Checking his time piece, Glyn realized he had yet again spent more time in the book room than intended, and as the evening meal would soon be served he replaced the book in its place, and hurried back to the main section of the ship in time to join the others as they filed into the eating room.
Several people commented on how bonny and glowing Mia looked, which he thought was a little premature considering how little time had passed since they had been asked to go to the Medic’s room. So he put it down to over enthusiasm mixed with a little propitiation, as no one else was bearing a child at the time, though many would very much have liked to, if they had been given the chance.
No one asked him where he had been, although he had been missing for hours and there weren’t that many people aboard the ship that his lack of presence wouldn’t be queried by someone.
Mia was still bubbling over with the forthcoming event, although it was still a long way off in reality. ‘How nice to be so simple,’ he thought, and then dismissed the idea, as he quite enjoyed the little mysteries of life, especially the concept of forbidden areas on board the ship.
The meal progressed as normal, the usual chit-chat and banter being interspersed with ribald comments as the ‘chef’s’ offerings, sporting more gaudy colours than usual, were produced to the delight of those who specialized in such criticisms.
Glyn wondered about returning to the book room after the meal, but thought better of it, as such time was usually spent with the other members of the ship in one way or another, and although no one missed him during the afternoon visit, his absence now might well not go unrecorded, and awkward questions could be asked.
A ‘ping’ sounded, and all turned their attention towards the screen over the hatchway.
‘Some of you are concerned about the safety of using the equipment in the Medic’s room. All the equipment has been checked over and found to be working perfectly.’
‘It is only the verbal and screen responses of the Medic which have malfunctioned, and these are not of paramount importance to your continued well being. I have taken over the duties of the Medic’s verbal circuits and will answer any pertinent questions which may arise in the future. For those of you who are interested, there is a large mass of rock, probably part of the remains of a broken-up planet, approaching from the rear end of the ship. It is in no danger of hitting the ship, but should be a spectacular sight for those of you interested in stellar activities. That is all, have a pleasant evening.’ The click of the audio system cutting off seemed all the louder in the ensuing silence.
‘I for one, want to have a look at that.’ Arki looked around to see if anyone else was interested. Glyn was the only one who responded with a ‘Me too.’ and wondered why no one else had joined in.
The group broke up, some going to the games room, some flexing their muscles indicating that the exercise equipment was going to get a working over, while a small group of the females gathered around Mia and were deep in conversation, probably about the child she was now carrying.
Glyn and Arki made their way to the observation room which was situated near the front end of the ship, both of them unable to understand why no one else had shown an interest in such an unusual event.
‘You know, I sometimes wonder if the rest of them are getting a little too introverted in their own self importance to the exclusion of the overall reason for this expedition, and the tremendous technical achievement of those who built the ship.’ Glyn was at last venting some of the repressed feeling he had been aware of for some time, and Arki was just about the only person he felt safe to voice his opinions to.
‘I’ve thought the same for some time,’ replied Arki, ‘we are sustained and surrounded by man’s greatest technical achievements, and most of us just take it for granted. Seems a pity to me.’
They had now reached the observation chamber door and it opened obediently to their presence, silently closing to leave them cocooned in the small blister of transparent material which comprised the observation room. Four chairs, firmly secured to the floor, faced outwards, affording those seated upon them an unrestricted view of the star field outside the ship, and giving the observer the feeling of being isolated in space.
‘I don’t see any sign of an asteroid.’ said Arki, scanning the star field which almost surrounded them, ‘but then the Captain didn’t say when it would appear.’
‘It must be soon, I should think, or he would have mentioned a specific time.’ replied Glyn, trying to locate the piece of space debris.
They passed a pleasant half hour or so, enjoying each others company and the fact that they both held similar views on most of the things which mattered in their world.
Glyn was just about to suggest that they return to the others, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a few stars suddenly wink out of existence.
‘I think our visitor is about to make its presence felt, look back there.’ he nodded his head indicating the section of the dome which was nearest the rear of the ship.
Arki strained forward, as if getting as near as possible to the transparent shield of the dome would increase his depth of vision.
‘Yes, I see it now. My God it’s big. Hope the Captain is right when he said it will pass us by.’
Slowly, the huge mass of what was once part of a planet, crept up to the ship, blocking out the stars as if a giant black curtain had been drawn across the heavens.
The sheer size of the asteroid made it look much closer to the ship than it actually was, and both observers in the dome shrank back instinctively, and then chuckled at their involuntary reaction to the spectacle before them.
The asteroid had blocked out the star light facing the dome, while light from the other side of the ship lit up the surface of the dark space traveller, allowing some detail of its surface to be seen and casting a shadow of the ship on its surface.
‘Now that’s interesting,’ commented Glyn, ‘it’s the first time since the ship’s been sent on its voyage that any of its inhabitants have had a chance to see its true shape.’
It’s certainly bigger than the equipment room map would indicate,’ added Arki, ‘but then we can’t be sure as we don’t know the actual distance we are from the asteroid’s surface.’
Both men sat there in stunned silence while the enormous lump of space rock slowly drifted by them, dwarfing their ship into insignificance.
‘Look at that, about four o’clock on the lower edge, it looks like a structure of some kind. See how the star light reflects off those stilt like protuberances, they must be metallic to shine like that.’ Glyn was getting really excited now, his voice going up several tones.
‘Could be, could be.’ Arki didn’t sound as certain as Glyn had, but then he was the more cautious of the two.
‘Who’s to say we are the only ones in the universe, just because no one has as yet made contact with anyone else?’ Arki added, not wanting to dampen Glyn’s enthusiasm, meanwhile looking for a more natural explanation of the phenomenon.
As the huge mass slowly glided by, the angle at which the light struck the strange construction on its surface changed also, adding more detail for the two observers.
‘You know, I think you’re right. It does look as if it’s been built, it’s far too symmetrical for a natural occurrence, at least any that I can envisage.’
‘It can’t be the remains of another space ship, it’s far too big for that, besides which, most of it looks like rock, and if it were the remains of a shattered planet, then I would have thought all surface features would have been destroyed in the break up. So what the hell is it?’
‘You may well ask.’ replied Arki, realizing the question was really rhetorical anyway.
As the huge mass slowly crept past their ship, details of more strange constructions came into view, confounding every theory the two observers could come up with.
Eventually, the massive asteroid overtook the ship, showing its rear end as it slowly pulled ahead, and that gave rise to more specul
ation as the two strained forwards to soak up every possible detail.
‘See that circle of black markings on the end, they look like holes to me, and they’re big enough to put this ship in.’
‘Now that is far to contrived for a natural happening,’ Arki said, ‘and on a massive scale. Just look at the size of it.’
‘Looks as if those holes ran right through what ever it was and the bit we’re seeing broke off from the main whatever, if you see what I mean.’ Arki was having a hard time expressing himself coherently.
As the asteroid slid from view, overtaking the ship in the process, the pair were left with more questions than answers, and certainly more than they had started out with.
‘I’m going to question the Captain about this.’ said Glyn.
‘I think you’ll be wasting your time, I can’t see him coming up with anything very interesting.’ Arki offered. ‘Why not? He knew about the asteroid long before we did, and he must have observed its passing, so he must have more knowledge about it than us, what with all the instruments he has at his disposal. I think it’s worth a try.’ Glyn was determined, so Arki went along with him just in case it worked.
Once the asteroid had passed and the stars shone forth again, as beautiful and overwhelming as the sight was, it paled into insignificance after what the pair had been witness to, so they left the observation room, returning to the main area of the ship where the normalities of life were going on.
‘Hello you two, what have you been up to? You look as if you’ve seen something a bit shattering.’ Benz looked surprised.
‘We have, the passing asteroid the Captain mentioned at the meal break. You should have seen it, absolutely massive, made us feel quite insignificant.’ Arki relied, trying to raise a little enthusiasm in the otherwise staid Benz.
‘Oh that, I think I’d rather not see that sort of thing really, it has nothing to do with life here as far as I’m concerned, and the Captain would have done something about it if we were in any danger.’ Benz was, as usual, agog with indifference about such things.
‘You would have been if it had come closer, and hit us up the rear end.’ Glyn didn’t like the dismissive attitude displayed by Benz, but then, remembering what Benz was like, changed the subject and asked him what he had been doing.
The rest of the evening passed as most did, visiting various groups engaged in time passing activities. Glyn and Arki split up, each going their separate ways with their separate thoughts about what they had just seen.
The evening and its activities drew to a close, Glyn and Mia retiring to their cabin for the night, and after the usual pleasantries, settled down for some well earned rest in their separate bunks.
Glyn was looking forward to the next day, as he intended to question the Captain about the asteroid and then, time permitting, return to the book room to continue the saga of those who had gone before him.
As he drifted into sleep, he wondered what had happened to the originator of the diary and why his story had ended so abruptly. Perhaps there had been an accident, or maybe the Captain had got wind of his intended exploits and put a stop to them. He wondered if he would have the nerve to follow in the steps of the first story teller, for they had found the same malfunctioning lift when they went to the hydroponics room, delivering its occupants to the service tunnel, or was it a different one?
The dreams came and went, some making little sense, some entertaining, but so far, no nightmares.
The soft tones of the ‘morning is here’ gong sounded, pulling him out of a deep and restful sleep, not that he minded too much as today was going to be a little different, if he had half a chance.
Mia was in one of her giggly moods, which usually led to a bit of slap and tickle, and it did, with the usual panting climax, so they were the last in to breakfast.
A couple of knowing grins from the already seated diners failed to have much impact on Glyn, he had other matters on his mind.
The meal consumed, they all waited for the day’s chores to be announced and allocated. They didn’t have long to wait, the Captain’s voice came in right on cue.
‘There has been a malfunction on a panel deep within one of the control units for hydroponics garden number seven.
‘Four personnel will be needed for the repair, report to the equipment room where the replacement panel will be issued together with the necessary tools.’ Before the Captain had a chance to cut the audio channel off, Glyn was in like a shot, ‘Captain, thanks for telling us about the asteroid last evening, we saw it from the observation room and couldn’t make out what the metallic constructions on its surface were. Do you have any data on what they might have been?’
‘The asteroid was observed approaching the ship, calculations were done to make sure that it would pass harmlessly by, and you were informed of its presence. I have no further data on it.’ The click of the audio circuit being cut off was almost instantaneous with the last syllable spoken. The Captain wasn’t going to give anyone a second chance to ask any awkward questions.
Glyn turned to Arki, who was seated beside him, and said,
‘The Captain’s getting just a little too slick for my liking, he anticipated my next question and cut me off short. We’ll have to sharpen up a bit if we’re going to catch him out.’
‘You’ve got a real thing about the Captain, haven’t you? Be careful it doesn’t get out of proportion and distort your judgement.’ Arki was always ready with good advice, which was rarely taken.
Glyn, assuming Arki would accompany him, asked for two more volunteers to attend the control panel replacement exercise, and the four of them briskly walked off in the direction of the equipment room.
‘You know, I’m sure some of these jobs we get sent on aren’t really necessary. I think they are designed to keep us busy or perhaps to give us some feeling of usefulness.’
Glyn quietly said to Arki as they walked along, ‘and I mean to find out, one way or another.’
‘Does it really matter? Perhaps it’s just a practice in case there’s a real mishap one day, anyway, the last big one we did in the hydroponics room certainly was no practice, or time filler as you put it. Don’t forget we lost Bolin on that one and I don’t think the Captain would risk losing one of us if it could be helped.’
‘Maybe some of these events are real and others are as I’ve said, anyway, we’ll see soon enough.’ Glyn sounded determined to prove his point, and Arki gave him a hard sideways look as they walked along.
Two lifts and seemingly endless lengths of corridors later, they arrived at the door marked 308.
‘Well, here we are, but how do we get in? There’s no handle, code pad or anything else that I can see.’ one of the others said, but before anyone could answer, the door hissed open of its own accord and they all looked at each other, not wanting to be the first to cross the threshold.
‘Oh come on, it’s not likely anything’s going to bite us.’ Glyn retorted, sounding a little cross with them, and they all trooped into the box-like structure which housed the control units, the three of them looking a little sheepish.
‘We were given no instructions as to what to do, so where do.....’
‘Thank you for attending.’ The voice of the Captain boomed at them in the confined space of the cubicle.
‘Before you, you will see a large panel stretching from floor to ceiling. It has to be released from its frame and moved to one side. Behind it are two other panels which have to be removed in a like manner. This will expose the panel you need to work on. Please proceed.’
They located the clamps which held the massive panel in place, released them and then struggled to swing the glittering piece of electronic equipment over to one side like a giant door, exposing the next panel in the series.
‘I can see why four of us were needed.’ grunted one of Glyn’s volunteers as they finely manoeuvred the giant panel into its parking position. ‘You’d think they could have come up with something a bit easier than this.’
After much straining and heaving, the three panels were swung out of the way exposing the remaining one with the faulty circuit board on it.
‘You will notice on the top right-hand section of the remaining panel there is a circuit board with a flashing red light. Next to the light is a silver switch. Push this switch to the up position, release the clips holding the cable plug next to the switch, and withdraw the plug. Bend the cable form to one side. The circuit board is now without power and safe to remove. Rotate the board retaining clips and remove the board.’ The Captain’s voice had a metallic ring to it in the limited space of the cubicle.
Glyn reached up and carried out the instructions, removing the offending board from its frame and then going over to the corner of the cubicle where they had placed the spare board and tools.
He remained hunched over the equipment for only a few seconds before returning to the main panel and clipping the new board into place.
‘Now what Captain?’ Asked Glyn, trying to appear innocent of what was expected of him.
‘Reverse the procedure of removing the circuit board, finally returning the silver switch to the down position.’
Glyn did as he was bid, a green light coming on as he flipped the switch down.
‘Thank you. The replacement board is now functioning correctly. Please replace the other three control panels back into their original positions.’
This was duly done, and four hot and sweaty men collected up their equipment and were about to leave the cubicle when the Captain’s voice boomed out at them once again.
‘Thank you for your work, it was well done, you may now return to your quarters and do as you will, it is nearly time for the midday break. That is all.’
As they made their way back through the maze of corridors and the two lifts, Arki’s curiosity finally got the better of him.
‘OK, so what’s made you look so cheerful? And these little suppressed grins. What do you know that we don’t?’
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