21:47
The time would have mattered last week, but there was nothing but stars around them now. The clock seemed almost useless without daylight now.
A tremor in the ship's walls let him know they had entered the atmosphere. It would be another hour if the outpost kept the guiding connection open. If not... well, it could take days to get there. Ambassador got up, heading to the tiny starboard window. The planet below was a ball of green, sunlight casting a halo on the side closest to them. It was night below, at least where they would be landing. He had mixed feelings about it: it only had one known outpost, and that had been wiped out. No one had said why. But time was of the essence; they needed to get as much equipment out of the outpost as they could before the Society's rescue team arrived. That would make for a long night in a probably hostile environment. Still, it was a break from the depressing and monotonous trip it had taken to get here. It would be good to breathe air cycled in from a planet instead of the ship. A quiet ding alerted him to a message. Looking at the com panel, he saw the blue meeting light was on. Sighing, he glanced once at the moss ball planet and then headed to the central room.
"Right, so here's how this will go." the captain began. "We're going to keep a low electronic signature. No coms once we get there. You know what that means."
The medic groaned. Buddy System. It was downright primitive.
"Medic, you're with Sven. Gavin, Jennifer. Cole, you're with Ambassador."
Ambassador frowned, avoiding the look from Cole.
"The ship is looping the connection now, so the Society won't be aware of us for awhile if they manage to get here sooner than we planned. If they do, you get back here or you'll be getting left behind. Now, Gavin?"
Gavin stepped up. "We know the gravity is about an 8, and most of the pilgrim researchers were able to breathe with minimal assistance. There are some toxic plants and more than once case of violent fauna. The outpost is on emergency power now. Lockdown. There are a few breaches in the exterior; I advise you avoid those if you care to live. So far as we've been informed, we are the first team to be here since the incident. That doesn't mean there aren't still some researchers down there, so be aware of that. Lastly, despite the records of safe air levels we'll be using converters." Gavin looked to the captain.
"So sit tight and we'll be there in about half an hour. Dismissed."
Ambassador popped the converter catalyst, giving it a couple shakes and then sticking it in the collar of his uniform. He took a deep breath, enjoying the change from stagnant multiple-person-scented air to the neutral scent of clean oxygen. Gavin gave the clear, and the captain flipped the door switch. Shadows flooded in, trading places with the light as the ship went into dark mode. As soon as he touched ground, Ambassador was met with an entourage of night-creature sounds. Bugs, birds, plants, he had no idea. There was the familiar whine of converters kicking in, and the team started forward. A half-destroyed blast door was cut apart, then removed. Gavin went first.
"Hey, check this."
Ambassador walked to the interface Cole was staring at.
"There's a sector under lockdown that is registering a native. Not plant-based. The system says 'Hostile detained'. Security must have tripped. Think we should take a look?"
"Doubt it, we're here to collect equipment, not ask the locals for a tour."
Cole shrugged. "We'll go check it out."
Ambassador frowned, holding his tongue. The wrong word at a time like this would get him left here. He hesitated before following Cole down the corridor. Four turns and an awkward crawl over a collapsed wall later, they were at a blast door with only a small glowing circle on its front. Cole stepped up, pulling out a security spike. He set in the code, then set it in the circle. The circle turned green, expanded, and then vanished while the door retracted into the ceiling. Ahead was a low-lit corridor, the walls divided into cells with off-white glass fronts. Ambassador entered carefully, testing the floor for stability. It was the most intact room they had seen so far. And the cleanest. The first cell held an odd form in its early stages of what he assumed was decomposition. He ignored it, heading down the corridor and then stopping when he came upon a cell with... a woman?