Chapter Five
« Still NOTHING? »
Captain Kalian asked.
Lieutenant
Darling Chancey had replaced DesVroges, she answered: « No, captain. I'm not
reading anything. Frankly, sir, I think this is a wild goose chase. »
«
It may be, lieutenant. But let's not take our chances. » Kalian took a deep
breath. « Go to yellow alert, raise shields and load torpedo bays. But leave
the weapon systems offline for now... »
« Aye. »
On the other side of the asteroid, the
crew of the Eagle patiently waited for the massive Sovereign-class
starship to be on the opposite side of the large space rock.
«The
Sovereign will be in position in five....four... » Burnel counted down. «...three...two...
»
«
Engage. » Kline ordered.
Burnel's bionic hand flew
over the panel so fast and with so much grace that Kline almost forgot it was
not her real hand. The aft thrusters of the Eagle pushed it gently into
the dense part of the asteroid field.
« Status?
» Kline asked as the whole ship gently
shook.
«
We're okay, captain. The deflectors are holding, and the Sovereign doesn't
seem have changed course or give n any sign that they've detected us. »
«
Good. » said Kline. « Once you find a large enough cavity for us to enter,
bring us in slowly and try to bring us as far down as possible. »
A
few short moments later, Burnel brought the Eagle into a large crater on
the surface of the asteroid. The chasm went down for seventy kilometers, the
diameter of the asteroid being about four hundred kilometers.
«
It's becoming narrower. » Said Burnel who was struggling to
keep the Eagle from hitting the walls. « But it's still okay for
now...The chasm seems to become larger as we approach the center
of the asteroid. »
«
How far down do we have to be so that the Sovereign doesn't spot us? »
asked Kline.
«
If our cloaking device is up, even if it doesn't work quite right, we shouldn't
be detected as long as we're inside the asteroid. But we'll have to be at least
sixty kilometers down so that they don't find us when we drop the cloak. » said
Eskina.
«
Good. Keep us going, Burnel. » Kline said.
«
I'll try... » said the navigator, sounding unsure of herself.
For
a few minutes, as the cavern became larger, the eyes of all the crewmembers of
the Eagle we're turned to the viewscreen. Burnel was getting more
comfortable.
Suddenly,
the ship started shaking slightly.
«
What is it? » asked Sutter.
Eskina
shook his head: « I don't know...I'm reading a...a ship! »
«
What? In here? » Kline ran to the side of his Ops
officer. « What kind of ship is it? »
«
Wait... » Eskina pressed a few controls on his terminal and said: « Whoops, my
mistake...It's not a ship. »
«
Can we get a visual? » Sutter asked.
Mantion
nodded: « I think so... »
The
viewscreen blinked, and on the screen. A long cylindrical form contorted on the
screen.
«
Captain...That thing's alive... » Mantion said.