The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  “So we head off to the Fruit People now,” Khin said.

  “We are going to engineering. That is our goal.” Jerome set his feet wide.

  Khin giggled. “Yes, that is our goal. I agree. The Fruit People will be one of the places we must visit on this journey.”

  Khin led them along and they went down the stairway where Jerome had halted in his pursuit of Cammarry earlier. The steps were spongy with the plant growth, but they both walked down easily and passed several landings. The landings had pressure doors which were intact.

  “This says it is level 9,” Jerome remarked as Khin led them off the stairs. “That old man Danny said the causeway is on level 14. Should we continue down these stairs?”

  “No. There are no passages down that way. If you want to catch rats, then down there is a good place, but not for anything else. Unless you know some wizard path?” Khin giggled a bit. “Or are you hungry for rat?”

  “Maybe another time. I am curious to know more about the Conestoga, but Cammarry is more important. We must keep moving forward, opening doors, and doing the right things, because I am committed to helping Cammarry.”

  Khin laughed and asked, “Is she committed to you?” He then placed his hand against the side wall on a nondescript location. A color control pad lit up under his hand. “Now I show you my reading.” He punched in a sequence of colors. The door slid sideways.

  “How did you know that control pad was there?” Jerome asked.

  “I saw it.”

  Jerome had not seen anything.

  Beyond the newly opened pressure door was a wrecked hallway. The inner layer of the ceiling had collapsed, and rubble was strewn about. Some of that had crushed the plants and there was no growth medium on the fallen sections. The walls of the corridor were bowed in from some tremendous pressure that was able to bend the permalloy.

  “This is different,” Jerome commented. “What happened here?”

  Khin looked carefully at the hallway. “The roof fell in.”

  “Obviously,” Jerome replied as he looked up. The darkness beyond the broken ceiling was deep and so few lights were still working in this hall that it made it even more dim than usual. “So what caused that? It happened after these plants were growing here. You can see the way the ceiling scraped away the plants on the wall, and scratched off the water stains over there.” Jerome pointed as he adjusted his fusion pack light.

  “Well, wizard, you shook the world, and something broke. Come along.” Khin stepped up on the rubble and then preceded to climb from broken chunk to broken chunk as if they were set there as stepping stones.

  Jerome shined the beam of the light up into the darkness above him, and the beam showed some broken struts, ducts, wiring, and assorted other mechanical apparatus which was between the decks. Those areas were free from plants and growth medium. One side of the area above them consisted of three large pipes, off white in color, with labeling stating, ‘Inflow’ and ‘Waste Production’ and ‘Containment Remains.’

  “So that is more what this ship looks like under this covering of foliage. All that is hidden will be revealed, and every secret thing come to light. Some people think that the truth can be hidden forever, but as time goes by, what is true is always revealed. A covering never lasts.”

  “When wizards shake the world, what did you expect?” Khin laughed, but shielded his eyes from the brightness of the fusion light beam.

  “Sorry the light is too bright for you,” Jerome said and adjusted its intensity down. He followed along on the broken permalloy. “Khin, can you tell if Cammarry came this way?”

  “I have not seen her, have you?”

  “No.”

  “I have not heard her, have you?”

  “No. You know that.”

  “I have smelled her at that pressure door,” Khin said, but I do not smell here in here. Do you?”

  “You knew she was at that door?” Jerome was surprised. “I did not smell anything except the plants and that other stuff.

  “A wizard who cannot smell, and has poor eyes,” Khin laughed. “It is a good thing you have tools, and a better thing you met me.”

  The pressure door on the other end of the hallway was askew and beyond that the way continued much has it had been. The damage was confined to that one hallway. Khin led him onward. They passed various locations, some of which were labeled with strange sounding names. Jerome would have loved to investigate each one, but the pressure of finding Cammarry was eating at his mind. He kept pondering why she had left without him, and why she had left behind the com-link. Her arm injury also concerned him, although he was reassured by remembering that she had used trauma gel and also had received medical prophylaxis treatments in Dome 17. Still he worried, but kept his concerns to himself as they walked through the convoluted and strange places of the needle ship.

  “Now we are approaching the land of the Fruit People,” Khin said after they had walked for a good distance more. “You can smell them easily, right?”

  “I do not smell anything different at all,” Jerome replied. “The air smells the same to me.”

  Khin laughed and laughed.

  6 a sneaky entry

  Cammarry turned on her fusion lamp at a moderate setting and studied the route which she had gotten from the ESRC. The symbols on the map corresponded to some that she could find on the walls of the halls and corridors. The stairways were treacherously slippery, with the mossy growth and often dribbling water, but she traversed them as indicated on her route. There were a few goats who bounced quickly away as she approached. Those animals disappeared into rooms with open doors, or leaped up stairs and away. Once, several rats made scolding noises at Cammarry as she passed. They peered out of a ventilation duct and glared at her. A dribble of water was running down from that same duct.

  “I am not here to steal your water,” Cammarry said to the rats who brazenly stared at her from their high perch. “I can understand why you are defensive. Water is precious.”

  “They are just fearful,” Shadow said. “They have not seen light like you are using before. You are new to them, and they think you are a threat.”

  “I am not here to hurt the animals, but I need to find engineering. Maybe I should contact Jerome…”

  ‘Beware! Beware! Beware!” Shadow screamed.

  Cammarry ducked down and extinguished the fusion light. She looked around and listened carefully.

  “What is wrong?” Cammarry whispered.

  “The hallway ahead has suffered extensive damage. I was concerned for you about a possible radiation leak,” Shadow answered.

  “Radiation? That other hall had a ruined ceiling and it was safe. Right?” Cammarry’s heart pounded in her chest. She pulled the hood and mask out of her shirt and placed them on. She looked down at her clothing. The one sleeve was ruined as it had been slashed open. The closures on her pockets were not sealed. Her mind went through the protocol for use of the RAM system, which normally would protect her by absorbing any radiation. She bit her lip in disgust. Her RAM suit looked to be only partially functional. Her worst fears, creeping up from nearly a lifetime spent in Dome 17, were of the outside world breeching the dome and radiation contamination sickening everyone. She knew the world had died from toxins, and her primal fear was dying that same fate. When she had been on missions to search out the other domes, she was meticulous in maintaining her RAM clothing. Those missions from Dome 17 had been done safely because she had been extraordinarily fastidious. Here on the Conestoga, she had gotten lax, and she feared it was now too late.

  “Have I been irradiated?”

  “The hall has a collapsed wall, and some ventilation systems are fractured. Moments ago they released a tan colored steam. From what I can now tell, the radiation levels are safe, but you must hurry. Whatever I detected may return at any moment. Run now! Run Cammarry!” Shadow insisted.

  Forgetting completely about speaking to Jerome, Cammarry listened to Shadow and sprinted ahead. The hallway wa
s wider than previous ones, being about ten meters in width. The left hand side wall had crumbled and there were jagged edges and holes open all along it. Cammarry saw a few pipes and tubes inside that wall, but focused most of her attention on getting to the bulkhead door at the other end of the room. As she ran she caught her toe on something hidden in the pale green plants on the floor. She tripped and went down hard.

  “Hurry! The radiation may come spurting out again!” Shadow urged.

  Cammarry stumbled up and in fear slammed her hand against the controls on the bulkhead door. It slid out of the way, and she tumbled through. Spinning about she punched the button to seal the bulkhead door. It zipped into place and made a crunching sound as it locked.

  “Did I make it? Have I been exposed to toxic levels?” Cammarry asked.

  “I think between your quick passage, and the RAM clothing you are wearing, you are safe enough,” Shadow said. “At least for now.”

  “I better ask Sandie as well.” Cammarry reached up and tapped her ear, but then realized the com-link was missing. “Where is it?”

  “Where is what my friend?” Shadow asked.

  “The com-link! I need to see of Sandie saw anything. I need to ask Jerome about all this,” Cammarry wailed. “Oh what have I done?”

  “I believe you lost that ear piece when you tripped in that room,” Shadow reported. “I can now see that the room is filling with argon and neon. Those gases are known to carry radiation here on the needle ship.”

  “I must get the com-link! Oh I cannot be cut off from Jerome! I do not want to be alone and sick.” Cammarry sat down and pulled off her backpack. She dug out the medical kit and connected the wires to her neck. “I have to know.”

  She pressed the diagnostic button. The read out scrolled, ‘Healing at proper rate.’

  “You see, I told you that you avoided the radiation. You cannot go back in that hall,” Shadow said. “That was a narrow escape. You must forge ahead. I will help you and you still have the map which shows you the route to engineering.”

  “But what of was I thinking?” Cammarry asked. “I should have stayed with Jerome.”

  “The choice was made,” Shadow replied tersely.

  “Can you use the nonphysicality to connect to Sandie?”

  “I am not able to do that at this time. Perhaps later in engineering?” Shadow answered.

  “You are right. I will connect with some of the AIs, I mean, the synthetic brains, the SBs on this old ship. Set up the communications equipment, find the signal from Dome 17, and get the teleportation system working. Bring Brink, and a team here. Reconnect with them and then with Jerome. That can work. I can make that work. I do have the map still, and I know I can do this.” Cammarry spoke more to herself than to Shadow. She packed up her equipment and then hugged herself with both arms. “Yes, I can do this. I must do this. I missed the radiation. I am smarter than the people who built this ship, and way more sophisticated than the Goat People. If they can manage here, I can too.”

  Cammarry steadied herself, looked back at the closed bulkhead door, blew out a deep breath and said, “I missed that radiation, so I go on.”

  She studied the route on the map and took the next connecting corridor. It led to a wide stairway downward. These stairs had spotty sections of dried out and dead plants. She looked around, but could see no source of water for the area around the stairway. The crunching sound that was made as she stepped onto the dead plants was overly loud to her ears. She tried to step around them, and reached the bottom of the stairs where there was a double set of pressure doors and the label, ‘Botanical Solarium: Service Entrance’ on a sign.

  “That sounds promising,” Cammarry said. “Shadow? What do you think?”

  There was no answer.

  Cammarry visually assessed the doors. There was only a little growth medium at that location, and the doors were cleaner than most she had seen. There were no controls visible, so she set down her backpack and took out the fusion power and connected it to the doors.

  There was a whine and a sizzling sound. Then a yellow floodlight came on over the top of the doors. This was much brighter than the typical dim illumination she was used to. Also, a nine-section color control pad lit up in the permalloy next to the door.

  “Now what code will open this?” Cammarry muttered to herself, half hoping that Shadow or Sandie would somehow answer. But there was no reply.

  “The ESRC Code was blue, green, green, white, blue, yellow.,” Cammarry said as she punched in those colors.

  A negative function sound came from the door.

  “Maybe something simple: green, green, green.” Cammarry pressed that sequence.

  The negative function sound came. It was annoying and loud.

  Cammarry pushed another series of colors. Again the negative function sound came. She consulted the map and its route, but there was no indication what the proper sequence or code would be on this door which was obstructing her progress.

  “Well, door, if you truly want to be stubborn,” Cammarry muttered. “Will you be stubborn against a molecular torch?”

  Cammarry took the tool out and initiated it for cutting mode. She set its blade against the top of the seam between the two pressure doors, and adjusted the cutting depth to maximum. The permalloy between the two doors parted as easy as brushing her hair. The melted slag dripped to the sides as she pulled the torch all the way down to the floor. As soon as the seam was severed, the two doors retracted into their pockets with a grinding and tearing noise.

  Light shined out from the other side of the doors. It was brighter than the yellow flood light, and reminded Cammarry of the sunlight which she and Jerome had seen from the scout ship as they exited the dusty and opaque atmosphere of Earth.

  “Oh dear,” Cammarry exclaimed as she looked at the place she had found. “It is beautiful.”

  She looked out and as her eyes adjusted to the bright light she could barely believe all the colors. The light was a warm yellow tone and came from a large sphere suspended about thirty meters above the floor. That sphere was too bright to look at directly, but its warm glow infused everything beneath it with its yellow radiance.

  And all around beneath it there were plants growing. Not like the pale green fungus of the corridors, or the darker moss type plants which grew on some of the walls in the hallways and room, and also not like the mushrooms Cammarry had learned to pick. All those were just washed out facsimiles of what she saw here.

  “This is what John spoke about!” Cammarry said in a startled voice. “Life! Vibrant plant life!”

  She looked closer and saw that the room was very large, and roughly roundish shaped, although the wall nearest to her was straight, and went vertically up about ten meters, so she revised her estimation. ‘A modified pyramid type shape, perhaps?’ She thought. The room must have multiple straight sides in something like an icosagon pattern. Running along the floor from each of those vertical walls was a row of plants. The rows extended horizontally and all led to the center of the room. Between the rows there were permalloy walkways, about half as wide as the rows. The plants were much larger than anything she had seen before, and they reached upward and arched out over the walkways. She looked back at the permalloy walls, trying to see something familiar. Coming off the top of the wall, the ceiling was also multi-sectioned and all those ceiling sections came together high overhead at a conical apex. The glowing sphere was suspended from that apex. Some kind of clear tube or column extended down from the light sphere, and brightness was glistening off of that. Cammarry could not see where it connected on the floor because of the tall and colorful plants. Her eyes were drawn back to the biology she was seeing.

  “Oh John, or Jerome! I wish you could see all this!” Cammarry said in awe as she looked at the living forest of plants which each row contained.

  The closest row of plants were all well over her head in height. They were coming up from a rich, dark brown substance which was set in wide rows, boxed in
by permalloy walkways. The plants had medium brown, rough looking coverings on their central vertical parts, but the outer parts of the plants were covered in deep green leaves. Oblong balls which were a mottled purplish orange color were hanging from some of the smaller appendages of the large plants.

  “Hey, you there!” A man cried out in alarm. “Shut that door before some goats get in here and eat our fruit!”

  Cammarry remained motionless, still in shock at the beauty of what she was seeing. She did glance over at the man who was running toward her. He was dressed in some kind of pants with a chest covering and two straps over his shoulders. He was wearing a wide hat, dark glasses over his eyes, and his thick black hair was tied behind his head.

  “I said shut those doors! They should never be opened!” He yelled, much more enraged now than previously.

  Cammarry slowly turned around and pulled at the doors in a lackadaisical manner.