The End Result... (Chapter 19 - Unexpected)

[dragondream]

The End Result

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Chapter 19 – Unexpected

The initial shock of the possibility of instant death passed quickly and Robert gazed unbelievingly around the deck. The rest of the crew had not realised that anything unusual had happened, except for the fact that they were nowhere near where they had planned to jump. The Captain stared in a confused manner at the peculiar scenery around the Savior. There was no nebulae cloud, no asteroid field, no nearby planets, but most of all the star constellations blatantly contradicted the coordinates the ship had been set for. Robert turned round to look at Sgt. Banks to see if he was thinking the same thing as he himself was. Sgt. Banks made no attempt to hide his emotion of startling confusion or puzzlement. His mouth made as if to speak, but no words came out.

“Impossible!” the Captain exclaimed and then glared at the Navigator. “Double check the entered coordinates immediately and see if they match to the present ones.”

The Navigator looked at his control screen in wide astonishment and without making similar eye contact with the Captain he replied: “Sir, there are no coordinates. We’re – no, that’s impossible.”

“What is?” the Captain demanded.

The Navigator hesitated shortly before responding. “We’re in a completely different galaxy.”

“Is that even possible?” Sgt. Banks asked as he walked towards the Navigator.

“No, not at all. The Jumpdrive was never even designed to go that far. In fact, it’s unobtainable, the technology never got that far ahead to allow the Jumpdrive to go outside the galaxy.”

“The break-in!” Robert exclaimed loudly and the entire deck stared quietly at Robert. “Don’t you see? The Generator room break-in was never to sabotage the Jumpdrive – it was to modify it. Modify it to jump way outside the natural boundaries of the device itself. All we have to figure out is why.”

The Captain sighed and descended into his massive leather seat. His huge bulk filled the entire chair, leaving hardly any room for anything else. His hands reached upwards to rub his aching eyes, for he had not slept for 36 hours straight.

“Scan the area,” he commanded the Navigator, his hands still rubbing his sore eyes.

The Navigator complied immediately and conducted a detailed scan and radar search of the area. The fact that he had failed to find anything was evident from the quiet glance he gave the Captain. The Captain stopped rubbing his eyes and stared hard at the windowed view in front of him.

“Wait, what’s that?” he asked as he pointed into the distance.

Everyone strained their eyes in an attempt to see what the Captain saw and soon spotted a round distant object hovering in space, only noticeable from the light it reflected from the nearby sun. It was definitely very far away.

“Shouldn’t the radar have picked up such a massive object though?” Robert asked the Navigator.

“Not if it’s stealth.”

“I’ve got a very bad feeling about this,” expressed the Captain. “It could be Xenon. It could be a trap. It could be anything.” Then he turned to the Navigator. “I want you activate the Jumpdrive. Jump anywhere, just so long to goodness it’s not here.”

The Navigator seemed busily pressing buttons and flicking switch, looking slightly nervous and fidgety as he attempted several methods to accomplish his task. Then he sighed with contempt. “It’s no use. It won’t engage. It’s either because of the fact we’re somewhere the Jumpdrive is not used to or it could be that that object, the one you don’t one to get any closer to, is actually jamming our drive.”

“Captain,” Robert said as he approached the Captain slowly and then lowered his tone. “We’ll never know what it is or why we were brought here until we get close to that thing and find out what in Sol’s name it is.”

“You don’t even know whether that thing could kill us, save us, or be of nothing of value anyway. Like I said, it could be anything.”

“Well, I guess there’s only one way of finding out.”

* * * * * * * * * *

The mysterious structure was now majestically rising well above and below the Savior’s horizontal axis. Yet, it was still so distant. It became clear that the object as mysterious as it was, was completely abandoned, or at least so it seemed. The gigantic metallic structure boomed over them, making Robert feel small and insignificant in size. The Captain, contrary to Robert, was wondering what exactly he was drawing nearer and nearer to as the seconds ticked by. It definitely was too big to be a station or ship, but a bit small for a planet – not that a giant metallic structure could be called a planet anyway. The silence onboard the ship was unmistakable.

“What, in the name of grand Sol, is that thing?” Sgt Banks at last said to break the unbearable quiet.

“I have not the smallest idea, sir,” Robert admitted. He then turned to another pilot standing nearby. “Go and get the medics to pick up a man that’s lying in my Thor unconscious. Tell them Robert is sending the message. Tell them that he needs to be ‘treated’ before he ends up like Terry. They’ll know what I mean by that. Hurry.”

The pilot immediately followed Robert’s instructions, even though Robert did not own any particular authority over the man. Robert looked at Sgt. Banks who was looking back at him.

“Before Harry wakes up and causes anymore trouble,” Robert explained softly to him. “There’s still a chance for him.”

Sgt. Banks remained quiet but nodded his head firmly in agreement.

“Captain!” the Navigator called. “I’m getting sensor readings from the nearing structure. We’re receiving a scrambled message.”

“Xenon?”

“No sir.”

The Captain thought quietly to himself for a while before giving any further orders. “Ok, we’ll take a closer look. Send a team down, but you let me know the minute anything goes wrong.” The Captain then spoke to Robert. “I’m sure you will want to go along with the team, Robert Fender.”

Robert nodded his head approvingly. Saria rushed to a spot between the Captain and Robert and looked at them both in turn.

“I’m coming with,” she said firmly, directing her attention to Robert.

Robert shook his head. “Saria, there is no way in the entire universe you’re coming with. It could be dangerous, and I could never face myself again if anything ever happened to you. I came too close to losing you back on the ice planet, I won’t do it again.”

“Listen, Bobby, I’m coming with you,” she insistent.” I want to come with you.”

The Navigator interrupted the already tense conversation between Robert and Saria. “The ship’s decoded – with much difficulty, might I add, since it was only by chance it was programmed to decode what it seems like the Old Ones language – the scrambled message and it appears to be instructions on how to get to the structure’s only entrance.”

“The C.L.I.M.A.X.,” Robert gasped.

“Good. Sgt. Banks,” the Captain addressed, “assemble your team, including Robert, and prepare to disembark ETA five minutes.”

“Yes sir.”

Robert turned back to Saria again. “You’re staying here. No negotiations. Okay?”

Saria fell completely silent and looked solemnly into Robert’s eyes. She admitted to herself that when Robert spoke, he spoke with resoluteness, and nothing would change his mind.

“Okay Robert. I’ll stay.”

He took her into his arms and kissed her. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

“Just don’t cause any trouble for yourself, Bobby. I’d like to have you back in just one piece if you don’t mind.”

He smiled at her affectionately. “You always did have your sense of humour, as subtle as it may be.”

“What can one do without it?” She smiled back.

Robert kissed her again goodbye and left to his cabin, quickly slipping into his pilot’s uniform and grabbing his Polarized Weapon which he securely strapped into his holster. He looked in the mirror and assured himself that he was doing the right thing. Was he doing the right thing? Well, it was too late to change his mind now anyway. He zipped up his pilot jacket up to the last inch and straightened his cap which he knew he would be replacing with a helmet in a minute. He felt a cold chill run down his back. His room was warm, but the thought that passed through his mind that moment was what had caused the sudden coldness. And indeed, the thought of the present day perhaps being your last is a very chilling thought.

“Well Bobby,” he said to himself, straightening his already straight cap harder in the mirror. “I guess it’s destiny.”