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

by John Thornton

  Rider and motorcycle buckled as both tires on the motorcycle burst under the enormous force of gravity. The mangled mess tumbled out of control and ground to a halt only a short distance past where the tires had burst.

  “Calculating the rate of deceleration, compared to the expected inertia, estimated weight and mass of motorcycle and rider, that gravity sink hole has at least four times Earth normal gravity inside of it,” Sandie stated.

  The body of the now dead rider was splattered along that short distance, mixed in with the mashed remains of the motorcycle. The twisted rifle barrel jutted up at an obscure angle out of the wreckage.

  “That was a gravity sink hole!?!? Eris asked in puzzled disgust. She swallowed hard and tried to think like an engineer about the physics of the problem, but the dead person was hard to ignore. The sudden and violent crushing of the fast motorcycle and rider shocked and appalled her. Her mind recalled some training sessions where they had discussed varies catastrophic malfunctions: escaped power surges, explosive decompression, failures in Gravity Altered Gimbaled Spheres, and other extreme and rare breakdowns. Machine Maintenance was tasked with preventing those situations by routine and ongoing servicing of the Conestoga’s systems. Even with her training, nothing had prepared her for the sudden and gruesome death of the man they had been chasing. It was too much like the scenes in the repository. “A gravity well, four times Earth normal? That would sink about anything in a biome, and do terrible damage to structural integrity.”

  “Yes,” Jerome replied. “That is a gravity sink hole. A large one, with high gravity. None seem to be the same, nor is there a consistency to when and where they appear.”

  “Jerome! Look past the wreckage!” Cammarry called out. “Down by the seacoast!”

  They all looked. There in the distance was a Crock vehicle very similar to the one the other automacube was trailing. It was sitting right next to the seacoast. Its bulky and primitive steel finishing stood out against the natural setting around it. This one too was painted in dappled greens, beiges, and grays, but the pattern was slightly different. It also looked to have a somewhat altered set of pipes or works coming out of its top. Its double-dual track system began to turn and the vehicle headed downhill right for the sea.

  “Sandie! Engage that Crock vehicle!” Jerome ordered.

  “We have no evidence it causes the gravity sink holes,” Sandie replied in defiance. “Are you certain you wish to open fire on the indigenous people of Zalia on so little provocation?”

  “Shoot it!” Cammarry ordered.

  The automacube’s primary guns blazed forth.

  Blam. Blam. Blam. Blam.

  The bullets entered the gravity sink hole and slammed down into the roadway causing small puffs of dust to come up only a few centimeters.

  “Trajectory of weapon’s fire was inhibited by gravity sink hole. Reconfiguring. Adjusted firing and targeting factors. Compensations conjectured and initiated,” Sandie stated. “Engaging again.”

  The Crock vehicle was slipping beneath the waves, its double-dual treads churning up water and mud from the sea’s bank.

  Blam. Blam. Blam.

  Water spouted up just above where the Crock vehicle had disappeared beneath the waves.

  “Target was not struck,” Sandie replied. “No longer able to engage target.”

  “You let it escape!” Jerome complained. “You should have known the gravity sink hole would interfere!”

  Cammarry walked over and put her hand on Jerome’s shoulder. “It was not deliberate. Sandie did the best possible, under these circumstances. Right Sandie?”

  “That is correct,” Sandie replied. “I am now taking reading on the gravity sink hole. It is not stationary.”

  “Can S-1DT follow that Crock vehicle?” Jerome asked.

  Eris spoke up. “No. Security automacubes have limited aquatic abilities. You would need a specialized automacube, called the vodnee, for pursuit in the sea.”

  Jerome and Cammarry looked at Eris. They had almost forgotten that she was there.

  “Eris, what do you think of that Crock vehicle?” Jerome asked. “Is it Conestoga technology?” He was looking for confirmation of the alien origin of the thing, but also wondered what they were going to do.

  “That vehicle, which went into the water, what you call a Crock vehicle, looked like something from a history book, circa 1900 old calendar. Any of the Conestoga’s Reproduction and Fabrication facilities could conceivably create it, but why? I know of no vehicles of that design in service anywhere on the Conestoga, nor can I see any advantage to using one, from an engineering standpoint. It is a crude, rough, and not very efficient design. Not even spun permalloy, but some soft metal like steel. You say it was made by the aliens who live on this world?”

  “That is the working assumption,” Sandie answered before Jerome or Cammarry could speak. “It shows traces of the Zalian atmosphere which are apparently leaking out from the interior.”

  Eris was staring at the display. “Sandie? May I ask you to redirect the view to that gravity sink hole?”

  “Certainly,” Sandie replied. The view shifted and the dead shooter and the crumpled motorcycle again came into view.

  “Sandie?” Eris asked. “Standard security automacubes do not have nebulium, macroactinide, or neobiquadium detectors. Nor are they large enough for interferometric observations. Does your S-1DT, which I see has been specially modified, carry any equipment like that?”

  “No it does not,” Sandie replied.

  Eris pulled at her lips with her fingers. She then said, “I may be able to fix that gravity sink hole. Or at least better understand what it is, but I will need to go to that habitat and access the equipment built into the ship.”

  “Good. I will take you. No more waiting.” Jerome walked back to where his supplies were and started filling his backpack with gear. “We must go and see this for ourselves. Enough with the remote viewing through the automacubes. Sandie, make sure both of those continue to monitor for Crock and gravity sink hole activity. Khin and Vesna need that red one at the Special Care Unit. That murderer on the motorcycle will not be the only one in Beta to be out on a killing spree. All those elderly and sick people will be prime targets for those butchers. Also, make sure the yellow one, T-1DT gets to the Listening Ear destination.” Jerome was wrestling with his emotions and feelings about the twins Dewi and Nabila. His heart had been pounding when he saw the people shot down, and feared that it was those children. He spoke sternly, “As soon as possible we must establish some communications with the roustabouts. Monika will need to know where I am.”

  “Monika?” Cammarry asked as she lifted an eyebrow.

  “And Siva, Jenna, Peter, and the others. All the roustabouts.”

  “Jerome, I agree we must go there,” Cammarry added. Then she turned to Eris. “There is a gravity manipulation control facility in Beta…”

  Eris interrupted, “I know. That is where I need to go. Each habitat has two Gravity Manipulation Works where the gravity manipulation machinery is concentrated and the analytic and diagnostics are controlled. One is located on each end, bow and stern. Each of those has ten separate oscillators. There are also, here on the needle ship, gravity manipulation works, but the oscillators are spread out and patterned along the length. Get me to one of the Gravity Manipulation Works in Beta and I should be able to tell you what is happening and why. I have some ideas about what might, I say might, be causing that, but I cannot check it from here.”

  “You will need to use our teleportation system,” Jerome reminded her. “There is a distinct lack of shuttles on the needle ship, and our trips to the surface via shuttles have not always been as smooth and easy as we would have liked.”

  Eris placed her hand on EA-270 and spoke, “SB Pinaka? Will you interface with Sandie here and monitor the needle ship’s status? Keep the orbit stable and safe. I have a feeling we may be looking at an emergency evacuation lift-off of Beta.”

  “What?” Cammarry
asked in surprise.

  Jerome’s mouth was open in wonder as well.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Eris asked. “You told me that the planet Zalia is toxic. Terraforming is not an option here. If Beta is truly in danger, which I believe it is. Then using its booster rockets to regain orbit and reconnect to the needle ship may be the best way to save the whole habitat, people, animals, and plant life.”

  Jerome smiled broadly, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion…”

  Eris finished the quote for him, “to reach for the stars and change the whole world.”

  10 teleporting to Beta

  Sandie oversaw the continued journey of both of the adventuring automacubes, the red S-1ST and the yellow T-1DT, while Jerome and Cammarry readied the teleportation system.

  Eris was fascinated and watched closely. Cammarry explained the operations, and Jerome finished preparing the backpacks and supplies. He brought food, both Willie pistols, and various other essential gear.

  “The teleporters here are locked onto a specific receiving pad, the one in Beta is just to the side of a hanger bay in a small alcove,” Cammarry instructed.

  “I am ready,” Eris stated.

  Cammarry looked at Jerome. He nodded and patted his backpack. “Sandie, open the orifice and connect to the receiving pad in Beta,” Cammarry ordered.

  “Establishing. Signals connected. Pre-ignition check completed. All systems are ready for initiation. Orifice will remain open for 90 seconds. Please wait until the orifice is in its final configuration before entering. All systems operating well. Confirmed at optimum performance levels.”

  The jumbo fusion boxes on the corners of the teleporter hummed and a shimmering of energy began on the flat grid pad.

  Eris gasped, but smiled broadly. “You really can do this.”

  Twin balls of energy snapped noisily into existence. They were brilliant in intensity and hovered above the opposite end of the sending pad. The teleportation sending unit’s grid glowed and shimmered. A few sparks came up from each corner as the energy fields were stabilized.

  “Yes, we have done this. We had hoped to bring everyone from Dome 17 though on that big receiving pad,” Jerome lamented. “However, we did not connect in time. We will be in time to help those people in Beta.”

  “God willing,” Eris prayed. “God willing.”

  Hovering just above the grid were those two small, but growing circles of energy. Occasional leaps of magnetics or electricity arced between the circles of energy and down to the grid. The energy orbs continued to hover some distance apart over the gird. The hum of the fusion boxes increased. The glow from the grid and the fusion boxes shone of the faces of the three people waiting to step through that tunnel in the sky.

  Eris took deep breaths while she waited. It only took a few short moments, but to Eris it felt like four years of intensive engineering education. She was experiencing a brand new technology, one only dreamed about by her peers, parents, instructors, or herself. The wonder of it all, almost, but not quite, displaced the sorrow and anguish she felt at remembering all the people in the repository who were now dead. Eris prayed for their souls in a silent appeal to eternity.

  “Receiving pad in Beta is clear of obstructions, or unknown persons,” Sandie reported. “Final connection being made. Synchronizing and harmonization of matter transmission established. Calculations confirm link and channel. Modulating for expansion.”

  The two small globes of light approached each other, met, and popped into an upright rectangle. The view of the antechamber in Beta was now visible. All three humans could feel a subtle change in air pressures.

  “Passageway open,” Sandie stated. “Eris, I will be able to connect with you through the automacube EA-270 or either Jerome’s or Cammarry’s com-link. I have ordered a com-link specifically for you manufactured at Alpha’s Reproduction and Fabrication. It will arrive at the same time as the food ration processors. So it will be here upon your return.”

  “Thank you Sandie. Please assist SB Pinaka as well,” Eris asked.

  “My pleasure,” Sandie replied. “I will keep those channels of interaction open.”

  Eris waved her hand, and EA-270 rolled up and onto the sending pad. It crossed into the rectangular opening, which was outlined in brilliant white light. It then was received in beta.

  “This is amazing!” Eris said as she walked confidently forward. She felt only a slight tremble and tingle as she was teleported thousands of kilometers away, down to the surface of Zalia, and into the antechamber where Beta’s receiving pad was located. Just a few short and easy steps for Eris, but gigantic leaps for technology, or so she told herself as she passed through the orifice.

  Jerome and Cammarry followed.

  The teleportation orifice snapped shut shortly after they walked off the receiving pad in Beta.

  “See, our technology works,” Cammarry said.

  “Indeed it does!” Eris jubilantly replied. She then walked over and assessed the room she was in. Displays turned on, and control panels folded out to her presence. “This looks in good shape, no obvious signs of damage, but modified by your teleporters.”

  “Sandie?” Jerome asked as he unnecessarily touched the com-link over his ear. “Are we still connected?”

  “Yes, I can hear you and Cammarry without any difficulty. Lines of communication are as secure as I can make them,” the AI replied. “If you use the tracker mode on your com-links, you will notice that on the walls and floor are the marks left by S-1DT and T-1DT.”

  An invisible beam projected out from Cammarry’s and Jerome’s com-link. As they looked around, that beam struck the places on the wall or floor which then lit up with arrows or simple directional indicators.

  “No Hayward MacDonald comments.” Cammarry winked at Jerome. She then explained to Eris about what they had learned of Hayward MacDonald.

  “Another tragic story. There really is not any security or police in all of Beta?” Eris asked rhetorically as she blew out a stream of breath. “That insurrection must have been horrific.”

  “We have seen horrific things, especially when we were alone. We are not getting separated this time,” Jerome said. “We stay together and get this job finished.”

  Eris walked over to the opposite end of the alcove, and the doors automatically opened for her. She walked past the storage tanks to get a better view of the hanger bay. Out on the hanger deck, parked in stall 4 was a shuttle. The other five stalls were all empty. The remaining shuttle was designated NS-99. “So there is a shuttle, but this hanger bay should have a full quota of shuttles. They were only to be used after making planet-fall. Do you know if that was when they were used? I suppose you have not found logs or entries, since so many of the primary AIs are gone.”

  “Eris?” Sandie asked through the com-links. “What do you mean by a full quota of shuttles? There are six parked in Dardanella 135, one in each stall. Should they be some different types or configurations?”

  Eris replied, as Jerome and Cammarry joined her. “Sandie, there is only a single shuttle here, a Model 14S. Ideally there should be four shuttles as the quota for this size hanger bay.”

  “I am not sure I understand,” Sandie replied.

  Jerome and Cammarry looked around in shock. Eris did not understand why they were moving and walking around in such a frenzy.

  “Sandie! Sandie, there is only one shuttle in here!” Cammarry called out. “When we installed the teleportation system, each stall here had a shuttle. When did the others depart and who took them?”

  Sandie was quiet for a moment, longer than either Jerome or Cammarry expected. Jerome asked, “Sandie what has happened here?”

  Sandie the AI replied. “I have been deceived. I have only limited access in Dardanella 135, from the shuttle, NS-99 and the teleporter systems. Those readings have been imitated to confuse me. Someone established a dampening field which cast
a mirage on the other shuttles and the closed hanger bay doors. I know now when that field was put in place, but I cannot tell you when the shuttles were removed.” Sandie’s voice was filled with emotion. “I have failed you. This is totally unacceptable. I should have not replied on visual and audio detection methods.”

  Eris walked over to the observation deck of the hanger bay. She squatted down and pulled out a trunk sized device. “I found your dampening field.” She then used some tools to quickly remove it from the controls. “Whoever installed this here, came in through that maintenance access hatch, it has been sliced out of the nonphysicality. This dampening field fell over stall 4 and projected a false image of what had been here.” Eris placed her palm on the interface surface of the controls on the observation deck. The displays lit up, and she quickly ran through some logs. “All five other shuttles were removed seven days ago in one twenty-minute period. That was shortly after this dampening field was installed. There are no records for where the shuttles went, but all were fully fueled and carried a full human cargo.”