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

by John Thornton

  The automacube pulled out the cable and rolled into the room with the bodies. Paul pressed the ‘Halt’ button on its display. The first body was the one which had its face visible to the window. It was wearing a jumpsuit of dark green, and some kind of boots. Paul could not tell if it had been a male or a female. The door to the room did not shut, and Brinley and Gretchen sprinted up and got next to Paul.

  “No tools, packs, or weapons I can see,” Paul said. “No bloody spots or other body fluids spilled all around. It looks like this one just dropped over dead.” Paul kicked the body with his foot, and it moved a bit as the dried corpse under the coveralls crumbled.

  “So what about that one?” Gretchen asked.

  Brinley squatted by the next body, which was wearing a brown helmet of some kind of armored plastic, tan shirt, blue pants with black shoes. She pushed the body a bit and then gasped. “This one was never alive.”

  “What?” Paul and Gretchen said at the same time.

  Brinley finished rolling the body over. A normal looking face was there, with large expressive eyes, regular color, and a mouth that was slightly open. There was an almost submissive look about it.

  “I have seen that kind of face before,” Gretchen said. “It is like one of those androids we saw in that lab where Zoya and her mother were killed.”

  “Only this one is complete and dressed,” Brinley added. She stepped over it. She squatted down near the third body. Then she turned over the other body also. It too looked like a normal and healthy person and was wearing clothing very similar to the other android. “This is one too. Just a different face, but the same kind of look. If I did not know better, I would think they were real people just lying very still.”

  Paul grimaced. “It is creepy. The eyes look so real.”

  Brinley checked all the pockets and all the bodies for any other information, but could find nothing. She even stripped the two androids looking for answers, and while they were anatomically correct, almost perfect in appearance, she could find no controls, or exterior mechanical parts. From all outward appearances they were people.

  They continued to search the room. The papers littering the room were schematics and diagrams and mathematical formulas, but in such a jumbled order, it was impossible to tell which pages went with which. What prose there was on the papers varied in style and size and the contents told different things on different pages. None of the pages seemed to be the beginning of anything, but were apparently just randomly selected pages from the middle of texts. One was about some kind of air conditioning system, another was a story of a man riding some kind of an animal, and a third was a dialogue between three people who were asking questions of each other.

  “None of this makes any sense,” Gretchen dropped a sheet of paper she was reading. “Tiffany might be able to make sense of this, but none of these papers seems connected to the others. The pages are not even all the same size or shape.”

  “It is strange. Were these functional androids? They are not even stiff, the joints all move like a normal person, just without life. Why are they not working now? And why did that real person die?” Paul was flummoxed.

  Brinley pulled out a small tool which had a blade on it. “I have to be sure.” She sliced open the end of the finger of one of the androids. Inside there were mechanical parts, just as she suspected. “I wish I had one of these in Tennard’s workshop. There I could run all kinds of tests and figure out more about this. It is fascinating.”

  “Brinley, can you disassemble part of it? Maybe disarticulate a joint?” Gretchen asked. “Then you could bring that part with us for examination by Tiffany and by Tennard.”

  “I can try. The internal frame is made from permalloy, but I can sever it. It will be a rough cut, but would give me something to examine later,” Brinley replied. She pulled out a vibration saw and quickly sliced off the android’s left thumb. “I just about wanted to apologize when I did that, she… or do I say it… well it looks so real.”

  “Now that you have collected some specimen, can we depart?” Paul said. “These things are bizarre, and remind me too much…” Paul pressed the ‘Proceed’ button on the automacube before anyone could answer.

  “Squash, lead us on,” Gretchen said while Brinley put the thumb in her pack and stood up.

  The automacube rolled to the exit door, and jacked the cable into the access port.

  Suddenly the floor shook. The walls flashed in red lights. The door they had entered slammed shut with a resounding clang. Then the floor shook even more, and the three of them fell onto the bodies. They were unable to stand with all the shaking and trembling of the floor.

  The shaking stopped.

  “What is happening?” Paul asked.

  The floor split down the middle and dropped open. Everything slid downward and fell into the dark opening between the two halves of the floor.

  15 a jumbled mess

  Darkness engulfed Brinley, Paul, and Gretchen as they slid down out of the room whose floor had split open. They were on a steep chute which twisted in the darkness. The dead body crumbled into just a sack of dust made of clothing, while the androids fell like stones. The papers fluttered around and the furniture tumbled. The descent was uneven and twisting, but never a directly vertical fall. Bounced from side to side, the three people did their best to avoid being struck by other items as they slid.

  The automacube made a controlled descent down the steep and winding chute by extending its wheels and using its manipulation arm to remain stable as it slid. It never tumbled over, although it did totter on only a couple wheels on several turns.

  After what seemed a long time, the chute dumped everything out in a gentle arc onto the floor of a large room. As the last bits of junk came sliding off the chute, it retracted up into the ceiling and was gone.

  “How badly hurt you are?” Brinley asked as she pushed an android body off of her. She had been gripping it and using it as a shield against the other falling items.

  “I am relatively unhurt,” Gretchen replied. She was lying splayed out on her face. “I still have the backpack and pistol. What a mess? Paul? Paul?”

  “I am here too.” Paul stood as quickly as he could shaking off debris and some of the flaky and crumbled remains of the dead body. “Why did we fall?”

  “Paulie, the floor dropped out and gravity took over,” Brinley replied.

  As they pushed themselves free of the pile of junk, they looked around. The room was about ten meters tall and about triple that wide and long, with a ceiling that was covered in square illumination boxes. The place where the ceiling opened and the chute descended was undetectable. Had Paul not known it was up there he never would have suspected its presence. The walls of the room were smooth permalloy and the floor was littered with other piles of debris.

  The yellow automacube proceeded to move toward one wall.

  “Our wonderful guide is leaving,” Paul said. “Do we follow it or just let it go away?”

  “Paulie, we have to follow it, it has our map and the directions we need,” Brinley said.

  “I wonder,” Paul answered. “Maybe Klara did just make this all up. We seem to be getting nowhere. We have not contacted Tiffany. We have been dropped down here, and I see no way out of here. No doors, no halls, no stairs.”

  “Paul, it has been hard,” Gretchen answered. “But we are still together.”

  “The children did call that automacube Squash,” Brinley chuckled. “Seems like an appropriate name now. I thought it was named after the food, but maybe it means more?”

  “How can you be so cheerful?” Paul demanded. “We are trapped in this place. Who know when that chute will open up again and dump some junk on our heads.”

  “I am cheerful, because I chose to be. And because that automacube has a way out of here,” Brinley pointed.

  The yellow automacube had connected a cable into an access port and there was a square section of wall outlined in green light. A white colored number lit up on t
he wall, ‘1000’ and then it changed to ‘999’ and a moment later to ’998.’

  “So something is happening,” Gretchen said. “Maybe leading us here is part of the plan?”

  “A plan I have no say in. A plan that makes us fall down a chute like that! I am just getting….” Paul said but was interrupted by a change in the light of the room. The room lights were now flashing bright red and a warning siren was going off.

  “Incoming delivery. Incoming delivery.” A mechanical voice announced.

  A circular area on the ceiling lit up in red light as well.

  “Get up against the wall!” Brinley commanded. “I think a chute might be opening!”

  The numbers near the automacube continued to count down, ‘975’ to ‘974’ and so on.

  The red circle in the ceiling expanded and a chute did telescope out from the ceiling. It extended down to the floor and things began to tumble out of it. First were a few broken pieces of furniture. Next was some unrecognizable tattered debris. Then a frenzied squealing, shrieking, and growling came from the things dumping into the newest pile.

  “A seething autopsy brother!” screamed a voice as the materials scattered onto the floor.

  The Roe shook itself loose of the pile. The tagalong animals that had accompanied it scattered in all directions. This Roe was huge, nearly two meters high and very broad-chested. It was wearing only ragged pants and no shoes or shirt. Its hairy chest, arms, and bearded face were filthy. The orange eyes glowed with intense malice as it rushed at Paul who was nearest to it.

  Paul tried to pull out his handgun, but the Roe stuck him too quickly. He was knocked against the wall violently. The Roe then grabbed up a chunk of debris, what had been a chair, and tossed it with force and accuracy at Gretchen who was drawing her pistol. Gretchen ducked the chair, but had to dodge and jump to avoid it.

  “A seething autopsy brother!”

  Blam, blam.

  Brinley fired her weapon, but it was not at the Roe. Several vicious and obviously rabid animals were attacking her. They were black with white striped, about shin high, and ferocious. She was trying to retreat from them, and shoot at the same time as they leaped and bit and snarled at her.

  The yellow automacube stayed jacked into the wall. The numbers were counting down, ‘656’ then 654’ and so on.

  “A seething autopsy brother!” The huge Roe threw another object at Gretchen as she again aimed the pistol at it. She fired, but her aim was off as she once more ducked the flying debris the Roe was throwing.

  Piff.

  The projectile from Gretchen pistol tore a hole in the side of the chute as it was retracting back into the ceiling.

  “Malfunction. Malfunction. Malfunction.” The mechanical voice said loudly. The flashing red light stopped and was replaced by yellow flashing lights. The yellow lights flashed faster than the red did, and added a strange ambiance to the glowing orange eyes of the Roe and the tagalongs.

  Paul staggered up and shook his head. The Roe was again throwing something at Gretchen. Paul rushed up to the Roe and slugged it in the side as hard as he could.

  “Oomph! A seething autopsy brother!” The Roe screamed as it turned to Paul who again slugged it as hard as he could, this time in the abdomen. The Roe staggered a bit, but did not go down.

  Blam, blam, blam.

  Brinley’s handgun fired again and again. Two of the tagalongs were down, but more, some of them infected rats, joined in attacking her. She was backing up to get room to shoot when she tripped over an android body and fell. Her arm struck a chunk of broken furniture and the weapon was knocked from her hand. She crawled backward looking for it, as the animals bit at her legs.

  “Paul get out of the way!” Gretchen yelled as she now could aim a shot at the Roe, but Paul was in the line of fire as he grappled with the Roe. He could not hear her over the blaring of the mechanical warnings, the tearing and grinding sound which the damaged chute was making, the screaming of the Roe, and various animals calls from the tagalongs.

  “Malfunction. Malfunction. Malfunction.”

  Blam, Blam.

  Brinley had found her handgun again and gotten back to her feet. Several more tagalongs dropped. They seemed to come in an endless stream.

  The Roe swung one of its muscular arms at Paul, but he ducked and smashed his own fist into its face. The Roe was unaffected, but Paul’s hand was sore. Paul kicked the Roe’s knee and it bent a bit sideways, but again, it seemed not to notice. Paul punched, kicked, and fought as hard as he had ever fought in his life. He knew his life depended upon it, but his primary thoughts were about Gretchen and Brinley, and not for himself.

  “A seething autopsy brother!” The Roe yelled as it grabbed Paul under his arms and picked him up. The Roe’s large hands were squeezing into his armpits with severe pain. Paul’s feet dangled off the deck. Using him as a shield, the Roe charged at Gretchen.

  “No!” Paul yelled and pushed both of his thumbs directly into the Roe’s malicious orange eyes. He felt a pop and slimy, sticky fluids covered Paul’s hands.

  “A seething autopsy brother!” The Roe wailed as it threw Paul against Gretchen. They both tumbled to the floor.

  The Roe flailed its arms around, droplets of vitreous humour, blood and orange infected puss flying from its ruined eyes. In its blinded state its immense rage was even more extreme than it had been previously.

  A high pitched whine cut through all the racket in the room. Then an energy blast happened and it struck the Roe in the back as it was picking up a section of table and lifting it over its head. A half meter in diameter section of the Roe began to quiver and shake. That section then just dissolved and fell apart as the molecular bonds of the organic body were shattered.

  “A seething autopsy brother!” were the last words the Roe said as its body crumbled into two sections. A large part of its torso was now gone.

  Paul and Gretchen stood up. Gretchen had the pistol aimed at the dead Roe.

  “What was that?” Paul asked as he tried to get some deep breaths in.

  “My organic disruptor,” Brinley yelled. “Come on! We need to leave!”

  “The weapon you got from Klara did that?” Paul asked.

  “Yes, it breaks the molecular bonds of anything organic,” Brinley answered.

  The tagalong animals, those that had not been shot by Brinley, swarmed over the two halves of the dead, but steaming Roe. This gave the people a chance to run over to where the automacube was still jacked into the wall. In the flashing yellow light the machine looked almost like a shadow as it sat connected into the wall by its cable.

  The wall display was still counting down, ‘75’ and the ‘74.’

  “What will happen when it gets to zero?” Gretchen yelled over the sound of the mechanical voice, the metal grinding of the malfunctioning chute, and the scavenging of the tagalongs.

  “Another dump of junk in here, and more Roe probably,” Paul complained. “That would be our luck.”

  “I am not sure the automacube’s actions and the chute dumping stuff is connected,” Brinley said. “But we will see in a moment.”

  The yellow lights still flashed, as the numbers counted down, ‘35’ and ‘34’ and ‘33.’

  The green light of the outlined square on the wall could still be seen between the flashes of the yellow light. As the countdown went from ‘3’ to ‘2’ to ‘1’ the greenness intensified.

  “What will happen now?” Paul said, but the area was too noisy for anyone to hear.

  16 crawling across the surface

  The green light which lit the perimeter blinked out as the countdown reached zero, but the line of demarcation which it had illuminated opened a bit more and then dilated to reveal that a heavy pressure door was there. Paul was watching for the attack by the tagalongs which he knew was coming. While he did that the door slid down and disappeared into the floor.

  “Space!” Gretchen called out in alarm.

  “No, but it sure looks like open space,” B
rinley said.

  “Just get moving into that space, those tagalongs will be finished with that body soon and I do not want to be next,” Paul was looking back at the pile of furry animals. That undulating mass was gradually getting flatter and more spread out as they consumed the dead Roe. He had not even looked through the opening that had just appeared.

  The yellow automacube unjacked the cable and rolled past the doors and into what looked like outer space.

  “There is clear permalloy here,” Gretchen said as she stepped inside. “The whole thing is made of clear permalloy. Every side is clear.”

  “Right, but it is not totally unobstructed, or perfectly clear. You can see the seams where sections are placed together, those fuzzy lines running across the area.” Brinley tapped one such place. “This is a most ingenuous design. It looks…”