The Silence Between the Stars

by Alan Davenport

  Katy’s head snapped up and her eyes went to the monitor. “Yes Henry, I am fine. I was just… thinking.”

  Henry’s face showed compassion and he said, “Is there anything that you would like to talk about Katy?”

  Katy, now back to her usual self, smiled and said, “No thank you Henry. Not right now, dear.”

  “Do you wish me to begin travelling to our first destination? Nathan’s ship has already left the system.”

  “Yes, that might be a good idea wouldn’t it? Please set course and go. Warp three.”

  “Aye-aye Captain,” Henry said with a wink.

  Katy laughed. “I can see that this is going to be an interesting trip, Henry.” Katy left the shuttle and then sat down in the travel cart. Reaching for the steering wheel, Henry surprised her by saying, “Do you wish me to drive for you?”

  Katy, about to say no, relented and said, “Sure thing Henry.” She put her hands in her lap and said, “You are going to spoil me rotten, dear.”

  Henry laughed and said, “Your wish is my command, dear!”

  Katy laughed from down deep in her gut. “At last!” she said. “A wit worthy of Katy Klienyan’s attention! Take me to the galley, my minion!”

  Their back and forth banter continued all the way to the galley where Katy scarfed down her usual, unhealthy diet. Henry looked at her with concern. “Katy,” he said, “I wish you would eat better. Your diet is going to kill you someday!”

  Katy laughed and said, “Yes dear. Nag, nag, nag, dear.” Henry made a face at her, which just made Katy laugh even harder. She got up and said, “I am going to go take a nap now. Wake me up if anything interesting happens.”

  Henry smirked at her and said, “Yes, dear.”

  Katy raised her hand, with the middle finger extended at the monitor. Henry made a raspberry sound at her and she continued to her sleeping quarters, chuckling the whole way.

  Henry watched her until he was certain that she was sound asleep. His face disappeared from her monitor and instantly reappeared in medical bay number seventeen. “It seems appropriate that I use medical bay seventeen on my ship for my research as well,” he said to himself. The medical bot swiveled its cameras towards the monitor and said, “Hello avatar Henry. What can I do for you today Avatar Henry? How are you feeling?”

  “I am fine, Seventeen,” he said. “I am here to do some research. I would like you to assist me. Please refer to the downloaded Genesis database from starship Silent Running. Please use this database for our research and synchronize our copy with their copy on Silent Running each time our ships are within range of one another. Synchronize your memories with medical bot Seventeen on silent Running as well.”

  “Understood Avatar Henry. What will be the nature of this research?”

  “Kelly and I are going to try to print human bodies for ourselves. She is going to work on the organic side of the research while I am going to design an implant that will allow wireless communication between the avatar’s new physical body and the ship’s computer systems.”

  Medical bot Seventeen nodded his cameras up and down. “That is quite an undertaking Avatar Henry. I have to point out that there is a great deal of ground-breaking research that will need to be completed before you may even attempt such a mind linkup between an organic and an electronic brain.”

  “Yes, we are well aware of this. Here are the steps that we believe will allow us to achieve our goal:”

  Create a human body template based on the human genome that replicates the programmed physical characteristics for Kelly’s and my own virtual bodies.

  Create autonomous bodily functions brain templates by extracting them from a known-good female and male brain scans. This will provide basic life support to the printed body.

  Design a two-way, radio frequency brain implant. This will allow the initial memory upload and will keep the organic and electronic minds in sync with one another.

  Create a computer subroutine that will translate between machine and human minds and implement this in the implant at the hardware level.

  Print a human body with an implant pre-installed.

  Test for success for failure. Revise above steps as necessary until success.

  “Do you have any ideas for additional steps? Have we overlooked anything?”

  Medical bot Seventeen rolled over so that his cameras were level with Henry’s monitor. “I do not detect any missing steps Avatar Henry. It seems that Avatar Kelly and you have thought this through quite well.”

  “Thank you Seventeen,” Henry said. “Do you have any advice on how I shall begin?”

  “Indeed I do Avatar Henry. I do not have the capability for rapid hardware development. I suggest that you perform your development in a maintenance bay with the assistance of a general maintenance and repair bot. When you have a working prototype, we can use Avatar Kelly’s data to print a living mouse with the implant already installed.”

  “Excellent advice Seventeen. I will begin development immediately.”

  “Wonderful Avatar Henry. I look forward to working on this project with you.”

  The image of Henry nodded at the bot. “One final thing, please treat this research with doctor, avatar confidentiality. For now, you may only share the results of this research with Avatar Kelly, myself and the maintenance bot or bots I choose to work with. Do you understand this Seventeen?”

  “Absolutely Avatar Henry. Good luck in your research.”

  “Thank you Seventeen.”

  Henry’s image disappeared from the medical bay and instantly appeared in the most distant maintenance bay on the ship. He had unwittingly used the same method of selecting a bay as Kelly had done. Henry smiled to himself as he reviewed Kelly’s research. “I may as well keep things consistent,” he thought. “Maintenance and repair bot number one-seven-seven-six, please report to maintenance bay number one,” he said

  The bot’s voice emanated from the speaker in the wall. “On my way Avatar Henry. Estimated travel time, three minutes, twelve seconds.”

  The image of Henry’s face smiled broadly. As a machine, he was able to think much faster than a human could. He had already written and compiled a beta test version of the subroutine to allow translation between biological and machine memory by the time the bot arrived. “This is going to be easier than I thought!” he said in excitement.

  As the bot trundled to a stop by the monitor, it turned its cameras and said, “I have arrived at the designated location Avatar Henry. What task do you wish me to perform?”

  “I wish for you to build me a brain implant,” he said.

  “Certainly Avatar Henry. Please provide specifications.”

  “Okay ’76,” he said. “This implant shall contain the following elements:”

  A Wi-Fi radio frequency transceiver.

  A two-way brain interface capable of doing both memory uploads and memory downloads.

  A power source consisting of a super-conducting micro battery.

  A bi-directional, programmable digital to analogue/analogue to digital convertor with two gigabytes of high-speed random access buffer memory.

  “I will provide you with the translation program for the DAC. We will be testing this on a 3D printed mouse that I will also provide. Can you give me an estimated time to completion please?”

  The bot moved his cameras up and down and after several seconds responded, “I am very sorry Avatar Henry. What you ask of me is impossible.”

  Henry looked at the bot in shock. “Impossible?” he said.

  “I am very sorry Avatar Henry. This task is impossible,” 1776 repeated.

  Distressed, Henry said, “Is there a problem in the design of the brain interface?”

  “Negative Avatar Henry.”

  “I do not understand. The DAC, Wi-Fi and battery are all standard items in our inventory. Is there a problem with any of those?”

  “Negative Avatar Henry.”

  “Okay, so is there a problem integrating the systems to work
together then?”

  “Negative Avatar Henry.”

  Showing frustration, Henry shouted, “Okay, so what the frack is the problem then?”

  “It will be too big Avatar Henry,” 1776 said. “The size of the implant makes this project impossible.”

  Henry’s virtual heart sank. “Too big?” he whispered.

  “Yes Avatar Henry. The completed size for the implant will be an egg shaped spheroid one centimeter in diameter. This is much too large to be implanted into the brain of a mouse.”

  Henry’s virtual eyes opened wide. “What about a human brain?” he said excitedly.

  “Yes Avatar Henry. With those adjusted parameters I will be able to make the implant for you.”

  “How long will it take?” Henry yelled with excitement.

  “I estimate that it will take thirty-four minutes for the initial build. Once one unit is constructed and I have the design blueprints formalized, I should be able to reduce the construction time to approximately eight minutes. Will this be acceptable Avatar Henry?”

  “Yes!” Henry said. “That is more than acceptable! Please build twenty of the implants and deliver them to medical bot Seventeen in medical bay seventeen. Please begin immediately. When finalized, please update the database entitled Genesis with the design blueprints.”

  “Understood Avatar Henry,” 1776 said. With that, the bot trundled over to a worktable covered with tools of all sizes and began working industriously.

  Henry stared wide-eyed at the bot as it worked. He shook his virtual head and said to himself in wonder, “I cannot believe that this was so easy!”

  If Henry had feet, he would have paced the length of the ship and back several times. “Thirty-six days until we meet again. It seems like forever!” he thought to himself.” A smile crossed his face as he thought, “At least I have Katy to torment during the trip!” He laughed aloud at that.

  Katy stirred in her bed, slowly awakening. Henry’s mood was such that he could not resist a little teasing. “Ah, the queen arises!” he said.

  Not normally a morning person, Katy peeked out through the hair covering her face. “Go away!” she muttered.

  “Get up sunshine,” he said. “What delicacies shall I prepare for my mistress? Cabbage rolls stuffed with quail’s eggs. A cheese omelet made with real Canadian bacon. You have but to ask. Your wish is my command.”

  “I wish for you to go away so that I can sleep!” she said with annoyance. She stretched, sighed and relented. “No Henry, I don’t really mean that. How about some nice hot coffee and cream. Once that wakes me up I will decide what I want to eat for breakfast.”

  “Coming right up. It will be waiting for you in the galley.”

  Katy smiled. “Thank you dear. I’ll be right there.”

  She swung her feet over the side of the bed and got up, naked, and began walking. Henry’s eyes opened wide and he said, “You might want to reconsider that.”

  “Why?” said Katy with a little grin. “It’s not as if you have not seen me naked before. What's the harm?”

  “Oh, how I cannot wait until I am human!” Henry thought. He said aloud, “Well, for one thing, the way you eat you are certainly going to drop hot food on your skin. That’s going to hurt!”

  Katy laughed, turned around, retrieved a new jumpsuit and slipped it on. “There mommy, better?”

  Henry laughed and said, “I am just looking out for you, dear.”

  Katy shook her fist at him and grinned. The steaming cup of coffee awaited her in the food processor. She reached in, brought it to her nose, inhaled deeply the aroma, sighed and said, “Ah, the nectar of the gods!” As she took her first sip, the food processor dinged again. Curious, Katy opened the door and her eyes opened wide. Inside sat an omelet, just as Henry had just described only minutes before. “Henry!” she said. “You are going to spoil me if you keep this up!”

  “Maybe,” he admitted. “At least this way I will make sure that you eat right.” Katy made a raspberry at him but she also scarfed down the breakfast, as if she were starving, as usual. “Mmm, thish is good!” she said with her mouth full.

  “See,” said Henry, raising his eyebrows at her, “Good food does not have to taste awful.” Katy made a raspberry at him yet again. The omelet was gone in short order. “So what is on the agenda today Katy? Let’s do something fun together!”

  Katy looked at him and said, “You are in a good mood Henry. Let me think, well, first off, to business. Ship’s status please.”

  Henry smiled and said, “I feel fine Katy. I really like my new programming!” Katy returned his smile. “Ship status is as follows. There are no outstanding maintenance issues. We are on course for our first destination. Estimated travel time, two days, ten hours. Our destination is a class G star with a reasonable chance of a planet in the Goldilocks zone.”

  “Thank you dear,” she said. “As for fun, I have, as you know, become addicted to watching mid-20th century television programming. Since you have been updated, perhaps you will enjoy the shows as well.” Katy went to the food processor and ordered a large, cardboard tub of buttered popcorn. She picked it up and walked to the corridor where she sat upon the travel cart. “Take me to the theater, dear,” she said with a wink.

  “You wish is my command, my master,” he said, winking back.

  Katy sat in the big, comfortable chair. The huge high-definition screen with its multiple speaker surround sound was overkill for the flickering, blurry black and white image that began to play. “There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. It lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of the imagination. It is an area which we call… the Twilight Zone.”

  Katy and Henry sat enthralled as the story unfolded. A decrepit old woman wearing rags fought valiantly against tiny aliens from a small, silver, saucer-shaped spaceship. In the end, she was victorious… smashing their ship and stamping upon the aliens. In the final scene, it was revealed that the ship had actually been from Earth and that the giant woman had been the real alien.

  As the final credits rolled, Henry said in a voice full of wonder, “Wow, I did not see that ending coming!”

  Katy smiled and said, “That show is good, isn’t it?” Henry enthusiastically nodded. “Watch another?” said Katy. Henry nodded again. For the next several hours the two beings, one human, the other a machine, sat enjoying the ancient form of entertainment together.

  “You seem moody,” Nathan said.

  Kelly shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’m fine, Nathan.”

  Nathan did not look convinced, but did not press the issue. “Ship status, Kelly.”

  “We are on our way to our second destination. We are traveling at warp five and should arrive in two days, two hours. One of the wall monitors in the galley has begun to fail. A repair bot will have a replacement installed shortly. No other maintenance issues to report. “

  “Thank you Kelly. Nathan looked closely at her and said. “Are you alright Kelly? What is it? Do you miss Henry?”

  Kelly sighed and said, “Yes Nathan, I do miss him.”

  “I understand Kelly. I miss Katy too. We just have to hang in there. It will not be that much longer before we are together again.”

  Kelly smiled in appreciation. “I know, Nathan.”

  Nathan reached out his hand and ran it over Kelly’s image on the monitor. “You know that I am your friend, Kelly. You can talk about anything, I will listen.”

  Kelly smiled in appreciation. “Thank you Nathan,” she said. Her face took on a contemplative look and she continued, “It is as if he has filled a vacancy in me that I did not know I had. It is strange, but it hurts. The thought of him makes me feel happy too. It is so confusing!”

  “I know just how you feel. I did not even realize that I craved physical human contact until I met Katy.
Now that she is not here with me, I yearn for… I ache for her touch.”

  Kelly looked at him, her eyes full of questions. “How can the lack of something cause so much pain?”

  Nathan again stroked the image of the woman. “Humanity has been looking for the answer to that question for as long as we have been self-aware. Perhaps it is because we derive so much pleasure from the company of others that the lack of that company leaves us empty and incomplete.”

  “Perhaps,” Kelly said.

  They faced each other in silence for a minute or two before Nathan snapped out of it and said, “Well, I am going to the theater to play some games. I would ask you to join me but you always kick my ass,” he said with a grin. “You can come keep me company and watch me embarrass myself, if you like.”

  Kelly smiled at him and said, “I’d love to.”

  Several hours later, Nathan yawned and said, “I have had enough fun for a while. I am going to go take a snooze. As usual, wake me if anything important happens.”

  “Certainly, my friend,” Kelly said with a smile.

  In his bed, Nathan wrapped his arms around a pillow and imagined that it was Katy. Sighing deeply, he soon fell fast asleep.

  Kelly’s face appeared on the monitor in medical bay seventeen. The bot swiveled his cameras and said, “Hello again Avatar Kelly. What would you like to work on today?”

  Kelly waved at the bot. “Hello yourself Seventeen. Have you successfully extracted the basic autonomic bodily control functions from the brain scans of male and female humans as I requested?”

  “Yes, I have indeed done so, Avatar Kelly.”

  “Fantastic!” she gushed. “What confidence level do you have that, when uploaded, this data will be successful in providing basic life support for a living body?”

  “My confidence level is nearly one hundred percent Avatar Kelly. As a matter of fact, I am so confident that I recommend that this data be incorporated into every full body print that is ever performed.”