Astraeus 5 Read online

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  Billy Hunt idly scratched his stubble–covered chin and then ran his hand through his neatly cropped hair. A few hours ago, he’d had a strange call from the office, asking if he could go have a look at the communications facility on ‘Roid 2 (they used to call them Asteroid but that had been shortened years ago to ‘Roid). Apparently, the self-monitoring system there had reported that movement had been detected within the equipment room, activating the artificial gravity or agrav, lights and heating. Despite his 20 years’ experience in the field, this was a first and he wondered what had happened to cause the system to report such a thing, especially as there was a security system for the external door, to stop, or at least discourage, the theft of expensive equipment from the base.

  Ten minutes out from the ‘roid, he started to ready himself for landing, putting on his EVA suit. As he landed his ship, he couldn’t see anything that would cause the report – he had thought that maybe someone had crash landed or had needed to land in a hurry and needed the sanctuary of the base but there was no sign of a ship on the ‘roid’s surface.

  As he left the ship, he was still at a loss as to what might have happened but decided that he would find out in a few minutes anyway.

  As he left the station’s inner airlock he found that he wasn’t alone. On the floor of the communications room, he could see a pair of legs, sprawled on the floor. As he entered the room, he found they belonged to a man, about his height, lying on his back on the comm room floor. He had blood on his left temple and a dried rivulet of blood down his face, caking his somewhat bushy beard and some of the hair that partially covered his face. He was wearing a navy blue coverall with a company logo on the left side of the chest. It was a stylised picture of the galaxy, with the words "Galactic Comms" running around the outside. Just below it was the name "HUNT". Whilst Billy worked for Galacticomm, the logo wasn’t one he recognised. He was intrigued by the name, though, being the same as his own.

  He removed his helmet and bent down to check whether the man was breathing.

  Even though his breathing was fairly shallow, it was regular. He shook the man’s shoulder gently and said "Hey there. Are you OK?" There was no reaction, so he tried again. The man reacted, albeit sluggishly.

  Billy decided that, as the man was alive, he would give him a few minutes to come to. While waiting, he decided to strip off his EVA suit, revealing his company uniform underneath – it was warm in the equipment room, so he didn’t need the suit for now. He then sat down to wait.

  After about five minutes, the man stirred, his left hand moving slowly to his forehead, feeling tentatively at the dried blood there. His eyes slowly blinked open but he clearly couldn’t focus as yet – there was no reaction from him as to his surroundings, or at the sight of Billy watching him intently. Over the next few minutes, his vision returned and he realised he wasn’t alone.

  "Where am I?" he mumbled.

  "You’re in the Communications Centre on ’Roid 2" replied Billy.

  "Where the hell is that?" grumbled Will "Never heard of it. Last I knew I was in Commbase 3." He managed, after a bit of struggling, to sit upright on the floor, with his back to the wall.

  "OK, I think introductions are called for. My name’s Billy Hunt. I work for Galacticomm as a Senior Repair Operative. This is one of the company’s Communications Centres. As there was no ship on this lump of rock when I got here, I’m intrigued as to how you got here."

  "The handle’s Will Hunt. I’d been called out to sort out an electrical problem at Commbase 3, which provides hub comm services for the Aquarius system and on to the rest of known space. When I got inside, there were sparks everywhere and I got thrown against something. From the way my head feels, I guess I got knocked out."

  "That doesn’t explain how you got here. You obviously didn’t walk, ‘cos we’re on an asteroid in the middle of nowhere. There’s no sign of any transport, you’re not wearing a suit and there’s nothing I’ve seen anywhere to suggest you have one. You look kind of familiar, though. Ever shave that thing off or have a haircut?"

  "Funny, I was thinking the same about you. You look a bit like my brother. I like the beard and the hair. Where I come from, most of the men have them outside of the Navy. It’s easier than shaving every day, especially when I’m on a job." He paused. "My suit’s in the lobby, along with my helmet and power pack. My ship, a Rook class transport called Bella, is parked outside. Surprised you didn’t see them."

  "I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but the only ship outside’s mine and there’s no suit, or anything else wearable out in the lobby that I didn't put there. Never heard of the Rook class."

  "This gets odder by the minute. Before we carry on, any chance I could clean up and have a drink? This floor’s not getting any warmer or any comfier. Are there any chairs in this place we could sit on?" With that, he managed to get himself on his feet, though Billy wasn’t convinced at first that he was going to make it, or that he would stay upright for long.

  "Yeah, over in that corner" said Billy "Through that door is a small washroom where you can pretty yourself up. If you need a medkit, there’s one on the wall in there. If you need a hand, I’ll be out here. Fancy a drink? Nothing alcoholic, I’m afraid. The Company doesn’t want anyone in here having had any booze inside ‘em. Who knows what damage they could do?"

  Will moved unsteadily in the direction of the washroom door "A coffee, white and no sugar would be great if that’s possible."

  "No problem. It’ll be ready by the time you’re out of there."

  Will closed the washroom door and turned to face the mirror. It was only then that he realised how much blood he had on his face and matted in his hair. Although there was also a fair bit of blood on his shirt, there wasn’t much he could do about it just now. He ran some water and sluiced it over his hair, face and beard, so that he could remove as much as possible. It made a big difference to his appearance, as well as made him feel a little better. He looked back at the mirror, and saw he had a one inch gash on his forehead, as well as a graze below it and a developing bruise on his left cheek, just below his eye. He was amazed how much blood could come from such a small cut. He then rewashed his face, this time using some cleansing liquid from a wall dispenser. This made the wound sting but also cleansed the remaining blood from his face and beard. All that was needed was something to seal the wound. He walked over to the medkit on the opposite wall, opened the door and saw a can of spray-on skin repair. The brand wasn’t one he had heard of but that wasn’t surprising, as he had no idea where he was. That done and feeling slightly better, he made his way out to see Billy putting the finishing touches to a couple of hot drinks.

  Billy looked across at Will "Before we carry on, fancy a bite to eat to go with the drink?"

  "Sounds good. What’ve you got?"

  "How about a stew – there are some packs in the freezer?" Will nodded his approval. Billy went over to the freezer, removed a pair of stew packs and pulled the tab on the lid that made them heat up. A few seconds later he said "Grub’s up. Have a seat and we can get acquainted. If you open that drawer by the coffees, there are some spoons we can use to eat this."

  Will got the spoons and picked up the drinks, taking them across to the small table that Billy was putting the stews onto.

  Once they had both eaten, Will was feeling much better.

  "What intrigues me is that I got knocked out and seem to be somewhere different. Do you have a view screen or a window so I can look outside?"

  "You’re not the only one who’s intrigued. We’re on an asteroid in the middle of nowhere. You don’t have a ship, so couldn’t have flown here unless someone brought you and cleared off. There’s also no sign of a suit, so unless this is some kind of prank where you got so drunk at a bachelor party and your friends thought it would be a laugh to drop you off here, then I’m also at a loss as to how you got here. Added to that is the remarkable resemblance you have to me. It’s all a bit of a myst
ery at the moment. There’s a viewscreen behind that rack" he said, pointing to the rack in question.

  They both went over and stood in front of the viewscreen, where Billy said "Screen on". The screen came to life and they both saw the view outside the base.

  Will was stunned by what he saw. "Whoa! That looks like the view from Commbase 3. There’s Shackleton over there" he exclaimed, pointing to a small space station circling a nearby planet. "Can you change the view from here?"

  "I can connect to different cameras, if that’s what you mean. That’s Columbus, though, not Shackleton" said Billy, switching to other camera views.

  "Can you zoom in on Shackleton, er, I mean, Columbus?" asked Will. As Billy did so, Will realised that it didn’t look right. The station he was looking at had more levels, had extra port jetties than Shackleton and there was much more space traffic than he was used to seeing.

  "This is getting scary now. I was in Commbase 3 but this isn’t the same room as there. On top of that, with that close-up view, that doesn’t look like Shackleton. It’s as if everything has been completely rebuilt while I was out cold. I don’t understand why there are references to Galacticomm either. Galactic Comms owns this building. What I really don’t understand is how I got here, only to be woken up by someone who looks like he could be my brother."

  "Either you’ve had some kind of breakdown or there’s more to this than meets the eye. What’s the last thing you can remember from before I found you on the floor?"

  "All I can really remember is that, when I opened the door into the ops room, there were sparks flying everywhere. As I came into the room, there was an almost overpowering smell of burnt electronic components. Then I was thrown by an explosion and hit my head. It all happened at once, so I didn’t get a chance to take it all in."

  Will noticed a row of four cupboards that the staff used to store personal possessions and which had a number of images on the front. Most he didn’t recognise but did spot one with a younger version of Billy, flanked by a pair of older adults, a male and a female, looking very proud, as he wore what looked like a graduation outfit. As he looked more closely, he realised that the older couple looked exactly the same as his own parents, apart from their hairstyles and clothes. Like Will, Will’s father had a beard and moustache, albeit neatly trimmed, whereas the man in the image was clean shaven. Just to add to the strangeness, they were flanked by a young man and a teenage girl, who looked like they could easily pass for his own siblings.

  "Your parents look like mine. Weird, or what" he asked Billy.

  "Sorry, miles away. You say your parents look like mine? Now that IS a coincidence."

  "I’ll show you" said Will removing his comm device from his pocket. He flicked through and found the holographic image he was looking for and showed it to Billy.

  "OH. MY. GOD, I see what you mean" said Billy by way of response "They’re pretty much identical. I reckon they could each pass as a pair of twins. The other two look much like my own brother and sister, Alan and Susan."

  "I think there are too many odd things going on here. You think you’re in Commbase 3, the local station is Shackleton and we’re in the Aquarius system, even though I know we’re not. Added to that, we have family who look as if someone has edited the pictures to make their hairstyles and clothes look different, never mind the fact that, hair and beard apart, we could pass as twins. I think it’s about time that we got to know more about each other. My full name is William Robert Hunt. I was born on the Columbus space station over there. I’m 37 next January. The planet Columbus is circling is called New Oregon and we’re in the Lincoln system. My parents are called Jim and Eliza" said Billy.

  "Wow! My full name’s William Richard Hunt and I’m the same age as you. Shackleton goes round the planet Ohio in the Aquarius system. As far as I can tell from here, Ohio looks identical to New Oregon. My parents are called James and Elizabeth. Just to add to the coincidences, my sister is called Suzanne and my brother is called Allen."