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

by John Thornton

  “These engineering models?” Jerome asked. “Or are their even more specialized units?

  “The engineering automacubes can do many important things, but are not specialized. The more specific automacubes are for security, gravity manipulation, major repairs, zero gravity, toxic cleanup, and…” Eris gulped a bit, then shook her head and went on. “… and suspended animation. Those areas all have task specific automacubes. The habitats have agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, and some other models as well.” She wiped some tears from her eyes. “I have not seen too many working units since I awoke.”

  Jerome and Cammarry stepped inside Oscillator 6. Eris was at the workbench on the far wall. She had already spread out tools across it. Overhead large conduction pipes ran the length of the room. On the right side, control displays lowered into place in front of several large horizontally positioned cylinders.

  “You will need these conservation slates,” Eris said. “Unless using obsolete, antique, lufi-amalgam powered hand tools is too primitive for you?” Her words were softened only a little by her gentle smile.

  “The right tool, for the right job, means the right outcome,” Jerome recited as he reached for the conservation slate. “That is especially true on antique systems like these.”

  “I am pleased to be able to help,” Cammarry added. “Sandie, any recommendations?” Cammarry tried to get Jerome’s attention, but he was looking away. She wondered why he was being so rude about the old technology.

  The AI replied, “I am observing and recording everything. This technology is fascinating. Except for the limited cross-over application to faster-than-light travel, Dome 17 did not have a wide use for gravity manipulation technology. Therefore, what Eris is showing us, in this regard, is nearly as advanced as anything in my database.”

  “Happy to hear my knowledge of antique systems is not trivial,” Eris said and handed Jerome and Cammarry each a conservation slate. They were flat, square devices about twenty-five centimeters wide, and only two centimeters thick. The front was covered with small displays which lit up as she handed them to Jerome and Cammarry. “I have used my personal access codes to activate them, since they will not recognize you as part of the flight crew. The general gravity manipulation schematics are on these, as well as the standardized levels for gravitons, neobiquadium, cryptotachyons and pseudotachyons. That will be where we need to start our assessment, since there is no synthetic brain functioning here. The system is running on tertiary control. Jerome will you please check those readouts,” Eris pointed to some display boards on the right side of the room. “Cammarry, those other displays are the statistics registering the current operational graviton stimulators, speeds of microcepheidoidic alternation, electromagnetics, subatomic metamorphosis, and the pseudobaryonic particle projector’s status. Would you compare them to the conservation slate’s recommended parameters?”

  Jerome and Cammarry took the flat slates, and turned to the displays. One by one the slates interacted with the displays, and Jerome and Cammarry studied the findings.

  Cammarry stated, “Sandie? Shall I will plug in the com-link to this access port? Will that allow you to probe the nonphysicality here?”

  Sandie answered, “Eris has already supplied me with connections. I am securely linked in.”

  “Linking Sandie in was a simple matter. She is fast and capable,” Eris said. “I am now going through the log here and seeing if the gravity sink hole, the one you saw nearby, which killed that man you spoke about, registered on any of the sensors. I am also linking to the other Gravity Manipulation Works at the bow.” Eris concentrated on the workstation in front of her. “I am accessing both of the Gravity Manipulation Works’ logs for all of Beta.”

  They worked in silence for a while as they assessed the operational level of the system.

  “Eris, when I was here before, I saw displays saying there were eight oscillators here in Beta, but the conservation slate says there are two sets of ten. Was I just misunderstanding that before?” Cammarry asked.

  “No. It was an error message generated by the lack of response from Machine Maintenance. I found the log entries where you tried to interface and use the exterior controls,” Eris stated. “There was no way to gain full access to the system from there, not when it is in tertiary mode.” Eris pondered for a moment. “You did everything possible…. That death was not…” She let her words trail off.

  “That man would have died one way or the other,” Jerome said. “They were chasing us, and he ran into that gravity sink hole. We would have had to take action against their pursuit even if the gravity sink hole had not been there. Sometimes in the course of human events, self-defense is the only available option.”

  “I remember,” Cammarry replied. Looking at Eris, she then changed the subject. “Eris, I notice on the conservation slate that there are defects in the mixing wave generators. I am not sure where the physical elements to adjust and correct that are located, and the schematics here are corrupted in part.”

  “Yes, some of the schematics have been lost.” Eris walked over and took some wrenches out of her duty belt. “Beneath the floor decking is where we should check. My best guess would be the capacitor resistor transformer joint.”

  Together they pulled out the bolts which held down the decking and plating. Beneath were numerous rows of piping, conduits, ducts, and plumbing fixtures.

  “Is a laser micrometer something that is too primitive for you to use?” Eris asked with a twinkle in her eyes. “You could just put your hand down there and when the skin gets charred off you would know you found the wave leak…” Eris then dropped her smile, and the gleam in her eyes dulled. She was remembering the bodies in the suspended animation repository. Wiping a tear from her eyes, she said, “Just be careful, a lot of energy flows through there.”

  Cammarry reached over and touched Eris’ face ever so gently. “I will be careful. You are not alone here, and we will work with you to get these things fixed.”

  “If these obsolete things can be fixed,” Jerome added. “If it was deliberate sabotage by the Crocks, then we may not have the ability to stop it here.” He pressed some buttons and moved to another section of the displays for analysis. “So far, these old tertiary systems here are only marginal, borderline in the operative zone. For old systems I guess they are holding up adequately. I see no large and overt disruptions. This conservation slate is a handy little toy.”

  “Tools are not toys,” Eris said and stepped back to the work bench. “But to someone so advanced and brilliant, I suppose my best diagnostic instruments do look infantile.”

  “I meant no offense,” Jerome said. Cammarry was glaring at him sharply.

  They worked in silence for a while. Cammarry made a few repairs to the problems found under the decking, and was just running a final sweep over those repaired places when Eris let out a whoop.

  “This is amazing!” Eris cried out. She pressed her palm down firmly on the interface surface. A small projection unit slipped from a cubby in the side wall. She sent it down on the end of the work bench and locked her conservation slate into it. “Is this what you call a Crock?”

  A translucent and shaky image appeared hovering over the projection unit. It was outlined in light blue. It had four arms, four legs, and spiked head. As the image rotated, the sharp toothy mouth was clearly visible. It looked just like that of the race Jerome had named Crocks.

  “That is one!” Jerome said as he turned from his work and looked over Eris’ shoulder. “That is about a 1/6 scale image those beings. Pretty good resolution for these antique systems. Was that in the records here?”

  “Not the records here, but I remotely accessed what was left of the bow Gravity Manipulation Works. This was part of a record placed there as a backup to Terraforming and Restoration. Neither of those places are registering as operative at all now,” Eris noted. She adjusted her own conservation slate and it was synchronized with the information she was finding. “I know
what you said about that Project Angel Food, and the remnants of what I can see in the logs does show some very questionable behaviors, by the synthetic brains. However, you must remember, synthetic brains, and to a somewhat lessor degree, artificial intelligence systems are meant to be in congress with others. To use a biological illustration, they are pack animals. When the lattice of compeers is fractured, the rational and logical feedback mechanisms and support loops are gone. They lose their supraconscious connection. No system can stand alone for long without enduring psyche torture.”

  “How much does that record show of the Crocks? Can you tell what they are doing to cause the gravity sink holes? Where have they entered this habitat? How do we stop them?” Jerome was insistent and speaking too loud for the confined space inside of Oscillator 6.

  “There is not much information. The log shows them as ‘an indigenous species’ and lists two other types as well. There are no images or recordings of the other types, just a listing that states, ‘This species is an indigenous species, one of three which have been catalogued in our Terraforming attempts…’ The log is corrupted beyond that section.”

  Cammarry put her hand on Eris’ shoulder. “You are doing great. You said the other Gravity Manipulation Works is inoperative?”

  “Yes, it shows major destruction that happened on….” Eris looked closely at the log entries and information she had just accessed. The information was flowing steadily into her own conservation slate. Images, visual recordings, log entries, and loads of data were accumulating. Eris was astounded at what she was seeing, especially as she looked at the dates for some of the destruction. “That was not decades ago in some insurrection. That was since you two came here!”

  Cammarry gently squeezed Eris shoulder. “There was a serious problem. I destroyed a number of central memory cores in Terraforming and Restoration. It had to do…”

  “You did it!” Eris turned to her, and pushed her hand away. She stared hard at Cammarry then looked at Jerome as well. “I am not sure what to think of you two. It is so baffling. I know you went through major trials, with all the odyssey of coming here. I have sympathy for your losses, to lose everything is horrific. I understand that and empathize. I do, but, the more I learn, the worse it gets. You both seem bent on destruction. I read about insurgents, in what limited records I can find, but that was seventy some years ago. You are here more recently, and yet you are instigators of violence and destruction. You spin out your stories, and they seem to be all about wrecking things, fighting with people here and in Alpha. You destroyed some of the few remaining nodes in the Conestoga’s mechanical nervous system. You…”

  “Eris let me explain,” Jerome interrupted. “Just settle yourself down.”

  “What!” Eris yelled at him. She grabbed the projection unit and the conservation slate. “Me settle down? You are all hell-bent on fighting the Crocks, but you know almost nothing about them. And you, Cammarry, you just admitted you murdered synthetic brains and artificial intelligence systems essential to the survival of the Conestoga. You jeopardized everyone onboard! Those systems might have been keeping oversight over people in a repository. Just like my parents and the rest of us in my repository. Someone destroyed the AI overseeing that. No wonder nearly all of us died! I am leaving.”

  Hugging the projection unit and slate to her chest, Eris motioned to EA-270 and it followed her as she pushed her way past Jerome and left Oscillator 6.

  “Eris, that was up in the needle ship,” Jerome said as she walked by. “The SBs here were killing people, and needed to be stopped.”

  Eris ignored him and stormed away. As she stepped out of the doorway, she watched for the automacube as it rolled out. Just as it did Eris slapped her hand on the interface surface, “Emergency closure and sealing of this door. Security override, flight crew command!”

  The door slid into place, and Jerome had to pull his arm back to prevent it from being crushed by the shutting door. She heard his muffled cries as the door sealed.

  “Eris,” Sandie spoke from the automacube. “May I have a moment of…”

  “No!” Eris snapped. She squatted down and quickly opened the back of the automacube. Making only a few quick adjustments, Eris shut down the link to Sandie, but left open her link to SB Pinaka. “SB Pinaka, Captain Level Disaster Alert. Initiate now. Sandie, Jerome, and Cammarry are not friendly. I am not sure what they are. They are not enemies either. I am not sure. It is confusing. Until we know more, seal everything away from Sandie and secure all fixtures. Deny access to any attempts by Cammarry and Jerome to interface with ship’s systems.”

  “Affirmative. Please confirm initiation of Captain Level Disaster Alert,” SB Pinaka stated.

  “Yes! Initiate Captain Level Disaster Alert, all systems alert!”

  “Captain Level Disaster Alert initiated,” SB Pinaka stated from the same speakers on the automacube where Sandie had just spoken.

  A lone siren sounded somewhere far away in the wreckage of the old building.

  “If Sandie attempts to circumvent the seals, notify me immediately,” Eris commanded. “Can you defend against her?”

  “It is highly doubtful,” SB Pinaka related. “In every measure I have taken, Sandie is superior to my operating systems.”

  Eris tapped in some commands. “There is a dampening field I just loaded up to you. It confused Sandie before. It is not perfect, but do what you can to implement it in every way possible. Modify and rotate it at random intervals. Shield yourself, then this automacube. Keep Navigation and Astrogation safe and secure.”

  “Do you wish to assume the role of acting Captain?” SB Pinaka asked. “If you did, that would enhance my links and couplings. The choice is yours.”

  A bright beam of light came from the top of the door to the inside of Oscillator 6. Melting permalloy dripped down from that light. Eris recognized that. Someone was cutting the door opening using a molecular torch.

  “Yes, I assume command of the Conestoga.” She gulped a few times. “I assume the position of Captain. Secure everything as best you can. Do not give up any more information, nor allow any interfacing with Sandie. I must find out what is really happening here.”

  Eris ran though the corridors. Each pressure or bulkhead door she passed she verbally commanded to be sealed as she went. Not long after she reached the hanger bay Dardanella 135. As she entered the hanger bay, she again waited until EA-270 had entered and then she locked the pressure door, again using a security command.

  Sandie’s voice came from the shuttle NS-99. “Eris, there is no need for alarm. We are not your enemies. I have withdrawn my interaction from SB Pinaka. I will not attempt to probe the dampening fields you have established. I am respecting your wishes. May we please speak about what is happening?”

  “Release control of this shuttle!” Eris commanded.

  “Eris I do not think that is a wise decision,” Sandie replied. “NS-99, also known as Faithful Lightening, is important as a connecting point between the needle ship and Habitat Beta.”

  Eris sprinted over to the alcove where the teleportation equipment stood. She yelled back, “Sandie? Which is more important to you? That antique shuttle? Or your fancy teleportation equipment?” She drew the RSW Model 10: Officer Edition energy weapon from its holster. She thumbed the safety off. “I know Jerome and Cammarry will be here soon. Those doors will only hold them for a short time, but it would be time enough for me to destroy this control console.” She deftly aimed the weapon. “How will you replace that?”

  “That would be difficult,” Sandie answered. “Destroying the teleporter is not in your best interest either.”

  “I will decide what is my best interest. Immediately release control of the shuttle, and I will just depart from here. You will leave me alone,” Eris commanded. “I will find my own answers, not be lied to and manipulated.”

  “Eris, you are the one making threats,” Sandie replied.

  Eris took two steps backward, but her hand was steady as sh
e aimed the energy weapon directed at command console. “Yes, I am. Not an idle threat. EA-270, come over here.”

  The blue automacube rolled over and Eris used her free hand and tapped some commands into its controls. The machine rolled up to the teleporter and the manipulation arm on the automacube came down, and its own vibration saw came out from the end. It hovered right over the command console of the teleporter.

  “EA-270 will begin dissection of these components if I am not granted safe passage in that shuttle. Sure I know Jerome and Cammarry will get here soon, and with their fancy weapons they could easily destroy this automacube. But I have programmed it to begin severing your teleporter as soon as any cutting into the hanger bay doors is detected.” Eris paused for a moment. She took some deep breaths, then said a silent prayer. Her fingers tapped in some more commands. “This will be triggered if the pedestrian doors to the hanger bay open in any circumstance, not just cutting, so do not try to covertly activate a door. Can your violent adventurers get the doors open and destroy this automacube before it slices apart your precious teleporter?”