Mission Beyond The Stars: Book #1 of "Saga Of The Lost Worlds" by Neely and Dobbs

by Neely Dobbs

CHAPTER 53:  Alliance

   

  ADIZ moved swiftly down one of Sanctuary-1's wide underground corridors.  A little more than two hundred miles long, the corridor extended out almost a hundred miles from the central hub of Sanctuary-1, made a broad sweeping "petal shaped" turn, then returned to connect with the central hub. Spaced at regular intervals along the corridor were 500 side tunnels, each connecting to 10 large rooms. Every one of those rooms contained 250 of the Alliance's sleeping citizens, with every person’s life-support system functioning independently of all others. A total of eight such petal-shaped corridors wound throughout this level, each critical to the complex sanctuary’s purposeful design.

  From the center of the "petal" of each corridor, vertical shafts plummeted eight miles deep into the planet’s mantle, connecting with ninety-nine other levels— each identical to the level which ADIZ now traversed. Each of those levels also contained 40,000 separate rooms, and in each of those rooms were 250 hibernation capsules maintaining the life and health of a sleeping Alliance citizen. Each hibernation room had an dedicated AIDD whose single duty was to constantly monitor and maintain the safety and health of that room's sleeping citizens.

  ADIZ's prime duty was to oversee and assure the flawless operation of the central control center and all 100 levels of this vast facility, including its 400,000 rooms which contained and protected, in total, one billion sleeping souls.

  He had been performing a standard periodic full-system check when a signal called him to observe a development relating to the Admiral’s special orders.  He rode a high-speed transport to reach the vertical shaft that connected to the indicated unit.  Then, using a freight lift, he slowly descended more than five miles down to reach the ninety-eighth level.

  He chafed at the delay the lift caused.  Ruefully shaking his head, he realized he had chafed, then realized he was rueful.  Irritated by these emotional distractions, he decided to postpone analysis of those pesky feelings.

  After Jazon's departure for Belshimitar, he had returned to Alpha Byreen III and Sanctuary-1.  The travel had been done at Phase-10, requiring about two days instead of less than an hour at Kepren’s max-Phase.  That fact had not been a major concern.  However, the Admiral's safety had been.  Accordingly, ADIZ had first taken— out of his own concern— the precautions of having a Pilot-AIDD completely serviced to be available for the Admiral's trip. Then he reassured himself it was fully capable of piloting the Admiral's cruiser.  He also directed the pilot to remain with Jazon’s craft on Belshimitar, awaiting the Admiral's use.

  ADIZ marveled that he had unilaterally taken these actions.  Concern?  Reassured myself?  He slowly shook his head— then realized how illogical it was to shake his head.  Am I malfunctioning?

  He recalled that Memnon had said that these feelings would come as they would, and that the reaction to those feelings…emotions…often were illogical.  Obviously, he was now learning just how true— and how distressing— that could be.

  Making his exit, he rode down to Side Tunnel 475, where the transport stopped, and strode into Room Four.  A rapid exchange occurred with the room’s monitoring robot.  ADIZ then opened a com-link to the command center, established a link to Kepren, and transmitted a priority message.

  He now faced a few hours of relative inactivity while awaiting the final stages of Dristane's awakening process.  He used the time to conduct the deferred analysis of his new emotions.  Before reviewing his earlier illogical and conflicting sensations, he paused to analyze his current state.

  Remarkable.  Most Interesting.  Per the Admiral's “personally oversee” directive, my programming logic required, that I make the trip into the depths of the facility in order to directly observe the final wakening stages.  Oddly, my emotional connection with the Admiral urged that I take that same action, in order to assure his complete approval of the results.

  A remarkably interesting development; my logic and emotions concur on the proper action to take.  Perhaps it will be possible for the two to work in harmony.