Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 417: Boarding Fuji-8
"3...2...1! We have arrived in the Skana System." Jace was watching the bridge through his aviators. Solisa was kind enough to broadcast the feed from the front of the ship. The transition form using the wave rider core to not using it was smooth and went unnoticed by the crew. Usually there would be a slight jostling but it was smooth.
Now they were moving through space and toward a ship that was floating in space that was orbiting Sakana Nine. They passed the blockade without even being noticed. Not even being noticed by them was a good sign, although it would likely ruffle some feathers down the line.
Sakana Nine and Fuji-8 were closer than he was told. That or it had moved closer to the planet. It looked like it was just out of orbit of the planet. "Was Fuji-8 moved? Or am I just off about the approximate location?" Jace asked as he pulled up the information on his watch communicator.
"No, you are right. It has moved. Possibly the reason why they were reaching out. It appears the ship is venting oxygen and it is slowly pushing it in the direction of the planet. As far as I can tell the blockade and observation ships are unaware of our arrival. I am going toward the Fuji-8." Solisa informed him.
Jace sighed as he watched the screen. "Continue. The plan stays the same. See if you can pick up any stray signals or anything else that might be useful. There is a good chance there is someone onboard if the hull was breached."
"Want me to do a scan for living organics?" Solisa asked.
"Yeah, but stick to low level ones. If you try to do a detailed scan it will get picked up by just about anyone." Jace informed her.
Scanning for organics was relatively new to humans. But the Victorium had the technology. Now with a few months of time the technology has evolved with human help. Now they could scan a planet and tell how many people were living on it. Or they could scan a portion of space and tell if there were people living in it.
"Understood. Keep in mind that there is a good chance the planet will be able to pick up on the scan." Solisa informed him.
"Will they be able to tell where it came from?" Jace asked.
"No, I will be able to disguise it so it looks like it came from one of the ships in the blockade." Solisa answered as the information started popping up. "The ship has an atmosphere, it is just that portion of the ship that is leaking air. There is something alive aboard the ship. The main power is down, it is currently relying on emergency power."
Jace nodded his head and waved at the hangar door. "Get ready. We are getting close. The door will open up when we are close enough. Captain Tyler, exercise caution and reequip orbital drop equipment just in case." Jace called over the secure command channel.
"What changed?" He could hear Tyler ask in response.
"We are much closer to Sakana Nine. There is a good chance they have visual equipment that will be able to spot you. Not to mention it is only a single explosion away from being in a descending orbit for the planet." Jace informed him as he did mental calculation in his head.
"Understood. We will take a few extra minutes." Captain Tyler informed them.
Jace nodded and looked out at the others in the hangar. "Listen up! The Fuji-8 is closer to Sakana Nine than we expected. We do not want to risk the operation to land on the planet so we are going to do a sprint. Get in, search the ship and then get out. Captain Solisa has already confirmed that there is something alive onboard. The Fuji-8 also has an atmosphere that is breathable and is running on emergency power." Jace announced as the hangar door began opening up.
The Fuji-8 was getting closer quickly. Solisa was lining up the hangar with a cargo hangar of the Fuji-8. It landed right up against it. Then Jace stepped forward and put his hand on the cold metal of the Fuji-8. He withdrew his hand and then tapped his communication device once he was connected to the Fuji-8.
It only took him a moment to access basic systems. Then without anyone around to stop him he hacked into the cargo hangar controls and forced them open. Overriding the security protocols that would keep it closed until the atmosphere outside and inside the ship was stabilized and equal.
Once he was done he the doors began opening up. They opened to the side and Jace watched as the atmospheric barrier of the Wolfsbane increased and pressed into the Fuji-8’s Cargo hangar. Preventing the existing atmosphere inside the ship from venting.
As soon as it was partially open, Captain Uti led the way into the ship. Followed by Doctor Foulm, Gorund, and Jack Quest. Jace followed after them a second later and then the other three teams followed him out.
Jace frowned as the smell was the first thing to hit him. There was the typical staleness of artificial air. But then there was also the smell of decaying and rotting flesh. The distinct smell of iron from blood. But Jace could pick up something else as well. It was like some ashy smell like burnt wood or stone.
"Damn." Foulm cursed as he crouched over something. Jace walked over and Foulm looked up at him before looking back down at the pile of flesh, bone, and blood. "I just scanned him with one of these new devices. This is a human, age twenty-one, male, he died due to blood loss."
"Meaning he was killed." Jace looked up and around the hangar. "Solisa, have our hangar locked down. Possible hostile entities on sight." Jace ordered as he pulled his shotgun off his back.
"Understood. Jace you should know, I have picked up a faint broadcasting signal coming from the bridge." Solisa informed him.
Jace grunted in response and nodded at Captain Uti who opened the hangar door. Uti looked down one way and then the other. Clearing the hall before he began moving down the hall toward the bridge. He along with the other captains had memorized the schematics of the Fuji-8 just in case.
The others followed him in with Jace bringing up the rear. As they walked through the ship’s halls he felt a prickle on the back of his neck and kept looking around. He knew he was being watched but by what.
He got his answer a few minutes later when he spotted a stronger electrical signal moving through the ship with his eyes. The cameras are active. Normally if a ship was running only on emergency power then the ship would not have cameras active. Unless someone activated them specifically.
"I am not seeing a lot of corpses." Foulm pointed out as he held out a scanning device. He was scanning for life signs and organic substances. Just about anything that might be of use.
Jace agreed with Foulm. There should be a crew of roughly six hundred aboard. But they had found maybe three different corpses. That means that the crew of Fuji-8 did not just die. Some were killed and taken or even taken alive and were likely prisoners.
"I know what you mean. I feel like I would be more at ease if I saw a few bodies. How did this one die?" Corporal Quest pointed out. They had stopped for each body they found. The first one from the hangar had died of blood loss. The last one had been clearly decapitated. Then this one was scorched to a crisp.
"What do you think?" Foulm asked sarcastically then answered honestly a moment later. "He was burned alive. It was like someone was experimenting for each one."
"Let’s get to the bridge. No more stopping for bodies." Jace ordered as he looked around. There was something else that was putting him on edge. Something just out of his main view but his instincts and body knew it was wrong.
As they were moving at a jogging pace to the bridge, Jace began cycling through his senses. Eventually he almost fell when he realized what was just out of sight. He spotted it with his electrical vision. But he decided to keep silent about it for the moment.
Studying it would be more beneficial. Especially if footage onboard the Fuji-8 was being broadcast to Sakana Nine. No reason to give them hints to his or anyone else’s abilities. "All captains keep in mind that we are being watched. Possibly by the enemy."
There were several confirmations from the other teams. Once that was done Jace sent a quick and encrypted message to Solisa. One informing her of what he had already found. This mission was already going badly. Mostly because he was right, this ship was bait. One that they gladly took a bite out of.
