eyes in the room were on the screen and we watched the three blips disappear from the east. Only the Argus remained but it continued its course towards us. Although the tense silence that followed Zeek's question seemed to last for an eternity, it couldn't have been longer than a few seconds.
“ Cirrus, it appears that our pursuers have retreated for an unknown reason. We will continue on course to rendezvous at your location and should be there shortly .”
The connection went dead and I watched the Argus blip on the screen as it closed in on our location. I peeled my eyes from the monitor and scanned the room. Natronix scoured space through the periscope, Calypso whispered something to Satou and left the room while the rest of the crew continued piloting us toward our meeting point. I found my thoughts drifting to the three vessels that were chasing the Argus and wondered if they were related to the beings that attacked Mars long ago. Because of the size of the universe it was near impossible to identify all alien races and even more difficult to determine who was friendly and who was not.
“I have visual contact with the Argus,” Natronix said and pushed a button, retracting the handles and sliding the entire unit into the ceiling. “Prepare docking protocol.”
“Yes sir,” Rawls replied and turned his attention to the control panel by pushing buttons and following up with several knob turns.
Satou grabbed my elbow and pulled me close. “Come on, Nathan, I imagine docking will be a sight to behold for someone who has never been in space before. I would not want you to miss it.”
He led me down the hall to the elevators which we took to deck three. On our way down I tried to imagine what made docking with another space ship so special. I had seen NASA spaceships docking with orbiting space stations on television before, and it really appeared to be no big deal.
We exited the elevator and entered what could be described as a viewing room. The room allowed us a panoramic view of space, with windows on all sides of us, giving off the impression that we were floating in space. There were handrails located in front of each window and I grabbed one to ward off an oncoming case of vertigo. I saw the Argus through one of the side windows and immediately realized the holographic image from earlier did not accurately portray its size. It loomed before us like one of the dinosaurs in Calypso's movie. As our ship approached the Argus, I understood what Satou meant when spoke about the docking process. It truly was a sight to behold.
Looking at the front of the Argus was like looking at the front of a U.S. naval battleship. The similarity ended, however, when the bow of the ship opened like a mouth. I leaned in to look closer and accidentally banged my head against the glass. Satou grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back behind the railing to prevent me from falling over.
“You may not want to do that again, because those windows can get pretty cold,” he said with a smile.
I leaned back and the front of the Argus opened wide, preparing to swallow us whole. Light bars lined both sides of the entranceway, allowing visibility of our target within the blackness of space.
Several moments later we were within the bowels of the Argus, the deepness of space replaced by the confinement of metal beams and control panels while crewmembers scrambled around our ship from within the docking bay.
I turned to Satou. “What now?”
Satou stood straight and shrugged. “Well, I assume the first thing on the agenda is to find out why the Argus was not where it should have been.”
We left the observation deck and bumped into Calypso and Natronix as they exited the elevator. Both glanced at me before shifting their gaze toward Satou, who responded with a slight nod.
“Nathan, let me escort you back to your quarters,” Satou said and turned to me. “There is no need for you to remain here as we go through security procedures
“ Cirrus, it appears that our pursuers have retreated for an unknown reason. We will continue on course to rendezvous at your location and should be there shortly .”
The connection went dead and I watched the Argus blip on the screen as it closed in on our location. I peeled my eyes from the monitor and scanned the room. Natronix scoured space through the periscope, Calypso whispered something to Satou and left the room while the rest of the crew continued piloting us toward our meeting point. I found my thoughts drifting to the three vessels that were chasing the Argus and wondered if they were related to the beings that attacked Mars long ago. Because of the size of the universe it was near impossible to identify all alien races and even more difficult to determine who was friendly and who was not.
“I have visual contact with the Argus,” Natronix said and pushed a button, retracting the handles and sliding the entire unit into the ceiling. “Prepare docking protocol.”
“Yes sir,” Rawls replied and turned his attention to the control panel by pushing buttons and following up with several knob turns.
Satou grabbed my elbow and pulled me close. “Come on, Nathan, I imagine docking will be a sight to behold for someone who has never been in space before. I would not want you to miss it.”
He led me down the hall to the elevators which we took to deck three. On our way down I tried to imagine what made docking with another space ship so special. I had seen NASA spaceships docking with orbiting space stations on television before, and it really appeared to be no big deal.
We exited the elevator and entered what could be described as a viewing room. The room allowed us a panoramic view of space, with windows on all sides of us, giving off the impression that we were floating in space. There were handrails located in front of each window and I grabbed one to ward off an oncoming case of vertigo. I saw the Argus through one of the side windows and immediately realized the holographic image from earlier did not accurately portray its size. It loomed before us like one of the dinosaurs in Calypso's movie. As our ship approached the Argus, I understood what Satou meant when spoke about the docking process. It truly was a sight to behold.
Looking at the front of the Argus was like looking at the front of a U.S. naval battleship. The similarity ended, however, when the bow of the ship opened like a mouth. I leaned in to look closer and accidentally banged my head against the glass. Satou grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back behind the railing to prevent me from falling over.
“You may not want to do that again, because those windows can get pretty cold,” he said with a smile.
I leaned back and the front of the Argus opened wide, preparing to swallow us whole. Light bars lined both sides of the entranceway, allowing visibility of our target within the blackness of space.
Several moments later we were within the bowels of the Argus, the deepness of space replaced by the confinement of metal beams and control panels while crewmembers scrambled around our ship from within the docking bay.
I turned to Satou. “What now?”
Satou stood straight and shrugged. “Well, I assume the first thing on the agenda is to find out why the Argus was not where it should have been.”
We left the observation deck and bumped into Calypso and Natronix as they exited the elevator. Both glanced at me before shifting their gaze toward Satou, who responded with a slight nod.
“Nathan, let me escort you back to your quarters,” Satou said and turned to me. “There is no need for you to remain here as we go through security procedures
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