The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (19 page)

Steven and Plumley went with him to the first coffin. They holstered their weapons and removed the linen flag or what was left from it. Then they slowly opened the coffin. What they saw made them drop the hatch and step back. Even Ellis was shocked.

“Sir if that is what I think it is…”- Steven stopped. The implications were shocking.

Ellis turned and called Parker. He was a medic and best qualified to make a proper assessment.

Parker came slowly.

“Yes sir?”

“Parker, open the coffin and tell me if that body is what I think it is.”

The marine turned his head toward his commanding officer. Ellis couldn’t see his look through the visor clearly but knew that he was surprised.

“Sir…?”

“Just take a look Parker.”

The marine just nodded and opened the coffin and looked at the body.

“O my god.”

They all looked down in amazement as the marine uttered those words. Even Han stepped closer and left his post to see what caused the reaction.

The body looked mummified but from the shape and form it was definitely human. The liquids obviously evaporated long before and through the years the body dried up. But with no bacteria to eat it and help the decomposition it simply froze. His face looked calm and recognizable. The uniform was preserved as well. It had a blue color in the past but only a thin layer remained now.

To make sure that they are not mistaken they opened several more coffins. They found two women bodies among them that definitely confirmed that the bodies are human.

“I think we can call of the search for the crew.”

“Yes sir.”

“Can you give me an estimate about how long they’ve been dead?”

“No sir. But for this type of mummification they must be dead for several thousand years. The bodies are dried and they froze in vacuum. That’s why they are preserved. The bacteria can’t survive in vacuum it has to hibernate so the bodies don’t decompose. With the right equipment and resources we might be able to tell the exact age. I thing we have that on Deadalus. And this is the right thing for those biologists we took with us.”

“Sir…Human bodies on space ships? And from the looks of it they belong here.”

“I know Plum. I know.”

“Damn this will change everything sir. It seems that the theories of humans having been more advanced than we are today at some point in the distant past had it right. I wonder who they were.”

“And I wonder who they fought.”

“Yes sir.”

Ellis looked around and the thousands of coffins. He turned and led his team outside. He touched the mike and contacted the rest of the teams.

“Team leader to all teams…This is team leader to all teams. We have a situation here.”

“Beta leader here say again please.”

He smiled. Beta was Fillip and his team. Soon after him the rest of the teams acknowledged as well.

“We found the crew. We are at the some sort of a meeting hall.”

“What do they look like sir?”

The question came from Bradley.

“You said you had a situation Alpha.”

“What situation sir?”

Ellis inhaled. He thought for a second before telling them the news.

“What is the situation Sir?”

“It’s the crew.”

“What about them?”

“They are…humans.”

The answer obviously shocked them from the silence that followed.

“It fits…”

Ellis took a second before reacting. The comment came from Evans. He remembered her comments about the fighters that they looked like they were made for humans or someone their size…

“Sir … did you say humans? How can…”

“Don’t know Herrick. But they are or at least it looks like they are.”

“Sir, do i have permeation to relay this information to the Deadalus?”

Ellis thought for a second then answered.

“Yes you can Evans. Tell them that they can send in the scientists. The ships are here for … thousands of years. There is no danger.”

“Yes sir.”

After this he turned to his team.

“We will continue the search. The crew may be dead but this raises questions. And I want answers. Let’s see if we can find something.”

No one said anything. They slowly followed him and continued searching.

Five minutes later Jennings and everyone else on the bridge of the Deadalus stared at the huge ship in front of them.

“Did she say Humans?”

The voice belonged to Nikolas Dubois the French biologist and head of that department of the mission. They were included but no one really expected that they will have much to do. As it turned out…

“Did I hear you right? Did you say humans?”

The voice on the other end was getting agitated. It was obvious that Eva was losing her temper. It was understandable. For the last five minutes she heard the same question again and again.

“Yes Dr. Dubois I’m sure. That is what Major Ellis reported. And from the looks of the fighters i have to agree it is possible.”

The doctor didn’t answer anything. He eased on the seat and turned towards the rest.

“How can this be?”

“Humans build this fleet… amazing.”

Edward made his comment and continued looking at the magnificent ship.

“Yes it is amazing. But how can this be. There are no records anything that we know of a civilization so advanced to build this. The technology and the industry needed for building something like that… we surely would have known.”

“Who knows maybe we do. There are many secrets that no one is sharing. Maybe this is one of them as well.”

Jennings turned towards Dr. Heller. The tiny German scientist had her black hair tied in a knot and looked serious. She was one of those who always believed that there were some secrets that were never spoken. And he knew that she might be right.

Before he could say anything Linda stepped in.

“Don’t start Michaela please. Even if there are some secrets we all know that no one could have hidden something that big. Whoever they were we have no knowledge of them. If anyone on Earth did…let’s just say that we would have been here a long time ago. Not today.”

“Yes you are right sorry.”

“But it seems that the conspiracy theorists will have a lot to talk about when they hear the news.”

They both turned to Haler. He was looking at the ship and his face showed admiration. He was also smiling.

“Why are you smiling?”

He turned towards them.

“Why? Oh dear major Rivers. Can’t you see it? For years people were first claiming about alien sightings and no one was taking them seriously. Then there were also the ones who claimed about this…that there was some ancient highly developed civilization that was on a higher level than even us today. And we all laughed at them and thought they were crazy. And what do we say now? First we are attacked and now we have humans on board a ship, a space ship that was built God knows when. I wonder who else will turn up being right. Our civilization has a lost past ladies and I think we just scratched the surface of it.”

They both looked at him with surprise. And they both knew that he was right.

While they spoke Jennings and Sergei joined Edward and they all observed the ship. And they were all watching the hangars. They knew that the Deadalus could land if needed. It had a landing gear that could support its weight. And now both Sergei and Jennings looked at Edward. As one of the designers of the ship he knew every piece of it intimately.

“Do you think it can be done? Can we land inside it?”

Edward thought for a second and looked at the schematics.

“Yes we can. We will have to move really slow and use the thrusters carefully but we can do it. But you will have to be really careful commander. One mistake and…”

“Yes I know Ed. I know. You go take your seats. I’ll inform the crew.”

As Edward and Antonov drifted to their seats Jennings went to the command console.

Linda watched him come. So did the rest of the command crew.

“You want to go in don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And they think it can be done.”

“They are sure. And so are we. We trained for this and we know how to do it.”

“This is crazy sir. One mistake …”

Jennings inhaled and looked at Linda. She was ten years his junior but she was also an excellent pilot. That is why she was chosen for the mission. Her green eyes met with his gray. And he knew that she wanted it just the same as he did. He gently touched her hand.

“I know. But that ship there is why we came here. And if we can do it, it will be for the good of the mission. And we can do it. You can.”

She just smiled and turned to the view screen. Then she turned to him.

“Inform the crew to prepare.”

Jennings just smiled and made the announcement. Several people were stunned but they all knew the benefit of the Deadalus being on board that alien ship.

Ten minutes later with everyone strapped in and the crew on its positions the ships engines came on line. The ship lurched and started moving slowly towards its destination. As they approached the huge hangar bay they noticed that there was plenty of room. The huge hangar doors stood open. The ship moved slowly inside and Linda and everyone else worked carefully on the controls. As the passed the inner hangar they activated the reverse thrusters and extended the landing gear. The ship slowed and then it stopped in the mid of the hangar. It slowly glided to the surface and as it landed the magnetic landing gear was activated. As it was the ship lurched and settled.

When it did everyone exhaled. The tension and the fear disappeared. They could see the shuttle just ahead and the amazed marines and astronauts.

“Great job Linda.”

She smiled.

“Thank you sir, but it wasn’t all me. We all did a great job.”

She unstrapped and slowly drifted out of the bridge. So did the rest of the crew. Everyone on Deadalus started preparing for what was about to come. The only ones that were going to stay on the ship were several engineers and the biologists that had to examine the bodies. Everyone else started preparing and putting on their space suits.

Jennings looked at the crew as they prepared to exit the ship. They were all excited.

He looked at the hangar outside. Deadalus filled a large portion of it but it still had a plenty of room. And from the looks of it, it seemed that humans built it. It was really breathtaking.

After a second he too slowly drifted out of the bridge and went to prepare for exit. He wanted to see the huge ship just as well as everyone else.

As he was preparing he noticed two of the biologists preparing as well. Dubois and Heller were going after one of the bodies the marines found. He could see the excitement on their faces. And he understood it. He could also see their nervousness. That was something that everyone felt. The discovery would surely have big implications back home. The fact that humans might have once in the past roamed the stars… it was fantastic and terrible at the same time. And he wondered if that kind of information should ever be released for the public.

“Are you ready doctors?”

The two biologists looked at him. Dr. Dubois was the one that answered.

“Yes we are captain. We are a bit nervous but that is understandable under the circumstances I think you will agree. I mean we came looking for aliens and we seem to have found ancient humans.”

Jennings smiled.

“I understand doctor. And to be honest I’m afraid of what that kind of information will do back home.”

From the look the scientists gave him he knew that they knew and feared the same thing.

Dubois smiled and waved his hand.

“That remains to be seen. First we have to confirm that they are truly human bodies. And it’s not our decision.”

After this both scientists drifted in the other chamber and after the hatches were closed they exited the ship. Several minutes later Jennings followed them. When he came out he noticed that the biologists were gone and so were the two marines and most of the scientists. The two shuttle pilots were waiting for him and so were Linda and five other astronauts that with them were on the bridge.

“It seems that we have a ship to see gentlemen. Shall we?”

Through the mike he heard their chuckles as they followed him. They slowly entered the hallways and started following the footsteps the marines took.

Fillip slowly moved at the head of his group. They were moving through a large hallway that was obviously leading to some place important. On the other decks they noticed the elevators or what looked like elevators but couldn’t use them because the ship had no power. So they had to use the stairs to go from one deck to the other. It was far slower but it also gave them a better look at the ships interior. As they moved they noticed several doors on both sides of the hallway. The soldiers slowly and carefully moved in and stepped in the first room.