***A/N***
Be careful what you wish for. I tried something new with this chapter. Let me know how it turned out.
**********
Repairs continued without any major incidents. After three days of non-stop work, the worst of the damage had been repaired and the fleet was deemed worthy to fly. Sarah returned shortly before our scheduled departure and lost herself in whatever project she was working on. She had spent the entire three days with the Xroex. I found it interesting that they welcomed her so openly, yet shunned the rest of us. I made a mental note to asker her about it.
"Admiral," Lt. Sanchez said, getting my attention. "All ships are docked and all crew accounted for. We are ready to initiate jump sequence."
"Charge the drives and initiate jump in five minutes," I commanded. We were continuing our mission of searching for other species that may have been hidden throughout the galaxy. I was confident that there had to be more out there, especially after our encounter with the Xroex.
The third anomaly was our intended destination. Our flight plan consisted of four longer jumps to reach the anomaly. This would give the repair crews more time in between jumps to finish up the repairs. The next anomaly was fairly close, relatively speaking. It took just over a day to arrive at the boundary. With images of the first anomaly still fresh in our minds, we approached the unknown space cautiously.
"Admiral, scan complete. Immediate area clear of all threats." Lt. Young stated. "In fact, there is nothing at all."
I skeptically pulled up the scan results and was shocked. Not only was there nothing that could be construed as a threat, there was indeed nothing at all. Ahead of us was the Sahara desert of the Galaxy, a vast void of nothingness. "Take us in slowly," I commanded. "Launch probes every ten minutes. I do not want to be caught by surprise." As we approached the void, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. I thought everything I had been through would have prepared me for anything, but something about this place gave me the creeps. I could tell I wasn't the only one affected by the ominous feeling that permeated the bridge. I stood and walked to the projection of our surrounding area. The further we went into the void, the more celestial bodies dropped from view. Soon, the display was empty, with the exception of the Unity and the freshly launched probes.
I stood there for hours. Eventually, I was flanked by Sarah and Shahae, both sharing in my bewilderment at our new surroundings. "How is it possible for nothing to exist here?" Shahae asked.
"You knowledge of the mechanics of the universe is extremely limited. Its vastness and complexities are beyond all our comprehensions," Sarah responded.
I was about to reply when an alarm went off, killing the silence of the bridge. Sarah, Shahae, and I made a mad dash to the offending station. The station was dedicated to monitoring incoming probe telemetry.
"What's going on?" I asked the technician, manning the station. He was suddenly overwhelmed at being the center of attention.
"W...we lost a probe," he stuttered.
"Where?" I demanded.
"I'll upload all probe telemetry to the holoscreen," he said, gaining back some self-confidence.
We returned to the center of the bridge. The holographic projection had changed. It now showed a much larger area with indicators for each probe. A red indicator sat near the center. "Fire a probe at high speeds one klick to the right of the lost probe," I ordered.
"You think there is something out there, don't you?" Shahae asked.
"This will give us a better idea. Last time I checked probes didn't go silent without reason."
"If there is something out there, we had better exercise extreme caution," Sarah advised.
"I plant to," I replied. We watched the second probe near the center of the anomaly and disappear. "Lt. Young, plot new course to intercept last known location of the lost probes," I commanded. "Create new firing pattern and launch every five minutes. Let's see if we can map this out." I unconsciously wiped sweat off my brow.
"Are you alright Jack?" Shahae asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I'm fine," I replied, slightly irritated. "Why do you ask?"
"You're sweating profusely."
Sure enough, my uniform was starting to show dark patches. I glanced around the bridge and saw others in the same predicament. "It looks to me like the environmental controls are malfunctioning."
"Internal temperature has had a variance of less than point zero one degree Celsius since I arrived on the bridge," Sarah announced.
"Run a full diagnostic on Environmental Controls immediately," I ordered. "Lt. Sanchez, check with other sections and see if they are reporting the same conditions."
Another hour passed while we tried to unlock the secrets of the anomaly. As we drew closer, the condition of the crew continued to deteriorate.
"Admiral Ryan, you must turn back now!" Sarah demanded. "You are endangering everyone on this ship."
I trudged back to my chair and collapsed in it. Truth be told, I could hardly think anymore, let alone give orders. The sound of a high pitched whine broke through to my unresponsive brain and instinctively, I jumped out of my chair and collapsed on the floor. Something was definitely wrong. Sarah and Shahae rushed to my side. As I attempted to stand, the crew started collapsing like dominoes. I felt myself sinking into unconsciousness' sweet embrace.
***
I watched in horror as Jack and his crew collapsed. "They are still alive," Sarah said. "It appears that all higher brain function is becoming dormant. I recommend we reverse course immediately."
"I couldn't agree with you more," I replied as I gently stroked Jack's hair. Sarah walked over to the nearest navigation console and removed its occupant, paying no mind as the body of the Terran soldier crashed to the floor. Several minutes later Sarah slapped the navigation console and yelled, "Stupid human paranoia!" She stood and took a second to let her anger evaporate before walking back to my side. "Time for plan B," she said calmly. Just then, the navigator, who I realized was Lt. Young, began to moan.
"Luck seems to be on our side. It appears as if he is coming around," I said hopefully.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. According to my scanners, the cognitive part of his brain is still dormant."
Soon more voices were added to that of Lt. Young. I watched in morbid fascination as his muscles began to twitch. Soon, others around the room began mimicking his behavior. "I think we should leave," I said as a feeling of dread endeavored to enshroud my heart, vainly attempting to overwhelm me. I further steeled myself and ran for the exit. I ran past the guard station where two marines were struggling to stand. Sarah stopped and took the side arms from each guard. She pointed one at the wall and fired off three quick bursts. An alarm sounded and the bridge sealed itself.
"Why did you do that?" I asked as soon as she caught up to me.
"I thought it best to seal the bridge. I'm assuming you have your armor stored in your quarters?"
"Yes," I answered.
"Good. If things keep progressing like this, you may need it. Put it on as quickly as possible, then we'll make our way to the engine room."
I stormed into my office and grabbed my armor. I had put it on in record time and stepped into the hallway just as Sarah was exiting Jack's office.
"What were you doing in there?" I asked suspiciously.
"The key to our success was hidden in there," she answered cryptically. "I did the math. We have roughly thirty minutes until we reach the location where we lost the probes."
"I thought we were hours away."
"Somehow the engines are at one hundred percent. Whatever is out there, it is impatient."
We took off down various passageways until we reached the transport tubes. Luckily the room was deserted. We jumped into the waiting tube and shot down the length of the ship. We stepped out of the other end and found the room empty. Sarah turned to me and handed me a small rectangular device.
"Guard this with your life. Admiral Ryan showed this to me in case of an emergency. It will allow us to bypass the ship's security long enough to make a single jump. The jump location is already programmed in, so all you have to do is insert this into the main computer controlling the jump drive."
"What are you going to be doing?" I asked, feeling nervous.
"I'm going to be providing the entertainment," she said with a smile. "Be sure not to kill any of the crew. Admiral Ryan would be very upset with us if anyone died."
Armor appeared out of nowhere and enclosed itself over her delicate skin. Before I had a chance to ask her what she meant, she ran towards the door. I followed close behind. We found ourselves in a hallway with a dozen of the ship's crew. They were standing completely still with a glazed look in their eye. They looked like some sort of statue. They finally reacted as we passed by. I could feel my body start to sweat. I was hoping it was due to the adrenalin, but something told me otherwise.
Without warning, a hand reached out and grabbed my legs. I tripped and crashed on the floor. The device Sarah gave me fell from my hands and stopped about a foot away. I lunged for it as the now feral Terran pulled on my legs. I was barely able to grab it before being pulled back. I came face to face with a Terran wearing an engineer's uniform. His face was slick with drool as he tried to grab my head. I lashed out with my elbow and hit him in the side of the head. This gave me the opening I needed and I scrambled backwards, out of his reach. I let out a yelp as I backed into something solid.
"We will never make it in time if you don't keep up," Sarah scolded. She took off without warning and I ran after. I was feeling breathless as my nanites struggled to keep up with my body's demands. I knew then that something was wrong. I was on my way to joining the Terrans in their mindless rampage. We reached the engine room and Sarah shoved me inside and tossed the second gun she had taken from the guard in after me. She then shut the door, trapping me inside.
I looked around and realized I wasn't alone. I grabbed the weapon she threw at me and trained it at the closest body. I pulled the trigger without hesitation and watched as a non-lethal round made impact. The body convulsed on the floor before going still. Using both weapons, I quickly took out the remaining six Terrans in the room. Sarah was still in the hallway fighting. I could picture here facing a numberless horde of feral Terrans.
I stumbled through the room, momentarily forgetting my objective. It was hard to concentrate with the sounds and screams coming from outside the room. I stumbled to the main computer and wracked my brain, trying to remember why I was here. A brief flash of clarity hit and I quickly yanked the device out of my pocket. There was a little slot on the face of the console where the device seemed to fit. It took me a couple of tries to figure out how to correctly insert it. I could feel myself slipping away rapidly. The device slipped in as I collapsed to my knees. An alarm sounded, warning of an emergency jump. My vision started blurring around the edges, eventually turning black. I slumped against the console, finally letting consciousness slip away.
***
I felt myself waking and felt strange pains all over my body. I didn't remember feeling this sore since my first few weeks at the Academy. I attempted to force my eyes open, but my left eye wouldn't comply. It felt swollen and very tender. My right eye was blurry and I blinked several times to try and clear my vision. I felt myself relax as I realized a soft hand was gently caressing my cheek. Once I registered what was happening, I jerked up. My vision clouded and I was on the verge of passing out. I felt gentle yet firm hands force me down on my back again.
"You've had a rough day Jack. I advise you take it easy and move slowly." I knew I recognized that voice, but at the moment it sounded like an angel was speaking.
"What happened?" I asked as I tried to regain control of my chaotic brain.
"I'll tell you everything once your mind has cleared. I understand how disoriented you are. You recovery should only take a few hours." I felt a pain in my arm and was soon sleeping comfortably.
I awoke several hours later feeling more like myself. I tried to sit up, but felt a hand stopping me. "You may want to move slowly, Admiral," Sarah said. "Shahae said the last time you attempted to sit, you almost passed out."
"What happened? " I asked, forcing my right eye open and vainly attempted to focus on her face.
"Once you are more recovered I will give you all the details. Until that time, we really need you to give either of us access to the ship's controls."
"Help me to my chair," I said. "We'll see what we can do to give you access. I sat down and felt relieved when the chair successfully authenticated me. I tried navigating through the various menus, but the system was behaving erratically. I groaned and said, "Whoever designed this interface obviously didn't give thought about an injured person operating it." I sighed in frustration. "Help me to one of the navigation consoles."
I leaned on Sarah and limped to the nearest console. "I can't give you access from here, but I can input commands for you. Where are we headed?" Under Sarah's guidance, I brought the ship to a halt and began charging the jump drive. Sarah gave me our destination and we vanished the moment our drive was charged.