~~~~~
Outside of the medical bay’s main entrance Morgan Hughes leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. His thoughts began to meander as he listened for the trio of footsteps that he knew would follow him from the room.
Sleep began to tug at his awareness and he considered giving in, it had been such a long time since he’d slept and even the act of standing in the hall was practically exhausting. But alas, the sound of footsteps came and he pushed himself away from the cool metal wall.
“Gentlemen,” Morgan called to grab the attention of the three men who had just came from the ward. “Would you three mind accompanying me to the bridge?” He swayed on his feet.
“Of course, sir. I’ve got a question for you, before you turn in.” Trip Canta replied in a gentle tone. “I know how it feels to be awake for days on end, so I’ll keep it short, but it really is bugging me.”
“It’s probably the same issue that I want to speak to you about. Shaark? Avast?”
“Sir! Yes, sir!” The look-alikes barked in unison.
“Let’s go then.”
Morgan led the three men down the hall to the executive lift that led straight to the command deck of the Windsor.
The blast doors of the bridge slid closed behind Morgan and he asked Bolt to lock the door and join them.
And she did just that.
Morgan spun on his heels and faced the four people before him. Every single one of them had been a part of this ship, this crew and the UPSC for much longer than he had, and yet, he was now their commanding officer. He smiled. These people trusted him with their lives, and in return, he trusted them with his.
“The first matter-at-hand is Captain Myles’ story. How much of it do you believe?”
The question was aimed at all four of the people in his audience and Shaark was the first to respond: “Sir!” He stepped forward. “I think his tale is very much the truth.”
“There are a few iffy parts, but for the most part I believe him too.” Trip added.
“According to Jolt’s scans he didn’t appear to be fabricating a lie. Unless, of course, he is extremely skilled at lying.” Bolt reported.
“I thought as much,” Morgan ran his palm over the beard that now occupied his chin. “Alright, Trip, what say you? Explain ‘iffy’”
“Right,” He cleared his throat. “The most pressing issue is the presence of Tel'atomic particles found in and around the wreckage of the Outrunner. From the way that Captain Myles explained it, it doesn’t sound like any of Gabgoblin’s ships utilized Tel'atomic powered technology.” He reached into his coat. “This little baby may be something much more terrifying than Captain Myles knows.”
“You think that that orb somehow gives off Tel'atomic energy?” Morgan asked, intrigued.
“It’s not impossible. He mentioned a blue light and Tel'atomic energy, in its plasma form, is seen as a blueish-white color. This thing could utilize an unknown power source that is similar to Tel'atomic energy.”
“I see. In any case, we can assume that Jacobi Myles had nothing to do with the presence of Tel'atomic energies. Anything else, Trip?”
“Another thing that struck me as odd was the girl’s abilities. I can believe the whole ‘ice manipulation’ part, but what bothers me is the part when she got back up and kept on fighting against that assassin.” He started to pace in a small circle. “The way Captain Myles talked about it, it was almost as if it wasn’t even her fighting. Not to mention, by my calculations her synapses should have restricted her from using any more vim by then. It seems fishy.”
“Point.” Jolt said as she materialized beside her siblings. “Captain, I have found something that needs to be addressed.”
The whole room turned to her and an uneasy feeling filled the air.
“What is it?” Captain Hughes stepped closer to her.
“As you know, Sara Zappia is still in critical condition. Her bodily wounds are healing nicely, but I cannot get a response from her mind. Sir, I believe that the girl’s mind contains a Turn Base.”
“Just like Nero?” Trip blurted.
Jolt turned to him and nodded. “Affirmative. Initial scans showed a small growth nestled beneath her Vital Structure, at first I believed it to be some sort of tumor, but when I sent my nanobots to investigate they found similarities to Nero’s artificial Vital Structure, the Turn Base.”
“How is that possible?” Morgan exhaled in disbelief.
Nero was one of a kind. As a child he had been subject to a torturous experiment and out of over a thousand candidates he was the only survivor. How could someone from a completely different world have a Turn Base like his? “Maybe this Gabgoblin had more playtime with those twins than they knew. What about Charles?”
“Charles appears to be perfectly normal, aside from his Vital Structure, but neither of them appear to have received any sort of surgery before now. I am checking once again, to confirm, but I believe that this is an organic Turn Base, Sir.”
Morgan started to speak but the room spun. Jolt, who had just been right before him, was suddenly standing on the ceiling. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, but the dull throb of pain in his skull helped him guess.
Morgan rolled to his knees and tried to stand.
“Captain, are you alright?” Trip was at his side, helping him to his feet.
“Sir, if I may speak,”
He cut the medical A.I. off with a growl: “I know.” He panted with his hands on his knees. “It’s been days.”
“Sir, you should retire for now. I’ll look over the ship while you rest.” Shaark added with a pat on the back.
Morgan chuckled. “I think I’ll do that.”
Shaark offered the Captain his shoulder and he accepted.
“Jolt, I want you to do everything you can to save her.” Morgan growled as Shaark led him to the door.
“Unlock the doors please, Bolt.”
With a hiss the blast-doors slid open and the two men headed towards the lifts.
Jolt turned to Trip with a worried look on her face. “There is something else.”
“I figured as much. Nero’s trying to come back, isn’t he?”
Avast and Bolt stared silently as Jolt hesitated to respond.
Finally, she nodded.
“I don’t understand how, but I think if you can save Sara we can also save Nero.” He shot a glance to the other two A.I. “No one is to find out about this. No one.”
All three holograms saluted and barked: “Aye.”
“I’ll be in the hangar if you need me.”
Trip left the bridge without another word.
Bolt and Jolt dematerialized and returned to their duties.
Avast turned toward the main view-screen and stared out into the vast emptiness that stretched before his ship.
~~~~~
Tiger and Lily walked side-by-side down the maze-like halls of the Windsor’s residential block. They had opted to stay away from the commotion that would undoubtedly occur in the cafeteria and decided to find their old friend, Rachel Silva.
Rachel acted as a nurse to aide Jolt in her operations, but for some reason she was not around when Jacobi Myles and his crew were rescued. This made Lily feel uneasy, but she was most likely overreacting.
“She’s probably just sleepin’. If I recall, she just finished a lesson with Jolt not long before Captain Myles was rescued.” Tiger’s words had put her at ease, but in the end she couldn’t help worrying.
Tiger walked in large strides with his hands clasped behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling as he went and it wasn’t until Lily had tugged on his shirt that he noticed that something was wrong.
“What is tha-”
Lily stood, frozen, staring at a shadow that occupied the hall just ahead of them.
The figure, transparent except for a strange shimmer, stepped forward.
This made Tiger fall into an aggressive crouch and ready his knife.
The figure took anothe
r step forward and Lily fell back a step.
At first Tiger thought that the figure might have been Rachel, she was a Spirit and thus could fade in and out of existence, but this figure was different. It looked like it was trapped between existence and oblivion.
And even though this thing didn’t have any features, Tiger could tell that it was in pain.
He tightened his grip on the knife and shuffled back a step as the figure moved forward once again. His nerves were on end, but as long as Lily was with him he knew he’d be okay.
“What do you want?” He finally called out.
The figure cocked its head to the side.
He didn’t know if it had understood him or not, but before he could call out to it again Lily tapped his shoulder, making him jump.
“W-what?”
“Let’s go.” Her voice trembled. “Let’s leave, we can report this to Bolt or something. But for now-“
The figure was suddenly right beside them.
Tiger threw his arm out to guard Lily and thrust his blade forward.
He stumbled forward when his knife passed through the being and was about to try again when Lily pulled his arm.
“Run!” She shouted as she took off, pulling him with her.
Tiger caught one last glimpse of the transparent figure before Lily pulled him around the corner. It had brought its finger to its lips and Tiger’s eyes grew wide as a ghostly voice echoed in his head: “Shh…”
Lily led Tiger to the lifts and jammed her finger into the button.
Tiger stood still, overwhelmed with fear.
The doors slid open and Lily pulled him into the box.
The doors closed and there was no sign of the figure when they did. Lily fell to the floor, stricken with disbelief.
They were safe for now, but there was no doubt that they now had an uninvited guest aboard the Windsor.
The lift began to ascend and she gasped: “We have to tell Shaark…”
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends