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Stellar Survival Quest

Page 16

by Jalf Whitemage


  Nathan was shocked by the rapid-fire report and was waiting for the rest. After a couple minutes of silence, he prompted.

  “And?”

  Boov twisted her head sideways, “And, what master?”

  “Well, you started up the computers. How is everything looking?”

  Boov’s smile grew and she clapped and she jumped up and down. “It is all showing ready to start up. The robot has went over the main components and those that are still in need of repairs are non-crucial. Although Life Support is not a local system. So, even after starting u the module we will not have it.”

  Nathan nodded, already having dealt with that. “Good. Good. Then when you go back out start it up. First turn on the corridors and this bay. Turn on lights, gravity plating and sub systems. Then if all is well go to bays B, then A. Finally, if everything is still looking green come get me.

  Boov nodded accepting the orders silently. Nathan knew none of them had managed to get into bays D, or E yet and so restoring systems to them was a risk.

  Turning to the Marines he issued their commands, “Ok, so take the recycler over to bay A. It should fit in the corridor so that will be easy with no gravity. Next, put the life support module next to the habitat for now. The robot recharge bays set up along the inner bulkhead of this Bay. There should be a set of power connectors near the center of the wall. Network them there. If you manage that before needing to return then start cleaning out Bay B. I’m going to empty that of our things and let the other Humans use it.”

  Nathan watched the women leave a few short minutes later. He checked on the marine commander, even though he knew nothing about her race. She was breathing and seemed okay. With a finger, he pushed her strawberry blonde hair out of her face before turning to the door.

  He barely made it over when he saw the light in the corridor come on.

  One of the systems he had the robot work on in the corridor and his bay was the lights. Since it had stopped, he assumed they were both fully repaired.

  Minutes later the lights came on in his bay and a few seconds later he grunted as he suddenly became heavier. For the first time in almost two months, he felt Earth equivalent gravity. It was a surprise but a pleasant one. Especially since he could easily tell he was stronger now.

  Turning away from the door Nathan picked up his tablet. With a few quick clicks he cleared the robots work Que. Instead he issued it orders to move into the corridor and then across the way from the control room.

  Using the tablets limited interface he controlled one of the bots arms to open the door on the other side of the main hall.

  As the door ground open on tracks and motors that had not had power in ages, Nathan looked in. The lights were out in the room, but the Robots optics illuminated the interior. The room was exactly what Nathan had assumed it to be. Inside was a narrow passageway. The passage went down a short distance and opened up into a moderately sized storage room, full of parts and what Nathan assumed was contraband collected from ships that had docked ages ago. Deeper down the hall was another opening that opened into some small living quarters.

  The living quarters was only big enough to fit four people and then only for short periods of time.

  “This must be for the crew while they were working.” Nathan mused.

  Moving the Robot back to the storage room he had the robot start to scan the items inside.

  Quickly he discovered what he had expected though. Beside the few spare parts, most of the things had deteriorated beyond recognition with age.

  Nodding to himself Nathan issued the robot orders to begin clearing out the entire room. Working parts were to be placed in the cargo bay. Trash into the garbage bay. Then he queued up the robot to move the life support system into the room.

  Nathan figured having the system somewhere more central would allow for a greater chance to save someone if one of the bays suffered some damage. So the corridor was a plus. Then not having it where just anyone could mess with it was even better.

  “I better have Boov check to see if there is any way to use the stations existing air systems from there. Otherwise I’ll have to just leave those doors open and hope…”

  To Nathan’s consternation and often boredom the rest of the day composed of Nathan issuing orders and then sitting back as they were carried out. With no space suit He was next to useless right now.

  But, by the time he went to sleep all the new systems were set up and working. The fusion reactor was in his bay plugged into the stations power grid. The life support systems were up and running drawing power from that grid.

  Nathan spent some time finding out a way to shut off the life support vents to the rest of the station. However, he grew frustrated when he discovered he could not adapt those same vents for his own life support system.

  The recycler was set up and assigned the task of recycling the huge pile of refuse that had been growing in the bay. Finally the new robots were unpacked along with their recharging stations.

  Nathan knew for now there really wasn’t enough work for all of the bots. He also knew however that that would soon change.

  Chapter 10 – Dark and Ugly

  The next day Nathan came too like the previous ones. He was standing there nude in front of the air lock. Unlike the past times though the airlock door was open!

  As Nathan saw the Marine commander step into the habitat a brief exchange of air followed her. The air outside the Habitat was remarkably cooler and smelt almost like a forest after a good rain. Nathan assumed the cooler was because the life support system was having issues heating the bay from where it was att. Still their being air at all, and that it was not frozen entirely was a huge improvement.

  Nathan had been lost in his thoughts and had missed the Marine Commander speaking to him. She was walking in her more human appearance. Which Nathan completely missed had changed. The commander as well as her soldiers assumed it was something to do with the way they were dominated, in that vile and completely uncivilized manner… maybe they could be dominated more later….

  If anyone had asked the tree however…

  It would of told them that the poison it had released into the Commander was responsible for the changes.

  The poison was used by the tree’s species to absorb and adapt to a particular species genetic coding. This would allow the tree’s species to live more naturally on a much wider range of worlds than most intelligent species. However, in the process of absorbing master’s double helix codes, it had spread the poison over the deepest parts of the commander. So thus the poison had also effected the commander, making her more Human as well.

  She still stood taller than Nathan and still looked mostly like a lizard woman. However her muzzle was slightly shorter. Her hands and feet had three digits plus a thumb. Her mammalian glands on her chest were now a bit larger, about the size of a large orange. Additionally they were more sensitive and now had completely purposeless round slightly pointy nubs on them.

  But the most interesting and notable change was a head full of long strawberry colored hair that had grown from between scales to cover her full head. It was thick and shiny, growing shoulder length with a beautiful natural wave. Nathan knew of more than a few women who would be jealous of such an amazing mane of hair.

  But that was not what either party was thinking. Bringing himself back Nathan focused on the Commander and his skill began to translate.

  “… We are hereby sworn to your service as free soldiers. I ZSErkZQuzkkiss Rshikkirrisszzqu Mirrzok do hereby swear to follow and obey your commands.” Completing her oath she slammed her hands onto her breast first the right then the left leaving them crossed over her torso.

  Nathan not sure exactly what just happened mimic the gesture he assumed to be a salute then muttered, “Ugh I do not think I can say your name… Could I call you… umm… Tsk?”

  Tsk shuddered at the simple name, but knew the limitations of soft skins and how most could not speak the languages of the more evolved species.
With a lifting of her lips she assented to the name.

  Nathan smiled, “Great! So today is a big day! We should be getting some new people and hopefully our gear will arrive first.” Tsk stepped to the side allowing Nathan to step into the station.

  “ECK!” he screamed the second his foot touched the station. “Oh shit! That is fucking cold! No fucking way is walking around barefoot going to work!”

  Turning around he returned to his room pulled on his boots and went back. If anyone else was there they would have given him a strange look. He wore nothing but a set of worn hiking boots and a smile as he stepped out of the habitat for the first time without an EVO Suit.

  Goose pimples spread across his naked body and Nathan immediately began to shiver as the cold air tried to drain his body warmth from him. Nathan looked back into the Habitat for a second before deciding he needed to take a look around. He could tough it out for a few minutes.

  Putting actions into words he took stock of his bay. The habitat remained in the far Southeastern corner away from the outer hatch. With the modules lights now on he could easily see the entire bay. On the northern wall after the door leading to the corridor the Robot bays were set up. Nathan counted five of the ten bots there in a sleep mode as well, with another three in the pods recharging. That left two working.

  To his left on the Western side of the bay was the fusion power plant and power cells. Thick cables went from them to the stations few outlets and back.

  Nathan made a mental note to see how the system was currently set up. He had a specific plan for the storage and wanted to make sure it was implemented. He smiled noticing how the large empty feel of the bay had disappeared, particularly the Eastern half. In the Northeast many boxes were stacked and arranged in neat yet compact stacks and rows. The largest were the unpacked solar arrays and crates of spare parts. The robots were amazing but their refabricating ability was still very limited. So he had bought replacement parts for pretty much every system in his module.

  Taking this all in Nathan Nodded. Turning to Tsk he asked, “Did the large cargo containers get moved to Bay B?”

  Tsk acquiesced, “Yes. We removed the garbage to Bay A as you commanded before. Now the crates are there as well.”

  Nathan smiled but before he could say more Boov rushed into the bay. “Master come look! This one has something exciting to show you!”

  “What is it Boov?”

  “Come see master?”

  With a sigh Nathan and Tsk followed behind a quickly moving Grey woman who was bouncing as she nearly ran from excitement.

  She led them into the corridor and turned right. When they came to the intersection and Nathan expected Boov to turn to head toward either the control room or the crew compartment he was briefly stunned to see her keep going. A minute later he saw the large door into bay D.

  It stood open like a maw into darkness. Beyond the open door only their portable lights were providing illumination. It was dark but Nathan was accustom to their dim lighting

  “What did you do Boov? I thought we were going to wait and make sure these bays were safe before opening them?”

  Boov looked over her shoulder as she approached the opening.

  “Yes master. This one knew of your ideas. However, with the systems online she was able to run a scan and discovered that although in need of repairs neither bay was in danger of massive decompression. She has a robot in each bay repairing the minor damage to the outer hull. None of the panels will need fully replaced. Only tiny venting is occurring.”

  Indeed as Nathan entered the large cargo bay he could hear the whistling sounds of air being compressed and forced through holes. It was even rather loud indicating a large number of holes. Even though this alarming issue did not matter to Nathan right now. Instead, he was staring open mouthed.

  Inside the bay barely lit by the portable lights stood six dark black craft, three on each side of the bay. They were not particularly pretty and obviously not designed by humans. They also were in a very poor state of repair. But, as Nathan approached the first mouth agape. The spaceships were roughly the same tonnage as the transport. However best he could tell these were a single person craft. Their odd shapes made him think of a ten-sided die he had used to play Dungeons and Dragons with. The die lay on its side with the two tips pointing outward straight like wings. The central body was a bit more circular, just large enough to hold a cockpit.

  The thick cockpit hatch was lifted up but Nathan could not see in without climbing up the crafts side. In total dimensions, he guess they stood nearly ten feet tall. Perhaps sixteen from wing tip t wing tip. Then since it looked nearly circular, he guessed maybe ten from bow to stern… was that the right terms for a plane? Or would ship terms be better?

  Nathan shook his head focusing back on the ships.

  Boov bouncing besides him, “The other bay has six more master! They are in better repair but after this one claimed them the system shows them all as nonfunctional.”

  Nathan spun on Boov, “Six more? Claimed them?”

  …

  “You mean these things are yours now?”

  Boov stopped bouncing and frowned, “No master. This one would never! These wonderful craft are yours! The system has them labeled as …” She made some impressive clicking sounds with a swish at the end.

  As Nathan stood there looking at her confused Boov pulled him over to the bays terminal near the inner door. With a few taps, she brought up the systems specs.

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  Unknown Single Crew Fighter

  Type: F Class Small Craft

  Class: Mid-Range Intersystem Stealth fighter

  Manufacturer: Unknown

  Serial: None

  Owner: Nathan Rogers

  Status: Unopperational [DETAILS]

  Specs

  Crew: 1

  Operational: 37.25

  Engines: Unknownx2

  Powerplant: NONE

  Battery: Unknown x8

  Hyper Drive: NONE

  Warp Drive: NONE

  Sub Space Drive: NONE

  Atmospheric: 52% max power, 2.1 GS

  Loadout

  Weapons: Unknown Energy Weapon x2: Unknown Missile x4

  Armor: Unknown 0.004 GMU

  Shielding: Unknown

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  Nathan whistled, “Well shit! If the system doesn’t know what these bad boys are… Wait I have no idea what that means?”

  Nathan looked at Boov questioningly. She shrugged. “Could be many reasons. They could be pre system. Could of never been registered, or are marked as classified by a system entity.”

  Nathan smiled bobbing his head, “I gotcha. Well let’s get the robots on these bad boys and get them fixed up!”

  Boov’s happy expression waivered, “This one is sorry master, but we cannot.”

  Nathans eagerness was dashed like cold water on a fire. He waited for Boov to explain further, but when she didn’t he prompted her through clenched teeth. “Why not?”

  Boov slumped her shoulders, “The robots are not high enough quality. The ships technology is beyond what they can repair. This whole station is really. But since replacing or simply patching things is simple they are managing. This…” She gestured at the ships. “However is unknown technology and beyond simple maintenance robots.”

  Nathan frowned then considered, “How can we fix them then?”

  Boov noticed her masters lips were turning blue and his shivering was increasing, “This one is not sure master. The ships power cells are empty. So we cannot even get the ship to give us a proper diagnostic. The only reason she was able to gather the ship details and claim them for you, is from the power supply of our tablets.” She considered telling him to return to the habitat to warm up, but she knew it was not her place so refrained.

  Nathan started to speak but his chattering teeth stopped him twice. Instead he turned and gestured for her to follow him. As he moved back toward the corridor’s intersection t
he Life support system was able to warm the air better. So exiting the large bay Nathan immediately felt the warm air and the further he went the better it felt. Pulling out his tablet he awoke two of the sleeping robots and gave them commands.

  Boov looked at her own tablet and gasped, “Master?”

  Nathan turned right at the intersection and went into the control room which was still slightly cool, but more like a warm spring day than mid-winter. Not even thinking about his nudity he sat on the closest chair and pulled up information on the control room’s computers.

  The tablets were great but they did not have very much processing power and were slow. Especially when multitasking.

  As Nathan logged into his profile the systems around him whirled to life. Different screens reporting various readouts. Nathan looked them over seeing Boov had set up a fairly decent system.

  On one screen he could see the power read outs, which he had intended to check anyway. With a few clicks he noticed that with the full module being operational now it was using most of the power from his current set of solar arrays. Only saving him a tenth of their power every day. However the new fusion reactor was almost all being stored. The life support took an outstanding 45 QOBOP per day to run at its current levels. Nathan wasn’t sure if that would get lower when the module was no longer venting air and when it warmed up or it that was going to be the normal.

  Regardless as it was he was storing up almost 75 QOBOP a day in the various power cells and batteries he owned.

  Flicking the screen away he went back to the screen he was originally looking for and began to issue commands. As he did so he spoke to Boov, “Well you kind of said it yourself. They are good at replacing things. So I currently have six ships not giving a readout at all and the other six reading unopperational. If we power them up a bit. Then boot up their computers we can run a diagnostic. Maybe from there we can get enough working parts to get a few of them fully operational.”

 

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