The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle

by John Thornton

  “No need,” Gretchen said. “I trust you.”

  They walked over to the hatchway, and Brink leaned into the ship. Brink stated: “AI Tiffany, this is Paul and Gretchen. The three of you will be finding the Vanguard.”

  “Greetings Paul and Gretchen. I am excited to be of service in this adventure.” Tiffany’s voice was slightly mechanical, but a sweet and pleasant alto.

  “Hi Tiffany,” Paul relied.

  “Great to be working with you, Tiffany,” Gretchen said.

  “Tiffany, please explain to these pilots what they need to do to operate this ship,” Brink said.

  “The main systems are all primarily voice activated with manual back-up controls. Just speak my name and give me an instruction. It will be done,” Tiffany stated. “I will also be monitoring your life signs and administering treatments in zero gravity as needed. I am designed to be submissive to your instructions, up to a point. If I feel one or either of you are compromised, I will initiative interventions to succeed in this mission. Together, we will place a teleportation receiving pad in a suitable and habitable spot inside the Colony Ship Vanguard. Success of this mission is the priority. The three of us will work together to maximize our potential for success.”

  Brink leaned on the side of the scout ship. He rubbed his temple a bit and said, “Your FTL flight time to find the Vanguard will be just over nine hours. First, the sling will launch you into orbit. Second, you will maneuver to safe engagement range. Third, the FTL system will initiate and you will be taken out of normal space. Forth, the FTL will disengage and you will be one hundred meters off of the target beacon. There are no inertia concerns when the FTL systems are disengaged. You can then use thrusters to find an entry point into the Vanguard.”

  When he spoke, Brink looked calm and relaxed, as if this was just a routine operation. “I have instructed Tiffany to have your scout ship drop from FTL at your destination. It is one hundred meters outside of the target beacon. That should allow you to assess clearly where you, and evaluate the situation. The probes have given us the locations, but not all the details. Be cautious about where you attach to that colony ship. An airlock would be ideal, but not absolutely essential. Tiffany can help you with attachments. You will be encountering the Vanguard, and what little is known of that ship has been fed to the artificial intelligence in your craft.”

  “Yes, Brink. I have amassed all the information in our records on the Colony Ship Vanguard,” Tiffany stated. “I have made some conjectures and estimations on what we will find.”

  “Excellent!” Gretchen stated. “Can we board the ship now?”

  “Paul and Gretchen, the controls for the teleportation system and the necessary set up equipment are already stored. The supplies Willie gave you have also been loaded. The mass which you and the ship have are under the limits demanded by faster-than-light travel. It is now time to get into the FTL ship and depart. Sling launch will be in eight minutes,” Brink said in matter of fact manner.

  The FTL scout ship, which had been spun from liquefied permalloy, was roughly cone shaped. The cabin held two pilot seats which were visible under the third of the cone that consisted of clear permalloy. This clear permalloy was as tough as the rest of the craft. Permalloy could be fashioned into whatever shape was desired, and could be made transparent. It was the strongest substance humanity had ever created, and was extremely light weight compared to other metals or alloys. The FTL scout ship, like so much around Dome 17 seemed to have a dull tan cast to it. Paul wondered if that was his imagination, or was from the dust which seemed ubiquitous. ‘Did it taint everything? Did it somehow seep into Dome 17 as well?’ he often wondered.

  The sling bay technicians, directed by Brink, were finalizing everything for the third launch. Thruster fuel was pumped into the rear storage tanks. The magnetic sling anchors were calibrated. The seals and integrity of the outer surface of the ship was examined yet again by the AIs. Everything was triple checked and passed inspection.

  Paul and Gretchen climbed into the FTL scout ship. They entered one person at a time, then turned about and got settled into the pilot seats.

  “Hatchway is sealed,” Tiffany announced. “Launch in four minutes.”

  Looking out they saw the Committee members departing the launch bay for an observation area which was behind clear permalloy. The scout ship was resting on the magnetic track which it would follow to the ejection tube. The ship gently moved along until it reached that ejection tube, and the last sight Paul saw while looking out was Brink standing behind the control station. His face had a determined look to it. Paul waved but did not see a response from Brink.

  The FTL ship fit very snugly into the ejection tube. The gravatronic apparatus which was part of the gravity manipulation technology encircled the ship, providing a friction free interface between the scout ship and the ejection tube. There was a slight sound as the magnetic anchors held then in place now.

  “Sling launch in thirty seconds,” Tiffany announced. “Brink reports all systems in excellent condition. Do you care for some launch music? I have a wide range of recordings to choose from.”

  Paul grabbed Gretchen’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked at her, and she smiled a brilliant smile at him. She said, “We about to go away together! Thank you Paul for being my partner in this.”

  “You have never looked more beautiful,” Paul said without understanding why he said it.

  “Music selection made,” Tiffany announced. “Fragmentary portion from the South Dakota Symphony, soloist, DeYoung, circa 2015, pre-Great Event.”

  A soothing male voice came on, and there was music from numerous instruments in the background. It was an ancient melody, unfamiliar to Gretchen or Paul, sung in old style language.

  “I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea. I've got to be free, free to face the life, that's ahead of me…”

  “The magnetic sling anchors are calibrated. Trajectory confirmed. All systems optimal,” Tiffany reported. “Launch in five, four, three, two one.”

  9 Escape Velocity

  Paul expected some grand lurch or physical sensation, but instead he felt no different at all. Seeming to race past the clear permalloy was the sling ejection tube, as he and Gretchen, inside the FTL scout ship, were slung out of Dome 17. The technology protected them from the physical effects of the rapid acceleration.

  “Launch proceeding as planned,” Tiffany stated. “Gravity inhibition and inertia suppression working effectively. Ejection tube sterilization happening.”

  The view out of the clear permalloy was suddenly just tan blurs as the cleared the outside ejection portal of Dome 17. Behind them, barely in view of the pilots, was a burst of bright yellow flames.

  “That is a change! The heat is protecting the dome from contamination. We must have cleared the tube!” Gretchen said with an elated voice.

  “That is correct,” Tiffany replied. “We will be clearly the atmosphere momentarily.”

  The tan faded away quickly and there was a very bright yellow light which pierced the cabin.

  “Filters being put into place,” Tiffany announced. ‘The solar light is not damaging, but was more intense than I estimated. The atmosphere of Earth was thinner than our previous readings. Forgive me for not alerting you sooner. I will work harder to be more proactive.”

  “That was sunlight?” Gretchen said in awe.

  “Yes, our path caused us to momentarily be directly aimed at the sun. The filters will now allow you to observe without excessive glare.”

  The bright orb of the sun was a still yellow and very attractive to both Paul and Gretchen. Then they looked down at the tan mess of the planet. There was nothing but tan anywhere to be seen as they moved away from the planet and shifted away from looking directly at the sun.

  “Filters coming off. You will be able to see other stars. We are heading to the FTL engagement point. We will be there in two minutes,” Tiffany announced. “We are stabilizing velocity.”

>   The blackness of space impressive and as the filters departed a myriad of tiny points of light shined on that black background.

  “We have lost all gravity,” Gretchen stated. She was held down by the gentle straps on the pilot’s seat.

  “It feels sort of weird, but much as I imagined,” Paul replied. “The simulators at home showed me what this would be like. They were spot on accurate.”

  “There will be zero gravity for the duration of the FTL flight. Hopefully the Vanguard has gravity manipulation functioning onboard when we arrive. This is a very exciting time for me,” Tiffany stated. “I hope sharing my algorithmic emotions with you is not inappropriate?”

  “No, feel free to be yourself,” Paul said. “And thank you for the music.” He wondered how many emotions an AI could really have, but Cunda has shown a lot of basic emotions, and Tiffany was the latest and best AI ever made.

  “We have reached engagement point for FTL travel. All systems operating within expected parameters. Unless there is an objection, flight will be continued.”

  “It is all up to you, Tiffany,” Gretchen said. “I am enjoying the view!”

  “Excellent,” the AI Tiffany replied. “Faster-than-light mode will be engaged in five, four, three, two, one.”

  The view out the clear permalloy altered to grey nothingness.

  10 Faster-than-light transit

  Gretchen and Paul looked out at the strange grey nothingness beyond the clear permalloy. “That is an odd view,” Gretchen said. “We went from Dome 17, to a tan swirling mess, to those fantastic looking stars and a sun, now to this grayness. All in such a short span of time.”

  “I am not able to see it as you do, Gretchen. Will you describe it for me?” Tiffany the artificial intelligence stated.

  “You mean my biological eyes are better than your sensors?” Gretchen chuckled.

  “Better is a subjective term. I would say they are different and complimentary. Nonetheless, I would enjoy hearing you describe what you see with how my sensors are reading what is, or in our case, is not outside of our FTL scout ship,” Tiffany responded.

  “Well, Tiffany, your statement makes me wonder,” Gretchen stated. “However, I will describe what I see. The general color is grey. Outside it is light grey on the periphery of my vision, but when I look directly at any one area, that place seems to be a darker shade of grey. I have the feeling that there is depth, like looking though the dust outside Dome 17, but also, it seems flat and right against the clear permalloy. Looking out at it I get a strange feeling, since what I see seems to be mutually incompatible. Especially when I try to explain it. But that is what I see.”

  “Paul? What do you see?” Tiffany asked.

  “Like Gretchen said, it looks grey, mostly. But almost like there is some light source behind or within the grey stuff. There is a sort of illumination, like when Doctor Carolyn uses a scanner to peer inside the body. She focuses it on certain areas, but in getting to that spot, you have a sort of passage through the outer layers of skin and muscle. That is how the grayness outside looks to me. I get the feeling of passing through, but not in any specific direction. Just a parting of the grey, without seeing it actually part. Sorry if that is too generic for you,” Paul stated.

  “Thank you both very much,” Tiffany replied. “My sensors show we are outside of normal space-time, and I ‘visualize’ that as a mathematical formula and its corollaries. That is also how I perceive music. Music and mathematics have similar foundations. However, it is helpful to me, to hear what it looks like from your human eyes. Do you want me to display the mathematical formulas for our further discussion?”

  “No. But thank you anyway, Tiffany,” Paul replied. “I will leave those advanced mathematics to you, Copernicus, and Brink.”

  “Yes, Brink is brilliant in his creative mathematics and applied mathematics. Brink also has human intuition and surprising initiative which has opened wide areas of research with unanticipated findings,” Tiffany responded. “Copernicus is not as advanced an artificial intelligence system as I am, but has more worldly experiences. Are experiences measureable and quantifiable? Is older better? Or is more advanced better?”

  “We are going to a ship more than a hundred years old, and we have you. Old will meet new. Having you will be to our immense advantage. We will be gaining these experiences together. So, what do we know about the Colony Ship Vanguard?” Gretchen asked bringing the subject back from the philosophical to practical applications. “Before launch you stated you had correlated all relevant information.”

  “Indeed,” Tiffany said, “I have amassed all the information in our records on the Colony Ship Vanguard. I am sad to report that it is not complete, nor is it reliable. There are conflicting reports which cannot all be correct, so that casts doubt on the validity of the records. That is a common occurrence for those records which survived the Great Event. Have you ever considered that perhaps people were less precise in their record keeping prior to the Great Event and its subsequent tragedies? I have conjectured that on occasion while I was compiling the information for this mission.”

  “Well, inform us on what we do know about the Vanguard,” Paul said.

  Tiffany began to lecture, and three dimensional images appeared over where they were seated at intervals. “The robotic probe was still sending its signal when we entered FTL. The best verified facts come from a transmission from the Vanguard itself. They were 23% into its voyage of an estimated 165 years, when an incident, or series of incidents, occurred on the Vanguard. Here is the recording of that transmission.”

  A garbled and scratchy-sounding voice was heard. There was no video. “…to their own homes. The mutiny started with the assassination of the last captain. Separation from… still in order, but threat level is high. Haven’t received responses from bridge. Reporting, J. Baldwin, Pilot 3rd class.”

  Tiffany then continued. “Clearly that was a fragment from a larger transmission, the rest of which has been lost. Speculative conjectures have a low probability for accuracy. As can be heard, the language is more consistent with language circa 2070, than of language of our day today. The use of the anachronistic contraction, ‘haven’t’ shows it is not from our era. That term would have been rare in 2070 the assumed Vanguard’s launch date, and even more rare in the times around 2107 when the recording is presumed to have been made. That conjecture is assuming the ‘Restoration of Precise Language’ movement which was begun circa 2035 continued. The term ‘haven’t’ does not occur in modern language. The term belongs more to the corrupted language era of the mid twentieth to early twenty-first centuries. If you noticed, in the launch music which I selected, that soloist also used corruptions of language. Interestingly enough, in the first parts of the twenty-first century there were scholars called, ‘linguistic futurologists’ who claimed language was destined for shortening and words were fated to becoming more constricted. They considered the corruption of contractions a natural and unavoidable path for language. However, as history has shown, the evolution of language is much more flexible than that. Contractions such as that term ‘haven’t’ are only common in pre-Great Event records. However, it is remotely possible that Pilot Baldwin was a student of obscure and irregular language patterns. There is also a slight possibility that the word in question is actually a recording error, but that probability is low. No other known records of Pilot Baldwin exist outside of this audio file. Additionally, the term ‘haven’t’ does not appear in any other available records circa 2100-2125, and was certainly not used in Dome 17 outside of historical lessons.”

  “Yes, the language is antiquated. Will be find that on the Vanguard? What more do we know about the Vanguard?” Paul asked.

  “Language evolution, corruption, and restoration are problematic to conjecture. Colony Ship Vanguard can safely be assumed to have a closed and isolated language system, since there is little chance for them to have been in contact with Earth. However, records are incomplete and conflicting on the initial
language system used. It is assumed that Standard Language was spoken circa 2070, and that seems to be confirmed by Pilot Baldwin’s recording,” The AI Tiffany related. “Colony Ship Vanguard is assumed to have been the first ship launched because of its designation as CS1 in some records. This cannot be confirmed, but will be used for standardization. There is a short video record, probably a news source, which gives the launch date as Monday, May 19, 2070.”

  The three dimensional display altered to a flat film presentation. It showed a woman with strange clothing including dysfunctional footwear, artificial colors on her face, and ornamentation, who spoke briefly. “From outer space news, the Colony Ship Vanguard launched this morning on its controversial journey to another world.” There was a date stamp at the bottom of the recording which showed 19 May, 70.

  Tiffany continued, “That is the only specific date for any of the Colony Ships in our records. Of the seven colony ships, CS1 Vanguard was traveling to the closest star system with an Earth equivalent planet. The estimated journey would take 165 years. The target solar system was named Westerhuis Nine, which has six known planets. Colony world was the second of the planets and was dubbed, Projima.”