Stars Above The Willow Tree

Chapter 5 - A New Species

     "Captain, we've picked up a strange, repeating signal out in sector 90-A. How would you like to proceed?" a voice asked over the com.

Dethrhhek grunted and spit out his mouthwash before drying his hands on a towel.

"What's so strange about it?" He asked.

"Well, it seems to be a distress signal, but I'm not picking up any nav system or ship's beacon. There's a faint drive signature out there, but it's long gone."

All the way out here? Dethrhhek and his crew were the only ship in at least five sectors.

Exiting his quarters, he made his way to the bridge. the doors opened with a hiss and a clunk and the door on the right jammed halfway open, as it always did.

The Farahtuu was a rust bucket but it was his rust bucket so he just wrinkled his nose at the jammed door and continued forward.

"Let's check it out then," he said in resignation. He didn't want to deal with a distress signal right now. But as a registered crew of the Rovak Federation, he was required to answer ships in distress.

"It's close, sir. we should be there in less than zero point zero, zero one."

Nodding, Dethrhhek sat in his chair and adjusted the crotch of his pants so it wasn't squeezing him.

"Ethenen, you said there was a trace from a drive signature. Scan it. I want to know who passed through. And I don't want any surprises as we approach."

"Scanning for pirates, sir," Ethenen joked from his radar station.

Dethrhhek snorted, but Ethenen wasn't wrong. Pirates did sometimes set traps just like this. Though Dethrhhek was sure they didn't intend to catch the notice of a Tilith battleship.

"Ehnii, Aurora, prepare med bay for incoming. Zashiin, prepare the team for possible hostiles."

His crew responded in the affirmative through the com and the tension and anticipation grew as they prepared. His crew hadn't seen battle in too long and they were anxious to shed enemy blood.

They reached sector 90-A before mealtime and came out of FTL to see... nothing.

Frowning, Dethrhhek checked the sensors, switching from display to display.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"The beacon is still broadcasting, sir. It's just tiny."

"Aurora, pull up all feeds and scan the entire sector," Dethrhhek said, jerking his head to the side to pop his neck.

The display filled with visual feeds from every angle of the ship and still he saw nothing. He approached the monitor and frowned hard as he scanned each one.

He blinked and stepped even closer.

"Here!" He said, pointing. "Aurora magnify this feed."

The screen filled with a single visual of the stars, and something black moving slowly along, blotting them out one by one for just a second.

"Is that..." Ethenen started.

"Aurora scan the surrounding six sectors! Crew, battle stations! We have a Ssketch!"

A red light flashed in quick succession through the ship followed by a short klaxon.

"Shall I blow it out of the sky, sir?" Edress asked with a growl.

"Aurora?" Dethrhhek asked.

"No active drive signatures detected, captain," a soothing female voice said into the com. "The Ssketch is alone and seems to be in suspended animation. There are residual particles that would suggest a ship passed through recently but it's over zero point three parsecs past.