The Inner Ring (gxg)

Chapter 13

The rings and moons of Uranus, as well as the planet itself, were a stunning natural view that none of the crew would ever forget. But that view was relegated to a distant second place as the bulk of the intact space craft grew larger and larger in front of them. Emily had taken the pilot's seat for last of the flight to get the ship near the hulking craft, and now they could see some of the details that weren't visible from the original pictures they had seen.

Like the immense hole that bisected the craft from top to bottom.

It looked as if someone had just taken a giant popsicle stick and ripped it right out of the middle of the ship. From the beginning, Pepper had wondered why the immense craft had been abandoned, but now they most certainly knew.

"Well, at least now we don't have to guess how to get in!" Brody joked.

Nobody laughed.

"That is gigantic," Xavier murmured. In the original photos, Pepper had been able to see the length of the ship and general outline, but up close the scale was awe inspiring.

"Bigger than an aircraft carrier," Lena agreed. She had flown off the USS Gerald Ford in her Navy days, and this was substantially larger.

The ship was shaped almost like an elongated square cut diamond. They were coming in from the wide end, giving them a view of a cluster of what appeared to be six huge engines, arranged in a circular fashion. Moving forward, the craft then tapered slowly down to a point far on the other end. The hole started top of the ship near what appeared to be the stern, tilting down into it, and they couldn't tell yet if it went the entire way through. It certainly didn't look to be a part of the design and lent more credence to the thoughts of a space battle.

Remembering the photo analysis, Pepper knew that beyond this ship were several potential smaller ships as well as the larger ruined ship. As amazing as this ship was, it was only going to get better!

"I can't believe we're finally here and seeing this!" Anton smiled widely.

"We're going to see a lot more soon, the smaller ships and the giant one should be in sight once we pass this," Pepper promised.

"How many ships will there be?" Lena asked, no doubt wondering which ones she could fly.

"We weren't sure. There could be up to a dozen based on what we saw, or even more if they were too small to see on the photos. We'll have to see what we find."

All of this was being recorded, both audio and video. Anton had planned on making a documentary of the expedition after editing, and no doubt it would be played over and over back home. But right now, they were just enjoying the view. Emily had the speed of their craft slow enough that they could study the sides of the larger vessel as they slowly glided past. It had a surprisingly large number of openings. Perhaps glass had blown out or something? As they passed it, they could finally see the other side of the hole that terminated low on the ship's hull.

"Could any foreign body have done that?" Miles asked, trying to study the hole.

"No," Pepper answered. "If that had been hit by a rock of some sort, it wouldn't be such a neat hole. It would be like a bullet, larger on the way out. I bet if we measured the diameter, it would be the same size the throughout the ship."

"Some sort of a laser?" Miles pressed.

"I don't know, maybe," Pepper shrugged.

"Certainly, well beyond our capability," Brody commented.

"Everything out here is well beyond our capability," Lena scoffed.