The huge black monstrosity towered over the little deep-space response ship long before Mati brought them close.
“Eight kilometers,” Sata announced.
“Hold relative position,” Ilika said, eyes glued to the big screen on the bridge.
In the passenger area, K’storpo and his specialists studied the same image on the large display over the steward’s station.
“Ready ion seven,” Ilika commanded.
Boro raised his eyebrows and reached for his engine control board.
“Full emergency responses, highest sensitivity.”
Mati checked the setting, then nodded.
“Scan for radiation, all types, highest resolution.”
Rini went to work.
“Calculate exact course and speed.”
Sata turned back to her console.
Kibi checked on her passengers without blocking their view of the big screen. From behind K’storpo’s seat, she gazed at the visual display. The mystery ship reminded her of a pregnant black fish that had been in too many fights.
“No radiation sources,” Rini announced. “The entire thing is eleven degrees absolute and slowly dropping.”
“No temperature variation at all? ” K’storpo asked.
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 16
“No,
none.”
“That’s about as dead as a ship gets,” M’palta said. “Even spores start losing their genetic information at temperatures that low.”
“The entire ship will be brittle,” Timoradalia the chemist informed in her small voice, peering intently at the screen along with the other five Ti’ias.
“Everything we move will just break.”
“There may be knowledge crystals,” T’shlix the technologist speculated.
K’storpo nodded. “We are here to learn everything we can.”
“It is . . . very, very dead,” Timorasimia the empath said flatly.
After a long silence, the captain spoke. “Bring us to one kilometer.”
The four mission specialists were soon in their space suits, very different from the human-shaped suits the crew used. K’storpo added Timoradalia to the excursion team.
Timorazonia begged to go, just to fly around in space with her suit thrusters, but K’storpo shook his head and Tizoromulia wrapped his arms around her. She melted into his embrace with a chittering sound.
Kibi made sure they had gone through their checklists, then wished them well as they entered the airlock.
The co-mates Timorafilia and Timoradalia held hands as they activated their tiny suit thrusters and followed the large insects toward the dark, silent ship. It’s plump, bulging shape clearly showed it purpose — to transport a great volume of something.
K’storpo was pretty sure he knew what, but had not spoken of it yet. The contents of the three ships had not been revealed. K’storpo knew, from experience, that if it wasn’t in the mission documents, they weren’t going to get it. The powers of the universe, on all levels, did not share everything they knew. On the rare occasions that Nebador citizens found out why, it was usually because they would learn more by discovering the information for themselves.
As they approached the dull-black metal hull, K’storpo focused his thoughts. “No one touches the ship. Dalia will determine the hull’s integrity.
T’shlix and Filia will find an access point.”
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 17
The Ti’ias split up.
The little chemist approached the massive black object, pulled an instrument from a pocket of her suit, and touched its keys. After seeing the results, she made a warbling noise. “I can’t believe someone thought they could build an interstellar ship out of metal. Hardly a centimeter is without asteroid pits, and it’s all highly crystallized. No atmospheric integrity, little structural integrity. It’s safe to touch, but will break if any force is applied.”
The little language specialist joined the large beetle as they began to scan the hull for markings. Words written in paint were all but destroyed, but Timorafilia began to find symbols done with raised metal. She floated in place and peered at them, letting her mind shift into the state of consciousness that allowed her to see underlying patterns of meaning.
T’shlix had worked with her before, and several other language specialists, so he knew not to interrupt or try to hurry the process.
After several minutes, the little Ti’ia shook her head to clear it. “No connection with any language of Nebador. I’m pretty sure it’s insect, but considering who was picked for this mission, that’s not surprising, is it, K’storpo?”
He chuckled. “No.”
“Highly
repetitive,”
Timorafilia continued, “lots of code, lots of negatives, probably military, or at least hive.”
Beetle and Ti’ia continued to move along the hull in silence for a few minutes.
Suddenly the little language specialist stopped and stared at some markings on the hull. “That says Danger, Do Not Open. That would be code for We don’t want anyone else coming in this way.”
K’storpo chuckled again and came near to consider the situation.
T’shlix looked at his leader, prying tool in hand.
“Everyone else, back a hundred meters,” K’storpo said. “Manessa Kwi, stand near in case of injury.”
Mati quickly moved the ship just beyond the excursion team. Kibi made sure the outer airlock was open.
Seeing that everyone was ready, T’shlix approached the hatch with its dire warning. He touched the pitted metal surface for the first time, slipped his
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 18
prying tool between the layers of metal, and pressed a symbol.
The hatch burst open and cracked into seven or eight pieces, all of which floated away from the dark ship. M’palta gave a puff from her suit thrusters to avoid one of them. Another bounced off the golden hull of the response ship waiting near, then slowly tumbled away into space.
When K’storpo was sure everyone was unhurt, he turned and looked at the black opening. “Manessa Kwi, any energy readings?”
“No,” Rini replied. “Eight point seven six degrees absolute.”
K’storpo activated a bright light, and they beheld a metal room, a half-open metal door with metal teeth along the edge, and a dark metal corridor beyond.
“I’ve seen things like this in museums,” M’palta shared. “They’re built by people who are very unhappy and constantly battling everyone, even their own kind. People like that rarely get into space at all.”
“Manessa Kwi, we are going inside,” the mantid leader said. “Two hours, maximum.”
For the first hour, Ilika had difficulty getting his crew to relax. Boro, especially, looked worried.
“I never thought I’d be fretting over . . . bugs,” the engineer said, using one word from his native language, as he paced within reach of his station.
Sata smiled from her console chair. “I can tell you admire T’shlix.”
Boro blushed. “I’m starting to tinker with my engines. He understands them.”
Sata nodded. “M’palta has taught me more about cooking than even my mother, I think. Of course, back home I wasn’t trying to cook for a mantis, coleopters, arachnids, and Ti’ias.”
Boro snickered and Sata joined him.
Rini swiveled his chair around. “It’s humbling being a servant for, you know, bugs.”
Mati smiled at him from the helm. “I don’t think we’ll ever get to do any important missions, unless we can do our jobs when others are on missions.”
At the big table, Ilika looked up from a knowledge pad. “On planets like yours, people become leaders who don’t know how to be servants.”
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 19
Rini scrunched his face. “It seems like Nebador always does things exactly opposite the way they’re done on Sonmatia Three.”
Ilika
grinned.
The second hour was drawing to a close when an alarm sounded and Manessa spoke. “Asteroid shower approaching. Decimeter scale.”
Ilika flew onto the bridge. “Manessa, maximum profile and repulsion field. Mati, shield the dead ship as best you can. Rini, give her a real-time image.”
“All maneuvering thrusters!” Mati ordered.
Boro’s fingers moved quickly, and added full inertia canceling.
“Sata, warn the excursion team!” Ilika barked. “Inertia . . .”
The first fist-size rock arrived at nearly one-eighth the speed of light, slammed into the little ship’s repulsion field, and sent both Rini and Kibi flying from their seats.
“But inertia canceling is full!” Boro yelled with a guilty tone.
“Inertia straps!” Ilika finished his thought as he checked on Rini, then went to Kibi.
“We’re supposed to avoid this size asteroid!” Mati growled as she continued to concentrate on her screen. “It’s weird letting them hit us. Here comes another one!”
Ilika grabbed Kibi, just getting up, and pinned her to a passenger seat as the ship lurched again.
“Okay, I can handle it now,” Kibi asserted. “I need to check on my passengers.”
Ilika nodded and returned to the bridge. He saw that the other four were strapped in, so he grabbed his own straps just before another asteroid struck the ship.
“They’re okay, and on the way out,” Sata informed.
“Tell me the moment they’re outside, and tell them to approach in a straight line so Mati can protect them.”
Sata nodded and turned back to her console.
Kibi quickly saw that the four Ti’ias had taken wing to avoid the shocks, and appeared to be okay. The female beetle was already strapped into a seat.
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 20
That left only the male arachnid. Kibi couldn’t see him anywhere.
“They’re coming more often!” Mati yelled. “Three on my screen!”
Kibi held onto a passenger seat until all three asteroids had slammed into the ship, then resumed her search for the missing passenger. She had last seen him in the back of the passenger area.
“Oh, no!” Mati shrieked. “Five coming! I can’t get them all!”
Kibi suddenly saw a spider’s leg holding onto a passenger seat from underneath. She realized, with a shudder, that it was bent in too many places.
Even with asteroids still pounding the ship, she moved in that direction, holding onto one or two seats as she moved.
“I got three!” Mati yelled. “But . . . damn!”
The entire crew, save Kibi, watched helplessly as the fourth asteroid missed the Manessa Kwi and slammed into the lifeless ship, punching a hole many times its size. A fraction of a second later, it punched a hole in the far side and continued on into space.
“I got the fifth!” Mati assured everyone.
Kibi held on while the ship jerked violently, then dropped onto the floor to find M’palta’s mate under a seat, three of his legs tangled and one bleeding.
Fear showed in his dozens of eyes.
Kibi struggled with her own fear and loathing for a moment. Then she heard a soft female voice she had only heard once before. “He’s a Nebador citizen, Kibi, and he needs you.”
Kibi looked into the spider’s fearful eyes again and saw enough trust to allow her to help. She reached around his middle and spoke just as softly as the voice had spoken to her. “I’ve got you. Let all your legs go limp.”
After a moment of hesitation, the spider did as she asked, and the pain in his broken leg was immediately reduced, allowing him to think again.
“Second left leg broken, third right knee wrenched. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have so many.”
Kibi smiled to herself as she got him into a seat, secured his inertia straps, and worked her way toward the medical kit in the entryway.
“They’re out!” Sata nearly screamed. “All five!”
“Okay, protect only their line of approach, Mati,” Ilika ordered, “and close the distance. Kibi, airlock.”
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 21
“Can’t. Have an injured passenger.”
“I’ll do the airlock,” the female beetle offered and popped her inertia straps.
Kibi nodded, then dashed for the medical kit.