Obsidian Ressurection

by T J Bryan

  "Hello Chief," Silvi said from the captain's chair. Abel saw that Silvi had been reading from a similar hard copy book with several others laying at her feet.

  "Is that a romance novel?" asked Abel who immediately regretted asking such a silly question.

  Silvi laughed. "No it's the POO-P"

  Abel was unsure whether to chuckle or admit his confusion.

  "It's the Principals of Operation - Pilot's Manual. Tells us how to fly a ship like this.," Silvi paused and continued, "Doesn't tell us squat about how the flight systems work, or any real technical details, just how to fly a SAR."

  "All in that one volume?" asked Abel.

  Silvi laughed. "Sure in this one and in the other 16 companion volumes stashed under the flight control station."

  "Why the hard copy. I thought these ships were heavily automated. Shouldn't this information be available in the comp?"

  Abel heard Emmitt respond, "Abel this is a warship. It's designed to take hits and the rule of redundancy that the Greaysons seemed to worship, seems to have required hard copy instructions for every system aboard in case a battle strike took out the comp."

  Makes sense Abel thought as he turned to where Helen and Emmitt sat before the Environmental Station - the EV. Abel looked intently at the manuals many of which were spread across the deck. Emmitt held one in his hand and Able could see the title embossed on the cover. 'POO-E'. Principals of Operation - Environment' he thought.

  Emmitt looked up, "I'd ask you to sit Abel, but there are no available seats at this station of the 1033 and for the life of me I cannot find a folding chair on the entire ship. However there are folding chairs of seven different types on the supply ship."

  "Helen?" Abel asked. "How were you able to completely survey of that supply ship in less than a week. The thing is over four kilometres long and almost half a kilometre wide? And your inventory list runs to more than 15,000 items including nuts and bolts."

  Helen responded, "I would like to say it was the hard work, intelligence, and the dedication of myself, but..." she paused for a moment to laugh. "After four days we found the ship's manifest. It listed everything on board and gave us complete coordinates on every item's location. It took us two days to confirm the manifest given the dark and cold and the need to confirm a sample of everything from inside a vac-suit. Now we didn't confirm all 15,654 items in the inventory but we did test a sample of 300 and every thing in the sample was there, in the quantity indicated, and in its' designated location."

  Abel nodded and Helen continued, "The supply ship was number 4511 and that supply ship was complete and un-molested. However its' sister ship 4509 seems to have been ransacked. The third ship whose number was unreadable was a total wreck having been nearly destroyed in battle. It was the manifest of the intact ship that gave me the clue to its' survival. It took me a while to figure out why one ship was looted and nearly empty while the other ship was virtually untouched. That is the contents of 4511 were untouched. The ships control was slagged as were the others. The manifest of 4511 indicates it was probably the last ship to arrive for inventory, decommissioning, and destruction. By the time she arrived the 'Time of Troubles' within Unity was well underway. The Unity navy had plenty of time to loot one ship, but as the chaos settled in I suspect they just logged 4511 into their inventory and shortly after abandoned the zone. At least that's my guess."

  Abel asked the obvious question, "Any spare command cores on the supply ship. Greayson must have had them in stock."

  "Yes, hundreds. All slagged. Unity was thorough. We also found ship busting anti-matter torpedoes. There are four here in the weapons bay of 1033. But in every case the anti-matter containment bottles had been removed. Unity must have thought them too dangerous to remain as they worked on their inventory and destruction plan. I suspect they stripped them out of every ship and sent them on to Obsidian and oblivion the moment the ships arrived." Helen paused a moment, "Unity seems to have taken three precautions with the fleet in every case. It was a pure cookie cutter approach and we have found no variation in their precautions. First they slagged the cores, then removed all anti-matter containment bottles from every ship's torpedoes, including the supply ship, and lastly they vac-d all the ships. Through, but unimaginative. Lots of useful and dangerous stuff remained like the 'K' gigaton variable nuclear missiles of which there are three aboard this ship and thousands on the supply ship. Also untouched were something called 'sand blast canisters.' I'm not sure what those are for but we seem to have quite a few in the weapons hold."

  "Why just those three actions?" asked Abel.

  "I think Unity was in a hurry and they went after the most dangerous risks to their efforts. Kill the ships and strip them of the worst weapons. Then as they proceeded with their work no one could sneak in and steal a ship away. After all with the Sentinels they had complete control of the zone so why worry about a few lesser missiles once the most dangerous were deactivated."

  Abel thought a moment and then asked about their work on analyzing the environmental control of 1033. Emmitt took the lead and explained that after a few days of study they had formed a good understanding of the environmental controls, and the maintenance station controls. Emmitt called it the MS and the environmental controls the EV. Helen even interjected holding up a dozen brightly colored and detailed flow chars printed on 17 by 30 centimetre cards. Cheat sheets she had explained. Short hand instructions in flow chart form for all the essential actions that might be needed by the crew at any given station. There were other cheat sheets at each station on the ship The cheat sheets had provided basic operating instructions for the systems and if needed information was not on the cheat sheet then the first volume of the POO for that station contained an index that pointed to insanely detailed instructions and procedures found in the other volumes - 12 for the EV station and 16 for MS. Helen explained that from what she had learned the crews were highly trained, but in battle and the inevitable casualties and the probable death or incapacity of specialist crew, other crewmembers needed to take control of an unfamiliar station and the cheat sheets were probably intended for emergency use.

  Abel asked what they had learned about the EV and the MS. Helen took the lead and explained the EV. As they had speculated the environmental controls operated autonomously within the ship. They had found that the systems were controlled primarily by the now slagged control comp, but in the event of damage to the control systems the environmental systems kicked over to an entirely redundant and separate system of controls. The same was true for the maintenance system. If the control comp went down the autonomous systems took control in order to save the ship. Any surviving crew could monitor or intervene in the systems, perhaps to establish priorities, but the systems did not rely upon the control comp to operate in an emergency. If a ship was damaged the documentation indicated that the autonomous systems could operate for months or until the ship could be repaired. And if needed the EV and MS would operate without human intervention.

  Emmitt went on to suggest that they might power up the ship now that they had some understanding of the operation of the two vital systems. Once powered they could get rid of the power cable that snaked through the passages and have more complete access, and a full set of lights to see. In addition there might well be other autonomous systems that when powered might provide more information about the condition of 1033. Further once powered they could close the docking hatch and ensure a higher degree of safety. After all the Old Mine Dock One was not the safest place on the Habitat.

  Able was initially opposed to bringing up the power, but was eventually and reluctantly convinced by Emmitt. Emmitt had explained that as head of the Committee on the new ship design he had seen no real progress on any meaningful architecture or propulsion blueprint. The committee was highly factionalized and operated as if they had all the time in the universe to complete their task. There were at least four different proposals under discussion and with each meeting, held once a day, one proposal would
be dropped, and an entirely new one submitted.

  The Pilots Guild had insisted on a design that had a tiny pilots station and a huge reservoir of matter together with two enormous reaction motors powered by eighteen fusion engines. They had proposed such a design at the first meeting and would not let go regardless of the fact that reaction motors would propel the ship at a speed that would take over two years to arrive at Gigots and another three to return. The ship was designed to only carry three pilots and nothing else. Without a cargo hold such a design was useful only as a messenger or mail carrier. By the time the ship returned in five years, empty, the Commonwealth would have ceased to exist.

  The miners guild had proposed a few days ago that they take one of the smaller asteroids, hollow it out, and use the 'K' gigaton missile warheads of the Greayson fleet as atomic impact engines. In other words propel the asteroid-ship forward with atomic explosions. Not only was speed an issue, but the probability that the asteroid would crumble to dust after repeated explosions was not considered.

  Another proposal by the Energy League proposed an enormous cavernous box filled with water and with every Fusion Engine available from the fleet, perhaps over a thousand, bolted to one end and using water as a feed stock for reaction mass. When the ship arrived at Girots they would refuel with planet water and load up the ship with foodstuffs and return. The problem was that while we had a lot of water in the system found in comets, the weight of the water, or its' mass, would defeat even a thousand Fusion Engines. Just getting the thing moving even at say 1000 meters per second would take weeks and a large amount of reaction mass.

  Abel was disappointed.

  "Don't worry Abel," Emmitt shared. "Tomorrow will be another proposed design."

  "I didn't know it was that bad," Abel replied. The mid day news vid said the committee was making great progress."

  "Well if great progress means rejecting useless designs, and coming up with a ship's name, then that's progress. But for a workable solution we are getting nowhere." Emmitt paused for a moment. "Abel that's why we need to power this ship up. We have to look at every system for clues on how to build a functioning ship. I know I said that striping one of these ships down for parts or strapping on some booster rockets without a control system was a waste of time, now I am not so sure. I'm reluctant to even consider examining the Gravity Well Propulsion system given the very real danger of a bobby trap, but we have to do something. And we have to do it soon. If the 1033 were powered we might learn something even with the command comp slagged. Some of the back up systems might give us a clue. Without power were just whistling in the dark of this ship - literally."

  "You know Abel something keeps bothering me about Greayson design," Helen stood as she spoke. "Everything about their designs has redundancy. The EV and MS are redundant systems. There are four fusion engines in the rear ganged together in pairs and redundant. Only two engines are needed to power this ship. In the weapons bay there are four launch tubes, eight auto loaders, and two of everything. There are two shower/toilet systems and two atmospheric regeneration systems. Even these two stations EV and MS can be swapped back and forth if one fails. I just can't get the idea out of my head. Everything is redundant except one thing"

  "The command comp?" Abel asked.

  "Yes, and that's what is bothering me. Other than spare command comp frames on the supply ship, there is no command comp redundancy on 1033, yet the Greaysons must have thought about this single point of failure."

  Abel thought a moment, "How about the simulator? That would seem a logical place for redundancy."

  Emmitt replied, "That was our first thought, so we spent the morning going over the POO-S. The POO for the simulator. It's very clear in the documentation that there is no connection between the simulator and the command stations. It's stated as such on both the first cheat sheet as well as on the third page of the POO-S Volume One. We even pulled up the deck plates and found no cables, fiber optics, or RF generators. The simulator is completely detached."

  Abel thought a moment, "And power on board might help us find any redundancy in the flight systems?" He had asked but he knew Helen and Emmitt's answer before they responded.

  Abel let out a long breath. "Ok, but we need to take full vac precautions against a blow-out, fire, flood, or famine, or any of the things that could go wrong while we power this ancient ship up."

  Helen looked at Emmitt and then at Silvi who hadn't participated in the discussion but had been carefully listening. "We agree."

  Abel continued, "Give me a day to work a plan for the safety of this ship, whoever is on board, and for the Habitat itself should something go really wrong. Silvi, can you help me with a plan? Your a pilot. And Emmitt has those committee meetings to attend and I want Helen focused on any start up repower procedures that may lie in all those volumes."

  Helen held up one of the manuals from the EV station. "Got it right here. Page 309 of volume eight. 'Engine Cold Start and Restoration of Power.'"

  Silvi spoke up, "Part of our plan needs to be personal safety. We might blow a seal or worse. I've been looking at those baggy ship suits hanging on the wall of each of the ships quarters. The seem new and in much better condition that the threadbare suits we are always wearing. I looked at the rebreather hoods and they deploy the same way as ours, but once deployed the seem far more durable. In an impact a more durable hood could be critical. In addition the O2 systems are rated for over an hour. Ours are good for only 10 minutes. The only problem is I just don't see how they could move about in suits that are so baggy."

  "How about vac suits?" asked Silvi.

  Emmitt replied, "They would work I'm sure, but they are bulky and not really intended to be used on the flight deck. Ship suits would be best. Even the Greayson ones."

  Hellen turned to Silvi and asked, "Have you tried on one?"

  "No," replied Silvi. "I just fiddled with the suit. The suit seems to have a small power pack as well in the belt that holds the O2 bottle. Probably for communications in a vacuum. Perhaps heat as well. There is a name tag inside along with a 14 digit alpha numeric number. Probably an ID of some sort. When I looked inside the suit there was a warning, 'no undergarments!' it read. So I just set it aside."

  "Well time is a wasting," said Helen. "Lets go try one on."

  Helen and Silvi left the bridge and headed off to the crew compartments to find a suit. Abel and Emmitt discussed several risk factors worthy of consideration in a plan when Helen returned and interrupted their discussion.

  "Well that was interesting," Helen said with a quirky smile on her face. "Perhaps revealing is a better description."

  "I beg your pardon?" replied Emmitt.

  "Well, when Silvi stripped down and donned the baggy suit it shrunk. Well not shrunk exactly but it gathered in about her body for a perfect fit. Perfect that is if your a nudist. The suit became skin tight. Not just skin tight but more like oil spread on a naked body. Silvi is too embarrassed to show you the fit. Everything shows, and I mean everything." Helen paused. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be back." Helen turned toward the ladder hatch and descended below. Abel looked at Emmitt and Emmitt shrugged.

  Emmitt and Abel continued their discussion of the plan to restart power to 1033 and after almost fifteen minutes Helen returned with two packages.

  "Boxer shorts and tank tops. The best in the market and I got these 10 packs of various colors on sale." Helen opened one package of boxer shorts and then the package of tank tops. "Now what color do you think Silvi would like. White to match her hair color, green to match her eyes, or red to catch the attention of every young eligible man on this side of the galaxy?"

  Emmitt and Abel knew better than to offer an opinion so they both shrugged and said nothing.

  "Well Red it is!" Helen picked up the garments and returned to Silvi. Moments later Silvi appeared in the tightly fitting and revealing silver Greayson ship suit. Able immediately saw why Silvi insisted on the shorts and tank top. Unlike the thick fabric of suits
worn on Habitat these suits when fitted seemed to have no fabric structure at all. Helen had been right. The suits looked more like a silver oil sheen spread across the skin. The only elements that were not so thin were the belt and its' bottle and power pack, and the turtle neck which he knew held the rebreather hood.

  Silvi smiled and twirled around to show off her new look.

  Abel's vid-com chimed. The call was from Lennie.

  "Hello, this is Chief Stoneman. What's up Lennie?"

  "Chief you need to get down here right away. To the Maintenance Dock and the Quark."

  "Ok, but why the urgency?"

  "It's the Pilots Guild. There here in force and they insist I leave the Quark. I'm holding them off right now, but they are really insistent and they say they have an injunction against me and Silvi from operating the ship or even living here."

  "I'll be right there Lennie." Abel turned to leave and Silvi followed in her new suit.

  Chapter Ten

  Jamon System - Berthing Dock - Quark - Year 3245. May 29 ET: Time 23:50

  Abel and Silvi hurried to the Maintenance Dock and as they approached the Quark they noticed Lennie standing aggressively with both hands on his hips. Lennie was staring down Snorre Herulf, head of the Pilot's Guild and two other members of the guild, Milne Ulf, and, Robert Sanofi. Snorre seemed to be shouting at Lennie as if Lennie was hard of hearing. Abel remembered that Snorre was approaching 180 years old and while many in the Commonwealth aged gracefully and well into their early 200's, Snorre was not showing his age well. He stood stooped at six foot three, and long ago he had lost his hair. His skin was mottled and covered in tiny red sores. Snorre held a paper in his hand and waved it about as he shouted at Lennie. Milne and Robert were physically no better off than Snorre although they were a few years younger.

  Lennie saw Abel and Silvi approach but did not move. It was clear he was blocking the entry hatch of the Quark and preventing Snorre from entering and taking control.