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  He sat back and a panel of space-glass slide over the open area. There was a hiss as the cockpit pressurized and then the screen came alive with holographic instruments measuring cockpit pressure, power and oxygen levels and most importantly, weaponry.

  The onboard computer notified the pilot that it had come online as Garrett patched his comm system into the main bridge of the Excelsior.

  "Pod One requesting permission to launch," he said as he adjusted his guidance processor.

  "Pod One, you are clear for launch." Garrett recognized the voice. It was the chief tactical officer, Rachel Langston. He found Rachel amusing. She had indicted, on multiple occasions, that she was interested in him. Despite her myriad attempts to seduce him, she had never so much as tempted Garrett.

  The commander had lost his entire family in a freak explosion aboard a space station, when he was seventeen. Ever since then, he had devoted himself to suppressing all emotion. All emotion, including love.

  He tapped several controls on the screen in front of him, and his pod rotated toward the firing tube.

  Class-7 fighter pods where not much larger than a dining room table, and, most nearly, resembled a lima bean in shape. A lima bean loaded with enough weaponry to destroy an entire major city.

  United Earth did not publicize the fact that they had such powerful weaponry, for they desired to form a peaceful relationship, with New Russia, eventually. But it couldn't hurt to have a contingency plan, could it?

  The pod completed it's rotation and, with a command from Mr. Garret, raced forward, through a special force field that let things out from the inside, but not in from the outside.

  Within ten minutes, Garrett was joined by the other fourteen fighter-pods. The pods formed an upside-down "V", with Garrett at it's apex and moved as one, toward the cluster of probes, not eighty kilometers away.

  * * *

  "Pod One, you are clear for launch," Fletcher heard the woman at the comm station say. He checked the display on his comm-band. It was time.

  "Lieutenant, please patch the ship wide comm system into the base wide comm system."

  The woman complied, tapping out a series of commands. "Alright captain, your on."

  Fletcher detached a small ear piece from the panel in front of him and placed it over his ear. After pressing a button on the earpiece, he addressed the crew.

  "Attention, this is the captain speaking. I'm sure you are all wondering what's going on right now and I thank you all for your cooperation."

  The captain took a long breath and continued, "Some of you may have heard rumors about what was discovered at the main drill sight. I can confirm that several hours ago, a mining team discovered a cavern containing what we believe to be alien technology." Fletcher felt terribly awkward. He hardly believed it himself, but the evidence was undeniable.

  "Using technology left by the previous inhabitants, we were able to translate their computer systems."

  Fletcher paused, trying to imagine the look on the crew's face as they absorbed the information. He looked at the comms officer next him, her jaw slack.

  "We have determined that most of population was destroyed by a bioweapon that was turned against them. Those remaining fled to the stars leaving only a series of messages. I have had Dr. Trinneer run every test he can, searching for any remnants of the virus. He has informed me that the virus was unleashed from the cavern when our team entered, and has now been spread to every area of the base and the ship." Fletcher dreaded what he had to say next.

  "The doctor discovered that the virus is completely inert, killed by the elements over the many years it was without a host. This should be good news, but we have discovered a cluster of robotic probes under one hundred kilometers from the ship. According to one of the messages left by the probes' people, they were left to eradicate any sign of the virus that they detect. The probes were apparently programed to destroy the virus wether or not it is active. In other words, the virus may be dead, but the probes have no way to understand that. As I speak a group of fighter-pods it on its way to confront the probes before they have a chance to do any damage. I have every confidence in Commander Garrett and his team, rest assure that you are in good hands." The captain wiped beads of sweat from his forehead.

  "We must remain calm during this ordeal. I know that there was no training for anything like this, but please do not panic. Until the situation is dealt with, all personnel are to report to the underground bunker beneath the mess hall except those on the security team. All security team members on the surface are to report to the briefing room immediately. Once again, please remain calm. Fletcher out."

 

  Section Ten

  Mess Hall

  1915 Hours

  April 12th, 2167

  Alyssa was buffeted back and forth as she fought the crowd of people filing down the stairway that lead to the underground bunker. There were enough food and supplies for a crew of three hundred to survive for three months.

  Of course this did not allow enough time for a rescue attempt to be made. All it really did was give the crew a sense of hope.

  Right now all it did was give the crew a sense of dread.

  Alyssa saw Derek being escorted down the stairs by Dr. Trinneer. He was actually doing fine by himself, but the doctor insisted that he was not well enough to walk on his own.

  Alyssa stood at the entrance, directing people. Although Alyssa had no official rank, her contract with the Division of Off Planet Mining stipulated that in the event of an emergency, she was to be temporarily given the rank of commander. This rank came with the responsibility of making sure all crew members reported to the designated emergency gathering point, which was in this case, the bunker.

  She pulled her scanner from the holster on her belt and accessed a map of the base. She spoke to her scanner, "Locate all non-security personnel outside of this room and display. The screen zoomed out to display a map of the entire base, and then zoomed in to the room that housed the base's computer core. A red dot began flashing in the top, righthand corner of the room and a name appeared above the dot.

  Tom! What the heck is he doing in the computer core, she thought as she ran up the stairs. She almost knocked Dr. Trinneer over as she ran through the doors.

  "Doctor, are you on the security team?" She wondered why he hadn't shown up on the computer scan.

  "I am in the event of an emergency of this scale. I never thought I would have have to use my security skills. The captain instructed me to set up a medical station in the bunker."

  Alyssa tensed, "Is he expecting casualties?"

  "I surly hope not."

  Alyssa looked at her scanner, Tom had not moved. "I'm leaving you in charge for the time being, the computer located one person that hasn't reported here yet. I'll contact you when I've found him."

  "Be careful," he said as she rounded the corner and ran toward the computer room.

  * * *

  Commander Garrett gripped the steering controls to tightly that his knuckles turned white.

  No, I must not let fear weaken me, he thought. He closed his eyes briefly, thinking calming thoughts.

  A shrill chirp snapped him back to reality.

  Enemy vessels detected, the computer stated flatly. The screen lit up. A schematic flashed on the screen, showing him and the fourteen other pods moving toward a group of ten, slightly smaller objects. One kilometer to incept point.

  "Alright men, this is it. Keep your heads clear. No one is to fire unless fired upon." Garrett tapped the communication icon at the bottom of the screen. "Pod Leader to Excelsior, we have the probes on display, we will intercept in five minutes."

  "Excelsior acknowledging. Good luck."

  That sounds ominous, Garrett thought. He placed his hands firmly on the flight controls and and gathered his thoughts.

  The sensors determined that the probes had antimatter weapons. Antimatter was the perfect weapon, not to mention the perfect power source, as long as it could be kept stable. Earth scientist said they were five to ten years away from being able to safely use antimatter power. Once they could contain it, it would revolutionize spaceflight, as well as modern living.

  Garret knew that antimatter had a lot of good uses, but the fact that half a gram of antimatter could vaporize an entire city also made it lethal. If those ships did indeed have antimatter weapons, they were doomed.

  Captain Fletcher had informed Garrett of the situation, and left it to him to inform his crew, but he had not. He knew that the crew would not preform at maximum efficiency if they knew they were on a death mission.

  Garrett was not afraid of dying; that's not why his hands where shaking. He was afraid for the fourteen men that followed him. They had families. They had lives outside of their work. Garrett had devoted his life to work, these men had not. They would never see their families again, and that was what scared Garrett. It scared the life out of him.

  He realized that his hands had gone numb from gripping the controls so hard, but he couldn't let go.

  The computer chirped again, sounding like an explosion in the silence that surrounded Garrett.

  Enemy vessels in visual range.

  Garrett looked up expecting to see the probes, but instead he just saw an emptiness. The probes blended in with the color of the empty space behind them. The only way he could tell they were there was that were there was a probe, the stars behind could not be seen. It was eery, as if the probes were sucking all of the light from around them.

  A bright flash emanated from the first dark space. Garrett was aware of the computer saying something but he could not understand it. He tapped the inter-ship comm button. I'm sorry, he tried to say, but the words would not come. He gazed into space, the light getting closer, brighter. That was the last thing Commander Marvin Garett ever saw.

  * * *

  Fletcher stared helplessly at the screen in front of him. Fifteen blue blips on the screen blinked three times in unison and vanished. A tear slipped down his face. Commander Garrett had assured him that he and his team could handle the probes, but he had still been hesitant to send them against that.

  He watched as the ten red blips moved closer to the ship. He had told the commander that sensors had picked up what looked like antimatter signals coming from the probes, and warned him that if the ships possessed antimatter weapons, he would be putting the team in extreme danger. He had replied, Danger captain, is why you have a security team.

  Fletcher had agreed with Garrett, and allowed him to continue, under the condition that he warned his crew of the danger and allowed them the option to remain.

  Apparently, he had given a good pep talk, because all fifteen ships had launched without delay.

  The captain used his comm-band to call the senior staff to the briefing room.

  Once they had all arrived he asked them all to sit, but they remained standing. He didn't blame them. Fifteen men had just died at the hand of an alien force. They had come to this planet to mine fuel, not discover a fleet of fatal alien death probes.

  The captain looked around at the solemn faces, hating what he was about to tell them.

  "I realize that we have taken a big blow, and what I am about to do will sound insane." Fletcher shifted his position as he continued, "Those men will not be forgotten."

  One of the three women standing around the conference table sniffed and tried in vain to keep from crying. Fletcher recognized her as the woman that had been at the comm station earlier.

  "After witnessing the power that those probes possess, I have decided that there is only one way to stop them. We used the sensors aboard one of the fighter-pods to run a close range scan that determined that the probes are equipped with shielding ten times more powerful than our own. We do not have enough firepower on the ship to destroy the probes, but using the ship itself as a weapon, we have a fighting chance."

  Every one began to murmur. One of the men said, "Captain, you can't be serious!"

  "I'm dead serious." He had not intend the pun, but it had come out all the same. "I'm ordering all ship's personnel to take shelter in the emergency bunker. The shockwave from the explosion will undoubtedly cause the hull of the base to fracture. You will all be safe in the bunker and there are enough supplies to keep you all alive until the supply ship can take you all home. I have already contacted Earth and explained the situation, and after a lot of debate, they approved my plan."

  "Captain," it was the woman that had been crying, "you keep saying 'you all' as if you aren't going to be joining us."

  "The captain always goes down with the ship," he said solemnly.

  * * *

  Alyssa almost ran into the sliding door in front of her, as it opened. She saw Tom standing at a computer access panel, his fingers a blur as they hit the holographic keys.

  The room was considerable colder than the rest of the base. Due to the size of the computer core, conventional cooling had to be replaced by a liquid nitrogen cooling system that caused Alyssa's breath to condensate in front of her, looking like little puffs of smoke.

  "Tom! What are you doing in here, you were ordered to the emergency bunker," she half yelled at him, fire in her eyes.

  He continued typing, not even acknowledging her presence.

  She placed her hand on his shoulder and twisted him to face her. "Lieutenant! You are disobeying a direct order. You could be court-martialed for this."

  "I think I can stop the probes, I just have to reprogram their primary directive! I've already hacked passed the the first layer of security."

  "How could you possibly do that, the programing is written in an alien language."

  "Math is a universal language, remember? Once I determined what the numbers where, it was easy to override the security using binary code."

  "Look, I know you mean well, but you need to get into that bunker, you can continue your work down there. Considering what your doing, I'll overlook the part about you violating orders when I make my report to the captain."

  "There isn't time! Haven't you heard, the team that was sent to destroy the probes was vaporized. They have antimatter weapons, we don't stand a chance against them. When they reach us, they will wipe us off the face of the planet."

  "How can you possibly know that?" Her head was spinning. This was not supposed to be happening; this was just a a mining operation, no one was supposed to die.

  "I tapped into the ships comm system to monitor what was going on with the probes."

  Alyssa was about to say something else, but her comm-bands sounded, along with Tom's. "This is the captain to all Excelsior crew members. Everyone is to report to the emergency bunker. The bunker will be sealed in ten minutes. I have decided that the only way to stop the probes from destroying the base is to use the ship it's self as a weapon. The shockwave from the blast will splinter the upper part of the base, but you will all be safe below. You have served valiantly. I have recommended you all for commendation when the rescue ship arrives. It's been an honor serving with you."

  The transmission ended followed by a beep from the comm-bands.

  Alyssa could hardly think straight. Fletcher was going down with the ship?

  "We have to get out of here." She said, grabbing Tom's wrist. "It's too late to reprogram those things Tom."

  "I can do it!" He said, pulling away from her grip.

  "I'm not leaving you here," she said, desperately.

  "And I'm not leaving, so we're at a stalemate."

  "Not quite, I outrank you and I order you to come with me."

  "No. I don't care if you court-martial me, I'm not leaving until I..."

  Alyssa hit him in the head with her scanner. He crumpled to the ground.

  "Sorry about that Tom." She picked him up, and threw him over her shoulder. She was glad he didn't weigh much. "I'm gonna kill you if we survive this."

  She heard the doors hissing closed behind her as a terrible thought hit her like a freight train; It had taken her ten minutes to get here from the bunker...

  Section Eleven

  Main Bridge

  2056 Hours

  April 12th, 2167

  Captain Fletcher watched as the shuttle holding the last of the ships crew sped toward the surface.

  He waited until he saw the faint orange flash signaling that the shuttle had broken the planets thin atmosphere, wishing desperately that he could be with them. He walked to the helm control station and addressed the computer, "Computer," it chipped signaling that it was listening, "Arm all warheads aboard, security clearance Fletcher Alpha two one seven."

  Warheads armed, the computer stated, after a few seconds.

  "Initiate protocol one zero eight. Security override Fletcher Alpha two one seven."

  Protocol one zero eight has been initiated. Several seconds went by and then, all of the screens on the bridge changed to display a countdown from ten minutes. The numbers counted down in an ominous red color. The computer automatically accessed the ship wide comm system. Fletcher heard, Warning: self destruct sequence is active, all hands abandon ship, echoing throughout the empty ship.

  He sat in the command chair and addressed the computer again, "Computer, set a course for the alien probes currently on an intercept course. Set self destruct sequence to start as soon as the probes are within range of the explosion radius."

  Warning: command will cause termination of target.

  "Understood, override primary preservation protocol."

  The computer chirped as the ship rotated and moved toward its target.

  "Computer, begin recording a message to be encoded and sent to Director Alyssa Anderson when destruct timer reaches ten seconds." The computer complied and Fletcher began dictating his last words.