was well past 20/20. Jonathan calmed down some but was still worried; true there wasn't much he could do so he just relaxed.
"Hmmmm... Your minds are different from ours, not drastically but enough. This might take awhile to complete, so let me tell you a story." Atlanta said "First though do me a favor, I'll release the block long enough for you to sit but I need you to touch the button your friends touched a minute ago."
Jonathan almost fell as his motor functions were released. He walked up to the screen with the flashing yellow button and read what it said in the little box, Start Up. The thought had crossed his mind of tackling her and making her stop what she was doing. He didn't though because of two reasons, she could probably lock him up again before he could get to her and two because he was interested in hearing her out. He reached out and touched the yellow box.
'Identity jahosite' A female voice said.
Atlanta spoke up, "Hold on a second." She closed her eyes and a minute later opened them. "Try again, please."
Jonathan again reached out and touched the yellow box.
'Identity accepted... Start xace felokid. Reasfed ooj online, reasfed oner beenas, reasfed wer online, reasfed four beenas, reasfed five beenas, reasfed buv beenas.' A female voice said.
The voice in the room continued for four minutes, Jonathan could hear an English word occasionally but the rest was all gibberish. Jonathan noticed he was sitting down and again unable to move and that Atlanta had her eyes shut once again as she listened to the voice. Occasionally she would sigh and shake her head; when it was finally over she opened her eyes and looked at Jonathan.
Atlanta frowned and said, "Not good, most of Atlantis Base is off-line. Well there will be time for that later, now as promised a story."
"Twenty thousand years ago a great empire policed the galaxy in an attempt to maintain peace. The Manseesa Empire was able to unite over 20 different species, building a strong foundation for the empire. The Manseesa were an advanced civilization that was happy to share their technology with any who joined the Empire. Every civilization was allowed to exist under his or her own government, appointing a delegate to the Imperial Senate. The senate ran Empire's military and planetary aid branches. The military was simple; you served two years in the Empire's military and the rest in any planet's military you wanted to join. Civilizations flourished under the watchful eyes of the Empire but there were always some border disputes or fighting that called for attention.
About one thousand years ago, a race known as the Invaru petitioned the Empire for acceptance. The senate debated their petition for months for the Invaru were known to be warlike and hostile. They had never shown themselves to anyone and anyone who had seen one never lived to tell the tale. Several of the senators thought they should be allowed to join, they saw this as a way to stop the random attacks. However, through the persuasive arguments of the Euthara senator the petition was declined. The Euthara were one of the strongest and largest of the civilizations in the Empire. They were known for their telepathy and technology, most of the other members followed their lead while a few were jealous of them. The Buranis were one of the most militaristic of the members holding key places in the Empire and usually always backed up the Euthara. They were strong allies working well together, a mixture of might and technology that was close to unstoppable.
Once the Invaru heard of the rejection they attacked the Euthara people, destroying most of their core worlds before the Empire could move to protect them. In a major battle outside their home system the combined might of the Empire's fleet and the whole of the Buranis home fleet, the Invaru were stopped. The victory was great, the Empire lost very few ships and the Buranis were untouched, what happened next crushed the Empire. The Buranis turned on the Empire and decimated the remaining fleet; see they were given an ultimatum. Join the Invaru and reject the Empire or lose their core worlds, the Invaru had sent most of its fleet to the home systems of the Buranis and only a small portion to the Euthara. The Buranis reacted quickly crushing the Empire's fleet and blockading the Euthara home world. The president of the Buranis signed a treaty with the Invaru that effectively made his whole race slaves.
The Invaru moved quickly, they disrupted the Empire's trade routes and blocked planets until they surrendered. Without the support of the Buranis and Euthara fleets, it took less than 50 years to conquer the galaxy. With the Empire gone, they turned their attention to finding and destroying the outposts and the last of the Empire. Atlantis Base is one such outpost on the edge of the Empire's domain, this is probably the only reason it still stands and the human race isn't enslaved.
About 662 years ago was the last time I have heard from Centaur Base, the next closest base to me. 650 years ago, there was a reactor malfunction flooding Atlantis with radiation; there was nothing that could be done to save the people here. A lowly ensign repaired the reactor just before he died and then I sealed the base, putting it into stasis and waited for someone to come. Two days ago, I awoke to do a quick scan of the Sol system and listen for messages. That's when I detected the explosion on the surface, I took that time to react and bring you all here. My hope is that you will help me get back to full operational status."
Jonathan just blinked as if it was all a dream, Atlanta just watched him, silent.
"Ummm... I have a few questions?" Jonathan began.
"Sure, Commander" Atlanta nodded "I expected that."
"Why did you live and no one else?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm the AI for Atlantis Base, I'm not alive." Atlanta replied smiling slightly
"Ok, so you're a computer. I can live with that. Why do you keep calling me Commander?" Jonathan asked.
"I have selected you to lead the crew and my day to day operations." Atlanta replied slowly as she watched his reaction.
Jonathan started to reply but stopped as what she had just said slowly sunk in. "I don't know about that Atlanta, I don't know a lot about commanding a base and a small crew." He said once he regained his thoughts.
"Oh, we're not talking about a small crew. Atlantis Base can house over 1550 people easily. Besides I have scanned you, remember? I have seen your military background and your strategic mind." Atlanta smiled as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Atlanta, I have never been in the military. As for strategy, yes I'm good at games and chess but you're talking about live people and conflicts." Jonathan said as thoughts started to over whelm him. He could see people dying under his leadership, especially his friends.
Atlanta's eyebrows rose as she said, "Yes, and how do you think we trained our people to command? Besides I'll be here to help you and give you input."
Jonathan thought this over, carefully considering the pros and cons of the situation. While he was doing this, the others had started to wake up from their respective sleeps. Terri was the first to notice the changes; all of her baby fat was gone replaced with muscle. She also noticed that she understood all of the writing on the screens in front of her. When she looked over to where her brother was, she noticed the woman for the first time. She stood and walked over next to Jonathan and started listening to the conversation. Jonathan was so involved in the conversation he didn't notice her standing next to him. After awhile she laid her hand on Jonathan's shoulder and spoke.
"I think it's a good idea, I don't know of anyone else I would rather follow." She said smiling.
Jonathan jumped as he felt her hand and realized he could finally move. He looked up at his sister noticing the changes right away, she was thinner and her skin was like porcelain. He could detect no blemishes, as he looked her over. He smiled finally seeing she was ok; he looked around and saw the others starting to stir. Atlanta called them all over once everyone was awake enough to start moving around. Both Brad and Mike looked stouter than Jonathan remembered, while Andie had the same look as his sister. William on the other hand looked like he had a sudden growth spurt; he was definitely taller and more toned.
Atlanta ran them all through the same things she had been talking to Jonathan about including the history. She warned them all that she expected company in the next one or two years. Getting Atlantis Base operational was very important to the survival of Earth and its inhabitants. She also explained that she had already selected posts for them based on her scans. Brad and Mike were to be the base's Chief Engineers, Mike computer and Brad mechanical. Terri would be the base's Deck Chief. Andie would be Chief medical officer. All those positions would carry the rank of lieutenant but Jonathan could feel free to change that however he wanted. William on the other hand was chosen to be XO (Lieutenant Commander), Jonathan's right hand. Atlanta had imparted the knowledge of what they needed to know about their positions to them through the nanites. After they all convinced Jonathan to accept the position Atlanta wanted him to take, they sat down to start planning.
"Well, I think the first step should be to get supplies and some extra help." Brad said as they sat down around a large table in the situation room.
Jonathan rubbed his forehead, "Who and what supplies? Plus how are we going to get off this base to anywhere?"
Terri spoke up at this question, "A shuttle from the main hanger."
They all turned and looked at her as though she had just grown another head.
"Don't look at me like that." She said almost laughing, "What did you think Atlanta meant when she said I was Deck Chief?"
Andie spoke first, "Yeah, as funny as it sounds I know where medical is. I also have knowledge of most of the equipment in it."
They all nodded as Atlanta appeared out of thin air standing to Jonathan's right hand side. "I had explained that the nanites gave you some knowledge of the base and how to operate most of the equipment. You will still need some training and I have made the files in the computer available for use. I would suggest studying them when you have time between my training sessions. The shuttles will need repairs before they will be functional and of any use to you. My suggestion, Commander, would be to get all of my reactors online, while that is being done Terri can do shuttle prep for a supply run."
Jonathan reached down and touched a button on the small holograph in front of him. The center of the table opened up and a small lens appeared, as soon as the lens cleared the table a hologram of the base appeared in the air. The hologram slowly rotated clearly showing where they were and that the base had eight arms.
None of them were surprised they had that knowledge already, "Atlanta display the offline reactors on the map please and any other important information you might have."
Several red spots showed, most in the main center hub, "These are the reactors that are not operational." Atlanta said. Two of the arms turned red all the way up to the main hub. "These sections are flooded and not operational. Several other things require repair, but they can wait. Life support is 85% operational and holding, main power is online and running at 45% and holding. I have shut down the atriums on this level and level two until the plants and animals can be replaced. Waste reclamation is running at 15% but holding, many of these things are running at this level due to shortage of power. I have shut down all non-essential systems in an effort to lessen the strain on the remaining reactors. This includes medical, recreation, most of the crew quarters, and the secondary hanger."
Jonathan leaned back in his chair and watched the rotating image for a second. "Brad, Mike, and I will head down and take stock of the reactors to see if we can get any operational. Since Medical is down Terri, Andie, and William will head down to the main hanger and see about getting one of the shuttles running. Atlanta I want you running the diagnostics in the background while helping Terri out."
The image of the base winked out as they stood up from the table. They split off into their respective groups to work on their tasks. As they left the main control room, something along the northern wall shifted and followed them. The camouflage was almost perfect except for the tell tale signs of distortions. It stood at the doorway out for a minute as if making sure the groups had left. When it was time it walked up to the door and out into the hallway beyond checking left and right to make sure the way was clear. The right arm reached up to where its head should be and tapped something.
"Second Tier Oojoung to Tier Leader," It muttered in an unknown language.
'Report Oojoung.' A gruff voice repeated back.
Unseen to Oojoung a small red light lit up inside the control room as the channel was opened. Atlanta didn't take note of it because she was too far into her diagnostics to even pick up on it. Her limited power made it hard for her to keep track of the small crew and what was going on around the base. A part of her flagged it for later investigation and report.
"Master I have found the last base." Oojoung muttered quietly as he moved down the corridor. He followed the people who were headed to the hanger. He did this more out of curiosity than need. Still he was interested in these hoomens.
'Is it operational?' The voice demanded in Oojoung's ear.
"Partially and the crew is no more than six or seven, and master they're not of the old race either." Oojoung muttered
'What do you mean not of the old race?' The voice said almost too quiet.
"They're hoomens, they look like the old race but there are some differences." Oojoung replied.
'Hrm... Ok I want a full report when you're alone and in a secure area. Until then you stay out of sight and watch them. If you get a chance to delay their repairs do so, but don't take any risks. Is this understood?' The voice asked calmly.
"Yes Master, no risks but try to delay." Oojoung replied as he rounded the corner leading to the main hanger.
'Yes, NO risks, the fleet is a year out maybe less.' The voice said as the link was severed.
Oojoung looked around the main hanger until he saw the three hoomens working on a shuttle. He moved in as close as he could trying to listen to their strange talk. If he could listen long enough he could learn how to understand it. This is why he was an infiltrator, his ability to adapt and learn languages just by watching. He looked down to check his power gauge to see how long he had. Just over ten hours of power left then he would have to recharge. That should be enough time to learn what he needed and maybe stop some of what they were doing.
Terri cycled the door of the large shuttle open. Lights flickered to life on the inside of the shuttle illuminating the interior in a dull yellow glow. Terri stepped through into the shuttle followed by the others. She noticed there was no dust or any visible signs of damage. When she got to the cockpit, she sat down in the pilot's chair motioning Andie to sit in the navigator's seat. After seeing that everything was ok, Bill walked back out the door to do an external inspection.
"Atlanta give me a scan of the shuttle's primary drives." Terri said.
Atlanta appeared next to Terri and touched a few buttons on the holo display.
'Primary Drives operational, main power systems off-line, secondary power system at 50%.' A voice said.
"The shuttle has an AI system and sub routine. It's not as advanced as I am but it assists by taking on some tasks that help free me up. The base also has an AI although it is off-line because of the low power problems." Atlanta said as she smiled at Terri.
Terri blushed deeply, "Sorry Atlanta I guess that part of the data transfer didn't take."
"I'm sure there are a lot of things that didn't take so don't worry about it. You can speak aloud to the AI's and they will respond just as if you had hit the right keys. In addition, you can contact anyone by asking a local AI to open a channel to anyone on the base. The nanites in your system act as transmitters and receivers." Atlanta smiled one more time then faded out.
"I guess we still have a lot to learn about the base." Andie said looking over at Terri. "I just wish I could get into medical so I could start learning." Andie sighed.
"Hey, right now I need you right here with me to help me get this darn thing running." Terri said as she winked over at Andie. Andie smiled back and started looking over the holo display in front of her. Terri smiled inside and turned back to the shuttle's display in front of her.
"Oh, I need to do one more thing before we get too involved in the repairs." Terri said.
Andie looked over and started to ask her what she meant.
"Open channel to all personnel" Terri said.
Channel open. A voice said.
"Everyone I just found out through Atlanta that we're able to contact each other using the nanites. In addition, other simpler AIs on the base control the day-to-day functions for Atlanta. The one for the base as a whole is down right now due to lack of power." Terri said.
"Thanks for letting us know about this Terri." Jonathan's voice said in her head.
"Yeah way cool stuff." Mike said
Andie almost laughed and said, "Only Mike would think that." She whispered to Terri.
Terri snickered quietly and said, "Just thought you guys should know that, Terri out. Close all channels."
All channels closed. A voice responded
"So much fun I tell you. Alright, back to work, Andie see if you can figure out what's wrong with the main power. I'm going to go see what Bill has found and take a look at the main component boards." Terri said as she got up.
"Ok but you know I'm just a medical officer I don't know a lot about these things." Andie said.
"It's ok just do what you can and leave the rest up to me." Terri grinned and winked.
Brad bent down and glanced over the reactor, for the life of him he couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Everything seemed to be ok with it, no signs of damage or fried circuits. Mike was in the middle of doing a diagnostic and Jon, Jonathan explained to them it would make things simpler to call him Jon, was running diagnostics on some of the primary systems for the base. Brad removed another panel and peered inside, tracing circuitry. After about ten minutes he replaced the panel not finding anything wrong. He walked around the catwalk to another panel and removed it, doing the same thing as before. Only this time he found that a circuit board was missing.
"Guys I found our problem here." Brad hollered down to Jon and Mike.
Looking up Mike replied, "What's wrong with the damn thing?"
"We're missing the circuit board that controls the power output. Without that she'll fire up but she won't stay running." Brad hollered as he started his descent to the others.
Mike looked over at Jon and Jon shrugged.
"Atlanta did the Ensign that repaired the reactor that flooded the base with radiation salvage parts from the other reactors?" Jon asked
Atlanta faded into view and replied "Not to my knowledge, but it is possible I guess. He would do what he needed to stop the radiation leak."
Brad hopped down the last three steps and turned to Atlanta. "Are there replacement parts on base somewhere?"
"Yes and no." Atlanta replied.
Brad just shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Yes and no?"
"Yes there are replacement parts but no they're not on Atlantis." Atlanta said as she crossed her arms.
"Ok you got me, where are they if not on the base?" Mike said.
"The replacement parts are in the flooded sections. My scans show that the tunnels leading to those sections have collapsed due to a shift in the ocean floor." Atlanta said
"Great... just fucking great and I thought things were looking up." Brad muttered.
"Ok you two check out the other reactors and see what you come up with. I'm going to head back to the main control room and see if I can figure a way into the flooded sections." Jon said as he turned to leave.
Brad and Mike nodded and said in unison "Ok."
Terri and Bill had just finished the last of the diagnostics on the shuttle systems that could be done from the outside. Jon had informed them that he was headed back to the main control room and when they were done to meet him there. Terri and Bill joined Andie in the cockpit to go over the last of the diagnostics. Finding nothing wrong, Terri decided to give the warm up cycle a try to see if the shuttle would start up.
"Shuttle Alpha 10034 acknowledge." Terri said reciting the shuttle designation numbers.
'Acknowledged Chief Terri.' A voice said
"Change shuttle designation to Razor." Terri said
Andie and Bill looked at her in a quizzical way.
"I figure if we name them it will be easier to single out which one we're talking to." Terri said half shrugging. They nodded back liking the idea.
'Designation changed to Razor Alpha 10034.' A voice said.
"Razor initiate primary start up routines." Terri said.
'Magnetic start up sequence initiated... Primary drives online... Life support 100%... Hull integrity 100%... Backup systems online... Secondary life support online... All systems green.' Razor said.
Terri smiled as she looked over the displays in front of her, double checking the shuttle's AI. Everything seemed to be ok as far as the displays showed. She reached out and tapped a button and the hatch shut, sealing itself. She reached out to another set of buttons and touched a sequence of them. The shuttle vibrated slightly and settled. Terri glanced at the displays in front of her then glanced back in Bill and Andie's direction.
"If these readings are right and I'm reading them right we're about 5 foot from the deck and holding." Terri smiled at Andie as she spoke.
"Nice." Was all Bill said.
"Ok one more thing then I'll set us down and we can go meet Jon in main control." Terri said as she hit a few more buttons. "Razor check the seal integrity and power readings."
'Checking... Seal holding... Power holding steady, and within operational parameters.' Razor said.
Terri nodded and touched a few more buttons and the shuttle vibrated once more. "Ok I've set Razor to stay online and to be ready at a moments notice. Let's go let Jon know we have at least one working shuttle."
Oojoung didn't like the fact the hoomens now had a working shuttle, he thought he had disabled all of them. He was sure just as he had disabled what reactors he could find he had disabled the shuttles too. He would just have to wait until they left and do something to this shuttle to stop them. No, it couldn't be something that looked like sabotage it had to look like it was a malfunction. He knew what he could do as he grinned to himself. The bay doors, he could fix them not to work. After all they never checked that did they. Maybe if he disabled the mag-field they would all drown, that would be very good.
Oojoung moved silently over to the main power unit for the bay doors and set to work. He had to drop his camo-field to do it, but the hoomens were gone. He grinned as he started rerouting the power from the mag-fields to some non-essential system. He would go up to launch control to watch them all drown, yes it would be very fun. Then he could report to his master that everything was taken care of here and he had single handedly taken control of the last base.
It had taken the Collective years to figure out where the last base was. Once it was under their control or destroyed, their Empire would be secure and the rebellions would stop. The worlds under the control of the Collective had a funny way of holding on to hope when there was nothing there. Always fighting for something they couldn't see but were sure existed. Oojoung stuck his tongue out in disgust at that thought. Why fight for something you can't see, it makes no sense. Oh well, he thought and turned his mind back to the task.
"Damn guys I need to go back to the hanger I forgot to run a check on the external doors." Terri said
"Ok, we will let Jon know that everything is looking good and we have a shuttle ready." Bill said
Terri turned and started back to the main hanger. How could she forget to check the main doors? Maybe it was the excitement of getting the shuttle up and running. She sighed and started to jog a bit faster. She started to tick off the things she would need to check before she cycled the main doors. It wouldn't do them any good if the mag-field was down, the thought of thousands of gallons of sea water rushing into the hanger made her shiver. Not that it would hurt them while they were in the shuttle but the mess afterwards would be terrible.
Oojoung stood up from his work smiled and started to replace the panel when he heard the door cycle open. He reached up, touched the unit on his wrist, and winked out of sight. He turned towards the sound and watched a hoomen take the mag-lift to the hanger control room. What was that hoomen doing back here? He moved towards the control room to try to get an idea of what it was doing.
Terri sat down in front of the main holo control panel and started running diagnostics on the hanger bay checking for anything out of the ordinary. While the system was running through all the hanger bay functions, she pulled up the craft manifests, looking over what types of craft were stored in the hanger. One thing that caught her eye was the small single and double person fighters that were stored on board. There were also several types of shuttle, small to large, like the Razor. She counted over 100 fighters all together and 75 plus shuttles. She pulled up a schematic of the hanger bay and looked it over and sure enough, there were the pilot's dressing rooms and briefing rooms. The training rooms and quarters were on the second deck under the hanger bay and looked like it could house over 300 pilots. She leaned back and absorbed the new information watching the diagram of the hanger bay rotate in front of her.
The computer beeped and let her know there were no problems it could detect with the bay doors and any other hanger bay sub systems. However, as she looked over the information she noted things that needed preventive maintenance, it could all wait until later but she filed away the most important things to be done on her return. The last thing she did before she got up was set the computer to run diagnostics on all the fighters and shuttles.
Oojoung watched her as she worked and didn't like what he saw. She was learning things too fast and that was not good. He glanced down and saw he had only about thirty minutes of power left on his stealth field and slunk off to recharge leaving the strange hoomen to do what she was doing. When he was alone he sat down and plugged in the unit to recharge as he thought about what was going on. The master he knew would be displeased if they got the base running before the fleet arrived. There was only so much he could do by himself to slow or stop them. His com unit beeped at him several times before he heard it.
"Yes master?" Oojoung said quietly
'What is the status of the base?' The voice said.
"They are working fast master, they learn quickly. They have a shuttle in operation although they haven't left the base yet. They are thinking of going and getting supplies and other hoomens. But I have sabotaged the main hanger doors so that they will all be killed." Oojoung said quietly as he smiled to himself.
'WHAT!? Listen to me carefully you pitiful excuse for a creature. I don't want them killed, just stopped. We have much to learn from them. You will fix what you did, find another way to delay them but do not let them know you're there.' The voice said.
"Yes master, sorry I didn't understand, I thought you wanted them dead. I will do as you command." Oojoung stood up unplugging his camouflage unit from the power conduit.
'I'm ordering the fleet to 150% power, this should put us in orbit in less than 3 days. Hold them off until then.' The voice said as it faded.
Why did he always do things to make the master upset when he tried to do what was right? Oojoung ran toward the hanger bay at a break neck pace almost a blur. It wouldn't be hard to undo what he did but he was going to have to figure out how to stop them from getting the base operational without killing them. Killing them would be much easier than not. He let out a long sigh as he ran.
Mike and Brad had similar luck with most of the secondary reactors. They were able to get all but two of then up and running. The main reactor was a different story. Everything looked fine with it but the start up routine wouldn't initialize. Brad had theories and Mike decided when they got back he would sit down in one of the main offices they found in the Main Reactor Room and go through the code. The room itself was impressive, it was on the second floor below the main hanger deck. The reactor was set along the back wall surrounded by a force field. Several stations were situated along the walls and at various spots on the floor. From what Mike and Brad saw the stations were for monitoring the Main Reactor and the station's power systems.
When they got back, they could also link the other reactors back into the power matrix of the base to get a more stable power system. However, once they got the main reactor up and running, the secondary reactors wouldn't be needed and would shut down. Mike had discovered a security station on both the secondary and primary levels. They decided not to mess with anything at those stations until Jon had given the ok. They left several monitoring routines running to watch the reactors that were running. Shortly after setting up the last program, they made their way to Central Command. They ran into Terri on the way there and all three were in deep conversation about what they had found.
Jon had run over several possible solutions to the problem of getting into the flooded parts of the base to get the parts they needed. He and Atlanta were going over the next idea Jon had when Andie and Bill entered. Andie and Bill stood back watching what was going on.
"Atlanta what if we used one of the shuttles to dock to the flooded section?" Jon said pointing to the hatch on the hologram.
"As I said before Commander those sections have no power and without it you can't cycle the doors, much less dock a shuttle." Atlanta replied as she bent over and examined the hologram.
Jon leaned back and ran his hand though his hair. "So basically no matter what we think of there is no way to do what we need to do." Jon said sourly as he looked up at Atlanta. She just shrugged as if she didn't know. "I don't believe in a no win situation, there has to be a way to get what we need from those damaged areas." He leaned back a little deeper into his chair.
Mike, Brad, and Terri had joined Andie and Bill in watching the goings on. Brad leaned over and whispered something to Mike who nodded. Mike stepped forward and laid a hand on Jon's shoulder startling him out of his thoughts. Jon looked up and saw the group had assembled muttering something about sneaky bastards. Jon stood up and motioned them to follow him into the Room he had decided to call the planning room. Once inside they all took seats and started briefing Jon on the good and bad news.
Jon listen to them all report and then said, "Well the good news is we have a working shuttle, bad is we can't get the main reactor up and running. Well, there is one thing we need to discuss but we don't need extra ears. Atlanta, hibernation cycle Beta One One Alpha Three, command authorization Jon Alpha Zulu Two One Two."
'Hibernation cycle initiated. Please state time to hibernate.' Atlanta's voice said.
"45 minutes." Jon said.
'45 minutes countdown started.' Atlanta's voice said.
Jon looked around the table trying to take stock of the people seated at the table. He had known all of them most if not all his life. He knew if there were five people he could count on in the world they were all seated around him right now.
"Well people we have a choice to make." Jon said as he leaned back in his chair.
They all looked at Jon waiting for him to continue.