Stonerager Chronicles - Ch. 02 (Patreon)

Stonerager Chronicles

By 2Charlie

This is a science fiction story that will contain occasional erotic scenes. If it’s not for you, that’s okay. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it and know that I plan to write more about this universe in the future. Oh, and before someone asks, a future chapter will make it clear that Stonerager is a mispronunciation of Stoenager that becomes the main character’s moniker.

All characters in this story are of the age of majority.

Chapter 02

*****

Pulling himself together, Dutch weighed their options. “We need more information. Pheebs, task the ship with parsing through the data we salvaged from that Terran vessel to flag all mentions of jump gate locations, or Terran colonies. Meanwhile, this didn’t happen yesterday, but we need to scan for any survivors. On Earth, the moon, Mars, hell, even the wreckage.”

“I have tasked Phoebi-Prime with the data parsing you requested. Setting up scanning routines now – I will route the output from the scans to the main screen.”

“Phoebi-Prime, eh? How about we just go with ‘Prime’ – rolls off the tongue faster. Okay – let me know if we get any surprises. I think maybe this is a good time to run in stealth mode.” Turning to his defense systems panel, Dutch activated the Stealth Screen option, deciding now was a good time to test it out again.

The scanning results were being displayed on the screen when he looked up. No life signs on the planet below. Not even microbial. The moon had been colonized back in 2125, so the possibility had existed that someone there might have survived – at least, he thought so until he saw the pulverized rubble that had once been Earth’s moon. Nothing could have survived that level of destruction.

“Captain, Prime has indicated that, based on her review of the recovered Terran data, there were once colonies on the Jovian moons. Perhaps we should check those after scanning the debris field from the battle.”

Dutch nodded, watching in agony as the real-time results from the ongoing scans scrolled past, confirming what he already suspected. Humankind had been erased from this system. From their home. Motherfuckers! He thought. He had no way of knowing who had been at fault originally, but clearly, the fight had been prosecuted all the way here, with a hateful level of finality.

Turning to pace away from the screen, he rubbed his forehead, weighing their options. Stopping by the comms panel, he ran a frequency sweep, searching for any possible broadcasts, recorded or otherwise, that may have been left active in the vicinity. Nothing.

He clenched his fists in frustration, wanting something to hit, or something to do that could make a difference.

Returning to the flight controls, he strapped back into his seat, preparing to move the ship back toward the thickest part of the floating graveyard. “Pheebs, unless you need me to maintain our present station, I want to return to the wreckage. You might want to strap in.”

She cocked her head for a moment, then replied “I see no reason to remain here. However, you should be able to move the ship without me having to strap in. I have been reviewing the data on the inertial dampening systems that were installed along with the artificial gravity generators. So long as we do not end up in pitched combat, I should be okay to stand or walk around while we are moving. Go ahead and try. I will hold onto the console to start.”

Shrugging, he turned back to the controls and brought the engines online, setting a course back to the debris field. He opted to leave the stealth screen online, still assessing its effectiveness and impact. Breaking orbit, he moved the ship smoothly back toward the destroyed ships.

Pheebs continued to search for any signs of life, to no avail. This battle had ended decades earlier, based on the scan results, and any survivors had long ago made their escape, or long ago died. Against all hope, she continued to search. So far, nothing.

A brief spike in one sensor sweep caught her attention. “Dutch, can you move us closer to Ganymede? I have a sensor blip from there, but we’re too far away to resolve it in better detail.”

Bringing the ship about, he set course for Jupiter’s largest moon. Long known as an icy hellscape, Ganymede had been under consideration for an outpost back when Project Daedalus was operational. One of the long-range astro-telemetry stations had been placed on Ganymede at the time. Now, more than a millennium later, the largest moon in the system looked different. Possessing the thinnest excuse of an atmosphere, showing obvious signs of having been bombed, there were multiple signs of ruined cities dotting the surface. One in particular had drawn their attention. Far south of the lunar equator, the southernmost collection of structures had only been lightly damaged.

Putting the Odyssey into a low orbit, Dutch and Pheebs continued their investigation of the signal she had detected. A large structure, partially collapsed, was giving off a very weak energy signature. There were no other signs of life, no transmissions on any parts of the EM spectrum. The power source itself showed no variation, just a steady wavelength, indicating a static load of some sort.

Dutch scratched his chin, looking at the scan readouts. “We’ve got a decision to make. Do we go check this out or not? I think we have to, so let’s go with that. Next consideration – how the fuck do we get down there? Options?”

Pheebs checked a tablet she’d been carrying with her, looking something over intently before she responded. “I wanted to review the details of the ship modifications before I answered. We have two options. One – we can land the Odyssey. Two – we can take a shuttle. Factors to consider – the Odyssey was not originally built to land, or even operate within an atmosphere, but this information indicates that the Tao had interesting notions when they modified our ship, including the addition of landing skids. Our upgraded drive system works in or out of an atmosphere. Optionally, we take the shuttle that was added – I am not sure whether you have seen the shuttle hangar and shuttle included in this list, but we have one. So, the choice is yours, Dutch.”

“Let’s check out the new shuttle. Meantime, Prime, please maintain station-keeping orbit for Odyssey. And let’s leave her in stealth mode – I’d like to see that from outside. Assuming we will have a way to ‘see her’ when we return?” he asked, raising one eyebrow as he checked this with Pheebs.

She nodded, tapping something on her pad before saying to him, “Our shuttle flight instrumentation should be able to maintain or quickly establish remote linkage with the ship, as both are managed by Prime.”

“Sounds good. Let’s grab some EVA gear and go check this out. Did your list of new shit happen to include an armory?” he asked, as he headed down to the ship’s main deck before turning aft.

“One is just ahead on your left. It looks like we have one in each main section of the ship. The Tao were certainly thorough,” she said, shaking her head in admiration.

The two moved quickly to the nearby gear locker and donned their EVA suits, opting to carry their helmets for the moment. Stopping by the armory, they each grabbed what appeared to be energy-based handheld weapons, as well as holsters, each attaching the holster to the waist of their suits and holstering their weapon before continuing on to the hangar bay.

Inside the hangar, they found a large chamber of approximately thirty meters wide by fifteen meters in height by sixty meters in length, currently occupied by a single shuttlecraft that was perhaps twelve meters in length, slightly over two meters in height, and almost four meters in width. The shuttle itself was fairly unremarkable, appearing generally boxy in shape, although stretched into a more elongated form, resting on simple landing skids. Main propulsion was at the rear, with attitude thrusters apparent on key surfaces of the craft. A hatch was visible on the port side of the craft, and as they approached that side, the hatch lowered itself outward, forming an access ramp.

Stepping into the shuttle, they found the inside to be pragmatically provisioned. A pair of seats occupied the front of the craft for the pilot and navigator, demarking an obvious cockpit. A beautifully clean wraparound console made up the control surfaces in the nose. Above the control surfaces, a large viewport filled the front and wrapped around almost a meter down either side of the craft.  Behind the cockpit, several seats lined each bulkhead, with multiple storage lockers above and below, several containing EVA suits. The rear of the craft included what appeared to be a tiny medical suite, as well as a lavatory.

Saving the full inspection tour for another time, the two slipped into the flight seats in the cockpit and quickly scanned the control surfaces, orienting themselves with the controls and systems that were there. Dutch ran them through his best approximation of a pre-flight, checking critical items including fuel charge, weapons capacity, and life-support levels. The flight controls appeared to be similar to those on Odyssey and struck him as very intuitive. Weapons and defensive systems were located similarly as well. Feeling slightly more self-assured, he issued a quick series of verbal commands to Prime to close the shuttle hatch, depressurize the hangar bay, and open the hangar bay doors.

Not sure what he was expecting, he was nonetheless mildly impressed when the deck below them tilted downward, the far end opening to space, allowing him to easily raise the shuttle by no more than a meter and then fly her straight ahead to exit the hangar. As they passed beyond the ship, he could see a blurry barrier ahead. As they passed through the barrier, the ship disappeared from their sight. Prime displayed a virtual outline of the ship on their viewports, alerting them as to its location, but otherwise, they could not see the Odyssey.

Bringing the shuttle around, he saw that Prime was also displaying a digital dot on the viewport, pinpointing the location of the power source, as well as a suggested flight path. Pleased with how simple this made his job, he steered the shuttle into alignment with the suggested course, noticing that the line shifted colors from green through yellow, then red as he pushed the shuttle to gradually higher velocities. Testing a theory, he reduced their speed, and the overlay image altered back from yellow to green. Establishing a speed just on the cusp of the green-yellow transition, he accepted the ship’s recommendations and continued toward the destroyed colony below.

Approaching the shattered series of domes ahead and below them, he searched for options to enter. Based on the blinking location of the sensor anomaly, he decided to just attempt entry through the shattered pressure dome itself, as there appeared to be no air locks nearby. Slowing the shuttle, he nudged her into the dome, looking for a clearing large enough to set her down. Several options presented themselves, so he opted to sit down in an open quad directly in front of the building from which the power source was being detected. The shuttle rebounded slightly in the lower gravity before settling to the ground.

Donning and sealing their helmets, Dutch tested comms, simply saying aloud, “Comms check. Pheebs, do you read me?”

Turning to look at him, she responded, “Affirmative, Captain. Loud and clear.”

“Prime, can you hear me as well?” he intoned, glancing toward the flight controls.

“Affirmative, Captain,” she responded via the speakers in his helmet.

“Open the shuttle hatch, please, Prime.”

“Aye, Captain. Be home before the lights come on,” the ship’s computer responded.

Watching the hatch lower to the ground outside of the shuttle, he couldn’t help but grin to himself. “Okay, mom,” he replied with a chuckle.

Looking to his left, he caught an amused twinkle in his companion’s eyes. As he stepped out of the shuttle, stepping onto the surface of the base within Ganymede, he mentally noted that this was a historic first for him. He had never before set foot on any celestial body other than Earth. He paused, noting that the gravity felt different to him, but the ground beneath his boots was man-made. Returning his gaze forward, he noted that a heads-up display was being projected onto the inside of his helmet, showing him the direction and distance to the object of their curiosity.

“Looks like we can access the building ahead via a portal just off to the left. Let’s get moving – this place is probably dead, but I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary,” he told his companion, drawing his sidearm as he was speaking. Lights on either side of his helmet turned on as he approached the building, brightly illuminating their path ahead.

Approaching the access portal, he noted the control panel was dead. Looking around, he found a pressure plate that slid aside when depressed, revealing a manual opening mechanism within. Grasping the T-shaped handle, he pulled it down, causing the access portal to creak open a crack, just enough that they could grasp it with their gloved hands and pry it open further. Once open, they were able to pass through it directly into the building, observing that its internal environment had equalized with the external environment already, meaning the structure had been compromised previously, likely during the conflict.

Turning to get his bearings, Dutch took note of the HUD showing him the best route to the anomaly. Stepping carefully around debris and rubble, he threaded his way across an open foyer, eventually coming to another door. This door had a simple access control that was also dead, but the door itself was not as rugged as the exterior door. Shouldering the door open, they encountered a stairway that led down into the darkness below.

“Down we go,” Dutch grumbled, forgetting about the open mic in his helmet as he focused on navigating the tight quarters in the bulky EVA suit. Fortunately, the descent was relatively short, depositing the two into a corridor one level down. Curiously, the motion-activated lights came on as soon as they stepped out of the stairwell, confirming that at least some power was still available to the structure.

Dutch paused to glance down both directions of the hallway, reassuring himself that nothing unexpected was suddenly closing in on them from the darkness just beyond the reach of the activated illumination. Whatever this facility was, the sub-floor they were on was largely empty, having only the occasional doorway to interrupt the walls. Returning his focus to the track displayed on his helmet, he moved quickly forward, approaching a final set of doors about 30 meters from the bottom of the stairwell.

Stopping outside the doors, he looked back at Pheebs. “Any additional details from your scans before I open these doors?”

Checking her pad, she shook her head, “Negative. Still just an indication of energy usage. Steady, has not changed at all since we first detected it.”

“Well, here goes nothin’,” he sighed, turning back to the doors and pushing them open.

Dust devils swirled in the corners of the chamber as he disturbed the slight bit of air in the room. The motion-sensitive lighting flickered, trying to come on, but struggling to do so. Various banks of equipment lined the near and adjacent walls, while a half-dozen large sarcophagi were arrayed against the far wall, one of them showing active lights and indicators on the attached monitoring panel.

Approaching the row of strange devices with caution, he quickly surmised they must be some sort of hypersleep chamber. Similar technology had been discussed back in his time as a means for humans to survive long-haul space travel. The invention of the FTL drive was supposed to make such things unnecessary. Certainly, jump drive technology would have done so, although it was entirely possible that other uses for short-duration travel may have existed, such as for prisoner transfer, or easily managing large crowds on confined vessels with limited room for vital supplies, such as food and water.

Pheebs was using her pad to gather information on the devices, checking her data before turning to Dutch with information. “These are all occupied, although all but one have failed, leaving their occupants deceased. The occupant in the final operating cylinder appears to be a young adult human female, probably in her early twenties. The capsule appears to have been set to a manual mode of operation, meaning it needs someone to wake the occupant, instead of relying on a pre-set timer.” She paged through her data for a moment before continuing her assessment. “It may have been within the purview of the local computer system to wake them, but that system appears to have been offline for some time now. Each of these cylinders has independent power supplies – the others have exhausted theirs, but this one is just barely functioning.”

“I wonder how long she’s been in there. Was she in it before the battle, or did they all enter hyper-sleep as a means to survive the battle? It’s not as if this is a well-hidden location.” Dutch scratched his growing stubble, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Well, I can think of one way we might be able to find out, but I am uncertain as to the best way to accomplish it,” Pheebs offered, looking around the chamber for inspiration. Spotting something of interest, she nodded her head at something behind him. “Perhaps one of those could help.”

Turning to look in the direction she had indicated, Dutch caught sight of a trio of mechanized humanoids, all standing against the wall, evidently powered down. Moving closer to inspect them, he searched their visible exteriors but failed to find anything as obvious as a power switch. “Prime, if you’re able to scan these, please analyze and guide us as to how these automatons can be activated.”

“One moment, Captain,” Prime responded, then continued after a brief pause, “I have access to data from the warship which might be of assistance. Please try to examine the back right shoulder of one of the androids. You will be looking for a patch of their casing that can be pressed. When you find it, press and hold for a five count.”

Leaning one of the bots forward, he searched for the described region. Finding the indicated spot, he pressed it and held it down while counting silently. Abruptly, the android’s eyes flickered with illumination, and they cycled in and out of focus before turning to look at him. “Identify yourself, intruder, or I shall be forced to apprehend you.”

Dutch chuckled to himself. “At ease, tin man. I am called Dutch Stoenager, and I am here searching for survivors. I seem to have found one, but I need help to safely recover her from her sleep chamber.” Backing out of the android’s field of view, he swept an arm back toward the sole functioning cylinder.

Standing fully upright, the android moved over to the cylinders, inspecting each of them. It stood about 1.88 meters tall and was encased in a white duraplaz housing with deep blue sections at the shoulders, back of the head, and thighs. “These others all seem to have failed. I am shocked to see that, as each had independent, redundant power supplies. They should have continued to function without service for nearly a century.”

Pheebs grunted, pulling the android’s attention to her. “It may well have been that long. We were trapped in a time dilation event for more than a millennium, and only just returned to this system, to find…. all of this,” she swept her hand across the room, intending to include more than just what could be seen by the android. “So much destruction and the only life signs we have detected in the entire system are in this room. Although to be honest, we were not looking for androids such as yourself, as they did not exist when we came from.”

Stepping closer to her, the android appeared to examine her more closely, finally inquiring, “I beg your pardon, but what species are you? I would have presumed human, but your coloration is not normal for humans, and your mannerisms are oddly specific.”

“I would not expect you to have encountered such as me previously. Simply put, I am our ship made mortal. I began as a sentient computer but was gifted this body by a race possessing superior technology. You may call me Pheebs, or First Officer Pheebs.”

The android seemed to consider all of this new information for a moment before turning to Dutch. “I have located records of one Colonel Bram Stoenager, commander and pilot of the Odyssey, lost on August 12, 2125, in the first FTL drive test flight. You bear some resemblance to that man, but are clearly not him, as you are approximately one-eighth of a meter taller. Although,” the ‘droid paused, observing his shoulder, “the patch on your EVA suit does match the mission patch for Project Daedalus. Perhaps you are a descendant of Stoenager’s.  I shall allow you to live, for now, but be warned, I am keeping a close watch on the both of you.”

Pheebs started to speak up, but Dutch motioned for her to remain silent. Turning back to the android, he asked it, “What is your designation, or what shall we call you?”

The android responded quickly, “I am security android unit Omega Six Seventy-three. You may simply call me Seventy-three.”

“Very well, Seventy-three it is. Now, we need to transport this cylinder back to our ship to safely revive the occupant. I do not believe it would be safe to revive the occupant here on Ganymede. This building is severely damaged, and the colony’s atmosphere domes are compromised. I need your input as to how we might best accomplish this task.” Dutch hoped the android would not force him to explain why the cylinder could not have been opened here on Ganymede.

Seventy-three looked back toward the other dormant androids. “If we were to reactivate one of my companions, then the two of us could easily carry the sleep tube for you. I assume you have some means of transportation capable of ferrying us all to your ship?”

“We do. We have a shuttle parked in the quad just outside the main entrance to this building. We should be able to get us all aboard her, so long as it is safe to move the, err, sleep tube.”

Dutch moved over to another android and searched its back, finding the power switch and depressing it as he had done with Seventy-three. After a few moments, the second android began to power up, and Seventy-three stood in its immediate field of vision. “Nine Twenty-one, I need your assistance. These persons are here to rescue Miss Alisia behind me. All the other tubes have failed, and Ganymede is no longer safe. We must help to transport Alisia’s sleep tube. Please assist me.”

The second android stood upright and followed Seventy-three back to the sleep tubes. Ignoring the others for the moment. Going to the one still functioning, the androids began going through a series of steps to detach the tube from its support mechanism.

“Do not worry,” Seventy-three said over his shoulder as it continued to work. “Each sleep tube has an onboard battery capable of supporting its continued operation for ninety minutes, give or take, depending on the relative health of the battery. In dire circumstances, one of us could attach an auxiliary power cable to the tube to extend its operation for an additional thirty minutes. So long as you do not expect our journey to be longer than that, this should be safe.”

“I don’t anticipate requiring more than thirty minutes to return to our ship, and then a few more to transport this tube to our medical bay,” Dutch explained, carefully tracking what the androids were doing. Pausing for a moment, Dutch looked around the room. “Seventy-three, before we go, do you know if Miss Alisia had any personal effects here, or nearby? We aren’t likely to be able to return, for reasons that will become clear to you both shortly.”

Seventy-three paused in his work to consider, then turned to Dutch. “Miss Alisia’s room is not in this building. I suggest we go to her dorm after we move her sleep tube.”

Nodding in agreement, Dutch surveyed the room again quickly, impatient for this to be done. “Agreed. How long before you’re ready to transport the tube?”

Completing a final step in their procedure, he saw the tube move slightly as it was freed from the heavy machinery that had been supporting it, and the two droids each moved to the ends of the tube, lifting it away from its base. “We are ready.”

“Very good. Pheebs, lead the way. I’ll bring up the rear. Let’s move, gang. The clock’s ticking.”

“What an odd turn of phrase,” Nine Twenty-one muttered as it followed Seventy-three up the stairs toward the ground floor.

It took all of two minutes for the androids to have the sleep tube moved to the shuttle outside. Pheebs had gone ahead to lower the hatch, allowing the androids to move the tube directly into the shuttle, where she and Nine Twenty-one immediately set to securing the tube using adjustable straps Pheebs had found in one of the overhead bins.

Returning to where Dutch was waiting outside the shuttle, Seventy-three took three steps toward the rear of the shuttle before coming to an abrupt halt. Looking around, the android spoke up quickly. “My apologies, sir. I was unaware of the extensive nature of the destruction of Nansung Colony. The dormitory I had mentioned earlier lies beneath that pile of rubble directly south of the shuttle. Judging by the level of damage, it would likely take considerably more time than we can spare to liberate any of Miss Alisia’s belongings.”

Dutch scowled, nodding as he understood the situation. “Can’t be helped. Let’s get aboard this shuttle and get back to Odyssey.”

The android paused. “You intend for us to join you?”

Dutch simply nodded. “Look around, Seventy-three. See any sign that you should remain here?”

The android surveyed the colony for only a moment, before returning to the shuttle with Dutch.

Sealing the hatch behind him, he called to the androids over his shoulder. “You boys might wanna strap in. This might get a little bumpy.”

Strapping himself into the pilot’s seat, he saw Pheebs completing a quick pre-flight, bringing the engines online quickly and setting a return course to where the Odyssey awaited them.

Lifting off, Dutch turned the nose of the shuttle around to bring her back out the way they’d come into the compromised pressure dome, accelerating quickly as soon as he was in the clear, bringing the nose up and following the digital path displayed on his screen. He was glad to be headed back, as he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being observed.

As the faint glow of the atmosphere quickly faded to the deep black of space, Prime called out an alert. “Dutch, we have company. Three jump points just opened, and three large vessels of unknown origin are coming through, fifty thousand kilometers from our current location.”

“Understood, Prime. Are the Stealth Systems still online?”

“Affirmative captain, but your shuttle can be detected. You should make haste to return.”

“Concur. Bring the engines, weapons, and defensive systems online. We’ll be back on board in ninety seconds.”

Closing the comms channel, Dutch pushed the accelerator until the visual aid started flashing red, getting them back to their ship as quickly as he could. The viewscreen ahead painted visual icons of the alien ships off to his starboard, indicating that they were fifty thousand klicks away, but were turning towards Ganymede. Ten seconds later, he abruptly braked the shuttle as they approached the Stealth Screens surrounding the Odyssey. As he brought them in from behind and below, he hoped that his vessel had helped hide their presence long enough for them to get safely aboard.

In a split second, the ship appeared as he cleared the screens, and then they were aboard, the shuttle stopping quickly and settling to the hangar deck as the bay sealed shut. Moments later, they could hear the whoosh of the hangar bay repressurizing with breathable atmosphere, and they quickly set about exiting the craft.

Dutch paused to address the androids. “Seventy-three, Nine Twenty-one, please bring the sleep tube to the ship’s medical bay. First Officer Pheebs will show you the way. Upon arriving, please remove Mis Alisia from the tube, and then place her upon the diagnostic bed so the ship’s doctor can examine her.”

Turning to his first mate, “Pheebs, I’m heading to the bridge. Meet me there once the droids have the tube in the med bay. We may have a fight on our hands.”

The three of them ran off ahead of Dutch, with the droids lugging the sleep tube quickly behind Pheebs. As soon as they had arrived at the med bay, Pheebs instructed Prime to coordinate between the droids and the ship’s medical support system – effectively a specialized sub-system separate from Prime, responsible for addressing medical needs - as well as oversee the decanting of the human female from the tube. Finished with that task, she rushed off to the bridge.

Dutch was strapped into his flight seat when she arrived, slipping into her seat next to him as he rushed through a series of checks. Looking at Pheebs, he spoke quickly in clipped phrases, “Spin up the shields, but leave the stealth screens online if we can. Prioritize stealth for now if we have to choose. I want to move us away from here slowly, using thrusters only, so we don’t light up their sensors with an ionized particle trail. Hang on, this is going to get interesting.”

 He brought the nose of the Odyssey around, tilting her down deeper into
Ganymede’s gravity well, intending to get a speed boost from Ganymede to move them behind the moon, toward another of the Jovian satellites. With a little luck, he should be able to slip their ship into orbit behind Io without leaving a power trail for the alien vessels to follow. He could only hope his stealth screens were concealing Odyssey from their sensors.

Ganymede loomed closer in the viewscreen, beginning to get dangerously large before Dutch tapped on the thrusters gently, nudging the ship’s attitude up slightly so that it would barely graze the upper atmosphere as he shot into a higher orbit on the other side before making the transition to Io. Hopefully, if the alien vessels had seen anything at all, they would have appeared to be a meteorite bouncing off Ganymede’s scarce atmosphere.

Continuing to coast toward Io, Dutch kept an eye on the intruding vessels. They had spread into a loose formation and were slowly approaching Ganymede, although he saw no indication that they were aware of Odyssey.

“Captain, I can confirm that these ships are of models similar to those that had participated in the attack on this system.” Checking her scan data, she confirmed her statement. “Their hull parameters are a ninety percent match for those from the opposing force.”

Grimacing, Dutch weighed his options. If he had a choice, he’d prefer to observe and collect data for later evaluation. If he was forced to fight, he’d unleash hell on these intruders, especially if he was certain that it was their kind who had destroyed his home system. However, Dutch had been a scientist, and he preferred to obtain more information before rushing to a conclusion.

“Pheebs, see if you can isolate their engines and weapons for me. If we have to fight, I’d prefer to start by attempting to disable them.”

Using hand motions to zoom into the holographic view that was being displayed before her, Pheebs paused for a moment to confirm her readouts before replying to him, “Aye, Captain. I can isolate their engines. Weapons may take a bit, as we have not seen these craft in action previously. I can ensure your targeting sensors will have an overlay of key systems as I can identify them.”

Wishing they had been better able to review and assess the data they had gathered so far on this trip, Dutch gritted his teeth, saying in a soft response, “It’ll have to be enough.” Tapping on his thruster controls, he made very slight course corrections. Prime, understanding his intent, had displayed an optimum course plot on his forward display, enabling him to gently nudge Odyssey into the correct flight path to be captured into an orbit by Io with the least usage of thrusters, further minimizing their odds of being detected.

On the aft view, Dutch was startled when he observed the lead alien craft unleash what appeared to be a barrage of missiles. “Pheebs, what’re they targeting?”

Making a few hand motions to refine her scans, she swallowed, responding, “The lead vessel just destroyed what remained of the colony that had contained the energy signature from the sleeper tube. Total weapons yield from that volley registers in the range of tens of megatons.”

“Analysis: what defenses does Odyssey have to counter such an attack?” he asked her.

Without pause, she responded, “Odyssey has numerous options to defend against a similar attack, the most prevalent being our close-in-weapons-system, which is designed to shoot down incoming missiles. The obvious counter the enemy might attempt would be to overwhelm those defenses, in which case our second layer of defense would be our shields, followed by our quick maneuverability.”

“Good analysis. Now flip the script. Look for attack patterns that would be most likely to prove successful for us. The first option – to disable the enemy, allowing us to escape. The second option is to destroy those fuckers.”

“Aye, Captain. Assessment in progress,” she replied, opening up another screen to show her the weapons options they had available to them, as well as projected results from each type of weapon.”

Checking his navigational scans for options that would allow him to better position Odyssey for maximum advantage, Dutch noted Juno was just visible on the far side of Jupiter’s southern hemisphere. He recalled that Juno had an eccentric orbit that was nearly perpendicular to the orbital ecliptic of the other moons. If he could transition from Io, under Jupiter, he could maybe use Juno to shield his presence, while enabling him to put additional distance from himself and the alien craft.

Just then, Prime opened a small window on his HUD, giving him a visual of the med bay. The young woman had been successfully decanted from the sleep tube and placed upon the exam bed, where she had been sedated. The two androids had completed their task and stood silently awaiting further instructions. “Thank you, Prime. Let me know if that situation changes, but for the moment, please keep our guest sedated. If you can, please instruct the androids to shut down, as we’re trying to minimize our power signature.” That was only partly true. Dutch did not trust androids whose programming was unknown to him, and he would prefer to have Prime go through their command structure to parse out any routines that might run contrary to the ship’s safety.

As Dutch minimized the window showing him the med bay, another opened to display a short list of attack patterns from Pheebs – four in total, alpha through delta – which gave him a series of attacks designed to overwhelm or otherwise take advantage of possible opportunities. Delta caught his eye as particularly savage, in that it involved a close approach to the intended target, seizing them using the ship’s tractor beam to hold them close, and then unleashing a punishing strike from all weapons. The equivalent of putting an opponent in a headlock and pummeling the shit out of them. Definitely not an opening gambit, he thought with a wry grin.

Reviewing the other attack patterns, he quickly sussed out Pheebs’ intent. The attacks ranged from ‘disable’ to ‘destroy’ in the level of damage each was likely to produce. Alpha was meant to be used to disable engines only. Bravo and Charlie gradually escalated to include additional systems damage – weapons, and defenses, until the final attack pattern got very deadly. He nodded silently to himself – these would suffice, for now.

“Thank you, Pheebs. What are our friends doing now, having destroyed a long-dead colony?”

“Two appear to be preparing to depart, with the third apparently being tasked with performing some form of follow-up task,” she responded, as his screen showed that, indeed, two of the alien ships had risen to a point high above Ganymede and opened jump points through which they began to slowly pass, until the apertures closed behind them, leaving only empty space.

“Even odds,” Dutch said with a grin. “What options do we have to jam their communications?” he asked aloud, with an idea beginning to form.

*****

Jamming drones had not stood out earlier when reviewing the various and numerous alterations and additions to the Odyssey. Same for the bulk synthesizers. It turns out that the ship was fully capable of reprovisioning or synthesizing nearly anything expendable. All that was needed was bulk matter. Say, for example, the ship ran across an asteroid and destroyed it, the resulting rubble could be scooped up using the ship’s tractor beam, and that bulk matter could be reconfigured at a sub-atomic level to create… just about anything. Food. Munitions. Replacement parts. More drones.

Pheebs had tested the tractor beam when they had tested their weapons and had brought aboard a few tons of rubble, which had been left lying in the ship’s new hold. Turns out, the Tao had intended the hold to be capable of feeding raw materials directly into the bulk synthesizers. Using one of the existing Jamming drones as a pattern template, she was now running a task to fabricate a dozen additional drones. The task would require another five minutes to complete, after which the drones would be ready for use.

As each drone was completed, Pheebs programmed it with a patrol course which would enable it to participate in what would become a large network of signal jammers. As long as Dutch could prevent the alien vessel from opening a jump gate, they should be able to prevent remote resources from being alerted to their activities and summoned as reinforcements. This would be critical to the success of their objective, which was to disable the alien vessel and then board her in an attempt to gather additional information.

Prime was also busy reprogramming the two androids that had been recovered from Ganymede. They would now be able to function in combat support roles, which was not a stretch from their original intended purpose, that having been physical security and policing duties. For the immediate future, they would either serve as onboard security if Odyssey had to repel boarders, or as additional resources to board the alien vessel if Dutch’s plan was executed successfully.

As soon as the last drone was completed, Pheebs scanned one of the androids, setting up a task to use the remaining bulk materials to create more androids, in case they were needed. Seeing that additional pattern scanning support was available, she added more tasks, including the expendable missile weapons. She made a mental note to create a pattern of everything inorganic aboard the Odyssey when free time permitted.

Finished with her preparations, Pheebs turned to Dutch and asked, “What do you plan to do if we are successful?”

He had just put the finishing touches on the pre-programmed battle commands based on Pheebs’ input and was starting to work on a pre-battle checklist. Pausing in his efforts, he glanced over at her and said, “Success is a spectrum, I think. We survive, that’s table stakes. We gain more information about the iShan’tal, that’s even better. We start dishing out just a bit of payback – maybe that’s more than we need, but I think it’s a bit fucking overdue. Personally, I’d like to look at least one of those motherfuckers right in the eye as I demand answers for what the hell happened here, and why.”

Pheebs seemed a bit taken aback by the vitriol in his final statement, but then she considered all that they had encountered over the last day and decided to reset her expectations. “I have had an additional thought regarding our upcoming encounter,” she stated tentatively.

Dutch, nearly complete with his final preparations, didn’t look up. “I’m listening,” he stated, maintaining focus on the last two items on his list.

“It seems to me that a species so advanced as to be able to do what we have witnessed here likely has weapons equal to our own, if not superior.”

He nodded in agreement, not bothering to respond.

“So, it also makes sense to me that the shielding, similar to ours, is evenly distributed around their vessel, and they can likely choose to rebalance shielding to bring additional power to bear on any given shield front based on the vector of the attack. Follow me so far?”

Dutch scratched his chin absently as he considered her statements. “So, if a massive threat were coming at them from one area, they could focus their shields on that area as a preventative measure.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Now, how can we overwhelm them so that they cannot simply concentrate their shields on one area to defend themselves?”

Dutch was already jumping ahead. “Jupiter has like seventy-nine moons, right? And most of them are really tiny – less than a kilometer in diameter, correct?” Latching onto the idea, he called up the local chart of Jovian moons, isolating a small moon that was just a few thousand kilometers away, and happened to be close to the flight path he’d been plotting to intercept the alien craft. Valetudo, your time has come, he thought to himself.

Making a snap judgment to put this plan into action, he brought the main engines online. Time was now of the essence, as the alien craft would quickly become aware of their presence. “Pheebs, get ready to grab the pieces of Valetudo with the tractor – I want you to trail them all directly aft of us, and be ready to terminate the tractor beam on my mark,”

Zeroing in on the center of mass of the tiny moon, Dutch unleashed a tiny salvo of kinetic rounds, shattering the moon into thousands of pieces, which Pheebs quickly grabbed with the ship’s tractor beam, allowing the beam to swing around behind their ship, dragging the massive number of rocks along their path, matching their velocity.

Dutch increased speed to approximately seventy percent of lightspeed, closing in on the alien vessel at an astonishing rate. Stabbing at a particular control, he deployed the jamming drones into preprogrammed patterns ahead of him, wanting to prevent the enemy from alerting others to his presence or calling for assistance.

The enemy ship was just beginning to rise from behind Ganymede, turning to face their approach. Dutch unleashed a dozen high-yield torpedoes and a few hundred rounds of kinetic weapons to get their undivided attention, increasing the ship’s speed to nearly 80 percent light speed. As soon as they were within ten thousand kilometers, he ordered Pheebs to deactivate the tractor beam.

Dropping the stealth shields at the same time, he gave the alien something to target, before dodging completely out of their sights by initiating a rapid conical approach maneuver, slipping the Odyssey suddenly into a much higher orbit above Ganymede while continuing to face the enemy bow-on, forcing the alien vessel to pivot quickly to continue to face them. Unleashing a torrent of particle weapons, Dutch blinded the enemy vessel with the amount of energy he forced their shields to shunt aside. Before they could bring their weapons to bear, the rubble from a former Jovian moon suddenly impacted the enemy ship from the side, following Odyssey’s original flight path.

The impulse delivered by each fragment of Valetudo that impacted against the enemy ship’s shields was individually impressive. The totality of the force being delivered, traveling at seventy percent of the speed of light was overwhelming. The alien warship’s shields were shredded, followed soon thereafter by a large chunk of the ship itself. Multiple hull ruptures were immediately followed by the blossoms of several detonations from inside the alien ship, as the damage done by the fragments of the Jovian moon became catastrophic.

Dutch slowed his ship, bringing her into close range with the enemy vessel, while increasing the power to his shields. “Prime, send the androids down to the shuttle bay. Have them grab beam rifles from the armory on the way.”

Turning to his first officer, he grinned. “Pheebs, take command of the Odyssey. I’m going aboard that vessel to try to take a prisoner. Keep me posted if any of their friends happen to drop by. Oh, and if they manage to kill me somehow, you have my permission to blow them to hell.”

Grabbing him by the helmet seal ring of his pressure suit, she pulled him over to her for a kiss, giving him one hell of a reason to remember to return to her. “If you get so much as a scratch, you will answer to me!” she told him with a fierce smile and a fire in her eyes.

Laughing as he headed to the hangar bay, he couldn’t help but call out over his shoulder, “Chicks dig scars!” before a hatch sealed between them.

Grabbing a rifle, while still packing the handgun from their earlier adventure on Ganymede, he hurried down to the shuttle. Prime had already brought the shuttle online, and the two androids were already onboard, strapped into seats behind the cockpit. As Dutch slid into the pilot’s seat, he called out to them, “Androids, what are your designators?”

“I am Security Droid Alpha, sir,” the first droid replied.

“I am Security Droid Bravo, sir,” the second droid added.

Taking the shuttle out of the bay and quickly bringing her around to head over to the alien ship, he continued to address the droids. “Alpha, Bravo, we need to take at least one survivor captive, so let’s try to use stun settings on your weapons when we encounter any of the crew. Once we have what we need, we can determine the next steps as appropriate. Indicate you understand.”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” both droids responded as one.

Inspecting the alien warship from up close, Dutch was unable to discern anything resembling a shuttle bay. The vessel itself resembled an insect – a two-hundred-meter-long insect - possessing a large main region, stubby little winglike protrusions jutting out along each side of the upper edge of the main hull, and a large forward hull with side-by-side globular sections that resembled the eyes of a fly.

Most of the port side of the vessel was shredded, having suffered the impact of a half-kilometer diameter moon slamming into it, albeit in gravel-sized chunks. The damage was complete, forcing Dutch to examine other areas of the vessel looking for anything resembling a docking port or other type of hatch through which they might gain entry into the vessel.

Spotting what looked like an airlock behind the starboard globe, Dutch brought the shuttle into close proximity. “Prime, do we have any means to connect a boarding tube to that airlock?”

“Of course, Captain. Take a look at the bottom left quadrant of the center control panel. You will see an option there that is flashing. As soon as you are close enough to the alien vessel, the indicator will go solid, and you can press it to extend a docking collar from the overhead of your craft. As such, you will need to roll to align the dorsal portion of the shuttle with the alien’s airlock.”

Rotating the shuttle, he closed the gap between ships until the indicator on the console turned solid. Selecting station keeping, he pressed the control and heard as the docking ring extended from the shuttle to the stricken alien vessel. Removing his flight harness, Dutch floated up to the dorsal hatch, as a soft seal was established between vessels. Confirming the helmet seal was once more secured on his EVA suit, he checked to make sure the pressure across the hatch had been equalized before pressing the control to open the hatch.

Bringing his rifle up to point the way ahead, he beckoned to the droids to follow him as he crossed to the other vessel. As soon as he reached the access portal, he looked for a means by which to open it, finally identifying what looked like a manual override. Using considerable force, he was able to force the override, getting the door to open a few centimeters. Peering into the breach, he could see where he had literally disfigured a locking pin, warping the mechanism such that it would no longer operate properly. Taking ahold of the hatch, he forced it the rest of the way open by rolling it up and to the left, into the ship’s frame. The inner hatch was damaged, forcing Dutch to recruit the droids to the task of opening it, which their considerable strength managed, if only just.

Stepping into the alien vessel, he noted that the passageway in which he was standing was not dissimilar to passageways he recalled from the orbiting dockyard above Earth where Odyssey had been constructed. Getting his bearings, he motioned to the Droids. “Alpha, take the lead. Bravo, you bring up the rear. Stun anything that gets in our way. We need to get to the bridge.”

The trio set off at a quick pace, taking every turn toward the ship’s centerline, but generally continuing their trek forward. As they neared the center of the ship, passageways showed the damage that had been inflicted by Dutch’s attack. Entire bulkheads had been torn free, depressurizing that area to the vacuum of space. There were no signs of the crew – evidently, those that had been in this part of the ship no longer remained in the ship. Gravity plating began to fluctuate, so they quickened their pace until they reached a large hatchway. No external controls were visible on the outside of the hatch. Looking back at the way they had come, Dutch could see no sign of pursuit – perhaps the aliens were unaware of their presence?

Focusing on the hatch before them, Dutch checked his rifle to see a laser function. That might work. Telling the droids to step back, he brought his weapon up and directed it at the junction of the two doors, hoping to sever the locking mechanism. Depressing and holding the trigger, Dutch directed a powerful energy beam at the door, quickly heating it to a white-hot state, whereupon it began to sag as it melted. Squinting his eyes against the glare, he directed the cutting beam slowly from top to bottom. Dutch finally cut through whatever had kept the doors shut, and they slid slightly apart, enough for the atmosphere on the other side to begin to bleed through. A great rush of gasses blew past them as the bridge compartment was vented, until something organic was sucked into the breech and started to ooze through, like puss from a wound. Frustrated by this, Dutch instructed the droids to pull the hatched open, forcing the entrance to widen, which in turn sped up the process of bleeding off the atmosphere within.

As soon as the last of the gasses had escaped out to space, Dutch directed Alpha to once again lead the way, and the three of them pushed past the desiccated corpse that had jammed against the hatch onto the bridge deck. A beam of energy sliced through the space between Alpha and Dutch, drawing fire from the lead droid. An enemy crewmember wearing some sort of armor or encounter suit slumped over, its weapon clattering to the deck. Storming quickly forward, Alpha kicked the weapon away from the stunned crewmember.

Taking a moment to look around the bridge, Dutch saw mostly chaos. Bodies lay strewn, or in some cases smeared, everywhere. Aside from the stunned crewmember, only one other occupant appeared conscious. A large alien wearing some form of encounter suit was at the forwardmost section of the bridge, facing the intruders, leveling one limb at them – pointing at them, perhaps – as it railed away in something unrecognizable. After a few moments, the speakers inside Dutch’s helmet started translating the slew of insults being hurled at them. “.. you have any… idea what … storm you have brought down upon… selves? <unintelligible garble> will have no mercy upon… eggs. You hear me? You scum are dead!”

Raising his weapon, Dutch stunned the alien. “Bring that asshole back to the shuttle,” he commanded the droids. Stepping aside to allow the droids to gather the slumped alien and begin to carry it back to the shuttle. “Look for a way to restrain him once you’re aboard. Stun him again if he starts to wake up. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Stepping up to the various arrays of controls and readouts along the front of the bridge, he brought out another grey box that Pheebs had provided him, just in case such an opportunity should arise. “Pheebs, I’m looking around the bridge. Don’t know if you can see well enough via my suit camera but let me know if you see a likely target for your little data miner here.”

“Keep panning around, Captain. As soon as I see something interesting, I will let you know.”

As he began to walk around to the next level up, Pheebs called out to him. “Captain, do you see that panel to the right of the big chair just to your left? That looks like a possible library interface. Go ahead and position the box there. If I can connect to their network, you can leave it behind and make your way back to the shuttle.”

Placing the box as directed, Dutch stood back and took a moment to scan around the rest of the bridge. There were easily a dozen different stations, by the looks of it. He saw at least nine bodies in various states of all-fucked-up, each wearing encounter suits that concealed their true forms. He felt the gravity plating start to fluctuate again, making him stumble slightly. Just as he fought to recover, the crewmember by the door started to move.

Drawing his sidearm, Dutch quickly stunned the alien, then called out a warning to the droids. “Alpha, be aware, I just had to deal with the stunned crewman from earlier. The prisoner might be awakening soon.”

“Affirmative, Captain. We just stunned him again. It is probably best if you get back to the shuttle ASAP.”

“Understood, Alpha. I’ll head that way in a minute.”

“Dutch, I am connected to their ship, sucking up whatever I can. Time to come home, sir.”

“Understood, and on my way.” Moving toward the hatch, he felt the gravity plating failing again, this time only stabilizing at a fraction of normal. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he grabbed up the other stunned crewmember and began to move as quickly as he could back to the shuttle. He managed to get there in under three minutes. Tossing the alien into the shuttle before him, he called down to the droids, “I brought another prisoner. Keep them both quiet while I get us back to Odyssey.” Gliding down into the shuttle, he quickly strapped into the pilot’s seat and closed the overhead hatch, depressurizing the docking seal and retracting the docking ring.

As soon as he was clear of the alien ship, he rapidly accelerated his craft, quickly speeding back to Odyssey. As soon as he had the shuttle back into the hangar bay, he called out to his mic, “Prime, engage the stealth screens. Pheebs, move us fifty thousand kilometers away from this wreckage. I want us close enough to finish her off, but not too close, just in case.”

“Understood, Captain,” came their combined response.

As soon as the hangar had repressurized, he turned to the droids. You two take that guy to the brig. It’s just aft of the med bay. Once he’s been secured, come back for this sack of ass. I’ll keep watch on him until you return.”

The two droids snatched up their prisoner and hurried away with him, leaving Dutch alone with the other alien. Watching him carefully, he once again stunned the alien the second he saw it stir. Moments later, the droids returned, and he followed them to the brig. “Prime, give me some suggestions as to how we can keep our two prisoners unconscious for now. I want to interrogate them later, but I’d rather see what Pheebs has retrieved from their computers first.”

“Once you have them each in a cell in the brig, I can keep them unconscious for a few hours at least, Captain. Eventually, their biological needs will require they be allowed to regain consciousness if only to perform ablutions and consume nutrients and hydrate.”

“Understood, Prime. Let’s start with that. Keep me posted if anything should change.”

“Alpha, please return to keeping watch over Alisia. Bravo, please station yourself outside the brig to keep watch over our prisoners.” The droids confirmed their orders.

Removing his EVA suit and returning it to its locker, Dutch quickly made his way to the bridge to see what Pheebs had learned. He found her hunched over the computer interface behind the flight deck, paging through reams of data. Coming up behind her, he wrapped an arm around her waist, hugging her from behind.

Sniffing, she casually turned to kiss him. “You smell, sir. Might not hurt to go take a quick shower and grab a fresh uniform from the recycler.”

“Hmmm, that’s not a bad idea. Care to join me?” he asked her, with a grin.

“We should get the fuck out of this area before we let our guard down, no? You go, while I finish up here,” she suggested.

Acquiescing to her logic, Dutch went quickly to his – their? – quarters to refresh himself. Less than ten minutes later, he was back on the bridge, smelling and feeling much cleaner, getting an update from Pheebs. While he’d been over on the alien vessel, she’d had Prime recall all of the jamming drones. All of them had been accounted for and returned to their holding bays. She’d also spun up the synthesizers to begin replenishing the munitions that had been expended during the brief combat. Finally, she had completed an initial analysis of the data she’d mined from the alien vessel, for which they now had a name.

The vessel had been designated K’vetch 581, and the species was confirmed to be the iShan’tal. Out of curiosity, Pheebs had conducted a tactical analysis of the weapons and defenses of the K’vetch and was surprised to discover that the alien vessel had been no match for the Odyssey. The realization made Pheebs do a little extra simulation, and found that, in all likelihood, the Odyssey would have prevailed even previously under three-to-one odds. The weapons systems that the Tao had given them were superior to those about the K’vetch, and also superior to most other weapons mentioned in the databases she’d recovered from the iShan’tal ship, as well as from the Earth ship earlier.

It was an oddity that the iShan’tal had apparently prevailed in battle, until Pheebs discovered that this had more to do with their sheer numbers, relentlessness in battle, and tendency to fight to the death, even in losing scenarios, so as to eventually prevail through attrition. It was not until she had gotten to the biological data on the iShan’tal that Pheebs encountered a shock.

Revisiting logs recovered from the Earth ship, the Valiant, she confirmed that they had never been able to successfully exfil a sample of the enemy combatant, leaving them forever in the dark about who exactly they were fighting. As far as Pheebs was able to discern, the Terrans had never been able to learn anything about the enemy who had ultimately destroyed their home world and reduced their dominion throughout the sector to zero.

As soon as Pheebs had brought Dutch up to speed on all of this, they had to determine what their next step should be. They had a revived survivor from Ganymede yet to meet, as well as the two crew members taken from the K’vetch. Plus, there was still the K’vetch itself to deal with. Dutch had given that matter some thought already.

“Prime, can you confirm for me whether or not we can configure the tractor beam to repel?” he asked the ship’s computer.

“Affirmative, Captain,” Prime responded quickly. “The tractor beam can easily be used to repel. What did you have in mind?”

“I’d like to nudge the K’vetch over there onto a new course that will have it enter Jupiter’s atmosphere. Let Jupiter hide any evidence of what took place here today.”

“Easily done. I shall make the necessary alterations to the tractor and present you with a recommended course via your heads up display.”

“Excellent. Let’s get to work.” Dutch rubbed his hands together, anxious to get this part done and move the Odyssey away from this system.

“Prime, quick question. Can the synthesizers handle something as intricate as the sleeping cylinder we brought back from Ganymede, and can you extrapolate a more complete support system from a thorough analysis of the design?”

“I shall explore this matter, Captain, and get back to you with an answer.”

*****

“I’ve put us deep within the Horsehead Nebula and activated the stealth screens. We should be secure here from anything that doesn’t literally bump into us,” Dutch proclaimed, ready to go meet their survivor.

“Prime, you have the watch. Please alert us if anything unexpected happens. We’ll be greeting our survivor, likely feeding her and giving her quarters near ours,” Dutch told the ship, turning to Pheebs, he extended his arm. “Shall we?”

Giggling like a little girl, she took his arm and followed him to the medical bay where Alisia had been kept sedated. They took a moment to look her over, seeing her for the first time out of the sleep tube. She appeared to be a twenty-something human female, with porcelain-colored skin, ginger hair that fell from her head in ringlets, and a medium build. Perhaps a tad over one and a half meters tall, weighing around fifty-five kilograms, give or take.

As soon as they entered, Prime adjusted the restraining field that had kept her sedated, shutting it down so that she could regain consciousness. After a minute or two, Alisia began to stir, letting out a slight moan as her mind swam toward wakefulness.

Fluttering open suddenly, her eyes darted around her strange surroundings. Drawing in a swift breath, she sat up suddenly, facing Dutch and Pheebs, the latter’s odd coloration drawing her immediate attention. Taking a second, calming breath, she closed her eyes for just a moment, appearing to center herself, before reopening them and addressing her rescuers.

“Who’re you, if I may ask, and where are we? This does not feel like Ganymede,” she spoke, remaining seated on the examining bed.

“You are correct, this is not Ganymede. I am Bram Stoenager, but I go by Dutch. This is my First Mate, Pheebs, and you are aboard our ship, the Odyssey. You are the sole survivor from Ganymede. Tell me, what’s the last thing you can remember?”

“Sole survivor… what happened?” she asked, not answering his question.

“The colonies on Ganymede were destroyed nearly a century ago, as best we can tell,” Dutch explained slowly, “during a conflict between Terrans and a species called the iShan’tal. The carnage extended beyond Ganymede. As far as we could tell, the entire system was expunged of all traces of life. We were hoping you might have some information about the events leading up to the conflict. We’ve been… indisposed… and are only now becoming aware of these events.”

“Indisposed?” Alisia asked, confused. “You say that as if you were around at that time but were otherwise occupied. You just said it all happened a century ago. You certainly don’t look that old.”

“Neither do you, and yet here we are.” Pheebs retorted, one eyebrow raised.

“I can’t help but notice that you’ve yet to answer my question,” Dutch said, maintaining a calm demeanor, but growing mildly impatient. His whole fucking world was destroyed. If this woman knew anything of value, he’d rather she not play games about it.

“I’m sorry, Dutch, was it? I’m sorry, Dutch. My memory is a little fuzzy just now. Perhaps things will seem clearer once I’ve fully recovered from my unusually long stint in the freezer. I don’t suppose you’ve got a galley on this ship? I’m feeling a bit hungry…” she tried to look innocent as she said that last part.

Turning away from Alisia for a moment, he leaned close to Pheebs so he could speak softly to her. “Pheebs, something’s not right here, but I’m not sure what it could be. I suppose she’s not certain if she can trust us right now. Here’s my thought – how about you take her to the galley and get her some food while I go to the brig to check on our other ‘guests’? As soon as I get an update on their situation, I’ll join you two in the galley.”

Pheebs nodded. “I agree with you, something feels off here. But, were either of us in her predicament, we might also be cautious. I will take her to the galley as you suggested. Please be cautious with the iShan’tal. I would hate to need to drag your corpse back to the Tao station to ask for another pass on your resurrection,” she said, grinning at the last part. Leaning in closer, she gave him a quick kiss, then stepped over to Alisia as he turned and exited the med bay. “I am a bit hungry myself,” he heard her say, just before the doors closed behind him.

One corridor away, past a heavy bulkhead was the brig. Bravo was standing guard at the doors as he’d been instructed. The droid stepped aside to allow Dutch to enter, then resumed his post once the man had passed.

Inside the brig, there were four individual cells, two of which were currently occupied. In each cell, there lay an iShan’tal in their encounter suits, still unconscious, having been kept that way by the ship’s computer.

“Prime, how are you keeping our prisoners unconscious?” he asked, deciding not to confuse her with euphemisms like ‘guests’.

“I identified an ultrasonic frequency to which they appear to be particularly susceptible, and I am using it continuously to maintain their current somnambulance. I advise you to insert a pair of earplugs before you enter either cell. I have taken the liberty to synthesize a pair for you, as I expected you would be visiting them soon.”

Looking over at a small synthesizer unit, he opened the door and retrieved the earplugs. Inserting them, he stepped up to the cell with the loud-mouthed captive, deciding to start with that one. He intended to see what was under that encounter suit.

“Prime, can you tell me whether or not I can safely remove their encounter suit? I ‘d like to see what they look like under all of that, but I would rather they not asphyxiate in the process.”

“They appear to breathe the same atmosphere as you do, Captain. You should be able to safely remove the suit.”

“Very well. Please allow me to enter this cell,” he requested, steeling himself in case the occupant was faking at being unconscious.

The barrier faded, leaving an open doorway, and Dutch cautiously entered the cell. The doorway reactivated, trapping him inside with the prisoner, but he knew Prime was only being pragmatic. Stepping over to the prisoner, he began to examine the encounter suit, eventually locating release mechanisms that would allow him to remove the chest plate.

Triggering the release mechanism, he carefully removed the chest piece, immediately noticing the shape of two breasts beneath, looking for all the world like a woman.

Searching further revealed additional mechanisms, allowing him to further remove the suit. Piece by piece, he exposed the being underneath, finally locating the mechanism that would allow him to remove the helmet. Depressing the tab, he carefully removed the helmet, and he was stunned by what he saw beneath. The iShan’tal prisoner appeared to be a twenty-something human female, with porcelain-colored skin, and ginger hair that fell from her head in sweaty ringlets. She could be Alisia’s twin. Standing up and stepping back from this prisoner, he gathered her encounter suit and removed the pieces from the cell. Re-entering, he inspected under the garb the prisoner had been wearing beneath the encounter suit.  A brief examination revealed that the prisoner had what appeared to be human mammary glands and human female reproductive parts. Checking her fingers, he saw the whorls of fingerprints. Opening one eyelid carefully, he could see what appeared to be a normal appearing iris and pupil.

Exiting the cell, he moved to the other cell and repeated the process, to encounter identical results. Stepping back out of the cell, he stood back for a moment, removing and stowing the earplugs before calmly addressing the ship’s computer. “Prime, would you please have Alpha post himself outside of the galley doors, and not allow our guest to leave until I get there?”

“Affirmative. Alpha is on his way,” she replied.

“Prime, please examine the two prisoners, and speculate how it is that they appear to be identical to our guest?”

A small beam of light was emitted from the overhead in each cell, passing briefly over each of the prisoners. “Fascinating. These two prisoners appear to be clones. I cannot confirm this supposition until I have acquired a small sample of their genetic material, but I can do that right now if you would like for me to do so.”

“Yes, Prime. Please do. In the meantime, I’ll go catch up with Pheebs and our other guest. I’ll obtain a sample of her genetic material as well, for comparison with the sample you pull from these two.”

The light beam emitted from the overhead once again, as a tiny incision was made on the earlobe of each of the prisoners. Dutch took his leave, exiting the brig and heading for the galley. As he approached the galley, he could see Alpha standing guard outside the doorway. Approaching the droid, he asked it, “Everything okay, Alpha?”

“Affirmative, Captain. No one has tried to exit the galley yet. Shall I continue to stand watch?”

“No, Alpha. I was being cautious, but I can take over from here. You are relieved. Please go and assist Bravo in guarding our prisoners.”

Snapping to attention, the droid nodded, then turned and strode away purposefully toward the brig.

Turning back towards the galley Dutch entered through the doors to find the women sitting at one of the tables enjoying some sort of meat stew. Stepping over to the synthesizer, he ordered a serving of what they were having – a bowl of beef stew, as it turned out.

Taking his bowl of stew back to the table, along with a glass of water, he joined them and began slowly eating. Pheebs, noting his body language, became just a bit more alert, but also continued eating.

Alisia continued speaking, seemingly oblivious to the fresh tension in the room. “So, Pheebs was telling me that you two are originally from the twenty-second century and that the two of you had been caught up in a time dilation event that catapulted you nearly eleven hundred years into the future. That sounds fascinating and terrifying all at once. But, this vessel certainly doesn’t appear to be that old. Not just the condition, but the technology she has seems much more contemporary. How do you explain that?”

“It’s a long story, but the short version is that we encountered a very advanced species who made considerable upgrades to our ship, as well as to us, physically. When we discovered we could return to Earth, we did so, only to find that some sort of terrible battle had been fought long before and that the Earth, as well as other human colonies within the system, had been destroyed. We were searching for any evidence of survivors when we discovered you.” Dutch took a bite, chewing his food thoughtfully before washing it down with a swallow of water. “I must admit, I don’t understand why you were in that sleep tube in the basement of that building. Perhaps you can shed light on that?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t yet recalled my life from before, Captain. I am at a loss for my purpose in that sleeper tube,” she responded, looking irritated at being questioned again.

“But you were aware that you had been on Ganymede. You said as much when you speculated that you were no longer there,” Dutch pressed the issue, to her increasing consternation.

“I suppose so, although the details elude me. Why is this matter so important to you, if I may ask?” she said, attempting to change the subject.

“Well, I guess for starters because I am trying to figure out why my species was all but wiped out in a war that was over a century ago, and what part in all of that you played.”

Stunned by the sudden turn in the conversation, Alisia began to rise.

“Sit down, please. There’s no place to go. A security droid is standing guard just outside this chamber, with orders to vaporize you if you should exit without us,” he lied, “and besides, we’re just about to get to the best part of the conversation.”

“I beg your pardon?” Alisia stammered, hesitantly taking her seat again, but no longer interested in the stew. “What do you mean by that?”

“Prime, please display a live feed of our prisoners on the screen in the galley,” Dutch instructed the ship’s computer.

A split screen appeared on the monitor behind him, showing side-by-side images of the two women still unconscious in their cells, each one a doppelganger for Alisia.

*****

Pheebs snuggled into Dutch’s embrace, both of them trying to wind down from a chaotic day of events. She chuckled softly as she leaned in to kiss Dutch, drawing a curious look from him.

“What’s so funny,” he asked her softly, stroking a stray lock of platinum hair from her face as he smiled gently into her eyes.

“I was just recalling the impetuous foot stomp Alisia gave as you secured her into her cell within the brig, just before Prime sent her off to Lala land,” she giggled.

“Well, serves her right,” he snorted. “I’m sure I could have been more accommodating – simply confined her to quarters or something, but if she can’t – or won’t – account for herself, then lock ‘er up, says I, yarrrrr!” he finished, affecting a pirate’s mannerisms at the end.

Pheebs giggled girlishly at that, squirming in his arms. “Oh, ho! The little missy is fond of the old Dutch pirate, is she? Har, we’ll see about that, now, won’t we!” He leaned in to tickle her, not knowing whether or not she would be ticklish, only to revel in the fact that she seemed to be hyper-sensitive to his touch. After a short but feisty wrestling match, he calmed her down by changing to merely stroking her arms, shoulders, and chest while smothering her in kisses.

Rolling her onto her back, Dutch leaned down to kiss her on the jawline, then down her neck and along her shoulder. Pheebs began to writhe with a growing need for him, her breathing deepening.

Continuing to kiss his way down to her breasts, he paused to pay them some attention, again marveling at the gift the Tao had bestowed upon them both by giving him a female companion who was such a boon. It felt almost biblical to him, but he didn’t spend much time contemplating such matters, as he had other worshipping planned in the immediate future. Grasping her perfect breasts in his hands, he gave them a gentle squeeze, running his thumbs across her bronze nipples, giving each of them a kiss, followed by a slight nip from his teeth that caused her to suck in her breath in a hiss.

Sensing her need building, Dutch resumed his journey downward, kissing his way to her pubic area, so wonderfully adorned with the thinnest of white V-shaped pubes. He could smell her excitement as he got close, and it pleased him that she was enjoying his ministrations. When he finally reached his goal, he paused to inhale deeply of her, savoring her scent, before he dipped low and dragged his tongue upward across her delicate labia. He could feel her quivering turn into a quake as he swept his tongue across her clitoral hood. He spent several minutes patiently repeating this pattern, licking her slowly from bottom to top, swiping across her sensitive nub until he began to focus exclusively on her clit. It only took another few moments before he felt Pheebs begin to tense up beneath him, watching with wonder as her abdominals really stood out, her back arching upward as her hands gripped his head and held him close. Squeezing his head between her thighs, she gave out a long moan, and he could taste the spill of her juices across his tongue, lips, and chin. Slowing his motions, he carefully licked her mons Venus area, avoiding her clit as he swiped his tongue across her labia majora, enjoying her taste.

Eventually, she pulled his head upward, so he rose slowly and moved up to meet her, enjoying the searing hot kiss that awaited him. Returning the kiss with an urgency of his own, he moved his hips into position between her thighs and brought his manhood into direct contact with her flowering essence, rubbing his masthead between her labia minora in preparation for entry. Finally, feeling adequately lubricated, he pushed forward, gradually inserting himself fully into her, hilting himself and holding there, luxuriating in her warmth and tightness. After letting her adjust to his presence, he slowly withdrew until only the tip remained within her, then drove himself fully back in, transitioning quickly to rapidly stroking himself in and out, again and again.

Looking down at her beautiful face, he watched as her eyes rolled up and then closed, while her mouth dropped open, and her brow furrowed. A silent howl emitted from her lungs while her face and chest coloration deepened with a flush of blood and her diamond-hard nipples scratching across his chest. Her abdomen stretched up to meet him as her back arched, telegraphing her orgasm to him as clearly as the rapid-fire grip and release of her vaginal muscles. The sum of these reactions from his partner was sufficient to send him over his own threshold, and he joined her in orgasm, painting his name on her channel walls.

As they both lay there in post-orgasmic bliss, Dutch heard Pheebs giggle a little beneath him. Rolling from atop her, he moved to lay beside her, still cradling her in his arms.

“What’s amusing you, my dear?” he asked her with a satisfied twinkle in his eye, trailing a finger lazily across her collarbone.

“You will think I am crazy,” she responded, looking suddenly shy.

“Possibly true but humor me anyway. What were you thinking?” he pressed her, threatening to tickle her.

Squirming under the threat of tickles, she raised her hands, “Okay, okay, I give up! I will tell you,” she laughed again, louder now.

Catching her breath, she cast her eyes down for a moment before bringing her gaze back up to look him in the eyes, true affection for him evident in her stare. “I was only thinking that perhaps what we should do is share this most excellent of gifts with Alisia, and perhaps the others.”

Surprised by her candor, Dutch leaned up on one elbow, looking at her more closely. “You’re serious,” he declared, a bit shocked at her proposition.

“I am, yes,” she assured him, still grinning, but meaning what she was saying. “Look, I do not mean to suggest you should just barge into their cells and take them one at a time. No, I mean, give them the decency of an experience I would wager they have never had before.”

Seeing the confusion on his face, Pheebs placed a gentling hand on his chest, trying to calm him, and get him to engage with his rational, scientific mind. “Look, it’s clear to me that they are clones. Perhaps many more of them are clones. For all we know, they could all be clones, who were created by an enemy who is totally terrified by whatever it believes humanity represents to them – some sort of terrible independence, perhaps.”

Listening to her seriously, he nodded for her to continue. “Now, what if you showed them something about humanity that they did not have to fear? Unless of course, they are terrified of big, hairy, manly men with scary big weapons for cocks,” she smiled, a hint of a giggle sneaking in at the end.

Smiling at her with growing affection, he leaned in to kiss her again. Pulling her close and holding her protectively, he burrowed his face into her silken pale hair, murmuring softly to her, “Let me sleep on it.”

*****