Hyper

Chapter 38 – One-Eight-Seven

[Location: Aboard the Patrol 2865, Trident Class Cruiser, Abiathar]

The speaker on the control panel crackled to life. “Two-eight-six-five. Abiathar, this is Lodabar-Central. Please acknowledge.”

The captain pressed the transmit button and spoke with a calm tone. “Copy Lodabar-Central, this is two-eight-six-five Abiathar actual.” He released the button and waited for a reply.

“Abiathar actual…Lodabar-Central has received a distress call from Decontamination Depot t3rm1nu5. There is a report of multiple instances of one-eight-seven onboard. There is also a report of a survivor and an injured person on the scene.”

“Lodabar-Central, do you have more details on the one-eight-seven? Is this currently considered a hostile site?”

“Negative, Abiathar actual. This is not a hostile site. No further information on the multiple one-eight-seven.”

“Copy that, Lodabar-Central. Awaiting your instructions.” The captain looked through the flight deck’s front window and saw nothing but black space sprinkled with tiny specs of faint light.

“Abiathar actual, proceed to t3rm1nu5 and dock at emergency evac hatch fifty-six, delta-alpha. Repeat, five—six—delta—alpha. Currently all depot docks are full. Onsite contact is a Mrs. Linda Kennedy.”

The captain leaned forward in his seat and tapped a few of the multi-colored buttons on the ship’s flight control, then he entered numerical data using a keyboard. He keyed the mic again. “Copy that, Lodabar-Central. E.T.A. is…” he glanced down at the screen, “four hours and thirteen minutes. That’s zero-four-one-three.”

“Copy that, Abiathar actual. Zero-four-one-three. Reestablish communication once docked.”

“Copy that, Lodabar-Central.”

The captain entered the coordinates into the cruiser’s deep space positioning system. Then he opened a small compartment in the right armrest of his seat and pulled out a thin black cable. As he held the wire in his left hand, he used his index finger to slide open a small door in his right wrist. Opening the door revealed multi-colored wires, lubricant hoses and a miniature four pin connector, all common components of a cybernetic organism.

“Lodabar-Central, initiating charging sequence.” He plugged the wire into the connector and using his left hand, tapped the Enter key on his keyboard to initiate the process.

“Copy that, Abiathar actual.”

“Comm’s silence timer set for four hours and thirteen minutes. That’s zero-four-one-three.”

“Copy that, Abiathar actual.”

He pecked at the keyboard and then glanced at the screen. “Comm’s silence sequence initiated.” He hit the Enter key again.

“Copy that, Abiathar actual.”

He exhaled, closed his eyes, and his body went limp as he sunk into stand-by mode.