Ghost Outside the Machine
Posted on Mon May 3rd, 2021 @ 4:26am by The Narrator & Alison Bliss & Tristan & Daiyu & Chloe Waltz PhD & Kindra Graham
Mission:
I Ain't Fraid of No Ghost...
Location: Landing Pad on Planet Surface
Timeline: November 1
Alden had checked in, the radio working as the three suited figures had left on Echo's Mule, bound for Gaishan. The settlement, in view on Echo's sensors, was about half a mile (800 metres) away from the landing pad, a long walk in a suit or a short flight in a shuttle. It was difficult to make out more than the shape of the artificial hab's blocky entrance, the rest of this man-made construction swallowed by the fiercesome and moody-looking mountains. They could no longer see the three men or the vehicle, Alden, Whit and Jonas had been gone for over two hours now, the radio quiet.
It was in that outer silence, yet heard over the sounds of those still safely ensconced within the Firefly, that the thumping crash resonated.
Something slammed into the upper surface of Fortune's Echo with a sound not unlike a brick hitting the bottom of a dry well. There followed a long pause - minutes - and then this disruption was followed by a slow rhythm of much smaller knocks.
Alison sitting on the bridge in her pilot chair and monitoring the situation, jumped up startled by the sudden sound. Taking legs off the pilot console and putting them on the floor, she leaned forward when more sounds followed. Trying to figure out watching the sensor readings what was going on she winced unable to find an answer. So she turned on the intercom.
"Anyone have an idea what is going on?" She asked. "Anyway, I am going to check it. If anyone wants to join me on the walk, meet me at the cargo bay." She added and stood up.
Alison showed up in the cargo hold dressed up in the heavy leather, sporting her trusty SIG at the side. She pulled it out, checked and re-holstered satisfied, as she walked toward the lockers. She was going to pick one of the breathing helmets knowing that the atmosphere outside was too thin to breathe. She looked curiously around, wondering if anyone wanted to join her.
Moments passed and young Tristan made his way to the same area, grabbing a helmet from the locker. "I hope it's ok if I come?" he asked, timidly.
Alison glanced at Tristan not hiding surprise. She didn't expect him to tag along, but then again, she had nothing against that either. She slightly shook her head.
"Not a problem. Are you armed?" She patted her pistol.
The young man smiled and patted the bag he had slung over his shoulders.
Daiyu peeked out from around the corner with only one eye and half her scarred visage showing. "Everybody's going to die," she said in a whisper that carried on the air.
Alison turned to Daiyu and gave her mischievous grin.
"Am I fornicating when I am dying? Please tell me I do. That was always the way I wanted to go." She said cheerfully. Somewhat Daiyu's grim prediction actually raised her spirit up.
Tristan frowned. He wasn't sure why people put up with the weird girl, she was more unnerving than anything else.
"Everyone dies eventually, Daiyu. But as Alden said, not today." Kindra walked down the steps into the cargo bay, dressed in her usual casual attire of a choli and billowing trousers. She pointed to the breathing helmets and addressed Alison. "Is this the only way to find out what's making that noise? What did you see on the sensors? Does the Echo have outer hull cameras?"
"None that are working, I am afraid." Alison replied. "Recent budget cuts." She added and put the helmet on. "Sensors didn't show anything, so it could be some debris, or it could be already too close to the hull." She added moving across the cargo hold. "Back soon. Wait with the dinner, my dear." Alison shut the face plate and secured the seals. Checking the forearm and seeing the status green, she opened the airlock at the main ramp and looked at Tristan if he is ready.
Kindra nodded, worried but resigned. Alison knew what she was doing. "I'll be listening to communication channels."
Tristan took a deep breath, triple checking that his breathing helmet was secured and working. He nodded to Alison.
Alison seeing the nod, opened the airlock and stepped in making room for Tristan.
"Lock it behind us." She said, her voice distorted by the helmet, standing next to the exterior door controller and waiting for the interior doors to be sealed first.
Kindra did as Alison directed, then waited there until Alison and Tristan exited the exterior door. She turned away from the airlock and crossed the cargo bay, then hesitated. "I'm headed to the cockpit, Daiyu. You're welcome to join me." Then Kindra took the steps two at a time on her way to listen in on comms and keep an eye on sensors.
"I guess, I'll just, uh, sit in here, then," Chloe added quietly, retreating from the corner of the room back towards the engine room. She wasn't sure what to make of them bringing Daiyu up to the bridge. Especially when most of the people capable of brute force were not around to restrain her, if things went wrong. Chloe checked the engines real quick, making sure everything was ready for an emergency, of either the "shut it all down now" or the "we need to go" type, before sitting down with her gun on her lap. No matter what that sound was, she had a feeling nothing good would come of this.
Stepping outside as the first, with the right hand on the holstered pistol, Alison glanced if it was safe to proceed further.
To those still within Echo's safe confines, that slow rhythmic knock persisted, steady and weakly, sounding loudest to Kindra up on the upper deck.
Outside, for Alison and Tristan, the landscape remained as bleak and empty-looking as it had when they'd first landed. Winds blasted across the surface, that rosy innocence of the clouds obscuring the sky belying a sense of foreboding and isolation.
Daiyu didn't understand why she was following Kindra to the cockpit, but she found the Companion to be far better company than the weird engineer who always seemed to be silently talking to herself. It seemed rude not to tell others what the internal voices were saying.
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