Expeditions of the Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  After a minute Raiza explained, “Peter has been slightly damaged by several rubber projectiles and has been electrically overloaded by a taser. His power system should reset in approximately 10 minutes per the system diagnostic reports.”

  The other attendees huddled together behind a couple of the tables, except for one lady who ran screaming out of the service door. Several attendees were whispering or yelling into their comm devices. Ximon considered trying to move the whole group to a back room, but several had been injured by the grenades or rubber bullets and would be hard to move. He and Elsbeth set up to watch the doors.

  A few minutes later, a voice shouted from the main hallway, “This is Chief Krull. We believe we’ve dealt with all the attackers who were impersonating police. We are coming in. Everyone, get on the ground. If you’re armed, lay down your weapons.”

  Ximon and the crew laid down with the rest, but Ximon was worried at first. However, he soon saw they were indeed led by Chief Krull, who Ximon knew was an actual cop, leading up security for this event. These police weren’t carrying shotguns with rubber bullets and tasers, they were carrying assault rifles and pistols. The police had everyone get down and searched them all. Then the chief signaled something over the radio and some paramedics came in to look at the wounded, while the police stood about menacingly. Chief Krull was questioning several of the lead delegates while several of the delegates simultaneously tried to shout their explanations of what happened.

  By this time Peter had, indeed, reset and sat up, apparently undeterred. The rubber bullets had broken a section of skin in his face, leaving a blank hole, and another in his side, but he generally seemed undamaged. Elsbeth hugged him tightly when he sat up.

  The next several hours were shouting, crying, and question after question. Raiza told Chief Krull, “Sir, I am a service robot and can provide a complete video recording of what I saw.” One of the reporters also confessed to having a hidden camera that captured some of the events and, though damaged in the initial attack, an official video recorder had caught up through the initial moments.

  The police, naturally, wouldn’t let any of them leave and set them all up in the ballroom, with guards and medics in attendance as they pieced together what happened and started their investigation. The four gunmen had apparently intended to kidnap some, or all, of the delegates, but had to settled for two. Meanwhile, several more gunmen had fought the police in the other hallway. It was unclear whether the police who had been guarding the service door had joined the gunmen or the police, but their absence had allowed Elsbeth and Peter to come to the rescue.

  Even as the police were questioning, the reporters were questioning people or giving initial accounts over their comm units. Some of the delegates were also on their comm units, conversing with their governments or embassies. All in all, the Republic delegation had fared well in the attack. Other than Elsbeth and Peter, only one delegate was hit, and that with a taser. Other than Ximon checking to ensure that Mantis was OK, they had no one else to call.

  After a while, the police let the lunch caterers in, though they carefully stood guard. The food and drink helped to settled everyone down a bit and normalize the situation. By evening it had become clear the summit was essentially over, but the delegations exchanged some notes and were working on official minutes of the meeting, in hopes that some progress would be retained. Eventually, the police had gathered everyone’s contact information and let them go, though the Republic delegation was told not to leave the area until given approval.

  Ximon suggested to the delegation that they go back to the ship for safety, but they all just wanted to head to their rooms. There was a considerably increased police presence around the entire hotel so, perhaps, that wasn’t unreasonable.

  Elsbeth said, “Ximon, Peter and I need to get back to the ship and I’d like to take Raiza with us to check Peter over. Do you mind? Are you coming?”

  Ximon, “I think I’ve got to stay here with the delegation, but you should go. Raiza, would you mind helping Peter and Elsbeth?”

  Raiza, “Of course not, I am the ship’s medical officer and am, perhaps, uniquely suited to diagnose Peter.”

  Ximon, “OK, y’all be safe and I’ll send updates.”

  Raiza, “Be careful Ximon.”

  Throughout that evening, Ximon wrote a report for KSF, one for the delegation, a formal statement for the police, and talked to the reporter who kept pestering him. After all that, he collapsed in bed and slept, late.

  He met some of the delegation at breakfast, most of them more casually dressed and less ‘put together.’ They marveled at the event and complained about everything – security, the police, the medical care, and especially the disruption of their plan. They did manage to exchange a series of messages with the other delegations and signed a set of formal minutes, so at least there was a record of the summit. Since they couldn’t go anywhere, a couple of the delegates met informally with some of their counterparts, trying to salvage what they could.

  Throughout the day, details of the attacked continued to emerge. Elsbeth and her “brave robot” Peter were being hailed as the saviors of the day. She came back to the hotel for a few hours at the behest of the delegation to talk to a reporter and receive thanks and congratulations from the police. She claimed she hated the limelight, but it was clear she enjoyed the attention and the mini photo shoot of her that the reporter did. They asked a lot of questions about ‘her robot.’ Elsbeth referred to him as her ‘boyfriend’ and beamed, always concluding somewhat breathlessly, “He took a bullet for me – I love that in a guy.”

  The police were frantically searching for the attackers and the kidnap victims. Around dinner, the news broke of a shadowy group making political demands, namely that Eapalia withdraw from the Independent States trade pact and return to previous tariff levels to protect local products. There were some other protests, and minor riots, around the city, some in favor of the trade pact and some against.

  The crew wound up having to stay for a couple more days. Ximon had nothing to do, though the delegation continued to try to work. He was just babysitting. Luckily Elsbeth brought Raiza back to the hotel so, at least, Ximon had Raiza for company.

  The evening of the second day, the hostages were recovered. They had been beaten and left (nearly unconscious) in a city park, with a set of political demands stapled to their torn clothing. The police were still searching for the gunmen.

  That same day, representatives from the Eapalian government came to apologize to the Republic delegation for the attack and to ask them to continue long-distance negotiations over the next several months and possibly attend, or host, another summit. Wilkinson and the rest of the group were thrilled and already had the first round of proposals sent to the Eapalian government and Independent States representatives. With that hint of progress, and police approval, they were ready to leave.

  Mantis took off early the next day, the crew glad to be headed away. On the way back to Xalanan, the delegation was far less stuffy, more casual, and friendlier. The trip proceeded well and uneventfully. The passengers all seemed to be working on reports, observations, presentations, and proposals. That kept them fairly busy, though a couple of them chose to work in the galley. Ximon talked to them enough that he got a better understanding of the issues involved, so it was educational.

  Under Raiza’s care, Peter was OK. She was able to fix the holes in his skin and a few minor underlying things, but there was a ‘tic’ in his facial musculature she couldn’t repair. Elsbeth said it gave him “character.”

  When they got back to Xalanan, Ximon and the crew were formally thanked by the delegation and received commendations from the consulate. The KSF was quite interested in the political situation on Eapalia and was pleased by reports that Ximon’s team (from the KSF) had seemed to ‘save the day.’ They were given a week off before getting new orders.

  Jaunt Five: Points Rimward – Setting Up Base

  After a few days off, Ximo
n again met with Seplak at KSF Operations. Seplak thanked them for their good work and said, “Now, we have a few things for you. First, you’ll pick up cargo and pax at Edorener, go to Zanerus, and help set up an outpost there and get it running. Second, you will head into the Irapce Sector, explore several worlds there, and set up a robotic base there. Third, we lost a KSF survey craft on one of those planets some months ago and we’d like you to recover what you can. Details of each mission have been sent to you for your review. Do you have any questions at this time?”

  Ximon, “I only just got it. So, my only questions at this time are – do I need another crewmember, what duration are you expecting, and where can we draw supplies?”

  Seplak, “KSF doesn’t feel you absolutely need another crewmember for what should be another quiet mission.” He smirked at that.

  He continued, “As far as duration, the mission summaries estimate 2-3 months. With your orders, ou can draw supplies at bay 34T.”

  Ximon, “Great. How’s that war going?”

  Seplak said, “Well, I’m sure you’ve seen the news. The Republic and Ten Kingdoms are in negotiations, with periodic ceasefires, but it’s not over yet. Maybe when you get back, you’ll be deactivated.”

  “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  The crew made ready and headed off for Edorener as planned. As they came in for a landing, they were directed to landing pad near a research facility. There they were met by a security guard in a golf cart who checked their IDs and then took them to meet their contacts. Since there were only a few seats, Peter and Raiza stayed on Mantis.

  They soon arrived at the loading bay of a research building, labelled ARRC. The guard directed them in a door next to a bay door and took off.

  Ximon and Elsbeth went in and found a loading bay cluttered with pallets and loose crates. Not seeing anyone, Elsbeth said the traditional, “Hello, we’re from the Mantis.”

  Immediately heads popped up over some of the crates across the bay, some human, some robotic.

  A 30-ish guy with a long goatee said, “Hey, meet ride” and came over. He shook Ximon and Elsbeth’s hands and spoke in a voice with a very heavy accent, odd pronunciation, and a sing-song tone.

  “I Doktor Vir Hothet, Zeenrus Statuhn Boss.”

  Ximon wasn’t entirely sure he completely understood but said, “Hi, I’m Ximon Sabo, captain of the Mantis and this is Elsbeth my chief engineer. It’s nice to meet you.”

  The guy then repeated, “Xyymoan” and then stuttered badly over Elsbeth, sounding something like “Elbek.”

  About that time a couple other people came over – a black canid in black clothes, a very petite and attractive young woman, and a doughy, red-haired guy of about the same age.

  The canid shook paws and spoke gruffly (but more understandably than Vir), “I’m Rotoz Ngorv” and then pointed at the other two, “Judyta Czech and Kuba Spicka.”

  When the other two spoke, they also had substantial accents, though nothing like Vir.

  Rotoz continued, “We’re the Zanerus Station Team so we’re your first stop. All the cargo in the red-lined area goes with us, as well as a few other things we’re packing up.”

  Vir said something but Ximon couldn’t understand and assumed it was something like, “We’re excited.”

  Ximon, “So, I understand we’ll be loading first thing tomorrow, correct?”

  A few of them looked at each other and chattered in other languages, seemingly uncertain of this.

  Rotoz said confidently, “We’ll be ready somehow. Some of our equipment is experimental so we’re making final adjustments. Shall we say 0900?”

  Ximon, “0900 then.”

  Vir said something that sounded like, “Uterr Bass, utter bass.”

  Judyta jumped in, “Yes, you’ve got ‘nother team.” Then she shouted, “Alzroid, come meet the ship.”

  Moments later a tall, thin, humanoid robot strode toward them. Whereas Raiza and Peter were made to appear very nearly human to all but the closest inspection, no attempt at disguise was intended here. The bot had a very human shape, but instead of skin had a greyish white covering the texture of unpolished ceramic. His eyes were more like photoreceptors than imitation human eyes. Yet he walked and moved in a very human way.

  “Greetings, I am Alzroid Prime, KSF Scientific Robot and the head of the Automated Scout Outpost. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  Ximon, “Glad to meet you. I understand you have a team as well?”

  “Yes, Captain. Asor Golf, please attend.”

  At that another robot approached. While Alzroid at least had the clear shape of a man and could pass for one at a distance, Asor Golf, was a metal stick figure in the shape of a man, with no skin-like covering at all. It moved smoothly and greeted Ximon and Elsbeth with its long, spindly arms.

  “Greetings, I am Automated Scout Outpost Robot Golf, or ASOR-G for short. I, ASOR-D and ASOR-K make up the remainder of the mobile portions of the Automated Scout Outpost team.”

  Elsbeth, “Nice to meet you. You’ll fit in nicely on the Mantis.”

  Ximon turned back to Alzroid, “We had just established with Vir to meet tomorrow at 0900 to load. Will that work with you and your team?”

  “Of course. We can be ready at any point within 45 minutes.”

  “Great, then let’s plan on 0900. Am I correct to assume that your team will have trucks or cargo loaders to bring all this to the ship?”

  Vir said, “Ya, big truck.”

  Alzroid added, “Yes, we will have all our equipment loaded on a few trucks and be ready to bring it where you directed. We will also load a forklift unless that’s unnecessary. The total volume of the cargo from both teams is 16.2 cubic tonnes.”

  Ximon, “Thank you. That will be fine. We’ve got forklifts and pallet jacks, so you shouldn’t need those. Please ensure you all also have your personal gear or luggage with you so no additional trip is necessary.”

  Ximon and Elsbeth returned to the ship and made sure that the cargo bay was well cleared. Naturally, Peter had made sure it was neatly and efficiently organized. Ximon briefed the rest of the crew on the plan – Elsbeth and Peter would go meet the team and lead them back to the ship.

  Ximon then turned to Raiza, “We’re hauling two crews of four. One of them is human/canid, while the other is all robots. How would you recommend billeting them?”

  “Ximon, I would assume you’d give the 4 humanoids the 4 available cabins. You could choose to “double them up” and give the robots the other cabins, but they’d likely have little use for them. All-in-all the humanoids will make better use of the cabins.”

  “So, you don’t think the robots will be, uh, offended?”

  “My dear, I can’t speak to the details of the programming of these robots, but I would be surprised if they gave into illogical demands for spaces of little use to them. I can make them quite comfortable and safe either in the galley or in the cargo bay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t be certain, but I’m quite confident.”

  “Peter, would you agree?”

  Peter, “As always, Raiza speaks wisely. I would come to the same conclusion.”

  Raiza, “Thank you, Peter.”

  Elsbeth piped in, “… now if the grand, high poohbah robot demands the palatial suite, then we can talk.”

  Ximon, “Ok, then. Raiza, please arrange things as you deem appropriate. Would you please have some snacks available around 10 tomorrow? Hopefully they’ll be here by then.”

  “Of course, dear.”

  The next morning, Ximon did some idle pre-flight checks while Elsbeth and Peter went to meet the team. However, shortly after 0900, Elsbeth called, “We have a problem. The robots are all ready to go and sitting in a truck, but the people are still packing and arguing. I suspect they’ll be a bit.”

  “Well, this is starting great. Why don’t you have Peter bring the robots on over and we can begin unloading their stuff. You keep prodding th
e people to get their act together.”

  “Can I use a cattle prod?”

  “If you happen to have one, but don’t use that on the robots by mistake – might not be good.”

  “Luckily THEY don’t need it.”

  Peter arrived with the robots and their truck, everything completely organized and ready for efficient offload. Ximon and Raiza came out to meet them as Peter got them set up to offload.

  “Alzroid, Asors, good to see you. Thanks for being prompt.”

  Alzroid said, “I would hope that efficiency is one of the hallmarks of my team.”

  He then saw Raiza, “Greetings. I am Alzroid Prime. I am pleasantly surprised to meet both Peter and you. I had not expected robots to be common on this journey.”

  Raiza, “Welcome to the Mantis. I am the ship’s steward and, once you’ve unloaded, I’ll show you to the spaces I’ve arranged for you. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “I’m sure whatever you’ve arranged will work marvelously.”

  The proceeded to unload and they were, indeed, models of efficiency. About 20 minutes in Elsbeth called, “Ok the people are finally ready, though their truck looks like it was packed by morons … not sure why.”

  “Be nice.”

  The robots came to assist when the other truck arrived and helped make sense of the piles of gear in the other truck. The people didn’t seem able to work together very well at such a task. Vir tried to run things, but seemed scattered, so the Canid had to keep taking over to get anything done. The young man and woman seemed to argue a lot.

  Eventually everything was stowed, and some drivers took the trucks back. Raiza showed the people to their rooms and showed them how to work the harnesses on the seats in their rooms and on their beds. She also showed them the galley, the shower room, etc. and gave them some snacks she’d made (though now cold).