Conversion - Part 19

“The mist seems to be dissipating,” Colfax said. “The last person who came through was five minutes ago.” He could tell that Stone was still holding up hope that there would be more. “Sir?”

“Give it another five minutes.”

Stone turned away and tapped on his scarab. “Captain, we should proceed to the next phase.” His tone somber. I'll report to the bridge immediately.”

“Lieutenant Colfax, seal the room after five minutes. And see to it that the other damaged decks are secured as well. Then we go into lock down mode.”

Stone didn't wait to see Colfax's acknowledgment, he turned and left the room. Colfax knew what Stone must be feeling, he shared his sentiment. They have over twenty crewmates unaccounted for, and leaving now would mean abandoning them without knowing their fate.

…

Captain Hunt, Commanders Holts and Stone were on the bridge staring at the holoscreen. The projection showed them a live feed of a barge in front of Starlight. On a separate screen was Colonel Melanko making some final systems check.

“Remember Colonel, you only have a few seconds to make course corrections, so go slow, let the scanners find the energy pockets each step of the way,” Lieutenant Wong said from his station. “We have enhanced the range of the scanners but still it's not much. The pockets seem to be in a state of flux and they can change in size and shape pretty fast.”

“Wong, you remind me of my first wife. I have everything under control,” grumbled Melanko and lit a cigarette.

“Sir, it may not be wise to smoke inside the -”

“For god's sake Mr. Wong, shut the fuck up.”

Wong looked up at the screen and saw the colonel flashing him a smile from behind a puff of smoke. “Fine.”

“Yup, now you sound just like her too.”

Wong called up a screen that showed a blank star chart. The plan was to have the colonel's barge navigate through the field, plotting a safe route for Starlight to follow. The smaller craft had more maneuverability and it would be able to detect and avoid the pockets a lot easier. Wong would then have to bring the ship through the field as fast as he could before the pockets changed shape.

“Whenever you're ready colonel,” said Hunt.

“Everything's in order, let's get this over with.” Melanko then looked up and his expression changed. “Captain, just in case anything happens, take care of my people will ya?”

Hunt nodded.

“It's not gonna be easy for these guys. We're used to a stricter code of conduct and this... new and different way of life onboard Starlight is gonna take some time. Conversions ain't easy so I'd appreciate it if you'd give 'em a little room to adapt at least.”

“You can lead the pack yourself colonel, when you get back,” Hunt smiled. He liked the less guarded Melanko.

“We're not getting any prettier standing around. Let's go!” said Melanko and powered up the barge.

“Thrusters are engaged, systems are online,” reported Lieutenant Wong, his fingers danced across the holoscreen syncing in Starlight's systems with the barge. He watched the barge pull away from the ship, made a turn and head into the dark.

“Nice and easy colonel, we'll keep this channel open for as long as you can,” said the captain knowing that eventually the interference from the energy pockets would disrupt communications. Wong had told him that the sync would drop too, after that they'd have to trace the wake of the barge until they've cleared the field.

The dot on the screen seemed to be inching along painfully slow, and from the bridge everyone could see, the colonel was already making multiple course changes.

“Shut down all non-essential sections of the ship,” Stone ordered through his scarab.

“Let's get moving Mr. Wong.” Hunt walked to the lieutenant's post and watched him punch in the coordinates left by the barge.

“As we had expected sir, we've lost communications and we're no longer patched in with the barge,” reported Wong. “But we have a lock on the wake.”

It seemed to be working, the trail guided the ship along, avoiding the energy pockets completely. Hunt found himself holding his breath each time the ship navigated around an energy vacuole, missing the pockets sometimes by a hair.

The view ahead projected on the holoscreen was deceptively clear, just the stars against the thick darkness of space. Hunt had to look at the sensors to see the volatile pockets.

Then a flash ahead. It started out as a bright blimp and it expanded, slowly.

“Oh god,” said Wong.

“Report,” Hunt said almost in a whisper.

“We won't know for sure sir, until we get closer.”

But everyone on the bridge staring at the holoscreen had the sinking feeling they already knew.