Contact

by Gron


Chapter 1 - Departure

“Okay... let’s see. No damaged or unconnected cables, check. No burnt hardware, check. No spilled coffee, check,” Steve sighed as he went over his mental checklist, unable to find the source of the problem that was keeping him stuck here for the past few days.
 
“Damn it! Why can't you just tell me what’s wrong or give me at least a little hint. Stupid thing! If you weren’t so important I would throw you out of the airlock myself!” He didn't even notice that he was speaking his thoughts out loud until he heard a familiar voice behind him.
 
“Hey, yelling at the shuttle again? Poor thing’s got feelings too. After seeing her bare parts with no cover, you should at least buy her a drink to get her in the mood.”
 
As he turned around he saw the chuckling Sergeant David Richards standing in the airlock of the Helios, a six meter wide, eleven meter long shuttle, capable of being dropped on almost any planet surface, giving a team of four people a living space for nearly one year without resupply, at least that’s what he had been told a long while ago.
 
Steve often thought back to the day, now 783 days ago, when they got their final briefing on the day of their departure.
 
783 days... Steve sighed a bit.
 
It sounded heroic back then, being the first humans that could discover alien life forms, but spending the last two years on a giant spaceship moving through the endless space of the galaxy with nothing to do but occasionally fix some malfunctioning devices on board of the Columbus, the large expedition cruiser they were traveling on and back then the largest spaceship ever built, could get pretty boring.
 
Steve Murray was a member of the technical team and the only one of them awake. The rest of the team, together with almost the entire crew aboard, were put into cryostasis until they arrived at their destination. Mission control thought it wouldn’t be necessary to have more than one technical engineer awake since there wasn’t much to do, and constantly waking one from cryosleep when needed was too stressful, so it was only the last resort, in case of a major malfunction.
 
Right now the only crew members awake were him, the Captain with three additional pilots to control the ship, even though they were flying on autopilot for almost two years straight now, and the security personnel. The security consisted of three fire teams of the German KSK, the British SAS and the US Navy Seals, one from each country that invested the most into the mission, be it money or work power.
 
The travel itself was completely harmless, obviously, but for some reason it was decided that they still had to stay awake during the travel.
 
What did they expect? Space pirates attacking us? Riiiight, Steve thought sarcastically. When he asked them about that once the only response he got was that they had to be fully operational as soon as the ship would arrive at the destination, and the effects of long-term cryosleep on human physiology wasn’t completely figured out yet. This risk seemed to be worth the extra supplies.
 
The soldiers were not happy about that either, but so far their random competitions they always had running kept them at bay, even though the morale had dropped recently.
 
Once we get back home I’ll have more debts to pay than this mission is paying me. Steve chuckled at the idea.
 
Steve often participated in the competitions, simply because there wasn’t much else to do, but because they were of either physical nature or a shooting contest, he didn't stand a chance. While he surely wasn’t untrained and was a passable shooter for someone who never got any real weapons training beside the two days during the eight week intensive training program for the mission, he was lacking the strength and endurance of the highly trained soldiers. He still tried his best, and occasionally could even keep up, so he was getting along with them quite well, especially David.
 
David, unlike his co-workers, was extremely interested in science and wanted to know how every little machine on board was working. He spent a lot of time watching Steve at work, while Steve told him everything he knew about the things he was trying to fix. David just listened, sometimes asking a question but mostly letting him speak without interruption. For him it was a great feeling to have someone just listening to what you say. It also provided another great way to kill the boredom, since Steve had a lot to tell him, almost fresh out of university and most of his knowledge acquired there still recent.
 
David on the other hand told him a lot about his life and about weapons. Steve was not very interested in warfare but had a high interest in the technology behind all kind of guns and David’s first-hand experience was very useful.
 
“Was I talking so loud that you could hear me outside of the hangar, or are you stalking me again?” Steve asked, the sarcasm evident in his voice.
 
“Well I kinda thought that you would be here again. You've spent your last three days here repairing it and it’s the only place on the ship with a real gaming room. I don't want to wait longer,” David replied.
 
He was right. The cruiser was huge but nobody thought about putting a gaming computer or a console anywhere. Instead most rooms were filled with either laboratories or stored equipment. They had a TV and almost every movie ever made to watch, but aside from that there was little to do.
 
Almost one year ago, after he had gotten into the Helios for the first time because of some damaged sensors which had to be replaced, which kept telling him that it was a few thousand degrees on the outside, he noticed that there were several gaming consoles with a huge selection of games. He had to thank the company who build these things for that, though right now he was pretty pissed at them that he had to spend a lot of time here to find the source of the problem that disabled the AI controlling the shuttle and therefore almost any electronic device aboard.
 
I have to fix this soon. He’s always bragging about how he beats me in Street Fighter. Lucky bastard. It is on!
 
“Maybe this thing works fine already and you just want to keep practicing,” David added with a loud cough.
 
“Very funny. I’ll kick your ass once I get this fixed, if I can. Right now I just don't know what went wrong. I will think of something I haven't tried already. I'll tell you when it's done.”
 
“If you say so. Anyways... I just wanted to come by to tell you that tonight's movie night. Haven't decided which movie yet but it's gonna be horror again. You in?” David asked.
 
“Uh, sure but now I have to continue working. See you at dinner,” Steve replied.
 
“Alright, see you later. And be nice to her,” David said teasingly as he turned around and made his way back through the hangar.
 
“So now where were we, Sarah?” Steve giggled as he made his way back to the console and thought about the AI. The AI was given no name and he was so horrible at choosing names that he used a random name generator multiple times until he found a name that sounds acceptable and gave it to her. She accepted it.
 
Ugh, Sarah. Why do you have to cause so much trouble now? And why am I the only one awake to fix you? Probably because I’m the youngest one around and need to 'get more experience' as they always put it.
 
Being only twenty eight, he was by far the youngest crew member on board. He didn't have any problems with that, he had gotten used to it in school where he always was the youngest in class, but sometimes it annoyed him when people started to act differently because of his age.
 
Like they were never my age...
 
His thoughts were interrupted as the whole ship began to shake heavily. He got caught in surprise and was nearly thrown out of the chair before he realized what was going on.
 
“Attention, this is the Captain speaking. We have a problem with the board computer. Non critical systems will be shut down to prevent damage. This includes the artificial gravity system. All technical personnel report to the bridge ASAP. Move your ass, Steve!” Captain Miller’s voice emanated from the speakers in his usually calm voice. It was relaxing to hear him in that tone. Somehow Steve never worried too much when the Captain gave him damage reports. His voice made it sound like nothing bad happened, but this time Steve still felt slightly worried.
 
What could cause a problem on this scale? This week's been crazy.
 
It has been one week since the first incidents started. All around the ship things had been going haywire inexplicably. Fortunately nothing critical had been damaged until their luck ran out three days ago when it hit the Helios. It was a critical part of the mission and had to be operational at any time.
 
He made his way through the shuttle, now without gravity. The shuttle was prepared for cases like this and had a lot of handles on the way to the exit but the progress was still slow going. As he was about half way through the shuttle a second message came from the speakers.
 
“Attention.. Door control system not resp... out of the hangar... dispatching...” Steve could barely understand the Captain over the static but it was clear what happened.
 
The shuttle was being prepared to be disengaged from the ship.
 
Because of the massive size of the Helios the hangar would have had to be rearranged when it would be deployed through the hangar door; instead it was positioned on a ramp system that could drop the shuttle out of one of the airlocks within a few seconds. This was supposed to simplify things when they decided to land on a planet but in a case like this where the door control system is going crazy it could be a fatal disaster.
 
Being shot into space in a shuttle, without a working AI and therefore leaving most systems offline was not something Steve was looking forward to.
 
The security systems were supposed to be able to stop any detachment attempts if the shuttle was not functional, but Steve didn’t want to challenge his luck and tried to get out of the Helios as fast as possible.
 
“Sarah online. All systems reporting in. Disengagement sequence initiated. Locking shuttle doors,” A robotic female voice said. Sarah was working and was preparing the Helios to go out into space. Even if the security systems are functional they could not stop them now.
 
“ABORT! ABORT!” Steve quickly shouted. “STOP IT YOU STUPID...” he was interrupted as the gravity came back, causing him to fall on the floor. The shuttle had its own systems and they were working.
 
“Request denied. Abortion of disengagement sequence not possible at this point. Please move to your seats and fasten your seat belts.”
 
Steve cursed but quickly ran to the console and got down in the chair. He sat there helplessly as he heard the hangar doors open and saw the shuttle moving through the outboard cameras. The Helios did not have a cockpit, not even any windows visible from the console; instead it gained its sight from dozens of outboard cameras who sent their images to the monitor.
 
A look into the images of one of the back cameras showed Steve that he had now fully left the cruiser and the hangar bay was completely closed again.
 
“Disengagement completed,” Sarah announced.
 
“I can see that! Hold us steady and close to the ship. Start transmission with the Columbus. Let's hope their communication systems are working,” Steve quickly commanded Sarah.
 
Please let it work. They just have to open the door again and I can get back in.
 
“No signal found.” Sarah replied after a few seconds.
 
“Okay... okay... I didn't think it would be my lucky day today anyways. Remain in position…. we wait here,” Steve tried to calm himself down.
 
Don't panic. The shuttle is stocked up with supplies. I could survive for years in here, he shuddered at this thought. They just have to awake the rest of the technical team and… wait. What if something happened with the cryostasis module? They could be in even greater trouble than I am.
 
Before he could think more about it, Steve was interrupted by the AI's voice.
 
“Autopilot activated. Calculating route.”
 
“What? No! Cancel route!” Steve shouted angrily at Sarah. What the hell was going on with that thing?
 
“Request denied. Insufficient permission. Contact an administrator,” Sarah calmly responded.
 
“I AM THE ADMIN! CANCEL ROUTE NOW!”
 
His yelling didn't seem to impress Sarah, as she repeated herself.
 
“Route set. Estimated travel time: 37 minutes 43 seconds,” Sarah told him after a few seconds.
 
The shuttle began its travel as he saw the Columbus slowly fading away behind him.
 
“Where are we going?” Steve asked hoping that the AI would give him good news this time.
 
“No data available.”
 
Oh no, this can't be good. What could cause something like this? Setting a route is beyond freaking out electrics. This shouldn’t be possible. And where will it take me? Is it just a random place or something specific? I can't see anything out there yet, he thought, panic raging within him.
 
For the next half an hour Steve tried every override code and every trick he knew to somehow shut down the AI and turn back to the ship but it was of no use. He was completely helpless and could only await his destiny.
 
“Are we there yet?” Steve asked annoyed.
 
“No. Remaining travel time: 4 minutes 27 seconds,” the emotionless voice of Sarah replied. It was driving Steve crazy. He wished they would have put more emotions into the voice; it would have even helped him giving her a name.
 
He was close to the destination and searched the cameras for any signs of anything unusual. Steve let out sigh of relief as he didn't notice anything strange there. It was just regular space with some stars far in the distance. One in particular seemed to be brighter than the rest. It caught Steve's attention and he began to stare it until he noticed that it was not a star millions of kilometers away in the distance but instead a bright sphere of white light directly in front of them.
 
What in the hell is this? I read a lot about strange space phenomena but nothing ever described anything like this. This must be our destination but what is it? And how could it affect the electronics so much, yet now where I am so close to it nothing happens? Steve asked himself. I don’t think I want to find out. If it was strong enough to cut through the shields of the Columbus I don’t want to know what happens if I touch it.
 
The shuttle was now very close to the ball of light. They would collide in less than thirty seconds. Steve now got a clearer look at it. What first appeared to be a ball of clear white light turned out to be a surging mixture of white and yellow arcs of light. Sometimes an arc expanded from the ball only to collapse a few seconds later.
 
Looks like solar flares. But no way is this thing a sun. I would have been burned already, not to mention that it’s only a little bigger than the Helios.

The impact was only a few seconds away and now the first reactions were to be seen. The cameras began to flicker, as well as all the other lights on board. The shuttle began to shake, lightly first but quickly increasing in force.
 
Steve tried to secure any loose materials around him before they turned into projectiles, hurting him or damaging the computer.
 
No big loss now, I suppose.
 
The shaking continued its force rapidly. The persistent shaking up and down from left to right made him dizzier every second. He closed his eyes, in an attempt to reduce the effects, but it was of no use. The last thing he noticed was a bright light behind him, shining through the two small windows at the side of the shuttle behind him.
 
I’m…. inside it? Now what? was his last thought he drifted into unconsciousness.