They were greeted by a bright white light that Ramirez instantly aimed at. They were still for a few moments before she determined that it was not a threat and sidestepped into the engine room. The room was roughly spherical in shape with the light coming from a pillar in the center of the room. A large crack in the side gleamed, giving the room it's illumination. It winked out and left them back in the red torchlight for a few seconds before returning with it's ghostly intensity. The floor had switched to pure metal instead of the rubber that was out in the hallway. Matthew brought up his sensor and began to take readings. The light cycled once more.

  "Hmm, ship's core? When it goes out, alpha particles stream out of it."

  "They aren't dangerous from more than a few feet away. In any case our suits should protect us.

  "I'm glad I kept with your suggestion Gryph; besides, there doesn't seem to be as much oxygen in here as there is in the rest of the ship."

  Gryphon scanned the room and found what he was looking for. A large computer dominated one curved wall and he walked up to it.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I want to see what the computer can tell me. There might be something here in a format I can understand. Mathematics hopefully. Ramirez, stand guard. Heather, I want you to see what you can find out about that core in the next half hour. After that I want you and Matthew to locate the ship's control room."

  "Sounds good sir."

  Ramirez backed up against the wall and watched the core pulsate, the supernatural glow giving her an uneasy stomach.

  "Are you sure this thing is safe? I mean, this crack is probably why whoever owns this tub abandoned it in the first place."

  Matthew stood next to her and brandished his equipment.

  "The energy output is constant; the levels don't go above or below what they've been going to. We should be fine."

  Ramirez acquiesced and went back to her vigilance. A click and whooshing sound brought her rifle back in her hands and aimed. Gryphon was smiling as a chair had come up out of the floor paneling and set itself in front of the computer console.

  "Oh, I like this."

  "Gryphon!"

  "What? Oh ... sorry."

  He sat down while Ramirez shook her head angrily. She began to pace with nervous tension. her steps sounding heavily in the stagnant air. She watched Heather tinker with whatever she could get her hands on and Matthew take more readings of the ominous pulsing in the center of the chamber. She counted the seconds as time passed; no one said anything as they tried to learn as much as they could. The computer screen kept flooding with unfamiliar letters as Gryphon tapped away on the keys. She watched as graphs and lines would appear and disappear with unintelligible jargon explaining their existence. The core flashed again and she found her vision drift to it as the white light reappeared and filled her faceplate with it's brilliance. The whole crack glowed and she couldn't see anything but it's ominous beauty.

  "All right," Ramirez gasped and regained her composure as Heather's voice filled her earpiece, "I think I'm done here. C'mon Matthew, let's go find the Cockpit."

  "Cool, I think I'm getting some of Ramirez's willies anyway." He smiled, but she looked away. Matthew shrugged and followed Heather out of the Engine Room. Gryphon didn't seem to notice as the computer kept his attention. Ramirez stood quietly for a few minutes then walked over to him; but she kept her eyes on the core.

  "Do you have any idea what this thing is?"

  "It's definitely the power source to the ship. I've seen some tables that I believe represent the power levels on board. There was an obvious spike and fall off some time ago and since then the graph shows a slow buildup and discharge at a steady rate."

  "You can read this?"

  "No, it's just that these readings mirror what Matthew has been recording. I believe they follow a hexagonal numerical system, but I haven't had much further luck deciphering the written language." He pointed at a few of the keys, "I believe this is what we would deem as a 'return' or 'enter' key, this a character delete, and this is a menu. Unfortunately, I don't know what words they are using or how to spell them; so I'm just getting lucky."

  "What are you in now?"

  "I think this is a menu on the core itself. From here I've been reading the power readings and what I think was a fuel conversion table."

  "Can you figure out what material is in there?"

  "Not from here, and if it told me I wouldn't be able to understand it. There might be a molecular breakdown hidden in here somewhere but I can't seem to figure out how to access it. Our best bet is to try and obtain a material sample."

  "From there!?!" She pointed her rifle at the crack.

  "If I can't figure out how to open a portal and access it safely, yeah."

  "You're trying to open it?"

  "Yes, I am."

  "Are you sure that's a good idea? Who knows what's in there. Matthew couldn't get a clear reading and somebody obviously thought it was dangerous or they wouldn't have fled. It's my professional opinion that we leave it the fuck alone!"

  "Ramirez, we were sent here to learn as much as we can and I think it would help if we brought back a sample of that core."

  "You are putting us all at risk. This is a serious danger that we can avoid and we should."

  "Quit your whining. What are worried about? A few alpha particles? OH-negative? Big deal. I think I've almost got it anyway."

  "Got what? What are you..."

  There was a deafening boom and the whole ship shuddered. Ramirez was thrown against a solid wall and Gryphon whipped forward into the console. The core began to whine and then it pulsed. The wave that emanated from it was blinding and surged forward with incredible speed; it struck them both before Ramirez could react.

  It passed through the thick protective shells of their suits and Gryphon felt warmth flood his entire body; the wave soaked him in it's brilliance and then swept through him. His eyes burned as it passed away from him and into the wall. The computer began to scramble as electricity jumped through it's circuitry; the screen burst in an explosion of sparks and glass as wiring began to pour out of crumbling bulkheads.

  The red lighting began to dim and eventually disappeared; leaving Ramirez and Gryphon with the thin beams of their helmet cameras. She shook her head to clear the vertigo that wrapped her head in a bleary cloak. Her breathing came back to her in gasps and she could feel her lungs burning.

  "Gryphon? What have you done? Gryphon?" She shook his inanimate body but could only hear the faint sound of his shallow breathing. He was unconscious.

-     -     -

On to Page 3

-     -     -

Back to Necronomicon Index