“Good morning, Commander, welcome back to the helm,” exclaimed Captain Pilosus, with the standard Vitahician salute.
“Glad to be back, Captain,” responded Forte. Forte was genuinely happy to be back on the helm. Even though time passes very quickly in the LTS chamber, Forte was eager to get to Earth and begin the next chapter in his life. “Anything interesting happen since I was last at the helm?”
“Not really, we had a close call with an asteroid, and there was an incident with a small craft,” Pilosus answered.
“What small craft?” Forte looked surprised. If they had an unscheduled contact with another vessel, he should have been woken. It’s not common to have contact with another vessel while traveling at FTL speeds.
“It was a burnt-out hulk of a small craft, could not have carried more than ten humanoids at full capacity. It was not listed on any of our charts and did not show up on our sensors - until it was too late,” clarified Captain Pilosus.
“Okay, was there any damage?” Forte sounded relieved.
“None for us. The plasma shield repelled it quickly. Nanobots were dispatched, but I don’t think they were even necessary. The small craft appeared to have been abandoned for years, maybe centuries. No way it got that far out into space on its own power. Must have been dispatched from a larger ship, and something happened to it,” assured Pilosus.
“Good. Anything else to report, Captain?” Asked Forte.
“No Sir, only that we will be arriving at Earth’s Moon Base in five days,” replied Pilosus.
“Thank you for the report, Captain. I will take the helm from here. You’re dismissed.”
“Thank You, Sir,” Pilosus turned and walked toward the elevators.
After greeting the rest of the helm’s crew, Commander Forte took his position in the command center. His large chair sat on a slightly elevated platform, in the center of the room, where he could easily oversee the rest of the crew. In front of his chair was a holographic display, from which he could monitor and control all ship functions. After taking a few minutes to verify all systems were functioning properly, he decided to send a message to Earth’s Moon Base.
Earth was in a remote, mostly uninhabited section of the galaxy; therefore, it was unlikely anyone was listening to his transmissions. Vitahicians and their allies on Earth had established an ultra-dimensional communication system secured enough to withstand any enemy infiltration so far. The very useful byproduct of the Vitahician’s failed attempts at ultra-dimensional travel, was the ability to send and receive radio transmissions through alternate dimensions.
Forte spoke into the holographic display directly before him, “Earth Moon Base, this is the Impegi.”
Instantaneously, a crystal clear male voice was heard, “This is Moon Base, Impegi. Switch to UDC 12.”
Forte understood that UDC meant ultra-dimensional channel, and he made the adjustment, “We are five days away from you, traveling at 450,000 miles per hour.”
“This is General Stone Byrd of Space Command. We just detected you on radar,” replied the disembodied voice. “Please switch to optical stealth. We don’t want to frighten any human star gazers.”
“Done,” Forte replied. Forte understood the need to keep their presence from being known by the public and potential enemies. The fewer humans that knew of their existence, the fewer problems they may encounter.
“Everyone here on Moon Base is excited about your arrival. How long has it been since you were on Earth?” asked General Stone Byrd.
“Sixty-one years since this ship was last seen on Earth, and this time it’s here to stay,” Forte responded.
“We are all very excited to see the Impegi. No one on Moon Base has ever seen a ship arrive from Vitahic, and most folks that were alive the last time you were here are retired or dead.”
“Copy that, we are anxious to arrive. I will make contact again when we reach our destination,” Forte said.
“Copy that, Impegi.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Commander Forte and Captain Stella stepped out of the elevator onto the hanger bay, where twelve jump shuttles stood; each facing toward a closed hanger bay door leading into space. Each of the jump shuttles stood with their stern facing a center aisle, like cannons facing outwards on an old ship-of-the-line sailing vessel. The hanger bay was in the super structure of the Impegi, directly below the ten-story tower.
Each of the shuttles were approximately the size of a school bus, and could comfortably seat ten crewmen and 10,000 pounds of cargo. The jump shuttle was designed to carry crew and cargo from an orbital position to the planet. The jump shuttle was not the primary means by which cargo would be off-loaded, nor was it designed for combat. They did not have any armor and had a maximum range of three thousand miles under ideal conditions. An optical stealth shield was the only defensive technology on the shuttle.
Captain Stella was the chief navigation officer and had been aboard the Impegi with Forte on their previous mission to Earth. On that trip, they had assisted the Vitahician leaders in negotiating a treaty with the American government. They left 2,500 Vitahicians on Earth with enough supplies to last several decades. The purpose of this mission was to resupply the Vitahicians with materials that were not readily available on Earth.
On the previous trip to Earth, Forte and Stella had stood watch together early in the mission. While most of the crew slept in their LTS chambers, Stella and Forte got to know each other. There were eight other crew members awake and standing watch, but Stella and Forte were the two highest ranking officers awake at the time. It did not take them long to figure out how to entertain themselves. Ever since that first watch on the Impegi, many decades ago, Forte and Stella would always schedule their watches for the same time.
The hanger bay was 200 feet wide, the entire width of the Impegi. The jump shuttles were 40 feet long, leaving a center aisle of 120 feet for them to walk between the rears of the jump shuttles. Neatly lined up along the center aisle were numerous metal lockers full of tools and equipment. There were also large dollies that could carry tons of equipment and cargo from the cargo holds to the jump shuttles. Each jump shuttle was enclosed in its own chamber. The walls of the chamber were made of a thick, shock-resistant, transparent material so that when the door opened to release a shuttle, the entire hanger bay would not vent atmosphere and depressurize. After a jump shuttle was prepared to launch, the transparent, blast door would close behind the shuttle.
The shuttles did not “take off” so much as they were catapulted along a very short track. After being ejected from the hanger, the shuttle would travel under its own power. As Stella and Forte walked down the center aisle, they saw a man crawling out from beneath one of the jump shuttles. Stella instantly recognized the man as Chief Belois. Belois stood up, his dark blue uniform, face and hands covered in a black tar like substance. As he walked from the front of the shuttle towards Stella and Forte he said, “Commander Forte and Captain Stella, I was not expecting you for another two hours.”