Chapter 38: The Ring

The Seeker entered the solar system of their destination and slowed to a comparative crawl. All of her defensive shields flashed into being. The crew was already manning all her weapons stations. Deanna's bridge crew carefully scanned the area for any sign of aggression.

"Nothing detected on any of my scans," Deanna reported to Remi. "Only a single star is present in this entire system with no planets. The star is so small it did not show up on our long range scans. The four surrounding stars completely dwarf it," Deanna continued her report.

"There has to be something. The Silvan sent a number of expeditions here and none of them returned. Proceed toward the single star slowly and Deanna I need not remind you use caution and remain alert for anything," Remi told Deanna.

The Seeker made its way toward the star at a small fraction of its normal speed. As they got closer Deanna reported again.

"Remi there is something strange but at this distance I can't tell what it is. The sun in this system has a dark band across the center of it running the whole diameter."

"A band? Across the center? What kind of band Deanna?" Remi asked.

"I can't tell at this distance but as we get closer I will probably have more information to give you."

The hours passed and then Deanna addressed Remi again, "Remi that band that circles that star is not on the surface of the sun but instead is about the same distance out as Eros is from her sun. Remi that band is not natural unlike the asteroids that circle some planets."

"Are you saying that it is intelligence made?" Asked Remi.

"That is exactly what I am saying. There is nothing else in this entire system, no debris of any kind, in fact I checked the four neighboring suns and they are the same. Nothing orbits them, their entire systems are nothing but empty space," Deanna finished.

The Seeker crept closer.

Several hours later Deanna gave Remi a new report. "The ring is definitely artificial and it is moving, I mean spinning around that sun. The underside, the side facing us is composed of some type of metal substance but I checked as well as possible around the curve and the inside is composed of rock, soil and other natural substances. We are even detecting to presence of an atmosphere."

As the Seeker got closer still Deanna was able to give further reports.

The outer surface of the ring was indeed made of some type of metal which was about one-hundred miles wide. As much as could be observed of the inner surface was composed of normal elements even to the extent of some types of vegetation.

The Seeker rose above the shadow of the ring for further observation. Suddenly the sun emitted four bolts of plasma moving very fast and with a trajectory that brought them on a collision course with the Seeker leaving little time for maneuvering to avoid them. The defensive shield around the Seeker held ... barely.

"What was that... ?" Remi started.

Deanna was too busy to answer. "More launches," she cried. "Ten ... no twenty launches. Emergency evasive maneuvering. Try to get us behind the ring... now," she cried.

The Seeker responded quickly avoiding a large number or the bolts. Most but not all. Bolt after bolt struck the shield rocking the huge ship and sending the crew that was not strapped into their seats tumbling. Desperately the Seeker sought to place the ring between them and the deadly plasma bolts. She was almost successful ... almost. The shields collapsed and a single bolt struck the engine section. Almost immediately all main engine thrust was lost. The attack ceased once they were behind the ring but they were moving rapidly and would soon come out from behind the ring on the other side.

"All maneuvering jets fire all weapons system fire forward we must not come out from behind this ring," Deanna shouted. The combined firing was just enough to stop the Seeker.

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Remi picked herself up off the deck and addressed Sonya. "Sonya report damage," she ordered. One by one the departments reported in. Aside from bumps bruises and scrapes all personnel were ok. Some loose items had caused some damage but nothing major. The engine department did not report in though.

"Cecil report in please," both Remi spoke into the air.

Silence.

"Cecil report," Remi repeated. "Sonya what is the status of the engine room?" Remi demanded.

"One minute please I am trying to activate my remotes in that section and reestablish contact," Sonya returned.

Finally Cecil's voice came over the air. "Remi are you there?" he asked.

"I'm here Cecil what is your status."

"Not good," Cecil returned. "The hull was breached and there is major damage here. None of my crew members are fatally injured but most have suffered injuries. A lot of the robots are gone some were damaged by what ever hit us and some were sucked into space when they tried to repair the hole. We have finally patched the hole and are even now restoring atmosphere. We need assistance Remi. There are a number of fires here."

"I'm sending help immediately," Remi told him and then addressed Sonya. "Send all available personnel to the engine room quickly."

"Done," Sonya replied.

The fires were put out and then the job of assessing the damage was begun. Four of Cecil's team of six had various broken bones along with many cuts and scrapes. Two of them were seriously hurt and would have to be submitted to Kate and her medical team for care in the regrowth chambers. Cecil himself had a broken arm and three broken ribs. Of the fourteen robots that had been assigned to the engineering section only four were left. Ten were either damaged beyond repair or gone altogether.

"I think I can repair the engines but it will take at least several weeks if not several months to do. In the mean time we can supply power for environmental controls and power enough to use maneuvering jets only. That's the best we can do," he finished.

The officers were gathered in the lounge of their living quarters as they gave their reports. The other departments gave their reports which were not as depressing. Remi purposely waited until the last to get the report from Deanna because she was afraid of what she would say.

"So Deanna tell us can we withstand another attack like that?" Remi asked.

"Without the engines we have no defensive shields and only minimal weapons systems so the short answer is NO. I do have a theory about the plasma weapons though," Deanna added.

"Go on," Remi prompted.

"They have not fired since we have been behind the ring and I think that is because the weapons were designed to protect the ring itself and I have a theory about that. What if the plasma bolts were designed not so much to destroy attacking intelligences but to destroy any asteroids or any other thing that threatened the ring itself."

"You mean that those bolts were launched by an automated defense mechanism to destroy what it saw as a threat to the ring," Shane asked.

"Then so long as we remain behind the ring and have it between the sun and ourselves we will not be attacked?" Remi asked.

"Well I can not guarantee that is the case but yes that is what I am hoping," Deanna said. "Because that is the only chance we have of surviving," she reminded them.

"Then by all means have your crew make sure that we remain behind that ring at all times," Remi said with a hint of a smile.

Repairs in the engine room were commenced. Two days passed with no further attacks lending credence to Deanna's theory. On the third day Remi and Deanna stood on the bridge talking to Stan when Zeena called their attention to an anomaly on the otherwise featureless outer wall of the ring. The spin of the ring was bringing it closer as they scanned it. They determined it was rectangular in shape and as it spun closer to them they saw that the end was open to space. The opening was not large enough to accommodate the Seeker but it was plenty large enough to accept smaller craft like the shuttles. They also caught a fleeting glimpse of some type of equipment inside.

On a whim Stan addressed Deanna, "Deanna can you match speed with that structure and keep us over it?"

"Maybe for a short time but not for long with our main engines not working. I not talking about days even but maybe for hours," Deanna speculated.

"Do it Deanna and I will explain my idea while we are able to match orbit," Stan requested.

Deanna quickly issued the orders and then Stan explained. "We are not getting any further information about the beings that built this structure but maybe just maybe that is a way in to the interior. And maybe we will be able to find answers there."

"That's a lot of maybes Stan and what do you propose since the Seeker can't enter there and we can't keep up with it," Remi reminded him.

"No but our shuttles can. I propose that I and several others fly into that structure and see what we can find."

"Stan we won't be able to keep up and offer defense should the need arise," Deanna reminded him.

Stan scoffed, "And just what defense and fire power can the Seeker offer in the shape she is in now?"

"I will approve this exploration with a few changes that are not negotiable," Remi said.

"First you will take not one but two shuttles, Second the following officers will go with you." Remi ticked off the names on her fingers. "Katelyn, Kyle and Eliana, also Becka. Katelyn because she not only is the best medical person but she has the power of the elements at her disposal. Kyle for the same reason plus he can fly. Eliana because she is very strong and can travel under water almost indefinitely. Becka on the oft chance you should run into some of the missing Sylvan. The other five I will let you chose. Your expedition will consist of ten persons though and that is final Stan."

"Agreed," Stan said for he knew better than to argue with his sister when her mind was made up.

The expedition was quickly assembled and two of the remaining three, six seat shuttles launched. They entered the opening into a cavernous interior. One of the first things they noticed was the presence of half a dozen small craft about the size of the shuttles but of a totally unfamiliar design. They landed beside them on the interior of the outer wall of the spinning ring and left a robot in each shuttle to maintain things. Above them the ring floor itself formed a ceiling. The centrifugal force of the spinning ring provided gravity that was very near what they were used too. The ten of them wore their spacesuits and spread out to explore. Besides the alien shuttle craft there were also other pieces of equipment nearly as large but of unknown uses.

They all joined her when Isha announced she had found what appeared to be an elevator. There was a single large button and nine smaller ones above it mounted in the nearby wall and when the large button was pressed the huge door in front of them opened exposing a large lighted interior that would accommodate all of them easily with a lot of room to spare. Caprice remained behind while the rest of them got inside.

"Well I guess we will see where this takes us," Stan announced as he pressed the one large button on the inside elevator wall.

The door closed and upward motion began. When it stopped the door did not open immediately. They stood and waited and then Isha spoke.

"Stan look at your monitor. The vacuum around us is being replaced with atmosphere."

As Stan watched the air pressure continued to rise and then stopped. The air outside their suits was slightly higher in some trace gasses than normal but very breathable. The door slid open and all but one of them stepped out into a vast building of some sort filled with more machines.

"Caprice can you still hear me?" Stan asked.

There was crackling static but Caprice's voice answered almost immediately.

"Yes I hear you Stan but there is a lot of interference."

"As long as we are still in communication. I'm fairly certain it has to do with the material that makes up this ring," Stan said.

An identical set of buttons were situated on the wall outside the elevator at this end.

"Stand in here and be ready to open the door again if it should close," Stan ordered Isha. "The rest of you spread out and let's see what we can find. Stay in sight of each other though," Stan finished.