Metamorphosis Alpha 2

by Craig Martelle (ed)

  “They’ve been dead this whole time? That’s hundreds of years. Who have the main techs been getting their orders from or reporting to?”

  “And how does the food system work now?” Meles interjected.

  “The area computer system controls those issues.”

  “I’ve been working for a box for four hundred years?”

  “Hardly a box. You’ve been working for an intelligent computerized system that has sufficiently repaired the ship to allow the Warden to continue its mission. You should count yourselves lucky that you were in a protected area and that you survived. Most of the crew did not,” the computer reported.

  Jimmy looked around. A galley with food. Quarters with bunks. Computer consoles with flashing lights. An entire wall that showed the universe around them. And dead bodies to remind him how fragile life was. But the ship lived on.

  “Computer, how many people are performing the cryo-sleep rotations like Willie and me?”

  “There are a total of two-hundred and forty technicians working the cryo-rotations. At present, twelve are awake and performing standard maintenance.”

  “Twelve,” Jimmy whispered. His mouth hung slack and his breathing quickened. “There were over a million people on board. There should be tens of thousands awake and working.”

  “Not anymore,” the computer replied in its cold voice.

  Jimmy shuddered.

  Meles belched. “What the hell did you expect? Ask your buddy how many talking badgers existed when the Warden launched.”

  “How many life forms are currently on the Warden?” Jimmy asked instead.

  “Computing.”

  Meles and Jimmy looked at each other. “I guess we have some time to keep exploring.”

  The badger didn’t bother waiting he made a beeline for the quarters. Jimmy followed him, having no intention of entering and digging through the crew’s personal effects.

  “Mine,” Meles called out after only a few moments. Jimmy leaned around the corner wondering what the badger had found. Meles was sprawled on a low bed. He pulled a blanket over himself.

  “Tell it to cool the room.”

  “You need me, is that what I just heard? And if you want food, you need me for that, too.”

  “For manual labor, nothing more, stupid human. You know that I’m the brains of this outfit.”

  “Computer, cool these quarters by five degrees please,” Jimmy requested. He couldn’t hear the system respond, but he knew that it had once a cool breeze appeared as if from nowhere. Jimmy looked to the corpses. He found the closest one, removed the command access badge and returned to the sleeping quarters. He put it on Meles’ foreleg, so he could enter and exit the room at his convenience.

  When Jimmy walked out, the door swished closed behind him.

  It’s not a lie, but it’s not real, he thought. He walked back to the captain’s chair, stood for a moment, then lifted the body out, carrying it to stack with the others. He removed the remainder of the crew from their positions, leaving the bridge empty except for the flashing lights.

  And an entire universe of stars wrapped three quarters of the way around the command area of the bridge. Jimmy turned to the left and then to the right. Stars and nebulas and shades of black in between. He propped himself up in the captain’s chair and tried to take it all in.

  “We’re alone out here. One hundred and sixty of the original crew remain. Out of millions. I doubt they planned for that,” he wondered aloud. His voice didn’t echo within the bridge. It had been designed to prevent that sort of thing.

  It had been designed where it didn’t need humans at all.

  Almost. A human had to tell it to stop, otherwise the Warden would journey through the universe for the rest of days.

  Jimmy accessed the communication system, bypassing the bridge’s computer. “Call William four seven, please.”

  “Jimmy, is that you?” the disembodied voice asked.

  “It’s me. I’m on the bridge, and you’ll never believe what I found.”

  “You’re not supposed to be up there! Did you use that command band you recovered? That was a recovery mission and not for your personal use and abuse. Man! You are in trouble. Are you in shackles? Is this your one phone call?” Willie joked.

  “The computer has been running the ship the whole time. There’s no one alive up here. I think I’ll stay for a while as the computer works through some questions I’ve asked.”

  “I could use your help, Jimmy. The repair tickets are coming fast and furious. I’m not sure I can keep up.”

  “Do your best,” Jimmy replied with a wry smile. He had done most of the work when they were awake. Willie was okay not completing any tickets himself. “I’ll be back when I get back.”

  He signed off before Willie could make an impassioned plea for Jimmy to return to main tech duties.

  Jimmy walked throughout the bridge, checking the work stations, having only a cursory knowledge of what each would do, because he had received the initial brief, a long time before. He was maintenance. His knowledge was a mile wide and an inch deep. He only needed to know how to ask the computer for instructions to fix things and an advanced understanding of mechanics to best tear things down and put them back together.

  He stopped at the food processor. “A cup of Kona coffee, please, hot.” The processor complied.

  Jimmy returned to the captain’s chair and sat down.

  “There are over a million life forms on board the Warden,” the computer reported.

  “Sounds good, computer. Thank you.” Jimmy didn’t have any more questions. He wanted to sit in peace and contemplate life.

  That took a total of five minutes. “Computer. Bring up the schematic of the Warden and show it on the main screen.”

  The stars disappeared as a massive ship appeared with a cutaway view showing main decks, sub-decks, maintenance access ways, between deck corridors, and a massive city. “Zoom in on the city, please.” Jimmy stood and walked forward until he was fully immersed in the image.

  “Come on, Meles. Wake your lazy self up. Would you look at this ship? With these,” he raised an arm and shook his command band, “we can go anywhere we want.”

  The End

  Stop by www.craigmartelle.com to learn more about Craig and his other publications.

  The Free Trader Series

  The Free Trader series is currently six books, soon to be nine of prequel adventure where you get to meet each of the species mentioned in the Cygnus Space Opera.

  A ‘cat and his human minions fight to bring peace to humanity. Compared to Andre Norton, David Gemmell, and Larry Niven, the Free Trader series takes you to a colonized world across the galaxy where engineered animals help the people survive and become masters of the planet. After a devastating civil war, humanity and its creations rise again. The Free Trader finds himself at a crossroads: can he and his ‘cat prevent a repeat of past mistakes as they rebuild civilization?

  Here’s what some reviewers had to say about the Free Trader…

  “Most authors can’t make an animal character believable. This one does. Craig Martelle has a great imagination and can put it down on paper for you to enjoy also, just like the great writers of the golden age. His writing is very reminiscent of their work.”

  “very good read. reminds me of Andre Norton.”

  “This series is excellent. The characters are well developed and the story line is compelling. As a long time fan of Post Apocalyptic books by Larry Niven and others as well as PA games, I would encourage anyone who enjoys Apocalyptic, Survival, and high adventure books to read this series.”

  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G19OHTS/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

  Postscript

  Thank you for reading this anthology!

  If you like to see the series continue, please join my mailing list by dropping by my website www.craigmartelle.com or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at craig@craigmartelle.com. I am always happy to hear from people who’
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  Author Notes

  Round two of Metamorphosis Alpha, Chronicles from the Starship Warden is in the bag!

  I hope you enjoyed reading these stories written by fans of the game, who also happen to be professional authors.

  I suspect most authors got their creative start because of Tactical Studies Rules (later called just TSR) and Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and the man who influenced people like Jim Ward to create new and wondrous role-playing games.

  Once again, 100% of the profit on this book goes to James M. Ward. So thank you for your purchase or if you are in Kindle Unlimited, thank you for reading to this point. Your page reads are going to a good cause. I’ve paid the contributing authors separately, so there is no conflict. Jim benefits because of this book.

  What are your best memories of Metamorphosis Alpha? For me, it’s dragging the 1976 original rule book all over the world. It was the one constant in my entire Marine Corps career. It’s been in 20 different countries, in times of war and peace. It was always there to read through and jot notes about, but mostly to daydream of adventures on the Starship Warden.

  When I finally really retired, I decided it was time to write the stories down. My first book was a survival piece based on the fact that we live in Alaska. My second and third books were Gamma World inspired – my Free Trader series. And then the third book in that series is where I take the Free Trader and his group to the colony ship orbiting the planet Cygnus VII. It was great fun to explore a colony ship.

  With that, I wish you a fond adieu from the Sub-Arctic. There are so many more stories to write, so I’m back at the computer typing madly away. Keep looking up because that’s where the stars are.