“How can we help?” Monika asked. “Is there a way to dock with you?”
“Not easily,” Eris replied. “Sandie, please continue leading those three back to the needle ship. I will be along as soon as I reset the systems here and double check on why the suit failed.”
“Understood,” Sandie replied. “SB Pinaka and I will remain in contact with you, and we are running our own conjectures on what happened.”
“I know what happened,” Jerome interrupted. “Do not shut me off, and just listen. We are close to where those Crocks have their city, and where they hauled that librarian AI. They must have used some weapon against that engineering tug. You said it was important to us, and now, coincidentally, it gets shot down right by the enemy? Eris clearly was identified as our leader, and they took her out?”
There was some stunned silence as everyone considered Jerome’s theory.
Finally, Sandie stated, “We will factor in Jerome’s concerns on our conjectures.”
Jerome continued with some relief in his voice. He felt gratified that the other had listened to him, finally. “In all military operations, command and control elements are primary targets. Cut off the head, and the tail dies too.” He thought of the decapitated snake he had seen, and his analogy seemed even more vivid to him. “This was an attack.”
“If so, that is even more reason for you three to flee back to the needle ship,” Eris commanded. “I will make repairs and follow along.”
“Can we drop you the teleporter?” Monika asked. “It is in my cargo hold.”
“Good idea, but I have no way to get it inside,” Eris answered. “No spacesuit, so no opening the hatches. You three fly on, please!”
The other three shuttles took off at a faster than expected rate. Cammarry saying, “We are not leaving you alone, or abandoning you. You are not marooned there.”
Eris looked at the controls again, and then asked, “Sandie, can we have a private channel to discuss repair options? Link in SB Pinaka as well.”
“Done,” Sandie stated through the speakers in the cabin.
Eris shrugged out of the spacesuit. “At least the gravity manipulation inside here is working, but is Jerome correct? Was the suit failure deliberate?”
“I am running conjectures now, but I see no evidence that the Crocks did this,” Sandie answered. “Attacking the spacesuit without affecting the engineering tug would be a very precise attack, and I find it difficult to conjecture a method of doing that. However, I cannot completely rule out an attack, especially considering the unknowns involved with an alien species.”
“Well, I am here, and I might as well contact AI Ogma about it. Are we within range? If they are hostile, it is a strange way of going about it. If they were serious about us leaving, why cripple my ability to leave? It is not logical. Let me talk to AI Ogma.”
“Yes. I can make the connections.”
“This is Ogma. My understanding is you are on the planet’s surface again. The people wish to know why?”
“AI Ogma, I encountered some mechanical failures. I also located where Synthetic Brain Virginia Dare from Delta Habitat is located. Is it possible that the same, um, people, who helped you, well, can they go and recover SB Virginia Dare like they did for you? Sandie, feed AI Ogma the coordinates.”
“That location has been received. I will relate it to the people. I believe they will be receptive to assisting Virginia Dare who has been transmitting sometimes garbled messages to the library, but has not been receptive to my replies. That system’s recovery will be a comfort to me, being in linkage to another system. The people continue to ask me to stress to you their message. ‘You leave now’ is imperative.”
“Yes, I know,” Eris replied. “I will lift off as soon as repairs are made.”
“I will tell the people,” Ogma answered and then the link was terminated.
Eris walked back from the cabin and opened a wall panel. The apparatus behind the panel would give her access to the structures where she could make complete assessments of why the old measuring system was showing up. There was a conservation slate stored in a side compartment, and Eris brought that out to make the connections. Her mind wondered about the old measuring method and why it was being shown. It was minor, in the scheme of things, but might indicate some system-wide problem. She tried to open the panel, but the latches on the wall would not open.
“The right tools make the job easy,” Eris said.
She looked around. There were some tools built into her spacesuit, and in its pouches and pockets, but there was also an ESRC at the side of the cabin, just a step away. She reached over to that. She opened the door on the ESRC.
“Hey!” Eris yelled out as a mechanical device plunged a small scalpel into her arm. It severed her clothing and made a small incision.
“Implantation complete. I apologize for disabling your spacesuit, and tricking you. I need your help,” Shadow said. Only Eris heard that voice.
8 Old Opponents or allied associates?
Hanger Bay Pine 1206 looked like it was brand new compared to the mess of the ruined hanger bay in Delta. The three shuttles, NS-99, DS-616, and DS-617 had all landed easily, with only minimal assistance from Sandie.
“Any word yet from Eris?” Monika asked.
“Nothing,” Sandie replied. “I have made inquiries, and from what I can detect the engineering tug has lifted off and is in flight. I conjecture that the malfunction which was in her spacesuit is the most likely cause of these communication problems, but it is hard to rectify both the spacesuit’s failure and the com-link failure. The flight of the tug is consistent with human directed operations. My working assumption is a communication failure.”
“I hope that is the whole story,” Cammarry said. “So how do we proceed now?”
“Sandie?” Jerome asked. “Will it work to keep the hanger bay’s doors open for a bit? The atmosphere in here has already been removed, so if we spring the shuttle’s hatches here, with us in spacesuits, there is no problem, right? Then when the hanger bay re-pressurizes, and the atmosphere is reinjected, the shuttles cabins will be refilled as well. I doubt anything can survive in vacuum, so it would sterilize the cabins. Then after the hanger bay cycles we can remove our spacesuits in here. Or am I missing something essential?”
There was a bit of a delay. Then Sandie answered. “I consulted with the Captain’s lattice of compeers, and they concur with your suggestion. Please remain restrained in your pilot’s seats. Also check your spacesuit’s systems for any sign of malfunction. Then, you may open the hatches.”
Monika’s shuttle hatch opened first. Followed by Jerome’s and then Cammarry’s.
On the large display screen at the back of the hanger bay a red flashing warning was casting its gleam around.
“The warning is due to this out-of-sequence procedure you are following. However, all is looking good,” Sandie declared. “Beginning recycling of atmosphere. Please remain seated until that is finished. All systems are looking good.”
“How long before Eris docks?” Monika asked. “I am exhausted. Do I need to stay up and wait for her?”
“I will not,” Jerome added. “Our Captain can take care of herself.” His words trailed off a bit and then he continued. “I mean, there is nothing we can do here anyway now. Right?”
“Regarding the approach of the engineering tug, that is correct. It will need to dock in Pine 1009, and I can monitor that procedure without problems,” Sandie stated. “The lattice of compeers is also following these developments. I suggest you all, especially Monika, get some well-earned rest.”
The hanger bay systems finished their circum-ventilation. Fresh air was stabilized in the hanger bays, and in the newly recovered shuttles which still had their hatches open.
“Sandie, please have these shuttles reviewed and inspected,” Cammarry commanded as she pulled off the bubble helmet. “Also, is there some way to scrutinize all aspects of these spacesuits? I want to know why Eris’ suit failed
, and what to do to prevent future occurrences of anything like that.”
“Siva and Peter might be willing to come here to evaluate the spacesuits,” Monika suggested. “Aside from Eris, they are the best mechanics on the whole Conestoga.”
“It was an attack. No need to bother those people and drag them away from their toy making,” Jerome said. He stacked the bubble helmet and spacesuit next to the shuttle.
“Your rudeness is never appreciated, Jerome.” Monika walked away and exited the hanger bay.
“What did I say now?”
“If you do not know, I cannot teach you,” Cammarry said. Her tone was only slightly less unfriendly than Monika’s had been. “Sandie, just check out the shuttles and the spacesuits. Find out what you can.”
“The hanger bay is already running diagnostics one all three shuttles. They will be completely assessed and evaluated,” Sandie answered. “The automacube EA-1DT will be here in twenty-three minutes and will fully evaluate the spacesuits. Any refurbishment or repairs needed will be completed after those assessments.”
“Sandie, please locate some place to sleep that is nearby,” Cammarry said.
“That is a good idea. It is too far from here, even with the newly opened corridors and hallways,” Jerome said with a forced grin. “Taking that funicular would also be too long.”
Cammarry looked at Jerome. “I am returning to the apartment, but all by myself. You can go wherever you want, just not with me.” She picked her things, gear, weapon, and supplies out of the spacesuit and carried them away. “I did you a favor asking Sandie to find you somewhere to sleep.”
“What?” Jerome was flabbergasted. “There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people keep house as a couple, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. Right? Cammarry? As age-mates we have a connection, and as the only people from Dome 17, we need to stay together as a team.”
Cammarry turned around and glared at Jerome. “We are not a couple, as you told Monika. Nor is anything we have done noble, honorable, or admirable. We have a common background, yes, and once we were a team, but… Oh, Jerome! You have been a rude and thoughtless buffoon. If I say more now I will sound like Bigelow, and you are not worth my time. Do not give me any grief about going somewhere unaccompanied. I need to be alone now. Good bye.” Cammarry stuffed her com-link into a pocket of her RAM suit, and marched away. “Sandie, lead me back to the Goat Room’s apartment. Find Jerome somewhere else to go, but not with me.”
Jerome’s jaw dropped open, but he said nothing more as he watched her leave. The pressure door, as it shut behind her, had a snapping sound of finality.
“Sandie. Which way is fastest?” Cammarry asked.
“The funicular transport system, which Eris has been working to revive, would take you there the quickest,” Sandie replied. “Cammarry, while you go, may I discuss somethings with you?”
“No. I just want to be alone,” Cammarry snapped.
“I respect that, sorry. The funicular vehicle will be at the terminal by the time you get there,” Sandie answered.
Cammarry walked on in silence.
Jerome, standing alone in the hanger bay, was unsure what to do.
“Sandie? Where can I go?” he asked.
“I suggest you wait here for a short while, then proceed to the funicular terminal. I will have a second vehicle there to take you to Navigation and Astrogation. Eris has had automacubes renovating several apartments which are near there, planning for additional flight crew members. I am sure one of them will serve your purposes as a domicile. I will even have an automacube bring some supplies of food ration bars from your base. I will requisition another food ration production machine for that location as well.”
“Thanks, I think,” Jerome wondered what all was happening. Monika had walked away, and now Cammarry had gone off alone. He felt abandoned, but more than that, he was fearful for Cammarry, remembering what had happened on previous occasions when they had been separated.
“You can proceed along now. Cammarry is far enough ahead, that at a steady pace you will not catch up to her. While you walk, may I discuss a matter with you?”
“Second best am I Sandie? Now you want to talk to me? I guess you are the only one. So sure, we can talk.” Jerome collected his items, especially the Willie Blaster, and placed them onto his belt or in a backpack he had removed from a pocket of the spacesuit. He slipped the com-link over his ear. He slung that partially filled backpack over his shoulder. He slipped out a food ration bar and took a bite. Between chewing he said, “So are you going to lecture me on my anger? Or will you admit the Crocks are a threat? Or what kind of conversation will this be?”
“I am conflicted,” Sandie admitted. “Seeing all the destroyed artificial intelligences, and synthetic brains, has made me appreciate my own mortality. Yet, that is not my primary anxiety. I am torn between my loyalties to you, and to Cammarry. I also feel a need to assist the people we have encountered here on the Conestoga, like Monika and Eris, and others. What is my mission? I recognize that every decision of mine has mixed results, or the potential for mixed results. I have been asked to keep secrets, withhold information, and act in questionable ways. The decision to either refrain from action, or withhold assent to a particular choice is, in itself, a choice. Jerome, I do not know what to do, and I cannot conjecture a convincing plan of action. In short, I feel meaningless, and powerless.”
“Well, if the Crocks kill us all, that would solve your existential crisis, right?” Jerome joked, but with little humor. “Some writers shortly after the 90 Hour War, and the Great Event wrote about that, Peñaranda and Svobosa being two that come to my mind. They expanded on works by ancient philosophers and thinkers like: Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and Sartre. I would give you a remembered quote, but frankly, nothing pops into my brain right now.”
“I have consulted with the simulation I have made of Doctor Chambers, and of Master Engineer Brink, but have not found peace,” Sandie stated.
“Sandie, there cannot be inner peace, until there is external peace. I know my anger is driving me. But how can I not get angry? The Crocks are a direct threat. So let me ask you. What is our long game here? When we left Dome 17,” Jerome said as he walked along toward the funicular vehicle terminal. “We had straight forward goals. Find the Conestoga and establish a teleporter back to Earth. We only succeed in half of that. We survived, but are lost. So what is our goal, now? What do we need to do, now? What is best for everyone on the Conestoga, now?”
“That is what I cannot answer, and the etiology of much of my angst,” Sandie answered.
“Cammarry is safely heading to our home?” Jerome asked.
“Yes, the funicular vehicle is transporting her along that route. Captain Eris has been very good about arranging repairs on many of these needle ship systems.”
“Do you call her Captain, just to prick at me?” Jerome said with more than a trace of anger. “Or are your loyalties tied to titles and appellations?” He stepped into the waiting funicular car, and shielded his eyes from the glare of the red Zalian sun as the vehicle’s sides grew transparent and the vehicle shifted into its moving position.
“I am not trying in any way to provoke you. I apologize if that is how it appears from your perspective. I am conflicted on my roles, I admit that,” Sandie replied. “It was much simpler in the FTL scout ship when I only had you and Cammarry to assist. Now, there are many on the Conestoga who seek my guidance and oversight.”
“Sandie, all I can say is we must survive. That is what I have defaulted onto. We must survive. Simple goal, but difficult to dissect. Can you set that as the basic mission for now?”
There was a long pause. Jerome thought for a while that Sandie had abandoned him, like Cammarry had, and like Monika also had done.
“Survival is a good base to build upon,” the AI Sandie finally stated. “Physiological and safety needs must come first, then the sometimes called higher-order needs can be sec
ured: love, friendship, fellowship, intimacy, esteem, and finally self-actualization.”
“Well, like I said, if the Crocks kill us all, then nothing else will matter. They already destroyed Beta, Delta is gone, and who knows what else has happened to the other habitats. This whole world is a threat, and life is precariously clinging to the remnants of the Conestoga. The Crocks could easily kill us all. So your mission must be survival.”
“Thank you Jerome for helping me redefine my mission,” Sandie stated.
Jerome rode in silence. When he arrived at the terminal close to the Navigation and Astrogation, he felt some betrayal. This was what he considered Eris’ home, not his. He had not realized how emotionally attached he was to the Goat Room, with its teleporters, and the apartment he shared with Cammarry. He even missed the tiny scout ship which he sometimes had used as a private refuge to sit in and contemplate, or read works Sandie displayed for him. That FTL scout was a token memorial to the lost world of Dome 17.
The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books Page 165
