The Sphinx - 1. Chapter 1 - The Sphinx

“Hi, hon’, what’s up?” the black haired, slender lieutenant said as he slipped into the first officer’s position in the cockpit of the Aurora-class intragalactic commerce patrol vessel GV-11B3. He was wearing the standard uniform of a non-military reserve flight officer which consisted of a white, medium weight synthetic t-shirt, knee length shorts of the same material, white knit knee stockings, and black pseudo-leather sandals that had an ankle clasp to keep them on his feet. As the sexual subordinate to the other flight officer on the ship, he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“A UFO, about 20.68 light-seconds out and diminishing rapidly due to our relative speeds,” answered the second officer. He wore the same clothes as the first officer, except his clothes were dyed a light blue indicating his sexual superiority to the first officer. That their military ranks seemed to conflict with their sexual relationship didn’t trouble them in the least. As far as they were concerned such complexities belonged in the textbooks of sociologists. They were military officers (well, actually reserve officers) first and lovers second, though in an emergency both men knew the other would give up his life to save their ship.

“Have you hailed them?”

“On all frequencies.”

“How about light-com?”

“Same thing on all spectrums.”

“What’s our closing quotient?”

“As far as I can figure, their velocity is sub-light. Considering we’re doing light factor 12.56, we should meet within 30 seconds.”

“Any record of a Stellar Congress vessel in this area?”

“No, and I went back before Stellar Consolidation, too. Whatever that ship is, it’s not supposed to be where it is according to any Stellar histories.”

“At the very least, we’re going to have to board her. And, if she’s carrying contraband, we’ll have to either seize her cargo or destroy her in accordance with Stellar Congressional Intragalactic Rule 3.7(i).”

“Okay, reducing speed and initiating non-communicative waylaying procedures.”

“I’ll go down to the hangar and get a robotic assist unit and a few independent robotic operatives ready to take a look at this vessel. Wish me luck.”

“You got it, bud.”

“You can’t say it, can you?”

“Say what?”

“Hon, honey, peaches, sweetums.”

“You know very well I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Yeah, but I am.”

“Fine, go, see what’s on that ship.”

The first officer climbed out of his seat and left the cockpit. Although the ship going to sub-light was a dramatic physical event, neither human particularly noticed the mass electron, positron, and neutrino bow wave as it diminished through the ship. Once in the weapons bay, the first officer set his robotic assist unit (RAU) to flight prep and went to the robotic service unit selection module. He’d need a defensive perimeter, so he chose five ionization wave generators to surround the alien ship and evaporate it, if necessary. Next, he chose two ingress robots to search for access ports and possible defensive weaponry. Finally, he chose three egress units to ensure he’d be able to get out if everything went to shit.

As he was climbing into his RAU, he felt a faint shudder pass through the ship and he keyed his comm. “Did they just scan us?”

“They did something, but nothing is showing up on the environment status unit,” the second officer said.

“Okay, I’ve set everything to go. Oh, one thing, I never told you my name; you know, with you being so officious all the time.”

“Why now? What’s different from this boarding and any other?”

“I don’t know, just a strange feeling I’m having.”

“So, what is your name?”

“Chadwick, after my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. She called me Chad.”

“Well, Chad, it’s been nice knowing you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” he said as he opened the hangar door.

The five wave generators went out first and quickly positioned themselves around the alien ship. Chad noticed one thing right off. The alien ship did not have any sign of propellant intakes, meaning whatever was making it go had its tanks aboard ship. Then, as he came around behind, he couldn’t see any recognizable means of propulsion. This was either from an alien society so far advanced they achieved motive methods that did not require recognized means or somewhere in the Stellar Congress a society had achieved similar technology without anyone else knowing about it. He deployed the ingress units and waited for their signal to proceed.

Then that strange sensation swept through his RAU. He keyed his comm and said, “Hey, did you feel that?”

“No, not over here. What’d you feel?”

“That same sensation we felt over on the ship.”

“Maybe, they’re only scanning you.”

“Yeah, maybe. But, just me? That’s a little strange.”

“Maybe, they’ve got that technology, too.”

“Anyway, my recorders are on.”

“Chad, quit worrying.”

“That’s easy for you to say. This thing doesn’t even have windows.”

“What’s there to see if you’re moving faster than photons?”

“Okay, ingress reports a port of some kind on the opposite side of the vessel. Maneuvering, now.”

Chad’s RAU came around the alien ship and lined itself up with an open port. The ingress unit that had discovered it was nowhere to be seen. He undid the latches and stepped into the other ship. As soon as he put his modularized boot down onto the surface, a room about thirty or so meters wide by ten, or so, high lit up like he’d stepped into a lighting store. Slowly, the lights diminished and, after he had fully stepped inside, the door slid shut.

“Welcome, human, you may step outside your transport vehicle as I have adjusted the atmospherics to match your species’ requirements,” said a metallic voice more in Chad’s head than from his ears.

Chad looked at the atmospheric readout on his wrist. As everything was in order, he broke the seal on his helmet and ducked his head as it went up and back into the RAU storage shelf.

“Very good, human, or should I say, Chadwick Bottle. I am Sphinx and this is my ship.”

“Where are you from?”

“Nowhere in particular. You might say I exist in the here and now. Tea?”

“We’re not supposed to dine with aliens.”

“But, I am not an alien, per se, I, too, am from Earth. I do believe there was once a statue to me. Erected in my image from the pieces of me that remained after crashing onto your planet. They were such simple creatures and I welcomed their attempts to put me back together again. Unfortunately, they got it wrong and I was forced to leave.”

“Your voice, I don’t think I’m hearing you.”

“No, my good man, I am inside your head. With your first breath of the atmosphere in this ship pieces of me invaded your body.”

“Oh, god, I’ve got to get out of here,” Chad said as he tried to move, but for some reason he couldn’t move his legs.

“No, no, don’t trouble yourself. Now, raise your hands above your head.”

Chad tried to resist, but it was as if something else controlled his muscles.

“What are you going to do with me?” Chad asked as he felt his wrists lock into brackets above him.

“Devour your organic molecules. That’s what I live on, you see. The calcium in your bones will reduce to its molecular structure and then be put to use in other places on my ship. Now, to entice your compatriot, your lover, to come and join you at the feast.”

“He won’t come,” Chad said. “We’re trained not to attempt rescues.”

“How heartless can that man be? Let’s see for ourselves. Hon, you’ve got to come over here. There’s something you’ve just got to see.”

The second officer keyed the controls for the five wave generators and watched the alien ship slowly turn into countless subatomic particles that quickly dispersed in the interstellar medium. He climbed out of his seat and went down to the crew quarters where he walked up to a closet-like device that had multiple keypad units on one side of a door about a meter and a half wide and three meters tall. After reviewing all of his entries on the screen, he pressed the ENTER button. He turned around and went back up to the cockpit.

About fifteen minutes later, a black haired, slender lieutenant slipped into the first officer’s seat and said, “Hi, hon’, what’s up?”

“We encountered an alien ship a few parsecs back, but I took care of it.”

“Good; should I stay or what would you like me to do?”

“Can you go down to the galley and make lunch?”

“Sure, hon, no problem. Did I ever tell you my name?”

“No, I don’t think you did.”

“It’s Chadwick Bottle. Mom called me Chad.”

“That’s nice, Chad.”

The End