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

by John Thornton

  Vesna’s people, including Alisa and her triplet children: Borko Dmitar and Jadran walked over and stood behind Dick and his brother Fedders. Vesna remained seated near Khin.

  As Eris watched, she thought of the first two people, cavy hunters, that she had encountered after being reanimated. It was an unpleasant memory, and reminded her of the horrors of the repository. However, outwardly, she nodded her approval of the hunters joining the Chicken People.

  Dick rubbed over his short black hair, and then slapped his pants which had heavy coverings over the legs. “We will get them all the proper clothing, and teach them all our ways.”

  Fedders, who looked very much like his brother, then added in his own way, “And learn their ways. I have never heard of chickens that are only shin high. It is a shame none of them came with these people. Such a thing, a miniature chicken! We have much to share with each other, and today is a day to celebrate!”

  Bigelow, who was seated at another side of the table raised his bottle and cried out, “Hear him! I suggest we drink to that!” Before anyone could respond, Bigelow had quaffed a pull off his own bottle.

  Other joined in the toast.

  “Thank you!” Dick said and then sat down.

  A woman on the other side of the table stood up. “We respect their decision. I too appreciate the meal the Goat People have put on for us here. Very nice!” She waved to the men and women who had prepared the foods. “I also believe this event is in the spirit of the Heroic Thirteen in that we were all allowed to meet and present our own options to these newcomers. As representative of the Fruit People, I promise that we will abide by the desires of these new people and wish them all the very best.” Wanda’s deep brown eyes peered out from under her hat. There was a set of dark goggles resting on the brim of the hat. She touched her fingers to the tip of the hat in salute to Dick and Fedders. Her black hair was thick and hung down around her oval shaped face. “We will also welcome into the Fruit People all who decided to join our tribe. It is a wonderful overcoming for the Children of the Catastrophe. Come with me, any who are willing and seek our lifestyle.”

  Bigelow stood up, with only a slight wobble. “That would be me. Also, my associate Anika, who by the way, likes the mushrooms growing in these halls, but especially liked the fruits.” Bigelow waved his hand around and continued. “Since it was jointly decided that the horses can best survive in those orchard places, we will walk them there. I plan to stay with the Fruit People and Anika.”

  “You are just going to where you can refill your bottle,” Khin added. “Fruit People make the best drink. Everyone knows that!”

  Bigelow turned and gave a low bow to Khin. “I do not disagree with your assessment. I do not.” He failed to add even a single expletive or profanity.

  “I too will go with the horses,” Peter said. He looked to Siva.

  Siva stood. “Peter and I have spoken over these last two weeks since we came to the needle ship here. We want to build a carousel for all people. A new place for the ride to continue, around and around. Since the Fruit People are centrally located, and have graciously offered us one of the currently vacant rotundas as a place to build, that is our mission. Wanda tells me that some decades ago, in that rotunda an orchard was started, but the globe light failed. The trees that had grown in there were never removed, and that none of the growth medium, or dim lights ever activated in there. It sounds like the ventilation system remained locked and closed, but I will investigate all of that. We will try to get that place up and running again, getting a new globe of light working, planting new living trees, and building a carousel for all visitors.”

  Peter enthusiastically added, “More food for all. A place of entertainment, and a project for us. With the horses we will also have a source of good fertilizer to get the new orchard established, and to keep the existing orchards clean.”

  “Children of all ages need a place to play,” Siva said. “We shall provide it.”

  People around the table applauded.

  Siva, Peter, and Bigelow walked over to stand by Wanda.

  Monika remained seated, but had some small tears which she wiped away quickly. Jenna, who was seated next to her wrapped her arm around her. No one spoke for an awkwardly long time. When it was clear everyone was looking at Monika and Jenna, Jenna stood up.

  “A new carousel is a wonderful idea. I would love to go with you to build that new carousel. This will be the first one I have not been involved with, and I am sad about that,” Jenna said. “However, my water seeking ability will be most useful here with the Goat People. From what I have learned, theirs is the most fragile water system.”

  “That is correct,” Dick stated.

  “Agreed,” Wanda nodded.

  “And many of the children, like Dewi and Nabila, want to stay here,” Monika stated. She smiled and winked at Jerome as she said that. “They need stability. So Jenna and I will stay here for now. For me personally, I look forward to helping in my own way to building the carousel. The artificial intelligence system Sandie will be sending in requests to get items made in Habitat Alpha’s Reproduction and Fabrication facility. Siva and Peter will need some items fabricated for the replanting and restoration of that orchard and mechanisms for the new carousel. So I plan to help coordinate that with the help of Jerome and Cammarry.” Again Monika winked at Jerome adding a slightly seductive smile.

  Jerome turned a bit red, and Cammarry’s face hardened, but the moment passed.

  “Yes, we will be helping in that regard as well,” Jenna added quickly as she sensed the uneasy exchange. “So we are staying with the Goat People.”

  Cammarry opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

  “And for the cow!” Khin laughed and laughed, interjecting comments into what was getting a bit too serious for his liking. “The cow is also staying with us so I can make cheeses! I promise those cheeses to all people. Goat People, Fruit People, and Chicken People. Vesna and I will be delivering those. Our new friend Eris has shown that there are pathways through the darkness that none of us knew about before. Machine are working! Monsters are running and hiding. Life is flowing!”

  Eris sat still. She prayed silently before she spoke. “Yes. I am setting up new systems.” She did not mention SB Cotard. “We have only the one shuttle, NS-99, that is functional, but we need more. Leave that issue to me. For all of you, the funicular car system will respond to anyone who uses the code, green-white-green. Remember, it is still being repaired, so there will be delays and the system has limits. But I am working on those as well. I have other duties, and more reconnoitering that needs to be done. I hope to help avoid any conflict on the Conestoga, but…” Eris almost added her thoughts about the future then stopped. She prayed a bit more asking for guidance, then finished her thoughts. “…but today is a celebration. A time to look at the good, not the bad.”

  “What about the dogs?” Khin asked with hearty laugher. The two Border Collies had been sitting on their haunches to the side waiting for scraps to be thrown to them. The refugee children had taken to feeding and caring for them, especially Dewi and Nabila, but the children of the Goat People were very wary of the strange creatures who liked to drive the goats from one place to another.

  Jenna answered, “Those two dogs have adopted the children here, and I do not think anyone can speak against that.”

  The people all laughed in agreement.

  There was some vigorous hand shaking, back slapping, and well wishing to everyone, but the event eventually broke up and people headed out on their ways to their new lives. Eris was the only one to leave on her own, as she slipped away when no one was looking. Over her ear was the newly acquired revised com-link which connected her to Sandie. She tapped it for privacy.

  After all the others had dispersed, Jerome and Cammarry stood with Khin and Vesna.

  “Well, our Wizard Quest came to an end!” Khin laughed. “I am back home, and things are better for us all.”

  “My dear Khin,
” Vesna added, “I agree this is our new home, but for those of us from Beta, it will be a major adjustment. The light here is dim, and the foods are different, and well, we have a lot to grieve.”

  Khin kissed her on the side of the head. “As always, you are right my dear Vesna. I am too silly sometime, but you are my anchor. We need your leadership and guidance as much as you need our home.”

  They hugged and looked to Jerome and Cammarry. Khin asked, “What of you wizards?”

  “There is the Crock threat,” Jerome said seriously. “They destroyed that entire habitat. I think there may be conflict coming for the other habitats, and we only know how to get to Alpha.”

  Cammarry corrected him, “Eris flew to Gamma, and from what Sandie has said, those systems in Navigation and Astrogation are actively seeking the precise locations for the other habitats. Is that right Sandie?”

  The AI answered through the com-link over Cammarry’s ear. “Yes, that is correct. The reconstituted lattice of compeers here on the needle ship is surprising me in its exponential growth. Captain Eris is responsible for much of that.”

  “Yes, where did she go?” Cammarry asked. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

  “Captain Eris is heading back to Navigation and Astrogation,” Sandie reported.

  “And we better head back to our apartment by the Goat Room,” Jerome added. “We have a lot of plans to make to confront the Crock danger.”

  “Do not forget we have no ideas where the Ferryman and his ilk went,” Cammarry added as she wrapped her arm around Jerome. “Dewi and Nabila refuse to talk about their ordeal with the Ferryman except to say, ‘He decided to go away to the Elysian Fields.’ If they were operating shuttles, and we have good reason to think they were, then he and his cronies had to have gone to another habitat.”

  “Where they go, conflict will spread,” Jerome said. “But the Crock threat is the bigger danger.”

  After giving Khin and Vesna another hug, Jerome and Cammarry walked away from the grand hall and headed back to what they called home.

  The End.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Quick, check out this person! The reconnoiter shows this author (or should he be called a hack writer?) lives on the Northern Plains, in a trailer house with two silly dogs, an ancient cat, and a very understanding and compassionate wife. There are no Artificial Intelligence systems linked or coupled to his domicile, although he really wishes there were, especially to catch typos, grammatical errors, and other sneaky things which find their way from the nonphysicality into his writing. He is on guard for Jellies, Crocks, and Floaters, although perhaps those only exist in the realms of his vivid imagination.

  .

  Conflict on the Conestoga

  Book 6: The Colony Ship Conestoga

  John Thornton

  Copyright © 2016 Automacube Enterprises LLC

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1533069856

  ISBN-10: 1533069859

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever struggled with an unexpected event in your life. Fortunately, I have been blessed with a patient, caring, and steadfast wife to see me through those times. Between her and my wonderful children, and sons-in-law, I have been able to weather every conflict. Thank you for putting up with my weird imagination.

  CONTENTS

  Surprise! This book is a work of fiction. No, it really is fictional. If you enjoy the Colony Ship Conestoga series, check out the Colony Ship Vanguard (8 books), and the Colony Ship Eschaton (10 books). Those are all set in the same universe as the Conestoga. Thanks for reading my books!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Cover art by Jon Hrubesch

  1 the hunt

  The barrels on the automacube glowed orange from the repeated firing of its main guns. Mud streaked the bottom of the red, boxy, permalloy constructed machine as its six drive wheels propelled it down the tight animal trail. The light from the sky tube shined down through the dense jungle canopy overhead.

  Blam! Blam!

  Weapon discharge noises echoed across the jungle. The sounds reverberated around the trees surrounding the trail as the security automacube rushed along in pursuit of its prey. Colorful birds scattered with shrieks of fear and a fury of beating wings. Ruddy-brown monkeys swung arm over arm away from the sounds of conflict, crying their own guttural calls of warning as they sought places to hide in the lush foliage of the thick and heavily-leaved trees. Rabbits ducked into holes to escape into their warrens. There they huddled together hoping the automacube would pass them by. Snakes coiled themselves tightly and minimized their movements. Even the vast myriad of insects of the jungle paused momentarily as the conflict between machine and prey intensified.

  Blam! Blam!

  On rolled the red automacube, firing at every opportunity to incapacitate its prey. One of its prey, its leg impacted by the bullets, fell wounded at the side of the trail, but the others were still running. The injured prey rolled over and watched, eyes huge with fear, as the machine rushed toward it. As the security automacube reached the place where the prey fell, it changed weapons and just shot out a set of wires. Upon contact, energy surged out and caused the prey to writhe and twist as the electroshock passed through it. The body jerked for only a few moments and then lay still. The deployment of the stun armament did not cause the automacube to delay or even slow its chase of the others. Passing the still body, the automacube retracted the wires for reuse, as it rolled onward. A signal was sent to the recovery team indicating where the wounded, and now unconscious, prey could be collected, marking its coordinates in the habitat. A confirmation signal came back.

  The trail widened a bit as the pursuit led downhill. The dirt was soft, for rain day had been yesterday, and so the prey’s footprints were readily visible along the twisting path. The prey were running hard, but the automacube was nimble, swift, and relentless. It spun its drive wheels to avoid a fallen branch, and continued onward.

  Blam! Blam!

  The machine fired its primary weapon again. The prey was currently out of range of the stun armament. Its aim was for the legs of the prey, but each shot barely missed. The prey were moving fast, and the jungle was replete with minor obstacles which hindered a clear trajectory for the projectiles. Incendiary gel would easily have killed the prey, but that would have also done severe damage to the jungle, which was unacceptable. The integrity of the biome was very important, nearly sacrosanct, in the core programming of the automacube. Antipersonnel grenades could also have been used to kill the prey, and would have done only moderate damage to the jungle biome, but those weapons too were held in reserve. The mission was not search and destroy, but was pursuit and live capture, with as small amount of damage to the biome as possible. A destroyed biome was a failure. Dead prey were a failure in the mission, but injured prey could be rebuilt. The recovery team had medical automacubes standing-by for that eventuality. The less damaged the prey were when captured, the more successful the mission was. Ideally, the prey were to be captured unscathed, yet that seldom happened. The prey were resolute in their instinctual drive to flee. And so the automacube aimed carefully for the legs of the fleeing prey. The red automacube cycled through its algorithm to consider its options. The machine reminded itself that the programmed mission was pursuit and live capture, with minimal damage to the biome, and up to moderate damage to the prey.

  The hunt continued. The prey veered from the animal trail into the undergrowth where short plants and foliage covered the ground. Their tracks were harder to find, but evidence of their passage was still present, so the red machine rolled onward.

  Pushing its way through the jungle, the automacube burst from the jungle. The prey had reached the center of the habitat, where the ridge escarpment was located. The jungle biome ended with a pebble, gravel, rock, and stone strewn field in both directions. That land of rocks was at the base of a made-to-be natural appearing rock, soil, and stone wall which rose thirty-five meters vertically ac
ross the entire habitat. Its face was virtually unclimbable by the prey, especially all the way to the top, where a stony abutment jutted outward five meters. That prevented anything from climbing from the jungle biome up and over the escarpment to the sand-hills biome which covered the bow half of the habitat. The face of the escarpment consisted of its own series of small, distinct biological zones, dependent upon the rock, soil, water, and other substances which made up each section of the escarpment.

  The security automacube paused and searched.

  Since each individual escarpment biome was also given protection by core programming, the automacube did not just randomly fire into possible hiding places. Smaller animals like lizards, various amphibians, lungless salamanders, pickerel frogs, and some varieties of rodents scampered to-and-fro around that rocky cliff and, according to the core programming, there was no reason to injure any of those animals. Nor was destruction of their habitat allowed. Even though this location was where the automacube had chased the prey. Other places, some distance away, to either port or starboard, had their own unique flora and fauna. However, unaided, the prey could not scale the ridge escarpment anywhere across the habitat. At each end of the escarpment was the river with its waterfalls which fell right alongside the habitat wall. Taking stock of its position in the habitat, the red automacube knew the prey had to have gone one direction or the other.