Chronicles of Athena Lee Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Forgotten Engineer

  Engineering Murder

  Ghost Ships of Terra

  Copyright

  Chronicles of Athena Lee

  by T S Paul

  The Forgotten Engineer

  T S Paul

  Chapter 1

  15 years ago....

  “All hands to Battle stations! This is not a drill!”

  “ All hands to battle stations! Seal all compartments! “

  Moments before ensign Athena Lee had just started her rotation in the engine room. This was her first real assignment since leaving the Academy a month ago.

  Damn it this was supposed to be an easy mission!

  My new ship was a support and engineering frigate, the Tesla. We were in the Diablo sector to build a fleet listening and resupply post for navy intelligence.

  The base was really cool. It was hollowed out of asteroid. It would blend in perfectly with the others floating around in the nebula. This sector was rarely visited due to the dangers of explosive gasses and big randomly floating rocks.

  My Dream job was to be a fully fledged chief engineer some day.

  Everyday was a learning experience. Getting to help senior engineers build a space station was just a bonus.

  The squadron my ship was a part of was with the PPL or the Pan-Pacific League. When humanity had left Earth it had colonized the galaxy in waves. Like with everything else that we as humans do we brought a little bit of home with us. We brought our history, our culture, our politics, and our hatred. Colonies were formed around ethnic or cultural lines.

  Just like on Earth, it wasn't long before the search for natural resources brought nations into conflict. War and famine. Right versus might, us versus them, or something like that. Like Earths last big war two hundred years ago this new war was all encompassing. Sides were chosen and alliances were formed. Two forces came into being: the Pan-Pacific League and Anglican Alliance.

  The enemy was not supposed to even be in this part of space.

  “Ensign Lee what in five hell's are you doing in Engineering!” Chief Engineer Henry was screaming at me.

  “Chief, you told me to meet you here this morning.” Chief Henry was red faced and frantically working his control board.

  “Why didn't you go to CIC with the other ensigns? It's too dangerous here for you. Get to safety!” The ship shuddered and shook. It sounded like a full blown attack now.

  The Chief frantically looked around and pointed at me. “Get in the fusion controller room! Try not to touch any of the controls.”

  The fusion controller room, located between the two engines, was the safest location on the ship. It's armored walls were three times the thickness as anywhere else on the ship. Protecting the engine controls in battle was paramount to winning the fight. Without the armor radiation from the engines would degrade the circuits causing irreparable harm.

  “Just what I need. My first real battle and I'm stuck in a closet!”

  I locked myself in and looked around. The room was small. A large console in the center of the room was surrounded with cable runs. Lots of blinking lights covered the surface. I sat down on a low work console and tried to get comfortable. It angered me that my own supervisor did not appreciate my repair skills enough to let me help. I was missing all the action stuck in here!

  The ship was shuddering and jerking a whole lot now. What sounded like explosions were thumping on the hull of the ship.

  One of the main reasons that this region of space was so empty, was the composition of the nebula. Extremely high levels of hydrogen mixed with other volatile gasses drifted in large clouds. Errant asteroids and other debris drifted in random patterns through the clouds. Add a spark and a touch of oxygen and BOOM!

  This was not a healthy place for colonists. Much less for a mining operation. But for a hidden spy ship base and resupply point, it was worth the risk building it here. The engineers just needed to be extra careful during construction.

  The ship started rumbling and jerked sideways suddenly. I was thrown to the floor. I struggled to both stand up and open the hatch to see what had happened.

  I awoke with a screaming headache. My head felt like there were tiny soldiers marching back and forth inside. I was pretty sure I might have a slight concussion. Checking my link, I saw that I had been unconscious for over 30 hours.

  ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!”

  “Get to the life pods, get to the life pods! Abandon ship!”

  For some reason the hatch was sealed and would not open.I heard a load explosion, loud enough to be heard through the thick walls of the control room.It was as if we had been thrown like a child's toy. I crashed into the wall and remember hitting the floor, then nothing.

  I awoke with a screaming headache. My head felt like there were tiny soldiers marching I was pretty sure I might have a slight concussion. Checking my link I saw that I had been unconscious for over 30 hours.

  “I guess the battle is over. Everything seems to be quiet out there.” Talking to yourself is a sure sign of insanity. The last order that I had heard was to abandon ship. I was alive so the ship must have survived. Checking the door controls I noticed that the sensor readings showed vacuum on the other side. That was the reason the door would not open before.

  I checked and double checked my skin suit and sealed my helmet.

  When the door opened and pressure equalized the door opened. I stood in the doorway in shock. Engineering was open to space! Debris and bodies lay everywhere around the room. A very large hole is now where the port engine used to be.

  Checking the engine room control consoles red lights and alarm codes were flashing everywhere. The red lights casting morbid shadows around the room. For the moment the ship still had battery power. Life support was at a bare minimum and I still had some gravity.

  I carefully navigated around the debris and out of engineering. The rest of the ship was no better. Every life-pod cradle that I came to was empty. All of the pods had launched. I really needed answers. I hoped that on the bridge I might find them.

  The bridge security door had been left open. Thank the gods for that! I was not a bridge officer and did not have authorization the be here. Hell, I was barely an engineer. This was my first assignment out of the Academy. Entering the bridge I was greeted by faintly wailing alarms and more flashing red lights. While an officer, I was not trained as a bridge officer. It took time the find the shut off switch for the alarms. I did find the status controls. Main power was out. The ships control was unresponsive. It was missing an engine it would be. All the active systems were operating on battery power. Life support was now gone. Gravity would be next. The communication system was a total loss. All of the crew had followed orders and abandoned ship.

  I had been forgotten about.

  Information was what I needed.

  Was there a rescue mission coming?

  I checked fleet status. I had to hunt-and-peck to find the proper computer controls, but I then checked the ships logs. Our ships automatically update the logs with or without the captain. I found the answers that I had been looking for and they were not in my favor.

  According to the computer records an AA battle fleet had dropped out of hyperspace right on top of us. Whether it was an accident or by design the effect had been devastating. Our small fleet of engineering and support vessels had put up a terrible fight. Ships like the Tesla had more of a support role than as a front line battle force. We were armed, but not enough. The gunships that made up our defense force were old or close to retirement destroyers. They didn't stand a chance against a battle fleet.

  During the course of the one sided battle. Th
e Tesla had been hit with a force lance to stern. That was the weapon that tore away the engine, opening engineering to space, and killing my fellow engineers. It was also the reason for the Abandon Ship call.

  Our forces fought to the last ship holding the enemy for almost ten hours.

  Science readouts and the log book show that an AA Cruiser launched several Tac-Nukes at our remaining defenders. That series of explosions touched off he volatile gas clouds in the nebula. The blast destroyed or severely damaged all of the remaining ship from both sides of the conflict.

  One small AA light cruiser had survived the explosion. A large asteroid had shielded it and prevented its destruction. Communication had recorded it searching for survivors. The room that I was in prevented them from finding me.

  As Far as I could tell, I was alone surrounded by wreckage, millions of miles from home.

  Chapter 2

  The Present Day. Aboard the EOHS Prosperous

  Captain Ronald Carver finished reading his orders one more time. The Empire of Humanity officer shook his head and grimaced as he put the orders away. Still scowling he turned to his navigation officer “notify our other ships, come about and set course for sector 52. We are to explore the Diablo sector.”

  The young navigation lieutenant, not wishing to further anger her captain, chanced a question. “The Diablo sector, Captain?”

  “Yes, the Admiralty wants us to report on the stability of the region. That area has not been explored and surveyed since before the war. Fifteen years ago during the 'Battle of Diablo' several tactical nukes were set off there destroying two fleets. The area is filled with floating debris and asteroids.” The Captains mood had improved a bit.

  “The 'Battle of Diablo' was the final battle of the war wasn't it? The armistice was signed then.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant it was. According to the information that the Admiralty sent me. The two opposing fleets were almost completely wiped out in the battle. The loss of that many ships all at once conviced the peace negotiators to sit down and hammer out a deal. It was that 'deal' that formed the society that we have today.”

  The lieutenant continued to speak. “Sir, its kind of hard to believe sometimes that it was only 15 years ago.”

  Looking at his officer the captain replied “Humanity is now united, that is what matters today. Interstellar war is a thing of the past. This should be an interesting mission, if you like history. As far as I know none of the wreckage was ever removed.” The Captain returned his gaze to his console and began scrolling through reports.

  “Captain, we should be entering the Diablo sector in 10 minutes.”

  The Captain looked up at Lieutenant Johanson. The tall officer was standing next to his station. “Thank you lieutenant. Sensors, start scanning as soon as we cross the frontier. Begin looking for ship debris and other hazards. This is a very dangerous area of space.” He looked around the room. Spotting the Navigation officer he said “navigation? Wake up the survey teams and get them to start plotting positions. I need for them to compare sector mapping with the old charts. Have them check for any changes in position.”

  The XO turned to his captain. “Should we deploy communication satellites, sir?”

  “That's a good idea XO, make sure you tag them for easy pick up. They represent too much money to just leave out here. That should making contacting HQ more easy.”

  The cruiser and its escorts moved slowly through the sector. The mapping data from the previous survey was holding true, so far anyway. As his ships approached the asteroid belt Captain Carver began to tense up. The area they were approaching was where the battle took place. Many spacers called this area the 'Graveyard of the Lost.'

  Captain Carver was in his Ready Room working when he heard his name being called. “Captain to the bridge, Captain to the bridge.” He dropped what he was working on and hurried out of the room.

  'Report!” The Captain shouted as he entered the room.

  “Sir, we are picking up an anomaly ahead of us inside the asteroid belt. Sensors show that is is highly metallic.”

  They disturbed him for this? “Ensign, that should be the battle site. The wreckage from two fleets is there.

  “Sir, we don't think the fleets are what we are picking up. Sensors detected active weapons in he area.”

  That brought the captain up short. “Weapons? That is a bit strange, there could be ships with trace amounts of power.” He turned to the XO. “Bring the ship to a state of readiness, just in case. Communications, have the destroyer escort scout ahead and look for those traces with active sensors.”

  The two escorts moved ahead of the cruiser at twice it's speed, sensors active and scanning ahead.

  The XO turned to his captain. “Sir, the destroyers say they have found something.”

  “XO, transfer their scans to the main screen. Lets take a look.

  The whole bridge was in shock. “What the hell is that thing!”

  Chapter 3

  15 years ago

  The three basic things that they teach at the Academy when it comes to survival is: food, water, and shelter. I added a fourth to that, air. I need air and life support and I need it now.

  This ship carries both a shuttle and a small runabout, they should be in the hanger bay. The trouble was getting to, the hanger bay with all of this wreckage in the way.

  Either ship can save my life. They both have life support systems.

  The main hatch from engineering used to be in front of me. There is now a very large hole there. I guess that I was luck that hole didn't bisect the ship and kill me.

  “The next time that someone offers to show you around the ship, let them you idiot.”

  Talking to yourself is a sure sign of going insane.

  I had only been on the ship for less than a month. I thought I was this big bad engineer and didn’t need directions. Hindsight just sucks!

  It seemed like I crawled through wreckage for hours, before I found the C.I.C. room. Using the computers I found the ship schematics. I wasted another hour navigating through the access duct that crisscrossed the ship.

  Finally reaching the hanger bay my air supply has almost empty. I was down to 30 minutes of life. Scrambling across some bent and twisted bulkhead supports, I spotted a nearby fire locker. Inside I found several air cartridges. I had more air, for now.

  Thank to space gods! Both ships were in the hanger bay. Only the runabout was of any use. A large section of bulkhead had fallen and had crushed the shuttle flat.

  Clearing some fallen equipment away I opened the hatch and crawled into the runabout. It was a small matter to engage life support. Finally having air to breathe was a miracle. I took off my skin suit and helmet. Three days with a suit on can make you a bit rank.

  The runabout would be able to get me to the construction site. The station we had been building had plenty of supplies. One problem was that the runabout could not leave the system. No interstellar drive on something this small. I could use impulse speed, but that would take around 50 years to get home. Unless I could find something on one of the ships, it looked like I was stuck in this sector!

  The asteroid station had air. The long term supplies were in storage pods waiting to be used so I had my food, water, shelter an air covered. I had helped to build this base so I knew were everything was on board it. One huge problem, damn it. No communications. They had been scheduled to be installed later this week. The parts and sections of the system were now spread throughout the nebula. The ship they were on had been totally destroyed in the nuclear explosion that claimed the fleet.

  Several huge construction drones sat piled near the entrance. Those may be useful, I thought to myself. The Tesla had a pretty good engineering and technical library. If it had survived I may have something to pass the time.

  I opened the door to the base and looked around. I got settled and went to work. I was an engineer. Lets go engineer something!

  Chapter 4

  Present Day: Aboard the EOM P
rosperous

  The entire bridge crew was in shock at pictures sent by the destoyer’s showed a battle station on the screen.

  Clearly built from an asteroid, the station was menacing looking with jagged edges and apparent spikes. Closer inspection showed it to be a crazy-quilt of wrecked ships and scap metal.

  “Communications, contact Captain Buckley on the Redcoat. Have him close with that ‘station’ and scan it. Also contact Captain Richards,on the Jethro Gibbs. Tell him to scan the surrounding area. I’m worried about hidden ships or weapons.”

  “Captain! The Redcoat reports they have been scanned by the station. Weapons guidance beams are locking on to them.”