Starbourne, page 1
Sol Accords: Starbourne
D.G. Podporski
D.G. Podporski
Copyright © 2023 David Podporski
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review and certain other non-commercial use permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living, or dead is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Safeer Ahmed
Proofreading by Megan Sanders
PB ISBN: 978-1-7381240-0-8
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-7381240-1-5
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Emily,
My best friend and biggest supporter.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
“Ready to embark on a thrilling journey to the uncharted depths of the cosmos? Don’t miss out on this chance to be one of history’s greatest pioneers in the largest expedition known to mankind!”
(Cpt. Kirby Lynn, of the Cosmic Expanse League, circa 2492)
PROLOGUE
Shadow and void had long ago seized dominance over the chamber, and as the coming days passed, would soon fully envelope the interior unchallenged. In these final hours, dim and exhausted lights fought valiantly against the darkness that vied for control.
Of what little illumination was present, shades of crimson, honey, and amber dominated the spectrum. A few faint dots of jade joined the struggle, scattering throughout the tableau, but were heavily outnumbered.
Along with the thick and overbearing darkness, the room was deafeningly silent. It was the type of silence found only in the absence of living beings.
The atmosphere inside the sealed chamber was indeed tranquil, but not for a lack of trying. While darkness and stillness had enveloped the environment and marked it as their own, they were not welcome by the chamber itself. They were an unwanted guest.
Several motorized and electrical components within the chamber tried in vain to create their noise, as if to only prove their existence. Try as the chamber might, the unwelcomed darkness and silence had long ago claimed this territory as their new domain, and they would not give it up willingly.
One of the dim lights on a console table in the center of the room suddenly changed from a warm amber to a soft shade of jade, and with the color change, began to blink steadily. The flickering of the light seemingly battled against the darkness, desperate to push it away.
As if rallying to the first blinking green light, a second joined in, albeit with a slightly faster pace, aiding in the illumination’s struggle against the gloom. More and more lights swapped their allegiance to a green hue.
Along with the rebellion of the jade lights, the entire chamber began to shake gently as if being carefully corralled by a gigantic being. Over time, along with the gentle shaking, came something that had not resonated in the ship in a very, very long time. Audible sounds of metal grinding, machinery whining, and compressed air escaping. Chaotic noise resounded throughout the long-dormant spacecraft and reverberated along every inch of it.
Ventilation grates exploded with gusts of oxygen, and the room greedily sucked it all up like a pair of lungs gasping to regain their breath. Minute after minute, oxygen poured into the room, filling every crevice.
After several moments of this frenzied scene, the air pressure in the room began to stabilize, with the vents only giving off a whisper. Something heavy and metallic shifted outside of the airlock, before clamping onto the seams of the door with a thud.
A fiery burst of sparks blew through the door unabated. The steel lid which had protected the interior of the craft for so long was being stripped away in a colorful display of flame and electricity. The conflagration traced the outline of the doorway, slowly and carefully, until it came full circle to the first point of contact.
The hulking metal door groaned as it fell from its position and landed on the floor with a thud. The edges of the freshly cut metal glowed a bright yellowish-orange and gave off a sizzling hiss. A brilliant white light from the other side of the doorway penetrated the now exposed interior of the long-sealed chamber, sending the darkness within to retreat into the nooks and crannies.
The white light spread unchallenged throughout a long corridor, which acted like a lengthy neck connecting to a circular chamber on the opposite side of the walkway. The walls of the corridor were lined with several deep space hibernation pods; chambers that can sustain living beings for extended periods during space travel. These types of pods were standard on all spacecraft, and while they may differ from brand to brand, the purpose was the same; keep humans alive.
Some pods were designed to eject from a ship into deep space in times of catastrophe and keep the inhabitant alive until rescued. Other pods were designed to allow the ship’s crew to sleep comfortably for extended periods, as space travel sometimes took months or years, depending on the destination.
The hibernation pods aboard this craft were of a different variety. These were designed to keep the inhabitants alive for as long as possible. Each pod was categorized and rated a priority, and over a long enough duration, the lower categorized pods would be shut off to preserve power and keep the remaining pods active.
The center of the circular room at the end of the corridor acted as a command bridge for this spacecraft. In the center of the circular bridge sat a large computer console and several smaller terminals surrounding it. The pilothouse of the craft was large enough for up to four attendants, with consoles and terminals. Crystalline layers of ice and frost covered most of the terminals due to the extended time in space without proper support.
Three figures clad in heavy space suits cautiously entered the corridor in single file. Each of the explorers carried with them specialized equipment. The first figure to enter the derelict ship wore a silver and grey metallic suit and matching helmet with gold markings. This person carried themselves with authority and operated a handheld spot lamp.
The next individual to enter was slightly taller than the first but much slimmer. They wore a suit that was comprised of less armor than the first explorer, and as such moved through the corridor with greater speed and agility. The helmet of the second figure was boxier in design and decorated with blue markings. This taller figure used both hands to heft a large metallic case.
The last of the trio was shorter than either of the two who had come before them. Wearing the bulkiest spacesuit of the three, this suit had a dense piece of metal fastened to the chest as a sort of breastplate. The figure wore an oval-shaped helmet with red markings and several scratches. The explorer marched forward into the corridor; head dipped down towards a handheld scanner.
The lead figure with gold markings swept their torch from side to side in the corridor, sending the darkness that had long covered this crypt to retreat further into the recesses of the ship. The illumination danced against the crystalline layers of ice that covered the surfaces in the room, creating a spectacle of light.
“Looks like someone left the refrigerator open.” Mused the third person with the red markings. “I’d hate to be the one who has to front that recharge bill.”
“The whole ship was decompressed.” Said the figure with blue markings, still hefting the metallic case in their hands. “Looks like it was planned too. No signs of system failures. Probably a failsafe.”
“Alice, look here,” The gold-helmeted figure said, shining a light on the floor to highlight an electrical panel. “Get these consoles up and running. I want to see what we’re dealing with.”
Alice, the explorer in the suit with blue markings, responded to the order and moved to where the leader had indicated. She dropped to one knee and slowly lowered the metallic case to the floor. Despite the slow motion, the case landed with a deep thud. Once satisfied with the placement, Alice reached for the clasps on either side of the case and loosened them. The lid popped open as if the contents were eager to burst free.
Inside the large metallic case was an industrial portable battery pack with exposed connectors and several spare electrical components. The engineer flipped open the electrical panel on the console and one by one, began hooking it up to the battery bank in the case.
“Jin,” The commander called. “Keep an eye out for skeeters.”
“We didn’t see any lifeforms on the scanners, Skip.” Jin, the cosmonaut in the red helmet, replied.
“Doesn’t mean they’re not here.” Alice offered, working away on her electrical panel.
“J
“Aye, Skip,” Jin replied, moving further into the derelict ship. Jin made sure to eye each step before moving and glanced from side to side to check his surroundings thoroughly.
“With the identity scans coming up blank, do you have any idea what this thing is, Skip?” inquired Jin.
The gold figure shifted their weight as they continued to survey the room. The light from the handheld torch swept from one side of the room to the other, showing all manners of computer terminals and consoles. “A colony ship maybe. Or a lifeboat. Haven’t seen one look like this though.”
Alice connected the final cable from the electrical panel to the portable battery bank, and with a glance up to the leader, flipped a large toggle on the battery.
In direct response, the center console on the command bridge began giving off quiet beeps and clicks as it started booting up.
“All she needed was some coffee to wake her up,” Alice said triumphantly. “Bridge systems should be responsive now, Jin. Take a look, would ya’?”
Jin nodded back to his associate and approached an access panel on the wall. He used the bottom of his handheld scanner to lightly tap the ice covering the panel, chipping it away piece by piece. Once sufficiently cleared, the engineer stuck a gloved finger into the panel and popped it open. Using the handheld tool, he tinkered around inside the panel.
“Yeah, I’ve got some juice here. Looks like they powered down most of the nonessentials to conserve energy. I’ll switch off the rest, so we don’t draw too much battery.”
“Alright, power draw is stable. Center console is ready, Skipper.” Alice said, rising back to her feet and patting her hands against her thighs.
The leader of the trio nodded and approached the console. Using his free hand, he touched his palm to the command keys and slid it across the terminal, clearing off some of the icy residue. Placing the torch on the console beside him, the commander began entering keystrokes and reinitializing the start-up sequence. The console booted up with a squeal and a whine and began presenting cryptic data reports.
Fiddling with the access panel, Jin let out a soft whistle. “These coils are old as shaz, but they’re in decent shape. If we’re lucky, maybe two-fifty a pop? I bet even more in the right market.”
“Counting your creds already, Jin?” Alice called out, rummaging through one of the storage compartments fastened to the wall of the room.
“See, that’s why I’m special. Other engineers may look at this panel and just see the components. I see the opportunity.”
“You’re right there, you certainly are special, Jin.” quipped Alice.
“In more ways than you know. Y’know, Ally, maybe if you’re lucky—”
“I wonder how long this piece of junk has been out here.” interrupted Alice, clearly looking to redirect the conversation.
“Both of you; enough,” The commander chimed in. “No clowning until we’re sure we’re alone on this bucket.”
The crew chief of the trio continued entering commands in the center console. Soft keystrokes and corresponding beeps from the computer echoed in the chamber as the terminal complied with the commands. With the latest command entry, several monitors in the room began to boot up, some flickered as if trying to shake off a long deep sleep. The blue and red engineers stopped what they were doing to glance over at the leader’s progress.
The gold-marked figure stepped away from the center console and quickly approached one of the terminals that had just come online. The leader once again wiped away debris from the keyboard and typed a few commands on the newly activated machine. The monitor above the console began scrolling through reports while spouting off different audible beeps and blips.
The console unleashed a flurry of situation logs, line after line. The report unloaded too fast to read as if the machine was relieved to finally share its long-kept message. The leader tried to read some of the reports but could not catch any words before they left the screen. The reports continued to flash across the screen until finally, it went blank, and after a quiet moment, a single line of text appeared.
“Analysis complete”, followed by a shortened summary of the reports.
“Hades.” The leader of the trio mumbled softly, as his helmeted head moved from side to side in disappointment, reading the text on the screen.
“What is it?” Jin asked, his voice trembling slightly.
“It is a lifeboat.” The commander responded as he reached into a pouch connected to his suit, retrieving a data pad.
“Okay, so what? No cargo? The systems themselves might still be worth—”
“Two thousand and eighty-one souls terminated; three souls active.” The leader interrupted, his focus still on the data pad.
Alice let out a soft sound of irritation and dropped her head upon hearing the news. Jin stood motionless; hands stretched outwards.
“Okay, and so what? What are you saying, Skip?”
“There goes a salvage bonus. That’s what he’s saying, Jin.” Alice said with a snort, gesturing her hand out to the leader.
“No! Come on, that’s shaz!” exclaimed Jin, now stepping forward to the captain. “We can still salvage—”
The gold leader put his hand up to dismiss the idea before Jin even had time to breathe life into the thought. “This just changed from a salvage op to a recover and rescue. Wrap it up people. We’ve got to move these pods back to our ship and get them properly hooked up.”
Alice shook her head while scoffing, but she moved to quietly obey the order, nonetheless.
The leader moved to return to the center console and once again started typing key commands into the terminal. Jin turned to glower at one of the cryo pods in the room.
“Look, Skipper. Let’s just talk about this, man,” Jin pleaded, almost in a pleading tone. “All I see are some busted up, ancient-ass cryo pods. These systems were all shut off anyway! Who knows if they’re even reporting properly.”
“It’s done, Jin. Go help Alice prep to receive these pods.”
“All I’m saying is, are we seriously gonna’ give up an entire salvage op because some hundred-year-old computer thinks there’s people still alive on this tub?”
The gold leader turned his attention to the increasingly insubordinate companion. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do. And before you get any bright ideas with the electrical systems, I’ve already called it in. Now go and help Alice prep.” The two figures stood motionless, staring at each other, neither wanting to give an inch. Finally breaking first, the red-marked Jin nodded and took a step back.
“Sure. Whatever you say.” Jin turned and left the room through the open doorway.
Now alone in the room, the gold leader sighed softly to themselves before turning back to the center console. Soft keystrokes and beeps echoed in the room as the captain scoured through the records looking for any additional information to identify the passengers or the ship itself.
While a passenger manifesto started populating, a soft clinking sounded from behind the leader. The gold figure spun around to see Alice standing in the doorway.
“Sorry, Skip, just me,” Alice said, stretching her hands up in apology.
The commander let out a sigh and placed a hand on his chest. “It’s alright. Just a bit jumpy after the last salvage.”
“I can only imagine,” Alice replied, pacing around the room, and looking around at the different terminals and computers. “At least you didn’t get bit!”
“Only because I was looking for them,” The leader replied, “Speaking of which; don’t let your guard down. Sneaky dirks could be in here somewhere.”
“Any idea of how long this thing has been out here?” Alice asked. “Any time stamps on those reports?”
“Nothing yet, but the operating system is old. Probably running on an M-six-thousand variant, and those pods look like gen three or older, so at least a few hundred years?”
“Few hundred years. You think maybe since Earth?” Alice asked. “You ever hear of anything being recovered from that?”
The leader shrugged. “Solar system’s a big place. Bits from Earth could have ended up anywhere, I suppose.”
