The Void (16 page)

“I don't understand,” Aidan said. “Cyrus has been at this for years. Why now?”

The doctor threw up his hands. “It happens,” he said. “I know that is not a very scientific diagnosis, but really I have nothing else to offer. It's true, as you all know, that the insanity usually strikes, if it ever will, on the first trip, but there are cases every year, few though they might be, where men who've been at this much longer than Cyrus break. I don't know what he saw there, but whatever it was tripped something that we simply don't understand.”

“But why his eyes?” Rebecca whispered.

Ridley rubbed his own eyes with his hand. “That's not all that uncommon. It makes sense, in a way. Whatever they see, apparently it makes them never want to see again.”

“I think I'm going to be sick.” Rebecca stood up and walked to the back of the room. She glanced down at Aidan as she passed, and he had an almost uncontrollable urge to stand up and hug her as tightly as he could. Instead, he simply sat there and the moment passed.

“What do you expect when he wakes up?” asked Gravely.

“There's no way to tell. He may be in a catatonic state. He may never speak another word. Or, he may become manic. The screaming could return, incoherent babbling, rambling speech that makes no sense. Any of those things are possible. I really can't predict it.”

“I don't understand how he got out of the stasis chamber,” Aidan said. “In fact, I don't know how any of us did. I was always under the impression that they are supposed to stay closed.”

“Well that's the thing,” Captain Gravely said. She stood up and walked over to the computer console. “It's true that Cyrus's screams are what woke us all, but we were about to be awoken anyway. The ship had already dropped from warp.”

“So we're at Riley?”

“No. We are four light years from Riley.”

“Four light years?” Dr. Ridley said.

“You mean the Omega quadrant?” Aidan asked.

Gravely nodded. “About two light years beyond Anubis, it seems.”

“Good God,” Aidan said. “We're lucky to be alive.”

“Very.”

“What's this about?” Ridley demanded. “What do you mean?”

“They call it ‘strange space.’”

“The necropolis,” Aidan added.

“Right. The whole quadrant is riddled with black holes. We could have dropped out of warp right into one.”

“Don't the computers correct for that kind of thing?”

“They do,” Aidan answered, “but warp has a way of messing with them just like it does us. I don't understand though,” he said, turning back to the captain, “why it would randomly drop us here.”

“Not random,” she said. “Computer. Display the object off of our port side.” In an instant, the great blank screens above them flashed on, dissolving into the image of something that should not have been there. Rebecca glanced over at Jack. His expression was the perfectly choreographed bemused surprise of a man who did not know what he was looking at. Of course, Rebecca knew the truth.

Aidan gazed up at the image on the screen, not fully processing what he was seeing. It looked like a ship, but not of any design or classification he had ever seen.

It was long and sleek, made of some sort of shimmering metal that caught whatever faint light was left in this godforsaken backwater and reflected it back stronger than when it had arrived. The hull was thick on the back but tapering off to a point toward the front. It reminded him of the point of a spear.

“Is that a ship?” he said finally.

“I don't know what else it could be,” said Gravely.

“Chinese?”
Ridley
asked.

“I
don't
think
so.
The
colors
aren
't
bright
enough,”
Aidan
said.
The
Chinese,
everyone
knew,
preferred
to
paint
their
ships
a
vibrant
red.
“Besides,
the
Chinese
have
no
interests
in
this
sector.”

“Maybe
it
'
s
a
prototype,
a
new
type
of
ship
they
are
trying
to
keep
secret?”

“It
'
s
not
Chinese,”
Captain
Gravely
said.

Aidan
took
a
deep
breath
and
let
it
out,
turning
the
question
over
in
his
mind
that
they
were
all
thinking
before
finally
asking,
“It
'
s
not
alien,
is
it?”

“Not
unless
they
write
in
English.”
The
captain
ran
her
finger
up
the
console
in
front
of
her
and
the
image
in
the
screens
changed.
It
zoomed
in to
a
section
on
the
front
of
the
ship.
A
word
was
stenciled
across
the
hull
in
large,
evenly
spaced
letters.

“
Singularity
?”

“Strange
name
for
a
ship,”
said
Gravely.

“Maybe
it's
a
science
vessel?
Studying
black
holes?
This
would
be
the
perfect
place
to
do
that.”

“I
thought
that
too. But
I
checked
the
books
before
we
departed
and
there
were
no
crafts
scheduled
to
be
out
here.
I
ran
it
through
the
computer
too,
and
it
confirmed
my suspicions.
There
shouldn't
be
any
ships
in
this
quadrant.
Not
here,
not
now.”

“Maybe
they
forgot
to
check
in,”
Ridley
offered.

Gravely
shook
her
head.
“Unlikely.
Particularly
for
a
science
vessel.
But
it
gets
better.
I
had
the
computer
cross
reference
Singularity
against
the
Domes
Book
of
Registered
Spacecraft.
There
is
no
such
ship,
not
listed
there.”

Aidan
felt
the
hairs
rise
on
the
back
of
his
neck.
If
it
was
an
American
ship,
it
should
be
in
Domes.
All
ships
were
listed
there.
All
legitimate
ones
at
least.
“You
don't
think
it
could
be
pirates,
do
you?”

Gravely
glanced
over
at
Rebecca
and
Jack
and
wondered
how
they
were
taking
all
this.
“I
doubt
it.
But
we
can't
be
sure.
That's
one
of
the
reasons
why
we
haven't
gone
in
any
closer.”

Ridley
slumped
down
in
a
chair
next
to
Rebecca.
“One
of
them?”
he
asked.

“The
truth
is,
I'm
afraid
to
move
the
ship
much
at
all.
We
know
that
we
are
safe
here,
but
the
computer
is
registering
multiple
gravitational
anomalies,
and
I
don't
know
if
the
sensors
are
going
haywire
or
if
we
are
sitting
in
the
middle
of
a
swarm
of
black
holes.
I
need
more
information
before
we
can
go
any
farther.”

“Did
you
try
and
contact
them?”

“The
computer's
been
hailing
the
ship
since
we
arrived.
No
response.
If
there's
anyone
over
there,
they
aren't
interested
in
talking.
Or
they
are
unable
to.
They
haven't
moved
either.”

“Is
she
dead
in
the
water,
Captain?”
Aidan
asked.
He
didn't
like
anything
about
this,
least
of
all
the
not
knowing.

“I
wish
I
could
tell
you
that,
Mr.
Connor,
but
this
isn't
a
military
ship.
Our
sensors
might
be able to
provide
us
with
some
answers
if
we
were
closer.
But
at
this
distance,
all
we
have
is
the
visual.”