Chapter One: Deep Space Music

[Akirapryde]

Work continued throughout the massive landing bay as Jake walked around the Mark VII. On the far side of the bay, a group of deck hands were securing several shipping containers. Scientists continued their work as if under pressure to get their tasks completed. There was something in the air, something that caused a degree of tension between the scientists and the facility workers.

As Lyona walked around with her noteputer gripped tightly in her hands. A cord stretched up to her headphones. Her fingers worked through the controls of her noteputer filtering the sounds being pumped in to her ears. Her eyes crossed over the bay as she flipped through the different filters.

As Jake walked around the Mark VII, there was something strange on the starboard wing. As Lyona walked past him, Jake observed a strange patch of rust under the wing. It was if this section of the wing was a poorly repaired patch with substandard material. But Jake knew that this section of the wing was never damaged and because of that, never repaired. The rust appeared to only on the surface of the craft, but it would clearly have to be examined much deeper once their mission was over.

Lyona walked up behind Jake as she flipped through the filters. Her eyes might have been wondering the scene of the landing bay, her ears were filled with sounds. Strange distorted sounds……’music?’ she thought as her fingers flipped between a few filters. …..sounds of song…..she could almost hear the guitar. Then there was a female voice. It wasn’t English. That much Lyona was sure of. “Quand les feuilles tombent, Dans les rues sombres” the soft female voice sang. Lyona’s fingers moved quickly through the filters till she zeroed in on more of the woman’s words, “Tout tourne court, Et tout s'teint”

She came to a stop and closed her eyes as she flipped between filters trying to zero in on the sounds. It was if they were trapped in a wave or something. Something was interfering with the recording or the data within the recording. She couldn’t explain it, but then there was a moment when the sound was clear. Her eyes shot open as she could even hear the clapping to the beat from the backup vocals.

“De mensonges et de torts, c'est en somme,
cause, cause de l'automne,”

Before she had a chance to think clearly over what she heard, the entire station shook as if a child had swatted it. Large stacked containers fell from where they were store. Deck hands almost lost their balance. Lyona stumbled but was caught by the timely response from Jake. Across the station, everyone felt the shuttering. It was enough to trigger alarms and sounds of panic by both the scientists and the crew of the station.

For Lyona, the shutter that the station felt was in prefect unison when the music clear up. Once the shuttering ended, the music became nearly impossible to distinguish once more.

The party’s communications came alive. The stretchy voice on the other end was of Julian Rothbauer. In the back ground was the abandon ship siren of the Schicksal. “Captain, we ruptured a fuel cell. I have crews working on it. Because of the danger, I have ordered us to disconnect from the Jumpship. We will maintain a safe distance from the Jumpship till we can secure the fuel leak.”