“As long as Holly has the Bridge, I think we can head aft,” Braden suggested. He didn’t know how long it would take to get back. He hoped they could make it more quickly, but as he always said, hope is a lousy plan.
“Your hover car awaits, Master President,” Braden said with a bow.
“I hope my manservant remembers how to drive it, otherwise a serious beating may be in his future,” she said with a smirk and a toss of her head. Her colored braids flipped over her shoulder as she strolled away from the lake. They left the rest of their latest capybara dinner for the birds, which Zyena said would be happy to clean up the remainder.
They’d rested for a couple turns on Deck 2 before the ship started moving. Braden barely limped when he walked, while the others were well and healthy. It had been a good rest. They were ready for the next leg in their journey home.
42 – The Ramp Between Decks
Braden hadn’t forgotten how to operate the hover car. It responded to his gentle caresses, taking them quickly across Deck 2. He seemed to enjoy weaving his way between the trees and over grand roots, dodging birds that frolicked close to the windows. The car had a full load, but they weren’t in a hurry.
Skirill and Zyena flew ahead and were waiting for them when they arrived at the ramp. Micah got out and walked to the door, opened it, and went through. The screen started rolling up, and Braden eased the hover car closer. As soon as he could drive underneath, he did and Micah reversed the process. Birds flew in and out, until one screech from Zyena sent those inside racing back to Deck 2. With the Hawkoids perched on the edge of the doors, the companions started downward.
The hover car handled sluggishly. The Hawkoids weren’t that heavy to upset the balance of the vehicle, but Braden stopped after a short drive and got out to make sure nothing was wrong.
The buzzing in his head started as soon as he left the vehicle. It felt like when the underwater vehicle tried to talk with him, but magnified. He dropped to his knees. Micah felt it too, light at first, but quickly building in intensity. The companions looked on in alarm. There was no sound in their minds.
Old Tech.
Pik opened the door on his side of the car and the companions pushed Aadi out. They followed him onto the ramp and looked about. Micah remained in the hover car, pressing her hands tightly against the sides of her head.
Aadi swam forward, while G-War ran ahead. Pik looked behind them. He held his spear ready as he stalked back the way they’d come.
The Hawkoids took to the air. Skirill flew past Aadi while Zyena flew upwards toward the screen.
‘There, Golden Warrior. Do you see it? A box of some sort.’ The ‘cat stalked the box, hackles raised. He sniffed it.
Androids.
‘Take care of this thing, Aadi,’ G-War requested and then bolted away. The Tortoid delivered a focused thunderclap into the box, exploding it magnificently. Sparks of all colors showered the ramp, temporarily blinding the companions. Skirill should not have watched, but he did. He backwinged when he couldn’t see anything, trying to hover, hoping that his sight would return quickly.
With the ship spinning, the deck moved appreciably while he tried to hover. The ramp’s wall closed on him until his wingtip hit it. Skirill adjusted, then dropped lower. When his wingtip hit again, he realized he needed help. ‘Can anyone see to help me land?’
‘I’m coming!’ Zyena shouted over the mindlink. Her sleek body flashed the short distance past the hover car to where Skirill struggled. She shared her view with him and shortly, he landed on the ramp. Soon, shapes came back into focus. Zyena landed next to him, looking closely.
The Tortoid and Hillcat recovered as quickly. The companions were happy to see their humans standing.
‘Holly, what the crap was that?’ Braden walked closer to the box. The pain in his head wouldn’t soon be forgotten.
‘I was afraid this would happen. It appears that the Androids are not at all pleased. They are fighting back. Watch yourselves. There are numerous access ways from the ramp to the area between decks. This is where the crew ran the ship. The main decks in the core areas are like the bed of a wagon, to use an analogy that. They carry things that will be needed someplace else. But the people driving the wagon are elsewhere. The horses, the harness, your bow, the place you sleep – those are all separate from the wagon bed. The wagon bed is the area between decks. It is extensive and filled with everything necessary to operate the ship.’
‘We don’t want to go that way, Holly. It sounds like tight quarters where our Hawkoid friends won’t be able to help us.’
‘Your hover car is out of commission. Deck 3 is over run with beetles. Deck 2. Maybe you can take Deck 2 to the forward bulkhead and access the pod system there?’ Holly suggested.
Braden and Micah both looked back at the hover car which sat on the ramp, powerless.
“We walk from here.” Braden announced in a loud voice. “Back to the Aviary.”
Skirill jumped into the air and flew with long slow strokes. Zyena was close behind him. G-War jogged up the ramp and Aadi turned, swimming slowly.
A door panel opened in the wall and two laser beams lashed out, striking Aadi’s armor cover. They burned hot, scorching the covering, which increased its own feeble power in an attempt to fight off the attack. Aadi swam in a panic, but he was a Tortoid and relatively motionless. Braden pulled his blaster and ran toward the doorway, firing as soon as he saw the Android hands with their laser finger pointed outward.
They stopped firing after Braden burned off an Android hand. The door panel started to close. Braden reached it just in time to shove his blaster barrel through, blocking the door from closing completely. He pulled the trigger, holding it as he rocked the barrel back and forth, up and down.
Smoke from behind the door told him he’d done some damage.
“Micah, bring a flashlight. I want to see what’s in here. And my blaster’s stuck.” He let go and it stayed where it was, wedged in the door.
The companions took up positions above and below the door on the ramp. They didn’t want any more surprises, so they watched and stretched out with their animal senses, looking for the enemy.
The flashlight showed smoke and two dead Androids. The space behind the door was large, angling upward slightly before leveling out into a hallway that extended beyond the range of his flashlight. He saw doors lining the hallway, material scattered haphazardly along the walls; the center area was clear. Braden wondered if the Androids were using it as a private passage to move back and forth between the Command Decks and the ship’s interior.
How many other Androids waited behind doors on the ramp or behind the doors of that hallway?
Micah held the blaster as Braden used his foot to push the door open. Something snapped, and it sprang all the way open. Micah’s hand steadied him as he fell against the door frame.
“Let’s get out of here. To the Aviary!” Braden shouted. Micah handed him his blaster. He held it around the side of the doorway as the others went past, up the ramp. When they were safely around the bend, he walked backwards, hugging the wall to keep it between him and the open doorway. Once he was well up the ramp, he turned and jogged to his companions.
They stood at the screen while Micah waved her bracelet in front of the dead panel. The door remained closed.
‘Holly, we have a big problem…’
43 – Trapped
Holly ran a number of diagnostic checks. His access to ship systems was growing. Everything he touched, he locked out, preventing the Androids from getting back into the systems that Holly controlled.
The Androids hadn’t accessed the door control system. They couldn’t supersede the President’s bracelet, but they could keep her from accessing it by burning out the controls. The Android box on the ramp generated rhythmic electronic pulses, focused directionally up the ramp. It built in magnitude, frying systems within range. If Aadi hadn’t killed it, Braden and Micah’s neural implants may have exploded. As it was, the impl
ants were sheltered within their bodies, and the humans had endured pain, but were unharmed.
This go-around at least, but it wouldn’t be the last time they tangled with the human-looking robots.
Their disagreement with the Androids had taken a dangerous turn. They were at war, and the Androids had the advantage.
The companions looked at each other. Braden had no plan beyond this. Without the hover car, they couldn’t cross Deck 3. Without opening the door, they couldn’t get to Deck 2. If Braden hadn’t blocked the door between decks with his blaster, that too would have been closed, and they would have been trapped.
‘Well now, isn’t this interesting,’ G-War said calmly. Braden kneeled down to pet the ‘cat while he thought.
“We have to take the route between decks,” Braden said in a low voice. He hung his head. It didn’t sound any better out loud.
“And walk into another trap, then another, and how many beyond that?” Micah started to panic.
“Assuming the door to Deck 3 opens, Skirill, Zyena, G-War, and Aadi can all make it across. Me, you, and Pik? We can’t. The beetles will be waiting and this time, they’ll feast on us.” He reached out to her, but she pulled away. She’d grown up in the outside world. She liked it outside. Even though she and Braden had spent almost a full cycle at New Sanctuary, she was never completely comfortable with the Old Tech indoors.
And the Androids were a faceless enemy that G-War couldn’t feel. The thought of an Android appearing from behind a door terrified her. With their children on the planet below, she saw the hallway between decks as a box holding her in, like trying to cross the ocean without a boat.
Her breath caught in her throat and she started to feel lightheaded. Braden helped her to a knee. Even Pik put a hand on her back.
‘It’ll be okay, Master Micah. I will lead the way. If they surprise us, let me be first to save you and all my friends.’ Pik raised his spear and looked to each of the companions. He’d never had friends before. He didn’t want to lose any of the companions. It would be easier on him if he was the first to die. Yes, it made perfect sense. He needed to be on point as they traveled between decks.
Pik Ha’ar nodded and pointed down the ramp with his spear. He started to walk, but Braden put a hand on his arm.
“We all go together, my friend, and we’ll take turns leading this parade through the hallways. When we get to the other side, we’ll all be there. It’s not important that we go fast, just that we go together.”
‘If I may, Master Humans. Maybe it is important to go fast. What if the Androids never expected us to open the door between decks? The Androids tried to close it. You burned them after they tried to close the door. They might have died without telling the others.’
“Okay, Pik. I stand corrected. We need to go fast!”
Braden helped Micah up. She was calmer. Aadi’s observation gave her new hope. ‘There’s always hope, lover. We’re going to make it home. There is no other ending to this story. Do you hear me?’ He sounded confident with his thought voice. He believed he told the truth.
And she believed in him, ashamed at her lapse, her weakness. He shook his head at her.
“No. We all care. We’re all afraid. And we’re also the most dangerous group on this whole ship, and this is a big ship.” He smiled broadly and danced backward until he turned and jogged after Pik and G-War. Aadi swam ahead while Skirill and Zyena waited for Micah.
“Time to go, you two. We have a war to fight.” She hesitated for only a heartbeat before correcting herself. “We have a war to win.”
44 – D2-3, Subdeck 7, Radial Passage 140, Frame 8553
The companions clustered around the doorway. Pik went in one step, then stopped. The darkness was near total. Little light penetrated the depth of the hallway. Braden turned on his flashlight and handed it to Pik. Aadi swam through the doorway and floated beside the Lizard Man. Pik tucked the flashlight under the rope around Aadi’s armor and shell. He adjusted it until it shined forward. He looked back at Braden and nodded.
With a small bump of his shell, Aadi encouraged Pik to take the next step and then the next.
The light showed a seemingly abandoned hallway. Ten people could have walked abreast and a tall man could have jumped and still not touched the ceiling. There was space, but he didn’t think it was enough for the Hawkoids to fly freely. Braden carried Skirill and Micah carried Zyena.
They apologized profusely for being a burden. Both Braden and Micah laughed at their beaked faces. ‘Skirill’s taken his turn saving us. He doesn’t think I know how much pain he was in flying over the Great Desert, but I know. He never complained and he kept us from getting lost. I can’t wait until you meet Max and Speckles, our horses. And Brandt Earthshaker, King of the Aurochs. These are great creatures.’ Braden spoke over the mindlink. They traveled nearly without sound. They could only hear the swishing of the human’s gear and the click of Pik’s three-toed claws on the deck plating.
Braden and Micah carried a Hawkoid on one arm. Their blasters in their free hand, covering the doors on both sides of the hallway. Aadi’s light shone down the hallway. Micah’s flashlight was held tightly in Zyena’s beak. Hawkoids could turn their heads nearly around in a circle, so Zyena was able to shine the flashlight anywhere they wanted. She kept the light moving, showing the doors on each side, the ceiling and occasionally down the hallway behind them.
They moved as fast as Aadi could swim, but Aadi wanted to go faster. Pik grasped the Tortoid’s shell in one hand and started jogging. The others sped up, loping at a pace they knew they could sustain. They wanted to put more distance between where the Androids thought they were and where they really were.
‘Holly, can you track where we are? Do you know if there are Androids anywhere near?’ Braden asked as he jogged, trying to keep one eye on his way ahead.
‘Yes, Master Braden. I see you currently at D2-3, Subdeck 7, Radial Passage 140, Frame 8553. You just passed officer country, a mess deck, a machinery space, and pipe repair.’
Before they boarded, Holly tried to teach them the ancients convention for delineating spaces aboard the ship. It was based on vertical, radial, and horizontal geography. D2-3 meant they were between Decks 2 and 3. Subdeck 7 was the 7th of 10 subdecks between each core deck. The radials started at zero, the stationary top of the ship as one would see from the outside and 180, the bottom of the ship as one looked aft. These locations became arbitrary once the inner cylinders began rotating. 140 meant they were right of center, toward the bottom on the arbitrary scale. Bulkhead 8553 was closer to the front of the ship than the back. There were exactly 13115 frames, 2000 of which were in front of the forward bulkhead of Decks 1 through 5.
For reference, the hatch to enter the Bridge was bulkhead 12004.
‘Why?’ was all Braden could ask.
‘Engineers. That’s why. It made sense to them and they probably never flew on board the RV Traveler. There should be a law…’ Holly drifted off. Maybe Braden stopped listening.
‘Holly, Androids or no Androids?’
‘I’m sorry, Master Braden, I have no way to tell.’
‘How about a place to stop and rest where there probably won’t be any Androids? Or electric crewmen for that matter?’ Braden pleaded.
‘The Mess Deck that you just passed is probably the best choice. There’s no reason for any Androids to be in there.’
‘Everybody! We need to take a break. Right back here is a Mess Deck, that means a dining area. Holly assures me that it should be free of Androids.’ Braden stopped and turned around. Micah turned so Zyena could shine the flashlight. The hallway behind them was clear for as far as the light shone.
Braden put Skirill down as he prepared to open the door. Micah put Zyena down and raised her blaster. She dialed up a tight, Android-killing beam, braced the blaster in two hands, and stood beside Braden. When Pik, Aadi, and G-War arrived, Braden opened the door. Zyena leaned her head this way and that, shining the light past Micah.
/> Tables were arrayed neatly with chairs around them. A kitchen and serving area could be seen in the background. Micah leaned in quickly and pulled herself back out. She didn’t see anything. Braden took the flashlight from the Hawkoid and stepped into the room, facing one way while Micah looked the other. Aadi swam in and slowly toured the room. Holly activated the lights.
On one side of the room there was enough foliage to start a mini rainforest.
“I say we stay away from that, because it shouldn’t be here. It’s creepy, like the vines in Engineering,” Braden said, then went back to retrieve the Hawkoids, carrying them in one at a time and putting them on the tables, where their tail feathers could hang down. Skirill looked embarrassed and shook his head every time someone had to carry him.
Braden scratched the Hawkoid’s neck feathers as he looked into his eyes. Large black pupils stared back at him. “It’s okay, Ess. Everyone needs a little help. Keep your eyes on that stuff over there. We don’t need any surprises.”
‘Holly, every time we’ve run into Androids, they’ve been at work stations, making hand gestures in front of the screens and tapping commands into the systems. Maybe you can see which computers are actively being used?’ Braden felt trapped. Micah’s expression said she felt the same way.
‘I am accessing the systems on D2-3, Subdeck 7, between Frames 7000 and 9000. Standby.’
“Is it just me or is Holly using more and more technical language?” Braden asked Micah, putting his gear on the table as he sat.
“No, it’s not just you. He’s getting where I can hardly understand him. As he’s taught us more about the world of the ancients, maybe he thinks we can talk with him like we’re them.” Micah pursed her lips and shrugged. She sat heavily on a chair.
“Check in with Bronwyn?” Braden asked, hoping to lighten her mood. He watched her eyes unfocus as she used her neural implant to talk with Bronwyn and the kids.
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