Still they could see nothing that might have broken into the facility. Besides the door, nothing seemed damaged in any way.
“I expected one of those Jellie things to be in here, or some violent automacube waiting to shoot at us. But this silence is more bizarre in some way. What damaged that door?” Paul asked aloud.
“That door was damaged by hostile forces attempting to destroy this facility,” an artificial intelligence system responded. “I am TSI-919RF, and I will be assisting in the manufacture of the items you need. Please make your requests.”
“TSI-919RF? You will actually help us?” Paul asked with astonishment.
“Affirmative.”
“We will need to build…” Paul began but was interrupted.
“Paul, I will transfer the schematics and designs needed, please stand by,” Tiffany said. The blue automacube then connected a cable into the access port on the complex machinery. “Designs for teleportation sending pad being transferred now.”
“Processing. Processing. Processing,” TSI-919RF kept repeating.
“Excuse me,” a young voice said from the doorway.
Paul and Gretchen turned around in surprise.
A girl was standing there. Her narrow green eyes were like two pools of stagnant water. Her luxurious, wavy, gold hair was long.
“Rika?” Gretchen asked.
“Yes. We are here,” the girl Rika replied. Her light colored skin shone with youth. She had prominent cheekbones and a small mouth. She was robed in a simple, ivory color gown that went to feet. “We want to help you.”
“Those children? From that weird tiny habitat?” Paul said, some fear in his voice.
“Yes, we are all here,” Rika said. “Calling me weird is not polite or nice.” She motioned and the others stepped out from behind her. Irina with her deep brown eyes and long black silky hair gave them a trembling smile. Martin’s blue eyes were very wide and a bit astonished looking. He tapped his foot but said nothing. The young triplets; Lennie, Jennie, and Bennie were huddled around the gray and black striped cat that was adoring their attention. The triplets all forced their grayish-blue eyes on the cat, and those eyes radiated out from their dark faces with affection and fondness. All were dressed in ivory colored clothing.
“Why are you here?” Gretchen asked carefully. “Did anything happen to Brenda? Are you okay?”
“Brenda is sleeping and does not know we have left,” Irina said. “She will sleep peacefully until we get back.”
Rika then added. “There are too many bad thoughts happening around, and the machines are fighting.”
“Terragora Investigation and Evolution, is safe and secure from the bad animals,” Jennie said, her eyes never moving from the cat as she stroked its fur. “We blinded them to where we are. They cannot find us.”
“You mean the Jellies?” Paul asked in a stuttering way.
“That is what you call then,” Lennie answered. “They hate everything.”
Bennie finished for his siblings, “They are very bad, bad animals.”
“How did you get here?” Gretchen asked.
“That is not important,” Rika said. “Your mission to escape is important and we want to be here for that event.”
“Martin? Did you open the doors here?” Gretchen asked.
Martin looked down but nodded.
“How can some children help us?” Paul asked. “They know nothing about teleportation technology. You and I barely know the basics and Tiffany will need to recheck all the calculations and calibrations. These children being here will just be a problem.”
“Tiffany is not all you think,” Rika said. “The other systems are getting entangled. The old way is failing, and I fear the new way will fail also. We are here to help.”
“The bad animals are coming to try to stop you,” Lennie said abruptly. “This cat is very nice and cuddly.”
The triplets were now sitting on the floor with the gray and black striped cat lying in the midst of them. The cat was on its back, and the children were petting its stomach.
“The Jellies are coming here?” Paul asked. “When? How?”
“The machine people are coming too,” Rika said. “They are harder to talk to than the machines, and they are not as smart.”
“The machine people? Do you mean the androids?” Paul asked with even more fear in his voice. “Androids and aliens, here? Before we escape?”
“That is why we are here to help,” Rika said slowly as if she was speaking to an imbecile. “The machines are entangled and confused. The triplets tell me about the bad animals. Irina is here to heal anyone who gets hurt. Martin makes the ways open for us.”
There was a sudden burst of activity as the Reproduction and Fabrication mechanisms began functioning. Loud squeals came from a conveyor line, and a side panel in the wall opened up. Large chunks of raw materials dropped out of that opening and fell into a receiver channel and disappeared noisily into the interior workings of the apparatus.
Paul and Gretchen both turned to see what was happening.
“Tiffany? How soon will the parts be ready? We must get the teleportation sending pad operational.”
“Paul, the transfer of plans, schematics, and designs has been accomplished. TSI-919RF is beginning production of the component parts,” Tiffany responded.
“But how long will it take?” Paul yelled.
“It will take as long as it takes,” Tiffany answered sharply.
“Should we call Brinley now?” Gretchen asked as she also watched the machinery beginning operations.
“What do we do to protect these children?” Paul asked. He turned around to look at them.
The children were gone.
“Where did they go?” Paul asked.
Gretchen ran out into the area and looked around. “I do not see them anywhere.” She turned in several directions. “Rika? Martin? Irina? Where are you? Triplets?”
Her voice echoed back, but the children did not reply. Nor were they seen.
“Paul they are gone,” Gretchen said as she ran back into Reproduction and Fabrication.
“You did see them too, right?” Paul asked.
“Of course I did. They were right here. I have no idea where they went or how they moved so quickly,” Gretchen said.
The conveyor system again made some noise as the first parts began to roll down and onto the lowest area.
“Paul and Gretchen?” Tiffany asked. “The first parts are the jumbo fusion boxes. They are completed.”
“Jumbo? What kind of name is that for our equipment?” Paul asked.
“The Master Engineer Brink designed these. The moniker was given these by Willie the Quartermaster. ‘Jumbo’ is a word defined as a very large specimen of its kind. It is an apt description of the size and capacity of these fusion boxes.”
“But we have the fusion packs we brought or had already made,” Paul complained. “Are you just stalling? You did hear that our enemies are on their way here? Jellies and androids are coming.”
“The Dome 17 sending pad was powered off the Dome 17 energy system itself. The Vanguard’s energy system is not compatible with the desired teleportation sending pad. The basic fusion packs you brought with you are inadequate to supply the energy needs for the sending pad, as the sending aspect of teleportation is 72.98% of the energy load required for matter transmission. Therefore, I had to find in the data base equipment that would work to power the sending pad. The jumbo fusion boxes, four of them, are required.” Tiffany’s voice was even more edgy and irritated sounding.
Out from the fabricator and onto the conveyor belts came four roughly rectangular boxes. Each was about a half meter long with a half cylinder shape horizontally across the top. An insulated carry handle was above the cylinder. Oversized energy conduits came out the one end and led to connecting clamps. They were red colored, with the horizontal half cylinder being clear permalloy.
“Why are they pink and tan colored?” Paul asked.
�
��Paul, you pointed out the enemies are coming. Do you want me to explain every detail? Or do you want to build the teleportation sending pad and begin the search for a receiver?” Tiffany asked. “Decide now.”
“Sorry,” Paul muttered. “You know I want to escape.”
“I assume I can continue with this mission without further mundane questioning. The next parts will be the sending unit’s command console. I had to design it with an antiquated heads-up three dimensional interactive interface. The urgency of this mission did not allow for the time needed to replicate the sophisticated controls from Dome 17. This command console will be adequate to the task.”
A silvery gray device, about knee high, and about as wide, slid out and rolled along the conveyors to rest next to the jumbo fusion boxes.
TSI-919RF then stated, “Phase one equipment completed. Processing phase two.”
“Please remove the jumbo fusion boxes and the command console,” Tiffany instructed.
They took them off and set them on the floor.
“Paul, you will need to initiate the command console while the next phases are being replicated,” Tiffany said. “The checklist is printed on the interface instructions.”
Paul opened the command console. A light blue three dimensional interface appeared over the top of the console. “This is powered by a basic fusion pack, why does it need that?”
“Paul, the fusion boxes are required for the sending, not the tuning and equilibration. As it is we will have only one hour of sending capacity. Please just follow the checklist and have the console ready when needed,” Tiffany stated firmly.
Paul continued to interface with the console.
“Gretchen, please place the fusion boxes at the places I mark on the floor. The phase two equipment will be the base grid for the sending pad. It will be extruded in six pieces. I will be marking the location for those on the floor as well. They must be assembled in the order I prescribe.”
“Right,” Gretchen replied. She picked up the fusion boxes and carried them to where the automacube had rolled. The blue automacube marked off various places on the floor.
Rolling onto the conveyor system was the first of the six permalloy grids. They were five centimeters thick, and a meter wide by two meters long. The grid was shiny silver colored while the edges were golden.
“Gretchen place the first grid where indicated,” Tiffany instructed.
Gretchen lifted the gird and placed it on the floor. The second one came down the conveyor and she did that for that one as well.
“There will be three stacks of the girds in an overlapping pattern,” Tiffany instructed.
“That will only be about two meters square,” Paul interrupted. “That is far smaller than the sending pad in Dome 17.”
“The Dome 17 sending pad was designed to move fifteen hundred people as quickly as possible. This one is designed to move two people,” Tiffany replied. This time there was no mistaking the exasperation and annoyance in the AI’s voice.
Gretchen carefully fitted all the grid pieces together just as Tiffany directed.
“The check list is completed,” Paul said. “All systems are operational.”
“Gretchen, connect the fusion boxes to the grid at the indicated locations,” Tiffany ordered.
“Connecting,” Gretchen said as she latched each fusion box onto the grid.
“I must now enter the nonphysicality to link to the astronomy equipment we used previously to search for the target locations,” Tiffany said with some dread.
“Well, just do it so we can escape,” Paul said.
The blue automacube then rolled next to the wall and its manipulation arm extended out with a cable to jack into a different access port. It stopped just a few millimeters from entry.
“Gretchen and Paul, I apologize for my failures to help you and make your mission to the Vanguard a success. I did the very best I could, but I understand I have failed you at times,” Tiffany said. “It was an honor to serve with you. Farewell.”
Both Paul and Gretchen looked at the blue automacube in surprise.
“If this fails?” Paul asked. “We are going to stay here and work until this succeeds. Say farewell as we step into the orifice and teleport away.”
“Tiffany, explain what you mean!” Gretchen yelled. Her heart recognized the farewell was more than Paul understood.
The blue automacube connected into the access port and Tiffany was drawn into the nonphysicality.
“This is TSI-15 of Stellar Plotting and Confirmation. I am loading in the first possible target location, CS-3 the Colony Ship Warren. Search commencing.”
“Search for all three simultaneously,” Paul commanded.
“Unable to comply,” TSI-15 stated. “This search requires all the Vanguard’s equipment be committed to this specific task. There is no redundancy available for multitasking.”
The four fusion boxes each lit up inside the clear permalloy of their horizontal cylinders. A golden glow came from them. Power radiated down into the teleportation sending pad. On the three dimensional interface in front of Paul; a timer came on counting down from sixty minutes.
“Where is Tiffany?” Paul asked. “Tiffany? Search for all three ships at the same time, that cannot be too difficult.”
“I am here. I am assisting in the search and coordinating the mission now,” Tiffany stated. The artificial intelligence system’s voice did not come from the automacube, but from the same source as TSI-15’s and TSI-919RF’s voice had. Tiffany sounded far away and ghostly. “There will be other artificial intelligences assisting with this mission. Please listen to them and do as they instruct. We are utilizing the best equipment on the Vanguard in this attempt, and I cannot do this alone. Nor will you always get me to answer. Our time is limited to less than one hour. Search can only proceed consecutively not concurrently.”
“Understood,” Gretchen said as she squatted down next to the teleportation sending pad they had just built.
Paul reached out and placed his hand on Gretchen’s shoulder. “The command console is ready for use.”
Paul pushed several places on the interface and the grid glowed and shimmered. A few sparks came off at one side as the energy field stabilized. Hovering just above the grid were two small circles of energy. Occasional leaps of magnetics or electricity arced between the circles of energy and down to the grid.
“When we locate a target for the receiving pad, the two circles will align and expand,” Paul said. “I will need to then open the orifice so we can enter. Tiffany, do we have a target?”
TSI-15 responded. “I have located the Colony Ship Warren on faster-than-light scanning. Vectors, position, speed, and status harvested. I am now assessing, apprising, and sifting for signs of a teleportation receiving pad.”
The energy circles continued to hover some distance apart over the gird. The hum of the fusion boxes continued. The glow from the grid and the fusion boxes shone on Paul’s and Gretchen’s face as they waited for news. Time passed slowly as they watched the glowing of teleportation energy.
“Zero signal. No evidence of any teleportation signature activity in or around Colony Ship Warren,” TSI-15 stated.
“Check it again!” Paul commanded. “Tiffany can we trust this old AI to do an adequate job?”
“Yes Paul. TSI-15 is the better system to do this scan than I am. I concur with the assessment. Colony Ship Warren does not have a teleportation receiving pad in place,” Tiffany’s voice was slight and frail.
“We must escape. Find us a receiving pad!” Paul said. “Tiffany do it yourself if you have to, just find us a way to escape.”
“Paul, there are two more ships,” Gretchen said and held his hand.
TSI-15 stated, “I have located the CS-6 Colony Ship Trailblazer on faster-than-light scanning. Vectors, position, speed, and status harvested. I am now assessing, apprising, and sifting for signs of a teleportation receiving pad.”
Gretchen looked down at the fusion box next to he
r. The golden glow coming from its top cylinder was showing its energy levels.
“Thirty eight minutes of energy remaining,” Gretchen announced.
“Scan completed on CS-6 Colony Ship Trailblazer. Weak signal detected. Extrapolation of findings indicate possible receiving pad energy signature,” TSI-15 stated. “However, signal strength is below required levels for safe connection.”
“I am locking onto that signal,” Paul said. “We have to get away from here.” His fingers ran over the interface of the command console. The circles of energy over the gird came together briefly and then separated. He pushed the interface to maximum power levels and the energy circles hovered close together but did not quite synchronize.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 138