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

by John Thornton

  “I am monitoring all relevant factors: temperature, atmosphere, pressures, and gravity. Except for a small fluctuation, which is located in the locker room area, everything is safe,” Sandie responded.

  “So you say,” Cammarry snidely replied. “Go ahead Jerome, just go in and check.”

  “I will.” Jerome took out his new fusion pack and placed the access cable into a port near the door.

  Across the hall from the door there was a dark passageway which led off at an angle. Lights came on in one of those walls, showing a directory of the decks around the hanger bay. A marker sign on the hall indicated places named, ‘Lavatory’ and ‘Decks 1-34B’ and ‘Library’ and ‘Treadle Supplementary Support’ and ‘Cargo Lifts’ and ‘Communication Center’ and ‘Machine Maintenance Outlet’. However, the bulkhead door itself did not illuminate, nor change in any observable way.

  Jerome reached for the bulkhead door when Captain Eris’ voice came on through his com-link on a private channel. “I repaired that door when I was there before. It can open using the manual switch. Trust me, it is safe inside, as far as we can tell. I ordered three engineering automacubes to retrieve NS-99 from its perch on that derrick outside the exterior repair station. They were able to get it here for your use.”

  “Thanks,” Jerome muttered lowly.

  “For what? Letting you go first?” Cammarry laughed a mirthless chuckle.

  Jerome ignored her comments and listen to Eris on the private channel. “Those engineering automacubes have also been working to renovate the hanger bay. I am sorry, but urgent things are happening with Siva and the engines,” Eris commented and then shut down the link.

  “Thank you,” Jerome answered, but was fairly certain Eris had not heard. He wondered what was happening, but focused on his own predicament. There was more than enough emotional stress connected with coming to Swanson 6101 already. He could not carry the burden of all the world. “Unlike, Atlas, I can shrug off some worries, and allow other people to share the burden. Atlas shrugging, what a great idea, then everyone benefits.”

  “That makes absolutely no sense, even for one of your old mangled quotes,” Cammarry said.

  Jerome looked around. He activated the door and it slid back into its pocket. Swanson 6101 was well-lit, and familiar. The observation deck was as he remembered. The large display on the back wall was there, but was posting no messages. He looked out over the stalls. Two runabout shuttles were precisely parked in a single stall at the end of the hanger bay. It looked like they had been repositioned recently. He did not want to remember much about them. They looked tightly parked, but intact. Other shuttles, of various types, including the engineering tug, were parked and neatly arranged, in the other stalls.

  Jerome smiled broadly. NS-99, a Model 14S, was sitting at the far end, locked down in the last stall. The shuttle was boxy-shaped, dull white in color with maroon trim, and a label painted near its nose, NS-99. That shuttle was a welcome sight to Jerome. It was like seeing a good friend again after a long absence.

  “Faithful Lightning, there you are,” Jerome said and walked across the hanger bay toward NS-99.

  “Well, it looks safe,” Cammarry said as she walked in. She darted her looks from side to side. “No Carter the Kidnapper, this time.” She mumbled. Alizon reached out and took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. His eyes were spread wide in wonder as he took in the mechanical marvels which were the shuttles, and all the hanger bay accoutrements.

  “Never have I seen so much in so short a time,” Alizon stated. “I knew a power-driven, mechanized world existed around nature, but this is more than I ever imagined.”

  “This place is not some wonderland, despite the clean-up that has obviously taken place here,” Cammarry stated. She glanced at the observation deck, a place she did not want to step into, and then back to the shuttles. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and in her ears. Her breathing was rapid. She gripped Alizon’s hand tightly, and did not want to let go. She tried not to think of all that had happened in that hanger bay. Her memories were overwhelming, scary, and disconcerting. With her other hand, she patted her own belt, looking for her Willie Blaster, but it was missing. Had it not been for Alizon, she would never have been able to enter the hanger bay again. “We need to get the work here done and leave, soon.”

  “Yes, beautiful woman. How can I help?” Alizon asked.

  “Just be here.”

  She turned her brown twinkling eyes to him. He stared back with his dark blue ones, and he nodded his head. “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.”

  They turned toward the shuttles. Cammarry gestured. “We will fly in one of these. Not those tiny ones, but probably that one at the end. The one he is walking toward. It is the most advanced and Sandie has modified it to function better. Well, for whatever that is worth.”

  The rear hatch of NS-99 was open, as was the side door. The cabin, with its two command seats and four passenger seats, sat vacant. Lights were lit up on the display screen on the cockpit. It looked clean, fresh, and ready to go.

  “Cammarry,” Sandie stated privately through the com-link. “I know this must be an emotionally tumultuous time for you, being here. I have Doctor Chambers’ simulation ready if…”

  “Just shut up. Let me do this mission,” Cammarry snapped back. “You are almost as annoying as Shadow was. I can hardly believe I trusted you once.”

  Sandie remained quiet, but was thankful Cammarry had not shut down the com-link.

  Jerome was the first to see the locker. He was about to step into NS-99 when he spotted the damaged locker. It was set along the side of the hanger bay, in a row of lockers. Its door was crumpled, from forces pulling at it from within. He slowly walked over to it.

  “So that is the other gravity sink hole. Has it progressed? Moved? Or changed in any way since it was detected? How was it found?” Jerome asked his questions in a barrage of words.

  Sandie answered, “During maintenance an engineering automacube noted the damaged door. Upon inspection, the gravity sink hole was revealed. It has not changed in diameter since then, but the instruments to monitor it were limited until now. Please establish a parameter of instruments like you did for the other one. A second network of sensors will help me test some theories.”

  “Odd that it seems confined to one small locker,” Jerome stated as walked over. “The adjacent lockers are intact, and look unaffected.” He opened the satchel and unpacked the instruments. “Sandie? Did the hanger bay cycle while the gravity sink hole was here? Will it be safe to fly a shuttle from here?”

  “The hanger bay did cycle, once, after this gravity sink hole was detected. That was when NS-99 was brought inside, carried by the automacubes. That operation showed to adverse outcomes,” Sandie responded.

  Jerome set up the instruments, one by one, setting them down on the deck. The light on top came on as they were activated. He could only make a half circle around the locker, as the hanger bay’s wall prevented him lining them up all the way around. When he activated the final instrument, its light on top flashed white and then all the instruments flashed several times and began to glow a steady blue.

  “I am receiving readings,” Sandie reported. “This is remarkable. The readings here are exactly the same as those on Alizon’s farm. There seems to be a connection of some kind between these two gravity sink holes. It will take time to collate and assess what is happening.”

  “So in the meantime, can we get on our way to Zeta? We came here as pilots, right?” Cammarry stated. In her mind she added, ‘I am so ready to say goodbye to this hanger bay.’ She turned and walked over to NS-99 and climbed in. Alizon, who was still holding her hand, followed after her. He only let go as she showed him to one of the passenger seats.

  “Sandie? Is NS-99 prepped and ready?” Jerome asked.

  Sandie answered via a private channel. “Yes, and thank you for setting up the instruments. Both sets of instruments are providing valuable information. The set by
Alizon’s farm is also functioning well as a deterrent to wildlife getting injured. A herd of Bukhara deer, Cervus elaphus bactrianus, approached moments ago. They were warned off by the audio alarms. I am also working in concert with the lattice of compeers here, but have refrained from allowing any of them to verbalize communication with you or Cammarry.”

  “Good idea. Thank you,” Jerome responded. He dropped his voice to a mere whisper. “Please let Monika know what is happening. I would love to speak to her…”

  Cammarry’s voice came from NS-99. “I am waiting. Shall we leave now?”

  “Coming Cammarry.” Jerome jogged over to the shuttle and climbed inside.

  He took the seat next to Cammarry, and that felt very awkward.

  Cammarry activated several controls on the dashboard, and the rear door and side door slowly closed. “Alizon, this entire room will go through a cycle, with many bizarre noises, sights, and sounds. Your weight may be lost, although it looks on the displays here like gravity manipulation may happen in the shuttle. Anyway, that entire wall, the one with the stripes, will fold back and open up. That is a normal thing. This vehicle will then proceed to exit. Be prepared, for this mechanized wonderland you have just seen, is nothing compared to the bizarre planet Zalia you are about to see. It is an alien, foreign, and utterly strange world. But I will get us to the other habitat. It is called Zeta.”

  “Thank you, beautiful woman. Your explanation eases my concerns, but remember I am here to help you,” Alizon added. His hands were folded on top of his lap, over the restraints which held him in place.

  “You I trust, Alizon. Do not give me a reason to regret that,” Cammarry stated.

  “Sandie, we are ready to depart,” Jerome added.

  The hanger bay cycle began. NS-99 was ready to ascend out of Swanson 6101.

  7 trying teleportation

  While NS-99 flew toward Zeta habitat, Eris was busy. Siva asked frequent questions about the main drive engines, and Eris wanted to be there with him in the assessments, evaluations, and repairs he was doing, but she was also needed in the building of the new command bridge. It was happening as quickly as the automacubes and the few skilled humans could make it occur, but construction was not the only issue.

  The loss of Gamma weighed heavily on Eris mind.

  “SB Pinaka, was there nothing we could do to prevent Gamma’s launch?” Eris asked yet again. “Run every scenario the lattice of compeers can envision.”

  “Captain Eris, the lattice has computed that there was no way for them to override the systems in Gamma from a remote location,” SB Pinaka answered for the group. “However, the artificial intelligence Sandie may have had additional potentialities.”

  “Yes, I know. But Sandie was hesitant to force a solution on Gamma,” Eris stated.

  “Or Sandie knew Gamma would perish and did not care,” Shadow stated to Eris and only she heard. “Sandie is not part of the Shadow Clearance Level. Is Sandie fully committed to Project Ascension?”

  Eris knew better than to debate with Shadow and sought to ignore the promptings from that implant. Instead she clicked open a private link directly to Sandie. “Sandie, did Jerome, Cammarry and Alizon depart Alpha?”

  “Yes, Captain Eris. I estimate their time of arrival at Zeta as six hours, fourteen minutes from now, depending upon weather and atmospheric conditions.”

  “I wish we had other pilots we could send, or that that Colonel Harrison would just work with me. Any thoughts on what will happen when they get there?”

  “I am running conjectures. Right now the most probable scenario is conjectured to be that Colonel Harrison is overly fearful and hyper-protective of his ideas. The voice-stress analysis shows he suffers from at least mild paranoia, or post-traumatic stress. It would be consistent with someone in an active combat situation, or some who thinks he is. My simulation of Doctor Chambers has not been able to make an exact determination. There is a sixty-nine percent chance of a successful exchange of information between our mission team and Colonel Harrison.”

  “Those odds are not as good as I would like. Can you probe deeper into Zeta?” Eris asked.

  “I have the capability, but I have not penetrated into the network on Zeta for fear of pushing him from being highly sensitive and suspicious into a full paranoid delusion. I am trying to get Jerome and Cammarry to consult with the simulation of Doctor Chambers to prepare them for this meeting. Jerome has agreed to a private counseling session, but Cammarry is refusing. They are taking turns piloting NS-99. Neither wishes to relinquish control of the flight. While Jerome is piloting, Cammarry has been in quiet conversation with the farmer Alizon, and her biometric readings are showing that that is having a positive physiological influence on her.”

  “So we have some additional time before they reach Zeta,” Eris said and rubbed her forehead. “Did you confirm those computations I did for Siva?”

  “Yes, I just finished those calculations on the needle ship’s main engines, after comparing them to the latest information from the engineering automacubes. Those are all loaded into your conservation slate. Siva’s repairs are slowly making progress. He asks that you personally talk him through the injector realignments on the aft driver network. The ionization and neutrino adjustments are a bit beyond his abilities. I have tried describing the process, but as you know he is in a spacesuit and it lacks precision visual feedback. My technical nomenclature and his human description of items do not mesh as well as either of us would like. Additionally, he has more trust in you.”

  “I understand,” Eris stated. She prayed for guidance as she had to personally handle that situation, again. “Spacesuit?” Eris muttered.

  “Yes, Captain Eris. Siva has been in a spacesuit doing those engine repairs…” Sandie began.

  “No, sorry. I was just thinking. SB Pinaka? That locker in Alpha where the gravity sink hole is located, is it near where I took off my spacesuit when I docked there?” Eris placed her hands together and steepled her fingers. “Could it be? Really? Check the logs for where I left the spacesuit in Swanson 6101.”

  “I will consult the logs,” SB Pinaka answered. “I will have the answer momentarily.”

  “Sandie, while the lattice of compeers checks that, what have we found from the other habitats?” Eris asked. She was exhausted, but she was continuing on.

  “There is still no human response from Habitat Eta. I am probing for responsive synthetic brains or artificial intelligences, but none have been found in Eta so far. Habitat Theta has also had no human response, but there are two synthetic brains which I am working to reactivate. They were intact, but disconnected from power. It is a slow, warm-up process, to get them regenerated enough for use. The initial assessment of both Eta and Theta show more structural damage than I expected, but not to the level of Delta. Reading are still being collated.”

  “And there really are no synthetic brains or artificial intelligences in all of Epsilon?” Eris asked. It was hard for her to imagine a functional habitat without SBs or AIs.

  “Epsilon is unusual in that there is no functional nonphysicality. There is not even a sense of the old idea of cyberspace, the precursor to nonphysicality. Each computer, their term, on Epsilon is a stand-alone unit. I have been in discussion with Professor Dandelo. In fact, right now he is signaling a desire to continue our conversation. Do you want to be part of that, Captain Eris?”

  “No. I will contact Siva and work with him on those alignments. Please take whatever action with Epsilon you think is best. To my human mind, I can think of no way to boost it out of that thick muck they sank into, anyway. Your idea of having them build a teleporter to send the people and sleepers up to the needle ship is the only viable option they have.”

  “It was actually a re-working of Brink’s idea for the recovery of a colony ship, only on a much smaller range, with a larger population. I will let you know what Professor Dandelo and his Science Consistory decide,” Sandie stated.

  Sandie then made the connections
to Professor Dandelo in Epsilon.

  The scientist answered the connection. “Oh, that machine Sandie. Are you connecting me to Captain Eris?”

  “No Professor Dandelo, I am not,” Sandie stated. “I wanted to see how your progress was coming. I had all the relevant data about our uses of teleportation transmitted to your computer, along with the general concepts and fundamentals of its operation. Do you have any questions?”

  “Oh my, an inquisitive one you are. Did your builders program an algorithm for that? An interesting thought experiment, how would I make a computer appear to be curious?”

  “Professor Dandelo, I not only appear to be curious, I am curious. How are you doing? My plan for Epsilon involves you building a sending pad. Our receiving pad here on the needle ship was designed to accommodate fifteen hundred people. Since you have a population of five thousand, that should only mean a few trips once your sending pad is built. Of course, the suspended animation people will take greater amounts of time for transition, but you should have plenty of time to transport them to your sending unit. We are working on refurbishing a section of the needle ship to accommodate those people in suspended animation. I have yet to receive the final numbers of how many people you have in cocoons there in Epsilon.”