Scrapyard Ship

by Mark Wayne McGinnis

  A booming voice came from an adjacent row of cages directly across the center open area.

  “No! Traveler! It is time to regain our honor. It is time to bring freedom to our people.” The other rhino-beast bellowed in a commanding voice. Like Traveler, he was standing at the front of his cage, with legs apart and hands on hips. Jason looked back to Traveler.

  “The one who speaks is one of our leaders. He is called Three Horns. A great warrior and decision-maker.”

  Jason wasn’t sure, but he thought Traveler was smiling—although his mouth was mostly hidden beneath several folds of gray skin. Jason turned to look across at Three Horns, and sure enough, he had two additional, albeit smaller, horns above his primary horn. He was nodding his large head and also appeared to be smiling.

  “Can I trust you?” Jason asked, directing his question toward Three Horns.

  “Can we trust you?” The beast replied back.

  “Your warriors will fight with our warriors, until we defeat the Craing, or die trying,” Jason asked. “It may be a while before we can save your world.”

  “We will fight side by side with you, as brothers. But we will not be caged.”

  Jason took a step forward and swung open the gate to Traveler’s cage and stepped aside. “You can release Three Horns, then follow us,” Jason said to his crewmembers.

  “Captain, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Morgan said, blocking the rhino-warrior from leaving the cage.

  “Stand aside, Lieutenant. These cages won’t hold them long anyway, and we need to trust them. It’s in our mutual best interest to work together.” Jason gestured with a nod of his head for Morgan to step aside.

  Because of their significant weight, the two rhino-warriors needed to be taken down the lift separately. Jason had an idea brewing—something that just might work.

  Chapter 17

  Jason had forgotten about the presidential tour in progress. He saw the small group had arrived at the Zoo and that Mollie stood in front of them, halfway down the corridor. She was talking and pointing up toward a rocky plateau fifty yards out. Two blue, eight-foot tall carnivores were shredding a large side of beef.

  “These guys in Hab 12 scare me. I think they’re called Serapin-Terplins; we just call them Serapins and they’re native to several planets. They look like raptors to me, but have fingers on their hands. Oh, and they have really pretty baby blue skin. Jack says we need to make sure they always have fresh meat in their habitat and lots of it.” Mollie shrugged and was about to move on to the next habitat when Jason, Morgan, Dira and the two giant rhino-warriors entered the Zoo.

  Earlier, the rhino-warriors had requested the return of their weapons; Jason agreed to their hammers but not to their energy weapons. Jason smiled and held his hands up letting everyone know that things were well under control. Just the same, the president’s marine detail moved in front of the crowd with their weapons raised. Jason spotted Nan peering around one of the soldiers. Her expression was similar to that of the president’s.

  The rhino-warriors were fidgety, staring first at the multiple rifle barrels trained on them and then at the two blue carnivores in the Zoo habitat.

  “Please lower your weapons. I’d like to make some introductions,” Jason said, as calmly as he could muster. Both Admiral Crawford and Defense Secretary Walker looked at the two rhino-warriors with concern and irritation showing on their faces.

  “What the hell you doing, Reynolds? Do you realize how inappropriate this is—bringing two armed –uh -aliens near the proximity of the president?” Admiral Crawford fumed.

  “I didn’t bring them here to meet President Ross. No offense sir, but we have other business to attend to. Just the same, please meet our new allies. Traveler and Three Horns are joining forces with us to defeat the Craing. We’ve learned that their world was conquered by the Craing, and their mates and offspring held captive while the male warriors have been forced to fight with the Craing or suffer the consequences. They have over one hundred and fifty warriors here and I need to find them accommodations.”

  Jack, the Zoo’s caretaker, standing quietly off to the side had listened in and Jason now had his full attention.

  The president bullied his way through his armed detail and stood before the two rhino-warriors. “I’m Howard Ross and I’d like to personally thank you. On behalf of the country, welcome.” The president held the stare of the two rhinos.

  Traveler and Three Horns waited for the AI to complete the translation and then nodded. Three Horns looked over at Jason and did his version of a shrug. “Who is this small man who welcomes us to this strange place?” he inquired, sounding confused.

  “Three Horns, he is our country’s leader, our primary decision-maker.”

  Realization set-in and the two warriors lowered their heads. “Forgive my rudeness, I meant no disrespect.”

  “Over the coming days I’d like to talk with you more, discuss our mutual goals and together plan how to defeat the Craing,” said the president.

  The two warriors did not answer; instead, they raised their hammers, knocking them together high over their heads. Instinctively, everyone covered their ears against the intense noise.

  I’m sure that’s just a high-five gesture in their culture,” Jason said to the group, not actually knowing any such thing. “Please, go on with your tour while I speak with Jack about the Zoo.” Jason winked at Mollie and walked with his two new allies further down the corridor to where Jack was waiting for them.

  “I have a strange request for you, Jack. Three Horns and his warriors do not do well in confined spaces. I’d like you to work with him. I’m assuming there are open, unused habitats available?” Jason asked, looking around at seemingly endless miles and miles of varying eco-habitat space. Jack did his customary scratching of his beard and appraised the two rhino-beasts.

  “What are the living conditions on your planet?” Jack asked them.

  Three Horns thought for a moment and then strode off toward the far end of the corridor. He stopped and stood gazing, hands on hips. Before him lay one of many ten-foot wide openings into a massive habitat beyond. Three Horns pointed: “Much like this land. We stay here.”

  Jack shook his head, “No, no, that’s already occupied.” Jack and the rest of the group hurried down the corridor and stood next to the large beast.

  “I’ll find you a more suitable habitat, perhaps Hab 23. Let me check—”

  “No, I have selected this one,” Three Horns said, indignation in his voice.

  Jack looked over to Jason for him to decide.

  “See if you can make this work, Jack,” he said, apologetically.

  Jack accessed a small monitor mounted to an area of the bulkhead that divided the habitats from one another. “Well, this habitat contains the Furlongs. This actually might work. Just wait, one will show itself shortly. The two warriors soon became impatient and started to pace back and forth in front of the habitat. Finally, there was movement. A family of large bear-like animals had assembled in the distance, near the side of a stream.

  “They look like regular bears,” Jason said, somewhat disappointed.

  “They are very similar to bears, mostly like the North American Grizzly,” Jack replied. Traveler stepped up closer to the habitat opening, where his horn penetrated the invisible field separating the habitat from the inside of the corridor. He was thrust backward and landed hard on his backside. Mollie’s presidential tour group down the corridor turned around to see what the commotion was about. Traveler got back to his feet, no worse for wear.

  “Can they share the habitat? It won’t be forever,” Jason asked, looking over to Jack.

  Three Horns nodded his head affirmatively. “Yes, we hunt the Furlong bear—cook the meat on open fires.” Jack looked over at Jason with an expression that said, see, this won’t work.

  “If you’re going to stay here, temporarily, you cannot hunt the Furlong bear, It’s an endangered species,” Jason said, although he had n
o idea if that were true or not. “It’s either here, with your food supplied by Jack, no hunting, or you and your warriors can stay back in the cages. It’s up to you.” Jason started to walk away, indicating it made no difference to him.

  Three Horns, seemingly upset he’d said the wrong thing, replied: “Yes, we live alongside the Furlong bear. This will be our home while we join you and fight the Craing together.”

  Jason turned and nodded his head. Then he looked at Lieutenant Morgan. “I’m putting this project in your hands. Get the rest of the rhino-warriors situated. Work with Jack here and make sure we can retrieve them when needed.”

  “Yes, sir,” Morgan replied.

  * * *

  Jason awoke as soon as he detected movement in his cabin. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted two amber spheres moving and hovering in the darkness. The lights came on when Jason sat up. Ricket stood at the foot of his bed.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” Jason asked, annoyed, and looked to see if anyone else had barged into his quarters in the middle of the night. “What time is it?”

  “0400. Sorry to disturb your sleep, Captain. I have made some new discoveries, ones that may help us against the approaching fleet.”

  Jason rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Wait for me in my ready room, I’ll be right there.”

  Jason took a quick shower, got dressed, and was sipping coffee when he found Ricket waiting for him in the ready room. “Okay, what have you got for me, Ricket?”

  “Best if I show you, sir.” Ricket answered, as he headed for the door.

  * * *

  The flight deck was in stark contrast to the last time Jason saw it: Where it had been quiet as a tomb before, it was a flurry of activity and sound now: The loud noise came from power tools and blasting rock-and-roll music. Jason smiled. He was starting to like these hotshots. Five of The Lilly’s six sleek, dark red one-man fighters were at different stages of dismantlement around the flight deck. All of the newly-arrived Top-Gun pilots were there. One was only partially visible up on a ladder, bent over a fighter’s drive compartment, while another pilot, up in the fighter’s cockpit, impatiently shouted down for a stabilization calibrator. How does he even know what that is? Jason wondered. Lieutenant Craig Wilson, the self-appointed leader of the team, was at the far side of the flight deck barking orders to three pilots sitting in their respective cockpits. When Wilson noticed the captain he barked several more orders and walked confidently over to where Jason and Ricket were standing. He then came to attention and saluted.

  “As you were, Lieutenant,” Jason said, returning his salute. “I commend your diligence, everyone’s, but what is it that required me to get out of my bunk at 0400?”

  “Best if we show you, sir.” Wilson replied with a smile. He turned on his heels and with a twirling index-finger gesture held high in the air, the three fighters on the far side of the flight deck simultaneously disappeared. Momentarily surprised at the disappearance of three of his fighters, Jason quickly realized what happened, and smiled.

  Ricket moved to the main flight deck console along the bulkhead, entered something on the pad, and the twenty-foot high flight deck doors began to slide open. Jason and the others congregated at the opened large bay doors. Dawn had given way to morning light; the sun was peaking above a distant ridgeline. Sitting fifty yards out in the desert were the three fighters. Jason nodded his head. “Good! So where are we now with the other three fighters?” he asked, turning toward Wilson and Ricket.

  “Two more will be shift-ready within the hour. We still have one fighter that is totally inaccessible,” Wilson responded.

  “What do you mean by inaccessible?” Jason asked, looking over to one fighter still pushed back against the bulkhead.

  Ricket took off his baseball cap and used it to gesture toward the lone fighter. “It’s not a problem with the fighter, it’s a system’s issue; something with the AI not allowing access.”

  “Why would The AI not give you access?” Before Ricket could answer, Jason addressed The Lilly directly: “Lilly, are you monitoring this conversation?”

  “Yes, Captain,” The AI responded.

  “What’s going on with that last fighter? Why can’t we access it like we did the others?”

  “Original Caldurian configuration parameters do not provide adequate level clearance to access the Pacesetter fighter.”

  The fighter was not actually the same as the others. It was slightly larger, more maroon than red, and it actually sat two pilots instead of one. Jason looked down to Ricket for his intake, but he was scratching his head again.

  “Captain, this is new information for me. Like the AI itself, the ship’s database and my own memory banks were wiped clean many years ago. Until now, I’d never heard any reference to the Caldurians, or anything about the original inhabitants of The Lilly,” Ricket explained, his face showing a mixture of emotions, most of which Jason couldn’t read.

  Wilson interjected, “Sir, I’d like permission to start atmospheric, as well as outer orbit flight training maneuvers. HyperLearning can only go so far, we need time at the stick.”

  Jason nodded. “Permission granted; ensure you stay within the geographic confines of the outpost for atmospheric flights, coordinate all flights through the XO, and maintain constant coms contact.” Jason brought his attention back to Ricket and the issue at hand.

  “Lilly, why are you revealing this information now? What’s changed?”

  “Original Caldurian configuration parameters have been updated,” the AI responded, her voice a monotone, but borderline bitchy.

  “By whom?” Jason asked, not liking the direction this was going.

  “By the Caldurian.”

  Jason had to let that sink in for a moment. He could see why Ricket found the AI difficult to work with. Like pulling teeth, getting the full story was tedious.

  Irritated, Jason continued, “Lilly, I require complete information. You seem fairly intelligent, work with me here. The old status quo, where you provided only minimum information, is not acceptable. ”

  “Yes, Captain, please migrate to AI standard operational mode,” the voice replied flatly.

  “What mode are we in now?” Jason asked, confused.

  “What you would refer to as Safe Mode. As acting captain, only you have permission status to bring The Lilly AI fully online to Operational Mode.”

  Jason looked down to Ricket, “You didn’t know any of this? Why wouldn’t my father have done this years ago?”

  “Your father found The Lilly AI most irritating. After a while he wouldn’t even speak with it,” Ricket replied, then shrugged his little shoulders as if his whole understanding of the world was flipped upside down.

  “Well, you’re the Science Officer, Ricket, do I upgrade these parameters? Are there any dangers in doing so?” Jason asked, feeling he was in way over his head again. Ricket did not reply. He looked perplexed.

  “Lilly, earlier you mentioned the parameters had been changed by the Caldurian. Are they still issuing you commands?”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Jason, now thoroughly irritated, wondered where the AI was physically located. He had visions of showing it his boot, or better yet, using it for target practice. The truth was—everything was at a crossroads. With hundreds of Craing ships on their way to Earth, their small efforts so far seemed too minor, too insubstantial, to fight off the imminent approach of the overwhelming Craing forces now only two days travel away. Jason, his crew, and their distinguished guests had read his father’s report. Two thousand United Planetary Alliance warships had been annihilated by a Craing armada. That same fleet was now approaching Earth. If something radical didn’t change, and change soon—Earth’s situation was hopeless. Jason didn’t really see a choice in the matter.

  “Lilly, who do you report to, me or the Caldurians?”

  “The Caldurians set the original parameters. I report to and follow your orders,” the AI replied.

  Jason
looked one more time for some indication from Ricket. After a moment, Ricket nodded his head.

  “Lilly, please go ahead and migrate to AI standard operational mode. Do it now.”

  “Would you like the cyborg you refer to as Ricket to also be migrated to operational mode?”

  Jason saw both surprise and worry in Ricket’s eyes. Obviously, he had never considered the fact that he was so closely tied to The Lilly in this way. Jason was fairly sure Ricket was thinking along the same lines as himself. “How will it affect you? I mean—will you still be you?”

  Ricket seemed to weigh the implications, “There is no way to determine this beforehand, Captain.”

  “Lilly, can that decision be made on its own at another time?” Jason asked.

  “Yes, but it is not advisable.”

  “Do not update Ricket at this time, but continue with updating the AI to standard operational mode.” Jason first saw relief wash over Ricket’s face, but then he shook his head.

  “No, Captain, please continue with my update as well. I would always wonder if I were operating at less than optimum. But thank you, sir,” Ricket said, with resigned expectation.

  “Lilly, go ahead and update both.”

  “This process will take three minutes. All concurrent system processes will continue as normal and be unaffected. Although verbal access will discontinue temporarily.”

  Almost immediately, Ricket became immobile, as if on pause. Wishing to give Ricket his privacy until the systems updated, Jason turned away. Still hearing the music in the background, he spent the time watching the fighters conduct their training exercises. They were flying in formation, skimming mere feet from the desert floor, only to swoop up at near-vertical angles toward the sky and disappear up into Earth’s outer orbit.