Noah - 23. Chapter 23

Date: 7th November 2419
Location: MMV Noah, Unknown

“Shuttles Able and New Light, you are cleared for launch,” the controller called over the radio from the main control room. “Bravo wing, you are clear for takeoff and exit via hatch 8.”

Given the valuable cargo that would soon be aboard, I had decided to assign all the operational Blades we currently had to escort the two shuttles to the Lahstey. The plan hinged on getting the computer components back to Noah, and to a lesser extent, the Pallner bodies. If anything were to happen to them, we would be in big trouble, and we still didn’t know if there were any more pirates in the area.

“Captain, we’re receiving a transmission from the Horstur.” An officer at one of the stations said, relaying the message from the bridge.

“Put it through to me,” I ordered; a moment later, the Ambassador’s voice appeared in my mind.

“Captain, we have decided to send along a group of technicians to assist your crews in searching for the Lahstey’s crew. They know the scout class inside and out, and should have no problem locating where the bodies lie.”

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary, ambassador,” I replied, trying to think of an excuse. “We already have a full layout, and know where the bodies are; we wouldn’t want your crews to waste their time.”

“Nonsense, captain, we insist.” He replied adamantly. It was clear from his tone that he thought we were up to something, and wanted to send along some insurance.

“Very well, I’m sure that our teams will appreciate the assistance.” I decided that a pirate attack would have to be ‘arranged’ once in position.

Closing the channel to the ambassador, I prepared a set of instructions for the Wing Leader of the fighters, informing him of the change of plans. He acknowledged the plan as the group of fighters left the bay.

Since we had now moved from our previous position, the wreck of the Lahstey was now further away, and the crews would be out of our communications range for several hours while they went about their work. It would take just over 40 hours each way travelling for the small fleet, with the operation expected to last around 4. We would be out of contact for approximately 12 hours, and there was nothing to do now but wait.

“What do you mean, ‘lost’?” The ambassador angrily asked. The fleet had just returned into communications range, minus one Pallner shuttle and two fighters, to make the attack appear more realistic. Conveniently, both pilots managed to eject from their ships in plenty of time and were now aboard the Caravans.

“There must be another pirate base somewhere in the system; the wing leader reports that a large group of pirate fighters ambushed them just before they arrived at the Lahstey’s position. They destroyed the group, but unfortunately your shuttle and two fighters were lost.”

“This is…unacceptable! Your people were responsible for the safety of that shuttle.”

“The shuttle was the first thing that the pirates attacked. They powered up from nowhere. Our pilots didn’t have time to react before the shuttle was destroyed.”

“That shuttle had sensors far more advanced than anything you have. We can accept that your ships failed to spot them, but there is no way that they would have managed to sneak up on ours.”

“I have no explanation for why your ship didn’t spot them. If they had, my pilots would have taken out the force long before it became a threat.”

“You had better return our crew to us as soon as they are ready, Captain. We will be looking into this…incident further, believe me.”

The channel to the Horstur closed abruptly, leaving me standing in the Bridge.

“That could have gone worse,” I said to myself with a sigh of relief.

Shortly after the fleet had left communications range, and there were no detectable signals from the Pallner shuttle, all of the Blades spun around and destroyed it before it could do anything to jeopardise our plans. Wisely, the wing leader had two of his pilots abandon their ships before destroying them too. The area was scoured for any remnants of the Pallner shuttle which could be used to incriminate us.

Following the ‘ambush’, the rest of the mission went off without a hitch. All of the bodies we had located on our first investigation of the Lahstey had been recovered, as had most of the ship’s computer system. Senior Crewman Long was reportedly rather enthusiastic after the recovery, and had identified several of the components which had been destroyed on the Rolstan, as well as a diagram of the system fully constructed. Unfortunately some parts were simply too bulky to fit into the shuttles, but SC Long was confident that she had everything she needed to get the Rolstan’s computer operational again.

As soon as the shuttles had docked, SC Long had the computer components scanned and shipped to the Rolstan. She had been on heavy duty now for more than a full day, but was full of energy when the components were offloaded, excited about the chance to play with the computer some more.

Immediately, she rushed to the Rolstan, reassembling the components in the same way that they had been aboard the Lahstey. Within three hours of the shuttles’ arrival, she was reporting that the computer was ready to be booted up.

Standing in the ship’s computer core, I gave the order to switch the system on. Immediately, lights started flashing all around the room as Long dashed around, checking different control panels. After a few minutes, she seemed happy that the system was running consistently, and wasn’t going to explode.

“Well? Can you tell if it has what we need?” I asked after she had settled down.

“I don’t know yet. Getting the hardware working was only half of the battle. Now I have to figure out the operating system and find out how to get around the security.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know yet. Some of it looks pretty complex…. I could really use a native speaker’s help.”

Up to now, Sii’nour had proven himself good to his oath, and had been nothing but honest, sticking to his word. I had no reason to doubt that he would assist us with accessing the computer, but for the time being, there were other things he was dealing with. Telling Long to do her best for the time being, I headed to the cloning facility.

It hadn’t taken him long to begin growing Pallner null bodies, though it had taken longer to prepare the new ones than it had to create his own. In the 88 hours since the shuttles departed, he had grown two bodies and was just finishing testing their viability when I walked in. Shen and Danielson were both in one of the science labs, assisting the scientists in the data extraction from each body, starting with the one that appeared to be the ship’s Captain.

It only took a few minutes for him to finish off his tests, leaving him waiting for the first new DNA profile and neural map to be sent to him.

“How do you feel about this?” I asked him while we waited. Shen assured us that it would only be a few minutes. As a member of the crew and an M citizen, Sii’nour was privy to all the same information that everyone else had. He may not know about the ambush, but he would definitely know about the tension between the ambassador and myself of late.

“About resurrecting my dead crew?” He asked in return. Over the last few months, his speech had changed a great deal. Though there was still a little singing involved, he was sounding much more human, even using many human inflections to portray his mood, in addition to his natural blushing. “It is an honour to bring my crew back from the dead. I feel proud to be a part of it.”

“No, I mean, how do you feel about the situation with the Horstur? Do you have any regrets about joining us?” I clarified.

“Never.” He replied simply. “If it weren’t for yourself and your crew, I would never have seen the technologies you have available to you. In regard to the Horstur, well,” he paused for a moment, “I am sure that the ambassador has told you about our society? How all of the Pallner people live aboard the City Ship, and how everything is blissful aboard?”

I nodded. I had been given the history of the Pallner people, including what seemed like a rather well written political piece. I had never been too certain whether or not to believe it.

“Well, that is…” he paused, thinking of the word, “bullshit. The military runs the Ship and the fleet, but not in the same way as you…we do. In the Pallner society, the military controls everything; they get the biggest share of all food produced; then whatever is left is shared out among the civilians. Technically, the ship is run as a democracy, but anyone who stands up against the military is rapidly put down.”

This was beginning to sound sadly familiar, reminiscent of many a regime throughout Earth’s history.

“I joined the Medical Corps to try to get myself and my family better conditions, nothing more. Here, I have better conditions than I could ever ask for back home. If you are asking if I am tempted to go back to the Horstur, or if I feel that you chose to do the wrong thing, the answer is no.”

A message from Dr. Shen interrupted me before I could say anything more, stating that the first neural map was ready.

“Showtime,” Sii’nour said happily with a blush shimmering over his aural canals. “With your permission, Captain?”

I nodded, then stood back as he rushed over the platform and between different consoles. On the far wall, a pod filled with yellow goo and the shadowy outline of a Pallner body moved across through several machines as it was injected with a specially designed retrovirus, which would, over time, replace the null body’s DNA with the new occupant’s own.

It took about ten minutes for the pod to make its way through several machines, before arriving in the final one and having the neural map flashed to its mind.

After exiting the last machine, the pod slid onto the same table that both Sii’nour and I had woken up on. Sliding back the hatch, Sii’nour took some readings before the body awoke.

“Hello, Captain,” He sang in the Pallner language. The newly cloned body appeared to try to speak, but was stopped by Sii’nour, “Do not attempt to speak, all will be explained soon.”

He injected the new Pallner with a sedative, causing it to fall unconscious immediately. Calling over to two of the Marines standing guard in the facility, a security measure I had not this time around objected to, he asked them to take the Pallner officer to the main medical bay, just in the next section. Once they were out of the door, he turned back to me.

“Captain, regardless of what the ambassador may say, the military’s hold over power is far from popular on the City Ship, and there are many in the military itself who disagree with the high ranking officers’ handling of pretty much everything. I know of at least two other crewmembers of the Lahstey who would happily join Noah’s crew, given the opportunity. One is the ship’s third Engineer, and the other my nurse. I must ask for their sake, would you be willing to help them in the same way you did myself, should the situation arise?”

I was somewhat taken aback by the revelations Sii’nour had cast over the details provided by the ambassador. It was quite clear that aspects had been carefully edited out, and what there was seemed a little too good to be true. But if what Sii’nour had told me was correct, and I had no reason to believe otherwise, there was a deep vein of discontent running throughout Pallner society. I could already see this developing into a rather…unique opportunity. I would have to run my idea past the Admiral first, however.

“I’ll have to think about that. I knew that you would not betray us after you linked with me in the computer. I don’t know how we could be so certain about anyone else.”

“I have no doubt that anyone who wished to join would be more than willing to allow their memories to be checked. Would that be sufficient?” He asked, showing a passion I had not previously seen in him.

“I will have to check with the admiral,” I replied, transferring the responsibility of the decision. If we could be sure of the crews’ loyalty and commitment to our cause, it might be possible to infiltrate the discontent and replace the Pallner government with one more…sympathetic to our point of view. In the best case scenario, perhaps we could even absorb the Pallner into the M Military; that would most definitely be a great result. While we had now gotten their database, and would eventually hack into it, having Pallner crews who had hands-on experience with this technology would be a huge advantage.

“Thank you, Captain. Whatever the admiral’s decision, I will stand by you. You have shown me a great deal of trust and I will not break that. If the admiral accepts the proposal, I will quietly speak with the crewmembers and offer them the deal. It would be unwise to let the Captain hear about the arrangement, and I would need to be able to gain access to them without arousing suspicion.”

I nodded my agreement. “When will the next crewman be ready?”

“I believe that the science teams are taking extra precautions with mapping them.” He glanced at a panel and pushed a few buttons. “It appears that the second body is viable, so I am ready when they are. The next batch of bodies will be ready in around thirty hours, three this time.”

“Good work. As soon as they’re processed, have them taken to quarters until they can be debriefed by the Ambassador.”

After Sii’nour’s agreement, I turned and left the cavernous room. My destination was only next door; the main medical facility, where Dr. Danielson was currently giving the new Pallner a thorough examination. Quickly sending a message to the bridge, I asked the communications officer to request that the Ambassador head over immediately. With Sii’nour busy running the cloning facility, I felt that it would be a good idea to have a Pallner present when the Lahstey’s captain was reawakened. Having the Ambassador present would also mean that he could be debriefed immediately, possibly placating the Ambassador somewhat.

“As far as I can tell, the DNA is assimilating and the map has taken. I have to admit that even with Sii’nour’s help, I’m still not entirely certain about Pallner physiology, but I’m sure enough to confirm that he should be alright to wake.” The Doctor briefed me as he finished his examination.

“The Ambassador is on his way, but I want an excuse to keep them aboard, until the whole crew has been resurrected, at least. Three days, minimum.” I ordered. Having given Sii’nour’s plan a little more thought, I had decided that it would probably be quite a good idea to offer the Lahstey’s crew asylum; at least the ones he thought wise to do so. I would still have to run it by the Admiral, but given the potential advantages that having a Pallner engineer aboard would bring to the efforts of refitting the Horstur, I doubted she would have a problem with it.

Staring at the holopad containing the captain’s readings, the doctor struggled to come up with a reason to keep the officer aboard. “I suppose I could say that we need to keep them in for observation, to ensure no complications. I’m not sure what possible complications there could be that wouldn’t be detectable right now, but it’s the best I can do.”

“That will be enough,” I replied, taking the holopad and looking over the contents. To me, the graphs, figures and codes meant absolutely nothing. Medical training at school amounted to first aid and treating basic wounds; this was totally above me. “The Ambassador will be arriving shortly to debrief him. Is his neural link still active?”

“It’s in a passive mode; he can’t access anything, but it’s still linked into all of his senses, yes.”

“Good, that should be ideal.” I commented as a message arrived, informing me of the Ambassador’s arrival aboard. It would probably be about five minutes before he arrived, so in the meantime, I examined the freshly cloned body more closely. I had seen Sii’nour many times, but had never really looked closely.

When Sii’nour designed the null bodies, he used totally ‘average’ Pallner DNA as a base; just like a Human null body, this one had no exceptional features whatsoever. A wide, rugby ball shaped head about forty centimetres wide; two slight bulges on the top half, equal distance from the tips of the head and each other, contained the solid black eyes. Each tip was dappled with many tiny holes, forming the Pallner equivalent of ears, doubling up as a means of portraying emotion. According to Sii’nour, the makeup of the individual’s neurochemistry would directly affect the colour of their blood. Though the aural canals, being densely packed with blood vessels, were the most obvious place, there were several other locations which changed colour in the same way, though they were all covered by clothing under normal circumstances.

Below the eyes was a small round mouth. Unlike a human mouth, the Pallner’s never fully closed. This physiology meant that they were unable to drink as we do; they would have to look directly upwards to stand a chance of getting any fluid in, nor could they suck, being unable to make a vacuum. Instead, the tentacles inside the mouth were highly absorbent, capable of moving a litre of fluid in just a few seconds, and could be extended a short distance from the mouth.

The majority of a Pallner’s diet was fluidic or similarly absorbable, meaning that they didn’t have a digestive system as such; most of the nutrients of their food were absorbed through the tentacles. Any dry, solid food remaining would then be stored in one of two small pouches at the back of the throat, which would then fill with nutrient-leeching saliva. After everything useful had been removed, the waste would then be ejected via the mouth.

Surrounding the mouth, four small openings made up the Pallner nasal system. Air would be drawn in through the ‘nostrils’, be pulled through a twisting series of tubes, similar to very small intestines, before being vented through the mouth. Pallner speech was produced by rapidly oscillating the tentacles as air was exhaled.

A Pallner’s entire respiratory and digestive systems was located in a very small area, far more efficiently packed than a human’s, but less adaptable to changes in diet, and respiratory throughput was limited; at a certain point breathing faster would simply leave more unused oxygen in the exhaled air.

The Pallner brain was, in terms of volume, only a little larger than a human’s. Sii’nour had given us much information on their mental abilities; largely similar to a human’s, but the hairs inside their aural canals were highly sensitive to electrical fields, allowing them to sense a person’s presence at a surprising range.

Where the Pallner had an edge on humans in hearing and the electrical sense, they lost the edge visually. Their eyes were far less efficient than a human’s; despite the eyes being larger, they had fewer receptors, and were far less able to detect colour or motion; especially in the dark.

Colonel Atkinson had already requested several science teams to be put to work attempting to suppress a human’s natural electrical field. Until now, I had put off the requests, but if we were to assist the rebellious factions within the Pallner society, being able to sneak around undetected would be highly advantageous. I made a note to assign a science team if the Admiral agreed to the plan.

At the back of the skull, the head attached to a thin, perfectly straight spine. Around the spine, a large number of cartilage rings made up the Pallner torso, resulting in a slightly ridged body, from which two shoulders jutted out at right angles from the body before moving at another right angle to the thin arms. Unlike a human calcium-based skeleton, the Pallner had a chitin bone structure, which gave the muscles less to pull against, making them relatively weak physically, but the soft, pliable chitin made breaking Pallner bones much harder than a human’s. At the end of the arm, three long fingers, made up of seven independent segments, each about 2cm long, emerged. Each joint appeared to be able to move in 360 degrees from the previous one, giving them incredible dexterity, able to grip strongly with any one finger, or all three.

At the base of the spine, a sexually dimorphic bulge contained the reproductive organs. The male’s was much smaller than the female’s, containing his testes and the organs responsible for producing the small chitin dart used to impregnate the female. The female’s much larger bulge contained the womb, surrounded in an armoured chitin shell, with only a small gap for impregnation.

Unlike humans, reproduction was entirely functional, with no physical pleasure. The male would fire his dart through the opening in the female’s womb while she consciously ovulated. If the egg was successfully fertilised, the child would grow, well protected in the armoured womb for around seven months, before the womb would split open along its length, tearing the skin apart and releasing the child. When possible, the mother would be anaesthetised and the skin pre-cut with a scalpel. In a natural birth, the mother’s body secreted several anaesthetic and hallucinogenic compounds, greatly reducing but not entirely relieving the physical and mental trauma. As the Pallner never really moved on from a liquid diet, the mother was unable to produce milk; instead the child would have to feed from the same food source as the parent.

From the bulge, four legs split off, at the 45, 135, 225 and 315 degree positions. When standing, the ‘thighs’ would be parallel to the floor, running for around a metre before a right angled joint led to the shin. At the base of each leg, three digits of similar makeup to the fingers split off, but were much thicker then the fingers and only had four segments.

The door slid open behind me. Turning around, I saw the Ambassador step in, flanked by two Marines, who remained on either side of the door.

“Captain.” He greeted me. There was more than a little coldness in both his tone and complexion.

“Ambassador.” I nodded, “Meet the Captain of the Lahstey.” I stepped aside, revealing the body on the bed.

“This is Captain Lahh’su?”

“We believe so. He was in the captain’s chair on the ship’s bridge.”

“Can you wake him?” he asked, taking the unconscious Pallner’s hand.

“Doctor?” I looked over to the doctor, who had been checking some readouts nearby.

“I believe so.” He took a syringe from the side of the bed and inserted it into the body’s torso.

A few seconds later, the body stirred and the eyelids snapped open.

“Captain Lahh’su?” the Ambassador asked, “Ambassador San-louur, 75527791.”

“74833673.”The freshly revived Pallner responded, apparently meeting with the Ambassador’s acceptance.

“You have been revived using alien technology, Captain. How do you feel?”

“Young.” Lahh’su replied after a few moments.

“The null bodies are aged to early adulthood. They should be in peak health.” The doctor explained before walking over to a sequencer.

“There is an odd sensation in my head.” Lahh’su commented, rubbing the back of his head.

“The neural link is disabled. We will remove it once we are certain that there are no issues with the cloning. I will need to keep each crewmember under observation for at least 72 hours before I would feel comfortable releasing them.” The doctor replied, handing Lahh’su a cup of some form of fluid. “I believe this is one of Sii’nour’s favourite drinks.”

“Sii’nour? He is alive?”

“Alive, but he has betrayed the Allegiance. He has joined with the aliens.”

Tentatively, Lahh’su dipped a tentacle into the cup, testing the drink before draining it in a few seconds.

“What of the rest of the crew?” He asked, setting the cup aside.

“We will be reviving them one at a time,” I explained, turning to the Ambassador, “If it is acceptable to you, Ambassador, I would like for you to remain aboard Noah to debrief the crew as and when they are revived. I am sure you wish to speak to each one, and it would be easier than shuttling back and forth.”

The ambassador considered for a few moments before nodding his acceptance.

“I will arrange for a sufficient amount of quarters to be equipped with Pallner furniture for the whole crew,” I offered, sending a message to Commander Wye, requesting that he assign a crew to the task as a priority.

“Thank you, Captain,”the Ambassador replied, his tone only slightly less cold than earlier.

“If you will excuse us, gentlemen, I have to put Captain Lahh’su through some examinations.” The doctor interrupted, “You will be able to continue your debriefing later on.”

The ambassador seemed to stare at the doctor for a moment before nodding and turning to leave the room, being led to his temporary quarters by the Marines.

Following behind, I left the room and headed towards the Admiral’s quarters while sending her a message requesting a meeting.