“It passed beyond our measure”

  Extract from a classified analysts report.

  What did she mean, it won’t allow that.

  It hadn’t been conveyed as a threat, just a plain statement of fact.

  Chen looked for his 2iC. Then recalled he was on the hull of the ship.

  Why isn't he here when I need him?

  "How do I know you're human and not a clever sim?" Chen asked. He needed to determine if this was a threat.

  "Welcome to my world," was Feebee's response.

  That didn’t help.

  But Chen had no understanding of how much information she'd conveyed in that single statement.

  "What's your next move?" he asked, probing.

  ‘Careful Feebee, this man could be dangerous. Now and later.’

  ‘That’s a man. A real man. I thought they’d be taller, stronger. Like Bench Press or Spotter.’

  ‘Looks can be deceptive. You would look small and weak to some.’

  ‘Good point.’

  Feebee knew she would have to leave the Seed-arc at some point. Every instinct told her this, and that now was that moment.

  “I will join you?”

  “How?” asked Chen.

  “Bring the little ship, not yours, the smaller one close. I will cross.”

  Feebee followed the QI’s directions to an airlock. Had her EVA suit on. She stepped inside and looked out through the small circular window. The shuttle was there, on the hull, outside the airlock.

  She pressed the green button. The air cycled and the telltale over the door went to AMBER. She tapped the display by the airlock, the door opened inwards and she stepped out onto the ship’s hull towards the shuttle. The door immediately closed with a clunk. A small amount of air was released into the airlock. It held the door tightly shut. She engaged mag-grab and walked to the shuttle.

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  The 2iC's marine had been on the hull, out of sight. She darted round to the door and tried to initiate the entry process. The door remained stubbornly closed, then dissolved back into the hull removing any options for entry.

  The QI hacked the marine’s comms and as Feebee turned, she spoke to her, ‘Do you want to lead the way?’

  The marine recovered quickly and took note of the stars on Feebee’s EVA suit. ‘Follow me Ma’am.’

  She crossed to the shuttle, behind the marine. She carried no obvious weapons and seemed very relaxed. Too relaxed according to Chen who was watching through one of the body cams on the marine.

  The marine led Feebee up a ramp at the back of the shuttle. Once inside, the ramp closed behind them. The marine took off her suit helmet, shook out her hair and asked Feebee to raise her hands.

  Feebee took off her helmet too, then held her hands in the air and smiled back at the marine. She’d seen that smile before. It wasn’t the smile of a young woman. It was the smile of someone who had seen way too much to be a teenager. It was the first time in a long while that she’d felt genuinely scared. Who is this?

  The marine, Jones or so her name tag said, gestured for her to sit down. There were bench seats against the outer walls of the shuttle.

  “That’s my name. Jones. I'm Feebee Jones.” Feebee pointed to her own name tag that also read Jones.

  The marine was sat opposite Feebee, grunted in response, clearly unimpressed and disinterested. She kept watch. Her rifle never strayed far from Feebee’s mid-section.

  The shuttle lifted off and away from the ship’s hull. There was a small window that Feebee could look out from. She watched as the only home she’d known slowly receded.

  The ship seemed to lose coherence. It looked shallow, thinner than before. Then it was gone. It didn’t accelerate away or jump. It simply stopped sharing frames of reference and left without fanfare or spectacle. Here, then gone.

  The analysts and scientists replayed and replayed the moment. Their sensor sweeps and AIs reported this as abnormal, a sudden decrease in certainty.

  Feebee’s QI put it simply. The Seed-arc wanted to leave, so did.

  Chen asked the command groups under him for suggestions as to their next action.

  The tactical group recommended pursuit, shadowing of the Seed-arc. However, they could not provide a reliable direction or distance for their recommendation.

  Engineering advised against a close approach, noting they did not know where the ship was anyway, so making any sort of approach impossible. Pragmatic.

  The scientists had more data than they could currently handle. They wanted to go home and sift through what they had.

  Chen listened to the groups then decided and called an all-hands meeting. Feebee was present.

  “I want us to log the final position of the area of nothing. Make sure to use the coordinates from the pilot.” He pointed to one of the navs sitting in the corner.

  The nav raised a hand.

  “I also want all tracking of the abnormal signal to cease immediately.”

  One of the scientists raised a hand, “Sir. We are no longer receiving any signal. It stopped as soon as the ship appeared. There was some residual coherence then nothing.”

  “A detail. Please. Just make sure your reports state we have stopped tracking the signal. In this case, less is more.”

  “And the ship. What do we say about the ship?”

  “The presence of the ship is classified. Do not mention the ship or its passing. I will cover this in the classified report I submit to the Commission. And finally, I want everyone to stand down. Silent Protocols etc are no longer in place.”

  He looked to his 2iC. “Anything?”

  The 2iC summarised, “Log the final position of the area of nothing. Get the co-ordinates from the pilot. Stop tracking the signal. Do not mention the ship. Stand down. Stand easy. Everyone got it.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Chen submitted his AAR. The Seed-arc was conveniently missing from all reports. And so was Feebee. He has also approved all reports before they were sent to HQ and in so doing, ensured they were aligned. Some needed some of his unique polish before they were released.

  But Chen now had a problem. What to do with Feebee.