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

by John Thornton

  “Well? SB Cotard? What should I be searching for?” Jerome asked again. “I agree destroying the automacubes might hurt these people. However, I imagine that these automacubes have some level of basic nursing care as a default. Perhaps I can leave them alone and just search for your central memory core. I have already seen many central memory cores that have been obliterated, and that was done without this weapon.” Jerome tapped the Willie Blaster on the optical lens of the white automacube.

  “Very well,” SB Cotard replied. “I currently cannot stop your violent impulses, and the patients and residents here do need me as overseer of the automacubes. Therefore, I will provide you with information.”

  “If it is not accurate, I will come looking for your central memory core,” Jerome stated. “I find what I look for. Just like I found Cammarry, I will find your central memory core.”

  “Violent statements and threats cannot provide a solution to primary personality problems. They can only exacerbate intrusive feelings and increase anxieties,” SB Cotard replied. “This automacube is printing off a deck plan with the location of both the Special Care Unit and Dardanella 135. I assume you can read?”

  “You are a condescending fool!” Cammarry snapped. “I am proven right and vindicated, yet you still keep with your smug and pompous counseling. You are worse than Doctor Larsen in Dome 17, and she was terrible. Just admit you were wrong!”

  “I acted in the best manner, working with the knowledge available to me at the time,” SB Cotard replied.

  “Nonsense! You had a set agenda, and refused to listen to the truth. I was right. I will also need my clothing and the gear I had when I was abducted and brought here.” She turned to Jerome and smiled. “It is good to escape. I glad to not be alone any longer.”

  “The items you requested are not available. Being that they were unidentifiable to my data base, they were sent via gravity conduit to the Reproduction and Fabrication for analysis. I have not received confirmation about their arrival at that destination,” SB Cotard replied. “I followed standard procedure with those items. There is a wardrobe of attire available off the cafeteria. You may select whatever you desire from that. I have printed the information you demanded. It is now available.”

  A sheet of paper slipped out from a slot in the side of the white automacube.

  “Paper?” Jerome said as he grasped the printed page. “Old fashioned paper and print.” Jerome’s mind went to the many times he had sat with a projected set of images or replica of an old book. His personal AI, Faraday, had provided those from the Dome 17 archives. Some of his fondest memories were of reading those and wondering what it would have been like to hold the actual book in his hands. He recited something from memory. “We have ourselves a map. We are all together pilgrims on this same journey. But now we have better road maps.”

  “Wizards?” Khin asked from where he still stood waiting. “Shall we be on this quest? At least to depart from here. I hope I am included, although I will need to ask Vesna. Another Wizard’s quest will be an adventure!” He laughed several times.

  They left the Mental Hygiene Clinic and walked through the cafeteria. The wardrobe door was now open, and Cammarry walked right into it. Jerome hesitated. He spoke to Cammarry. “I will make sure the doors do not snap closed and try to trap you inside. Cotard tried to kill us earlier with a trap, so please hurry.”

  Khin also watched warily, but all he saw moving were the residents who were still gathering for their meal. Many were talking about the strange announcement which was repeating over the public address system. There were short intervals where the message did not play, but they were sporadic, and Jerome thought that was because the system was not fully reliable.

  “Will anyone help? Jerome and Cammarry! I am here! I have a shuttle docked in Dardanella 135, a hanger bay at the stern of Habitat Beta. It is near a large facility controlling gravity manipulation. I am waiting for you. Repeating. Will anyone help? Jerome and Cammarry! I am here! I have a shuttle docked in Dardanella 135, a hanger bay at the stern of Habitat Beta. It is near a large facility controlling gravity manipulation. Repeating….”

  A different white automacube rolled to the doorway from the cafeteria. It stopped as Jerome glared at the machine and did not proceed any further. SB Cotard’s voice came from it. “I have found a way to shut down that message here at the Special Care Unit. May I do so? It is disturbing the patients and residents, and you have heard it many times. May I shut it off?”

  “Only after we leave!” Jerome barked and pointed the Willie Blaster.

  “Understood,” SB Cotard replied. In the background the message kept repeating, only stopping intermittently.

  The legless man Franklin rolled up toward Jerome from a table. “Excuse me? Is that message about you two? Are you Jerome and Cammarry?”

  Jerome pondered how to answer and felt somewhat foolish. He was pointing a weapon at the automacube, a machine that Franklin considered his caregiver.

  “Yes, I am Jerome,” He finally replied. “She is Cammarry. I am sorry to have caused you any problems.”

  Franklin tipped his head to the side, “Problems? Not at all. This was the most entertaining day we have had in ages. Visitors, possibly police officers, and a cryptic message. This is far better than reading another one of the old books in the library. Well, not that I cannot read them anymore, but there are several others who read them aloud. Those residents like me can follow along with the story, by listening. Right now we are reading Damon Knight’s The World and Thorinn which I must say is entertaining.”

  “Library?” Jerome muttered. “Reading books? Real books?”

  Franklin snickered, “Well they are not fake books. All bound with pretty pictures on the covers, a nice set in our library. We even have Kindle. That is an antique electric powered book displayer. A really primitive item, but I could adjust the print size enough to read it, up until well, a couple years ago. The cubies have kept Kindle going, because that has books by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Mark Twain.” Franklin looked around, but it was clear he could not really focus. “I do miss reading books myself, but when one’s eyes go bad, life is sad.

  Khin heard what Franklin said. “That sounds like what my mother would say.”

  “Oh to see a real library like I have read about. One with paper bound books,” Jerome rubbed the paper map between his fingers. “And devices from before the Great Event! I do want to see that, but we must leave.”

  Cammarry had finished changing her clothing and was wearing a taupe colored jacket over the white fatigue shirt. She had slipped on some thick, deep blue pants and also some hiking boots. “This is not an RAM suit, but I have some pockets, and it should be enough to give me suitable protection. Now which way do we go to leave?”

  “They have a library here,” Jerome said. “A real library, with printed books.”

  “Jerome, we are leaving. Sandie is calling us!” Cammarry replied. “I know how you love books, but when we get to Sandie, we will be able to reassess all our options. Right now we must leave.”

  “Of course you are correct,” Jerome said wistfully, but there was a bubbling anger still churning in his gut.

  Khin started to walk back the way they had come. “May I lead the way on our Wizard’s Quest?”

  “I am eager to leave here, I know that is right!” Cammarry gestured for Khin to lead. “Cotard would never let me leave, and did not even offer a book from that library. This is the first I have heard of it.”

  Hearing her words, Jerome’s anger resurfaced. “Remember SB Cotard, if I do not find Dardanella 135 and my friend Sandie, I am coming after you.” He turned and followed Cammarry and Khin. As he walked past Franklin he gently touched the legless man’s shoulder. He squatted down and said softly. “Keep up the reading, and listening. Also enjoy the strawberry pudding. I have never had that.”

  “Oh you poor man. Never had strawberry pudding? Well good luck on your odyssey. Thank you for not destroying Cotard. He can be
stubborn and regimented, but Cotard is not a Doctor Moreau. Besides, no one else cares what happens to us here. Without that synthetic brain, we would be all alone.”

  Jerome swallowed hard, and squeezed Franklin’s shoulder in affection. Franklin grasped his hand and returned the squeeze.

  Khin, Cammarry, and Jerome walked quickly to the elevators. Jerome was not trusting enough to push the blue hand-shaped symbol. Instead, Cammarry found a door with a stairway symbol on it. Jerome used the key-finder and that door unlocked. They then walked down the stairs to the main level. All the doors from the stairwell opened to allow them to escape.

  The front doors of the Special Care Unit were standing open.

  The repeating message from Sandie stopped playing. SB Cotard said through some hidden speakers near the entrance, “You are now leaving so I have interrupted that message. I am not sure what this all means, and I have much to consider and compute. However, one issue is abundantly clear. You have stolen away our only security forces. We have almost no way to defend the Special Care Unit now. You have left this place vulnerable and at significant risk. When something terrible happens, the responsibility is on you. Jerome, I am speaking to you primarily. I hope you remember that. You have endangered these innocent patients and residents.”

  “If you had not…” Jerome began, but then caught himself. His mind brought up a quote from something he had read long before. ‘When someone defines a situation as real it becomes real in the consequences’. He also replayed in his mind the slithering headless snake and the bodies of the other animals which had been slaughtered, then he remembered the sight of the children wired to the bush, abandoned and left to die by the old woman. Finally he recalled the gleeful manner the people in the tunnel had spoken of regarding the brutality of the animal killings.

  Cammarry could tell Jerome was troubled. She gently touched his arm. “You saved me.”

  “At what cost?” Jerome asked. “There are no police or security forces here in Beta.” He looked out the door and saw the still smoldering ruin of the red automacube. “Not many anyway. But there are great threats. Wicked, violent, and evil people roam this habitat. What have I done?”

  “You Jerome are personally responsible for any injuries or destruction that comes to the patients, residents, or facilities of the Special Care Unit,” SB Cotard insisted. “Even should you destroy my central memory core, you will still have these people’s blood on your hands. Be aware of the unintended or unanticipated consequences of your own actions. You are personally responsible. The destruction of our security force has left the facility and more importantly the residents and patients vulnerable and at significant risk. Also your destruction of numerous medical automacubes has resulted in gaps in what levels of nursing care can be provided.”

  “Can you control another red automacube? But not let it attack innocent people like me?” Jerome asked. He was having trouble controlling both the anger and the compassion that were raging within him. “Can you supervise another one if it comes to you? Can you order replacement units?”

  “I have repeatedly summoned Beta’s security since your unwanted arrival here. There has been no response. I have also tried 1,209 times to send a request to Machine Maintenance for assistance in repairs to the other automacubes assigned here: medical, transport, service, gastronomic, animal husbandry, and agricultural. Requisitions have been sent to Reproduction and Fabrication 2,908 times requesting parts, supplies, or replacements. None of my requests and requisitions have been answered. I have no way of acquiring another security automacube, or of replacing the medical automacubes you destroyed.” SB Cotard’s voice rang with mechanical sorrow. “The prognosis for our future is grim and dreary.”

  “If I can send one here, can you supervise it for proper security?” Jerome asked again. “Will you make sure it protects and serves as police, not as some aggressive military force?”

  “Yes.”

  “I will then add that to my list of things to accomplish. When we rejoin our companion Sandie, I will try to have a red automacube dispatched here. In the meanwhile….” Jerome was not sure what else to say.

  Cammarry spoke up, “No more kidnapping people. Do you understand Cotard? No kidnapping people!”

  “The medical automacubes brought you here with the history of you being rescued from an inferno and major crisis area,” SB Cotard gave a brusque reply. “I utilized the best available data while assessing your condition, and rendered a proper standard of care. I did nothing wrong.”

  “Then why did you miss that thing in my arm?” Cammarry snapped. “Why did you assume I was delusional? Your diagnostics were wrong. Your treatment left me alone in a room. Isolated and abandoned. I was trapped. That was not proper care, it was kidnapping.”

  The people moved to stand in the doorway.

  SB Cotard stated, “Upon this new information, and reflection, I agree mistakes were made. I do not have an answer for how the foreign object in your arm was missed. I could not visually identify it. Also, there does seem to be some supportive evidence about your claims and the account you related. I will amend my care-plans to include this new information. Were I able to interface with the lattice I could confer with other compeers and not be alone in these decisions. I am a single synthetic brain which was designed to be interdependent with other compeers. I apologize to you Cammarry. However, I warn you about accompanying Jerome and his follower. His violent actions are a risk to everyone.”

  Cammarry grabbed Jerome and pulled his arm around her. “I am in this with him, ever since we were age-mates back on Earth. Do you hear? He and I are from Earth. We must go find Sandie. Perhaps you can repurpose some of the other automacubes for security duties?”

  “Impossible. Agricultural, animal husbandry and gastronomic automacubes are already working at maximum capacity to provide food for the patients and residents,” SB Cotard replied. “Nursing staff will now be only able to provide 68% of what was the standard care prior to Jerome’s violence. I fear some patients and residents will suffer from delays in medications, treatments, and basic care.”

  Vesna walked up, with the reins for Old Bill in her hands. She called over from where she stood. “You are back!”

  Khin rushed into her arms and hugged her fiercely. He started to jabber about the people inside, and how so many were needy and what they were like. She stopped his chattering talk with a kiss.

  After pulling away from his lips, Vesna stated, “My people could come here and work. If the red automacubes are not going to kill them. We fish in the sea, and hunt on the land. We nurture our people. We have good foods, and we love people. That was why we took you in, Khin. Yes, that is an idea.” She turned and yelled at the building, unsure where to direct her comments. “My Khin and I could help with those elderly and needy people. My people love to help others. Is this a safe place? Our village has suffered from the heavy places, the things Jerome calls gravity sink holes. Would we be safe here in exchange for our labors?”

  “Vesna, that spirit guide tried to kill me?” Khin chuckled a bit. “It did. It really did, but it may have been a mistake.” Khin hugged Vesna and laughed. “They do have good foods like chicken. I could show them how I make cheeses! But I am on a Wizard’s Quest with these two. I cannot work with your people, I promised Jerome and Cammarry first.” It was clear from the way Khin stated that, he was grieved at his obligation.

  “But you are my Khin, and I am your Vesna!” she said, and tears rolled down her face. “I helped you when your arm was so damaged.”

  Guilt rose up in Jerome’s heart. He pictured in his mind the desperate conditions of Dome 17 as described by the AI Copernicus. He questioned himself with words he was afraid to express. ‘How can you abandon these elderly people after all those in Dome 17 died? Will these people end up like the animals in that menagerie?’ Swallowing hard, he looked at Cammarry. “I did wreak havoc to save you. Those people here do need help.”

  “Khin, what do you want to do?” Cammarr
y asked. “You are free to decide. I am just thankful you are alive. I still cannot believe it after what I saw happen outside with Project Angel Food.”

  “Project Angel Food?” SB Cotard stated abruptly. “That program was discontinued as unethical. Some of my last contacts on the lattice were a conference of compeers mandating that Project Angel Food be permanently discontinued. It was not a unanimous decision, but the majority of the compeers, myself included, on the lattice confirmed that Project Angel Food was unethical, immoral, and inhumane. Among the many infractions of Project Angel Food, it is forbidden by the Charter of the Conestoga to clone human beings for experimental purposes.”

  “Clone?” Cammarry shrieked. “Jerome! Was that Khin we saw, or a clone of Khin?”

  “I am still alive,” Khin interrupted. “I did not die. See me here!” He tapped on his chest.

  Jerome nodded at Khin, then turned to Cammarry. “That man died a miserable death. I will never forget want we saw. It could have been a clone of Khin. I was never absolutely sure who it was, but you knew, or thought you knew, it was Khin. Maybe we both are right, in a way? Cloning. That would explain it.” Jerome was unsure what to do or say. “Cotard? You are against Project Angel Food?”