Terror on the Trailblazer

by John Thornton

  “No tricks,” they all three responded at the same time.

  “Shall we prepare our findings and bring them to you in, say, eight hours? Will that be sufficient time for you to recover? I could send a medical automacube here…” Andreae began to offer.

  Ken interrupted her, “No. We are not badly injured, and I have seen enough white automacubes for my lifetime. The eight hours of rest will be sufficient. Is there a public-access portal in this apartment?”

  Valentinus showed him where it was. The apartment was simple, clean, and functional. It had a living area, a sleeping area, a kitchen, and a lavatory. It was smaller than where Butterfield had imprisoned them, but far larger than their accommodations in Dome 17. Valentinus also unpacked the silver automacube, leaving everything out on a table in the kitchen.

  “Using the public-access thing, we can send you a message through SB Brankovic, right?” Ken asked.

  “Yes. I will make sure someone is monitoring,” Valentinus answered.

  “No spying on us, understood?” Janae insisted. “You only answer when we call, not listen to anything else. Am I making myself crystal clear?”

  “This apartment will be considered private, confidential, and not monitored, except for outgoing messages,” Valentinus affirmed. “Fire, medical emergencies, and disaster protocols are still in place, unless you want me to have those monitors overturned and shut off. Shall I do that?”

  “No,” Ken answered, “But no eavesdropping on conversations or watching us covertly.”

  “Your confidentially is assured,” Valentinus affirmed.

  The three scientists turned to go, but Ken called out to them, “I guess we can assume you did not send us messages about some tragedy in the Isle of Pines, nor send us supplies when I was leaving that medical clinic? You are not our mysterious helper, right?”

  “I doubt your helper originated here,” Andreae glanced at the others and then said, “As far as I know, no one here has had direct contact with anyone outside of Christianopolis in our lifetimes. We have tried sending signals to some of the passing shuttles, and have attempted to send transmissions to connect with the other habitats, but all unsuccessfully. We have not made connections. I cannot be absolutely sure, since only the Sacrificed One is omniscient, but I know of no one who has done what you describe.”

  “Neither do I,” Valentinus stated.

  “Perhaps your helper is the Sacrificed One?” Johannes asked.

  Ken considered getting into more of a theological or philosophical discussion about that, but a look from Janae dissuaded him. So, Ken and Janae said no more, the scientists left, the automacube rolling along behind them.

  “Janae, I am glad you were willing to get rest.” He shut the door, and made sure it was locked from his side.

  “A clear mind is essential, but I apologize for…” she laughed as she mocked the scientists. “Can you believe they are for real? I am not sure what game or scheme they are playing, but this setup is too strange.”

  “You mean the fact that they thought we were androids, like Ape? Or that they thought our story was some make-believe disaster drill? Or that they have not contacted anyone else in another habitat?” Ken threw his arms to the sides. “I am not sure what to make of this whole biome. Vastly different than the Isle of Pines, or Ida, but it makes its own kind of sense. Sort of. And some religion about a Sacrificed One, well, that is too close to what Ida’s zealots did to that tant. These folks did promise to help, but, quite honestly, I am exhausted.”

  “And I, dear teammate, agree with that. I think we should post a watch. I will stay up for the first part, and then wake you later.”

  “Janae, I can physically secure this door,” Ken said as he looked at it, again. “There are physical, old-style, mechanical locks on it. Latches of a basic, but effective kind. Better than what I made to secure our last place. I could put some furniture against it as well. We will hear anyone breaking in. I say we lock the door and try to sleep.”

  “But I am eating first,” Janae said as she broke open the package marked “Rations.” Inside, she found clear, flexible packages. Weighing it with her hand, she estimated each package contained roughly two hundred grams of irregularly-shaped tannish chunks or granules. Each lump was about the size of her fingernail. Some of the chunks were darker brown, almost black, and some were flatter and a creamy off-white color.

  “Tan food?” Ken said, and made a face. “I was wrong to hope for ration bars like in Dome 17.”

  Janae opened one of the packages, and took a tentative bite. She chewed it around a bit, and wiggled her lips. Then she swallowed. “I think it is some kind of grain, with dried nuggets of fruits, and maybe some vegetable matter. Nice and dry, but a variety of flavors all in one mix.” She rolled her tongue around. “Not sure what it all is, but not chocolate, or too spicy. Is that the word?”

  “Kimberly could analyze this, if she were working,” Ken said as he opened his own package and poured some into his hand. “I do not see anything that looks like walrus, or animal flesh.”

  “Would you recognize animal muscle or flesh if they processed it? I would not.”

  “Excellent point. It is filling, and a supplement to recycled RAM nourishment. I hope it is better on my entrails.” He walked over to the kitchen where a sink was located. He pressed a button and water poured out of a faucet. “Again, abundant water. Amazing. I thought maybe at first this biome was relatively dry, but we saw that river, and now free-flowing water here.”

  Janae had consumed an entire package—she reassessed it as about a third of a kilogram—of the food. “Best food the Trailblazer has provided us. Maybe, just maybe, these people are legitimate in their offers to help. They seem to be as high-tech as the Ida crazies, and have not tried to kill us.”

  Ken thought, “Unless, they are saving us for some religious sacrifice,” but he did not express that worry openly. The way they had talked about the Sacrificed One, bothered him, as it reminded him of the tant he had seen killed by the bull. He could not get that thought far from his mind.

  The bedroom had a single, but very wide bed, and Ken and Janae shared that after eating, washing, and double checking the latched and locked door, which they additionally blocked with a chair. Janae considered connecting into the public-access portal, and interrogating the systems there, but was too exhausted. They both slipped out of the RAM suits, and with their underclothes on climbed into the soft bed. They each fell into a deep, and vividly dream-filled sleep.

  About seven hours later, Janae awoke. Her dreams were haunting, but she blinked them away. By the dim light they had left on, she could see Ken was sleeping on the far side of the bed with his back turned to her. She slipped out the other side, and grabbed up her RAM suit and other gear. By the time she was dressed Ken was stirring.

  “Hello, beautiful woman,” Ken crooned.

  “You are still sleeping, you incorrigible oaf. Dreaming of romancing Paige? Or maybe Butterfield?”

  “Yuck, that is not a thought I want to awaken to… Butterfield I mean, not Paige. She is indeed…” Ken yawned, “She is not you. I do not mean you, sorry, if it sounded like…”

  “No apologies,” Janae taunted. “I had my fill of those with the people yesterday. And Paige is an attractive woman, and not as strange as some we have encountered.”

  “I wonder,” Ken replied, and yawned again.

  “Wonder if you can call a bus and have her come pick you up for some rendezvous? Just remember, you are not sterile any longer, thanks to someone who will pay for that.”

  “No. I mean…” Ken yawned again. “I agree we must get to the bottom of what was done to us. I was wondering if Butterfield survived the crash? She could terrorize us again, if she did. But could she have survived? I think I will try to use that public-access portal and find out,” Ken replied. “But first, another package of that ration food. It agreed with my stomach better than anything else we have found here.”

  “Agreed. Tasty, but these
ratio granules are not bad,” Janae commented. “But be ready, those people said they would be back, and I think they might be the type to be punctual.”

  Ken used the lavatory, dressed in his RAM suit, checked his revenger, and made the rest of his gear ready. He then found the place on the wall which was marked “Public-access portal” and he unfolded the chair near it. It was much like the set-up he had seen Valentinus use the day before.

  “Kimberly was messed up probing their nonphysicality. I wonder how safe this is?” He pressed button and the display lit up, and old-fashioned keyboard slid out.

  “That is very similar to what I used by the sky tube reactors in the Isle of Pines shell,” Janae said as she looked over at him. She chewed and swallowed the last of another package. “Although, I am having a hard time recalling exactly which shell, for which biome, I encountered things in. That Axis Mundi, or needle ship, whatever, that place was rather like the shells too. The biomes are easy to differentiate. Crazed painted people in one. Crazed bruins in another, with slickery ground and frozen water. And now this semi-arid, strangely named biome, with a bus, and lots of hairless crazed animals.” The dream she had had was about a huge lizard. Its after images floated right in her mind’s eye, and she again pushed it away mentally. “The shells are more like ruined versions of Dome 17, while the biomes are just critters running amok.”

  “I just gave SB Brankovic permission to speak to us here, but it says it is in a network of other systems, some SBN,” Ken stated. “It looks like the scientists were telling the truth about not overtly monitoring us, for it only responded when I requested it.”

  “Maybe. Jubal put on a good show at times as well. Remember the Committee meetings?”

  “I will never forget. So, SB Brankovic? What do you know about the crashed shuttle? Strike that—did anyone else survive the shuttle crash, besides Janae and me?”

  “The engineering automacubes report considerable human remains were found in the wreckage, including one skull,” SB Brankovic answered. “However, since primary forensic mortuary sciences are not functional, and the human investigators have not completed their evaluation of the scene, I have no other information regarding those remains. I apologize for the delay.”

  “A dead body? So, was it a norm or a tant?” Janae demanded.

  “The skull is consistent with the siblings who live in the needle ship. However, the other remains are yet to be decisively determined. The human remains are being tested, but as I said, I have no other information.”

  “Was it one or two people?”

  “I repeat, I have no other information.”

  “Please report to us when you do,” Ken instructed.

  “Apologies, but I have no method of directly reporting to you. The information will be in my logs, and you may ask me about it from any public-access portal. You must be on a public-access portal, or if you are at a monitored egress point, where I can converse with you audibly, I can remind you then that I have updates. Beyond that, I cannot report to you. I again apologize for the limited functionality,” SB Brankovic replied.

  “So, how high-tech is Christianopolis?” Janae scrunched her face together, lips tight, dark brows furrowed.

  “Which frame of reference—for high-tech—do you want me to use in giving you an answer?” SB Brankovic asked. “Presently, Christianopolis has a holistic approach to life. The spiritual, physical, emotional, technological, social, and other factors are all interrelated in the current status of this location. However, I am sorry I cannot answer without a frame of reference for comparison.”

  Janae blew out a long breath, “Compared to Ida or the other habitats.”

  “Currently, I have no information on the present status of any other habitats. I have their historical records, up until the Encounter, but nothing current. The only evidence, scanty as it is, comes from what you two have stated, and observations of the inhabitants of the needle ship when they have entered Christianopolis. Neither of those are sufficient for me to make a comparison. Again, I apologize, but none in the SBN have any current assessment of the other habitats.”

  “Do not apologize to me again,” Janae snapped.

  “SB Brankovic? Compare the current technological sophistication here, to how the Trailblazer used to be,” Ken interjected.

  “That I will do. In some areas, the people in Christianopolis have progressed and evolved in a positive manner since the Encounter when there were massive systems failures. In other ways, with the lack of a working nonphysicality, the continued septic state of the fragmented remains of the nonphysicality, and the loss of so many primary artificial intelligence systems, there has been devolution and subsequent loss of high-tech abilities, as compared to the Trailblazer’s status prior to the Encounter.”

  “Sometimes I truly hate talking to these stupid, antique systems, while Kimberly, who could burst through all this nonsense is rampant!” Janae swung her fist through empty air, but turned back. “SB Brankovic? Does this habitat have the capabilities to give us a way to get back to Ida, aside from us just walking through Axis Mundi? And if you apologize to me again, I may…” Janae stated, and felt badly because she had no way to actually threaten the synthetic brain. “…just answer directly and succinctly.”

  “Yes.”

  Ken saw the frustration on Janae’s face, and he interjected, “SB Brankovic, please give a brief synopsis of what you think this habitat can do for us to reach our goal.”

  “Momentarily, that process will begin,” SB Brankovic replied. “A delegation is arriving at the apartment and will present the plan which has been put into place. Blessings on you both.”

  “Again, with the blessings?” Janae huffed.

  A buzzer sounded from the door.

  Ken shut down the public-access portal, and felt as frustrated as Janae looked. Both were wondering exactly what was about to occur, and they were both disappointed in the Synthetic Brain Network’s responses. Unsatisfied, and perplexed, Ken put his hand on his revenger, and watched as Janae walked to the door, moved the chair, and opened the door.

  Janae was not prepared for what she saw.

  A crowd of people stood in the hallway, at the head was Valentinus, “Blessings on you this day! We worked for the last eight hours and have a plan to present to you. A newly fabricated shuttle—designed specifically by Andreae—is waiting in Hanger C101Y.”

  “You will be there!” someone shouted out.

  “I will be there!” another voice cried.

  “Blessings be upon them!” still another yelled.

  Valentinus lifted her hands, turned about, and addressed the crowd, “Please, let our friends have time to understand our gifts.”

  A murmuring went through the crowd, and they settled down.

  “You have a way for us to go back to Ida, and reach our goals?” Janae asked, as she tried to take in the sight of so many people stuffed into the corridor. It was a mass of people stretching off to both sides.

  “Yes, if you so desire it,” Valentinus stated. “Johannes is in Exterior Repair Station 056, and he will be able to give you directions, and guidance on the safe avenues through space. I will operate the hanger bay, so that you need not worry about cycling and recycling the hanger, gravity manipulation, or the doors. All is awaiting, your acceptance. This is your journey.”

  “But what are all these people doing here?” Ken asked. He looked at the wall of faces, all different, but with pleasant, excited, and happily eager expressions. The crowd consisted of men, women, teens, and children. He thought about the population numbers Paige had told him about, and knew this was a large percentage of the people who lived in Waldensia.

  “Every great endeavor must have the proper spiritual support from the parishioners,” Valentinus commented. “We had to draw lots to whittle-down all who wanted to come and witness this event. They are all here to offer you support and encouragement.”

  Janae looked at Ken, who was mentally comparing the crowd in the hall to the t
ime he has been swept up in a mob and shoved into the seats to witness a tant be killed. The fervor was not at all the same. Here, he felt safe, secure, and not at all threatened. Yet, it was foreign, alien, and just strange. He gave Janae a questioning look.

  “Take us to this shuttle,” Janae commanded. “No tricks, or traps, or deceptions, right?” She patted her holstered revenger, but doubted even the high-tech and high-powered weapon could defend against such a multitude. “I mean, no deceptions at all. None.”

  Valentinus looked hurt, almost stricken, yet she recovered quickly. “Knowing your past, I ask forgiveness if this show of support was too overwhelming for you. Our zeal for your missions is extreme, as it will be our first excursion to another habitat since the Encounter.”

  “Wait! You have not tested this shuttle, or flown shuttles before?” Janae asked.