24.Explorations

Herschel and Neil examine the massive captured alien carrier Hulk-1, cataloging its 864 cargo bays and discovering it contains dozens of dormant combat drones. After carefully disassembling one drone to verify it cannot activate independently, they begin tracing the ship's power systems to determine if they can safely restore power without accidentally awakening dangerous weapons.

Herschel oversees the numbering of cargo bays aboard Hulk-1, a ten-kilometer-long cylindrical alien vessel. Neil notes that the number 864 in base 12 (the Others' number system) correlates with the aliens having twelve digits. To avoid risking the ship's destruction, they decide to cut into a bay rather than activate systems blindly. Bay #1 contains several dozen alien combat drones larger than Heaven-1 vessels, dormant in cradles with power and control umbilicals. After more than a week of systematic disassembly, Herschel and Neil determine the drones cannot activate on their own—they require power from the carrier's AI, which has been destroyed. Despite this, they take precautions by placing roamers inside a test drone before disconnecting it from its umbilical. The drone remains inert. They then begin the lengthy task of tracing the ship's power conduits to understand which systems can be safely isolated. They discover unexplained expansion slots in the wiring. After mapping the power distribution network and running a simulation, they determine it is safe to attempt powering up the reactor.