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

by John Thornton

  “Tiffany!” They all said at once.

  “I am limited in my functionality due to the restrictions of the data stick reader. However, I can interface with you in this manner and have 94.786% of the information I was carrying in the scout ship. Forgive me for the data loss of 5.214%.”

  “I got to Gretchen in time, she is healing now. Our communication links do not work and we are trapped here in a room off Causeway 147,” Paul said.

  “I do have deck plans for the route you used up until our contact was severed,” Tiffany stated.

  “Severed?” Gretchen said and tried to sit up. She grasped her head and sat back. “I am not ready to get up yet.”

  “Yes Gretchen. The communication system was deliberately impeded. I attributed that to the hostile automacubes which were attempting to destroy the scout ship,” Tiffany replied. “Those attacks came shortly after the shuttle crashes began happening.”

  “You saw the shuttle crashes?” Brinley asked.

  “Observed with the scanning equipment of the scout ship, yes. I attempted to signal one shuttle by visual means, but was unsuccessful. I observed fourteen shuttle crashes, which are confirmed. There were several other incidents which I cannot confirm as direct shuttle crashes. Do you wish to see the records on those crashes and incidents?” Tiffany offered.

  “No. I have seen enough shuttle disasters,” Paul interjected. “No more.”

  “Tiffany, you said the automacubes came after the shuttles were attacked, so the CPO came after you as well,” Brinley replied.

  “I have no specific knowledge of who was behind the attacks, and the connection between the incidents with the shuttles and the hostile automacube action may just be coincidental,” Tiffany replied.

  “It is those wicked people in the needle ship doing it all,” Brinley spat out. “Everyone in the needle ship is like Larissa. The whole CPO is to blame.”

  “Brinley, do you mean the central drive sections of the Vanguard when you refer to the needle ship?” Tiffany asked.

  “Yes, that is where the CPO is located. They are the one shooting down the shuttles.”

  “While I was isolated and could not contact you, I spent much of my time scanning the Vanguard. My scans are not ideal, nor are they without limits, but I never picked up any reading of human life on any section of what you call the needle ship,” Tiffany said.

  “What?” Brinley said. “I know there are people in there. I have spoken to a midshipman, and Governor Larissa and the other habitat officials report to the needle ship and the Central Planning Office,” Brinley answered.

  “I also spoke to the midshipman,” Paul replied. “And we saw those people enter the needle ship from the external carriage.”

  “I must reevaluate my findings. I have lost data of 5.214% and that may factor into my conclusions,” Tiffany stated. “However, Paul had an encounter with a different entity. Paul can you relate what happened?”

  “There was some… thing, I guess you could call it. Phoenix Dominie it said it was.” Paul then went on and explained the encounter.

  “That does not sound like an artificial intelligence system, they all have nomenclatures of TSI something,” Brinley said. “All AIs are like that.”

  “I personally do not have that nomenclature,” Tiffany interjected.

  “Sorry, you are right, but you are the only one I have ever known on the Vanguard to be named anything different than TSI something,” Brinley said. “It could be someone in the CPO, or a trick by Governor Larissa.”

  “We can talk this thoroughly later,” Paul said. “Now we need to get back home, or somewhere safe.”

  “I will need some time to recover my strength. I am feeling better, and the medical kit says my bones and body are repaired, but I am exhausted,” Gretchen said. “I suggest we sleep here, and in a few hours head back. We may have to fight our way home.”

  “But where is home for us?” Brinley asked.

  22 searching in another way

  Brinley took the first watch while Gretchen and Paul slept. Tiffany made conversation with Brinley who informed the AI of all that had happened since contact was broken. Brinley was very detailed in all of her explanations and answered every question Tiffany had.

  The Roe came to the door and pounded on it three separate times, but each time it pounded for a shorter time and then went away. Gretchen slept though those incidents of pounding without seeming to notice. Paul awoke each time, and then drifted off to a fitful sleep again.

  Tiffany shared information freely with Brinley and so when it came time for Brinley to awaken Paul for his watch, a plan had been made.

  “Paulie, it will be clumsy to carry Tiffany’s ALP in the data stick reader as we travel,” Brinley began after Paul had eaten something and expelled his wastes. Gretchen was still soundly asleep.

  “I thought we would have to disassemble it again to leave. Too bad, we could use Tiffany’s help.” Paul yawned and stretched. He was tired, sore, frustrated, and a bit nauseated.

  “We might not have to do a disassembly. Tiffany’s ALP could be built into an automacube and then Tiffany would basically carry itself. That would help us in many ways,” Brinley carefully suggested.

  “Sort of like that automacube doctor we knew for a while,” Paul looked dejected. “Another person I failed. Well, not a person exactly, but a system… Just another one I let down and failed.”

  “Paulie, that was not your fault. Larissa and the CPO have been trying…” Brinley was interrupted by Tiffany.

  “My systems are more than adequate for controlling an automacube, especially if I was in direct proximity to it,” Tiffany stated. “This plan offers significant advantages. It would free all three of you from the burden of transporting my ALP, it allows me independent movement and greater observational abilities, and my services would be there for you. I have provided Brinley with the most advantageous method of interfacing my ALP and an automacube.”

  “The only problem I see is we do not have an automacube,” Paul said. “So what does it matter?”

  “We had Squash. We encountered some others on the way here….”

  “Yes, Brinley and I lost Squash. I know I did that. It was my fault. I failed again,” Paul snapped.

  “I was only saying we have seen some inert or depowered automacubes which we….”

  “And some that attacked us and stole our stuff!” Paul snarled back. “I had to kill one of those automacubes all by myself. I am not going back on another solo mission to look for some machine that will just run away or try to kill me. Squash is gone, and I have no idea how to find it.”

  “Paulie, I agree, no one does this alone. You did great on the solo mission to the scout ship, really fabulous. Now that Gretchen is healed and you have gotten the supplies, and Tiffany, I think if we watch as we go back, we may find a suitable automacube, and I will make the installation,” Brinley said. “It would only take a few minutes. I will even carry the data stick reader and ALP until we find a suitable automacube.”

  “Okay, Brinley. You get some sleep now, and then we will all leave,” Paul conceded. He could see no reason to argue.

  When Brinley was asleep, Paul sat quietly watching the door and waiting. Time passed slowly in the dim and silent room. He did not want to speak to Tiffany, for fear of waking one of the others. He watched the door and looked at the ALP in the data stick reader.

  When the Roe returned and pounded on the door, he was startled. He had been dozing a bit, with his chin on his chest. He looked over and made sure the lock was secure. He then checked Gretchen and Brinley. Despite the pounding and the stress of the whole situation, Paul could tell from her deep breathing, that Brinley was asleep as was Gretchen. Gretchen’s color looked much better and she seemed peaceful. He could see the injuries on her leg were mending and the wounds on the skin were knitting together into scars.

  Paul returned to his post and quietly spoke to Tiffany.

  “Sorry I fell asleep. Tiffany? Will we ever
get to a safe place?”

  “Paul, I could perform this watch alone, and call if there is a need. That is why I did not interfere when you fell asleep sitting there. I honestly do not know if we will ever find a safe place. There are many variables which I cannot explain as of yet. It is not safe here, as the pounding on the door has shown, but that has happened less frequently. We have been reunited. You have the medical kit, and fusion pack, and Willie’s pistol. I have 94.786% of the information from Dome 17 and of our observation of the Vanguard. So the situation has promise,” Tiffany stated.

  “But it all seems like nothing we do will ever work out,” Paul said. “Gretchen nearly died, and I have seen too many people die here.”

  “Paul, do you know what the death rate is on the Vanguard?” Tiffany asked.

  “No,” Paul said sadly.

  “The death rate on the Vanguard is one per person,” Tiffany replied.

  “What?” Paul was startled. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  “Brink programmed me with the capacity for humor. For hundreds of years humans have engaged in what is termed ‘gallows humor’ which consists of funny or witty sayings or stories in response to what is perceived as a hopeless or futile situation where suffering or death is unavoidable. Often this form of jocularity is deemed as socially inappropriate but is effective as a distraction. I thought humor would help. I apologize if it was not a stress reducer for you,” Tiffany said.

  “Tiffany, I guess it did reduce my stress a bit. I thought about something else for a moment. It was a distraction. So how do we find you an automacube?” Paul asked.

  “I too have been pondering many things. Finding an automacube, the identity of Phoenix Dominie, the shuttle crashes and other observed phenomena external o the Vanguard, as well as the inconsistencies of my scans on the needle ship and your witnessing of humans there. The automacube problem is of more immediate concern. If you connect a cable from the data stick reader to an access port on the door frame I may be able to search for some manner to summon an automacube. I am not sure that will have any success, as I have no direct experience interfacing with the Vanguard’s systems, but I believe it is a gamble worth attempting,” Tiffany stated. “A man’s friends all left him because he was a compulsive gambler. He says we would do anything to win them back.”

  “The gallows humor was better. You really think you could just summon an automacube? What risk is there in making the connection?” Paul asked.

  “I have insufficient data to make a conjecture or risk assessment,” Tiffany replied. “I will also restrain my attempts at humor.”

  “There are weird things on the Vanguard, but I have confidence in you Tiffany. Make sure you keep yourself safe.” Paul connected a cable from the data stick reader into the access port on the wall. “And keep trying with the humor.”

  Tiffany entered the nonphysicality of the Colony Ship Vanguard.

  23 a pause before leaving

  Searching the nonphysicality began slowly as the artificial intelligence system Tiffany initiated the interface. It was not that the Vanguard’s systems were foreign or unknown to Tiffany; it was just that they were so antiquated. Tiffany could have blazed through the systems with dazzling speed, but that was certain to be detected, even by the antique systems the Vanguard utilized. And so Tiffany went with trepidation and stealth.

  Beginning with a tiny tendril that moved into the nonphysicality, Tiffany first made a legend for what was being uncovered. The ship’s power system was designated as red, mechanical systems were designated as brown, and so forth. Layer upon layer was laid down in Tiffany’s memory as the search continued. Methodically, the exploration divulged how the Vanguard was functioning. .

  At this access point port there was damage. The power systems were sporadic. The glow of the fusion pack’s energizing power still lingered in the local area. The ship’s power grid was less effective and had gaping holes. There were nonphysical guardians at various places in the nonphysicality, but Tiffany clandestinely maneuvered the tendril around and between and away from those so as to not be detected. The artificial intelligence system which was linked and coupled to those guardians was not confronted, as there was no need to interface with it. Compared to Tiffany, it was clumsy, slow, and lumbering as it made its rounds and checked its guardian outposts. Tiffany wished to show Brink, the Master Engineer from Dome 17, these old-fashioned systems as he would have been fascinated by the great grandparents of Tiffany’s system. With a tinge of regret Tiffany realized that Brink would not get to observe these old AIs, nor would Brink get to display their workings in a museum where they deserved to be.

  The lattice of compeers which consisted of the linked and coupled artificial intelligence systems of the Vanguard had one advantage Tiffany did not. Numbers. There were many separate, yet connected, artificial intelligence systems on the lattice. Tiffany compared this exploration to what a twentieth-century basic non-sentient computer would consider when analyzing an abacus. Tiffany could have de-structured the lattice and evaluated each component, it would have been simple to do so. And yet, Tiffany knew that overconfidence would lead to mistakes and disclosure, so Tiffany proceeded with caution.

  The search continued until the layer where automacube dispatches were made was located. Unfolding it revealed that it was not a single layer, but multiple layers with different sources depending upon which automacubes were deployed. There were plans, yet to be set into production, for combat automacubes, which were the pinnacle level of automacube. Tiffany searched but none of those were present on the Vanguard. Next down were the security automacubes, which were highly defended, such as it was, so Tiffany rejected using one of them. The medical, forestry, garden, aquatic, gravitational, and engineering automacubes were ubiquitous and were intermediately overseen. Tiffany considered one of them as the chassis for use, but rejected that as still having too high a risk of detection. Another factor in Tiffany’s decision was that those automacubes were sentient as were all those of a higher order. Tiffany had ethical qualms about possessing a sentient machine and imposing an outside consciousness on it.

  Even though there were automacubes which had been separated from the lattice and were functioning on a self-regulating manner, often at low efficiency, nowhere in the nonphysicality did Tiffany uncover the name Phoenix Dominie. Tiffany did not stop the tendril to search out, sift, and examine each and every deep recess or shadow-land or crevasse of the non-physicality. There were hiding places. Just like the designations for the primary artificial intelligence systems running the lattice, or the human interface junctions, some items in the nonphysicality could only be learned by dissection, and dissection would require revelation of Tiffany’s presence. That was unacceptable in this foray.

  Tiffany dropped downward in secure connections from the highest and most protected automacubes, through the intermediaries, to the sub-sentient level where there was the least oversight of automacubes. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the orange cleanup and caretaker automacubes. They were rudimentary, yet still had the sufficient sensors and scanners and connections needed by Tiffany. The cleanup automacubes mostly performed basic tasks which required no conscious decisions and very limited oversight.

  Tiffany scanned for an orange automacube which was near to the physical location of the team. Two decks away, an orange automacube had been stored in a cubby and had not been used for seventy years. Tiffany rerouted a power circuit which energized the automacube’s small memory vault. Recharging the body of the orange automacube would take longer. Tiffany then placed a new command routine into that automacube. When it was fully recharged, it would come to Tiffany’s location.

  Having summoned the orange automacube, Tiffany then turned to search for other items of interest. By careful interaction with a message conduit to one of the functional Reproduction and Fabrication Centers, Tiffany was able to learn about the installation of the newly manufactured macroactinide capacitor enhancers. That information unlocked a trove of ot
her stratum of reports and installation requests.

  While it seemed like a long and tedious odyssey, Tiffany was done with the search in less than ten seconds, and then withdrew the tendril from the nonphysicality.

  “I have summoned a suitable automacube candidate for use,” Tiffany stated. “Please remove the cable connection. The automacube will arrive here in approximately twenty one minutes.”

  “That was fast,” Paul said quietly as he looked back at Gretchen and Brinley. “But do you know how to direct us back the way we came here?”

  “I could probably do that, if that was your desire,” Tiffany responded. “However, what is your intended goal?”

  “Our goal was to reconnect with you. Now we need to go home to Inaccessible Island,” Paul replied. “I want to give up adventures, and just relax in peace. Will that ever be possible?”