“I’ve seen it on a star chart,” Rhys asked. “Why are we going?”
“We picked up a distress call. Human… it’ll take a bit to get accustomed to making the distinction.”
“Wait. Cordal Three is days away at maximum warp speed. It’s uninhabited. Not even a colony there. I remember now. There’s no way we’ll get there in time to help them with anything too serious. So unless they’re just stranded…”
“Ah,” Titus interrupted. “We’ve performed some upgrades in that regard. It won’t be days, my friend.” He motioned with his head. “Come on. I’ll take you to the bridge. Introduce you to the others.” They started walking. “Listen, I handpicked you for a variety of reasons. I hope you don’t mind, but I think you’re ideal for this assignment.”
“I appreciate that.” I think. Rhys hadn’t decided if he’d walked into a nightmare or what. This whole situation, the concept of aliens… of new technology… even as he walked he noticed things here and there that looked different than any other battleship he’d been on before. Different panels, strange new screens… the core looked the same for the most part.
“You really did it,” Rhys said. “You’ve genuinely altered this vessel with new tech.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” They got to the elevator. “The bridge received a fairly extensive alteration. New consoles, updated helm, better viewscreen. I’m not entirely sold on the chairs… but I’m told you get used to them.” He shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve got direct controls to Engineering. That little stunt you pulled on the station? Can’t work here.”
Rhys felt his cheeks burn. Christ, even he brought it up. “How so?”
“We’re hardwired into key systems up there. No relays through Engineering. Yes, they have all the access you’d expect but it’s also more difficult to get to. You’d need command codes and biometrics. We took some pretty serious precautions.”
“What do they think is going on at Cordal Three?”
“Don’t know.” Titus boarded the elevator as it arrived. “Two people registered an archaeological permit out that way. They were digging for something. The Prytin database said that it could be the site of an old colony from any of the cultures we’ve encountered now. Um… speaking of which, most of these folks don’t look entirely like us.”
“Oh? What are they, green men?”
Titus chuckled. “I’d check that humor at the door when we disembark. They’re humanoid, but with different coloring. Though one in particular… they’ve got some… cat-like qualities. You’ll see. Try not to stare too much. Full disclosure on that, everyone’s stared a little since we’ve started this. They don’t seem offended. Not much, at least.”
“How fast do you think we can get to Cordal?”
“Our pilot plotted a course. She believes we’ll be there in three hours.”
“What?” Rhys scoffed. “Impossible. Absolutely impossible. There’s no way! There’s just… I mean, wait… you’re actually serious about that. You really think we can make that kind of distance in such a short run?”
“New tech.” Titus shrugged. “Don’t worry. I had a lot of the same reactions. Unfortunately for you, I had the luxury of scoffing. You’ll have to accept until you see it all work out. But at least you’ve got three hours to read some technical data and pick up on what we’ve done here.”
Three hours to unlearn everything I know about space travel, Rhys thought. And learn an entirely new ship. I’m both flattered and pissed. I can’t believe anyone thought this was remotely okay. Something occurred to him. Maybe they didn’t. It might be a situation where there wasn’t a choice. In that case, I guess I should be grateful they thought I could handle it.
But could he? He didn’t know. He felt overwhelmed and hadn’t really seen anything. Titus might even still be pulling some elaborate prank on him, a hazing for the new officer on board. That seemed childish but it made just as much sense as aliens and new technology capable of making a days long journey into a few hours.
Then they stepped onto the bridge and all his doubts vanished. At least about the captain’s claims. His ability to be effective on the other hand… that came into sharp contrast. He’d been on some amazing ships in his day, seem some advancements through his career. The bridge of the Triton looked like something out of concept art.
The structure of the room remained the same but the helm had changed significantly. Typically, they were square, boxy affairs connected to one another. The pilots sat in front of them with all the connections and circuitry contained around their legs. They were bulky, unattractive but effective at holding all the parts required for standard operations.
They’d been replaced by flat panels that seemed to be on a swivel of sorts. On the outsides of the chairs, a metal pole rose from the floor to hold them. The pilots had footrests in front of their seats with a panel between them that had some kind of navigational information. It glowed blue with a number of touchpoints.
Two chairs behind them provided the captain and first officer a place to sit. They had their own panels much like the pilot’s though smaller. Holographic screens provided various views, presumably from cameras spread throughout the ship. He figured they must’ve been intuitive if the captain felt comfortable with him going out on such short notice.
Normally, only two other stations occupied the bridge but they fit a third one behind the command officers. The consoles they worked at looked more traditional but they had additional access points, more panels, with a variety of screens. The tech officers had to love them.
The viewscreen was little more than a frame on the wall but it was also a little bigger than normal. That moment it displayed tactical information about the area as well as all traffic traveling about. The details it presented surprised him again, though he
