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

by John Thornton

  “Eleven millimeters is an odd size, but this whole old ship is strange.” She removed the last bolt, and set it with the others on the deck. The door to the panel came off easily.

  The macroactinide capacitor enhancer was a piece of equipment consisting of three cylinders in a triangle configuration, about twenty centimeters wide. She adjusted several knobs on that part, and it slid out of its housing.

  “….tinue trying until I reach one of you. Please respond if you can hear me. This is Sandie broadcasting to Jerome and Monika in NS-99, or to Eris and Cammarry in Alpha. I will continue trying until I reach you. Please respond if you can hear me. This is Sandie…”

  “Sandie!” Cammarry shouted for joy. “Sandie! I have shut down the dampening field!”

  A ragged group of voices all spoke at once, the noise coming from Cammarry’s com-link. After a bit, the voices sorted out. All were excited.

  Sandie, the AI, finally broke through the clutter. “Cammarry, this is grand news. I can now link to you, Jerome, Monika, and Captain Eris. I am also reconnecting the couplings and transmissions to the synthetic brains in Alpha. Are you well and safe?”

  “Yes. The teleporter worked. Alpha is a mess, but we knew that.” Cammarry paused, unsure what to say next. Then she admitted the truth. “SB Sherman assisted me. And Carter the Kidnapper appears to have let the Ferryman and his ilk into this habitat. A fleet of shuttles apparently docked just before the dampening field was extended.”

  Eris voice came through next, “I saw those shuttles, and the two men who are the Ferryman leaders.” She briefly gave an overview of her encounter, excluding the details of how the woman had died. “With me I have several freed slaves, reanimated personnel, and we are heading toward Aston under which is a repository which is about to be attacked by the Alpha habitat dwellers. I will stop that. I must stop that.”

  “Monika and I are in NS-99 and approaching the hanger bay for Alpha. I am having trouble getting a response from the exterior doors,” Jerome added. There was some noise in the background and Monika’s muffled voice.

  Cammarry frowned as she realized Jerome and Monika were together.

  Monika reported, “SB Joseph Crater has shut down all access to Swanson 6101. That system just keeps saying, ‘The hanger bay is closed to all operations until proper assessments can be made. Restoration of macroactinide capacitor enhancers required. Please advise Machine Maintenance.’ So I am not sure how to get in there.”

  “That sounds like Carter the Kidnapper. I pulled some equipment. I guess it got free again. Maybe the Ferryman had the right idea locking it in a nonphysical jail?” Cammarry wondered.

  “The Ferryman is never right. Do not even joke about it,” Eris’s voice was icy.

  “Sandie? Can you override those systems and get us into that hanger bay?” Jerome asked.

  “Unfortunately, no. I am just establishing the reconnections to some of Alpha’s systems, and those systems are working to reunite,” Sandie stated. “I cannot estimate the time needed for that.”

  “I am at an Exterior Repair Station with an airlock,” Cammarry said. “But it is too small for a shuttle to get inside.”

  “I brought the spacesuits!” Monika’s cheerful voice irritated Cammarry even more.

  Eris broke in and stated, “If the command chair is functional, you should be able to use the docking clamps on some exterior hull components outside that ERS…sorry, the Exterior Repair Station. There is a main derrick, as well as cranes and manipulators. They are designed mostly for use in space, but also for loading and unloading after planet-fall. The shuttle’s docking clamps could be used to hold and secure the craft. Then you, Jerome and Monika, can then enter using the spacesuits. That would be the quickest way inside. I suspect that SB Joseph Crater will have locked down all the hanger bays. That would be fairly standard procedure during a crisis like this.”

  Cammarry muttered under her breath about how she wished to just go and destroy the central memory core, but she tried to restrain her impulses. Carter the Kidnapper did tell her the truth about shutting down the dampening field, but that action had released it as well. Additionally, she also had been injured by the trap. Cammarry was unsure who was responsible for the trap, the synthetic brain, or the Ferryman. She flexed her injured hand, and wondered. Then she said out loud, “The command chair is functioning. I will assist from inside here.” Her words sounded angry, even to her. She pulled off the bubble helmet and tossed it to the floor.

  “Shuttle NS-99, I can direct you right to Cammarry’s location,” Sandie said. “I am feeding in the coordinates to NS-99 as we speak.”

  “We are five minutes away! See you soon Cammarry!” Jerome spoke as if nothing was wrong between anyone. “Every parting is a type of death, and each reunion is a form of heaven.”

  “There is no heaven here for those in the suspended animation repository. The habitat dwellers are looking to reanimate, mutilate, and enslave these people. I must stop them, and would appreciate your help. The freed people I have located do not have much for weapons, but one way or the other, we will retake that repository,” Eris spoke. In the background several voices affirmed what she was saying. “We will reconnoiter the situation while you three get back together. I can instruct you on the use of the Exterior Repair Station. Basically it is…”

  “Yes, Captain,” Cammarry interrupted, her words dripping with sarcasm. She honestly had no idea now why her anger rose at Eris. “I already said I would help. Sandie, I only want to hear from the shuttle.”

  “I will filter and monitor the communications,” Sandie responded with some hesitation in the AI’s voice.

  “Good enough.” Cammarry was unsure who she was angry with, but her emotions were in conflict. Her hand was still sore, and she was frustrated by all that was happening. She shed off the spacesuit flinging it onto the pile of broken equipment, then she sat down in the chair. When she did the display split and a sidebar list of commands appeared next to the view of Zalia. She reached for the button for ‘Voice Command’ and then hesitated. She had heard more than enough audio and words, so instead she selected the set of instruments for ‘Exterior Erector Derrick and Hoist’ and pressed it instead. The perspective changed a bit with a tri-view of the exterior on three separate sections of the display. The derrick’s extension was bright red and swung out in response to Cammarry’s gentle nudging of the controls. The red stood out against both the blues and grays of the permalloy hull, as well as the yellows, taupes, and greens of native Zalia. It sort of reminded Cammarry of the red sun, which was somewhere behind the habitat, as she could tell from the shadows. The vista was hard to comprehend as she watched. It was both mechanical and alien.

  “We can see the red boom being extended,” Jerome said through the com-link. “Make sure to keep it stable as I will be landing on its top.”

  “That is one enormous erector,” Monika said. “We can set down on the flat surface near the hull.”

  “Let me just level it with the world out there. Inside here the gravity manipulation vectors are different, from on the planet. The instruments here allow me infinite adjustments,” Cammarry stated. She made the adjustments, and on the display the boom looked canted, but she knew from the gauges it was level with Zalian gravity. “Beware when you enter the airlock. Gravity will be different.”

  “Thank you,” Monika replied. “I will suit up first, after we land. You and Jerome can make sure the vehicle is secured.”

  From Cammarry’s vantage point, she could not really tell the size of the crane’s arm until the shuttle came into the picture. Then she agreed with Monika that the erection appendage of the crane was immense. Cammarry locked the extension into place and watched as the seemingly small shuttle cruised in from the left side of her left-most display.

  The boxy shuttle, dull white in color with maroon trim, flew in a steady path toward the derrick. It slowed a bit, and gases swirled around beneath where its thrusters were pointed. Cammarry adjusted the magnificat
ion on her display and saw the nose of the shuttle where it was marked NS-99.

  The derrick was wide enough to allow two meters or so on each side of the shuttle as it landed. Cammarry had locked the derrick’s boom into place. The thruster vapors curled up and around the derrick as the shuttle descended and came to rest.

  Quickly reading the list of options on the derrick’s instruments, Cammarry offered, “I have something called, ‘Magnetic Adhesion: Superior’ as an option here. I am engaging that.”

  Sandie chimed in, “The docking clamp and the boom would seal together with that. I suggest you try it.”

  “I said I was.”

  “Dropping docking clamps now,” Jerome said.

  Cammarry could see the clamp descend from the underbelly of the shuttle. Jerome had landed it so that its rear hatch was facing toward the hull.

  “Magnetic Adhesion Superior activated,” Cammarry replied. She saw the docking clamp suddenly sit upright.

  “The instruments show the shuttle is secure,” Jerome stated. “The eagle has landed!”

  “The shuttle’s moniker is ‘Faithful Lightning’ not ‘Eagle’,” Sandie stated.

  Jerome gave a slight sigh and then said, “Maybe it can be our terrible swift sword? Monika and I will be coming out.”

  “I am watching from inside here,” Cammarry replied.

  The back door hatch on the shuttle popped open. One spacesuited figure emerged. It was difficult from the distance to tell which one was Jerome and which was Monika. Both were in the newer-style suits, and were carrying loads of equipment. They looked odd as they stepped down onto the red boom of the derrick. Zalia verses the Conestoga, the stark difference in colors were compelling.

  The lead figure took a first step, and then slid about. Feet were kicking, and the figure was unstable. Suddenly, that person in the spacesuit fell to the side, heading for the edge of the derrick.

  “Ayyy!” Monika cried out.

  “It is slick!” Jerome yelled. Thudding noise came behind Jerome voice. “Look out!”

  The lead figure’s armful of items flew in all directions as those arms let go and cartwheeled around. The second figure tossed the gear into the back of the shuttle, and grabbed a failing arm of the other spacesuit. The falling person was saved, just as the feet slipped totally out from underneath.

  “That is better!” Jerome yelled.

  “Do not let go!” Monika stated. “Grab on!”

  One arm grabbed the hatch of the shuttle, the other the sliding figure’s arm. Then they both wrestled, contorted, and skated on the slippery surface. Arms flailed, legs kicked, and they skittered about. Swinging from side to side, at one point dangerously hanging just onto the edge. Then after a frightful scramble, both spacesuited people were sitting in the back of the shuttle.

  “Jerome good job!” Cammarry yelled out.

  “What?” Jerome replied. “Do not make fun of me.” He was panting heavily. “I nearly fell off. Monika saved me! Thank you Monika! Thanks!”

  “You nearly went over the edge, I just grabbed you!” Monika said. “That is like ice out there. Good thing these suits have their own gravity manipulation. Otherwise that fall would have been horrific. It was scary enough to see you nearly go down and over the edge.”

  Jerome breathed hard, but stated, “Our greatest success is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. We only rise because of our friends! Thank you Monika!” Jerome responded. “Besides, it was my stupid idea to shut down the magnetics in our boots.”

  Monika answered. “We had to do that. If not, we would be stuck to the derrick like the shuttle is stuck. There is also a significant wind here. I did not think to check that either. Did you see how our equipment flew? That stuff is lost. The landscape is really weird, and that is a long, long way down to the ground. Gravity sure pulls hard here.”

  “Thank you again for grabbing me. I should have checked the conditions. I assumed our boots would grip.” Jerome used his bubble helmet to magnify his vision to see the surface of the derrick. “There is something, some nearly clear, slimy stuff on that.”

  “I could hardly let you fall,” Monika said with relief in her voice. “You are needed. We will just find a different way across.”

  Cammarry let out her breath and then realized she had been holding it in. She searched the controls on the display and arms of the chair. She noted several that operated winches, but she was unsure where those cables would originate, and how they would affect what was happening. She said, “Is there some kind of docking line in that shuttle? You could perhaps shoot it across the distance.”

  “Jerome, stay here, but do not go out on that icy stuff,” Monika said. “I will check and see what we have here.”

  Cammarry watched as the figure in the suit stood. From the distance it was still hard to tell them apart. Monika disappeared into the shuttle. A moment later she returned holding a mechanism.

  “Portable grappler. I think it has enough line to reach that airlock door. There are several handrails next to it.” Monika aimed the grappler.

  Cammarry expected some sound, or noise when it fired, but from her perspective, it was silent. The line shot out but fell rapidly down, falling far short of the target.

  “I did not figure in the extra gravity. Let me wind it in and try again. The gravity out here really messes things up.” Monika activated the recoiling of the line. When it was ready she fired it again.

  The line shot out and arced up and over, landing just above the airlock door, and dropping along the hull, passing between a handrail and the hull.

  “A perfect shot! Excellent! You would be good at ricochet ball,” Jerome congratulated her.

  “Sure, a fine shot,” Cammarry said, but with undertones of contempt.

  “It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who pulls a trigger,” Jerome stated tersely.

  “Of course it is,” Cammarry snapped back. The way Jerome and Monika were working together irritated her, but she tried to focus on the mission.

  “We are lucky no Crocks are close by.” Jerome was remembering his very first encounter with the natives of Zalia. That Crock had been on a platform built up from the ground. Jerome gestured toward the ground a ways off. “Some of those floater creatures are off in the distance.”

  “It is so much bigger than Beta!” Monika looked where he pointed. She then turned and tied off the line. Snugging it up, it was about a meter off the top of the derrick boom stretching from the shuttle to the airlock. “I did some ice skating in the winters, back when I was a child. I will lead us across. But we need to pack up the supplies. The cargo nets here will make a suitable bag.”

  “Good thing I had the Willie Blaster strapped into the holster, it is irreplaceable. Since the Reproduction and Fabrication facility will not make us weapons. I did lose a fusion pack, and a data stick reader, and some data sticks. Not that those things are ever going to work again.” Jerome helped Monika load up the cargo net, and they tied it together in several places. Then they tied a loop from the net around the line.

  “I can release this knot from the far side when we get over there. Then the line will become the leash for the cargo net.” She stuck the portable grappler gun into a pouch on the spacesuit. It barely fit. “Between the two of us I think we can muscle it over to there.” Monika patted Jerome on the shoulder. He did not feel it through the spacesuit, but he saw and appreciated the kind gesture. “I suggest we sit on our butts and pull ourselves across this icy span. Lower profile, so less wind will hit us that way.”

  Monika crawled carefully down from the shuttle, spread her legs wide, and sat on the slick surface. Holding tightly to the line, she scooted out and across the derrick, deliberately and cautiously using her hands to pull herself along. Jerome followed her example. It was a slow and careful process, but after some time they had crossed the distance.

  “Made it!” Monika cheered.

  “Good idea to sit down to do it. Th
ank you again for saving me back there,” Jerome said.

  “Are you two coming inside?” Cammarry asked.

  Monika saw the two controls on the side of the airlock door. Keeping a tight hold on the handrails, she stood up. It took a few well-placed and balanced steps to reach the airlock door. To her orientation, the door was tilted to the left. She pushed the blue 'Depressurize’ control. The door to airlock slid open. Puffs, clouds of vapor, and mist swirled around in an angry way as the gases of Earth dispersed into the gases of Zalia. Those chemical conflicts were minor, but left an odd residue on the outside of Monika’s bubble helmet. With her free hand she wiped it away. Most of the residue fell off, but some bubbled and then dried, and flaked off the clear permalloy.

  Jerome climbed up beside Monika. “You did great getting us across here.”