Void Ship

by Dave Bara

  Renwick took one more look at Reya. “She won’t like being frozen,” he said. “She comes from a very warm planet.” Kish said nothing to his attempt at humor and pushed the controls, activating the unit’s diagnostic cycle. The slab slid back into the wall and the panel came back down, illuminating the interior with a pale blue light. Renwick watched through the now-transparent panel as Reya shifted for few moments, then rested. The control lights turned amber, which seemed to be the color equivalent of green for the creators of the Kali.

  “I think it’s working,” said Kish. With that Thorne pointed back down the hallway. Kish gave Mischa a farewell embrace and they shared a kiss. Renwick looked away, trying to give them as much privacy as possible under the circumstances, which wasn’t much.

  Renwick departed first, brushing past Thorne and into the hallway. He flinched just slightly at contact from the automaton. The touch was very slight but still perceptible, and completely out of character for an automated machine to make. Renwick took a few more steps before he realized what had happened. The weight of what the automaton had deposited in Renwick’s front vest pocket was unmistakable. He went back to the galley and waited for Kish to return. Once he did, Thorne reactivated the suppressor field and departed for the bridge again.

  When Thorne was gone Renwick pulled Kish close and emptied his vest pocket. Inside was a detached android little finger, no doubt a jump drive like the index finger Yan had given them earlier. He showed it to Kish.

  “What is it?” whispered the engineer.

  “If I’m not mistaken, it’s a jump drive with Captain Yan’s persona on it,” whispered Renwick back to him.

  “What does it mean?” asked Kish. Renwick looked around the room, scanning for observation devices but finding none.

  “It means that Thorne is on our side,” Renwick whispered. Kish looked startled.

  “And it means we’re back in the game.”

  “YAN MUST HAVE KEPT a redundant copy of her persona stored in him in case of just such an emergency as this,” whispered Renwick.

  “How can we be sure we’re not being observed. Surely Amanda-“ started Kish.

  “If Yan has gotten this far, then I have to trust her with this. Stay close to me and follow my lead, no matter what happens,” finished Renwick.

  The two men passed the next hour pretending to play chess and exchanging light banter. Their break came when Zueros showed up with Amanda at the galley doorway, safely behind the suppressor field of course.

  “Ready for an EVA?” Zueros asked in mock cheerfulness. Renwick looked up at him but then turned back to his chess board.

  “Not really,” he said flatly.

  “It was not a request,” said Zueros. At that Amanda shut off the suppressor field and entered, then dropped two EVA suits, complete with boots, on the table, sending the chess pieces sprawling. The Yan android then came in with a pair of helmets and set them on top of the suits. Zueros himself finally entered the galley, flanked by his androids, and stood over them, arms crossed.

  “Well, gentlemen?” he said.

  “And if we say no?” said Renwick. Kish kept his mouth shut.

  “I think you know the answer to that,” replied Zueros. “And you know that I don’t make idle threats.”

  Renwick looked up at the alien but made no motion to put on his suit. He tried a diversionary tactic instead.

  “What do you need us for? This is your operation now,” he said. Zueros was ready with a quick response.

  “The fact is, Mr. Renwick, that I want you and your friend here to run a little mission for me. I need to access the control room of this station. That’s almost three hundred decks up from here and it’s far too great of a journey to undertake by foot. Therefore we will take one of the Kali’s shuttles up towards the crown of the station and make our way in to the control room from there. I need a crew for the shuttle, and scouts for my mission. And you two will do just fine,” said Zueros.

  “Expecting trouble, are you?” said Renwick as he stood, giving in, and started to pull off his coveralls. He made sure to palm the finger drive from his pocket and place it in the EVA suit as he pulled it off the pile on the table. Kish followed his lead and began dressing for the EVA as well.

  “I expect you to do what I tell you, or face the consequences,” said Zueros. Then he pivoted and walked out of the galley. The Yan android followed him but Amanda stayed to watch them as they dressed. It took about ten minutes but they were soon suited up and checked out for flight. Renwick grabbed his helmet and turned to Amanda.

  “You’re not coming with us?” he said.

  “Of course I am,” she replied. “I just don’t need one of those suits.”

  “Well then, are we ready?” said Renwick.

  “If you have... everything you need, Senator?” Amanda said, then she turned and led them out of the galley.

  “Did she just-“ whispered Kish.

  “Stay with me on this, Kish,” interrupted Renwick, whispering back to him “We may have more allies than we know.”

  FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER Renwick and Kish were strapped into their safety couches in the EVA shuttle, Kish in the pilot’s seat and Renwick the co-pilot’s, finishing off their pre-flight checklist.

  Zueros soon arrived, also wearing an EVA suit, with the two female androids in tow “No need for you to be in those seats gentlemen,” Zueros said as he entered the shuttle. “Amanda can fly the shuttle infinitely better than either one of you.” At that Zueros stood aside and the command android boarded with the now-silent Yan android trailing behind. Amanda came up and took over the pilot’s seat from Kish. Renwick unstrapped and relinquished his seat to the Yan android, who did nothing to acknowledge him. If Yan was still in there, she was completely suppressed. Neither of the androids had donned an EVA suit.

  Renwick and Kish sat down in the second row of passenger couches and strapped in again. Zueros took a seat in the last row against the rear wall of the cabin. Renwick had no doubt that he was armed.

  “I thought you said you needed a crew?” said Renwick conversationally, trying to engage Zueros and perhaps gain some helpful information.

  “I did, but I never said I needed a flight crew,” replied Zueros. After an ominous pause he said: “Your task will be coming up shortly.”

  Amanda fired up the shuttle then, the artificial gravity of the landing deck pinning them to their couches as she precisely lifted and turned the small craft inside the bay, exiting out the rear of the Kali’s landing deck far more rapidly than a human pilot would likely risk.

  “One of the advantages of androids, gentlemen, is that they can make calculations and then carry out their orders with far more efficiency than beings such as yourself. We have found them very useful over the millennia, though they do have their drawbacks,” said Zueros.

  “What, they eventually start thinking on their own?” Renwick shot back, baiting Zueros to see if he could get a response.

  Zueros stayed silent.

  “I’ll take that as a yes then,” said Renwick.

  A few minutes went by as they pulled out from the stern and proceeded away from the Kali, climbing up the outside of the station, rising steadily deck after deck. There were many gashes and rips in the hull of the emitter station, far too many to have been caused by any natural wear and tear. Renwick analyzed the possibilities, coming to a quick, intuitive conclusion.

  “You’re expecting trouble,” he said to Zueros. After another moment of silence from the alien, he went on. “Is the station run by rebellious androids perhaps? Or maybe by a group of Preservers who don’t share your disaffection for the Successor races?”

  This time Zueros responded quickly. “This station is quite dead, Senator. I just want to make sure we don’t revive anything,” he said.

  Renwick played that over quickly in his mind. Not likely that anyone had survived here for three centuries... “Androids, then,” he said, “that’s the only thing that could survive this long in Void Space,
based on Amanda here. So Kish and I are just cannon fodder, an advance scouting party to see if there are any dangers still lurking inside.”

  Again Zueros stayed silent a moment before reacting. “You will serve a purpose, Senator. But I’ve already told you that I’d like to keep you alive, as a speaker to your people. That, however, is still some ways off. If something were to happen to you, it would be regrettable, but not fatal to our plans. Thus you are of more value to me at the moment as a forward line of defense. I hope that doesn’t disturb you too much.”

  “Not at all,” replied Renwick, touching the finger drive in his sealed EVA suit pocket. “In fact, I’m rather looking forward to it.”

  Zueros ignored Renwick’s last comment. They flew several more minutes in silence before Zueros got up and went to the pilot’s station, directing Amanda as to their point of entry.

  “There,” he said to her. “That will do.” He was pointing towards a large breach in the hull of the station, a handful of decks from the crown. For all the world the breach looked like it had been blown out from the inside, and long, long ago.

  “Are you ready, Senator?” said Zueros, turning. Renwick started to don his helmet.

  “As I’ll ever be,” he said, pulling it down and sealing it.

  Kish followed suit by pulling on his helmet and then the two men walked over to the shuttle airlock and stepped in. Amanda’s voice came to them over the com as the door slammed shut behind them.

  “You will each have a tether of two hundred meters,” she started. “I have stationed the ship at exactly one-hundred twenty meters from the opening, matching the rotation of the station precisely. You should have plenty of line to make the crossing. One of you will have to go first and secure the line for the other to follow. Once you have both reached the station your orders are to stop until you get further orders. Is that all understood?”

  “Yes,” they both replied simultaneously. With that air began venting from the air lock. A few moments later and the outer hatch slid aside to reveal open space.

  There was an ugly, jagged tear in the hull of the station as they faced out from the airlock. It cut across three decks and the black scarring on it was clearly from some kind of weapons fire, though what type Renwick had no idea. He could see sharp points of melted material sticking out from the hull edges, and they would be dangerous for the two space divers to contend with. Inside the gash he could see little detail of the decks themselves as everything inside was black or a deep, dark gray. He thought he could make out metal support structure between the decks, but beyond that, the inside of the station was as much a void as space itself.

  “I’ll go first,” offered Kish. Renwick was a good diver, but not a great one, and his last experience with the scoop repair had satisfied his need to test his skills further. He acknowledged the engineer’s offer with a nod.

  Kish began moving out, making a direct line for the center deck of the hole in the station, using his cone jets to propel himself while Renwick monitored the tether and his distance. “Fifty meters,” said Renwick as the tether spooled out, his companion growing ever smaller against the massive and foreboding station. “Sixty.” At one-hundred meters Renwick started counting down instead of up.

  “Ten,” he said, “five... you should be there now.” Kish fired his cones again and stopped dead in space.

  “Negative,” he said over the com. “Still a substantial distance away from the opening.”

  It didn’t make any sense. The android had said they were positioned one hundred twenty meters out. “Amanda?” said Renwick. There was silence for a moment on the com line.

  “Impossible,” her voice finally said over the com. “My measurements are precise. He should be at the opening now.”

  “Kish, can you confirm-“ started Renwick before he was cut off by the engineer’s call.

  “Negative,” Kish said, insistent. “Giving it my best guess I’d say I’m at least as far away from the opening as I am from the shuttle.”

  “Continue your approach, Mr. Kish,” came Zueros’ voice over the line. He didn’t have to add any tone of threat to his comment.

  “Continuing,” said Kish. Renwick watched as he moved further distant from the shuttle. He used his laser guide to get a precise estimate of the engineer’s distance from the shuttle.

  “You’re at one-hundred eighty meters now, Kish,” Renwick said. “Fifteen to go... ten meters... five...” the tether line went stiff. “You’re at max.”

  “Report,” cut in Zueros.

  “He’s at the max,” said Renwick.

  “Please stop stating the obvious, Senator. Mr. Kish, your report please,” said Zueros.

  “It’s confusing as hell,” said Kish. “The line is taught at two-hundred meters but I’m nowhere near close to this thing. If I didn’t know better I’d swear it was moving away from me the closer I get.” There was silence on the line then for several minutes. Then the Yan android appeared in the inner airlock, vented her atmosphere, and joined Renwick in the outer chamber.

  “Proceed out, Mr. Renwick. The android will guide your tether,” came Zueros’ voice through the com. Renwick looked back to the Yan android, but she retained her steely demeanor while her skin took on a rigid deep gray appearance, hardening against the ravages of the vacuum of space. She looked for all the world like one of the walking dead. He decided it was time to stop looking for what wasn’t there and treat her as purely a machine, regardless of her outward appearance. Still, it was hard watching the image of his girlfriend standing in open space without an EVA suit.

  “Right,” Renwick said, then started out of the airlock, firing his cone jets. The tether started rolling behind him.

  “Does the android’s appearance disturb you, Senator?” said Zueros into his ear, using the private com channel.

  “Yes,” Renwick admitted.

  “Not to worry. Android skin is extremely adaptable to the vacuum of space. Once inside a normal atmosphere she will return to her normal silky smoothness in mere minutes,” Zueros stated.

  “That’s comforting,” he said, then cut off the private channel as he made the crossing to Kish. To be honest with himself, anything was a welcome break from thinking about floating across open space to the station. It took a few minutes, but eventually he caught up to Kish, the two men floating together at the end of their fully extended tethers.

  “Now what?” Renwick asked Zueros, afraid to hear the answer.

  “Fascinating,” said Zueros. “Our measurements say you are exactly two hundred meters from the shuttle. They also say you should be inside the station by now. What does your laser guide say?” Renwick extended the guide and took another measurement of the distance to the station.

  “Four hundred fifty-two meters. I’d dare to guess that’s not accurate,” he said. “What are we dealing with here, Zueros? Some form of ancient defense technology?” There was momentary silence again before an answer came.

  “Very good Senator. It’s called a null-distance field. This is the first one I have ever seen in use. As I said, it’s fascinating,” said Zueros.

  “It makes the station appear at a different distance than it actually is, likely to ward off potential attackers, boarders, torpedoes, that sort of thing, right?” asked Renwick.

  “Precisely. A very good analysis, Senator,” said Zueros. “Now, release your tethers and use your jets to approach the station,” he ordered.

  “Free fly?” said Kish. “That’s insane! We could be kilometers from this thing, outside our fuel range, even.”

  “Have you considered the alternative, Mr. Kish?” came Zueros’ reply. Renwick looked at Kish.

  “I’ll flip you for it,” Renwick said. Kish shook his head.

  “No, I’ll go,” he said. Renwick reached out a hand and stopped him from releasing the tether.

  “We’ll go together,” said the Senator. Kish nodded. “We’re unhooking the tethers,” Renwick called to Zueros. Both men did. The tethers were withd
rawn immediately by the Yan android. “We’re on our own now,” he said to Kish.

  “I’ll fire first,” said Kish. You follow in ten meters, and stay on the same course.” Renwick nodded agreement. Kish fired his cone jets in a two second burst and floated out away from Renwick. Renwick monitored his distance with the guide and then fired his own jets on the same trajectory. They both floated in free flight towards the station. Renwick stopped taking measurements of their distance from the station as the readings were useless. The only thing that was remotely accurate was the guide distance between he and Kish.

  “I think we’re actually getting closer,” Kish said after several minutes of silence between them. Renwick looked. The ugly gash was indeed finally appearing to get closer.

  “That’s affirmative,” he said into the com. “Are you getting this Zueros?” The channel to the shuttle was open but the line stayed quiet. Zueros was ignoring them again, like a human would ignore an insect.

  “This would make any boarding from space quite a hassle,” said Kish conversationally. He was breathing hard and Renwick had no doubt he was talking merely to alleviate stress. Renwick joined in as he surfed towards the dark hulk of the station.

  “If there were any anti-personnel defenses active on this thing they would be able to pick off invading spacers with ease,” he said.

  “So we can assume such a defense is not currently active?” said Kish. Renwick nodded inside his helmet, even though the other man couldn’t see him.

  “I would think so. Otherwise I think it likely we would be dead by now.”

  “Another burst,” said Kish. “Three seconds this time, I think.” Renwick was actually relieved. Anything that accelerated their slow-motion approach to a solid object, even one was foreboding as the station, was welcome. Kish completed his burst and pulled away. Renwick followed suit a few seconds later.

  “Whoa!” said Kish suddenly. “Decelerate! Two second burst on my mark... mark!” Renwick did as instructed, inverting the cones at his hip and firing a deceleration burst. A few seconds later and he saw why. He broke through the stealth barrier and was suddenly hurtling towards the gash in the station. The deceleration burst steadily slowed him. He looked up and saw Kish attached to the station hull by his gravity boots and finger holds. Renwick turned his cone jets again and fired, guiding himself away from the massive hole in the station and then ‘landed’ next to Kish, just a few meters away, and activated his gravity functions.