Chapter Eight

The howl of the proximity klaxon roused Commodore Speckle from her attempt at sleep. Overhead, the dimmed lighting panels shifted from pale blue to red, transforming navy shadows to pink; the orange fog behind Karyn's ponderous eyelids coalesced into the vague outlines of Lieutenant Tsen's panicky young face staring out of the Commodore's berthside viewscreen.

"Commodore Speckle, please respond," the voice of Lieutenant Tsen roared in Karyn's ears. "We have an unidentified bogey on an intercept trajectory."

The urgency of Lt. Tsen's speech spurred Commodore Speckle to wakefulness and, while simultaneously grabbing for her uniform, Karyn slapped at the control for the viewscreen. "Status," she snapped into the pickup.

"Commodore, our sensors are indicating an erratically moving object in an approximately spiral course away from the wormhole; velocity twenty kilometers per second and slowing; mass, just under three tons; range, four kilometers; its present trajectory will bring it within twenty meters."

"Well, move us out of the way," ordered Karyn.

"Sir, we've attempted that, but it has changed course three times to an intercept path."

"You're saying that it's piloted? It's on a spiral trajectory?" inquired Karyn.

"It is, sir. Accelerating directly away from the wormhole would require more computer processing power than any vessel in our fleet could produce. I believe it is attempting to manoeuver away from the wormhole's distortional influence without overwhelming its onboard computers. It has, however, obviously spotted us in nearby space and is using us as a lighthouse of sorts."

"Then you've determined that it's part of the fleet?" asked Karyn.

"No, sir. I believe it to be some other type of craft. It is not any cataloged configuration."

"Would you say then that it is an alien vessel?"

"That is my initial assessment, Commodore."

"I'll be right there."

===============

When Commodore Speckle arrived forty-five seconds later, the bridge crew vented a collective sigh of relief. The viewscreen dominating the forward bulkhead displayed the pitted, vaguely cylindrical hulk of the alien vessel. As it spun like an elongated barrel, blue and amber lights flashed at intervals from the gray- and black-streaked shell of the craft; with no visual clues to provide a sense of scale, Karyn thought the vessel looked as big as history. Her voice was hard in the near silence. "Have we attempted communication?" she inquired of Lt. Rhodes.

"Sir, I've hailed on all standard frequencies; they haven't replied."

"Do you believe they are capable of receiving our transmissions?" Rhodes, shrugging his shoulders, deferred to Lieutenant Commander Piotrowski. Karyn swiveled to look at his sagging face.

"From data received through our scans, it looks as though the vessel has suffered substantial structural damage. It is possible that any communications equipment has been damaged as well," he said.

"Have we tried visible spectra? Mr. Tsen, flash our running lights a few times and we'll see if that triggers anything. But maintain a two hundred meter minimum distance, please." She paused, "and if it goes anywhere, break station and follow."

Lieutenant Commander Lyn Tsen wordlessly followed the Commodore's instructions, her fingers deftly reconfiguring the running lights to flash a more complicated pattern.

"Mr. Piotrowski, will that craft fit in one of our hangars?" asked Karyn.

"Sir! Surely you aren't going to bring that thing aboard!"

"I don't surely know, Mr. Piotrowski. I believe I asked you a question?"

Piotrowski hesitated, looking at swirling patterns on a sensor display's colorful screen. "It's six meters long and two meters in diameter;" he paused, "and, if we were to bring it aboard, it would fit in any open hangar."

"Have you determined what makes it go?" asked Karyn.

"I'm working on that, but preliminary studies of its radiation and ion trails indicate that it is propelled by a fusion reactor powered by hydrogen fuel. If we bring it aboard, it poses a potentially explosive threat. I don't believe that it would be safe to..."

Karyn cut Piotrowski off. "Thank you for your assessment. Do you believe that there is life aboard that craft, and do you believe the craft is armed?"

"I can't tell if there is life aboard. The radiation from the drive section is interfering with my attempts to isolate heat sources and scan for life signs. And yes, it might be armed. There are indications of particle beam accelerators and other offensive weaponry."

"Other offensive weaponry?"

"Yes. I believe the craft's armed with short range missiles. It has ports both fore and aft which could be launch tubes for a small projectile of that sort."

Karyn looked closely at the bridge viewscreen. "Or they could be manoeuvering thrusters?"

"Yes, they could be."

Karyn shifted to a more comfortable position in her seat. "Lieutenant Rhodes, Please summon Lieutenant Spanos to the bridge. Mr. Piotrowski, will you please deliver your assessment of the potential threat from this craft to him when he arrives? Mr. Tsen, after hearing Mr. Piotrowski's thoughts, do you believe that our navigational shields can withstand either an attack from or the explosion of that craft?"

"If the blast were to occur more than fifty meters away and was limited to three quarters of a kiloton, shields would be able to compensate for the explosion with a surge of power to the forward deflector. If necessary, we could withstand up to four direct strikes from one ton warheads with no warning time," intoned Lyn. "However, if the craft were to employ a particle beam, I can't guarantee the efficacy of the shields," She paused. "The craft isn't responding to varying light patterns, either."

Lt. Spanos arrived on the bridge and went to his station. He sat carefully in front of the bank of monitors, scrutinizing the displays with a practiced eye. He mumbled a few questions to Piotrowski, who responded uneasily; after a moment Spanos said, "Commodore, I've detected at least one life form aboard the craft, possibly a human in cryogenic suspension. Based on the information available, I think that this is an automated escape capsule or lifeboat."

"Realistically, how could a human being in a cryogenic lifeboat have beat us out this far from explored space?" shot out Karyn. "And, assuming that this is a human being in suspension, would the occupant be revivable? I can't imagine that after being in space for so long that the primitive systems aboard a craft of that vintage could be reliable. Your opinion, Lt. Spanos?"

"To answer your second question, we're in close proximity to a wormhole, and a time dilation phenomenon may have enabled an occupant, even one who's been suspended for hundreds of relative years, to have survived without ill effect." Spanos continued, "To answer your first question, we're in close proximity to a wormhole, and the theory goes that these only appear in similar pairs: one sucks stuff in, like this one is now, and one vomits stuff out. It has not been determined if the roles of these two objects can be reversed, but, lacking evidence to prove something does not mean it isn't so. If you ask me, this lifeboat was removed from near-Earth space and dumped here by this wormhole and its mate. It may be only fifty years old, in which case the occupant should be fine. The state of cryogenic suspension technology after 2180 was remarkably good." Spanos paused for breath. "On the other hand, I could be totally off base in my assumptions, in which case we may want to take Lieutenant Commander Piotrowski's advice and just blow the thing up."

"I don't think that Lieutenant Commander Piotrowski recommended such an extreme remedy," said Karyn as Piotrowski's jaw worked up and down furiously, his hands trembling with anger. "However, we really should be prepared for any eventuality. Lieutenant Tsen, bring us alongside that craft. I want to tether it to the California and send somebody over. Lieutenant Kim, will you please have an anchor placed on that vessel so that we can examine it at our leisure? Mr. Piotrowski, I'll need a volunteer from your department to make a brief walk."