Tunnels

Tunnels

Chris Dinkel

CLASSIFIED MATERIAL

Contents sealed by the United Earth Coalition

Contains: UE Sardinia Military Charter; Automated System Log; Captain's Voice Log

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-Begin File-

Vessel Designation: UE Sardinia
United Earth Magellan-Class Cruiser

Charter: 26 March 2122. This vessel has been activated under authorization of the UE Board of Space-Travel and the UE Board of Intrasolar Research. Commander Brian Hammers (Designation - UE 10054) has been authorized as captain of this vessel, and is granted authority to use any means necessary to complete his mission and uphold the order maintained by the UE Coalition.

System Log: (0200, 26 March 2122) Launch Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600. Green light to proceed.
Voice Log: (0915) Is this thing... ah, here we go. This is Commander Brian Hammers, UE 10054, captain and pilot of the UE Sardinia Magellan-Class Cruiser. We have just initiated our primary launch sequence at UE Spaceport Apollo, in orbit around Earth. Our destination is an unspecified location between... (shuffling papers) ...between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. Aboard, the Sardinia carries myself, twelve crew members, one AI, and six scientists led by Dr. Brahm Drokpa. Our mission is two-fold: to locate and disable an unauthorized UE Cruiser drifting somewhere in the region, and to investigate a scientific anomaly recently discovered by Dr. Drokpa's team.
(pause)
It's been six years since I've traveled out past the Belt. I've been on search-and-detainment missions before, usually chasing down war criminals. They don't take long. Just a matter of finding the ship. But I don't know anything about interplanetary fluctuations, or what Dr. Drokpa has planned in terms of research. In fact, I haven't heard much at all about this... anomaly. Our mission briefing was intentionally vague, I think. I've heard rumors that...
(pause)
Well, nevermind. I suppose I'll get the chance to ask the Doc myself.
(pause)
If all goes well, we'll be back to Earth in a fortnight--in time for me to catch Brett's first Little League game. I'll be using this voice log to record progress and observations as we near our destination. Hammers, out.
System Log: (0930, 26 March 2122) Launch Sequence Initiated. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600.
Voice Log: (1530) Six hours past departure. Earth is only a dot behind us. The birthplace of man, the home of the UE Coalition, the business hub of the civilized worlds... and a quarter day's travel sees it swallowed.

*

System Log: (0200, 28 March 2122) Routine Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600.
Voice Log: (1230) We're nearing Mars. I wanted to dock at one of the Spaceports for a few hours, but Dr. Drokpa is insistent that we push our time table. Something about this anomaly has him all worked up. I still haven't gotten the chance to sit down with him, though...
(pause)
Ah well, it doesn't matter much to me. I'm just here to find this unauthorized cruiser. Who goes wandering so far from the home worlds? There's nothing out there...

*

System Log: (0200, 1 April 2122) Routine Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600.
Voice Log: (1100) Jupiter... it's something else. I've seen it a dozen times, and still words fail me. How can something be so fucking big? This... this is why I do what I do.
(long pause)
We'll be using the planet's gravity to slingshot toward Saturn, at which point we'll reach our maximum velocity. A day after passing Saturn, we should be closing in on our target. I had breakfast with the Doc this morning, got to finally ask him some questions...
(pause)
This is all classified, but... well, who listens to these but me, anyways? Doc said... he said he'd been in the UE Quantum Weapons Division on Earth. Said they'd been fiddling around with entangled particles, trying to see how much distance they could put between them to keep the charges in sync. There was something about quantum tunnels... I don't pretend to understand most of what he told me, but it sounds like the gist is that they kept extending the range until just past Saturn, and then... pop! Something went wrong, half the scientists and equipment in the Doc's laboratory disappeared, and some sort of massive energy flare erupted on the other end of their experiment... right where we're headed.
(pause)
Like I said, my main concern is the rogue ship. I can't say I'm comfortable investigating the residue of a malfunctioning quantum weapon... especially in the middle of a war... but hey, that's what us soldiers are for, eh?

*

System Log: (0200, 2 April 2122) Routine Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600.
Voice Log: (0345) Just got off the link with Brett. Little tyke sounds happy. He's staying with my brother while I'm gone. Told him I'd be back before he knew it. Told him to "keep your eyes on the skies" ...like his mother always used to.

*

System Log: (0200, 3 April 2122) Routine Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 4 April, 0600.
Voice Log: (0800) Scientists are getting really nervous downstairs. Doc is trying to keep me up to date. We've just rounded Saturn, and our readings say we're headed directly for another planet. Only... we know there's no planet there. Whatever Doc and his team did back on Earth, they left something big over here. Really big. That is... well, assuming the two are actually connected.
Voice Log: (0830) Still no sign of the rogue ship on any of the scanners. I can't help but wonder... what would somebody be doing out here? Someone else studying the anomaly? Somebody hiding from the UE? There's nothing here; no asteroids to mine, no gas clouds to harvest...
(pause)
I won't say I'm worried, but I do hope it's not anything to be worried about. Rebels have been known to hijack UE Cruisers before. Could be defects from the war, too. Either way, I'm not looking to get into a fight, but I'll do what I have to. I have the authorization to shut their entire ship down, if we get close enough. It may come to that.

*

System Log: (0200, 4 April 2122) Routine Systems Check: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Destination ETA - 0600.
Voice Log: (0400) Dr. Drokpa claims he's pinned down the exact location of the anomaly. I'm entering the coordinates now. We'll check it out before continuing the search for the rogue ship. I asked him again what he thinks we'll find... he seems a bit nervous, now. He told me the readings shouldn't be doing what they are. They originally thought they'd simply relocated the Doc's equipment and personnel--the stuff that went missing from his lab during the experiment--but obviously the mass scanners have proven that wrong...
(long pause)
Now the Doc is telling me it has to be a local cluster of super-state matter that they generated--matter that apparently exists simultaneously in several parallel space-times, if that's possible. Only, he says we should be able to see it. Like, it should be glowing as bright as the sun out here.
(pause)
But I don't see anything...

*

System Log: (0430) Systems Alert: All flight systems - online. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - offline. Destination ETA - 0600.
Voice Log: (0430) Long-range comms just went haywire. Not to worry--Doc advised that this might happen. We're just over an hour out from the anomaly's location. Radiation readings are going crazy, but I can't see shit ahead. I asked Doc if it's safe to get close...and just how close... and he said that whatever sort of anomaly they've created, it shouldn't have any effects on the macroscopic scale. At least nothing dangerous. Not entirely comforting, but...
(pause)
Fuck it. I'm about to start prepping manual flight systems so I can bring us into orbit. Doc wants a closer look.
Voice Log: (0500) One hour out. Long-wave radiation scanners aren't picking up anything, but the gamma receptors are off the charts. This thing is generating a lot of power. Still can't see anything.
System Log: (0520) Flight systems - Autopilot terminated via manual override.
Voice Log: (0530) Just took over control of our engines. Half an hour until we enter orbit.
System Log: (0600) Arrival at destination - imminent.
Voice Log: (0600) Here we go. I have to control the whole ship based on the readings--I still can't see shit out the windows. Scientists are going crazy downstairs...
Voice Log: (0630) Beginning our final approach. Gamma receptors are spiking. Whatever this thing is, it's radiating incredible amounts of energy. More than our own sun. We shouldn't be able to get this close. Good God... we should all be toast right now. Where is this thing?
Voice Log: (0645) Entering our orbit now. As for what we're orbiting... there's nothing here. Gamma receptor just went dead. I keep looking out the windows, but there's nothing there. Just blackness. Uranus is a dot in the distance, and there's nothing between us and it. All our scanners are out... or they're receiving no readings. And that doesn't... hang on, what's this?
(pause)
My God... Radar just picked up a location for the rogue ship. It's inside the anomaly. Dead center. How...?
(pause)
This makes no sense. Attempting to link to their comms system.
(pause)
This is United Earth Commander Brian Hammers, 10054. Pilot, identify yourself. Identify.
(static)
Pilot, identify.
(static)
Nothing. I'm not getting through. We'll have to try this a different way.
Voice Log: (0655) Deactivating the rogue ship's pilot controls, now. Altering their course destination... now. I'll bring them closer and have the crew board them while we're still in orbit.
(pause)
What are they doing here?
Voice Log: (0715) Intraship comms went dead half an hour ago. Haven't heard from Dr. Drokpa or anyone else since. We've fallen into a steady orbit, but there's no sign what we're orbiting around. Just emptiness. The rogue ship's course has been altered, and they should be emerging from the anomaly soon.
System Log: (0715) Manual control overridden. Engines deactivated.
Voice Log: (0715) Shit... what's happening?
(pause)
Wait... no! Goddamnit, Sardinia, not now! Revert back to manual.
System Log: (0616) Revert overridden.
Voice Log: (0616) Revert... fucking hell, on whose authority?!
System Log: (0617) Commander Brian Hammers, UE 10054.
Voice Log: (0617) That's me, you stupid fucking machine!
System Log: (0618) Course adjusted. New coordinates accepted. Beginning descent.
Voice Log: (0619) Descent... what in all the fucks... Dr. Drokpa, can you hear me? Are you controlling this? Doc!
Voice Log: (0622) We've fallen out of orbit and are spiraling in on whatever we've been circling. I can't get a hold of anyone downstairs, and the system is completely unresponsive. I've lost all readings of the rogue ship.
(pause)
Someone's taken over the pilot controls using my authority. I... I don't know what happens now. My eyes say there's nothing for us to collide with, but those readings... (long silence) I never thought... I mean, I always thought...
Voice Log: (0630) We're picking up speed. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing will work. Even the door to my flight compartment is programmed shut. We're spiralling in on something that isn't there and we're either going to collide with it or be flung so far out into space that we'll starve before I can get us back to the home worlds.
Voice Log: (0635) What the hell happened? This isn't how... (clearing throat). I told my son we'd... I mean, I just wish there was someone......
Voice Log: (0645) This is it. We're about to collide with the focal point of the mass we've been orbiting. Almost all our electronics are dead. The ship is going faster than it was ever meant to. It almost seems... wait, what is that? Light. So much light. Supernova? No... it's coming closer... so much...

*

System Log: (1400, 4 April 2122) Routine Systems Check: System reboot - complete. All flight systems - deactivated. All life support systems - online. All communication systems - online. Incoming transmission.
Transmission: Pilot, please identify your crew. (pause) Pilot, identify.
Voice Log: (1402) Uhhnnn. What...? What happened?
Transmission: Your system's flight controls have been disabled. Unauthorized interplanetary travel is not tolerated. Identify.
Voice Log: (1402) I... where am I?
Transmission: Between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. This is a restricted area. What is your purpose here?
Voice Log: (1402) Restricted? But... wait, what did you do to my ship?
Transmission: Your vessel has been disabled. Pilot, identify.
Voice Log: (1403) Disabled?
Transmission: Unauthorized interplanetary travel is not tolerated. Identify.
Voice Log: (1403) Unauthorized? The UE contracted my mission! We're here on your orders!
Transmission: Negative. The UE has no listing of a vessel with your identification with permission to travel between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. Identify.
Voice Log: (1404) Good God. This is insane. I'm Commander Brian Hammers, 10054. I order that you reactivate my flight controls and tell me what the hell is going on. Now!
Transmission: (long pause) Negative. This is Commander Brian Hammers. Identify, or I will be forced to fire upon your ship.
Voice Log: (1404) ...are you crazy? Impersonating a UE Commander is an Alpha Class criminal act! Stand down!
Transmission: Last chance, pilot. Identify, or we will open fire.
Voice Log: (1405) No, wait! I don't know what's going on here, but there's no need to be rash. I'm supposed to be here. I'm with a group of scientists led by Dr. Brahm Drokpa.
Transmission: Negative, pilot. (pause) Dr. Drokpa is in military prison on Earth for using an unsanctioned quantum weapon. Identify or be destroyed.
Voice Log: (1406) No! He's here! We were investigating an anomaly just past Saturn. He and his team of scientists were looking into a local cluster of... (long pause) ....oh my God.
Transmission: Failure to comply has been noted. We are engaging.
(static)

This recording was salvaged from the remains of an unauthorized UE Cruiser somewhere between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. The Cruiser was destroyed by Commander Brian Hammers upon its refusal to comply with UE Space-Travel Statutes.

-End File-
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"Well?"
Brian set down the file and shook his head. "I don't know, Admiral. I just... it's a lot to take in right now."
"The UE thinks it was an elaborate rebel ploy."
"Right."
"You disagree?"
Brian hesitated. "I know you took this to Dr. Drokpa's cell."
The Admiral nodded. "He said it wasn't possible, not the way it happened. He said the weapon never could've generated enough power to form such a... well, a...
"...a tunnel," Brian finished. He looked the Admiral in the eye. "Unless...?"
"Unless it had some sort of help from the other side."
"You mean..."
"The tunnel had to be opened from within? It took a push from both sides?" The Admiral shook his head. "I don't know what I mean, Hammers. The UE might be right. The rebels might be behind this."
"Yeah. Maybe. I don't know." Brian frowned. "I was just following my orders. Finding that ship..."
"I know. You did well. No one could ask any more."
"Admiral?"
The Admiral glanced up. "Yes?"          
"Those men weren't rebels. The man I talked to..." He picked up the file. He didn't need to say it out loud. That man's voice...
Commander Brian Hammers, 10054.
"Hammers?"
He looked down at the pin on his uniform, at the identification number underneath his name.
"Brian!"
He looked up, startled. "Yes?"
"Go home. Get some rest. I know you've got that... uh..."
"Dance recital," said Brian, shaking his head. "Right. Britt has her first dance recital tonight. I promised I'd make it."
The Admiral stood, offering a hand. "You're a braver soldier than I."
Brian took his hand, offered a salute, and left the briefing room.