We marched along the hallway, adjusting the sleeve and neck straps on our E suits. We wore air scrubbers by our mouths and noses, readied for use. Atmosphere in the Esthos was passable but in no way desirable. We filed through a large, busy work room, and marched across the hangar floor below the Tristow’s control. I could already see the shuttle that would take us to the dead ship.

I walked between General Taush and General Cedetra. Five suited Titans followed with sensing gear hanging from their shoulders and belts. Our explore party would be the first living beings to enter the mystery ship in who knew how long. As we neared the shuttle, Cedetra finished his report.

“Lastly,” said Cedetra, “we have added under our command a Huim, an Axerri, a Phlaecian, and a Tracci. In fact, the Tracci is the sole survivor of his race. He is currently in the care of 43S7, giving birth.”

“Oh?” I asked, turning in mild surprise. “He is the last of his kind, and he is giving birth?” It could well have been that the Tracci had conceived before the attack; I spoke before I thought it through.

Taush answered, and I turned to him. “Traccis reproduce asexually.”

“I had forgotten,” I said, feeling stupid.

“Unnatural, if you ask me,” said Cedetra. “At any rate, the civilians are eager to take part.” Cedetra spoke of my request to place civilians among the military as acting co-Council and Judges. The report gladdened me.

General Taush spoke. “Bha Huda and Tojava of the Alhii have applied for inclusion among the other civilian Judges and Council members. We have withheld our answer pending your decision.”

As we stopped before the shuttle, I turned and answered. “We should have a representative of every race and gender.”

Cedetra asked, “What of the grays? We found five remaining in the Alhiisian meat kennels.” 

“Of course,” I replied. “I am less concerned with criminal status than I am with survival.”

I turned and entered the shuttle. Taush and Cedetra took the controls and began communication with the tower as the five Titans seated themselves in professional silence. Underway, Cedetra opened the forward view. I looked past his shoulders to the dead ship. 

The alien ship was the color of brass and iron. Large foils extended from the sides like wings, each housing a colossal engine on the broad ends nearest the ship. The external hull was busy with protruding parts, and the shape of the ship was angular in general. It seemed on the whole like a larger version of a fighter ship with a cockpit clearly discernible in the nose of the craft. I could see no light in the large cockpit windows.

Our shuttle followed the outer hull to the rear of the ship. Cedetra placed clamps in the open hatch of the dead ship to hold our shuttle in synchronous spin. One by one, we jumped across the void between our ships, taking handholds on the open hatch to pull ourselves through. I was the last to enter and switch on my magnetic boots.

A dark metallic hallway stretched out before us. We tapped on our wrist lights and panned the bright beams ahead. I could see closed doors ahead of us. Boxes hung on the walls, marked with bright colors and alien language printed neatly.

Cedetra called to the Titans. “Oviel!”

“Aye,” answered the Titan.

“Take Tuotru and work your way to the cockpit. I am interested in archival and navigational data.”

Oviel and Tuotru snapped a brisk salute and ran forward. We followed at a slower pace until we reached a division in the hall that branched into four oblique directions. Cedetra stopped and turned left, then back to Taush.

“Jariah and I will head left,” said Cedetra, his voice muffled by the scrubber. “We will seek the left engine.”

“Very well,” answered Taush. “Mishma and Kauliti will search out storage and weapons.” He pointed down the upper oblique hall with his light, and said, “The King and I will follow this hallway and look for berthing.”

Cedetra switched on his scrubber communicator and said, “Keep in touch. Report everything.”

I heard his voice in my ear. I heard the crisp response of ‘Aye!’ from the Titans. Taush pulled me around by my elbow and led me down the hall. The contrast between our bright lights and the blackness of the dead ship was stark. I listened to the Titans report their activities. The cockpit crew had encountered a closed hallway hatch and were attempting a bypass. Kauliti reported a mechanic bay, while Cedetra and his man were accessing a crawlway into the left foil.

Taush and I had walked slowly, passing three closed doors. The General had seemed uninterested. We came to a T in the hall and turned left, walking toward an open section gate. I asked, “Are you looking for something in particular?”

He answered quietly, “A larger door.”

“Why?” I asked.

He answered, “Large machines pass through large doors.”

“And if you find no large doors?” I asked.

“We’ll turn back and explore the smaller rooms,” Taush replied. “The ship is laid out symmetrically in eight sections with the smaller rooms nearest the intersection at which we turned right.”

“Oh,” I said.

Taush looked at me apologetically. He said, “Along this lateral hallway if we find two double doors across from each other, one hatch will lead outside. The other will open into a hangar.”

“Fighters,” I said. I was in awe of the man’s mental acuity. I asked, “Why are you not the lead General?”

Taush answered, “I’m where I belong.”

We found the two double doors that Taush sought. I waited quietly while he accessed the panel on the inner doors. The General took a small device from his belt and attached it to the circuitry. It only took a moment for him to access the hangar; the doors slid back, and we panned our lights inside. What we saw shocked us.

Floating before our eyes were four desiccated corpses. They wore E suits with alien insignia on their upper arms. The round metal collars were meant for helmets, but the heads were exposed. The eyes of the aliens were dry slits, and their mouths were drawn back in deathly smiles. Taush looked briefly at me, then tapped on his communicator, and walked into the hangar while reporting.

“The hangar is intact,” said Taush. “Have discovered the alien race. Hard to determine their kind; suggest we retrieve one for examination.”

Cedetra’s voice answered. “And the fighters?”

“Counting now,” replied Taush.

I followed the General into the hangar. The fighters were black in color and shared the same general design as the larger ship. We counted four fighters, and Taush reported the number. We passed work tables locked into the deck, as were the fighters. Taush climbed a ladder to inspect an open cockpit.

We crossed the hangar and accessed one of two doors. That room was small berthing with four cots and lockers. We checked the second door to find a single toilet with sealed portals. As we made our search, reports came through our communicators.

Oviel reported, “We have accessed main control. We are linked to the GM.”

Cedetra answered, “We are heading back. Meet me in main control.”

Mishma reported, “We have weapons and small samples. Headed your way.”

Taush spoke into his communicator. “I want to check something. Won’t be long.”

I followed Taush past the T to the other end of the lateral hallway. There, we found a single door at the end of glass windows. Taush panned his light through the windows, and we saw large tilted devices along the back wall. Taush opened the door and entered. On the top of each device was a clear small window providing a view inside. We looked in and saw the faces of dormant aliens.

Taush called me to the last machine, and said, “This one is still active.”

Indeed, a single light blinked lethargically on the back of the device. I looked up into the General’s eyes and asked, “Are they like our trees?”

“Perhaps,” said Taush. “Let’s get back.”

We found the rest of the team in main control. There were two seats before a curved console, Cedetra sat in the one to the left while Oviel sat in the one to the right. I glanced out through the flat windows into the Esthos. A new storm column was forming; it seemed alarmingly closer than the others.

Standing from the controls, Cedetra said to the rest of us, “That column is uncomfortably close. We should return.”

“And the ship?” asked Taush.

Cedetra answered, “We’ll take her in tow.”

Our return saw developments we did not expect. Taush and I were placed in quarantine, as we had come into close proximity to the dead aliens. I stood from the blood analyzer, as Taush was already at the large window speaking with Cedetra.

Cedetra said, “I’ll send a tech crew for the survivor. We’ll torch the dead and sterilize the interior.”

Taush coughed, and said, “I recommend full hazard gear.”

“Let us handle that,” said Cedetra. “Concentrate on yourself. You’re not looking well.”

“I’m fine,” said Taush with a cough. “Go.”

Cedetra turned to me and saluted before leaving. I took Taush by the arm and led him to his cot. I could feel his trembling. I laid him down and spread a cover over him. His eyes blinked slowly, then he slept. Atomics knew no disease, but we were no longer atomic. I grieved for the General’s suffering. As I stood looking out through the window, I hoped to see 43S7 walking toward me. The bright area outside of quarantine seemed abandoned. I could feel myself shaking.

I awoke on my cot trembling terribly. 43S7 was tapping on the window for my attention. With my arms wrapped around me, I walked to the window on shaky legs; there, I blinked until the medic came into focus.

He spoke as he pulled on the gloves of his hazard suit. “You are indeed infected, Lord Jaizu,” said he. He took up his head covering, and said, “I am coming in.”

The medic entered quarantine with a spray canister of sterilizing agent. He walked to my cot and turned, setting the canister down to check the General. He turned to me and spoke.

“Our General is in grave danger,” said 43S7. “For you, you only have to shift in the manner you did before.”

I was cold. I stammered, “What do you mean?”

His muffled explanation came through his head covering as he stood close to me. “You were infected by the metal-eating organism that affected the Kee home ship. You shifted to the end of your bed, leaving the infecting entity on the bed.”

I pushed away from the window. I stood straight and took a breath and walked back to my cot. As I lay on the cot, I truly doubted I was able to perform such a thing. I had only done it one time. I had gone for thirty-plus revolutions with only the occasional shift in locations.

I took another breath and said, “Here goes.”

I shifted to the window and turned back to see 43S7 with canister in hand. I immediately sensed that I no longer trembled; the bitter cold I had been feeling, was no longer there. I nodded to the medic; he turned and sterilized the cot.

Walking back to me, the medic said, “Now, if you could only do the same for General Taush.” He set the canister beside me. “See what you can do while I bring you food. If you do manage to prevail, sterilize the cot immediately.”

I knelt by Taush and placed a hand on his arm. I had never used my father’s sight in a medical sense. I only looked through walls. My initial efforts were frustrating. I imagined I could sense something, but what, I knew not. I shifted the both of us to my cot and shook him. He remained sleeping, his breathing labored. I stood and sterilized the General’s cot.

The food came in a tube. I ate quickly as 43S7 removed the cover and placed a semi-circular device over the General’s chest. The medic looked up from the device, and said, “His condition worsens. Please leave.” I could hear the device as it made unnerving sounds of the General’s failing vital functions. I shifted out, but I ran around to the window, not wishing to leave.

With an acute sense of dread, I watched the medic work over the General. I could not imagine life without Taush. 43S7 removed the device, ripped open the General’s shirt, and replaced the device. The medic’s quick work made my heart race. He drew a hook from the wall, turned, and removed a bag of saline from a wall compartment. The tube dropped from the bag, the needle was inserted and taped efficiently.

The medic spoke into his communicator. “Assistants to quarantine.”

Two assistants in hazard suits raced into the quarantine pushing a cart on wheels. All along, the sounds from the device on the General’s chest became more intermittent. The medic called instructions; the assistants handed over syringes and devices as the medic snapped their names. A device was placed on the General’s forehead. Then, what I feared happened. A single high whine issued from the chest device.

I placed my palms against the glass and watched in horror. 43S7 tapped a pad on the chest device. The General’s body convulsed. The high whine continued. 43S7 tapped the pad again; the whine continued. I could feel my eyes tearing up. The medic tapped again. And again.