Larissa unconsciously stroked her braided hair. “So a child told Paul about the Jellie and led him there. We gained some valuable information on the Jellie and we have one system doing some work for us. This other child told you to go to the Captain’s Gig. I think we can expect that to also be a fruitful endeavor. Lead on, Brinley.”
They walked back through the double doors and into the command bridge. The other doors were still blocked by the destroyed android bodies and the automacubes. As soon as Brinley got close to the clear wall behind which the scale model display had been seen, a green glow came from the crown and top section of the arch. An illuminated button became visible.
“That is new! I walked past there many times, but it never turned on for me,” Paul said as he walked up to them. “We searched this whole area again for Jennie, but she is not here.”
“Did you check beyond that door,” Larissa pointed to the one that was blocked. “Could those children have used teleportation to come here?”
“That door has not opened, and the junk in front of it has not moved. How would the children know about teleportation?” Paul replied with a shudder as he recalled his own passage through the teleportation orifice.
“How indeed?” Larissa asked with an edge to her voice.
“I am concerned about those children,” Gretchen said as she joined the others. “Our history with them proves they know more than they are telling and they have some method of getting around that is not known to us. I do not think they used that makeshift teleportation pad, but I cannot explain how they get from place to place.”
“They are not androids,” Larissa remarked thoughtfully. “I considered that they may have been a different prototype or something like that. However, the AI controlling the old CPO is now kaput, so they are not android children.”
“So one less enemy on the Vanguard. Hurrah! That still leaves, what several dozen types of things that are seeking to kill us?” Paul asked. “At this rate we will get to the destination of the Vanguard before we get rid of all our enemies.”
Brinley squatted down and pressed the green button which had appeared. The bottom sections of the clear arched wall pulled up and into the ceiling about a meter. Then the floor directly under where that wall had been split and folded in on itself. It clacked rhythmically as the sections stacked themselves while moving to the sides. A narrow stairwell was revealed, and light came on from below.
“The location of the Captain’s Gig?” Brinley said with a pleasant surprise. “It must be on a separate power supply, which again makes sense. For redundancy and security it is a good idea. Having the command bridge, the memory core gallery, the laboratory, and the barracks all on separate energy supplies is a good security feature.”
“Wonderful, something that works on the Vanguard. How sweet,” Paul said sarcastically.
“Every system we find operational, and every item we can recover and restore will aid us in this conflict,” Larissa said as her cold blue eyes looked at Paul. “I am pleased to find things that work. You should be too, or just be quiet.”
“What? Are you going to try to kill me again?” Paul blabbered “What did I do? I just am tired of nothing working properly.”
“Yes Paul, I am well aware of your thoughts on these matters. On that, you have been abundantly clear and persistent,” Larissa replied. “And as for killing you, I again apologize for my prior actions. Currently I am willing to work with you to accomplish our common goals and work to better our situation. If you are not, you are free to run off on your own again.” She stood to her full height which was just about equal to Paul’s. “Any other questions?”
Paul met her gaze and held it. “Not for now.”
Brinley stepped down the stairs, “I am not sure how Martin got this system to recognize me, but it looks like there is a small private hanger bay beneath this command bridge.”
Larissa turned and walked down the stairs as well and joined Brinley.
“Paul we need to help Brinley,” Gretchen said quietly to him. “Larissa is correct. The more systems we can get running the better our chances of survival.”
“Well fine,” Paul said in a huff. “I will go down and help them. At least all the lights are working down there. Those broken androids give me a weird feeling. You do not think those children are androids do you?”
“No Paul, I do not. As Larissa said, the AI that was running the androids is shut down,” Gretchen replied.
“I am not sure what to believe about things staying shut down on the Vanguard. We have seen too many creepy and bizarre things here.”
“Paulie? There is nothing creepy or bizarre down here,” Brinley called from below. “No Roe or Jellies, it is safe.”
“Sure, it is safe, that is so good to hear,” Paul stepped down the stairs.
Just as he was midway down, the clear wall that had lifted up dropped quickly. The floor which had tiled itself together and moved to the sides, snapped back into place. Paul threw himself down the stairs to get away from the closing entryway. He barely made it to the lower deck as the passage sealed over.
Gretchen jumped back into the command bridge as she was just preparing to set foot on the steps.
The entry to the lower level and the hanger bay for the Captain’s Gig was closed before anyone could do anything to stop it.
“Paul!” Gretchen yelled out. She looked around for the green button Brinley had pressed, but nothing was lit up. It was as if the passage did not exist anymore. The light from the displays was all that lit up the command bridge. “Paul?”
“Gretchen?” a small voice said from behind her.
Gretchen whirled around. Standing there was Bennie. His large grayish-blue eyes were bright spots in his dark faces. His thick, wavy, brown hair, was neck-length, in a simple style. His clothing was red. In his arms was the gray and black cat Bernie.
“Bennie?” Gretchen asked very quickly and forcefully. “That passage just closed. Is Paul hurt? Will you open it? Where are the others?”
“Gretchen, you are worried, but Paul, Brinley, and Larissa are safe. I needed to talk to you.”
“Martin and Jennie were here. What happened to you children? Where is Brenda? How did you get here?”
“I do not have too much time. Bernie sure is a nice cat. He must accompany you on your quest. The other patrol cat that is here is named Freckles. She too must go with you.”
“Bennie, I know you like animals, and we will do what we can, but there are many much more important issues. Like how did you get here?”
Bennie looked hurt. “The nice animals are very important. The yucky animals are killing them. Some are getting sullied, and others are killed by the bad ones. Saving the nice animals is important. That is most of my message to you. There is a need for you to take the samples, which are already stored. They are ready for you to get, but you must get them quickly. The bad animals are killing everything. Those sample baby animals must go on the journey with you. Bernie and Freckles must go too. Their part is important.”
“Bennie, I do not understand what you mean by our going somewhere. What journey? What baby animals? Samples of what? Do you need us to fly you children somewhere in a shuttle? Or walk you somewhere? Are you in danger?”
“You will know where the samples are,” Bennie said. “They must go with you when you leave.”
A loud mechanical screeching came from behind Gretchen. She turned around and saw the floor moving. It clicked and clacked as the sections started to fold aside again. The clear walls lifted upward.
“Gretchen?” Paul yelled as he raced up the stairs before they were fully exposed and ready. He slid through and onto the floor of the command bridge. “Brinley got the door to open again. Are you safe?”
“Bennie is here,” Gretchen replied and turned to look.
Bennie was gone. The cat Bernie was sitting the looking at them. The white cat with large black splotchy spots sauntered over and then sat next to Bernie and licked its paws.
“He is gone now too, right?” Gretchen said. She rubbed the sides of her head.
Paul lifted a multiceiver and demanded, “Tiffany, explain what is happening here. Test the air, make conjectures, do whatever is needed to give me an answer. Where are those children and why are they coming here?”
The screen on the multiceiver flicked on. “I am sorry Paul, I cannot explain what is happening. Nor can I make a conjecture of any kind due to insufficient data. It is possible my functional level is inadequate to complete this task. I have been damaged, and am hindered in what I can do. I have not registered any presences except for you, Gretchen, Brinley, and Larissa, and the two cats. I have perceived no audio sounds of any children. I have not observed any visual sightings of any children, even though during this last incident the multiceiver was situated in such a way that visual and auditory perceptions should have been apparent. I have only limited ability to run tests through the multiceiver. None of those show any signs of substances in the air which could account for hallucinations. I wish I had more answers for you. I do not understand this phenomena.”
“So Tiffany is no good to us in this either,” Gretchen said as she walked over to Paul. “I know Bennie was here.”
“I know Jennie was here,” Paul replied.
“I am confident Martin was here,” Brinley said from the stairway where she was standing. “I cannot explain it, but I know it is true.”
From the bottom of the stairs Larissa called up. “I believe each of you in what you are reporting.”
“You do?” Paul asked in shock.
“Yes I do,” Larissa responded. “You were led to the captive Jellie. Brinley was told the Captain’s Gig would be down here on this level and it is. That is proof enough for me. There are times when knowing how something happens is not as important as accepting that it has occurred. It looks like we have a functional display interface down here.”
Paul walked over to the door which was still blocked. He grabbed one of the blue automacubes and dragged it out and away from the door. “If we are going to work on that Captain’s Gig, we must keep that door open. Brinley, can you program this automacube to prop open that door? Or should I just push it in and jam the stairway passage open? I will not have that come slamming down on us again.”
“Good idea Paulie! I can easily sequester an engineering automacube away from outside influences so it runs only on our manually inputted commands.” She walked over and squatted down and began working on the automacube.
“But Paul, what do you think Bennie meant by samples of baby animals? And those two cats? This all seems so strange,” Gretchen said.
“Everything on the Vanguard is strange,” Paul replied.
A few moments later the blue automacube rolled over to where the stairway was open. Its six drive wheels turned easily and its multi-jointed appendage was extended outward. Brinley followed. She was smiling brightly. “This one is all set. No outsider influences, and it will take simple verbal commands. I linked in our own voice prints, so only our voices will activate it. Just press the button on the back here and issue a command.”
“I will just tell it to kill all our enemies,” Paul said.
“Paulie, it would try to do that, but I think we better keep to more reasonable commands.” She reached down and touched the button. “Automacube, please position yourself to keep the stairway open, but do not block our passage up and down it.”
The blue machine rolled right next to the stairway, lowered its manipulation arm, and inserted the end into the mechanism of the stairwell doors. The end of the arm expanded and made a very effective wedge which prevented the floor from folding back, and prevented the wall from descending.
“Brinley, can you come down here? In fact, all of you come down. I believe I have found something,” Larissa called.
They walked down the stairs. Paul watched the automacube closely as he stepped down, but the passage remained open.
The small hanger bay’s control area was only about ten meters long and about three meters wide. It felt more like a transport terminal than the hanger bays Paul and seen before. At the far end was a portal hatch which resembled the hatches of the transport system. There was a work station, where Larissa was sitting. A display was lit up in front of her.
“The Captain’s Gig must be past that hatch,” Gretchen said.
“It is,” Brinley said. “I believe there is an observational deck and two stalls. The indicator on the manual panels here shows one stall is empty and the other has the Captain’s gig berthed.”
Larissa addressed the display while placing her hand on it, “Please identify yourself. This is Captain Larissa.”
“This is TSI-1. We are off course. Please give course corrections,” an artificial intelligence system responded. “I am unable to link to astrogation, navigation, or other ship’s systems. Structural integrity compromised. No response from inquiries to other systems. Please give course corrections.”
“TSI-1, please report status of the Vanguard,” Larissa commanded.
“We are off course. Please give course corrections,” the AI replied.
“Elaborate on status,” Larissa ordered.
“Unable to link to lattice for elaboration. No other information available. Last readings showed we are off course. Please give course corrections.”
“Can you identify the other people with me here?” Larissa asked.
“No Captain, I am sorry. Please give course correction,” TSI-1 stated.
“Brinley, Gretchen, and Paul, place your hands on the display,” Larissa instructed.
“Why?” Paul began but Gretchen grabbed his hand and placed it on the display with her own.”
All four people had a hand on the display. Larissa then said, “This is Captain Larissa, these people are my commanders. You will recognize them and obey their authority.”
“Yes Captain,” TSI-1 replied. “They have been logged and processed as your appointed commanders. We are off course. Please give course correction. Course correction needed immediately.”
“Please give me all information you have about the Vanguard,” Larissa ordered.
“The Vanguard is off course. Immediate course correction needed. Please give course correction,” TSI-1 replied. Its voice was faster and more urgent.
“TSI-1, please remain in operation and await instructions. Close link,” Larissa removed her hand and the display went dark.
“Why did you do that?” Paul asked as he pulled his hand back. “You were connected to an AI. It sounded like an important one. We were getting somewhere and you just let it go?”
“I have no way to offer that system a course correction, or any other coherent orders, since we do not have sufficient information on what is happening to the ship. It was becoming more obsessed and agitated the longer we spoke,” Larissa responded. “It was unable to link to other systems. On this display, each time I break with the interface and then start it up again, I get shuffled to another AI. That was the second one I encountered. The first would not identify itself and was ranting incoherently.”
Brinley sat next to Larissa. Paul and Gretchen walked over to the portal hatch.
“So the connections are just randomly made links?” Brinley asked Larissa. “That would be a default safety mode since the lattice has crumbled.”
“Yes, and only with a solitary single system each time. Let me show you,” Larissa reached out and touched the display screen again.
It lit up quickly and overly bright. The glare shined off Larissa’s and Brinley’s faces as they looked on.
“Captain, thank you for responding,” a different mechanical voice stated.
“Please identify yourself,” Larissa ordered.
“You kn
ow this is TSI-7. You have been reading my damage assessments. What are your orders?” the AI snapped back. The voice was quicker than typical.
“Please give me an overview of the situation,” Larissa said. “I need accurate information on the status of the Vanguard.”
“The previously submitted damage assessments contain all necessary information. What are your orders?”
“TSI-7 immediately summarize for me the situation on the Vanguard. Begin with the needle ship and proceed to describe each habitat,” Larissa ordered. She had no idea about any damage assessment reports.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 175