They moved Captain Effinger to one of the recovery rooms, and Cody accompanied them. Cody requested a sleeping bag and had Robot Nine bring them their meals, who Al temporarily assigned to the doctor. The robot seemed glad to be able to help.
Ana and Kayla continued to revive more people, following the recommendations of the computer with the doctor always nearby.
Al, Chris, and Liz went to see what they could do about restoring the sensors. It would be nice to know where in the universe they were. Liz informed them the ship’s sensor array controls were located below the shuttle bay in the main computer room. She led them through the hiber-pod bay and stopped by the airlock door leading to the shuttle bay.
Al was relieved that (to this point) they had found little evidence of damage to the ship, except for the large ragged hole in the green section of the ring. The Farm and Park were both well developed and appeared to have been operating for years with the help of the robots.
Yes, the ship was old but seemed fundamentally sound.
The Hangar Bay was different.
When they opened the door into the hangar area, they found chaos. Two of the five shuttles were damaged, one definitely beyond repair with a ragged hole through its middle. In the ceiling of the hangar bay, evidence of a similar sized hole and several smaller ones that had self-repaired.
On a long trip such as the one taken by the Excalibur, because of situations exactly like this, the securing of everything that could float was taken very seriously. It could have been a lot worse. Flying tools and parts can cause a considerable amount of damage. The parts liberated from the shuttlecraft had crashed into the shuttle next to it, leaving several repairs needed.
The path of the meteoroids was evident, and the flying rocks had continued through to the lower compartments. There had been a rapid decompression and until the ship repaired itself, this area and the compartments below had been open to space. In one of the compartments below was the computer room and the sensor arrays they sought.
“We need to get down there and check the computer,” declared Liz.
They ran to the lift and rode it down to the computer room. While the seemingly slow elevator descended, more and more of the small room became visible until the culprit that caused most of the damage was revealed. Lying in the center of the room was the remains of a twelve-inch meteoroid, broken and scarred; its energy spent. As the lift stopped, Liz jumped off and ran over to the main computer. She checked each component and was pleased to find little damage. A few sections had tiny holes bored into them which she inspected carefully.
“I’m gonna have to run some tests, and probably replace a few circuit boards, but I think we’re okay.”
Turning to look at the sensor array she said, “This, however, is a different story, it’s going to take some work to get it back.”
The array components were peppered with holes, and some pieces were missing entirely. They were going to be blind for a while longer.
****
The captain was awake, but still weak and pale when they returned to the medical center. Everybody awake on the ship gathered around his bed in the recovery room and made their introductions. To Liz, he said, “Good to see you again.” And then he said the same thing to Al.
“Do you know me?” it struck Al that he was talking to the captain, and he quickly added, “Sir.”
The captain looked confused, and his eyebrows dipped, “You’re my Security Chief…right?”
“I’m a Security Officer?”
The captain’s confusion changed to concern, “Are you joking with me Mister Clark?”
“I’m sorry sir, but…have we met before?”
His eyes darted around the room, and the captain replied slowly, “Well…yes, just before departure. Are you all right?”
“I'm all right sir; I’m just having a little trouble with my memory.”
“That is unfortunate.” The captain hesitated, and then continued, “But I’m sure it will come back to you.”
He appeared a little uncomfortable and quickly moved on to bigger concerns. He addressed all of them and asked for a status on their situation. They filled him in on what they knew, including the condition of the ship, the shuttles, and with the sensors down, that they were unable to determine their location.
“Elizabeth, I need you to take Mister Clark and get the sensors back on-line. The rest of you will concentrate on waking the rest of the crew according to the procedure outlined in the computer. We need to bring this ship back to operational status as quickly as possible and get on with the mission.”
Captain Effinger asked the physician, “When can I get out of here and get to work?”
“Hold on sir. You just had heart surgery and are going to require at minimum, a few more days in bed, and then a week or two of restricted duty. There is no sense in my saving you if you just turn around and kill yourself…Sir.”
“All right then, but let’s try and hurry this up. From what you’ve told me, we have a lot of work to do. Oh…let’s see what we can do about overriding the spoke lifts that are still usable. We’re going to need as much access as we can get.”
Their leader was here, and now they had some direction. The captain’s new crew breathed a hopeful sigh of relief.
Chapter Nine
Al was feeling good. He now had a name and profession. The computer outlined his position and its requirements but made no mention of who would be in charge. Al assumed that he, like Chris, was a last-minute addition to the crew that someone had forgotten to add to the computer.
While Liz was busy doing repairs on the sensor array that were way beyond his expertise, he used the terminal close at hand to find five security officers that met his criteria. He would discuss this with the captain, but Al thought a security team should be high on their list of priorities. It was not hard to find five men that were all experienced with exemplary records. Yes, he was feeling pretty good.
It made sense that he was security. The captains statement explained many things: the uniform, the sidearm, the keys, and his high-security clearance. He thought that he was going to like this job, and was anxious to get back over to the orange section to set up his department, and his very own office.
Chris had been doing what he could to assist the two hiber-pod technicians. It was not his field of study, but he was a good listener and followed orders willingly. They had awakened two more people, the first officer, and a helmsman. Both were now settling into their quarters.
The captain was recovering at a remarkable pace and was to be released to return to duty the following day.
It was Christmas Eve, and earlier in the day, it had been decided that a party was in order. The captain offered the use of the observation lounge, which was spacious enough for the number of people attending. After all, there were only ten of them. The group considered Robot Nine as one of them, and he was invited to play bartender and all around go-getter.
They gathered in the hub and played around, flying, until the captain arrived, laying on a floating gurney with doctor Cody driving. The makeshift crew was officially off-duty for the first time since their revival, and they were in the mood for a celebration.
Captain Effinger was feeling much better and appeared hopeful. “Maybe we’ll see something through the big panoramic windows in the lounge.”
The captain opened the door, and they entered one by one into the observation area. The sight of their lives awaited them. Total silence ruled as they stared out the large lounge window. The captain’s wish had come true, and they finally knew where they were.
Slowly circling below them was the most beautiful planet they had ever seen. Clear blue skies with a sprinkling of cloud cover that hovered over the landscape, which was complete with mountains topped in white, green valleys, and massive rolling flatlands.
The oceans were immense and blue, reflecting the sunlight back to their eyes. There was not a hint of pollution, flat tracks of land, or even cities. It could only be A
valon.
As they realized what it was they were looking at; pandemonium broke out. Everyone was talking at once, and except for the captain, was jumping up and down and yelling. Cody had to hold their leader down to keep him from following their example.
They took turns looking at the planet through the small telescope mounted in the lounge, and they drank. They talked about their future, and they drank some more.
They toasted Christmas Day as it rolled around, and every fifteen minutes after, to celebrate the wonderful present slowly spinning below them. They drank until the entire planet turned and displayed itself before their hungry eyes.
It was the best party any of them had ever been to, or would ever go to, for the rest of their lives. All they had to do now was get down there, and a little later than planned, they would finally be home.
****
There was always a price to pay for a party such as the one they had. Al was the lucky one because, after the first couple sips, he decided he probably didn’t drink. The party lasted until morning, and everyone else had a hangover to contend with the next day.
They continued bringing the ship alive, though, and soon the corridors were echoing with the sound of people, equipment, and habitat robots. With more humans now awake and settling in, the robots were in high demand.
Robot Nine seemed attached to Al and was always nearby. He tried sending it away to assist other people, but it always came back; awaiting his orders.
The original six people who were the first to wake were assigned quarters close to each other and stayed good friends. Known as the First Six, most of the colonists considered them as the saviors of Excalibur, and the people inside.
With all the additional people to help, repairs on the computer and sensor array were completed and repairs of the remaining shuttles were well under way. The captain scheduled planetfall for the following month and with the help of the sensors, they were accumulating data on the planet and picking the most likely landing sights.
“Computer, how long have we been at Avalon?” Al queried.
“Stable orbit was established ten years, three months and twelve days ago.”
Ten years wasted! It still shocked Al.
“Why was no one revived when we arrived?”
“Revival circuits were disabled.”
“Do you mean disabled…or damaged?” pressed Al.
“Disabled.”
“By a human?”
“Affirmative.”
“Do you know who disabled the revival circuits?”
“Insufficient information.”
Someone or someone’s, back on Earth, had wanted this ship to be forever circling their new home. A sleeping ghost ship left orbiting a perfect planet until it was inhabited only by the dead. So close, and yet—so very far away.
Why would anyone want that? Al wondered.
Later that day, the first six gathered at Liz and Chris’s quarters to talk about their day and unwind. They had eaten separately earlier in the mess hall that was now serving hot food and cold drinks. They were tired but still wanted to be around friends and unwind before getting some sleep.
“The ship was sabotaged?” Ana asked Al.
“It sure looks that way. I asked the computer in as many ways as I could think of and always wound up with the same conclusion.”
The possibility of sabotage was hard to imagine. That someone would want to doom over a thousand innocent people to a long, slow, death was beyond comprehension.
“There must be some mistake. I do not think it possible,” Cody proclaimed.
Al squirmed in his seat, “I find it hard to believe too, but there it is.”
Kayla spoke up, “I remember a group of people that thought the colony ship program was a waste of time, resources, and money. The group claimed the colony ships were for the conquest of other planets, and believed the lottery was rigged. Only the wealthy and elite would be allowed aboard. They were a pretty powerful group and called themselves Earth First, I think. They were in all the newsfeeds a lot…do you think they could have done this?”
After a while, the group decided it didn’t matter. They were here, and they were awake. The universe had intervened and made things right. The settlers were ten years late but were now preparing to leave the ship and make a home on Avalon.
Al was in the shuttle bay when the captain came to inspect the now pristine and organized area. The security chief had been settling a minor dispute between two mechanics arguing over a woman. One of them had become so angry; he had taken a swing at the other who promptly reported it to security. Al didn’t mind, if this were the worst he had to deal with, he could live with it.
The captain strolled onto the shuttle bay followed by a small entourage and went straight to the head mechanic.
“How are the repairs coming on the shuttles?”
“We will be ready by planetfall, sir,” He replied with confidence.
“Have you performed any test flights?”
“No sir, we didn’t feel it necessary just yet.”
The captain, not usually prone to anger, had to restrain himself as he said, “I want each and every shuttle fully tested before the first passenger is allowed to board. You only have three weeks before we will need them. Do you understand these spacecraft have been sitting around for years and will require exercise and testing?”
“Yes sir, I will get right on that,” the red-faced mechanic answered.
“Have you been presented with a pilot roster yet?”
“Umm—not quite yet sir.”
“Well get it done, and make sure you add me to the list.”
“But Captain, you can’t—.
“The hell I can’t. Nobody tells me I can’t fly. You are dismissed.”
The captain noticed Al standing there smiling, winked at him, and turned around to leave, followed by his group. Al was impressed. The captain seemed to know what he wanted, and just how to get it done. Not all people had that capability.
****
The surviving members of the crew and the scientific complement were all revived, and the hiber-pod technicians were busy awakening the colonists. Ana and Kayla were very busy and pushed themselves to stick to their schedule. This period would be their most active times while they were awakening people. Once they finished reviving the last colonist, their duties would change considerably.
Chris had been helping with the repair of the shuttles. He was good at his job and loved working on the tough, versatile, flying machines. Whenever he got together with any of the group, he found it hard not to talk about them.
His mother was also occupied, as was Cody, all of them gearing up for planetfall.
Al, however, was bored. With everyone so busy, nobody had time to cause trouble. He spent his days walking around under the guise of patrolling. He was in constant communication with his five security officers, but they too were bored. There was not a lot of chatter over the radios.
He would stop by and visit his friends from time to time, but they, of course, didn’t have a lot of time so he would move on. Sometimes, he would stop at the mess hall, talking to anyone who stopped long enough to listen. He walked the park several times a day; simply because he could.
There were a few cases of a robot misinterpreting someone’s orders, sometimes with some pretty hilarious consequences, and a couple of fist fights, but on the whole, most of the time he was walking around and just talking to people.
In their off hours, Chris and Al had taken to playing racquetball in the hub. Originally it was meant to be exercise, but it turned out to be a lot of fun also. Every time one of them swung at the ball, they would go into these hilarious gyrations.
A strong net had been installed behind them to grab onto, so they could try to return the ball and they laughed till it hurt. People would come to watch, and laughed with them. Some eventually worked up the nerve to try their luck. By the time they were ready to begin planetfall, they had crowds betting on who would win. I
n the beginning, Chris was favored to win their matches, but towards the end, the odds swung to support Al. The bored security chief thought maybe it was all that walking around.
****
Avalon was a paradise. Orbital observation revealed a planet with an abundance of plant and animal life. Sun drenched valleys rolling up to snowcapped mountains. Swift streams rushed towards the deep blue oceans. It was the Earth of days gone by with forests and prairies that covered half of the landmass on the planet, with smaller islands to rival the old Jamaica or Hawaii of Earth.
Images of the world at night showed scattered sources of light, predominantly near the coasts and the major rivers, suggesting campfires or maybe even limited electric lights.
Avalon was inhabited.
The scientists argued endlessly about the native’s level of technology, and what they were capable of; whether they would revere or despise the newcomers.
Details of the planet and its occupants were sketchy due to cloud cover and the ship's distance from the surface, but it appeared they would not have this planet to themselves. The settlers would have to share it with the beings already there.
First alien contact was another topic of discussion. Some thought they should go down and immediately introduce themselves while there were others on the opposite end of the spectrum that believed they should avoid contact at all costs. The captain made the call to avoid any meetings with the natives; for the time being.
“We are just looking for a place to live. We are not looking to influence their culture, beliefs, or lifestyle, and I see no reason to encroach on their territory,” the captain explained. “Avalon is a big planet. We will find a place for ourselves and take things as they come.”
Several remote landing sites were selected and then narrowed down until they had one primary site. On the largest landmass, relatively close to the equator, they found their new home. It sat at the foot of a rust-colored mountain, in a green valley close to a lazy blue river, and it was the perfect place to establish the first colony of Avalon. A place they named Shangri-La.
AL CLARK (A Sci-Fi Adventure)(Book One) Page 6
