Codename Alpha

Chapter 8

Getting through to the armory was, thankfully, a pretty quick affair. The lower decks didn't seem to have taken as much damage as the upper decks did. Of course, that's not to say that they weren't in awful condition, but it wasn't to the extent that I felt like I was at risk of stepping on plastic shards from the lights.

We spent the climb down discussing what we'd actually need for an expedition like this, settling on donning a stab vest in the case that the planet has megafauna that bite, pistols, and two additional magazines of ammunition, along with a knife, just to be safe.

The eerily illuminated and deserted corridors served as a grim reminder of what had happened. Twenty nine people were now dead, with many more likely to follow. There was no way anybody could've prepared for whatever had happened, which was pointed out to me by Max as we talked on the way to the armory.

"There were a few signs that something was wrong," he said. "I mean, not prior. I'm talking in terms of 'a few minutes before the disaster.'

"And? Go on," I said.

"Right. Well, the ship was already shaking somewhat when I walked in. Captain Blokhin was talking to someone from engineering about, like... an overload in the warp rings, I think? He orders me to have us drop out of warp at Halligan, where a bunch of ships from Veta would be waiting to evacuate the crew and all that. Then, something began to beep, and less than a second later, there's this explosion."

"Yeah, we felt that in the aeroponics room too. Lights went out just before an explosion, and a whole bunch of others followed."

"Yeah. Com lines go out, and my console shuts down, so Commander Martin orders me to get down to the medbay, because they need doctors. I try and go down the stairs, but the door is locked, and I'm certainly not going to ride in an elevator when there seems to be a widespread power failure. I go into the crawlways, and-" he suddenly cut himself off, and stopped walking.

"You okay?" I asked. He seemed lost in thought.

"I-I was having a G force blackout, at the time, but I just realized something. You know those emergency control computers in the main crawlway shaft, right?" he asked, suddenly speaking quickly

"I, uh... yeah, I guess?" I was unsure as to where he was going with this.

"The emergency tertiary systems are meant to automatically turned on, and if they don't, it requires manual intervention from someone that has a high-level command code." He seemed disturbed by the realization, and I felt that.

"You realize what you're implying, right?"

"I honestly wish I didn't..." he shook his head. "We can worry about that later. We have many other things we have to worry about."

We then finished the trip to the armory, where a gray spotted sabretooth was sitting in a chair behind the bulletproof glass of the security checkpoint, and adjunct security office leading in. They seemed occupied with a book, but I saw fit to knock on the glass to raise her attention.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" she asked.

"Commander Ibrahimov sent us to pick up some combat equipment for an away mission. We're not terrorists, I assure you," Max said.

"Seems like someone is," I muttered under my breath.

"Ah, a doctor that came in said the same thing. I'm guessing that they're going with you? Just take whatever you need, and don't try anything funny."

"Thank you. Rest assured, we won't."

I walked into the armory and had to take a moment to admire how well-stocked it was. I could see automatic shotguns, rifles, pistols, even grenades, along with many crates of ammunition for those weapons. Racks with universally-fitting black vests of different types were present, as well as holsters one strapped around their leg, above the knee.

I recognized Ensign Vance sitting on a bench, looking at the wide variety of weapons before her. "Hey, is Ibrahimov sending you on an away mission?" I asked.

She turned, and saw us both. "Ah, Ensign Pearce! Good to see you again. And you too, Lieutenant Kovalev. Anyways, yeah, I'm heading down to the planet with you guys. Should be neat."