Perilous Waif (Alice Long Book 1)

by E. William Brown

  Rest, then.

  The bedroom made my old dorm room look like a closet, and the bed was big enough for half a dozen people. But it was soft as a cloud, and the covers were as warm as Dika’s hugs. My head touched the pillow, and I was out like a light.

  Chapter 5

  The scent of something wonderful greeted my arrival in the mess hall the next morning.

  The room was pretty nice, a big space divided into smaller clusters of tables and chairs by big planters full of greenery. But I barely paid it any attention, as my nose led me across the room to a long counter with several tall stools. Beyond that was a room where a group of cute foxgirls were doing mysterious things with gadgets I didn’t recognize.

  I hopped up on one of the stools, and leaned over the counter to watch. “Good morning, everyone. That smells amazing.”

  “Thank you!” One of the foxgirls said, flashing me a smile. “What would you like for breakfast, ma’am?”

  I looked behind me. No, there was no older crewmember standing there.

  “I’m not a ‘ma’am’,” I told her. “I’m just Alice.”

  The one man in the kitchen turned to greet me. “Ah, I see our new cabin girl isn’t above being friendly with the techs. Good morning, Alice.”

  “Good morning, sir. You’re Chief Engineer Thomas Benson, right? Sorry, I’m still getting used to this enhanced reality thing.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time, Alice. Yes, I am Chief Benson, the one man charged with defending this crew from technical disasters of every description. These brave young stalwarts are my techs, Jenna, Lina, Kara and Mina. Don’t let them fool you with those innocent smiles, they’ll get you into all manner of mischief if you let them.”

  Goodness, but they were an odd group. Chief Benson was a few cems shorter than the captain and not as stout, with dark brown skin and close-cut black hair. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his arms and torso were solid muscle. Wow. I’d never seen anything like that before, but I was pretty sure I liked it.

  The fox girls were all a good bit shorter, maybe a hundred and sixty-five cems, and were all the same morph style. They had furry ears atop their heads, and long fluffy tails that I immediately wanted to pet, but not much fur. They were lean and athletic rather than all curvy like Naoko, but I guess that would be more practical for crawling around tight spaces in engineering. They looked so similar that hair color was probably the only way most people could tell them apart - Jenna had the orange-red color of an actual fox, Lina was a more classic redhead, Kara’s hair and fur were all black and Mina was blonde with a black tail.

  “I see the good doctor has you on supplements,” Chief Benson went on. “But surely you’ll have room to sample our culinary efforts as well? Today we’re serving authentic American-style breakfast cuisine.”

  “You mean, like, manual cooking?” I asked.

  “Precisely! Autochefs may produce a passable product, but there’s no replacement for the satisfaction of preparing a fine meal with your own two hands. Now, you look like a pancake sort of girl to me. Do you like sweets? Of course you do, at your age. Lina, a short stack of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, and a fresh pot of hot chocolate.”

  The whole group worked together with seamless precision, mixing and pouring and doing complicated things with hot surfaces. I could see why the counter was here. It was fun to sit and watch them, and they didn’t seem to mind.

  A bot dropped off my nutrient shake, and I gingerly tried a sip. Then a bigger one. Then I was gulping it down as fast as I could. Wow, this stuff was chock full of everything my development manager was screaming for.

  Lina set a plate full of flat things in front of me with a grin. “Careful there. Don’t humans get brain freeze if they drink too much cold stuff too fast?”

  I set the empty glass aside. “Ahh, I really needed that. I’m fine, Lina, but thanks for checking. So these are pancakes?”

  “That’s right, and this is maple syrup. You pour however much you want over the pancakes, and then eat them with a knife and fork.” She sent me a video clip of that. “It’s pretty much all bread and sugar, but it’s good. If you want some protein too we can make you some ham strips, or bacon.”

  “What’s bacon?”

  Mina’s tail went stiff, and she turned to give me a horrified look. “You’ve never had bacon? Oh, you poor girl. I’ll make you a batch right now.”

  “What do they usually eat for breakfast on Felicity?” Lina asked.

  “Most days it was fruit and cheese,” I said. “Or sometimes berry mix, for variety. They have this whole environmentally sound vegetarian diet thing going on, which always drove me nuts because I get cravings for meat. I’ve never actually had bread before, either. Processed carbohydrates are supposed to be bad for you or something.”

  Lina giggled. “Like anyone still has a paleo digestive system in this day and age? Well, you’ll get lots of new experiences here. We cook a meal for the crew every other day, and we’re always trying something different.”

  “Sweet. Oh, this is good! Is it hard to learn how to make this?”

  “Nah, pancakes are easy. But wait till you try the bacon.”

  Bacon was amazing. So were the sausage patties, and the omelet that Jenna suggested after that. By then other crewmembers were streaming in at a steady rate, and for a while the fox girls were too busy to chat. But they kept putting plates in front of me, so I kept eating.

  The way some of the crew talked to them bothered me a bit. They weren’t rude, exactly, but there was something about the way they spoke that reminded me of the matrons giving orders to the bots at the orphanage. I frowned, and dug through the mass of data the ship’s enhanced reality system was feeding me.

  The fox girls were all androids, but they were clearly marked as crew members rather than equipment. Their bodies were synthetic, probably so they could work in places that didn’t have life support without messing around with space suits. But they were so realistic you’d never be able to tell without running an active scan on them, so it was hard to believe there was some kind of prejudice about that. Besides, I was pretty sure their processors could be transplanted to organic bodies like Naoko’s if anyone thought it was a big deal.

  They were listed as class three AI’s, though, and Naoko was a class four. Hmm.

  “Do you have a black hole in your stomach or something?” Lina asked as she took my plate, and offered me another one loaded with something called ‘biscuits and white gravy’.

  “I’m supposed to eat as much as I can,” I reminded her. “But I think this is going to do it for me. Even my trick stomach has limits.”

  “If you say so, Alice. Just say something if you change your mind. We’ll be happy to make more.”

  “Thanks, Lina.” I glanced around, and saw that things were slowing down again. “Say, um, if you don’t mind my asking. What’s the difference between a class three AI and a class four?”

  “Oh, that. It means we don’t have that magic universal learning and creativity thing you humans are born with.”

  “It’s total bullshit, the way you guys can just figure out anything whenever you want,” Jenna commented. “The boss is really nice about upgrading us with new skill packs when we ask, but I’m still kind of jealous.”

  “Most colonies don’t classify us as people,” Lina went on, her eyes downcast. “That’s why we don’t leave the ship very often.”

  I put my hand on hers. “Hey, sorry if I brought up a sensitive subject. But I think that’s stupid. I mean, if I thought that way I probably wouldn’t consider baseline humans real people. They’ve only got five senses, they can’t do math to save their lives, and they can only think one thing at a time. How pathetic is that?”

  Lina smiled. “Thanks, Alice. You’re really nice. I hope you end up staying with the ship.”

  “Me too. I have to get you to teach me how to cook, after all. Assuming you can put up with my totally unfair universal learning pow
ers.”

  “We’ll deal,” Mina assured me. “Here, have some more bacon.”

  Naoko found me soon after that, and pulled up a stool beside me.

  “Good morning, Alice,” she said cheerfully. “I see you’ve met the engineering crew. What do you think of their cooking?”

  “It’s amazing! They never gave us anything like this back at the orphanage. I’m so stuffed I think I might explode if I take another bite.”

  She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

  “Hey, I’m serious. I was going to stop when I started getting stress warnings from my stomach, but then Mina waved more bacon under my nose. Now it’s one more bite and kablooie! Alice bits, all over the mess hall. You’d better rescue me before I give in to temptation.”

  “Never fear, my friend. I shall save you from the peril of irresistibly tasty food. Let me show you around the ship’s datanet, and then we’ll see about getting you a spacesuit.”

  I’d already figured out some of the basics, but it was nice to have someone who knew what they were doing show me around. The ship’s datanet was way bigger than the little ones I’d seen on our occasional field trips from the orphanage, or even the one at the port. There was a com system that supported everything from text messages to videoconferencing, the latter function using the ER system to create virtual images of whoever you were talking to. There was a way to access sensor feeds so you could see outside the ship, or check out what was happening in any of the public areas inside. There was a huge database of details about the ship’s current status, describing everything from the cargo in the holds to the wear on the landing strut joints.

  It was a little odd for a ship this size to even have landing gear, but I guess it made sense. If you want to get a lot of men on the ground fast you don’t want to mess around with shuttles, and a ship was probably more survivable too. That got me wondering how a planetary invasion would work. But the next thing Naoko showed me was the training system, which was a lot more important to my immediate situation.

  “I’ve set you up with access to all the basic classes, so you can work through them at your own pace,” she explained. “There are VR scenarios for a lot of them, in case you want to get some hands-on experience.”

  “Is that safe?” I asked. “I don’t want to end up turning into one of those VR addicts you see in the vidshows.”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about it, Alice. These are training simulations, not games. Besides, don’t you have some insane level of enhanced senses? The sims are set up to fool normal humans, so I suspect they’ll look like cartoons to your eyes.”

  “Oh. I guess you’re right.”

  “Of course I am. Now, I suggest you try to get through Bot Supervision, Basics of Cargo Handling and Introductory Passenger Service as soon as possible. Those are all easy courses for humans, and they’ll let you start being productive quickly. Engineering is always looking for help supervising the maintenance bots, and we’re due to take on passengers at Takeo Station tomorrow.”

  “Whatever you need,” I assured her. “I guess I’d better work fast, then.”

  “I wouldn’t worry, Alice. Passenger service will be easy for you. Simply smile, be polite and let me handle any problems that arise.”

  “I’ll remember that. Is it okay if I work on these engineering classes when I have time? I’ve always wanted to know more about how things work.”

  “Certainly, Alice. It takes a long time to learn, but it’s a valuable job skill. Now, let’s get your suit squared away.”

  I wasn’t surprised that there was a fabricator set aside for the crew to use, since that obviously made more sense than trying to carry anything that might be needed in a cargo hold. It was interesting, though, that the Square Deal turned out to have a big supply bay with a dozen different fabricators of all shapes and sizes. Little ones for quickly turning out clothes or personal accessories. Larger ones for making furniture or bots. A big one that looked like it could build a groundcar, and even a fancy biofab unit with a person-sized assembly bay.

  “Don’t try to use that one,” Naoko said, pointing at the biofab. “Biologicals are finicky, so ask Dr. Misra for help if you ever need it. The others are all freely available to the crew, although of course the system will bill you for personal use.”

  “I don’t have any money,” I pointed out.

  “Now that’s where you are mistaken, Alice. As of this morning you have twenty credits in your ship’s account, and the captain has authorized an allowance of twenty credits per week for the duration of your evaluation period. Basic feedstocks run a quarter-credit per ton here, and the fab fee is only twice that. So as long as you limit yourself to open source designs you can supply yourself with whatever personal effects you like. Just keep in mind that the baggage allowance for crew is only twenty tons, and you’ll have to pay shipping fees if you go over that.”

  I stared at her for a long moment. “Twenty tons? What could I possibly need that would be that heavy?”

  “You might be surprised. Our security chief keeps a whole arsenal of deadly machines on hand, and then there’s that infernal device the first mate is so proud of. But I suggest you keep it simple for now. A suit, some clothes, perhaps a few odds and ends?”

  “You bet! Thank you, Naoko. Um, and thank you, captain, if you’re watching or see a recording or an AI forwards you highlights or something.”

  Naoko laughed. “I’m sure the captain has more important things to do than spy on us, Alice. But I shall pass on your thanks, when next I see him. Now, would you prefer an integrated maneuvering pack or a detachable system?”

  Turns out space suits are complicated. I was expecting to get stuck with some basic emergency thing, but the design database Naoko showed me had millions of options. Extended life support, onboard nuke packs, armor, maneuvering thrusters, medical kits, deflectors - some of the high-end designs were basically powered armor by another name. Too bad a decent power plant was out of my price range.

  “Sixty credits for a two hundred kilowatt nuke pack? Why are those things so expensive?” I asked.

  “Because radioactive isotopes are rare,” she explained. “Mining them is a lot more work than just gobbling up a few tons of CHON or nickel-iron, and then you have to work it with specially hardened fabricators that can stand the radiation. Electronics and superconductive power systems are expensive for a similar reason, since they require rare earths and other exotic elements.”

  Too bad. For a moment there I had visions of stomping around in a giant battlesuit with a laser cannon. Oh, well. I ended up picking out a nice little armored suit with built-in maneuvering thrusters and an extended-duration life support package, which was probably more than I’d need anyway. Not bad for half a credit.

  Lunch was less interesting than breakfast, since Chief Benson and his techs weren’t there. Naoko told me a little about the different cuisines on the autochef’s menu, and talked me into trying the same traditional Japanese food she was eating. The shrimp tempura and spring rolls were pretty good, but not nearly as much fun as having the foxgirls cook for me.

  “Would you like to do your own cabin layout?” Naoko asked as we ate. “The crew quarters start out as just a rectangular empty space, so you have a great deal of flexibility in arranging things as you like them. But you may prefer to simply use a standard layout.”

  “Probably,” I agreed. “I’m not picky about that kind of thing, and I’m not really sure what I’d want anyway. Wait, does furniture count against my mass limit?”

  “No, ordinarily cabin fixtures belong to the ship. You can recycle them whenever you like, and if you leave the ship they get broken back down into feedstock. The mass limit only applies to things you want personal ownership of.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Just a standard layout then, I guess. Oh, can I get my own shower, like the one in the Speedy Exit?”

  She gave me an odd look. “Of course you can, Alice. Why wouldn’t you have your own bathing
area?”

  “We all had to share the showers at the orphanage,” I admitted.

  “What?” She looked so astonished I had to smile.

  “I had a roommate, too,” I told her. “Which was fun, because I really liked Dika, but it was kind of crowded too. So I’m sure whatever you rich spacers are used to is going to be more than enough for me. Heck, one room from that passenger suite I was in last night would be more space than I’d know what to do with.”

  “One room? Alice, we aren’t heartless barbarians like those people back on Felicity. No, you’re going to have a proper cabin just like any other crew member. You like high places, correct?”

  “Yes,” I admitted, wondering where she was going with this.

  “Also open space, and greenery? But you’ll want your privacy, as well. Especially once you get older. Yes, I think this will do nicely.”

  “What are you looking at, Naoko?” I asked.

  “Trust me, Alice. You’re going to love it. There, I’ve got the Facilities AI setting it up now. Two hours to complete, which will give us time to make a tour of the ship and introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

  “If you say so, Naoko. As long as this isn’t going to be too expensive.”

  “Goodness, Alice, you don’t have to pay for your cabin setup. That’s an employment benefit, just like life support and medical care.”

  “Oh.” I shook my head. “You know, Naoko, I’m really lucky you guys are such nice people. You could really take advantage of me, and I wouldn’t know any better.”

  “If we were that sort I wouldn’t have brought you with me in the first place,” Naoko said. “But you do need to learn quickly, Alice. The Square Deal does most of its business at ports the corporate cargo vessels don’t visit. Some of them are just small colonies in inconvenient locations, but many of them are rather rough places. You’ll need to be very careful about leaving the ship, at least until you know enough to take care of yourself.”