| Author |
THE COMING OF THE TIDE part 1 (part 2 comin soon) |
gocrazyonu
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: February 28, 2011
Posts: 9
|  Posted: 2013-01-29 20:50
"Hey Frank, listen theres something you need to see." He waved him over to his work station. Frank looked at the young astro-geologist, Sean Beauharnois, nice enough kid . Fresh out of Arcterra university, top of his class too apparently. Decided he wanted to do a tour in space, three years of service, you know the type, always gung ho , sometimes a little too happy!! Despite that Frank liked him, found him annoying at times but he had a brain like a whip . 27 years old!! Eager to marry some girl back home , parents both still living , has 2 older sisters Jenny and Meg He knew all this because as you can imagine , Sean does most of the talking ; well ...pretty much all the talking . "Check this out " Sean , again urging Frank to come take a look . Sean sounded a little nervous, scared even . Frank turned from his monitering station to Sean's station opposite his own in the small compartement . On screen was the telescopic image of the sample from Talaz, 4th planet in the Epsilon ind star system . It looked a lot like grey pumice from the moon , but more grainy and darker even . The instruments below showed that it had very high concentration of alkalides and no metals, water , minerals or organic material of any kind .
Frank was quite the opposite of Sean, He was softspoken , with few words. He is 47, currently married, with 2 kids but Sean probably couldn,t tell you their names. Frank wasn't the type to divulge information freely . Maybe thats why people tended to confide in him. "Its dry like a bone. So what?" Frank`s query was barely audible. Sean , animated , exploded "C'mon Frank , have you ever seen readings like this ?, Its like as if every usable mineral , metal, organics molecule was extracted by some very fancy industriel process , and were talking on a global scale, i mean like there is nothin' left!! Just that husk out there. And i'll tell you something else.... i,m suspecting . That rock out there, that sterilized , unlivable hell hole , that husk of irradiated space garbage , that used to be an earthlike planet , ya thats right , water oceans , greenery , animals the works..., its, its like something came here and sucked the planet dry, sterilzed it , never seen anything like it ! look at it !!! it's orbit is consistent and ideal for earthlike conditions , and how can it not have any water? explain me that . There' s plenty of water out there in the asteroid belt! Gamma radiation at ridiculous levels what the hell happened here?" Frank looked at the readings a moment longer, internal scans made Talaz look like swiss cheeze , as if a swarm of voracious giant worms had tunneled through it like some gigantic apple , very hungry worms indeed,and what was the deal with all the radiation ? It had made scans more difficult . He turned back to his work station , turned on his communicator and signaled the bridge, "I need to speak to the Captain immediately!! over. " A pause and then a voice responded: "hold on a moment, I'll get him, over" Another ten second pause ensued and then; "Abbot here , over" . This was still a military ship, but a relatively small one , with all the military conventions this implied . All comunications were hardwired internally and insulated to reduce any signature . In fact , seeing as how there's always war somewhere , pretty much all of the spaceships in the the United Galactic Trade Organization belonged to one branch or another of the military . They were in a scout equipped with sensory countermeasures, crew complement of 21 ,thus explaining the small science team and their cramped work / sleeping quarters . One thing Sean learned on this particular tour was space travel is not for claustrophobics . Ha! talk about irony!!!
"Webers here sir , science officer, i need to speak to you can we meet in your quarters? over". The Captain then responded " 10 minutes . out. " Dempster Abbot , Captain of the ICS Intrepid, quick thinker in tight situations , thats what was needed in a scout , had to be able to think on your feet and he was unsurpassed in that function . Frank new this scout would've probably been blown to bits more than a dozen times if it weren't for Abbot's quick reflex decisions . "Ok Frank what is it? " They were 4 in the Captain's quarters which also served as a conference room . It was adjacent to the bridge and was the only compartement large enough to squeeze in all 21 members of the crew . Although scout ships afforded few amenities , being Captain still had it's privileges . Next to Abbot was the second in command, Lieutenant Commander James Doran , some called him the T.K . Fridge and it was easy to see why . Big fella , wide shoulders was a big heavy in the boxing world , had seen combat too , tuff as nails , apparently he was real good at putting someone on ice , get it? The T.K. stood for technical knockout. And of course our young astro-geologist friend Sean . "Sir" Frank responded," i'll let Ensign Beauharnois explain it to you. Go ahead Ensign". Sean moved to the screen and after a few clics on the keyboard , the same image of the sample with the same readings as before showed up on the screen. "Sir, you are looking at a sample from Talaz or Epsilon ind 4 if you prefer , notice the absence of anything but useless rock , and more importantly the total lack of any moisture." The Captain being a military man was not getting it. "Ya so? C'mon son get to it." Sean nervously fidgeted: "Well sir its like this , i believe Talaz used to be an earthlike planet . I think that something or someone has come here and mined , if i can call it that , this planet on a global level , right down to the molecular level , until there was nothing usable left , literally . The oceans were dried and the water was converted to hydrogen for fuel , and any other materials that could be used to form alloys, polymers or anything like that was extracted at a level never before seen !! Whatever processed it or they use has replaced an earthlike planet with this !" The window in the Captains quarters afforded a spectacular view of Talaz , Sean waved his arm in it's direction . Abbot looked up at the near earth size rock hanging above his head , the grey colorless surface ragged and lifeless pockmarked with holes . Completely devoid of atmosphere , they had a very clear view of the surface "I thought you said it was a large asteroid?"
This time Frank responded, "Yes thats what we thought at first until Sean here pointed out these discrepencies , even asteroids have some minerals and water . No this was done artificially and the process has not only killed all life but has literally sterilized this planet . No life will ever be possible here again" A grim look appeared on Abbot's face . The Fridge asked ; "Who could've done this ? The Pirates , The K'luth , ICC?" "No way!" Frank responded, "None of them have near this kind of tech, and even if they did , as much as i hate them , i don't think any of them are capable of such an act , not even the lobsters! I mean we are talking about genocide at a global level!! Not even microbes have survived." Abbot looked up and an onimous feeling spread across his gut. He flipped a switch on the wall at a communications console ."This is the Captain speaking , go to combat readiness , activate jamming emitters, engineering prep engines for emergency jump just in case . Leave orbit and head for the Gerty cluster , do not use the hyperdrive , we have possible hostiles in the area the nature of which we have yet too determine so we must remain undetected . Slow and low gentlemen slow and low . out." Everyone in the ship scrambled to their stations , harnesses on the seats were being used to secure the personel in case the scout experiences impacts or they needed to fly at breakneck evasive speeds with violent changes of directions .
He looked up from the communications console at his science personel. "Good work gentlemen , Ensign i want you to return to your post and try to find out more about what happened here . Anything more significant , i wanna know about it . Frank your with me . Jim , you take care of preping a probe for launch. Set it to scan for energy signatures , magnetic disturbances , gravitational disturbances , Unusual particle emmisions , basically anything out of the ordinary."
In a scout ship , when the jamming emmiters were transmitting , it had the advantage of reducing it's signature thus making it more difficult to detect , but had the disadavantage of making detection of other energy signatures more difficult , thus the necessity of sending out a probe .
Using hyperdrive was also a sure fire way of getting detected , explaining why the Captain decided to use the sublight engines only , even though he knew that reaching Gerty would take about 5 hours at these speeds . It gave a pretty good indication of just how nervous he was . Frank followed the Captain to the bridge which took all of 5 steps from his quarters . Once there he found a cubicle only slightly larger than his own quarters / workspace . There were 4 stations 3 of which were currently occupied , 2 command chairs , both empty and the pilots chair situated at the very front occupied by Eledore massis , pilot extraordinaire . She was one of only 2 females on board , the other occupied one of the gunnery positions . Abbot took the left command seat.
A large window in front of the pilot gave a clear view in front of the ship , since the bridge was in the nose of the vessel . Most ships had no windows on the bridge but this was a scout , to minimise electronic signatures the vessel can be flown manually with no instruments to avoid detection . T.K. headed for engineering towards the aft section of the ship maybe 30 feet down a narrow corridor to the end and Sean dissapeared back into the small cramped cubicle from whence he and Frank had originally emerged , which was the 3rd doorway on the left . Mister Webers, relieve Johnson from the scanning station , Mr Johnson help out waffles with navigation , Frank you know what to do. " Indeed he did , after he had moved to 1 of the work stations from which Johnson had moved , he discreetely started to scan the other planets in the system . From this distance , with all ECM's on at full power , he couldn't make a detailed sweep but he certainly could have a rapid overview and now that he new what to look for , his instruments confirmed what he suspected he may find . "Captain , scans confirm these other planets have suffered the same fate as Talaz ...... not picking E signatures , could be our ECM's and the ambient gamma radiation. " Then he detected something he had never detected before , "Hold on a moment Captain.....detecting trace amounts of ........positrons !!" The Captain punched up the display on his arm controls . A 3 dimensional holographic image of an unfamiliar , and never before seen energy waveform appeared , floating 3 feet ahead of the Captains chair it moved and writhed and changed in real time . "Total Conversion * Mr Webers ?" he queried . "Confirmed sir ." ...." Well mister Webers , that explains the gamma radiation , i guess the question of wether total conversion is possible is now academic . " Than Abbot punched up his communicator , "Mister Doran , where is my probe? over. " " Prepped and ready to launch on your order sir. over." T.K.'s voice responded through the speaker. "Set probe to sweep for positron emmissions , 1100 gu's diameter detection grid , scan for lifeforms and discreet eletronics or transmissions , usual whisper mode , set 1st waypoint in grid 9ner 9ner three , 36, degrees from central axis 4000 gu's from central body each way. Confirm , over." The Captains voice was confident , commanding . " Fridge , surprised " Sir did you say positrons ? Confirm , over" " Thats correct mister Doran , set probe to start sweeps only once in position . We want to avoid detection for as long as possible . We have no idea what we are dealing with mr Doran. over " The scout was of a very compact , stout , flattened out , a little like a manta ray , and of distinctly sleek UGTO design . All of 55 feet with small windows on each side for the gunnery positions the guns were not very intimidating but the vessel was fast and agile and superbly designed for its function of spying out forward enemy positions and escaping when things got hot . Only slighly less agile than a full out small intercepter fighter , the Intrepid , like her crew , sported a few battlescars and had seen more than it' s fair share of action . The five rear sublight thrusters were presently pushing her between the planets at fair speed , the engines audible as a low vibration to all her crew . Launch order given , the probe flew from her , a small missile , very fast , and immediately steered itself to the initial waypoint straight ahead in the Gerty cluster which comprised of a gas giant with 6 moons , 2 of which were near earth sized . From the position selected , the scan should give a comprehensive view of the entire cluster . The small sensory dart flew in the vastness between the planets , drawn to the large gas giant like a small fly to a light . In a straight line it traveled , all sensors dormant . 10 minutes the journey would take . In that time , perhaps because he had an uneasy feeling , the Captain ordered miss Massis to slow their progression , letting the probe gain some distance between them . James Doran also had regained his position of second in command on the bridge , his seat to the right and level with the Captains chair . The Captains holographic display now showed the probes current progression as it moved into the cluster , represented by a trajectory line moving into this grouping of planets , moons and various other astronomical objects , all clearly visible in the display . The probe, having reached the ist waypoint "Activate sensors ." Abbot ordered . T.K. leaned over on his chair and punched in a series of instructions on his own keypad. The display changed once again to show the scanning sphere of the small probe . Myriad pinponts of lights of various intensities appeared like a snowglobe freshly shaken or a school of fish moving almost as 1 . A collective gasp on the bridge , the crew taken aback by the sheer number of signatures . Even the Captain paused for a moment , and then " Any lifeform readings ? " "Negative Captain ." Frank Webers responded ,"However i am reading discreet electronics consistent with what you would expect from machines , computers and robotics . I am also reading very large industriel complexes covering most of the surfaces of the bodies in the cluster . " The display then focused on one of the closest moons . Hundreds of starfish shaped industriel factories pockmarked the surface with small robotic machines of various size and function milling about like ants , working around and in the factories . Gases and steam rising from venting chimneys spewing toxic waste into whatever remained of the atmosphere. Countless tentacles were clawing their way into the planets depths , similar to a plant with many roots , sucking the nutrients from the very earth . Vessels were being constructed alongside these factories. Parts emerged from the bowels of these gigantic facilities , carried by robot worker drones while other machines were welding assembling and fitting parts on these starships . Resources were being extractd so that the process of manufactering can continue to perpetuate itself . Some ships were small and some where massive all with very alien configurations . The largest of these was a smooth , shiny , sphere , the size of a small planetoid , of which there were dozens already in operation and dozens more under various degrees of construction . Energy readings from these huge metallic globes were off the scales , surpassing their own supposedly powerful stations by amounts considerable enough to give pause . A few of these nodes were on the surface , unfolding itself into one of those huge starfish shaped mining and manufacturing facilities described earlier . There were also dreadnaught sized battleships , some of which were bombarding neighboring worlds , thus beginning the process of sterilization . Their shape , very unusual , with a vertically elongated front or head of the ship , also had huge energy readings moving and changing direction at speeds never before seen for vessels of this size . All these vessels great and small were using total conversion energy and the smaller machines , robots ,drones excavators and myriad other automated machines were using more conventional fuel cells for power .
All seemed to move in unison , with singleminded purpose and terrifying efficiency .
(PART 2 COMING SOON)
*(sorry you'll have to refer to a previous story of mine for more detailed information about this,"first contact with mi" posted here in this forum 2011 03 13 you can thnk of these as different chapters to "an ongoing story THE MACHINE WARS)
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gocrazyonu
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: February 28, 2011
Posts: 9
| Posted: 2013-01-29 20:55
u'll have to excuse the format , once again the paragraph separations did not translate properly and so u have a wall of text and im too tired right now, too try and correct it again apologies
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Walrus of Apathy
Admiral
Templar Knights
Joined: August 07, 2005
Posts: 466
From: Dorans Basement
| Posted: 2013-01-29 20:58
DORAN IS FRIDGE.
EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE.
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Talien
Marshal
Templar Knights
Joined: May 11, 2010
Posts: 2044
From: Michigan
| Posted: 2013-01-29 21:05
Quote:
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On 2013-01-29 20:58, Walrus of Apathy wrote:
DORAN IS FRIDGE.
EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE.
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What he said.
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Adapt or die.
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Two Face
Marshal
Joined: November 30, 2009
Posts: 145
| Posted: 2013-01-29 21:07
[ This Message was edited by: Two Face on 2013-01-30 07:54 ]
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