The Nature of Change

Knowledge Is Power (Terry 09)

TWO DAYS LATER

SHIFT 1: Votak Approach Analysis [CCCDF]

I stride through the halls, a looming dread growing in my gut.

My destination is the Nerve Center. Some other engineering teams recently finished installation of all the wiring and electronics needed to serve its role as the center of command in the bunker. Its official name is the "Centralized Command and Control Dispatch Facility", but somebody jokingly called it the Nerve Center and it's stuck. Word through the scuttlebutt is that it was an old acquaintance of mine, missile guidance tech Michael Townsend, but from what I know of him he's too reserved and insular to get something like that to stick. Then again, if it was him as they say, it could be a sign of better things to come for him; he's a consistent underachiever, but I've always felt like he's got something more in him.

To the matter at hand. Until now, I haven't really known the exact scale of the threat of these aliens; what they're capable of, what the characteristics of their ship is, what all that says about what they're here to do. But today...

Today, all that changes.

Today, the bliss of ignorance dies.

====================================

"The fact is, very few of us know the actual capabilities of the alien ship, and we're going to be working at the task of figuring out why they're here," Tavson says over the PA as I sideslip into my assigned seat next to McAllister with a curt nod. "We're going to be at a point where we're self-sustaining very soon, and with that comes a freedom to put effort into helping figure out the alien approach. But in order for us to start looking at putting ourselves to use helping people on the surface, we need a baseline of understanding about the characteristics and capabilities of the alien vessel."

"Once we have established that baseline," she says, "we'll start going into depth on every tiny thing they've done on their approach, trying to figure out what exactly their motivations are. Today's task is to establish that baseline, so without further ado," - she clicks a button on a device in her palm - "let's get started."

The screen snaps from its initial blue title slide to a new, darker image, bathing the room in a strange, ghostly light. The LCD doesn't block the backlight entirely, even at maximum darkness, and as a result the room is shot through with sharp contrast, shadows lurking in the corners as if ready to pounce, opposed by the ghostly yet searing light of the main screen.

I turn my eyes toward the screen, focusing entirely on it and blocking out the jet-black border of shadows from my perception.

It shows a fuzzy, greyscale image of the ship, large rectangular panels on either side of it giving off a grainy glow-like effect. "Must be the radiators," I heard Dennis mutter to the guy to his right in response to a question about the panels. I spare a quick glance over to catch the lanky Xavier Kirkland nodding his understanding with a quick "Ah" in his soft baritone, then turn my gaze back to scrutinize the ship.

The ship looks like a giant blade hanging in the void. It's shaped like a huge, wide wedge, one edge of it tapered to a razor-sharp point. The other side sports lumpy knobs that form a regular, tightly packed pattern. Several panels extend off the back of the ship. A cage-like structure extends from one of the ends of the ship, showing a tiny yet furious glowing dot - it's almost as if it's barely contained, just waiting to expand into a great raging star and engulf the ship.

"This... is the alien vessel," Tavson states.

"As far as we can tell, that little tube coming out of the cage structure at the end of the ship is the tip of a mass driver, probably a coilgun judging by the lack of a muzzle flash and the tiny hints of magnetic field our satellites have been picking up every time it fires. It probably runs the entire length of the ship. That gun serves as its main form of propulsion. As far as we can tell, it throws out projectiles at about two hundred kilometers per second; the recoil force propels the ship."