The Sentinel Fulcrum, 10: Trapped in the Ice
08 Dec 2021Meowers
And, after a short flight, we finally entered that Col-285-blah-blah-something system that was mentioned in the contract files. Coordinates were quite accurate, the body, the orbital position, everything that's needed. Pulling Marshmallow out of the cruise mode in something like fifty kilometres away from the given coordinates, I'd seen...This.
Just look at that shit. Was it really because of magnetised hull? It glows... It could be seen from miles away! Even through this icy haze... Actually, I couldn't even see the ship, only that bluish glow that was stronger than on the contract photo. Instinctively I set the shields to maximum power, deployed the weapons, targeted the ship and began the slow approach... Okay, steady, steady... We were only five kilometres away and still, the silhouette of Anaconda was barely visible. I guess we have to come closer to identify the ship... What kind of weird stuff he had stored there? Uhhh... Whatever that shit is, it could be killed by a plasma round. The only thing I needed to know.
We had only a few hours until the planet would cast the shadow, and the cold could be the problem. Even staying in this ring under the starlight was straining the suit thermoregulation system, and shadow will simply kill us. Being outside, relying on jetpacks and safety cords, we could go back to Marshmallow at any time, to recharge our suits and get warm, but nothing could help us while we're inside. The dead ship was sitting awkwardly on a small chunk of frozen rock, and ice had bonded the two together.
So, my companion quickly accelerated towards the dead-frozen Anaconda, squeezing everything from the jetpack, and... Yeah. This is it. Just a few seconds after his approach I've heard his voice on the comms. It was his ship, and he was planning on going inside... Well, he wasn't planning. It was just a statement. Even left me..shocked a bit. I was hanging in about a thirty metres behind him, analysing the situation, or, just, hah, looking at stuff. Oddly, the bluish glow was quite thin from the 'inside' of it. Why?.. Have no idea. Anyway, he didn't even want to wait for me, moving to the top entry airlock and activating some kind of panel. Wow. It was even working after those years... Might be something special, autonomous and hell reliable. So, whatever was on this ship, was interesting. But..The power outage, with nobody around... How? Was it the same bizarre stuff or.. what? Ah, nevermind, I had to hurry...
I thought that it might be better to lend him a hand. Frozen ship could be damaged, or at least we should do a routine check-up before trying to revive the drives. Also, the fuel could deteriorate during those two years, being stored in a completely frozen tanks... Some tanks could leak... Anything. We needed a check-up and maybe some quick makeshift field repairs. And Creamy wasn't a tech. Thankfully, I was. Well, in my past, but, still, some ships-related skills are still with me. And... Obviously, I don't want to be in the middle of ship explosion if something goes wrong, but I can prevent it.
So... I've activated the jetpack to reach Marshmallow and stopped in a few centimetres away from the nose. Touching the nose with my helmet glass, I whispered: "Be okay, right? And I'll be okay. And I'll be back. I'm not leaving you here", and then said more audibly, to Creamy: "Don't wander too far, I'm going inside too. We have to do a tech check-up."
And I've entered the Anaconda through the same airlock... Only to find myself alone there. Creamy was nowhere to be found and comms were deafeningly silent..And that darkness... Crap. Why he couldn't just listen to me, before heading into that.. hell knows what? This goddamn ship... It might be frozen and empty, it might be his ship, but that glow and those weird photos? I just..Can't explain it with my logic. Everything is odd. I've tried to hail him on the comms. Silence. Tried again. Silence. Crap..What the... However, there was a thin frost on the floor, and faint footprints were visible... They were leading to the corridor and then to the ladder at the side of it, half-covered by the darkness. Following them...I suddenly heard this coughing, groaning on my comms, like... He was in pain.
"Shit! Hold on there!", I've turned the night vision on, grabbed the rifle, fixed the zero-g belt clamp on the shoulder and ran towards the ladder...
(A photo of lost Anaconda, finally found in Col 285 Sector HQ-H b25-7 system.)