Tabby's Star

    She was an officer in the galactic navy. She was supposed to dress the part. At least that was what she was informed. None of them were women, though, so perhaps they just didn’t understand how uncomfortable the full length skirt and tight metal top were. Practical for operating the machinery, perhaps, but not for walking around in. She may not be a grunt on a battlefield back on earth, but at least their uniforms were comfortable.

    Stepping out of the lift, Commander Osher was greeted by a near silent bridge. All heads were down, focused on their readings. Their hands were pressed against the conducting lines built straight into the walls and formed to look like little flowers. Art nouveau, the captain had called it, clearly proud of it. She smiled and pretended to be impressed at the time, but only because she didn’t have the heart to tell him she didn’t care. She came to work, not admire the esthetics of the ship. She wasn’t an upper echelon family. She had to earn her place here. She was here to work, not play while waiting for Daddy to move along.

    A couple of officers in full button down uniforms looked up and gave her a nod, then went back to reading the light signals transmitted to their brains on the conductors. She couldn’t blame everyone for ignoring her. Not only were the shields closed over the bay windows, but they were coming to their twenty third system to chart, and by far the most anticipated.

    “Approaching KIC8462852,” the helmsman stated. “Engines dropped down to one third. All traces of the slip drive had dissipated. We are in the clear sir.”

    “Thank you, Mr. Williams,” the captain muttered, prim, proper and concise as always. He adjusted his brass eyepiece. Currently, he was the only one who had a view of the system. How he managed to function with just the one, she had no idea. The double view always gave her bad headaches.

    Though, for this system, she was willing to suffer a few migraines.

    For a hundred years, the secret of this system’s odd flashing had puzzled their astronomers. Every theory was put out there. Every test was run. Nothing could be concluded, so it was decided that they would see it in person. Now they had arrived, half way through their deep space mission.

    The captain did not allow gambling on board, not that that stopped anyone, but if she had placed a wager, her money would be on the comet theory. It was the most logical, no matter how improbable. Among all the stars in their galaxy, this one was one of the most unique. It was time to find out why.

    Yet, with the shield doors closed, the captain was the only one that would see it. Like a true gentleman of the ruling class, he made no move to change this or acknowledge that anyone else might care to see.

    Everyone else was too polite to say anything. Once again, it all fell onto her.

    She made a loud cough, which was more work than it looked in her uniform. The captain made no move to acknowledge her. She coughed louder, but the only people who looked were her fellow officers. Pushing her shoulders back, she clasped her hands behind her back. “Captain Rogers.” He jumped. “The shields are still covering the viewers, obscuring the view for the rest of the crew and I do believe it would provide easier access ….”

    She trailed off as the captain turned slowly in his chair, a horrified look on his face. All the color had drained from his skin like he was about to faint. His mouth hung open like he was trying to speak but no words came out.

    Something was wrong.

    She looked to one of the officers on her right. “Ensign Langly, open the shields.” The young officer looked to the captain for some conformation but got nothing. “Ensign, I gave you an order and as first mate, I expect you to follow it.”

    Langly snapped back around and traced his hands over the metal, tapping his fingers in a rhythmic pattern. The bridge shuddered and the shield doors moved.

    Bright light flooded the bridge, blinding everyone for a moment.

    As her eyes adjusted, Osher peered out. Just as she had expected, there was space debris floating in a large ring around the star. Nothing spectacular or worth sending a code home about.

    “What is that?” someone asked.

    “What?” another questioned.

    “That. Over there.”

    Her eyes followed his finger. The object he was pointing at looked almost like a ship. Half a ship really. Not a whole one. It seemed like an odd coincidence, but then she spotted another object that looked like a ship. Then another.

    “Langly, magnify the view,” Osher ordered.

    He gave a nod and the screen flexed as it made the objects bigger.

    Her heart about stopped and all the color drained from her face.

    Discarded pieces of ships circled around the star. Some of them looked like missing ships from their own tiny fleet. Others were completely foreign from the empire’s ships. Alien ships. All broken and discarded here.

    It took great will for her to force her tongue to work again. “Lizben, get a code out to the empire. Tell them … tell them ….” She couldn’t find the words.

    “That we are not alone, ma’am?” Lizben suggested.

    She forced herself to swallow. “Yes. Yes, that will do Lizben.”

    This was a bet she would have lost.