Starship Armstrong - Season 1

Part 33 - "We Come In Peace" (I)

Gaia was a jewel world, the rarest and most sought after of planets as far as human were concerned. While humanity generally considered any ball of rock where they could survive in a self-contained arcology "habitable", they held in near religious regard those planets whose natural conditions could support Earth-type life on their own. On the few occasions when the human race was able to locate one of these statistical flukes it always sparked a colonization rush as people race to carve out their own piece of this sparkling new gem in the crown of mankind.

Not counting Earth, Gaia was the second jewel world known to man. It was discovered out past the periphery, in the furthest reaches of what could be considered the known galaxy. In spite of it's remote location in less than a generation Gaia had grown to become a thriving and self-sufficient colony world. In the time period just after the Reunification Wars Gaia provided something that was desperately needed: hope for the future.

The Armstrong had picked up the general distress signal from Gaia almost a week ago, it had taken them that long at top speed to arrive in the system. The signal indicated that the planet was under attack, although it didn't provide any specifics. The Armstrong arrived bristling with shields and with it's weapon systems online. A quick scan of the area showed that there was nothing of consequence in orbit, not even the satellites that one would expect around a human habited world. Long range scans proved equally fruitless; the Armstrong was the only ship of any kind for lightyears.

"They're not answering our hails, Captain," said Ensign Marceaux at ops "We're not getting any kind of ansible chatter either."

"Scan the colony," said Captain Littlecrow, standing from the command throne and staring at the main screen, which was currently showing the image of Gaia from orbit. She didn't think it looked all that much like Earth.

Marceaux punched some commands into his console and frowned at the results. He ran the scan again, then a system diagnosis, then he ran a third scan with a wider spectrum of instruments.

"Well?" asked Captain Littlecrow, taking note of how long Marceaux was taking.

Marceaux spun in his chair to face her.

"There's no colony on the planet, Captain," said Marceaux "There's no trace of it. There isn't any Earth-type life anymore either. The biochemistry is completely different. This planet has an entirely alien ecosystem and the atmosphere is poison."

"Are you sure your instruments are functioning properly?" asked the Captain.

"I already ran a diagnosis from here," said Marceaux "We'd have to go to a space station for them to have a more thorough inspection, but I don't think it's our scanners. The readings are too consist ant, not like with a glitch."

"Could this be the wrong planet?" asked Commander Gibson.

"No," replied Ensign Marceaux and Lieutenant Guildenstern at once.

"This is the origin point of the distress signal we intercepted," said Marceaux.

"It also matches the current galactic coordinates for Gaia," said Guildenstern.

"Power down weapons, but leave shields up for now," said Captain Littlecrow "Keep running wide spectrums scans of the planet and long range scans searching for whatever is responsible for this. I want to know what we're getting into before we send a team down there."

"Aye, Captain," said Lieutenant Commander Mitzner, powering down the weapons, then added smiling: "We're going to get to use those shiny new space suits with the jump boosters."

"As much as I hate to say it: call the science department and get Dr. Kang up here. This sort of thing is exactly the reason we're hauling that psychopath across the stars."

"How did we get stuck with that man?" asked Mitzner.

"I picked him," said the Captain "He's considered one of the best minds in the Huxley Foundation, believe it or not."

"They were probably talking about the half he keeps in that jar," said Mitzner.

Gibson had buzzed Dr. Kang while Mitzner and the Captain were discussing how awful he was.

"Anything yet?" the Captain asked Marceaux.

"Not really," said Marceaux "I'm reading life forms of a kind we've never encountered before, which would be par for the course for an alien planet except this is supposed to be a jewel world. We're going to need physical samples."

"Keep looking," said Captain Littlecrow "And focus on the site where the colony should be. See if you can find any trace of it."

Captain Littlecrow sat back in her chair and enjoyed the last few moments of peace before Dr. Kang arrived.