Mission Cerex: The Complete Pentalogy by David Colello

Author:David Colello
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2022-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

Part 4

Rebel Uprising

Chapter 16

After first contact with the alien, the crew of Cerex demanded an emergency meeting to discuss their next steps. Commander Miller was forced to come down to the tech deck ring, swallowing his pride in the hopes of maintaining some form of leadership for the mission.

Since Pia's shouted plea, they had lost contact with the Sting Ray probe nearly twelve kilometers beneath them. The crystalline cage holding it had sealed over entirely, cutting off their ability to communicate with it. The last video recorded was a kaleidoscopic array of gems fluidly knitting themselves together into a thick wall.

Pia took the lead once Miller arrived, eager to get on with the necessary next steps.

"This is beyond anything we've discovered so far—beyond anything in human history. Before we do anything else, I think we need to get the consensus of the scientific community back home."

"Along with the politicians, I'm sure," added Lara.

"And whether we like it or not, military will likely be taking the lead on this." Vineland stood up as he spoke, then sat back down when he was through, having said his piece.

Miller had walked to the head of the makeshift table, although no one had noticed except for Coburn, who was ready to assist.

"Commander, what are your orders, sir?" Coburn asked dutifully. Eyes rolled, but everyone turned to give their attention to Miller.

"No one will know about this. No Multinats, no techs, no one except the board of Natocorps." Shocked silence gave way to outbursts from the crew, but Miller cut them off.

"You will take this knowledge to your graves, whether that be decades from now, or significantly sooner…" He stared pointedly at each of the eight people in front of him.

They maintained composure in spite of the fire coursing through their veins. Miller laughed, then pulled his face into a childish pout.

"C'mon, this is no fun without a little resistance. I thought you scientists live and die by your principles. Turns out, you're all chickenshit. Oh well, don't be too sad. You still get to investigate the anomaly."

Pia stood up, a picture of defiance. Then she took a deep breath in, and with a grace and sadness well known to women throughout history, she accepted the situation and continued with her jaw clenched tightly.

She managed to spit out the words, "you'll allow us to investigate?" The rest of the crew were still regaining their composure, and all looked to Pia with respect.

"Of course, we must find the extent of our discovery, and what it contains. Our primary mission is to inventory and extract all available resources on Ceres. This includes whatever the hell that thing is on the ocean floor."

"At least admit it. That thing is alive down there. And it shows signs of intelligence."

"I know it's alive. I just don't care, sweetheart. As for intelligence, I guess we'll just have to see who's smarter."

Zee was lost in his networks, but bristled at the word "sweetheart." Pia reached out and ran a digital hand across Zee's shoulders.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.