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

by John Thornton

  “Were they swimming in your nightmare?” Monika smiled at him as she dressed. “Is that why you have an aversion to water?”

  “I do not have an aversion to water,” Jerome teased back. “I just appreciate it, and am thankful I am not in Dome 17 where they had even tighter restrictions on water than you ever had during Beta’s drought.”

  “We do have diverse backgrounds,” Monika agreed. “But that is why our relationship is complementary.”

  “I thought it was complementary, because I complement you on your physical beauty so much,” Jerome replied.

  “Compliments are fine, but flattery is phony,” Monika replied. “Roustabouts know that flattery and insults both make one ask, ‘What does this rube want?’”

  “Now, who is quoting old saying?” Jerome smiled. Yet, the lingering aftermath of his nightmare haunted him. He walked back in and peeked at the boys again.

  “Jerome, you do get cleaned up, and let them sleep. Hustle off,” Monika said and patted Jerome’s back side and added a slight squeeze.

  He went and finished washing, and he did use adequate amounts of water and soap.

  They finished dressing, and each placed a com-link over one of their ears. Jerome patted his and made sure it was snuggly in place. He tapped it. “Sandie, is there anything urgent to report?”

  “Hello Jerome,” Sandie the AI replied. “Nothing to report which cannot wait until after the rituals are completed. I will interrupt you if something does need your immediate attention.”

  “Sandie, will you please ask SB Bodowa to manufacture for me a Willie Blaster? Or can you reactivate the one I have?” Jerome asked with some hesitation.

  “I will bring the issue up to the lattice of compeers and Captain Eris for consideration,” Sandie replied.

  Jerome was pleased, but hesitated to express too much hope. He simply responded, “Thank you. I promise to be responsible in all my use of it.”

  Sandie made a comment over Monika’s private channel informing her that if something emergent came up, she would be contacted.

  They then woke up the boys and got them ready for the short trip to the Grand Hall of the Goat People. Strapping the babies into their separate papoose carriers, Jerome noted that Monika also had placed a small handgun on her belt in a hidden spot.

  “Do you really need that around the babies?” Jerome asked.

  “You just asked Sandie for a Willie Blaster weapon. A super high-tech gun which can blast a hole in the wall, and you ask me about this? Well, I understand you are concerned about the boys. My gun is safely secured and cannot go off by itself. Well, not unless it fell into a fire or something drastic like that,” Monika replied. “I travelled the roads with the roustabouts for many kilometers, and we sometimes encountered rapid beasts, or very bad people. Hoodlums can be anywhere, and there is the chance of Khin’s monsters showing up.” She looked carefully at Jerome and realized he was weeping a bit. “That dream really bothered you. Was there more to it than you have said?”

  “It was scary, certainly that was part of the nightmare. The worst part was the feeling that the babies were in danger and I could do nothing about it. I had the Willie Blaster, in the dream, but it failed me.”

  “Your friend Doctor Chambers would say something about that, right?” Sympathy and compassion shone from Monika’s face.

  “Yes, Sandie made his simulation very real, and I can imagine him saying something like, ‘Jerome, being entirely honest with yourself is good mental calisthenics.’ But I felt so helpless. I read someone, some ancient pre-Great Event sociologist or something like that who said, a person is never as vulnerable as when we love. I do love the boys, and you, Monika. I want to be able to defend you.”

  “I know, and I love you too, and well, me loving my babies is just who I am,” she replied. “I also want to defend you and my sons. I think part of your dream was also about all that planning you are doing on ways to defend the Conestoga.”

  “You are probably correct, as usual. Thanks,” Jerome replied.

  “Talk to Sandie while we travel. It might help,” Monika suggested.

  “I would rather walk and talk just with you,” Jerome replied.

  “Well, one of the boys might interject a coo or a cry as we walk,” Monika said and patted the baby in his papoose. Jerome kissed the baby he was carrying, and then he locked up the apartment, and looked in on the Probe Control room next door. An engineering automacube was busy revising the two work stations located there.

  As they walked along, Jerome commented, “The Probe Control will allow us to use weapons, if we had any to use. The basic repulsor system is there, with it turrets and microparticles, but what good will that do? It keeps asteroids, meteors, and space debris away, but will it damage an enemy ship?”

  “The Apex Predator ships? I can understand your worry and concern, after what those satellites did to Zalia. But there has been no sign of them coming in ships.”

  “Monika, remember the Crocks, or Zalians, whatever you call them, they said, those predators were coming,” Jerome replied. “I think we can count on that. The Zalians were right about most everything else. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty or so that old saying goes.”

  “What was the twenty-twenty? An old calendar date? Those old sayings of yours are too obscure for me sometimes. Is it a metaphor or a measurement?” Monika was puzzled. They were approaching the tube system portal hub where they could quickly ride to the Grand Hall.

  “I think it was some medical thing about optics for eyes. It was written about in old books, and those also speak about spectacles for reading. My understanding was that sometime before the Great Event there were people who had medical conditions which limited their eye sight. Not blind exactly, but not clear vision. The records from back then are limited, but here on the Conestoga, the lattice has records which are quite interesting. There are even some things I never heard about in Dome 17. Historical things. For example, in the years before the Great Event there were some remarkable medical advances which genetically did away with many ailments. They also had a vast improvement in language. A precision language movement was popular, halting the social slide into oblivion. So many surviving books from before that precision language movement used phonetic spelling to describe the way people spoke, or how they sounded out words. Accents, and dialects, I think they called them.”

  “Well, you and I speak differently,” Monika stated. “I noted that the first time we met.”

  “But the authors back then wrote it out in books, too. I read a few of those in Dome 17’s database, but here, on the Conestoga, they saved more records. It is amazing. Not only did those ancients use garbage spellings and phonetic dialect in their writings, they also embraced the curse of smashing words all together in something they called compactions. I think it was called compactions. They took normal words and lopped off the end of one, and welded it to the beginning of another. Language compactions, or contractions, or whatever, nearly caused wars, disasters, and they were a general nuisance. Too bad that. Their whole civilization suffered. Had they done better at education, the old-world might have avoided the causes of the Great Event.”

  “Jerome, back to that ancient phrase, and away from your modern philosophizing,” Monika grinned at him. “So, that twenty-twenty thing was considered normal? Interesting. So, hindsight is better at seeing things, like how Khin can see in dim light better than we can?” Now she winked at him. “Yes, eyesight. I think, I can see how that idiom makes sense to me. Thank you, Jerome. If only all your old saying were so easily decrypted and visualized.”

  Jerome’s smile was wide.

  They touched the controls for the transport tube, and after the portal hatch opened, they stepped inside.

  “Welcome aboard,” SB Vamzdis stated. “Your children will need to be placed into the safety seats which are deploying now.”

  From one side of the vehicle, two of the seats folded upward and revealed infant-sized carriers with padded edged and
proper straps.

  “SB Vamzdis?” Jerome asked. “Your presence is unexpected.”

  “The lattice of compeers has upgraded the entire transport tube system. I am now overseeing all aspects from Alpha to the needle ship, to the latest repaired section which leads to the engine room. Please restrain the infants, and take your seats. The vehicle will not be moved until safety procedures are followed.”

  Monika unloaded the baby which was strapped onto Jerome, and set Kalur into the safety seat. Unlike the adult seat which had folded out of the way. The baby seat faced backward. Kalur nestled into his place. Jerome then repeated the procedure taking baby Brink from the papoose which was strapped to Monika and setting him into the other safety seat. He made some soft cooing sounds as he too snuggled into place. Monika covered each with a blanket. Then the adults sat down and put on their own lap belts.

  “We are ready to go to the Grand Hall,” Jerome announced.

  “That destination is one of the twenty hubs which are now functional in the transport system. Estimated time of arrival is seven minutes. Please remain seated and restrained during transport,” SB Vamzdis stated. The rear hatch closed with a slight whoosh and snap, and the vehicle smoothly and nearly soundlessly moved away from the hub.

  “Jerome, I did not know Cadet Danny very well at all. You met him before. Were you surprised he died in his sleep?” Monika asked. “Seems a shame just after we got into flight.”

  “He lived to see the Conestoga reconstituted, and resume the mission. I think that was all he was waiting for. His whole life he was prepared to live, and then die, in transit to the destination world.” Thinking about all the death he had seen, Jerome touched his lips with his fingers and pondered. “Maybe he was ready to die, knowing we are on our way again.”

  “Did he know about the Apex Predators?” Monika asked. “From what I hear, that has not been made public knowledge. I do not want to say something wrong at the funeral, and let the dog out of the house.”

  “Now, who is using unfamiliar idioms? I suppose letting some beast into the house would be better?” Jerome tried to be lighthearted, but he was still haunted by the thing which was stalking him in his nightmare. “As far as I know, only we who are considered the flight crew know about the Apex Predator threat. But that includes Bigelow and who knows what he has said or who he has told.”

  “Bigelow drinks too much intoxicants, but he is trustworthy. Many times, he was valuable to the roustabouts,” Monika said. “But word does get out, and rumors are hard to stop.”

  “I am surprised these weeks have gone by already. The engines are still not working, and I would have thought we would reach that Cosmic Crinkle by now,” Jerome said. “I suppose when I came here, the FTL scout was traveling at a much higher velocity coming out of that Cosmic Crinkle, than we are drifting toward it. I thought that Zalia and the Cosmic Crinkle were only something like 75,000 kilometers apart.”

  “You could ask Captain Eris about our position in space,” Monika suggested. “But she has been rather busy.”

  “We all are busy, and I figured me pestering her for miscellaneous information to satisfy my curiosity would not help. Besides, the artificial intelligence system Sandie told me she was investigating the situation. Sandie said something about relative positions, and unusual navigational factors related to planetary orbits, and how the Cosmic Crinkle was also in orbit, or this solar system was in orbit around it, or something like that. No firm conjectures yet on the apparent velocity discrepancies coming toward Zalia as compared to moving away from Zalia. Sandie is also using the FTL’s sensors to keep watch on Zalia and where the Cosmic Crinkle is located. Or where we think it is, or was.”

  The transport tube vehicle pulled up to the destination. It slowed down, backed up, and docked to the hub. Except for several clanks as the connections were made, the process was very smooth. Both babies were startled at the metallic clanks, but some soothing words, and a gentle caress to a cheek and they rested again. Kalur was looking around and flexing his fingers in front of his face.

  “We have arrived. You may now unfasten the safety devices and depart from this vehicle,” SB Vamzdis stated.

  The transport hub had been scrubbed clean of the growth medium, but the walls were stained from where water had run down them for so many decades. The air vents, which had been converted and used as water channels, had been repaired. They were again propelling air out of them. The hallway outside the hub was also free from the growth medium, although the lighting was still dim, unlike that inside the transport vehicle.

  “Back into the Goat People’s realm of constant dimness,” Jerome commented. “But the mushrooms and growth medium has been cleaned out. What do the goats eat now?”

  “They eat what goats eat!” Khin laughed as he walked up to them. Vesna was right behind him. “They might even eat wizard’s food, but only if there is nothing else.” Khin grabbed Jerome and hugged him, being careful not to disturb the baby in the papoose. Khin’s clothing, hair, and body were the cleanest Jerome had ever seen them. He still had his belt with its many pouches.

  Vesna then chided Khin a bit. “You were telling me only yesterday that the goats are wandering further away, seeking food, because everything is getting too clean now. You also know that I think all the goats should be moved into Alpha. It is not Beta,” she looked at Monika and smiled, “but it has a working sky tube and room for everyone. The horses are already there, thanks to the Fruit People.”

  Khin laughed heartily. “My Vesna, now is not the time to decide those things. Today is the life celebration of the Old One.”

  Monika hugged Vesna and Khin, and they exchanged pleasantries as they walked the last way to the Grand Hall. As they entered it, Jerome recalled being there the first time, but that was with Cammarry. He pushed thoughts of her away, and wished her well in his mind.

  The Grand Hall was lit by the dim, but typical, illumination of the needle ship. The chamber was over a hundred meters wide, about twenty meters tall, and went back another hundred meters. On one sidewall, Jerome saw the bank of elevators with their glowing hand-shaped symbols.

  The Grand Hall was noisy with people. The air wafted with exotic smells, and people were walking, milling, and standing about. The place was usually filled with tents, cooking pots, cheese making equipment, and other items the Goat People used. Now, however, it had been cleared out to a great degree, and the central part was a large open space. In the middle of that open area was the body of the Old One, also known as Cadet Danny, or even more officially as Cadet Danuja. He had been the oldest person Jerome knew about on the needle ship, and probably anywhere on the reconstituted Conestoga.

  The body was displayed on a flat surface which had been laid across Danny’s piano. The piano was a rich and warm golden-brownish color with some kind of pattern of swirls in the deeply polished wood. Jerome now knew that material was wood, but it had been a minor mystery to him when he first saw that beautiful musical instrument. It gleamed with luster even in the dim light. Cadet Danny’s body was dressed in a brand-new flight suit.

  “Of all the people I have seen die here,” Jerome said. “I have not even heard about any kind of death rituals, or whatever. In Dome 17, the body was sent to the recycling system for reclamation, and the deceased’s age-mates would have a memorial service. Here I feel ignorant of the customs.” Jerome wondered why it had taken until now for him to verbalize those feeling to Monika. Then the dream’s frightful images and feelings returned to him, and he understood how preoccupied his mind had been.

  Monika lightly gripped Jerome’s arm. “I have no idea what they do on the needle ship either. My experiences were in Beta, and I am pretty sure they are different here.” She looked at Jerome, then down at her baby on her chest. “Do we keep the boys with us, or should I find a place to watch them in private so you can stay here?”

  Khin overheard the conversation. “You both stay here. If babies wake up and cry, that is fine. They will add to the celebra
tion of life. The Old One had a long life, and a long life is good. My father and mother…”

  “Told you some short poem you remember, and will now recite,” Jerome interrupted.

  Khin laughed. “No, not this time. My mother and father are here to lead us. See they are over there!” He pointed to some vague place beyond where the body was in death’s repose.

  At another side of the Grand Hall there were doors which lead to the main kitchen. Various people were carrying pitchers of water, and trays of foods from there. Neither Jerome nor Monika could tell who Khin was pointing at, as both men and women were rushing about. Most of the Goat People dressed in similar clothing, and while they had variations in complexions and hair colors, none of the people bore a striking resemblance to Khin.

  Khin noted the puzzled looks of Jerome and Monika, and he laughed even more. “Not back by the kitchen, but over there.” He pointed again roughly toward the same place. The gesture was imprecise.