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

by John Thornton

  “But they all look designed for flight,” Jerome stated. He was observing the small ones’ blue and white color scheme which emphasized the pointy nosecone, which was just in front of an elongated bubble canopy. The canopies were propped open. The white edged wings were small and looked to be nearly touching the floor. The body to wing ratio was different for the small craft from the large one. The large one’s wings were a much greater proportion of its body than on the small craft. Each small blue and white craft had a single propulsion engine at its rear between the rudder and stabilizers.

  “I agree with Jerome, those vessels were designed for flight, and not only in vacuum, but also in an atmosphere,” Sandie stated. “The aerodynamics would not be needed for pure vacuum flight. Both the larger type, and those three smaller ones are probably capable of flight from here to the planet.”

  Cammarry sat down and quickly scanned the controls before her. Pushing a slide lever to the side, she activated the door which opened from the observation deck to the hanger bay.

  “So we go find a communication system, and speak to another of this old ship’s artificial intelligence systems…. I mean one of its synthetic brains. They are somewhere on that planet, and I intend to find one.” She got up and walked through the now open doorway and out into the hanger bay.

  “Jerome, would you please connect me into an access post?” Sandie asked. “I want to see what is operational here, and access the nonphysicality.”

  “Good idea Sandie.” Jerome pulled out the cable and jacked it into an access port.

  Cammarry hustled over to the large shuttle. It had yellow trimmed edges, and a row of blacked out windows which ran along the front third of the fuselage. Along the side of the ship was the inscription, Model 6 NS-A1L in dark yellow on the white. There was an open plug-style door on the side where Cammarry approached. The door was slid back, locked in the open position, but the interior of the shuttle was dark. She jumped up onto the trailing edge of the wing and approached the open doorway. Turning on the fusion pack and shining the light inside of shuttle, she stopped.

  “Jerome, there are dead bodies in this shuttle. A number of them.”

  Jerome pulled the com-link’s cable out of the access port and rushed to where Cammarry standing on the wing looking into the shuttle. He vaulted up next to her.

  “They are just dead bodies,” Cammarry admonished. “They are not newly killed, and there is no danger here.”

  “They are in spacesuits,” Jerome stated as he too looked inside.

  The bodies were clad in green spacesuits with bubble helmets. Each person had been strapped into a flight seat. Their faces, or the mummified remains of what had been their faces, were visible behind the clear permalloy of the bubble helmets. The brown and shriveled up grimaces did not reveal much at all about how the victims looked before death.

  Cammarry stepped inside and looked at the writing which was across the front left chest of each suit. “Hedviga Golik, Joyce Vincent, Barbara Salinas, Norman Simon, Alton Zahorka. All dead and no one has come here for how long?”

  Sandie the AI responded, “Dating their time of death is not possible with any amount of precision using only the visual images I have. It certainly is decades, since their demise. The spacesuits are a somewhat effective barrier against decay, so the rate of decomposition is hard to establish.”

  “What killed them?” Jerome asked. “They look like they were just sitting here waiting to fly off.”

  “How they died does not matter,” Shadow whispered to Cammarry. “What is vital is you complete the mission and connect back to Dome 17.”

  Cammarry looked at Jerome and he showed no signs of hearing Shadow. She then examined the cockpit more closely. Hedviga Golik was in the pilot seat, while the others were in the seats behind. She tried some switches, but none of the controls had any power, and the only light inside the shuttle was from her own fusion pack.

  “Jerome, we need to see if this shuttle has communication equipment which can connect us to one of the Conestoga’s surviving AIs, I mean, synthetic brains, wherever they are. That will enhance our chances of finding the Dome 17 signal.”

  “I agree,” Jerome said. “That is why I am with you on this quest. However, something killed all these people, and they were in spacesuits, and knew the layout and how to operate all this antique equipment. Caution and prudence is in order. I am reminded of the saying, ‘beware my friend as you pass by, as you were now, so once was I. As I am now so, you might be, be careful lest you follow me.’”

  “Jerome does not want you to succeed,” Shadow whispered.

  “That is nonsense,” Cammarry snapped.

  “Sorry. That quote is a bit morbid, speaking for the dead like that. Forgive me,” Jerome was sincere in his apology, but a bit confused as to why Cammarry was so upset by his old quote. “We could try connecting a fusion pack into the cockpit controls. That might empower the systems here for our examination.”

  “Good idea.” Cammarry pulled out a cable from her fusion pack and looked for an access port.

  “Sandie? What did you find in the nonphysicality?”

  The AI replied, “As we suspected, this hanger bay, is Pine 1206. The main synthetic brain that oversaw this area was destroyed, I am assuming at roughly the same time as the insurrection and the termination of the ship’s primary systems. I could find no log records of any kind after that SB was destroyed. This location, like so many of the others on the needle ship, is not interconnected to anywhere else on the Conestoga through the nonphysicality. The power system, and life support systems are functional here, but on tertiary controls.”

  Cammarry plugged the fusion pack into an access port, and the cockpit flickered and sizzled to life. “Awaiting launch authorization. Restraint systems active. Awaiting launch authorization. Restraint systems active. Awaiting launch authorization. Restraint systems active.” A mechanical voice repeated from the cockpit. There was also a display screen that flashed blue swirls of color.

  Jerome reached to the nearest body and checked the straps which held it in. They came over the shoulders, and up from the sides, with one between the legs. Those straps met at the waist in a pentagonal shaped buckle. He pushed at the latch several times, but nothing happened. The restraints did not open.

  “They were just waiting to go?” Jerome asked. “But could never get out? The restraints held them in. Now that is a nasty way to die.”

  Cammarry was adjusting some of the controls in the cockpit. “I got that announcement shut off. It was almost as annoying as the pounding in the sewer. The fusion pack has charged the energy system here, at least for a while. It looks like these controls seized up when the power went out. Must have been a long long wait for lufi amalgam energy systems to drain out in standby mode. Sandie, can you find a communication system here?” She pulled the cable from her com-link and jack it into the access port.

  “Searching,” Sandie replied. “This obsolete system is fragile, but I am able to review its components. The antenna for the communication apparatus has physical damage. It would have been an easy repair, however, the system here refused to release any of the people who were strapped in to do the repairs.”

  “How did that happen?” Cammarry asked.

  “This system is unable to effectively do hypothetical conjectures and correlate possibilities. It follows algorithms and immutable rules which were in conflict. One assessment identified the antenna problem and opened the door, however another identified that there was something outside the craft which was damaging the shuttle. The rule said the occupants could not be exposed to that risk during launch preparations. Without the proper analytical powers needed, because it was not connected to an artificial intelligence system, or even one of the Conestoga’s more primitive synthetic brains, the machines here simply locked into a repeating cycle which trapped the people who were attempting the launch.”

  “Sandie, can the repairs still be made?” Jerome asked.

  “I believe
so,” Sandie replied. “I conjecture a 71% chance of this shuttle’s communication system being restored should the antenna be repaired.”

  “Where do I make the repairs?” Jerome looked around the outside of the shuttle.

  “Near the rear stabilizer there is a panel which will need to be removed. I will guide you through the repairs.”

  Jerome walked along the swept back wing to the rear of the shuttle. A small door was marked in red lettering, ‘Warning Hot Exhaust’ and ‘Proper Protective Suit Required. Do NOT Open During Flight’

  “I again used the Machine Maintenance code I discovered to unlock that panel,” Sandie sounded pleased with her efforts.

  Jerome opened the panel.

  “See the blue conduit which runs from the lower left to the upper right? That will need to be shifted into a vertical position, after moving the green lever at the top. That will reconnect the antenna relays which are under the skin of the shuttle along its anterior surface,” Sandie instructed.

  Jerome grasped the green lever and tried to rotate it. It was very stiff, and he grabbed it with both hands and it began to slide a bit.

  There was a sizzling sound, and a pungent odor. Jerome pulled back a bit.

  Kablam!

  Sparks and flames shot out. Jerome leaped away just in time to avoid being scalded or injured. He rolled across the hanger bay floor.

  “Jerome what happened?” Cammarry called as she ran out from the interior of the shuttle.

  Jerome shook his head and looked up at Cammarry. “Life is full of surprises, and one of them happened to me.”

  Cammarry saw that Jerome was not injured, but she then looked over at the smoking door on the shuttle.

  “He did not want to fix the antenna,” Shadow whispered. “He does not want you to succeed.”

  “I disagree!” Cammarry replied to Shadow.

  Jerome looked at her with a puzzled expression. “This really was a surprise. Truly a surprise.”

  Sandie spoke through the com-links. “I have analyzed the incident. The fusion pack power that had recharged the energy system of the shuttle overloaded the flimsy communication system. When the antenna was realigned, it worked momentarily, but could not compensate for that surge of energy. I am sorry to report that it is now ruined and beyond repair.”

  “Sandie and Jerome are working to stop you,” Shadow whispered. “Neither want you to make contact. Why? Do they want to be marooned here? Why do they want you left out of things? Why are they acting like Jubal? What game are they playing?”

  “This is not some game!” Cammarry called down. “We need this to work. Even though we are way behind schedule, the people in Dome 17 can still be saved. Brink might have found a way to extend the life in the dome, and I will not quit until I find a way to connect with them.” She walked over and grabbed her gear from within the shuttle. Then she swung down off the wing and walked away. “One of these little ones will have a communication system.”

  “Let me help you,” Jerome said as he got up.

  “You have already done more than enough. I will do this alone,” Cammarry said tersely.

  “Hello? Cammarry? I am sorry for the accident, but it was just that, an accident.” Jerome walked toward her. “Things go better when we work together. Cooperation, makes it happen.”

  Cammarry turned and stared at Jerome. “I said I will do this alone.”

  Jerome lifted his hands and stepped back. “I am sorry for whatever I have done here. If you need my help, please let me know.” He walked back and around the end of the big shuttle which was still smoldering a bit from the ruined antenna.

  She turned and marched over to the nearest small shuttle. As she drew closer she could read the markings on its side. ‘Runabout NS-05’ was printed in black lettering under the edge where the canopy would close. She saw that there were tandem seats in the skinny cockpit, and that the canopy consisted of two parts. One part would close and covered the front seat, and the other covered the rear seat. They locked together in the up or down position, but could be moved independently.

  “These craft are much more what you need,” Shadow said. “I am sure if you get inside the communication system will be functional. There are no dead bodies here.”

  Cammarry climbed up and looked into the front seat. It was cozy and snug. The control dashboard had a major lever, and rows of toggle switches, as well as gauges, dials, and two small display screens. Some of the instruments were labeled. She saw a dial marked, ‘Long Range Transmitter’ which thrilled her heart. Throwing her backpack in the rear seat she sat down. She turned the dial on the ‘Long Range Transmitter’ and heard a clicking noise.

  Lights came on in the cockpit and the controls were backlit in various colors. A mechanical voice came from the dashboard. “This is SB Joseph Crater of Habitat Alpha. Initiating automatic recall and retrieval.”

  “A synthetic brain?” Cammarry asked. “Can you assist me in finding a signal?”

  The machine designated SB Joseph Crater responded, “Automatic recall and retrieval engaged. Emergency decompression of hanger bay activated. You will launch after Model 6 NS-A1L. Vacuum in ten seconds.”

  “No! Halt operations!” Cammarry ordered.

  “Recall and retrieval initiated” SB Joseph Crater replied.

  The canopy over Cammarry snapped shut. The rear section locked down and the clear permalloy mutated into a dark gray color.

  A warning siren began whooping in the hanger bay. Jerome looked over just in time to see the canopy slam down on the small shuttle Cammarry had entered.

  “No!” He yelled. “Cammarry get out of there!”

  Bright flashing lights extended down from the ceiling and those turned on and beams of yellow floodlights strobed throughout the hanger bay. The siren increased its intensity in fluctuating tones.

  “Jerome! The hanger bay is set for emergency decompression!” Cammarry yelled through the com-link. “I cannot open the canopy here! Jerome! Run!”

  Jerome looked toward the other two small shuttles with their open canopies, and then back toward the large shuttle which was still smoldering from where the accident had happened. He considered making a run for one of the shuttles, but then saw the flashing red light over the door to the observation deck come on. It was flashing ‘Exit’ in bright red letters.

  He dashed toward the observation deck, as it was closest to his position. As he ran he commanded, “Sandie stop whatever is happening in here. Cammarry must not be trapped in that shuttle like those dead people.”

  The AI replied, “I am conjecturing possibilities. Please connect into the access port as soon as possible.”

  Jerome jumped through the doorway above which the red ‘Exit’ sign flashed. He heard creaking and groaning as doors all around the hanger bay slammed shut. Their locking mechanisms spun and airtight seals engaged. He pulled the cable connection out of the com-link and inserted it into the access port. The control board was wildly flashing colors, and the displays were showing readings from the hanger bay. A countdown was happening on one display.

  “I am searching for ways to help,” Sandie stated.

  “Cammarry can you get out? Shut down everything! Sandie! Just stop this all!” Jerome commanded. “Cammarry is trapped in there!”

  “I cannot find a way to halt the cavalcade of programs that have started and are in operation. There is a cascade effect with one system igniting the next and the next. They have received authorization from an outside agency,” Sandie said. “I am limited to the nonphysicality. Most of them lack a direct connection to the nonphysicality, and the few that I can access are refusing all my efforts.”

  “Destroy them if you must! Just stop all this!” Jerome had a sick feeling as he watched what was happening. He hated feeling so helpless.

  The screen which had the countdown reached zero and then read, ‘Depressurization Complete’ in flashing letters.

  “How will we get her out of there? Is that shuttle pressurized?” Jerome yelle
d. “Cammarry what is happening? Sandie, connect me to Cammarry.”

  “The com-link is functional. She should be hearing you,” Sandie stated.

  Cammarry’s voice came in a soft and echoing way filled with static. “Nothing responds to me in here. Joseph Crater…”

  “What?” Jerome yelled. “Who?”

  ‘Gravity Manipulation Disengaged’ the display now flashed in a different color.

  Jerome felt no change, but he saw the difference. The runabout shuttle, NS-05, fired a brief thruster burst from its inferior nozzles and lifted off the deck. A slight spurt from the anterior thruster stabilized the small shuttle so it floated over the deck. Docking clamps fell open off the bottom of the shuttle. Items which had been lying on the floor of the hanger bay now were slightly raised by the thruster’s emissions. They drifted and did not sink back to the deck. The small shuttle just hovered over the parking stall. Its darkened canopy hiding any trace of Cammarry.