Beyond Uranus

by Stewart Bruce & Nigel Moreland

“Why Mac Viewer?” asked Simon.

  “Mac is an old nickname from school and university. I don’t want to call it the Roy Viewer and the McCormack viewer is too long. I bet everybody will end up calling it the Hyper Travel Viewer anyway.”

  “Well, we will start by calling it the Mac Viewer. If you all want to make your way to your ships I will see you all again at about nine tonight.”

  We all left Simon’s office and started making our way to the bay.

  “I’m really glad to be working with this team again. I’m glad Simon didn’t change anybody.” I announced.

  “So are we,” agreed Amelia, “especially as you are now the biggest geek in the universe.”

  “I don’t think I should take all the glory after all it was the information you and Peter supplied that gave me the idea for the Mac Viewer. So I need to share my geekyness with you two. I wouldn’t get too excited about the view though. I think the SHIT system was a good description. It’ll take a long time to perfect and I ain’t going to be doing it.”

  “That process has already started,” said Peter, “before The Architect left he created a new algorithm that processes the data into a less pixelated view.”

  “I couldn’t have done that so I think he still keeps the title Galactic Über Genius.”

  “You seem very dismissive of your break through,” added Peter.

  “I know. It’s just that It isn’t very good yet and it was a very simple solution and I’m amazed that nobody has thought of it before.”

  “The simple ones are always the best,” noted Amelia, “besides somebody could have thought of it before, but they may have kept the idea to themselves.”

  We had arrived at the installation and all went our separate ways to our ships. All four ships left together.

  “Will we see them in Hyper Travel on the Mac Viewer?” I asked Adams.

  “No. The ships are invisible in Hyper Travel because no light is given off.”

  “Because they don’t give off any light, and anything pre-existing just travels around the ship following the shape of the warp bubble?”

  “Yes.”

  We quickly arrived at our destination. Even though the journey was very short I could see a change in the view. The image appeared instantaneously when we entered Hyper Travel and the picture quality was much better.

  I spent the afternoon chatting to the other pilots and then Claire agreed to come for a curry after the shift. After my pizza and coke that Dai had kindly put into my food compartment, I asked Adams if he wanted to play his new game.

  “It’s not quite ready,” complained Adams.

  “When will you finish it?”

  “I think it should all be done by midnight. I’ve added some characters into the game so it’s not only me shooting at you.”

  “What do the characters do?”

  “There are various types. Some will want to shoot you and some you can convince to help you get me.”

  “Computer Artificial Intelligence is rubbish.”

  “Not mine. Because I’m not limited by how much data you can get on a DVD or Blu-ray disc I have been able to add challenging characters to the game which you can interact with using speech.”

  “That sounds brilliant. I can’t wait to play the game it a shame I’ll have to wait...”

  Adams cut me short “Sorry Roy but your mum is phoning. Would you like to take the call now?”

  “Go on then.”

  “You can talk now.”

  “Hi mum.”

  “Hello. How are you?”

  “I’m fine thanks mum.”

  “And have you still got a girlfriend?”

  “Yes mum. Me and Claire are fine.”

  “You mean Claire and I are fine.”

  “Claire and you are fine?”

  “You know what I mean Roy. Don’t try and be funny. You had a good education so you should use it. Have you talked about marriage yet?”

  “No mum I think it’s too early for that, don’t you?”

  “How about engagement?”

  “Mum, stop doing this please.”

  “I’m only thinking about your future.”

  “Sorry Roy,” interrupted Adams, “I think there is a bit of a problem with a pupil in one of the classrooms. I think they are a bit upset and they need your assistance.”

  “What?”

  “Your assistance is needed.”

  I looked at the long range radar which had a light on it with the writing ‘Freighter’ underneath it.

  “Oh, yes I see. Sorry mum I have to go there’s a pupil that needs my help.”

  “OK Roy. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Thanks mum.”

  “I’ve hung up,” said Adams.

  “Are you ready to go?” came the voice of Claire.

  “Yes. Adams Hyper Travel to that freighter with the rest of the team.”

  When we arrived the view screen showed that the freighter was small in comparison to a lot of ships I’d practiced on.

  “I’ll move this,” said Peter.

  Peter’s ship moved alongside the freighter and then travelled to the middle of the hull. It then rolled underneath, swung through ninety degrees, attached itself to the hull and the whole freighter started moving up. We stayed with Peter as he pushed the freighter and it was more or less in position by the end of our shift.

  The debrief with Simon was so quick that I was sat eating my Indian meal by about nine forty five and once more it was excellent.

  “Did you enjoy that Claire?” I asked when we had both finished.

  “Yes I did. I wouldn’t normally eat Indian takeaways at home and most of the curries I have eaten have come from a jar that you add chicken and heat up. This was so much better than anything I’ve had before.”

  “The spices are fresh and haven’t been stewed and then stored in a jar for several months. I think of all the food in the world, a proper curry is the one I could eat every day without getting bored.”

  We wandered back to the UK sector arm in arm. When we got back we went to Claire’s apartment for a chat and I left at two in the morning for a sleep before our next shift.

  *

  The following day followed a similar routine. Claire and I went to Sam’s for a late breakfast and then on to the meeting with Simon before heading out with Peter and Amelia for our shift.

  At about three in the afternoon Adams informed me about another ship. When we arrived at the freighter it turned out to be another small ship that could be moved by only one of us.

  “Can I do it?” I asked the team.

  “Of course you can,” answered Claire.

  “Thanks. Adams can you align our ship with the centre of the hull.”

  “No problems.”

  Adams moved our ship forward and came along side the freighter. We were moving along the length of the hull when Adams said “It’s fired a missile at us.”

  “What?”

  “The freighter has fired a missile at us.”

  “What for? This ship is indestructible and I thought nobody used weapons because of that.”

  “Impact in three...two...one...”

  There was an ear splitting explosion and all the lights went out on the screens. I was slammed back into my chair with unimaginable g-force that pinned my whole body. The direction of the g-force abruptly changed and I was thrown forward with my belt digging into my shoulders. This was the last thing I remember.

  *

  “It’s a missile,” said Claire.

  “Well that seems pointless,” added Peter.

  Claire watched her screen as a massive explosion enveloped my whole ship, iridescent plumes of a roiling firestorm radiating out into space. Even out here in the cold vacuum of space it was several seconds before all the flames spluttered their last and died. When they did my ship was no longer visible.

  “Where’s Roy’s ship?” asked Peter.

  “Roy!” Screamed Claire.

  “Wait a second,” add
ed Amelia, “I can see something.”

  “What is it?” asked Claire.

  “It’s the drive section. There is nothing remaining except for the round casing of the Quantum Singularity Drive.”

  “NO!” Shouted Claire.

  “That’s impossible,” said Peter, “you cannot destroy these ships. It’s impossible.”

  “All I can see from here is the drive section. It looks like the connecting section and the cockpit have been vaporised in the explosion.”

  Claire was silent but Peter couldn’t take the information in “That’s impossible,” he repeated, “you cannot destroy these ships. It can’t be done, that’s what indestructible means.”

  “I think we’d better get back to the station and get another crew to deal with this freighter. I don’t think we’re fit to complete this mission. Computer?”

  “Yes Amelia.”

  “Can you put me through to Simon?”

  “You’re connected.”

  Amelia relayed all the information to Simon about what had happed and how most my ship had been vaporised apart from the drive section. She explained that they needed to get back to the station because Claire was traumatised and Peter was showing signs of shock.

  “Get back here now. I will get a team to bring back the Hyper Drive casing and another to move that freighter.” Simon fetched out his desk pad and in nearly illegible scrawl wrote ‘Lightning, twice?????’ before locking the pad away in a drawer for later.

  “Will you be able to move it if it’s firing missiles?”

  “We’ll have to move it in shifts and every time it fires we’ll have to outrun the missile while somebody else shunts the freighter.”

  “We’re on our way back now Simon. Claire, Peter? We need to leave this area now.”

  “But what about Roy?” asked Claire, “We cannot leave now; we have to search for him.”

  “I don’t think that’s advisable. There are two crews on their way here. They can move the freighter and look for any traces of Roy’s ship but we need to get back to the station and we need to get back now. We don’t want to be here if another of those missiles is launched. Let’s go now and leave the searching and shunting to the other teams.”

  *

  Meanwhile, as I started to enter consciousness I could hear a whimpering sound. I slowly opened my eyes and when I could focus, all I could make out were blank screens in very dim lighting. The whimpering sound continued as I tried to remember who I was and where I was. ‘I’m Roy’ I told myself ‘I’m in my space ship which is leaning at a slight angle. The last thing I remember was flying alongside another ship. There was a missile and an explosion. I’m not dead but I have a very sore head.’ The whimpering continued. ‘What on earth is that noise?’

  “Adams? Is that you making that sound?”

  “Oh thank God you’re alive. I thought you were dead.”

  “I am alive but I’ve got a really sore head. What was that sobbing about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Were you crying?”

  “I’m a computer so I cannot cry.”

  “So what was that noise?”

  “I thought you were dead. You’ve been slumped in your chair for hours and I thought you were done. Do you know what it would be like if you had died? I would have been left on my own with a power source that lasts for thousands of years without a friend. The only real friend I have is you and I thought you were gone.”

  “But you weren’t crying?”

  “No I was mourning the loss of my best friend. I really thought you were dead.”

  “Well I’m definitely alive but I have a massive headache.”

  “I think you hit your head on the console, probably using it to protect the important bits of you from damage. I bet you’re a bit concussed.”

  “Do we have any medical supplies and something to drink in the cockpit?”

  “Yes, we have a limited amount of basic medical supplies with some headache tablets and enough food and water to last three weeks. I will open the doors now.”

  Two video panels opened in front of me. I unclipped my harness and staggered over to the panels. The smaller of the two had a small box which I opened and found the tablets. The larger panel had a big stash of water bottles. I took two tablets and some water and sat down.

  “Where the hell are we Adams?”

  “I think we’re on board the freighter.”

  “Why is all the lighting so dim?”

  “We have nothing but emergency power and precious little of that left.”

  “How can that be?”

  “The Singularity Drive was blown off in the explosion.”

  “Is that possible?”

  “No it isn’t.”

  “I don’t get it. If it’s not possible then how can it have happened?”

  “Being able to view during Hyper Travel was also impossible a week ago but you seemed to have solved that one Roy. I guess the owners of this freighter have solved the problem of our ships being indestructible.”

  “Have you contacted the station and asked for help?”

  “I cannot contact the station because there is some sort of jamming device that is stopping me from making contact with the station.”

  “How long have we been here so far?”

  “About five hours.”

  “I’ve been out that long! No wonder you thought I was dead. Has nobody come to rescue us yet?”

  “I’m not sure anybody will.”

  “Why?”

  “Nobody has turned up so far which makes me think that nobody will.”

  “Why?”

  “I suspect they think we’re dead.”

  “Oh.”

  This was terrible news. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “That’s put a bit of a damp squib on the day.” I added. “I need to get out of this cockpit. Can you tell what the air is like outside Adams?”

  “No we have very little power in the cockpit. There is enough power for a little bit of light and to open all the panels and doors.”

  “I’m going to have to chance opening the doors then.”

  “Why?”

  “I can’t stay in here. The air is beginning to go stale so I guess there’s no oxygen regeneration happening.”

  “What if the outside is not breathable? You will die.”

  “I will die of asphyxiation if I don’t so I’ll take my chances.”

  I walked over to the exit door to the cockpit which was slightly uphill because of how the cockpit had ended up.

  “Open the hatch Adams.”

  The hatch slowly rose up. I was expecting to see the link section to the Singularity Drive. What I wasn’t expecting to see was the room we had crashed into.

  “You were right about the Singularity Drive being blown off Adams. It’s also taken the link tube as well.”

  “And you’re still alive which must mean the atmosphere is breathable.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I thought I would be walking into the link section not into the freighter.”

  I jumped down from the hatch into the room and had a good look around. I was in a large dark room. The only thing that occupied the room was the front section of my ship. The room was weakly lit and there were three black walls, a black floor and a black ceiling. The forth wall was plasma glass and I could look out into space. I walked over to the plasma glass to have a good look outside. As I approached the glass I could see the stars quite clearly because the room was so faintly lit.

  “We’re not in Hyper Travel yet then.” I told Adams.

  “It could be anything up to a week before the ship moves on. It could be longer or it might go into Hyper Travel in the next couple of minutes. I guess there is no way of knowing when it’s going to happen.”

  “You don’t suppose Doctor Death did this do you?”

  “No. There is no way he would have had chance to set something up like this and besides which he’s still probably half way across the
galaxy. I also think that if it was Doctor Death he would have let us know by now. He would have enjoyed gloating over us. Actually we would probably be dead by now.”

  “Can you connect with the ships systems?”

  “I will try.”

  Whilst I waited for Adams I had a walk around all the area I was imprisoned in. The walls were smooth and there were no signs of joints or doors or any kind of panelling. The room was larger than necessary to contain one person but it didn’t take too long to walk down one length of wall. As I go to the first corner there was a hole in the ground.

  “Do you know what this hole is for Adams?”

  “Eliminating the impossible, that’s your toilet.”

  “You have to be joking, Sherlock. I’m not peeing in a hole like some animal.”

  “I don’t think you have much choice because the toilet in your ship was attached to the outer casing of your Quantum Singularity Drive.”

  “I really have hit rock bottom, haven’t I Adams. Surly things cannot get any worse than being in a prison with a hole to wee in. Any luck with connecting with the ship’s computer?”

  “I have very limited access Roy. The only thing I can do is get some basic information.”

  “So do you know why they fired on my ship?”

  “Yes. This ship isn’t a freighter it’s a probe collecting samples. Its job is to collect anything as it wanders through the galaxy. The room you are in now is a sample container.”

  “So where do these samples end up?”

  “A zoo.”

  “Are you are taking the Mickey?”

  “No I’m afraid not. Your Earth has a long tradition of taking animals from the wild and putting them into zoos. That’s what this ship does.”

  “But I’m not a monkey. Well, I mean I am a descendant of primates I know but I’m not a zoo specimen.”

  “As far as this ship is concerned you are a monkey and you will soon on display in a zoo.”

  “But I’m sentient, I communicate and I’m intelligent. I’m not a wild animal.”

  “By your standards this is true but by galactic standards you are a monkey.”

  “This is terrible and I thought taking a leak in a hole was rock bottom. I want to talk to somebody.”

  “This is an automated ship. The computer systems will not communicate with you.”

  “Is this legal?”

  “There is no standard galactic law or galactic police force. You cannot take the owners to a galactic court for infringement of your human rights because nobody really cares about your human rights. To the owners of this vessel you will be like a hairy animal from the forest that communicates by making a noise in your throat.”

  “Which species owns this ship?”