Sea Com: The Origin

The tiny cruiser slowed abruptly as the navigational computer in the main console spurted out the coordinates. The man in the navy blue uniform who was seated in the command chair leaned forward slowly, realizing that they were close now. "Ensign," he called out to the officer seated in front of the computer, "give me a reading. How close are we?" "Very close Captain Sharp," the young man said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "We’re at 0379, just two lengths away," he said. "And are we still getting those strong readings?" Sharp said. "Yes sir, even stronger than ever now." The captain leaned back in his chair and pondered the possibilities. It obviously was not an undersea base or city; the area was too remote and known to be too unstable to support human life. It was also too small to be a city, but too large to be an ore mine. Which left the final possibility, that it was some kind of ship or wreckage that had gone unsalvaged from the war. "Ah yes, the war," Sharp thought as his mind began retracing the path that had led him to this point. For 15 years the Federation of Planets had done battle with the Galactic Pirates who had gained control of some of the outer systems, but behind the brilliant efforts of John Trakker the Federation had finally crushed their foes. Galactic Pirate leaders were either killed during the battle or on trial for war crimes, and it had been three years since the last skirmishes had ended. Sharp believed that the war’s end had marked the dawn of a new age of peace and unity, an age in which the Federation sought to rebuild those worlds destroyed by the war and regain some of the galaxy’s lost luster.

"Captain Sharp," a voice called out, interrupting his reflection, "we’re directly above it now. Should I send the probes down?" The captain raised his eyes to meet the

Mario R. Sarmento

Sea Com

young man’s and he nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, send them down. Let’s get a look before we attach cables." There had been no life readings indicated by the scanners, and so the captain had not considered the situation dangerous enough to send out feelers before reaching the site. Sharp then activated the holophone on his armrest, and a tiny figure appeared at the base of the keypad. "Admiral Griggs, this is Captain Ty Sharp of the Cruiser Maribel." The figure stared back solemnly, then asked, "Captain Sharp, are you sure you’ve found something? You are aware that your cruiser was supposed to be here three hours ago!"

"Sorry sir, but we picked up some faint readings after we left the platform and I wanted to check them out. We have found something sir, and it appears to be nestled quite snugly into the backside of a trench down there. I’ve sent probes to check it out."

The figure’s expression shifted to that of concern. "Did you make sure that it was friendly, whatever it is?" "Yes sir, I think it’s a wreckage of some kind but the computer hasn’t been able to identify it. We never would have found it if Gigaplex was still here." Gigaplex was a Federation battle station that had served as an outpost for Federation ships during the Interplanetary Wars. Its location in a remote area of the sea was perfect for storing Federation weapons and supplies. It also served as a stronghold for Federation ships that were under siege during battle.

"Yes Captain, we hadn’t detected anything in that area before," Griggs said.