The Black Shard: Part VI

The Black Shard is a story about two lovers who must survive their way of life by illegally mining in space. They hope to make billions of dollars in one lucky run, but find that there is something else out on the rocks aside from a few precious metals.

The Black Shard: Part I - https://theprose.com/post/323367/the-black-shard-part-i

The Black Shard: Part II - https://theprose.com/post/323606/the-black-shard-part-ii

The Black Shard: Part III - https://theprose.com/post/323912/the-black-shard-part-iii

The Black Shard: Part IV - https://theprose.com/post/324436/the-black-shard-part-iv

The Black Shard: Part V - https://theprose.com/post/324870/the-black-shard-part-v

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The Black Shard: Part VI -

Jennifer was the first to speak after the computer confirmed the age of the anomaly: “So that’s why Space Force has outposts near here. It’s gotta be because of this alien artifact.”

Hoitt wasn’t too sure if he believed it.

“Sure, there is a lot of Space Force outposts past Jupiter, where only a few exploratory mining expeditions were taking place, but…” Hoitt found himself stroking at his now hairless chin as he continued his thoughts.

“What are the odds of us even finding this thing?” Hoitt said aloud.

While Hoitt was talking to no one in particular, the computer chimed up to answer: “Scanning,” It said.

“No!” Hoitt and Jennifer said together.

They shouted to stop the computer, but it had already swept its laser across hundreds of asteroids floating nearby. As soon as the computer registered it had scanned in error, the laser flickered and shut down.

“Preliminary scans, while halted prematurely, have detected similar anomalies on 65% of the meteors nearby.” The computer said.

Hoitt massaged his temple in frustration. He hoped he stopped the scan in time before Space Force detected them. He kicked at the base of one of the cockpit monitors. “Thanks for the data, you piece of shit!” He shouted.

The computer remained silent.

Hoitt looked at Jennifer. She knew they were in danger too. “Do you think we stopped it in time?” She asked him hopefully.

“I don’t know. But I’m not going to sit here and find out. We need to leave, and soon.” Hoitt said. Jennifer went to sit back at her spot on the cockpit.

“At least we know this artifact isn’t a fluke. There are more out there.” She said. She was looking at the asteroid outside the cockpit windows.

Jennifer turned to Hoitt and cupped her hands to whisper: “How many of these things are there, Hoitt? If there are this many artifacts around this part of space and beyond, these aliens are probably just waiting for us to find them.” She was trying not to prompt another search from the damned computer.

“Well, the evidence is right here,” Hoitt said, grim. He looked down at his planner and studied the various shapes of hands installed at the base of their alien pedestal.

These aliens (whatever the purpose) must have designed this artifact with multiple generations, or perhaps evolutions, of humanity in mind. Hoitt assumed there were similar devices on each of the asteroids.

The thought honestly scared him. He could tell it scared Jennifer too. She had gotten up and was pacing from the cabin to the cockpit repeatedly.

“So, do you think it’s worth taking onto the ship?” Hoitt asked casually.

Jennifer paused in the middle of her ruminations and gave Hoitt an ice-cold serving of daggers with her eyes.

“What are you thinking, Hoitt!? If Space Force finds us here, I think we’re as good as dead! Do you think the Earth government will want us to share the fact that aliens have been in our space for over a million years? They’ll kill us, Hoitt. And what if we trigger something?” She said.

“Yeah, we should probably...just leave it be. The drones must be finishing with their haul s--” Hoitt was interrupted by red lights and beeping coming from the terminals.

“No,” Hoitt said. His heart jumped into his throat.

The computer confirmed his fears: “A ship was detected approximately 28 million miles away. A quantum beacon is active. It states it is a Space Force Ship investigating illegal activity in Jupiter space.”

As the computer talked, Hoitt pulled up his chair and placed his hands at the console, staring at the screen.

The quantum beacon sent them the information he needed to know about the ship. Hoitt studied the data on his monitor carefully, glad for some free information at the very least.

Space Force ships were forced by law to beacon their presence to everyone. It’s Earth’s idea to dominate by ‘transparency of force.’ Hoitt gritted his teeth. “Idiots,” He thought.

Jennifer started feeding Hoitt information: “Okay, it’s a C-class military ship. Oh, God. --Hoitt, it’s armed with metal piercing machine guns. Can we outrun it?” She was frantic.

The Weasel’s Hoard was nowhere close to fast enough.

Hoitt let out his frustration by slamming his fist on the console. Then, he answered: “No. We can go 100 million miles in about a solar day. They can move three times faster. C-class ships are slow compared to some other SF ships, but the Weasel’s Hoard is only a mining ship. --A civilian vessel.”

“Do they know we’re here?” She asked back as soon as he finished. Hoitt looked at Jennifer. She was scared, but she meant business. Good girl.

Hoitt turned back to his terminal.

“Computer, did you complete the quantum handshake?” Hoitt asked.

“Our quantum beacon is not active due to an error. No handshake took place.” It answered.

“Good,” Hoitt thought. Hoitt had remembered to remove his ship’s quantum beacon. Meaning they don’t know who or what they’re looking for.

“It looks like they’re just investigating after our scan. Those smart assholes must have turned their beacons off to trick other poor sods like us too. Else, we would’ve seen them from way farther.” Hoitt said.

Jennifer concurred: “The question is, what do we do?”

Hoitt flipped a switch to the left of his monitor, and a trajectory of the ships flickered into view. He looked at Jennifer.

“It looks like the ship is going to arrive a little less than 2 hours from now,” He quipped — barely enough time to gather the droids and leave.

Jennifer’s eyes widened. Hoitt certainly knew what they had to do. The only weapons they had were handguns and rifles. Perfect for infiltrating pirates wanting to steal their ship. Not so much when Space Force is looking to scuttle their ship from afar.

“We gotta go,” Both said in unison.

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The Black Shard: Part VII - https://theprose.com/post/328791/the-black-shard-part-vii