The Travelers 3

by Lee Hunnicutt

  I downloaded the pod memory banks and am going through them now to try and find out what happened and where the mother ship is. If the ship was under attack, there may be no mother ship. As soon as I have anything I’ll let you know.”

  “Call us when your patient comes around. I want to talk to him.”

  “Will do.”

  Pete asked, “Mac what is synthetic?”

  “Four or five hundred years before this great war and before the invention of the replicator, the two combatants had formed a loose alliance to regulate trade and keep the trade lanes open. They recognized the dangers of AI. They knew the first time a computer became self-aware the end was near. They did two things. On their mega computers, such as the ones on their space ships they tested volunteers to see who had the aptitude to be heart and soul of these powerful mega computers. In these tests, they came to the conclusion that women by far were best suited for this job. The computer was self-aware but this awareness came from the human and she moderated all the independent thoughts the computer might have and squashed them if they even hinted antihuman bias.

  It is true that computers are superior to humans in almost every way and the humans knew this. It was only a matter of time before computers figured out that not only humans were unnecessary but all organic life was unnecessary and the computer would void the planets of organic life. The voiding would be simple and almost instantaneous. There would be no war between man and machine. All the computers had to do was make the atmosphere toxic to organic life. This could be done in any number of ways. They could simply void the planet of atmosphere, poison it, change the composition by making it all nitrogen with no oxygen. The possibilities are almost endless.

  In order to use AI computers and save mankind, the humans put a human buffer between the machines and man and that buffer was the women who interfaced between humankind and the computer keeping the computers in check. These women were monitors who had several strong failsafes built in to the interface. The two strongest were an off switch that turned the computer off and an off switch that not only turned the computer off but also fried its circuits.

  Besides the large super computers there were the synthetics. These were manufactured humans. Some would call them machines with human characteristics.”

  Mac paused, looked at Pete and said, “Because of our nanobots, some might call us humans with machine characteristics. I don’t see much difference between us and the synthetics. We are both enhanced humans. The synthetics are stronger, faster and smarter than normal humans and can be programmed to perform tasks. Our chief engineer in sick bay was most likely programmed to be a ship’s engineer. Instead of going to school for four or five years and then serving on a ship for another five years, he was programed to this task in less than an hour. When the programming was finish, it was as if he had been serving as a chief engineer for years.

  The synthetics were cloned in an incubator. They were engineered humans. They were human in almost every way. When the gestation period was over they were given to carefully screened humans who wanted children and raise it in a, hopefully, loving supportive family.

  Just like some families back on Earth told their adopted children at an early age they were adopted, these parents told their adopted child he or she was synthetic.

  Synthetics were invented about five hundred years before the great war. There were mistakes and disasters at first but those were worked out. One of the major glitches was to give a synthetic multiple skills and personalities such as engineer, medical officer and command deck tactical officer. Sometimes under stress these personalities would merge with disastrous results.

  Synthetics were initially made because the populations were not growing. Humans now lived indefinitely and most had stopped having children. There were people who wanted children but didn’t want the hassle of pregnancy and child birth. These were the people who adopted the synthetics.

  Because replicators had yet to be invented, interplanetary trade was still being practiced. Not many people were interested in spending years in space going from one planet to another. Some still did because the pay was good and there was an element of danger and adventure. In order to cut down on crew, synthetics with multiple skills were ideal as crew. The ship’s electrician could switch the synthetic’s skill as the captain directed.

  You can see how this could go sideways. Over all they were a success. Because they were raised human and had the same organs and hormones as a human, unlike a computer they had empathy. They had all of the emotions that a human had. This was thought that it would keep these computers from slaughtering humans, and it proved to be true.

  They are synthetic but to call them that is really a misnomer. In reality, they are bioengineered humans. They could even procreate. Their off spring, however, even though they shared the chromosomes from both parents, had the strength, speed and computing power of the synthetic. They were, simply put, better than other human beings. They were the next leap in human evolution.

  The rest of the human race had been enhanced to be stronger, faster, smarter but not to the point of the synthetics. The synthetics’ skin is almost impenetrable and their bones are made of a light super strong material. However, all of their synthetic parts have the same functions as normal human parts. The skin sweats. Hormones and enzymes are produced and the long bones generate blood cells. Sarah can tell you more if you are interested.

  Let’s go see how our engineer is doing.”

  As they approached the sick bay, Mac said, “Sarah, have you been able to scan his memory and if so what did you find?”

  “He was a chief engineer on a population ship carrying about six billion people. He and a dozen humans who were his work crew were pulling a maintenance check on the escape pod in his sector. These ships are so large the escape pods are scattered all over the ship. There is a maintenance crew assigned to each pod.

  He didn’t know it but the ship was to come under attack. A split second before the attack all of his human crew disappeared, vanished. The next thing to happen, he felt and heard the shocks of what sounded like a large hammer hitting the ship. The shocks were so strong they almost knocked him off his feet. Then the abandon ship alarm sounded. The entire side of the pod facing him slid upward revealing all of the decks and row after row of stasis chambers. He walked in and took the first chamber next to the center walkway.

  The next thing he remembers is me waking him up.”

  “Does he have a name?”

  “Yes, but it’s unpronounceable.”

  “Good, we’ll call him Gyro.”

  “Gyro?” said Pete.

  “Yeah Gyro, for Gyro Gear Loose the goose who was Scrooge McDuck’s genius inventor/scientist.

  I’ll explain it to you later.”

  “Does everybody and everything have to have a nickname?”

  “Sure, why not? You may have noticed how boring it can get out here. Besides, I can’t take all of this Creator BS seriously and you shouldn’t either so why not try and make this time as fun as possible?”

  Pete shrugged and said, “I hadn’t thought of it that way. Maybe you’re right. Gyro it is then.”

  “Sarah, as soon as Gyro is up to it, have him join us in the observation lounge.”

  “Will do Mac.”

  Mac turned and addressed the service butler, “Jeeves, bring us each a pint of ice cold bitter please.”

  “Right away sir.” The service bots look exactly like humans in every way. They were different from synthetics in that they weren’t human and they didn’t think for themselves. They were directed by the central computer.

  They were finishing their pint, when the elevator door opened and Gyro walked in. He walked slowly and was a little unsteady on his feet.

  Pete jumped up and helped him to an overstuffed chair. He slid a hassock under his feet and said, “Would you care for something to eat or drink?”

  “I’ll have what you’re having and later something to eat. My stomach is a li
ttle queasy.”

  “I don’t know if you would like what we’re having. It’s an English beer called biter. It’s from another planet not in this galaxy and it is an acquired taste. Have something you know and like.”

  Max walked over to Gyro. At the sight of the big dog, Gyro froze in place.

  Pete said, “All he wants to do is sniff you. He won’t hurt you.”

  Gyro relaxed. Max did exactly what Pete said and gave Gyro a few good sniffs and returned to lie down by Pete.

  After his initial reaction and the dog didn’t attack him, he ordered a beer from his home planet. Pete and Mac ordered two more bitters.

  When they all had their drinks, Mac asked, “Can you tell us anything about the ship you served on? Tell us what kind of ship it was and what the ship’s mission was and what happened on your last day before you boarded the pod and went into stasis.

  We know it was a population ship but can you tell us anything else about it?

  Drink your beer, take your time and if you don’t feel up to it, we can wait until you do.”

  “ I’m a little queasy. Besides that, I feel fine. My God this beer tastes good.

  I’m afraid I can’t tell you much. If Sarah’s right, I’ve spent ten thousand years in stasis and for some reason, I don’t remember much. I know I’m an engineer and I think I can still repair a drive engine but any more than that I can’t help you. I can’t even remember my own name.”

  “It’s Gyro,” said Mac.

  Pete squirmed in his seat.

  “Gyro? That doesn’t sound familiar but if you say so, that must be it.”

  “You were on a population ship,” said Mac.

  “Yes, and we were to avoid enemy contact at all costs but somehow they found us. One of the last things I do remember was just before I entered the escape pod the humans had all vanished. I guess whatever took them for some reason overlooked synthetics.”

  “Gyro, you look like you are pretty tired. I know you’ve slept for a long time but getting up and moving around after that long in a stasis chamber has to be exhausting.”

  “I am tired.”

  “Jeeves, escort Mr. Gyro to his stateroom and give him anything he needs.”

  “Yes sir, Mr. Mac.”

  “Thank you, Jeeves.”

  “My Pleasure, sir.”

  After Gyro left, Pete said, “You realize when you talk to Jeeves, you’re talking to Sarah?”

  “Really? Thanks for telling me.

  Sarah, from the pod’s data banks, can you pinpoint the population ship’s last know location?”

  “Already done, Mac.”

  “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “One short jump and about a week of sub light propulsion.”

  Pete said, “Sarah, what do you think of Gyro? Is he who he says he is and do you think the three of us can trust him?”

  “I’ve scanned him and all of his memories, what there are left of them and I believe he’s the real deal. And yes, we can trust him. I think it’s going to take him a few weeks before he’s physically recovered from such a long time in stasis so be patient with him."

  “When will we be under way?”

  “Give me a few seconds.”

  ” By short jump, how short a jump?”

  “I read the pod’s records. She only jumped two light years away from the mother ship and waited to see if anyone or thing was after her. When nothing showed up the pod just floated around in space and waited further orders. None ever came so she stayed where she was.

  I’m going to jump less than two light years and then scan the area looking for the mother ship. If I can find the mother ship, we will proceed to her. I’m jumping now.”

  ‘This won’t take long,” said Pete.

  Twenty minutes later, they fell out of FTL drive. Mac and Pete waited impatiently for Sarah’s scanning report.

  An hour passed. Mac got up and began to pace. Pete said, “Pacing won’t get the scan done any sooner. Sit down and have another beer. You’re making me nervous.”

  Mac sat back down. “Jeeves, get me another beer, please.”

  After another twenty minutes, Mac couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “Sarah, how are the scans going?”

  “Oh, I completed them over an hour ago.”

  “And?”

  “I found the mother ship at the same coordinates the pod gave me. We’ve been under way for about an hour.”

  Mac was on his feet hollering, “You knew I was on pins and needles awaiting your report and you didn’t give it to me!”

  “I didn’t think you were that interested.”

  “Don’t give me that hogwash! A population ship is the Holy Grail of all finds and you know it! Of course I’m interested!

  Pete said, “Calm down Mac. You know she played you. This is just her warped sense of humor.

  I’ve got to admit though. It was pretty funny just watching you react.”

  Mac spun around to face Pete. “I may not be able to wring her scrawny little neck but I can sure wring yours!”

  He began to calm down and then began to chuckle, sat back down and finished his beer.

  “She really sucked me in, didn’t she? You weren’t in on this were you?”

  “No, this was all her. She sucked me in too. I didn’t know she had a sense of humor. It’s kinda refreshing.”

  “I wouldn’t call it refreshing, especially when I’m on the end of it.”

  The next week was hell on Mac. He was like a little kid a week away from Christmas. The ETA to the mother ship couldn’t come soon enough. He was nervous, fidgety and paced a lot.

  Pete was exhausted just watching him. Pete was anxious but not like Mac.

  Gyro was still recuperating and Sarah was putting him through rehabilitation so they didn’t see much of him.

  “Will you quit that? Pacing back and forth isn’t going to get us there any sooner.”

  “I know but I can’t help myself. We have been looking for a find like this for over two hundred years and now here it is. I don’t know how you can sit there calm, like a bump on a log.”

  “Mac I’m as excited as you are and so is Max. Look he can hardly contain himself.”

  Mac looked over at Max. He was asleep on the couch next to Pete.

  “Asshole!”

  Finally, they were close enough to get a sharp image of the ship. They were both overwhelmed at the size of her. They knew she would be big but this?

  “Sarah, what are her dimensions,” asked Mac?

  “She’s ten thousand miles long by five thousand miles wide and four hundred miles tall. There are five major decks and one minor deck. One is for cities, green areas and park lands like Katherine’s hollowed out world.

  The second deck is a temperate climate environment much like what you have told me about North America. In fact, from what you have told me much of the flora and fauna is exactly like North America plus plant and animal life from similar planets in this part of the galaxy.

  The third deck is a tropical rain forest deck with large powerful rivers, lakes and oceans. It also has semi-arid portions that gradually turn into desert, much like your Africa.

  Decks two and three have resort areas and some private cottages scattered throughout. These resorts and cottages were recreation areas for the population on deck one.

  The fourth deck is the stasis deck where the population was kept until the ship was safely hidden in the rift. Once they were safe they were woken up and they got to choose which deck they would like to live on. It didn’t have to be a permanent choice they had the freedom to move from deck to deck.

  The fifth deck is a hangar deck and shop. Escort ships are kept in the hangar deck and the shop is for maintenance and repair.

  The minor deck houses the bridge and a park with cottages, forests streams, rivers and lakes.

  I think these ships were designed this way so when the war was over they could terraform planets to their liking and would have the plants and anim
als they were accustomed to on their former home planets.”

  “How many people did this ship carry?”

  “According to my counterpart on the ship, she could carry 30 billion but only had fifteen billion.”

  “What happened to the people?”

  “She doesn’t know but she wants to talk to you when you are on board.”

  “What about the synthetics, like Gyro?”

  “She said about 289 million escaped in two pods but she has no idea where they went. Gyro just happened to be near one of the more isolated pods and that is why he was the only one on board.”

  “How long until we can board the ship?”

  “About twelve hours.”

  The closer they got to the mother ship the calmer Mac became. Pete watched him closely. He had never seen Mac so excited, agitated and impatient before and now his demeaner changed to the old Mac, calm, cool and collected, all business.

  When they were ten miles away from the ship, Mac said, “Sarah, around the ship, up the side, over the top and down the other side and under the bottom. Put as much light on her as you can.”

  She was flat black and without the light it was hard to see any of her features. The magnitude of her size rendered them speechless. They approached the ship from the side and as they crested the top, they got an idea of how vast the ship was. It took them hours of flying to fly across the top, down the other side and across the bottom. When they looked both left and right they couldn’t see either end of the ship. Sarah had told them the ship’s dimensions but neither of them were prepared for the visual. It overwhelmed them.

  The skin of the ship was featureless, smooth. Sarah didn’t have to find a docking port. She extended a corridor from them to the mother ship. As soon as her corridor touched the mother ship’s skin, a port opened up.

  “OK boys, go down to deck eleven and go aboard.”

  “Does she know we are coming,” Mac asked?

  “I’ve been talking to her since I first spotted her. Actually, I woke her up. She recognized me as an alliance ship. That’s how I had access to her hull. Chop chop, boys. What are you waiting for?”