CHAPTER SEVEN

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She pulled the suit visor down and looked, the power sources were all around her it seemed. Most of the sources were singular points of light. A larger cluster of sources gathered near the Sun Cap, nearly a dozen of those sources were ringed.

< Tyra? What do the rings mean? >

< Ships... ship main reactors. That many still running. We might find a working ship? Maybe one we can take? >

< Where should we start? >

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This station was much the same as the other. But also, so different. No open lakes and rivers. The core was filled with obscure structures. Many with no obvious purpose. Some looked like particle accelerators, most though matched nothing she knew.

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Hayley stood in a huge open hanger, before a vault door. She on this side, the gathered power sources on the other. The exterior doors, to the side, responded instantly to the Lock Breaker. The vault door did not.

< Tyra? What's wrong? > as the Lock Breaker gave up and shut down again.

< Remember what I said about needing the owner to open some doors for you? These are doors like that. These symbols here indicate there is a remote location, that must be unlocked simultaneously. There, up there, in the observation room. >

Only a few steps away, and five stories above them.

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Hayley had been on the station for three months. Slowly working her way up the ladder. Only intense biofeedback controlled the nausea and fatigue. All day she read up on the station experiments and her work-related texts, all evening she read on the pregnancy. How the hell had women put up with this for millions of years?

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"Doctor Alan Johns? This is Amanda Klein, she is new in the Forerunner Department." Hayley pushed a carefully focused surge of familiarity. Recalling her cover story, as she smiled brightly.

"Amanda Klein? Have we met before?"

"Hyperion University, 2796, you gave a speech on the Socioeconomic repercussions of Transdimensional travel of goods and services. I was second row center, but you never called on me to give a question." She gave a pouting moue.

"What would your question have been?" He said as he relaxed back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"No offense, but weren't the concepts presented anthropomorphized as to what a Human society's reaction would be, and not at all certain as we can only theorize on the cultures and mores of the various forerunner and precursor species?"

"Oh, Doctor Benning, I simply must have this one!"

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Three weeks later, Hayley rose from the bed. Alan already sleeping. She entered his access codes and started reading the inventory of the items in the ship vault. Each having an accompanying holo that drifted above the keyboard. Each image being commented on internally.

A boxy cylinder some four meters long.

< Vreen Planet Shuttle >

Something that looked like a guppy that had swallowed a marble.

< Chel Life Pod >

A melted piece of taffy that someone had punched holes in.

< Chel Crusier, the forward third or so >

A white arrowhead with huge irregular holes eaten into it.

< Anori Colonizer >

Another wedge shape, showing no damage, the image obscured by a dim red glow that surrounded it.

Hayley felt Tyra panic and try to take over, but she gently held her back.

< What's special about that one? >

< Anori Scout. Intact and Time stopped! >

< Time stopped? >

<Just what it sounds like! A million Human years ago, someone put the ship into storage. To the ship, not even a second has passed since then! >

< So that's our ship? >

< That's our ship! I always wanted one of those. >

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It took two weeks of gentle pushing and dealing, but at last,

"Amanda? Feel up for a surprise?" Feeling Alan's barely suppressed excitement.

"Always! How do you want me to dress?"

"Naked, of course." He laughed, "But I suppose you might want a ship suit. We're not going into vacuum though."

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Finding herself standing once again before the doors that had defeated her before. Hayley, sent a frantic call to the footlocker, currently in Alan's suite.

< Child. Just have it meet us outside. You already carry the needed tools. >

< Okay. Let's just hope we don't need the Weapon or Power Jammers. >

"I know how fascinated you are in the Forerunner races. This, what's behind these doors is special." Placing his hand on the scanner plate, there were several clicks and this with an extended hiss the doors split open.

"Oh my goddess!" She didn't need to fake the excitement at seeing the wrecks around here. Seeing the holos and reading the dimensions, didn't begin to compare to seeing them in front of her.

Alan stepped behind her, placing his hands lightly over her eyes.

"Now for the real prize. If only we could unwrap it."

He walked her blindly a short ways, then turning a corner he pulled his hands away,

"Ta Da!"

In awe Hayley stepped up, running her hands over the red glow. It was odd, it resisted her hands, but it gave absolutely no tactile feedback. It wasn't hot or cold. It was hard or soft. It simply wasn't. Close on fifty meters long, about thirty wide at the base, maybe ten high.

"What is it? What is that red glow?" already knowing the answers, but needing time.

"Anori. We think from the lack of weapons it was civilian. But if it was, why the force field?"

As she walked the perimeter she saw an oval metallic plate. Reaching out to it, she pulled her hand back.

"Is it safe?" As she palmed the flat plates of the Lock Breaker and the Tap.

"Perfectly. Nothing we have tried has drawn any response."

Hayley placed her palms on the oval, hiding the plates, already hard at work. Then with no sound or flashy display the red field vanished, the silver oval was sucked back into a flat white hull.

Before Alan could react, Hayley took a step forward into a swirling patch of the hull and vanished inside. Finding the control Tyra said would be there, her fingers tapped in a rapid code pattern on the wall. The swirling faded away. A second pattern and the ancient accumulators dumped their charge into the first stage Zero-point Generator's ignition coils. Once the first ZPG started up, it started charging the second stage ZPG.

< How long until it is fully awake and we can move? >

< No idea. My ship would have fit into this one, ten times. >

< Oh damn! While I still can, downloading all the Nav charts I can. >

< I am sure this ship will have a full set of charts. >

< Umm, no, they will be a million years out of date and not include all the human worlds. >

< Oh! Right. Sorry... >

The lights brightened and air started circulation.

< There second stage is running! We should be good to go, wait, it is charging third stage now. Before you ask, no idea, my ship only had two stages. >

A chime had Hayley checking her Perscom,

< Oh great. >

"Well Hello Doctor Takashiro. Miss me?"

"Hayley? Well, that explains why we couldn't spot you."

"You like the new me?"

"We'll talk about that later. You cannot get that ship out of there, just surrender now and we can talk, besides, you have nowhere you can go."

"Yes, I can. No, I can't. Yes, I do. And you better get all the unprotected staff out of the hanger. We are leaving."

"Hayley listen to reason."

< Third stage just came online. Weapons at minimum power. Engines at STL maneuvering only. Shields are up at 12%. >

Outside the ship, a dim blue covered the bottom of the ship, and it rose a meter off the deck and hung there.

"Weapons online. Shields online. Maneuvering online. Hurry up Doctor unless you want a lot of dead people."

The ship turned nose first to the vault door. Designed to keep people out, it yielded quickly. The huge wedge drifted out into the main hanger. Then slipping over to one of the deck hatches.

"Hurry up Doctor."

Sirens sounded and strobes started flashing. Warning of imminent loss of pressure.

"5, 4,"

"Get them out of there NOW!"

"2, 1, 0"

There was a clank and a grind then a sudden howling whistle that grew louder and louder. Then with the hatch entirely open, the strobes now flashing in utter silence, the arrowhead fell through the hole in the hull. Veering on its course it picked up a box the stations sensors could barely see.

< Stage four online! All systems at full operation. Shall we go? >

< You really need to teach me to read those displays Tyra. Parson's World first. >

D$1? "