In the shadow of the stolen light

Veresk Nika

“Wait!” exclaimed Lora, grabbing the young man’s hand. “We cannot tow a ship in the hyperspace with a dying human being in it! What if there’s some kind of malfunction?”

“We cannot dock to the unit, its technology is outdated…” said Oleg shrugging and pointed at the hologram. “But it’s possible to moor closer to it and throw out the flexible bridge… Here’s the trapdoor, as the scanner shows, and behind it there is an airlock. Let’s get there and see…”

“We also need to assess the level of biological and other threats,” added Jane.

“OK, let’s do that,” agreed the captain. “Time for preparation: 30 minutes.”

“I’m coming too!” Lora dashed to the compartment with the space suits.

“No; Oleg, Jane and I are going. You and Chris will be watching the monitors and following any changes on the scanner.”

“But…”

“I’m in charge of this expedition, Lora” Paul interrupted her.

The girl sighed resignedly.

“That’s better. We’ll be in touch.”

The airlock could hardly be called spacious; nevertheless, it easily accommodated three members of the crew.

“Everything is so old here… I can’t even remember this technology” Oleg reached for the adaptable control panel and connected it to the lifeless console on the wall. A minute later the air was filling the surrounding space with a characteristic hiss. “Oxygen level is normal; we can enter the ship,” he pressed some more keys and the portal door creaked and moved aside revealing the dimly lit deck.

“How do you like the picture?” asked Paul to the ones left back on the ship.

“It’s clear, the signal is strong, the majority of the machines are switched off and it’s interference-free. There’s no trouble,” reported Chris.

“You can say that again! The ship’s in the minimum energy consumption state…” Jane looked at the screen of the portable scanner. “The signal of the biological object is on the right.”

“And on the left there is some kind of an engine room… Oxygen level is stable around the entire perimeter,” Oleg added.

“OK! Let’s split,” ordered Paul. “Oleg, check the engine room, while Jane and I will assess the condition of the biological object. Stay in touch.”

“Got it!” sounded the young man and the beam of the one of the flashlights went sliding further down the narrow corridor, going to the left of the airlock.

“Give me some light here,” the captain pointed Jane towards a small control panel at the entrance to the next compartment.

“It’s broken,” said the girl sadly.

“We’ll short-circuit it,” decided Paul.

After a couple of simple moves, the portal door slid open. Behind the door it was completely in darkness as well; the attention attracted only by a tiny flickering green light in the corner.

“Captain,” Oleg’s voice could be heard from the earphones. “The preliminary diagnostics have been performed; the ship supplies only the life-support systems of the biological object. I wouldn’t risk providing it with energy from our shuttle, it’s too dangerous.”

“Confirmed, I agree with you. It’s pitch-black in here…”

“I think he’s there,” Jane started, slowly moving towards the signal.

“How’s the air test?”

“There’s no biological danger, but the ship was a long time in the open space so there are traces of radiation everywhere…”

“How long could it have been flying?”

With the help of the flashlights they could see lifeless electronic panels on the walls and the central control panel, as well as two large horizontal capsules standing parallel to each other.

Jane approached one of them and, bending down, called the captain with her hand. She wiped the shining dust off the surface with her glove.

“Can you see what we see?” Paul’s words resounded a bit louder than was expected in the absolute silence.

Under the thick clouded glass there was a man, though his image was obscured by the glare of the flashlights.

“So… we see a man…” answered Chris.

“Is he alive?” Lora’s voice trembled with excitement.

“There are weak signs of life. This used to be his data display, it seems,” Jane touched a small screen above the man’s head. “It’s not working… There’s nothing we can do to help him, he needs to be hospitalized.”

“What about the other object?” asked the captain, nodding in the direction of the other capsule behind Jane.

She turned away, scanned the capsule and shook her head.

“I see. Oleg, is it possible to take this capsule out of the ark and transport it to Titanium in the quarantine compartment? We’ll tow the empty ark.”

“Yes, I’ll be right there.”

After six hours of tireless work, the team finally connected the capsule to the mobile energy source and took it on board their shuttle with the help of the mini transporter operating on electromagnetic pillows.

Lora restlessly waited at the glass wall separating the snow-white quarantine compartment from the deck.

“Can I watch?”

“Of course you can. Just let Jane finish with the anti-radiation treatment. Oh, and put on the protective coveralls.” The young man could not help smiling at her impatience. “There’s nothing unusual there, just a man-sleeping, so to say.”

“Do you think he’s from Earth?”

“This was Dr Blake’s preliminary assessment. Chris is now analysing the data from the onboard computer. We’re going to find out soon…”

“If only it was that easy!” Chris joined their chat.

“What do you mean?”

“Almost all the data is a total mess… It’s as if their computer went crazy… But…” he paused knowingly and smiled.

“But…what?!.” Lora was listening to that small report holding her breath.

“But I can say for sure that the mother ship that carried this ark was launched from Earth… Around two hundred years ago!”

“So it’s true!” Lora forcefully grabbed Paul’s arm, like a child who had received a long-awaited present for her birthday. She looked at all the crew members with excitement. “Half a century after our departure from Earth, others also learned to travel into the deep space!”