found the cargo bay. There is a single large object inside. It looks like a large rectangular box about 15.5 meters high taking up most of the cargo bay. I don't know how wide or long it is. We will investigate further."
"Team two, this is team one leader. We are working our way aft on the port side. Nothing to report so far."
"Team one copy. We just left engineering and are passing through various storage areas on the starboard side. Nothing to report."
"Base, team three leader: We have located an entrance into the structure. The door mechanism is powered and the indicators are lit. Request permission to attempt entry."
Stricklen pushed his com button and said, "Team three standby until the other teams complete their search. Team one and two, after completing your search, report to the cargo bay to provide backup to team three."
The rest of the ship was searched with nothing found. As far as could be determined, the ship had simply been abandoned and left drifting in space. With the single exception of the object within the cargo bay all equipment had been powered down or had lost power when the auxiliary reactors had run out of fuel. The two remaining search teams converged in the cargo bay.
"All team members present," reported the boarding party commander. "Attempting entry."
Stricklen had tapped into one of the video feeds from of the boarding party. The image was a sharp-edged contrast of blazing light and pitch-black darkness from the suit-lights. The camera which Stricklen had selected afforded a clear view of the person in front of the entrance. The door was barely visible.
The person at the door had locked his mag-boots to the floor in the same position that someone would normally have stood to open the door had there been a gravitational field present. He extended his hand toward a faintly glowing button on the right side. He pushed it and a thin line of light appeared on the right edge. The door slowly slid to the left.
Stricklen leaned forward in his chair. Only a hazy white light could be seen coming from the now fully open doorway. "Oh my God!" exclaimed a voice, probably that of the individual in front of the door. Stricklen quickly switched through the video channels until he found the one he was looking for.
"Oh my God!" Ken repeated.
The monitor clearly showed the cause of their surprise. Although the view through the door appeared fuzzy and out-of-focus the interior was clearly visible. The inside of the structure was packed with operating equipment which appeared to be in perfect condition.
To the right stood a massive machine of unknown nature. Near the center of the room was a large horseshoe-shaped control console. To the left was a glowing, shifting, sparkling, ball at least ten meters in diameter. Stricklen had never heard of or seen anything like it before. The shifting patterns moving across the sphere's surface were almost hypnotic in nature. All around this sparkling ball were devices of a complexity Ken could only guess at.
Suddenly, the picture blanked out. "What's going on?" Ken snapped. "We've lost our picture."
Just as suddenly, the screen returned to normal. "You lost your picture when I stuck my head beyond the perimeter of the door sir," explained a voice Stricklen now identified as belonging to Corporal Franks, the marine in charge of the boarding party. "I received a loss of signal alarm from my suit diagnostics as soon as my head broke the plane of the doorway. I believe there is some sort of field in place that prevents signals from passing into or out of the structure. That explains why we have been unable to scan the interior of the cargo bay and it explains why the interior seems blurred. I've never seen or heard of a force field quite like this. Solid matter has no problem penetrating it and it's mostly transparent to visible light."
"Acknowledged," Stricklen replied. "Send a team in to scan the interior. They are not to touch anything. As soon as you are done, return
"Team two, this is team one leader. We are working our way aft on the port side. Nothing to report so far."
"Team one copy. We just left engineering and are passing through various storage areas on the starboard side. Nothing to report."
"Base, team three leader: We have located an entrance into the structure. The door mechanism is powered and the indicators are lit. Request permission to attempt entry."
Stricklen pushed his com button and said, "Team three standby until the other teams complete their search. Team one and two, after completing your search, report to the cargo bay to provide backup to team three."
The rest of the ship was searched with nothing found. As far as could be determined, the ship had simply been abandoned and left drifting in space. With the single exception of the object within the cargo bay all equipment had been powered down or had lost power when the auxiliary reactors had run out of fuel. The two remaining search teams converged in the cargo bay.
"All team members present," reported the boarding party commander. "Attempting entry."
Stricklen had tapped into one of the video feeds from of the boarding party. The image was a sharp-edged contrast of blazing light and pitch-black darkness from the suit-lights. The camera which Stricklen had selected afforded a clear view of the person in front of the entrance. The door was barely visible.
The person at the door had locked his mag-boots to the floor in the same position that someone would normally have stood to open the door had there been a gravitational field present. He extended his hand toward a faintly glowing button on the right side. He pushed it and a thin line of light appeared on the right edge. The door slowly slid to the left.
Stricklen leaned forward in his chair. Only a hazy white light could be seen coming from the now fully open doorway. "Oh my God!" exclaimed a voice, probably that of the individual in front of the door. Stricklen quickly switched through the video channels until he found the one he was looking for.
"Oh my God!" Ken repeated.
The monitor clearly showed the cause of their surprise. Although the view through the door appeared fuzzy and out-of-focus the interior was clearly visible. The inside of the structure was packed with operating equipment which appeared to be in perfect condition.
To the right stood a massive machine of unknown nature. Near the center of the room was a large horseshoe-shaped control console. To the left was a glowing, shifting, sparkling, ball at least ten meters in diameter. Stricklen had never heard of or seen anything like it before. The shifting patterns moving across the sphere's surface were almost hypnotic in nature. All around this sparkling ball were devices of a complexity Ken could only guess at.
Suddenly, the picture blanked out. "What's going on?" Ken snapped. "We've lost our picture."
Just as suddenly, the screen returned to normal. "You lost your picture when I stuck my head beyond the perimeter of the door sir," explained a voice Stricklen now identified as belonging to Corporal Franks, the marine in charge of the boarding party. "I received a loss of signal alarm from my suit diagnostics as soon as my head broke the plane of the doorway. I believe there is some sort of field in place that prevents signals from passing into or out of the structure. That explains why we have been unable to scan the interior of the cargo bay and it explains why the interior seems blurred. I've never seen or heard of a force field quite like this. Solid matter has no problem penetrating it and it's mostly transparent to visible light."
"Acknowledged," Stricklen replied. "Send a team in to scan the interior. They are not to touch anything. As soon as you are done, return
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