Chapter 588: Stock Car Race (2/2)
”Alert the boarding parties,” Captain J'vetip said.
”There's a mat-trans beacon. Tourist header, looks like an inbound/outbound tourism unit,” Scan-Four called out. ”Signal and carrier wave are stable.”
Captain J'vetip nodded. ”Send the boarding parties,” he ordered.
Long minutes passed before Com-2 looked up. ”Boarding parties have arrived. They report heavy damage, presence of dead humans, but from the decay it looks like there has not been anyone alive for at least eight months.”
Captain J'vetip just nodded, feeling both of his stomachs clench.
The ship sat in space, waiting, while Captain J'vetip stared at the viewscreen.
A massive ship was held in a gantry frame. It was obvious an ancient relic. Captain J'vetip had read about it, heard about, even seen holopics of it.
He'd never actually seen it.
It was an ancient relic, thousands of years old. Shaped like a long rectangle, heavy armored hull, massive engines, and completely black.
Over 800 kilometers long, over 400 kilometers wide, and just shy of 130 kilometers tall, it was possibly the largest ship ever built as far as anyone knew, it's armor two or three miles thick depending on what was behind the armor. Two hundred massive engines, dual purpose engines that could move in realspace or in jumpspace. Massive domes, ten miles in diameter, were still present in 15 rows of twenty-five down the length. The command module, a massive eighty kilometers long, forty kilometers wide, and 81.6 kilometers thick, was still attached, supported by massive connecting columns ten kilometers thick.
Captain J'vetip stared at the massive ship. He could see the markings on the side, the viewscreen having an offshoot mark with the translation for each section.
”United Western Starship Cartel - Trans SPACEYARDS” was written in letters ten miles high that could still be seen despite the ship's age.
In several places the name of the massive starship was visible.
The Warden.
”How long were they on that ship?” one of the midshipmen asked.
”Just over one thousand two hundred years,” Executive Office Grade Two Brotriupt said.
”Did they spend the entire time in jumpspace?” another crew member asked.
Captain J'vetip shook his head. ”No. It would exit for twenty years then spend another century in jumpspace.”
”I heard they were escaping a disaster,” a midshipman said.
Captain J'vetip shrugged. ”Records are spotty. The Tellestians claim their world was destroyed, that they had to abandon their galaxy, which they called 'The Milky Way', over some kind of disaster that would wipe out all life.”
XO2 Brotriupt nodded. ”The claim was a gamma pulse from their galactic core exploding.”
”How far was it?” another midshipman asked.
”We don't know. We don't know which galaxy is the Milky Way,” Captain J'vetip said. He folded his hands and rested his chin on it. ”Status of the boarding parties?”
”No contact. They say it looks like it was closed, in between operating hours, when whatever happened went down,” Com-4 said. ”Engineering Team Two reports that it appears the primary reactors are not only still operable but are fully fueled.”
”Of course they are,” Captain J'vetip said.
More time passed and the crew underwent shift change. Captain J'vetip took a quick nap in his ready room and went back in, waiting for updates.
”Engineering Teams are reporting the engines and engineering spaces are not only fully operations, but look ready to go,” Com-9 said, shaking her head. ”They said it looks like its ready to move, not acting as a museum.”
”The Tellestians would have kept it operational,” Captain J'vetip said.
”Engineering Team Seven states that the cryogenic bays are loaded to 62% capacity and rising,” she looked startled. ”That's almost two million Tellestians.”
Captain J'vetip nodded. ”Make sure they aren't dethawed.”
”Engineering Nine and Science Two have reached the computer data core space,” she looked up. ”They say it stretches for kilometers.”
”Tell them to hurry up, we're starting to feel a little exposed up here,” Captain J'vetip said.
”They're downloading now. Archival data in the earliest sections of the cold storage,” Com-9 said.
”Captain, Science One and Engineering Eleven report they've reached the command deck,” Com-3 said. He looked up, his eyes wide. ”They state that it looks like a digital sentience is being grown according to the ship's VI datalink information,” his eyes got wider. ”They state it looks like the command deck is manned by teenage female Tellestians asleep in their armored vac-suits!”
”Tell them to hurry up,” Captain J'vetip said, feeling both of his stomachs clench. ”Tell them to get out of there!”
”Team-Six says they need more time. It's petabytes of data,” Com-2 said.
”SIR!” Scan-Three called out.
Captain J'vetip looked at the viewscreen and felt his ears go straight up.
The engines were glowing and the ship was starting to move, tearing free of its moorings. The gantries, hundreds of meters thick but skeletal beams only a few meters each, shattering and spinning away in the silence of vacuum.
”GET THEM OUT OF THERE!” Captain J'vetip shouted, half standing up. ”Keep close enough for the mat-trans to work,” he turned to Nav-Three. ”Get us a vector, as soon as we have them, I want us in jumpspace.”
The Warden ripped free of the ring, angling and moving away from the planet and its artificial ring.
Captain J'vetip could tell it was doing a least-time course for a viable jumpspace transfer.
”Last team aboard!” Com-Nine called out.
”JUMP JUMP JUMP!” Jump Master Urtlerut called out over voice, suit com, and the communications system as his hand slapped the button.
Everything streaked as the Symphonic Glory made the translation to jumpspace.
”All crew recovered. No injuries, no fatalities,” Com-Four called out.
Captain J'vetip fell back into his command chair, heaving a sigh of relief.
”Where do you think it was going?” a midshipman asked.
”Perhaps it is best if we do not know,” Captain J'vetip stated.
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Nine hours had passed and Captain J'vetip was down in a specially constructed scientific bay in the main cargo hold. Every system was isolated, every cable air gapped, with electronic counterwarfare systems in operation around the heavy armored walls of the isolated scientific bay.
He stood next to a holodisplay, looking at the data.
”You said it was urgent,” Captain J'vetip said.
The Lead Science Officer Grade Two nodded. ”We figured out where the ship was going,” she stated. ”Well, know exactly where, we don't have that data. It's encrypted with polymoprhic intrusion countermeasure programs that are capable of network roaming and creating copies of itself.”
”All right, where's it going?” Captain J'vetip asked.
”The ship was executing something called 'Shadow's Sassy Chance',” the Scientist said, moving into a quick seque. Captain J'vetip had been an officer long enough to know not to interrupt a scientist, no matter how meandering the conversation appeared at first glance.
”It was baking up digital sentiences, creating their memories, running hashes,” the scientist said. ”Additionally, it was creating something called 'Born Whole' clones for both crewmembers and those in cryosleep.”
Captain J'vetip just nodded.
”The ship will travel out into the space between this galaxy and what they refer to as the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy where it will stay dormant for a period of time we are not able to decrypt. After that, it will start the second part of its journey, then a third and final part. We're unsure how long this will take,” the scientist said.
She waited and Captain J'vetip nodded. ”All right, where is it going?”
”Home. Back to the Human Origin System,” she said.
Captain J'vetip raised an eyebrow tuft. ”Where is that?”
”We only have a general idea,” the scientist said. ”You have to understand, the data is heavily encrypted in typical human fashion.”
”All right. Only a general idea. I need to be able to tell the Grand Senate. Where is it going?”
”It will be travelling two point seven million light years,” the scientist said.
Captain J'vetip frowned slightly. He knew that the ship had supposedly traveled a long distance, but that was preposterous.
”It's heading to what they call 'The Milky Way Galaxy', leaving our galaxy, which they call Andromeda,” she said. Before Captain J'vetip could say anything she held up her hand.
”They're going someplace called 'Earth'.”