Terror on the Trailblazer

by John Thornton

  “In simulations, they have been tested thousands of times.”

  “In real-life, outside in space?” Ken asked.

  “We had no need before now. If you do not care for this gift, I understand,” Valentinus responded. “It is a lot to offer, but I believe it is better to give than to receive. Receiving can be burdensome, and please, do not feel under any obligation. The shuttle is designed to be easy to fly, and should not have a steep learning curve, but that too might be intimidating. I mean no offense or insult to your abilities. If we had a robotic pilot, or artificial intelligence system, we could use one of them to maneuver it for you, that would have been included, but that is beyond our abilities as of now. We do have a plan whereby we are building Artificial Intelligent Persons, but none could be ready in the time allotted—your eight-hour interval. If you wanted to wait, we could discuss how long something like that would take to be fabricated. It is your decision. Go. Do not go. Wait. Or just walk away, and keep your business to yourself. You are free to select what you do, and we will respect that.”

  “We will go,” Janae decided. “Lead us there.”

  A cheer rose up from the crowd, and two people pushed forward.

  “This is Grace, and Davis,” Valentinus introduced the man and woman. “They are our spiritual guides, and want to use this time to send up prayers, and supplications, and petitions, and intercessions, and imprecations, and pleadings, all for your journey. Please follow me, and they will lead the crowd after us.” She emphasized the term “and” in an almost ritualistic staccato manner.

  The crowd parted down the middle, and the people were standing on each side of the corridor. Valentinus led the way down the aisle between the people, Ken and Janae—equipment on their backs, and around their waists—followed. To each side it looked like a long line of happy faces surrounded them. Janae was unsure what to think of the overt support she was getting, and actually doubted its sincerity, yet, the people looked genuinely pleased. There was an air of festival mixed with religious fervor.

  Grace spoke out after Ken and Janae passed, “Davis and I will lead in the traditional singing.”

  The crowd began to sing, and it was a gentle, lulling melody. It was unlike anything Ken or Janae had heard. It was not exuberant, nor was it a dirge, yet it contained elements of both. There was a repeating tune, and it shifted slightly from key to key, and from refrain to refrain, the timbre always pleasant and emotive. The excellent harmony, resonance, including vibrato, and a few moments of soloists made both Janae and Ken smile. It was a shockingly nice surprise.

  The crowd sang,

  “Oh, a better day is dawning, a day that knows no night,

  When all sorrow shall be banished,

  and every broken machine, made right!

  Our Sacrificed One will meet us, and take away all fear,

  Pain, and sorrow, wiped away, with your every tear,

  You will be there. I will be there. Oh, a day to cheer!

  Oh, a brighter time is rising, a perfect painless way,

  Time of glorious revelation, all darkness rolled away,

  Massive systems failures restored, in every hanger bay,

  You will be there. I will be there. This is a better way.

  Free from burdens now we bear,

  Free from all perplexing care,

  Life will be fair. You will be there. I will be there.

  Oh, the happy day will come,

  Rojus, in the Westerhuis 105F system,

  A dream delayed, or put away,

  But the Sacrificed One will still repay,

  You will be there. I will be there.

  Perchance, our destination has been thwarted,

  Our lives, the Sacrificed One, has not aborted,

  The Trailblazer has been stalled,

  But we are ever called,

  You will be there. I will be there. Not a fear or care!

  Death can never enter there,

  Trailblazer life will end, do not despair,

  Our Sacrificed One’s glory we all shall share.

  You will be there. I will be there. Eternity we will share.

  The Sacrificed one is nearing, when everyone shall see,

  And in Heaven’s sweet communion, forevermore shall be,

  Friend, sibling, brother, sister, have you this hope today?

  Can all in Christianopolis, truly, truly say,

  You will be there. I will be there. Blessings ever stay.

  If our stalled Trailblazer’s fellowship be so sweet,

  What a rapture shall we gain when together we all meet?

  Forgiveness is the grease,

  to give us cosmic peace,

  For the Sacrificed One will never cease,

  You will be there. I will be there.

  You will be there. I will be there.

  You will be there. I will be there.

  Blessings on Janae and Ken, and all they are off to do,

  And let everything that happens, bring glory unto you.”

  The song repeated several times over.

  As Valentinus reached a large chamber, where an elevator was located, she looked back at Davis and Grace. She said, “Your song was just as expected. Brilliant.”

  Ken fumbled about for words, and mumbled, “Thank you, for that. It was… nice.”

  “Yes, thank you!” Janae echoed.

  “The elevator will take us to the hanger bay,” Valentinus stated, addressing the crowd. “The SBN has set up observation stations in the common areas, library, auditorium, and cafeteria. If you care to watch the progress, please hurry to those locations.”

  Ken and Janae followed Valentinus into another elevator. The spiritual song was still ringing in their minds, in a haunting manner, as the doors closed.

  “Why the parade like that?” Janae asked.

  Valentinus’ face brightened up with excitement. Her smile got even broader, “Today is a celebration day. We thank the Sacrificed One for you both. We get to show hospitality to genuine strangers, foreigners, outsiders—oops, I do not mean any offense by those terms. Forgive me. It is just we have all been looking forward to visitors who are not our Axis Mundi siblings for a long while.”

  “Your practice drills were fulfilled by us?” Ken asked.

  “Exactly! There was great debate and speculation about the existence of others on the Trailblazer. Sure, those siblings come and go on rare occasions, from the ruins of the needle ship, and some of them have even mentioned that there are other people surviving in distant habitats, but you are the first of those people to have visited here in living memory. And you are from even further away than that! From Earth! Oh, the excitement that fact has generated, and our science studies are skyrocketing.”

  “But this is all one ship,” Janae commented. “Surely, you can assess the other parts, right?”

  Valentinus shook her head a bit, “We have tried for decades. We monitor the few communication channels we have found which are still active, but there has not been a discernable signal from Habitats One or Two for a long while. Habitat Three—who call themselves Ida—does have communication transmissions, but we are not certain of their intentions, or until now, that they came from humans. The other habitats have little or no discernable communication transmissions. Although, you both have used a method for communications which we were not able to detect. Right here in Christianopolis. That has reinvigorated our discussions on what the status might be in our neighbors’ biomes. Are they using similar technologies? Have they advanced, or degraded? Certainly, the shell works as a barrier and buffer to many things. It shields us from cosmic rays and other harmful things, but hinders scans of its interior, as it was designed to do, but the shells are quiet. Very quiet. Anyway, I thank the Sacrificed One for your visit, because we can show you hospitality, and equip you for your mission and journey.”

  “So, you never took a shuttle to another habitat? Never?” Janae wondered aloud.

  “We love science, as it is a fulfillment of
using our minds in service to the Sacrificed One. Of course, some use their minds to do farming, or raise livestock, or falconry, or literature. There…”

  “Valentinus, do any of you ever fly these shuttles?” Janae demanded.

  “No. While we design, build, and plan, we have not actually used shuttles outside. First, we were unsure where to go. There has been talk, for as long as I have lived, of doing a grand expedition, but the space around the Trailblazer is fraught with unknown obstacles. Johannes has plotted many of those, finding safe avenues, but none have been willing to go out and investigate. Sadly, and that is our sin, a depravity of sorts, but we lack the will to leave the safety we know here. Our innate willingness to explore is channeled into our exploring of ideas, possibilities, sociology, psychology, theology, philosophy, or designing scenarios, and especially for me, just raw science. You, are the adventurers,” Valentinus stated and looked down at the floor. “Our faint-heartedness about exploration is a sin we as a society share in common. But here, now, we have reached the hanger bay.”

  The elevator doors opened, and a small antechamber was there. Across the hallway was a combination bulkhead and pressure door. It was open, and beyond that was a hanger bay.

  “I must have forgotten to shut this door,” Valentinus said with trepidation. “It is not linked to SB Brankovic, so it is not monitored.”

  “This hanger is not fully functional?” Ken asked warily.

  “Just a minor and inconsequential lack of a few links. I will be monitoring from the observation deck, and can control all the functions of the hanger bay,” Valentinus replied. “This hanger bay was ideally located so that your new shuttle could be brought here via the corridors for final assembly. I am just so excited about the arrival of the shuttle’s parts, and their assembly… oh, see, your shuttle is right there! The automacubes have finished with its pre-flight checks.”

  There was only a single shuttle in the hanger bay which had stalls marked out for seven. The shuttle was a medium blue color—roughly ten meters long and three meters high—with downward swept wings, a long and tapered nose, and a V-shaped tail section. Tandem seats were visible under an upraised canopy. It sat on struts which were locked to the deck via a clamp. The seats were tan colored, and that gave pause to both Janae and Ken, yet they followed the excited Valentinus into the hanger bay.

  The bulkhead door closed behind them after they crossed the threshold.

  She swept her arms at the shuttle, “Small but efficient. Ideally suited to your mission. At one time, our ancestors thought about using these inside the biome, but that was too much vehicle for the need. Instead, we developed the bus system. We considered a larger type of shuttle for you, for this mission, but the runabout is the only model which can be carried in nearly-complete sections through the corridors. Any other model would not have been completed by now. We could still defer your mission, if you chose to do so, in order to construct a customized larger model.”

  “No, we need to leave as soon as possible,” Janae insisted.

  “Excellent! Oh, this will be such a blessing for you!”

  Andreae stepped out from behind the shuttle and walked to the observation deck, “This is a masterpiece of aeronautical engineering. As Valentinus said, we once considered using these in the biomes, but a runabout is way too fast, and carries too few passengers. This specific runabout was newly fabricated in separate sections, transported here from Reproduction and Fabrication, then final assembly was done. This runabout is far better than the original designs, oh, please, forgive my pride. After liftoff and exiting from here, my custom dampening field will repel any objects you might encounter, at one hundred thirty times the ability of the previous models. The engines are sixty-three percent more efficient, and the thrusters use only one nineteenth of the fuel. That allowed for a smaller fuel storage tank, and greater cargo capacity. Its fuselage was extended a bit from the original, and the wing-to-body-to-weight ratio adjusted which allows you nine percent better in-atmosphere dynamics. Its submersible capability was also enhanced and expanded, so as to allow twenty-three percent better speed underwater, and with a longer range. The rudder assembly is…”

  “Atmosphere? Underwater?” Janae asked. “We are just flying from this habitat back to Ida.”

  With a crestfallen look, Andreae broke off her recitation of the shuttle attributes. “Your spacesuits are in the observation deck, and they are made for universal adjustment and fit. Both of you can use them! Not like the old-style suits which were tailored for a specific gender and body size. I will spare you the technical details.”

  Hanging on suspension hooks at the back of the observation deck were two brownish-toned, bubble-helmeted spacesuits.

  Andreae picked up the first one—which was lighter in weight than it looked—and held out a small cable which was attached to the wall. “Now, I can just plug into your bio-neuro interface and the full schematics, manuals, and other instructions for the flight of the shuttle will be uploaded to your memories.”

  “What are your talking about?” Janae asked. “Our RAM suits? Or some of our gear?”

  “Please define what a bio-neuro interface is,” Ken added, but with a great deal of hesitation.

  “It is for the spacesuit… Oh, that is right. Oh, how thoughtless of me. What method do you want to use?” Andreae asked.

  Valentinus stepped up, “Ken, Janae, here in Christianopolis, when a child is born, a genetic augmentation is done. That allows for transmission of information in a clean, safe, and non-septic manner. We call that a bio-neuro interface. The prior system which used the lattice of compeers, the nonphysicality, with its old-fashioned identification chips was inadequate after the Encounter. It was replaced by the bio-neuro interface. See, here is mine,” she parted her hair and a small patch was exposed at the base of her neck. It resembled a biological version of a tiny access port.

  “We have nothing like that!” Janae stated, but immediately thought about the implant Kimberly had had them insert during the time they were tracking the Trailblazer, after leaving Dome 17.

  “Oh, I again have caused offense. Forgive me, I apologize,” Valentinus said. “I just assumed an advanced society like yours would have reached the same conclusions we did here. I see now I was wrong. Please forgive me…”

  “Will we be able to operate the shuttle without a… bio-neuro interface?” Ken asked.

  Andreae replied, “Certainly. None of our technology is single-access only. The shuttle is voice activated, attuned to each of your voices, as well as touch controlled, and has bio-neuro couplings. The most rudimentary way is a single control. The ‘Quick start’ button leads to a preprogrammed pre-flight checklist, and it is easy to follow. Therefore, you have voice, or touch, or neuro—interface. Excuse me, and forgive me, you have voice and touch controls. Also, I advise you wearing the spacesuits as an added layer of redundancy and protection. The spacesuit has wireless links to the shuttle so your voice can be heard by each other and by the shuttle’s systems.” She hesitated a moment and looked down. “I am flustered, by my sin and haughtiness, please forgive me. You can also manually touch all the levers, switches, and controls in the cockpit. The bio-neuro interface is not a requirement. Forgive me, if I assumed too much, or offended you by my presumptions and expecting you to be part of our conventions.”

  “I am convicted of being egocentric, that is for sure,” Valentinus stated. “I too apologize for…”

  “Shut up!” Janae snapped out. “I get it. You think forgiveness and apologies are important. I hear you! Just no more! Please! No more apologies, or I will really be offended.” Janae stomped a few feet away, and then returned.

  “How about, if when we are offended, we tell you?” Ken added. “That might be the better way to avoid all this meaningless blathering, and frankly, it comes off as insincere, phony ritual.”

  “Agreed,” Valentinus quickly replied.

  “So, tell us what we do with these spacesuits,” Janae said, her teeth nearly
clenched with frustration. “I want to get on our way as fast as possible.”

  Andreae showed them how to put on the spacesuits, which easily fit over the RAM suits. She methodically told them all the details, and Ken and Janae listened carefully. There was not a single apology, and Janae was especially happy about that. The spacesuits snapped together with interlocking sections which adjusted to a perfect fit. Bands at the joints were slightly different color, a lighter beige, and after the suits were on they took on a gleaming almost golden sheen to their look. After a trial fitting, Janae, and Ken both were satisfied that they knew how to operate the spacesuits, as they were simplistic commands and controls.

  “Our weapons need to be accessible at any time,” Janae said, and found a place on the thigh of the outside of the spacesuit where her revenger would fit nicely. It was not a perfect holster, as it sealed at the top, but the weapon would not be dislodged, and could be reached quickly. Ken followed her example, and then they also found places on the spacesuits for the other gear they had carried in their backpacks. The other equipment items, with the exception of the molecular torch, were fitted into compartments accessible only from inside the spacesuit. That made the items secure, but were not able to be used while they wore the spacesuits.