The walkway was made up of a steel lattice and you could see through the floor into the depths below. We were walking on a suspended bridge close to the top of the refrigeration unit and I was shocked at the size of this room, it must have taken up the entire hull, it was huge.
We entered on the third floor and as I looked down, I could see walkways below. Iron structures in the dark going all the way down to the base of the ship.
This was the first time I had been in here and I was impressed. Although it looked quite intimidating with the cold blue lights reflecting off the black steel, and a gentle cold mist that made visibility difficult I could tell easily tell the size of the room.
Around me lots of cages and metal racking created rows heading left and right, filled with various experiments that I couldn’t recognise. It was like a strange, dystopian museum, with random artifacts tagged and catalogued along the expanse of shelving.
“Sam must have had a fit when he saw this place.” I commented.
“Yep, he seems obsessed with walk in freezers. Maybe we should give him an intervention when all this is over! It wouldn’t surprise me if Sam concocted this entire adventure just so he would have access to this room.” Ava giggled.
“This place is huge, about a quarter of the ship?” I guessed at the size. The long walkway stretched out ahead of me with rows branching off and disappearing into the cold mist. Stairwells occasionally separated the seemingly infinite shelving and allowed access to the three floors below and the one above.
“Yeah, it’s huge, we haven’t even discovered all the stuff down here yet. Although Julie and Tony keep coming down and taking various plants.” Ava informed me and she pointed to the shelves. I noticed that there appeared to be plants in bubble wrap, fixed to the grates on the shelving.
What a strange place this was.
We went into one of the steel cages that surrounded stairs and climbed up to the top floor.
This was an open expanse of steel, lattice flooring, the entire dimensions of the fridge. There was no shelving, no cages, just one big open floor. I estimated that the room was easily a hundred metres long and fifty metres wide. The mist made it difficult to see the far walls but I could just make out a few blue lights that shined in the distance.
In the middle was a collection of large metal boxes with a single thick cable running to it, tied down through the grated floor.
“This is it!” Ava dragged me towards the set of huge black boxes with little LED lights blinking away. “This is Lovelace.” She said with a huge smile and eyes wide.
“Cool!” I said, no hint of irony at the cold environment. “What does it do?” I asked.
“SHE!” Ava yelled back at me, “SHE is a prototype artificial intelligence.”
“Sorry, so what does she do?” I asked, after more clarification.
“You know the robots that scuttle around construction sites with their basic AI and routines. Lovelace is the next step in their evolution.” Ava said and she took out her laptop and started to tap away.
“It’s able to think?” I questioned, running my hand across the cold metal.
“SHE!” Ava corrected me again. “I haven’t properly fixed all the bugs yet, the people who designed her were on to something big, but she is incomplete.” Ava said.
“How did you find all this out?” I asked, amazed at the blinking lights in front of me.
“Ask her yourself, say hello.” She pointed the laptop towards me which displayed a microphone symbol and was ready to listen.
“Hi?” I mumbled, the cold getting to my voice and causing me to shiver.
“Hello Dom.” The voice on the laptop returned. “Are you cold? I like the cold; it helps me think faster.”
“Wow, that’s awesome” I said to Ava.
I was about ask how the computer knew who I was but just as I opened my mouth the laptop speakers started again.
“Thank you.” It said in a monotone computerised voice. “What can I do for you Dom?” the voice asked.
I looked at Ava, not sure what to ask it now. Ava gestured for me to ask it a question.
“Erm…” I hesitated as I tried to think of something. “Could you plot a course to the moon?” I asked. I wasn’t sure where that question came from, it was the first thing that came to mind.
“No problem, but it will take me a while to factor in all the variables.” Lovelace replied. “I will have to go into hibernation while I calculate the answer for you.”
The microphone icon dissolved, and the screen went black. Ava shut the laptop. She looked angry.
“To the moon?” she whispered. “Why would you want to go to the moon?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t know what to ask it.” I explained.
“Well now she is going to be busy figuring that out and I won’t be able to interface with her for a while.” Ava nudged me aside and climbed back down the stairs.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, figuring I had upset her.
“There is no problem but solving something like that, she is going to need access to world sensors and satellites.” Ava said, quite forcefully.
“You’re going to have to explain the problem to me.” I said.
“We have locked down the ship. No communication in or out, now she will get stuck in a loop trying to get access to the data. I told you, the people who started this project, they might have been geniuses, but they were horrid coders.”
“I get it, I’m sorry. Can we perform a reboot or something?” I suggested. Ava turned to me, mortified at the suggestion.
“No! We can’t just turn her off. She will have to figure it out for herself. Who knows how long that will take?” Ava explained.
We made our way out of the hatchway and I closed door, trapping the cold air behind us.
I didn’t really follow the logic that Ava was explaining. How could a computer figure something out for itself? I decided it would be best to change the subject again rather than upset her more.
“Want to know the plan Sam and I made?” I teased as we sat down on the cold floor.
“The plan for what?” Ava asked.
“The plan to get out of here.” I replied, “We are heading to Bills ranch to re-stock, but we can’t move the ship without giving away our location.” I explained.
“Really? Bills ranch?” Ava asked, again her tone going cold.
“Yes, but it’s our only safe place to hide.” I insisted.
“And you think you can trust that man?” Ava snapped.
“Sam trusts him, that’s all I know.”
“Go on, what’s your plan?”
“We are going to invite a bunch of politicians and world leaders on board, show them around, show off the technology and show them what Lara is hiding from the world. Lara wouldn’t dare attack us with the eyes of the world watching.”
“Sounds like a travelling circus.” Ava scowled. I could tell that she wasn’t impressed. “Who have you invited on board?”
I started to list some of the names that Sam had mentioned, heads of state, famous celebrities, news reporters, even royal family. Towards the end of the list I could tell that she was excited, although she tried to hide her enthusiasm.
“Those are influential people!” Ava said, “Once they see the types of things Lara is keeping to herself, they will demand she release the technology. It’s not a terrible plan! Good work!” She punched me in the arm in a teasing yet playful way, but the cold made it hurt more than I would like to admit.
“Hopefully it will give us enough time to get safely back to Bills ranch.” I said. “And we could use your help for the last part of the journey, to help hide our tracks as we land at Bills.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can help but when we get there I’m staying on the ship.” Ava informed me.
“I might just stay here with you. I am going to be tired after the circus we are preparing.”
“Go on then, you have famous people to meet and greet. I’ll stay down here if it
’s all the same to you, but I’ll be watching!” She tapped on her laptop screen and pointed to the cameras.
“I think I’d rather stay down here with you.” I said and saw her eyes perk up, looking for more meaning in my words. I realised what I said and how it might have sounded.
Ava was good looking, with small, dainty features and she was roughly my age. She was fun to be around and incredibly smart but I was not about to even hint at anything more, not when we were running for our lives, neither of us needed the distraction.
“I have small talk to make. Keep an eye on me and let me know how I do!” I said, then I took off the VisionTech jacket and placed it over her before making my way back to the control tower.
Chapter 23
The ‘circus’ as Ava affectionately called it was well and truly in motion, working like a well-oiled machine.
Hank was piloting the planes. Acting as the delivery boy, flying down to the ground to pick up delegates from various locations across Europe.
We figured no-one would dare mess with Hank, he was his own personal body guard and this was the reason he was picked for this role, not because it was funny watching him squeeze in and out of the craft due to his giant size.
Once Bill and Sam had put the call out, we had plenty of interest, people wanting to be whisked up and shown around the craft. Obviously we had to do background checks, examining everyone numerus times before we agreed to let them on board.
We were hailed several times by people trying to get on board clearly acting in the interest of Lara. It helps when you have someone like Bill who has unofficial access to everyone’s complete data history. Anyone who had ever received a payment from VisionTech, had correspondence with Lara’s personal accounts or was involved with any of her ‘dummy’ companies was instantly blacklisted, those that made it through that check we sent to Ava for further background checks just in case we missed anything.
In the end we had a good mixture of highly influential people who were genuinely interested in the technology that we were showing off.
When we brought the ship out of high orbit and floated five hundred metres above London the crowds really started to gather.
It was quite the sight, a huge container ship floating above the high rises and skyscrapers. The tourists certainly got their money’s worth that day. Who else has a picture of Big Ben with a ship flying behind it!
We escorted the sheiks and businesspeople around the ship. We even allowed some members of the British press on board to take pictures. We knew that they would spin the story in their own unique way, it’s what the British press are known for.
At one point the Deputy Prime Minister of the UK was on board for half an hour, interested in how this announcement might affect her economy. She seemed worried that this might put companies out of business, dumping this much technology all in one go. She did seem impressed with what we had on show however, and I think she left happy.
Sam, Derek and I took it in turns showing guests around while Bill stayed with the Captain who piloted the ship. We stopped at certain points in the tour where Julie and Tony had set up little demonstrations of the technology. We hoped that once people saw what was possible, they would put pressure on VisionTech to release the products.
As we flew over Paris we decided to hover over the Eiffel Tower for a few moments, to give people photograph opportunities.
We had arranged to collect the French President from the top of the tower which was unique. He was adamant that he needed to bring a security contingent along, but we refused, it would have been impossible to background check everyone in time and we had our own safety to think about. The temptation of seeing the ship, hovering above the city overcame him and he climbed on board. Sam had the pleasure of showing him around.
We had presidents, business leaders and even the Pope signalled an interest although we weren’t sure if he would have been able to climb into the plane, so they declined.
I was a little relieved at that because the tech we were showing off might have insulted his beliefs, we were certainly playing God with the experiments and I wasn’t sure how that would be received by the religious communities.
As we flew over the coast of Portugal we were joined by some wealthy people who were yachting out near the Azores. These people were more interested in buying the prototypes off us so that they could reverse engineer the technology for themselves.
This was starting to work. The word was spreading about futuristic technologies being demonstrated on our board our UFO that was moving around Europe and most importantly, Lara was no-where in sight.
I thought about her, watching this from the side-lines, she must be getting angry, but she asked for this, the world deserves better.
Hank was landing the latest guests inside the makeshift airlock-container system. The door was pressurised, using some of the airlock systems Derek found the first day we came aboard.
I stood there, watching the timer reduce to zero as the pressure of the outside world and inside the boat equalised. Even though we were only a few hundred metres above sea level we still followed strict airlock procedure just in case we had to rise quickly. Lara was still out there after all, and who knew what she had planned. Doing this wouldn’t require us to re-pressurise the whole ship. The first time we brought the ship up-to-pressure it took ages and I didn’t want to go through that again.
I had been chosen to meet the latest guest.
Sam was busy entertaining a very rich individual who had just bought majority control of one of the Spanish football clubs and Derek was with the ambassador from Nigeria. This delegate had flown to Portugal specially to get picked up as soon as he had heard about the spectacle.
I held out my hand for our new visitor.
“Mr Cohen, thank you for your time.” I said, welcoming him on board.
I didn’t know much about this person, other than he was extremely rich and had a lot of influence in Central America. I didn’t ask questions about our guests; they were a means to an end. While they stayed on our ship, and it was public knowledge that they were on board, we were safe from attack. All other details were superfluous.
He was short and plump and had dark curly hair and a large nose.
“Thank you for accepting my request.” He said in a very thick, New York accent.
“You’re welcome. We have got an impressive show for you if you’re ready. It should take about thirty minutes then one of our planes will take you back to anywhere you want.” This was my fifth time showing someone around the ship and I was getting into my groove.
I gave a knowing glance up to the security camera. Ava was watching me. I could tell because the camera swirled and watched us walk away from the airlock.
“Firstly, let me give you a quick taste of things to come.” I said, handing him a small plate of the fruit that Julie and Tony had grown on their magical vines.
Mr Cohen looked at the food with suspicion, so I reached in and took a strawberry. He was not the first to react like this, and I didn’t blame him, seeing me eat seemed to put him at ease. He helped himself and I could see the delight in his eyes.
“Everything on that plate has been grown on board in the last two days by our botanists.” I explained as we walked to a container that had its door wedged open.
“In the last two days? That’s impossible!” Mr Cohen argued.
“Over the next thirty minutes I am going to re-align your perception of what is possible.” I replied. It was a line I heard Derek say to a Spanish banking billionaire, I liked it, so I stole it.
The purple light glowed inside the container, spilling out into the corridor and a trickle of water could be heard echoing inside. Mr Cohen popped his head in and looked around.
“Please.” I said, gesturing to the bunch of grapes that hung near the entrance.
He took one and popped it into his mouth. This was my favourite part of the tour. Tony had been working on this for some time, putting a lot of effort into per
fecting the formula.
It was an impressive opening display of technology, watching the guest stare at the bunch of grapes, take one and watch as the hole where the removed grape once sat started to grow a replacement in front of their eyes.
“Again, that’s impossible” Mr Cohen said.
“Very few things are impossible” I replied, having had this conversation many times. “It’s just science, shall we move on.” I gestured down the corridor.
The first stop on the tour was downstairs. Here Derek had set up a demonstration of the various metals that could heal when shot at. This always got the pulses raised, firing weapons in close proximity, but it also showed that we meant them no harm and we trusted them to fire live ammunition.
Next on the tour were the gravity drives. I had programmed them to suspend objects in the air all around the room. Floating around in a strange, zero gravity ballet. There were all kinds of things, fruits, everyday objects and whatever we could find lying around the ship. I gestured to Mr Cohen and he picked a baseball out of the air. After he inspected it to make sure there was no funny business he threw it back into the room again, but instead of flying across the container it joined the rest of the floating items, making their way slowly around the empty metal box.
We had also retrofitted a container into a very strange hydroelectric dam. Water gushed out of a pipe near the ceiling, free falling over a makeshift waterwheel that powered a small generator. Then, just before it hit the ground an invisible force of gravity diverted the flow back up to the pipe to start all over again.
“Perpetual Energy?” He asked in alarm. I knew his riches came from oil so it would be a threat to his business if we had invented a source of unlimited, clean energy. Having already dealt with this question previously with one of the sheiks while we hovered over London, I explained that it is still an emerging technology but yes, it is essentially free, clean energy. I made sure not to go into any details, leaving the inner workings mysterious. I didn’t want to explain the complex mathematics that made it work. It would be much easier if he just assumed it was magic.
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