Franklin's Folly

A Story by Scott Wade

A story detailing one young Federal Naval Officer's encounter with Thargoids.

The first thing the young Lieutenant Commander had noticed after ejecting, is that space was very, very cold.

Franklin, born on Mars and desperate to join the Federal Navy since he was 15, was always one for excitement and adventure. His younger years were spent watching the various Federal vidcom broadcasts, showing young men like himself what the galaxy had to offer. It was an intoxicating thought, flying through space, seeing distant stars and one day, he thought, being a ship captain.

His break came in the form of an untimely death, an older officer who got a little too close to a power relay. Franklin had spent the last 5 years moving from ship to ship, starting off as a fresh young cadet, quickly proving his skills in tactical combat and command during various battle drills and simulations. His commanding officer aboard the 'Fortuna', a mid-sized corvette, realised his potential and began training him personally.

While taking part in an organised 'war game' with another Federal vessel, Franklin was thrust into the command chair - to 'test his mettle', his commander has said. As their opponent opened fire, it was clear the other ship's weapons had not been set to training mode.

Damage to the 'Fortuna' was not severe, but it did needed repairing. Unfortunately for the current petty officer that day, a power junction - which was likely already way overdue maintenance - finally attempted a break for freedom, just as the hapless officer was reaching to shut it down.

Franklin found himself promoted and all was well with his world.

And then the aliens arrived.

Lieutenant Commander Franklin, now second in command of a Farragut Class Cruiser by the name of the 'Primum Percutiens', stood on the bridge that day, going over the classified data received earlier. Alien craft had been confirmed to be scanning civilian ships. None had been engaged in combat as yet, and it was completely unknown as to their interest in human space.

Of course, Franklin was familiar with the aliens known as Thargoid. He'd spent much of his childhood reading about them, their history and known culture. Stories of myth and legend, he'd been told countless times.

Myths and legends, he thought, that don't suddenly break from hyperspace to appear directly in front of you.

The Thargoid vessel, codenamed 'Cyclops' was hanging in space no more than half a kilometre directly in front of his ship. Performing it's now familiar scan, the alien was just.. waiting.

"Thoughts?". It was his commander, a solid veteran captain named Valence, who stood next to him, facing the window.

"Reports have said that these aliens have yet to take any hostile action. I would suggest we hold our position, see what they do" Franklin responded. He was fully aware of the wreckage of the other Federal capital ship found in HIP 17044. "We've yet to receive confirmation they were responsible for any aggression."

Valence grunted. "Helmsman, keep us steady at this position. Don't flinch.".

Franklin looked at the sensor readout on the nearby console. A close up of the alien ship showed no signs of... well, anything. A moment ago, it had lit up, yellow and green, odd tentacles of light probing the battlecruiser, seeking for... something. And then it just went dark.

The craft was a dull grey, with a central canopy, surrounded by 8 large sections, which had been commonly referred to as 'petals'. There were strange markings above the canopy, a crude, almost painted design of half circles and dots.

Franklin checked the power outputs of the alien craft. Unusually, it showed bio electrical signals, but these were undetermined. Whatever this...thing was, it certainly didn't match any known form of space craft.

"Captain!" a science officer suddenly exclaimed! "We have another reading... I can't make out what it is!"

"Get me a visual!" snapped Valence. The main window was still full of Thargoid Cyclops, unmoving. Various monitors showing aft, port and starboard sides of the ship were showing nothing.

"Sensors are showing an energy surge!" cried the science officer. "I cannot make out where it's coming from... our sensors seem to be jam-".

The ship suddenly shook violently. Franklin, and a number of other bridge crew members were flung to the floor. "What in God's name was that?" Franklin exclaimed, scrambling to find a hand hold in zero-gravity. "Nothing can do that!". The 'Primum Percutiens', 2 kilometres long and weighing more than a small listening post, was virtually unmoveable. Franklin's mind reeled at the amount of power needed to even jolt the huge battleship.

"Captain, we need to move, now." he said. "We can't take another of those hits.".

"Get me a damned visual! What the hell is attacking?" Valence was shouting.

"Captain... look!" Franklin said, pointing at the window.

The Thargoid, quiet and unmoving, had suddenly flashed a deep, dangerous looking red colour. Its petals began to unfurl and expand, and it moved backwards, away from the ship. Then the 'Primum Percutiens' was suddenly engulfed in a searingly bright yellow light.

Franklin's eyes burned as the light overloaded his optic nerves. He could hear cries of pain from others on the bridge. The shaking of the ship intensified, causing him to lose his balance. Grasping on to the sides of a console, he tried to stay right side up, his boots struggling to maintain maglock on the shuddering deck.

The shuddering suddenly stopped. His eyes still burning, Franklin called out “Is everyone alright?”. Confused voices returned his question, some saying they could not see, others just asking for help. “Captain, are you still with us?”

“Just about” came Valence’s reply. “I can’t bloody see anything. What the hell was that?”

“Can anyone still see?” shouted Franklin.”

“I can” came a female voice. “I was thrown under a console before the light hit us.”

“Martyna,” Frankling responded, recognising her as a navigator. “What’s the status of the ship?”

“Checking… there doesn’t appear to be any damage to the ship, but I’m seeing power fluctuations on all decks. Sir, I don’t think we can maint-“

The consoles all died as one. Lights went out, and the humming of power, always murmuring in the background, ceased. The sudden silence of the great ship stunned Franklin. “What just happened?”

“Power has failed all over the ship” replied Martyna. “I saw power on decks fail almost as one before bridge power failed.

“Backups?”

“Negative sir, backup generators have failed to take over. We’re dead in space.”

Franklin held his hand up to his face. His sight seemed to be returning, although in the darkness of the void, he wasn’t entirely sure what good that would do. Fumbling underneath his command chair, he found the emergency torch, and lit it up. He could make out shapes, people. Faces were not quite in focus, but the presence of Captain Valence to his left was all too clear.

“Franklin, can you see yet?”

“Yes sir, more or less.”. Franklin looked out of the main window. The stars, twinkling in the vast blackness of space only served to remind him just how small and insignificant he and his broken ship were. “The Thargoid Cyclops has gone. The other entity, we don’t know. It may still be out there.”

Captain Valence swore. “Suggestions?”

Franklin looked around again, his sight returning to normal. He could see other crew members also starting to regain their own vision, holding hands and fingers in front of their faces. “The crew is starting to regain their sight. We could attempt repairs, however if the ship has suffered total power loss... I’m not sure what we can do, without dock facilities.”

“What about the Condors?” asked Martyna. “They might still be flyable?”

Franklin considered it. “I don’t think so.” he said. “They rely on ship power to start up. If emergency batteries have been drained, it’s also likely that the ship start up generators will be offline.”

Valence sighed. “I’ve commanded this ship for 3 years. I never thought it would ever come to this.”

“Sir?”

“We’re carrying prototypes, son. We can’t allow this ship to fall into enemy hands - whatever that enemy is. We’re going to have to scuttle her.”

“Sir, the escape pods… will they still be active?”

“They should be. They’re protected against a power core breach…”

Franklin shuddered inwardly. Escape pod training was not something he’d ever wished to repeat. “How will we inform the crew to abandon ship?”

“We’ll need to send runners. It’s a long trip, but we need to get off this ship.”

“And the unknown entity? It may still be out there.”

“Even on a ship as huge as this one, the oxygen levels will drop very quickly. Right now, we’re in more danger of suffocation than anything else. We’ll have to take our chances.”

It had taken the better part of 3 hours to alert the 5000 odd crew members to prepare to leave the ship. A Farragut class ship would normally hold a compliment of 7000, but since the 'Primum Percutiens' carried sensitive, prototype equipment, the crew numbers had been reduced.

Franklin was helping his captain make final preparations for the ship’s destruction. Manual explosives, planted throughout the middle of the ship’s internal structure, could be triggered by remote, or in this case, good old-fashioned wire. The wire was hooked up to the Captain’s escape pod so it would trigger once the pod had left the ship. Franklin was reasonably sure Captain Valence had never planned on having to use it.

He was aware of the other pods already drifting near the ship. Looking out of a nearby window, he could see the twinkling of thousands of red lights, signalling that the pods were indeed functional, and already sending their emergency transmissions. It could take days for help to arrive, thankfully, the occupant would be in stasis until such time.

The idea did not sit well with Franklin.

He climbed in to his own pod, and hit the release button. The pod jettisoned itself into space, its window allowing Franklin once last look at the stricken ship he’d served aboard for the last 2 years. It hung there, lifeless, dark and abandoned " except for the iridescent globs of green material sticking to the outside of the hull. Remnants of the attack, he figured. He looked around for signs of other entities, but saw nothing. Whatever had attacked them appeared to be long gone.

Sighing, he settled back to relax and begin the stasis procedure, hoping this time, unlike in training, he would awake to a warm room on a ship, rather than the cold floor of a docking bay. He hit the button. Jets of cold gas sprayed over his Remlock helmet, immediately freezing up. He knew that after a few moments, his body would shut down due to the sudden cold, and that his vital signs would be monitored to keep them at a regular temperature.

At least, that was the plan.

There was a sudden flash of light. Quickly, Franklin hit the abort button, stopping the gas. Wiping his visor free of ice, he looked out of the small pod window. It was the Thargoid Cyclops. It had returned. And it wasn’t alone. Other Cyclops ships had also appeared, and they were moving towards the stricken pods, scanning them.

And retrieving them.

To Franklin’s horror, he saw the pods being pulled towards the Thargoid ships, gently, almost carefully, until they disappeared behind one of the petals. And then one of the ships reached his pod. The scanning beam probed at his capsule, and all power died. The Thargoid tractor beam then began to slowly pull his pod ever closer to itself, and Franklin could only watch helplessly as he was inexorably drawn into the alien ship.

And then, suddenly, the beam disappeared and he was drifting free.

Another flash of light, and the Thargoids suddenly changed from a dull orange glow, to the angry red he’d seen earlier. This time, the Thargoid that was almost his captor released a swarm of what could only be described as drones from within itself, whizzing about its petals and then suddenly darting forwards, out of Franklin’s view. Pulses of red laser fire crackled from the centre of the alien ship, and yellow lightning struck its surface, causing it to emit a loud, ear piercing shriek of pain.

Franklin, bemused by this sudden turn of events, could only focus on how he could hear the Thargoid’s cries, in the vacuum of space.

And then, it was over. The Thargoids were gone, and the flashes of light had stopped. Franklin looked out of his window once again, and saw nothing. Bemused, he laid back to try and contemplate what had just happened. Until something else dawned on him, something important.

He was freezing.

His pod, completely out of power. Life support, non-existent. And as he lay there, he realised just how cold space really was.

Cold. And vast.