Collective Hindsight (Book 1) - Aaron Rosenberg [10]
“We have gained access—”
“—to the ship’s computer systems. This ship is known as—”
“—the Nal’q’far, or Dancing Star. Sensors confirm that—”
“—the ship has not been rigged with explosives, or otherwise—”
“—set to trap or harm visitors.”
Pattie wiggled in relief. True, her shell could protect her from a certain degree of harm, but whatever had killed that crew member would have cooked her as well.
“Understood,” Salek replied. “Duffy, Stevens, and I will beam over momentarily.”
“Got it.” Pattie left the Bynars to continue their talk with the computer, and began analyzing the wall while she waited.
Salek materialized on the Dancing Star, and immediately took in his surroundings. Duffy and Stevens beamed in safely next to him. Blue was examining the wall with her tricorder, and 110 and 111 continued to inspect the computer core. Leaving the Bynars to their work, he approached Blue and asked after her scans.
“The wall’s part metal and part ceramic,” she said. “At a guess, I’d say it was built to handle intense heat.”
“That would explain why this guy was roasted but the walls weren’t even singed,” Stevens commented, kneeling down by the body. “Whatever killed him struck hard and fast.”
Salek was surprised at this pronouncement, since Stevens had not opened his tricorder. “Explain.”
“Just common sense and a general understanding of how people work.” He gestured at the body, which was blackened and shriveled. “The burns—and that’s exactly what they are, burns from a massive heat source—are slightly worse in front. This guy was facing whatever hit him. But his face and chest are just as burnt as his arms. If he’d seen it coming, he’d have raised his hands to shield his face—it’s a natural reaction, trying to protect yourself from danger. He didn’t do that, which means he never got the chance.”
“A sound deduction,” Salek said. “Though it is merely conjecture, assuming this race would react in a way similar to your own, it is plausible. For now, we will consider it a working hypothesis.”
“Sir, we have—”
“—accessed more of the ship’s data,” the Bynars reported.
Salek once again admired the way their thoughts intertwined, allowing them to alternate speaking without any hesitation. It was an impressive display of symbiosis. But they were still reporting.
“Much of the older data, including—”
“—the ship’s origin point, have been purged.”
“To keep the info out of the wrong hands, probably,” Duffy commented. “That’s what you’d expect from a military ship, certainly.”
111 shook her head. “Except that this ship—”
“—has no weapons.”
“No weapons?” Fabian straightened up from the body and stepped over to join them. “What about those funnels along the sides?”
“According to the ship schematics, those—”
“—are exhaust vents,” the Bynars explained. “They also function as—”
“—maneuvering jets.”
“An efficient use of excess energy,” Salek said. “We will survey the ship quickly. Stevens and I will proceed aft. Duffy, you and Blue will head to the fore; 110 and 111, remain here and continue to analyze the ship’s data. Have the da Vinci beam that body up to sickbay, so that Dr. Tydoan may examine it. Report in every five minutes.” He set off down the hall, and a moment later Stevens caught up with him.
“I think the atmosphere got burned away,” Stevens said. “The heat in here must have been pretty intense, judging from that body, and the fact that it’s still pretty warm. I’m guessing it vaporized whatever air the ship contained, and that simply helped fuel the explosion.”
“A valid conjecture,” he agreed. “Given the scan of that body, Dr. Tydoan will most likely confirm that the crew breathed an atmosphere similar to our own. Such elements would contribute to any fire, and be consumed by it.”
They continued to follow the corridor, and Salek let part of his mind drift. This ship intrigued him in its sense of focus. No weapons, no security, energy vents that doubled as thrusters—it had been developed to use