by P F Walsh
“As you order Doctor, they are already being dumped to the furnaces. That will take the rest of the solar to finish. Thank you for your investigation.” It said and became silent. As they left the hospital, they could hear powerful pumps running in the distance.
Chapter Seven
Book Three
The next morning,
“Allister, please tell Welly I need him down here. There are some ships we need to investigate. Also, send Rooky down, I want him to go through all the laws relating to this outpost” Sean sent through his communicator.
“Aye, Captain, I’ll send them down. Nasht-Mer is planning on coming down with another dinner tonight, is there anything you would like?” He asked.
“No special requests Allister, both of you know what we like. We could stand some pancakes and syrup now, along with some bacon though” He replied, knowing that whatever was for dinner, would be good.
Sean decided that they would stay on Discovery’s food service for at least a week for Doctor Tak to test the local synthesizers, and to be sure they got all the cells. His expressions of how fast those cells multiplied were, to say the least, very scary.
After breakfast, Sean briefed Welly and Rooky on their findings thus far and the dangers they have been able to identify in their explorations. Strict advice not to eat or drink anything on the planet until Doctor Tak gave the ‘OK’ to do so.
“Doris, Welly, Artie and The Sisters will join me. We will find and check out the ships the Sisters have told me are here. Doctor Jess’m and Mel, please continue to inspect and understand the medical facility here. I’m sure Central will want you to test the Vats and the synthesizers to be sure they are now clean. Make sure you run all of that through at least several cycles. Rooky, we are going to drop you off at what we think is the library. Ask Central for any help you may need to read up on the planet name, history, purpose, and general law. Pay particular attention the elements of legal abandonment and recovery. I need to know what our status is in being here.” He listed, and added,
“Please take one of these lunch packs they sent down from Discovery. We’ll all meet back here again for dinner. Any Questions?”
Mel popped up,
“Do you want us to check in from time to time?” He asked.
“That’s a good idea Mel. Let’s check in with Allister every two hours or so.” Sean replied.
They all grouped outside and called for transport. Two cars arrived. Doctor Jess’m and Mel got in one and it moved silently away. The next one pulled up and the rest of the team got in.
“Central must be listening to everything we say. We didn’t order two cars.” He thought, and he told his to go to the Library building. Once there they got out and went in to show Rooky what they had learned about how to access the library contents.
“What language do you want Central to display?” Sean asked.
“Let’s do English. I’m comfortable with it now, and if there is something I want you to read, I can print it out.” He said.
“Very well, have at it.” Sean extended his hand out to the kiosk, knowing Central had already heard the preference. They left Rooky as he enthusiastically turned to the screen in the kiosk.
Sean and his team re-boarded the transport car and asked,
“Central take us to the ships that talk.”
“I am sorry, but those are classified.” It replied.
“Classified against whom?” Sean asked.
“Anyone below Senior Master.” It replied. Sean considered its reply and said,
“Central what Masters on this planet in the last one hundred annuals have a higher classification rating than I do?” There was a pause, as Central consulted its protocols.
“None, Master.” It replied.
“Then declassify all files to be accessible to me and my team. Take us to the ships for inspection.” He commanded.
The car began to move. It drove to the edge of the City and beyond into a rural area thick with stubby trees that had very long multicolored leaves. The areas in between were covered with moss and strange, orange bushes. There were patches of open, sandy surfaces with occasional large rocks showing through. The car approached a tall, square building. Sean counted windows up to eight stories. An overhead door slid up to allow the car to enter and park. The door slid down behind them. The inside was dark but lights started to come on.
The area was an inside parking area. There were a few dozen idle cars parked. No signs of life could be seen in any of the windows that looked out onto the inside parking. There were three stories of these. Above was a large gantry for lifting heavy objects, and in the middle of the building, huge doors that rose all the way to the third level. Alongside, two sets of pedestrian doors just ahead of them. They went through as the lights came on.
Beyond, was the row of five ships laying on their sides in padded cradles which in turn rested on motorized dollies. Sean could see another monstrous gantry with a rolling lift crane above. Each ship had two gangplanks that were held to the ship with retractable connecting clips. The first connected to a large cargo hatch, and the second, a crew entrance. Sean looked at The Sisters and asked,
“Are these the ships that speak to you?”
“Yes,” they chimed back, “these are the ones. The last one in the row is the one that screams and cries.” He heard in his mind.
“Let’s board that one first and see if we can find out what is wrong, and perhaps help.” He said.
They all went down the row of ships and boarded the fifth one through the crew entrance which opened upon approach. The Sisters pointed toward the bow. Sean, Doris, and Welly could hear nothing as they moved up the main passageway in the ship. Its interior lights came on sequentially and stayed on as they moved forward. There was no sign of anyone on board as they looked in each compartment on the way to the bridge. The heavy bridge door opened for them. As they entered, the bridge lit up with all the panels coming to a standby basis. It looked similar to all the starship bridges Sean had been on, as he and Welly looked around except for a large stainless bulge protruding out of the back wall. The Sisters pointed to that bulge,
“She is there.” They chimed.
“Welly, any idea what that is?” He asked.
“No Captain, but the Sisters seem to think it’s important.
Welly went closer, and began to release the snaps holding the cover on. Once the cover was off, they could see another stainless container firmly attached to the ship, with various tubes and cables attached. The tubes were transparent, and fluids of various colors could be seen flowing through them.
“Welly?” Sean queried.
“Never seen anything like this Captain. Looks like some kind of living creature may be inside kept nourished by the fluids you can see going in and out. The fluids going in have a clearer color, and the ones that show outbound flow are cloudier.” Welly said, guessing.
“Central, please explain this unit.” Sean asked assuming that even here Central was connected and listening.
“Master, that is one of the experimental humanoid brains that have been placed as the ship’s intelligence, to replace the artificial intelligence like me. In this ship, it has not been successful. The brain communicates constantly that it is in some sort of extreme distress. This did not begin to happen until the other Masters had begun to die. She was the last brain placed. The other four ships are operating as planned, and ready for service on your request.” It said. Sean and Welly looked at each other.
“This ship is alive.” Sean said, shocked and surprised.
“Apparently, so are the other ones as well.” Welly added.
“This is way in advance of anything I have come across in all my years of ship engineering. The scope of the attempt, and general success is awesome.” Welly said.
“Central, where did these brains come from?”
“Master, these were all volunteers whose bodies were dying. They were all irrevocably terminal and volunteered to try to continue thei
r life. They have lived many decades beyond their expected death date and if properly maintained, should continue to do so. The only complaint, aside from this ship, is that there has been nothing for the ships to do for a very long time. Technically,” It said, “these are the only survivors of the outpost, but they surrendered their citizenship and personal rights before the surgery, since their personal remembrances and histories were wiped as a consequence of the transplant.” It said calmly.
“Does the civilization that established this outpost build all their ships this way?” Asked Sean.
“No, Master, these are the only five. The Krieg, Citizen’s Parliament, voted against any further experiments after hearing the last reports on ship number Five.”
“Then this ship contains sentient living tissue in this container?” He asked just to be certain.
“Yes, Master.’ It replied.
“Hasn’t someone tried to find out what torments this brain?” He asked.
“The transplant team was about to start work on that, and died of the killing disease before they could help.” Central reported.
Sean looked at Welly.
“Captain, clearly, this is a problem for Dr. Jess’m, not me” He said with a frown.
“I can repair anything on a starship, but not this.”
“Very well, we’ll get him on this right away.” Sean said sadly.
“Let’s go and visit the other ships. We’ll start with the next one.”
“Central, can you arrange for me to communicate with them?” Sean asked.
“Yes, Master, talking to them verbally while on the bridge is sent to them, and they will reply audibly. I will download the language sets your ship sent to me onto all the brain ships so they will understand.”
“One final thing before we go there, Central. Please address me as ‘Captain,’ not ‘Master.” Sean asked, feeling uncomfortable with the word and its Earth side connotations. They filed out of the fifth ship’s bridge, and left that ship to board the next one. As they left, Sean contacted Allister to send the Doctor and Mel to his location.
“Tell the doctor to bring his kit, he has a local patient to treat.” He sent.
Several people entered the Senior Councilor’s conference room and took seats around the table waiting for the Councilor to arrive. Some helped themselves to water and Hhearn’s version of a hot stimulant drink. A few looked very fatigued. Erkrut-Dom and Maja-Ben were there as well, and had just sat down when the Senior Councilor entered the room. They all stood.
“Sit down everyone, get comfortable. I see you have some refreshments, feel free to get more as we meet. Erkrut, would you update me please?” The Senior Councilor said as he sat at the head of the table.
“Councilor, we have successfully raided five mines we learned about from using the truthmed on the ship crews, and the gang we scooped up last week. We have taken into custody fifty-two slavers at the mines. There were several others that resisted, and were permanently neutralized. We lost one enforcement officer in the engagements. We are still in the process of counting the honor breaker slaves, but we think there are about five hundred and sixty-two. Many are in very poor condition, and hospital teams have been sent to the mines to get them in condition to travel back to Hhearn.
“Only five hundred and sixty-two?” The Councilor asked?
“Yes, sir. It appears that hundreds more have died of the work, and were disposed of in various ways we have yet to uncover. We believe some were just trucked out onto the asteroid surface and dumped. It will take a while to scan those to look for disposal sites. We think they would probably conceal those in some way to prevent noticing by scan. It will be a grisly task, but most of those remains will be mummified, and we should be able to identify some. The Councilor shook his head as he listened to the report thinking all the while,
“This had been going on for years, and I’ll bet my predecessor knew about it. Aside from being a fraudster and a thief, he was a murderer. The only consolation was he met his end at the point of a dagger. This is a planetary scandal of unheard-of proportions.”
Erkrut introduced the other attendees. There were returning paramedics, social service workers, and a mining expert. He thanked them individually.
“Erkrut, use one of the Seeker ships to bring those people back when they are ready to travel. Those have excellent medical facilities on board and have the ship’s AI take off the blue dye on their hands. It can use that micro-nanite system it has.
“Yes sir, that will help a lot in getting them back to health and acceptance. The Councilor continued,
“Please add ‘aiding and abetting slavery’ to all the charges of the ones we already arrested.” He knew those charges carried either death, or life imprisonment on Degat, Hhearn’s moon, where there was a detainment cloister for the vilest of criminals.
“And, the Duchess of Kal as well? Asked Erkrut.
“Exactly, Erkrut. She must answer for all the suffering she has caused: although it’s likely the court will imprison her for life since she is elderly. Wouldn’t do for photos to leak of a Duchess being executed, now would it?” The Councilor said. They all nodded.
“By the way, have we heard from Captain Flynn?”
“Yes sir, we received a drone yesterday. They had reached an unknown settled, but abandoned, small planet they are investigating. When they get done with that one, they will resume the search for the planet the Sister’s original people set out for. No other word since then.”
“Well, if they’re out there, my bet is on Flynn to find them. He seems to have a knack for finding things.” Said the Councilor, and then,
“I am quite sure he’s having a better time of it than I am this morning.” The Councilor said.
“Now that we have that report out of the way, can somebody explain to me how a Zakarian Warrior in full skins and weapons was walking around in our world headquarters?” Asked a slightly irritated Senior Councilor.
“You might recall a Zakarian murdered the last Senior Councilor!” As he looked at the chagrined enforcement staff.
“Well sir, he wasn’t here to see you. He was here to see Maejel Tripperty, the Cultural Attaché from Earth about a dispute. She dressed him down and sent him on his way sir.” Maja-Ben reported. The Councilor just looked at Maja-Ben for the longest time as Maja nodded his head affirmatively with his eyebrows up as high as they could go.
“That will be all for today. Thank you for your reports, and will someone please take more care in monitoring the front door?” The Councilor barked. “Whatever will we all do if Ms. Tripperty isn’t here?” He exclaimed sarcastically.
There were five ships lined up alongside each other on moveable cradles. Sean, Doris, Welly, and the Sisters had visited all of them. The ships all had sentient humanoid brains installed in substitution of a conventional artificial intelligence computer. Except for ship number five, the other four were convinced to speak individually as the team boarded each ship and not all try to talk at once. Each case was the same. A perceptible difference in personality, an enthusiasm to be actively flying, and a uniform service commitment. Sean and the team believed this was pre-transfer thought alignment, and erasure of previous life memories. None of the ships could remember a prior life and all were willing to enter into service hauling passengers or freight. Anything to finally leave the cradles, feel fully fueled, and reaching for the stars. They all had access to the navigation computer and knew there was a universe outside their hanger waiting to be seen.
The Doctor and Mel had arrived at the ship’s hangar building and began taking samples of ship five’s feeder tubes to analyze while the rest of the team was finishing up the last ship interview. There was little else he could do since the brain case was sealed. He took his samples and returned with the team.
It was an Earth hour or so before Nasht-Mer would arrive with the dinner drone. They were all getting comfortable with a cold soft drink and sat in a semi-circle in the Nourishment room.
“Well,
we certainly have uncovered a great deal more than we expected on this trip, and have not even found the people we were looking for yet.“ Sean said as heads nodded.
“Let’s start with the Doctor’s report on the synthesizers.” He said.
“Captain, all my tests of the synthesizers outputs for the alien cells have come up negative. I did spend some time looking at the diagrams of the food synthesizers though. They are, as you might expect, extremely complicated, and while I don’t understand how it all works, I can see hundreds of places where a stray cell may lay unaffected by the purge and get dislodged later. I told Central to replace the synthesizers completely and send the old ones to the forges.” He said, and continued,
“That should take a few solars. The rest of the system is the vats and the pipes to carry the raw material. Those are all easily, and dependably, flushed and sterilized. I think once I have another go at testing output, we should be fine eating what is made.” He said.
“Now, regarding ship number five, I examined the fluids that nourish and maintain the brain cells and it is clear the blood hungry alien cells are in the fluids of ship five. The fluids contain no blood as we know it, so the cells are just circulating there, and may be providing an irritant to the brain cells. The science involved here to extract a brain, and place it into machine service, is way beyond what I am familiar with. Not only that, but they have been kept alive for more than a hundred annuals in that situation. I am keenly interested in the composition of the fluids, but I have not tried yet to analyze it. I think we can filter out the alien cells since they are larger than the fluid cells by a wide degree. Those cells may be the cause of the tortuous indications we are hearing from that ship. Beyond that, at this point I can’t offer any steps forward on treatment without a lot of other research. Another option for me, will be to search for and read, the medical notes and procedures on how this was all done. Once again, I can’t promise I will understand it.” He finished looking tired.