Free Ghosts of Ophidian by Scott McElhaney

would they even have vitals?”
    “ Assuming they’re frozen and not…” McKenzie began, then looked up toward the ceiling, “Are these… these ‘people’ alive? Is your cargo alive?”
    “Yes, but I cannot confirm this anymore,” the AI replied.
    “Why can’t y ou confirm it?” McKenzie asked.
    “Data unavailable,” it replied.
    “How long has it been unavailable to you?” he asked.
    “ Data unavailable,” it replied again, “But mission completed.”
    “I don’t think we’re goi ng to get anywhere,” Conner stated.
    Conner turned and looked at the building behind them. He could get a better estimate as to how many beings were stored in the buildings from this vantage point. He noted that there were metal stairwells further aft that descended all the way to the bottom level.
    “This is almost frightening. What if they came here with plans to take over our planet?” Conner stated, “There must be hundreds of millions of them. Even if they came here to live peacefully among us, we couldn’t support such a sudden increase in population.”
    “This could be representative of an entire race,” McKenzie said, “Maybe they had to flee from their planet for some reason. Perhaps this is their ark.”
    “I hope you’re not starting to pity them,” Lentz said, “Beneath those tentacle mouths could be needle-like piranha teeth which they would use to tear us apart.”
    “ Nice, Doctor Lentz. Thanks for the visual,” Roberts said, leaning over the railing, “I’d like to take a closer look at those computer terminals down at the bottom level. See if I could find a way to tap into them.”
    McKenzie joined Roberts at the railing. He tried to follow the direction of his gaze.
    “What computer terminals?” McKenzie asked.
    Roberts pointed down at the little room that jutted out of the front of the building at the bottom level.
    “What makes you think that room houses a computer,” Conner asked, examining the porch-like structure down below.
    “All those wires heading into the roof, not to mention the enormous fan mounted to the roof that is most likely blowing into the space below,” he replied, “My wrist terminal says it’s sixty-one degrees Fahrenheit in here, yet there is a fan spinning down there most likely cooling the room where the cables lead.”
    “Hmm…” Conner said, “McKenzie, now that we’ve assessed there to be no imminent danger from the beings on this ship, would it be okay to split up? I’d like to go down there and see the computer space also. Besides, Roberts may need me to blow the door open.”
    “I really don’t think it would be wise to split up,” Lentz said.
    McKenzie stepped away from the railing and returned his attention to the stoic creature behind the glass.
    “How long do you think you two would be?” McKenzie asked, mesmerized by the being in front of him, “I’d like to stay up here and try to gain access to one of these cells. And I’m sure Crossway would like to get some tissue samples also if possible.”
    “We shouldn’t split up, McKenzie. What if someone gets hurt o r ends up locked in a room?” Lentz said, “There will most likely be future exploratory missions and they can check out the lower levels.”
    “We’ll still be in direct contact through our communication links,” McKenzie said, “How long do you think you’d be, Steele?”
    “Well, just navigating down thirty stories in this bulky suit will probably take fifteen minutes. Then fifteen or twenty minutes coming back up,” Conner said, “I’d guess no more than an hour.”
    McKenzie looked down at his digital time display, then nodded to Conner.
    “No matter what you discover or h ow important you believe it is, you need to be back up here within an hour,” McKenzie said, “We really can’t afford to risk being split up longer than necessary.”
    “You got it,” Conner replied.
    Conner patted Roberts on the shoulder and gestured toward the stairs several yards