This post was inspired by a writing prompt in the Worldbuilding Community -
Enjoy !
This post was inspired by a writing prompt in the Worldbuilding Community -
It is also the next part of a series which is developing into a full-length story. The working title I'm going with for now is "The Rim Awaken". Previous posts are PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, Part 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 15.
Enjoy !
"Unidentified ship, please identify yourself. We are the Rim ship Deckmouse 2, who are you ?"
Zrami had been calling the ship repeatedly for nearly an hour, and getting no response. He was feeling increasingly confused and frustrated. The atmosphere on the bridge was getting tense; maybe it actually was a scavenger, just using a captured Rim vessel rather than their normal choice of old Imperial ships.
"Sir, I think they might be in trouble." It was warrior-Frattek speaking up. Formerly warrior-Hazar's second in command, he had now stepped up to command the warrior caste members in the expedition while his former leader sat in a cell in disgrace, awaiting his fate.
"How so, warrior-Frattek ?" asked Archivist Naldre. She was standing behind Zrami and watching over proceedings.
"Their drive signature is Rim, but their output is variable. We assumed they were making a deliberate and cautious approach. But it might be just a faulty drive. If the drive is iffy, then so might be their comms."
"Good thought, warrior-Frattek. Zrami, keep calling them, but see if you can bring us in closer and match course. And both of you, tell me if you see anything which gives us more information."
That was typical Naldre, thought Zrami; always seeking as much information as possible before making a decision. But he passed his hands over the controls and started adjusting their course and velocity.
Soon enough, they were drawing closer, and still there was no response from the stranger, either as a reply to Zrami's hails or as a change in their linear but hesitant progress. As they approached, Zrami sent out a remote drone to try to get a closer look.
"I can see them now, Naldre. It's... well, it's old. She looks like a Makme-4 class ship, and in poor condition."
Frattek scratched his chin in confusion. "Are you sure about that, technician-Zrami ? I thought the last of those was decommissioned more than five centuries ago. There must be thousands of them mouldering away in scrapyards, but I've never heard of one still flying."
Nodding agreement, Naldre filled in the numbers. "There were around nine hundred and forty thousand Makme-4 class ships built, starting around ten thousand years ago. Most were decommissioned and scrapped ages ago. The last known flyer was the Skyjaunt, sent to Frarbley-Home's recycling facility five hundred and twelve years ago. A few thousand were converted to Makme-5 spec, but they've got a really distinctive dorsal bulge; this ship doesn't have that."
They watched for a few minutes as the drone circled the ancient vessel and sent back images. Then Naldre came to a decision, tapping the intercom to connect to engineering where Glarbe was working.
"I think this needs to be a Quorum decision, but I recommend we try to board that ship in a non-hostile manner to find out what is going on."
Glarbe was the first to answer. "I agree. Let me know if you need extra power."
Zrami also nodded. "We're going to have to do it with the Deckmouse, we haven't managed to get any shuttles working yet. It's a risk, but I believe it's worth it."
There followed a pause. The seconds stretched out. Finally, Naldre tilted her head, and looked across the bridge. "Frattek ?"
The warrior looked up from his control panel, with a slightly startled expression, "Yes ?"
With a smile, Naldre spoke softly, "Hazar nominated you as his successor. None of us disagreed. That makes you one of the Quorum. Your vote is as important as any of ours, and you have the same veto as any of us if you think we're about to do something really dumb."
Zrami had to supress a grin when he saw the blush that spread under Frattek's ginger fur. The warrior clearly wasn't used to being spoken to as an equal. He nodded. "I say yes, let's find out who she is, and if her crew needs help."
With the Quorum in unanimous agreement, Zrami set to bringing the Deckmouse into a position to board the Makme-class ship. It wasn't easy; she was a big ship, originally built as a bulk freighter, and as they got close he could see her drives were pulsing erratically.
Even a couple of hundred metres away, there was no response to communications, and they could make out her name stencilled in faded white letters on a mottled grey hull. She was the Slowliner 74, a name suggesting she'd once been used as a passenger shuttle between Rim city-ships.
"It's probably best if I go over myself," Zrami said, "If they've got problems, I might be the best person to try to fix them."
"I'll send a couple of warriors over with you, just in case. If nothing else, they may be needed if there's heavy lifting to be done." warrior-Frattek was starting to demonstrate some very grounded thinking, no wonder he'd been a good deputy to Hazar.
"Be careful, Zrami," was all Naldre said quietly as he got up to go and get ready. He was glad he was already on his way to the door and she couldn't see that it was his turn to blush.
A few minutes later, Zrami and the two warriors were approaching the Slowliner's entry port, using small puffs of aerosol dust from their packs to fine-tune their glide. They landed next to the port and their boots locked onto the vessel's hull.
The port was jammed, so Zrami used a small hammer to free it up, then had to use the manual handle once he established that the usual button to open it did nothing.
The two warriors pulled the hatch open, and it was with some relief that it automatically swung shut behind them and they heard the gentle hiss of the airlock re-pressurising.
As the hiss died away, the inner door opened, and someone stepped in. A young Rim, his body language and expression conveying both relief and panic.
"Rim ! Thank the Space Gods ! We hoped you were.... we've come to join your new city. Volunteers. But please, you've got to help us. Everything in this ship is breaking down. The drives could go critical at any moment. We heard you on the comms, you've no idea how bad it was, hearing you calling and calling, but being unable to get visuals or reply. Please.... help us !"
