by R J Murray
“I did not ask a question. Docking not possible with asteroid.”
“Can we get close enough to this thing for me to get out and walk?”
“EVA not recommended due to mission requirements, but possible. Priority given to mission requires that I refuse any contact with asteroid.”
“Give me a minute here Betty. Are you refusing to follow my orders?”
“Affirmative. My programming gives priority to orders from control. My apologies.”
Eric thought for a minute. He knew control wanted the mission first, but to hear that he was second in the line of command out here, with mission control hours away by com was stupid. He could be dead by the time they knew there was a problem. He made a decision.
“What lines of programming does this involve? Show me on my screen.”
The lines of programming appeared and Eric very carefully removed those pertaining to control having priority. Then he added a few lines making sure that any other programming that involved control making his decisions invalid would be subject to his approval before Betty would act on them. Of course, control had anticipated that, but Eric reworked their somewhat simple efforts with ease and added his own complex algorithms to prevent them from finding out or changing anything. Satisfied with the work, Eric loaded the modified programs back into Betty.
“Programming accepted. Soft contact with surface of object and tethering would be safest approach. Surface gravity not sufficient for walking, recommend reaction pack.”
“Okay. Make this happen. ETA to object?”
“Ten minutes to soft contact and tethering. Do you wish to scan object with all sensors?”
Eric paused. Normally all sensors meant launching a satellite or two in orbit. If he used them here, he would be short for other star systems in his flight path. Then he laughed. With so many empty orbits behind him, he had plenty no matter how many he launched here. “Can we retrieve satellites for reuse at a later date?”
“Affirmative.”
“Launch as required for full scan. I’m heading for the suit bay.”
“Affirmative.”
Eric felt the small pulse as the satellites were launched. He counted four launches by the time he reached the suit bay and stood facing his choices. He had several space suits available to him, from suits needed for a poison atmosphere with Earth like conditions to an armored monster that he sat in and drove like a tank.
“Suit recommendation?” Eric faced the monitor as he spoke, even though it wasn’t needed. His habits from speaking with people carried over aboard the ship and to the computer.
“Level three required.”
Eric grunted. Level three was a hard shell powered suit. The back opened like a hatch and you had to chin yourself to get in. The armor was good for mild radiation and for resisting sharp and pointy things like rocks or jagged metal. He moved to the back of the compartment and began to check his coveralls pockets, placing the items on the shelf next to the mirror. His face looked pale as usual. He really needed to spend a little more time under the sun lamps to keep his vitamin D up if nothing else. Eric checked his beard and hair. Too long and it interfered with the helmet controls, too short and it itched. He ran his hand over his hair and decided it was acceptable, but getting to the point where a trim wouldn’t hurt. His face was normal enough, no different than most other thirty year old men. His brown hair streaked with gray already and his eyes, steel gray and hard looking were slightly bloodshot. At a hundred and eighty six centimeters, his height was average. Well built and trim due to his training, Eric maintained his physique with his gym in North Bay One.
Eric moved to the rear of the suit, opened the back and grabbed the overhead bar to chin himself before swinging his legs into the opening.
“Why level three?” He asked.
“Object appears to be hollow in places. Caves or tunnels could contain puncture hazards,”
Eric stopped dead in his tracks, his mind and imagination racing. “Is this a ship?” he asked in a whisper.
“Negative. It is a metallic/stony asteroid with hollow areas.”
“Well crap. Thanks. Way to get my heart pumping.”
“You’re welcome. Did your heart cease functioning? Do you require med care? If so the EVA should be postponed until a proper diagnosis . . .”
“Shut up. It was a figure of speech.” Eric grinned in spite of himself. The computer could be funny even without the personality he had implanted.
“Understood. Tether secured in three places on surface. Reeling ship down to object. Please brace for contact in five seconds.”
“Well crap again.” Eric had one leg in the suit and his hands still on the overhead bar. With the ship attempting to gently bump the asteroid, the inertia-dampening field was on standby. He squeezed harder on the bar and waited. The bump caused him to slap his face on the back of the helmet hard enough for his nose to bleed.
“Do you require med care? I detect a slight loss of blood from your nose.”
“No thanks. It’ll stop in a second.”
Eric finished entering the suit and sealed the rear. “Give me a systems check, please.”
Like most things about space travel, the routine tasks were incredibly boring, but necessary. While the computer ran the tests on the suit, Eric checked oxygen levels, batteries, lights, fuel for the reaction motors, heating and cooling and set the piss tube in place. His suits were all set up for urine storage as needed, but only two were set up for feces. It limited his time outside the ship but made the suit less bulky. The tank had an actual if rather small low g toilet toward the back.
“Suit systems within normal parameters. You may proceed to airlock.”
“Affirmative.” The suit moved as Eric walked, even though his muscles were far too weak to lift the legs of the heavy suit. Reactive sensors controlled the suit and negative feedback supplied the energy and greatly amplified force to allow Eric to wear the suit instead of driving it. That way he could concentrate on not doing something stupid and dying.
The door to the airlock closed behind him and the cycle ran through, sucking all the air out and giving Eric one last check for leaks before the outer door opened. His anticipation was somewhat subdued by the fact that the asteroid would block most of the sky. Eric could see a few stars through the open doorway and what appeared to be a dirt surface in front of him. The airlock was facing the surface so Eric just pushed away from the door behind him and drifted down. He used the small reaction motors to orient the suit so his feet would touch the surface first and waited as the dirt got closer.
His toes touched and a small puff of dust rose up around him then fell immediately since there was no atmosphere present to slow it down. He anticipated the light impact and bent his knees to absorb it. He still bounced a few meters back up but the jets from the reaction motors slowly pushed him back down. At less than a meter above the surface Eric stopped the descent and oriented the suit to move along the surface toward the closest hollow spot.
“Distance fifteen meters. Change course ten degrees to right.”
Eric did the course change without responding. Betty knew what the suit was doing without his feedback, even though he did respond at times, just to be able to chat with another voice.
A large pit appeared ahead of Eric and he slowed to observe before turning the suit to face the ship. He wanted to make sure of his orientation before he ventured into the interior of the asteroid. His ship was pretty. The surface was mostly white with the flag of the Terran Federation painted on the large globe. One of the suggestions was that the globe ship be painted with a representation of Earth itself, the seas, continents and nations displayed as though the Earth had been shrunk down to this miniature version and propelled across this arm of the galaxy. Eric still thought they should have done that but the flag had been chosen instead. Eric grinned once again of the picture in his head, meeting an alien race who was totally confused by a planet a kilometer in diameter. He looked down at the rock benea
th his feet once again, a round rock, three kilometers in diameter, matching the shape of his ship. He shook his head and began his descent into the hole.
~~~~~~
The hole was made of rock. Eric’s daydream of finding an alien artifact, an alien star ship quickly faded as he moved through the deep hole. It was just a hole in a space rock and not very exciting. He could see sparkling points of reflected light but they were just clusters of minerals and crystals, not worked metal. He was down almost twenty meters and had found nothing of interest.
“Are you getting the data from my suit Betty?”
“Affirmative. Request samples of crystal structure at twenty degrees to the left of your heading.”
“All right. Eric turned to the wall and moved closer. “This one?” He pointed, knowing his cameras would show Betty where he was looking.
“Affirmative. A second sample from the object twenty eight centimeters to the right.”
“Okay. One minute.” Eric used one of the built in tools from his suit to chisel out the crystal sample, taking a few centimeters of rock from the surrounding area to save the crystal structure from damage. His helmet nav system pinpointed the second sample on his helmet display as he turned right. He stopped and lifted the tool to remove the object before realizing that it was a piece of a machine.
“Whoa. Betty, scan object and tell me what you get.” Eric held his breath.
“Steel, chrome, nickel, unknown alloy. Object has been subjected to extreme heat and radiation, although it is not radioactive at this time.”
“I am taking object back to ship. Prepare isolation for examination.”
“Affirmative. Isolation not indicated under normal parameters. Please expand reasons for request.” Betty waited for Eric to respond all the while obediently preparing isolation for the object.
“It’s a piece of a machine. The potential for harboring an unknown organism is high. Do you have any indication of age?”
“Asteroid is several millions of years. Object is less than one million but more than nine thousand. Additional data required to confirm and reduce range. Information concerning this object now restricted, per program Area Fifty One.”
“What? Restricted? By who?”
“By you. Program installed by you immediately after this vessel left the solar system. You said it was just in case we met any little green men.”
“Oh. Yeah. It was a joke. I wasn’t serious.” Eric relaxed, remembering the night he left the sun behind and the reference to the mythical secret alien base on Earth. He drank a little more than he should have and did some silly things that night. If mission control knew he had smuggled hard liquor on board, they would probably be very unhappy. As it was, Betty had the con and he had nothing to do but sit and be very scared after the initial activation of the star drive.
The cigars and the champagne they knew about and supplied. They were for the first time he found a new world that could become home to a small portion of mankind. He looked down at the small chunk of machinery now tether to the suit and smiled. Maybe it wasn’t a planet, but this was something special. Mission control might just want him to bring this home ASAP and a little champagne would be very apropos.
~~~~~~
“Pathfinder, we have analyzed the object and wish to know if you’re nuts. It is part of your ship, a control circuit from the reaction drive used in normal space. Not funny Eric, but expected from someone with your erratic psyche profile. Mission control, out.”
Eric played the message back and listened carefully. “Betty, when did this come in?”
“During your sleep period. One hour, twenty three minutes, seventeen seconds after your sleep period began.” Betty responded. “Second message available.”
“Is this object part of this ship?”
“It bears a strong resemblance to our control circuit, but contains elements unknown on Earth. Hypothesis available.”
“Let me hear it.” Eric sat back and waited, confused about what he had found.
“An alien race existed several thousand years ago. They developed a drive similar to ours. A ship or ships were damaged or destroyed by possible explosions and this piece struck the asteroid. Second hypothesis. The asteroid is a very old ship, one created using an asteroid as the frame. It was destroyed and drifted until it arrived here. Third hypothesis. You are playing a trick on mission control.”
“Most likely hypothesis?” Eric asked, knowing the answer.
“You are playing a trick. Concerning elements unknown, you deceived my scanners which is why I cannot identify one alloy used to make the object. As to how we have no missing parts from the inventory or the engine in question, it is possible you programmed me to so that I would lack this information. All these assumptions would create a hazard to myself and the mission, therefore it is unlikely that any of these hypothesis are correct.”
“I am not playing a trick on anyone concerning this object. Assume second hypothesis is correct and start tracking the asteroids path back to point of origin.” Eric got up and headed for the galley. He had come straight to the bridge to check on the analysis and found the message from mission control. He was going to eat before he did anything else. “I’ll listen to the second message in the chow hall.”
~~~~~~
The second message had been brief. One of the mission directors, Bergeson or Franklin, one of the big shots he never met before.
“Your mission is to find habitable planets, not take a stroll on a piece of dead rock! If this occurs again, we will take steps and you will be in deep trouble. Stay on mission! Do not deviate! Leave this useless rock behind and get into orbit around the next planet! Do your damn job!”
Betty announced that she had just received orders to leave him behind if he failed to continue. Eric told her to delete the order and show him anything new that would force her to accept orders from control or the directors to leave him.
Now he was back inside the asteroid, descending deeper into the hole where he found the machinery. He was angry with the director and mission control and decided what the hell. He was five hundred light years from anything they could do to him. A few months ago he would have never even considered landing, much less ignoring orders but this was different. This was more important than the mission because of where it could lead and if those morons on Earth couldn’t see it then they could take a flying leap off a cliff! He was shaking with anger as he attempted to focus on the sides of the hole.
“Your heart rate is quite high. Do you need assistance? I can administer a mild sedative if needed.”
“I’m fine, just excited. Give me a minute to calm down.” Eric didn’t want any sedative while he was inside the hole. He took several breathes and concentrated on his breathing and heart rate. The older books and tapes he had brought aboard about meditation and holistic approaches to life were not allowed, but he smuggled them aboard anyway along with the whisky and extra cigars. It worked and his heart rate dropped. A few months ago, he wouldn’t have lost his temper either.
He briefly considered asking for permission to follow up but he knew they would refuse. The flight to the point of origin would take several months and he was certain control would be unpleasant about his taking the time for a visit. The next set of ships would be leaving Earth within six months and they wanted his mission completed by then.
Since the object was moving toward his next stop, anyway, he saw no reason not to examine the hole in detail. Perhaps he could find more bits and pieces and convince control that this was the real deal. His suit now had a few extra scanners and relay sets to send more data to Betty, and extra oxygen for a longer stay. Betty was prepping her idiot little sister for use as well. Jane was a portable computer unit similar to Betty but much smaller and with greatly reduced capability.
“Betty, see anything that might interest me?”
“Negative. Crystal structures are located above and below your current location. Secondary tunnel branches begin at one hundred meters be
low your position. Stony surface will stop in five meters. Metallic structure detected at that point.”
“Metallic . . . How many branches?” Eric was glad he had loaded up the extra bulk of the sensors and relays.
“Current tunnel runs west to junction. At that point it intersects an additional tunnel running north/south. Various side tunnels and rooms are scattered along each tunnel.” Static began to grow in the headphones as Eric dropped lower, but not enough to block Betty’s’ continuing observations and directions. His lights began to reflect more as he dropped into the tunnel.
“Betty, tell me these walls are not metal.”
“This would be inaccurate. Why would you wish me to falsify data?”
“Hu-Mor.”
“Data accepted. These walls are made of cheese. Brie I believe.” Betty’s voice was flat and contained no humor as she ran one of the built in responses Eric had given her.
“Okay. What are they really made of? No Hu-Mor.” Eric waited looking back up the tunnel he had fallen down. It stretched almost five hundred meters over his head. He could see a few stars at the top, cold hard points of light without atmosphere to make them twinkle. He wondered why they would cover the ship with rocks that thick.
“Steel, unknown alloy, magnesium, chromium and traces of corundum.”
“Corundum? Like gems?”
“Affirmative. Sapphire and Emerald to be precise in microscopic quantities and layered along the surface as a protective coating.”
“Which is why it still reflects light so well in spite of the age and dirt. Any suggestions as to which tunnel to take?” Eric set up a relay set to transmit data back to the ship. He and Betty felt the walls of the asteroid could block the signals. He moved deeper into the structure and could already see the junction ahead a few hundred meters.
“If this is indeed a space craft similar to myself, the north tunnel would lead to the bridge.” Betty identified the ship as an extension of her mainframe, something that Eric had NOT installed, at least not that he could remember. She had just started doing it about four months earlier.
After dropping a relay Eric swung to ships north and his jets pushed him slowly along the tunnel. His lights revealed dust and dirt along the floors and walls, coating some surfaces. The walls had regular sections with thin joints every twenty meters or so. The joints in the floor and ceiling were the same distance apart, but didn’t line up with the wall joints. The ceiling seemed to have some type of light fixture every few meters, recessed into the surface. At one hundred meters, two more tunnels appeared at right angles to the north tunnel. Eric turned his lights down each, but they simply continued on beyond the range of his lights. There were partially open doors on one side of the intersection. Peering in through the crack Eric could see that it was an elevator shaft.
