Those Left Behind

by Alan Davenport

  Ryan relaxed when Martha dropped her mask of terror. He sat down next to her at the table and said, “Colony seventy-six.” When he saw Martha’s frown beginning to reappear, Ryan hastily continued, “Yes, I know. That colony is listed as one that was obliterated when civilization fell, however the logs do not lie. They clearly show that a person or persons there called for a transport.”

  James shook his head and said, “Madam, there was just the one event. If they called for a transport, they did not take it anyplace once it arrived. I think it was either a computer glitch or a rock fell from the ceiling and hit the console or something.”

  Martha frowned at him and said, “Be quiet. We don’t know anything yet.”

  James foolishly did not listen. “We tried audio communication to the station and nobody answered.”

  Martha glared at him and shouted, “I said, BE QUIET!” More softly she said, “I’m thinking.” Both men glanced nervously at each other and remained silent. “Did you try a visual communication?” Martha softly asked.

  Ryan shook his head. “No madam. The audio signal had a lot of interference. I did not even consider trying a video feed. I figured that if the audio was so noisy, a visual would have been unwatchable.”

  Martha said, “Well let’s try anyway, shall we. We will not know until we try. I want to see.” She turned to a large screen monitor on the back wall and said, “Computer. Please establish a video link to inter-colony transport station number 76.” A split second later, the screen turned completely black. James opened his mouth to speak and Martha cut him off yet again. “Computer, please turn on the lights at station seventy-six.”

  The screen instantly filled with a badly pixelated scene. Nothing was visible other than blocks of light and darkness. The video stuttered badly, partially updating every few seconds or so. Ryan threw his hands in the air and said, “It is as I feared, Madam. The data channel does not support a video feed.” Martha let out a sigh and opened her mouth to speak. This time however, it was James who interrupted. “Computer, please reduce the video data rate to one megabit per second and apply MP4 video compression.” A split second later, the scene cleared. A low-resolution video image clearly revealed the train platform. Martha sighed and said, “Nobody there.” James, forgetting whom he was addressing, grabbed her by the arm, pointed at the screen and said, “Look! There! In the dust on the floor!” Martha stared at the monitor. When she saw it, Martha felt a thrill run down her spine. Her eyes opened wide and she cried out, “Footprints!”

  Chapter 18

  “Cables are connected,” 41 said. “Everybody please stand well clear. If there is excessive corrosion to the power system there may be sparks, a fire or maybe even an explosion.” All the humans and bots moved some distance down the tunnel. 41 raised the volume on his speakers to maximum and he shouted to 12, who was further up the tunnel by a circuit breaker box, “12. Please switch on the power to the digging machine’s charge port. Please be ready to immediately switch the power back off if I raise the alarm.”

  12’s voice echoed down the tunnel, “Understood. Engaging power in 3, 2, 1, power engaged.”

  Everybody nervously held their collective breaths. Nothing appeared to happen. Mary only stood still for a second before she ran up to the machine. “Please wait!” cried 41. Mary did not stop. She climbed up into the cab, which was now easily accessible due to the work that Tiny had done to clear away the rubble. “Mary, please wait!” repeated 41. Mary ignored him and sat in the driver’s seat. When it became clear that Mary was not going to heed his warnings, 41 asked, “Do you see anything, Mary?”

  Mary studied the machine and said, “I hear a faint humming sound and I see a large, dusty red LED on the dashboard. It is slowly pulsing on and off.” She looked back over her shoulder and asked, “Is that good?”

  Despite 41 being a robot, relief was evident in his voice when he said, “Yes, that is the charge indicator. It will slowly change from red to green as the charge progresses. Once the machine reaches one hundred percent charge, it will turn fully green and it will stop cycling on and off.”

  Mary said, with excitement in her voice, “How long will it take to charge the batteries?”

  41 shrugged and said, “I do not possess that information, Mary. I believe however that it will take quite some time. The machine has extremely powerful electric motors and needed a substantial battery pack to power them.”

  Mary could not hide the disappointment in her voice. “Oh,” she said. She sat there for a moment and then reached for the main power toggle switch.

  41 quickly said in alarm, “Do NOT switch it on yet Mary!” He was too late. Mary toggled the machine on and said over her shoulder, “It’s okay 41. The dash has lit up fine.” She took the sleeve of her shirt and wiped the dirt off an LCD screen and said, “The screen shows that it will be eight hours and nineteen minutes until it is fully charged.”

  41 raise the volume on his speakers to maximum and again pleaded with her, “Please switch it off and GET DOWN from there! Right NOW!”

  Something in his voice got her attention. She quickly powered the machine down and clambered down. 41 yelled at her. “That was VERY foolish Mary! Do you know how much energy is stored in the batteries of a machine as powerful as this? The power pack is over three hundred years old. Moisture and corrosion could have seriously compromised its integrity.” He laid one of his robotic arms on hers and said, “If it had let go, you would have been instantly killed.”

  The look on Mary’s face told it all. “I’m sorry,” she sheepishly said. “I just got excited, that’s all.”

  41 held her arm and said, “It is okay, Mary. It did not happen.” He looked over to the ancient digging machine, bobbed his cameras up and down in amusement and said, “In any case, the fact that it did not explode when you switched it on is a good sign.”

  Mary laughed. “Yes, I think I would have found being vaporized rather unpleasant too.”

  41 let out a burst of his weird electronic laughter and said, “Well, 12 and I are going to return to our work on the acid generator while we await the results of the charge cycle. What do you wish to do Mary?”

  Mary did not hesitate. “What I would like to do is to go EAT something. The digging machine isn’t the only thing that needs a recharge. It has been too long since Tiny and I have last eaten.” She turned to 303 and said, “You said that there is still a little food left?”

  303 nodded and said, “Yes, there is some freeze-dried food left, however I cannot say how palatable it will be after all of this time.”

  Mary smiled and said, “Lead the way. At this point I think that even dirt would be tasty.”

  Mary felt a sense of déjà vu when she saw the cafeteria. “It looks just like the one in the farming wing. Well, except for all the dust that is.” She smiled at Tiny and said, “Be a dear and wipe the dust off one of the tables. I am going to see what is available to cook.”

  Mary unlatched a little gate and walked behind the food preparation counter. She went through a small door into the pantry. The pantry was in reality a very large storage room. It contained endless shelves upon which freeze-dried food had been stored. At first glance, Mary thought that all of the shelves were bare, however several dusty boxes sat on the shelf in the back corner of the room. Only one of the boxes one had been opened. Mary lifted the box flap and saw that just one meal had been removed. In large letters on the side of the boxes was printed ‘MEALS READY TO EAT. FRIED LIVER PILAF. QNTY: 12’. After reading the description, Mary looked at the boxes dubiously, however she still took out two servings.

  Mary carried the MREs back to the food preparation area. She grabbed a couple stainless steel trays and wiped them clean. She opened the MREs and placed their contents onto the trays. Each meal packet contained napkins, matches, plastic forks and knives, crackers, jam, peanut butter, dried coffee mix, rock-hard bread slabs and the main course which was inside a little round tin. Also, inside was a little metal stove with a hole sha
ped to fit the tin and some self-heat pyro-tabs. Mary peeled up the corner of the seal on a tin to allow it to vent while it cooked and placed it onto the little stove. She wrinkled up her nose at the smell and muttered to herself, “Well, I DID say that I was very hungry!” She placed a pyro-tab into the bottom of the stove and lit it with a match.

  The smell did not improve as it cooked. Tiny stood and watched her, salivating like a staving dog, as she prepared the food. Mary shook her head and said, “I don’t know how good this is going to be Tiny.”

  Tiny smiled and enthusiastically said, “Tiny does not care. Tiny is hungry!”

  Mary shook her head and thought, “I swear he would eat the package that this came in if I served it to him!” When it was bubbling nicely, Mary used a napkin as a pot holder to remove the tin from the little stove, peeled the lid the rest of the way off, placed it upon the tray and handed it all to Tiny. Tiny grabbed it as if he had not eaten in months rather than just a couple days. Mary called after him, “Be careful! It is hot!”

  Mary unenthusiastically heated her own meal next. Her stomach gurgled and she felt bile rise in her throat when the smell hit her again as it cooked. She shook her head no, made the sign of the cross at it and pushed the tray away from her. 303 watched her preparing the meal and said, “Mary, you must eat.”

  Mary sighed and said, “I know 303. It is just that it smells very unappetizing.”

  303 pointed at Tiny. He was scarfing down the meal with relish. “Tiny likes it, Mary,” he said.”

  Mary laughed and said, “That’s not saying much. He would eat his own socks if he got hungry enough.” With a little laugh she added, “And he would ask for seconds, too!”

  303 laughed. “Yes, I already diagnosed the depth of his hunger, Mary.” The robot looked closely at her and said, “You still have to try to eat it. If it causes you any stomach discomfort, I can treat the malady for you.”

  Mary picked up her tray and sat down beside Tiny. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and spooned a small portion into her mouth. Her face wrinkled up in disgust and whole body shuddered at the taste. She had to try several times before she was able to swallow that small portion. She turned to 303 and said, “Now I can see why the other colonists chose suicide rather than eating this tripe!”

  303 had no response to that.

  Chapter 19

  The council chambers were all buzzing with random conversations at colony number eleven. “Are we out of food?” asked one. “Maybe we are all moving outside,” another said with a shudder of fear. “Yes,” another agreed, “I heard that another reactor has broken down. We are all going to have to move outside when the power goes!” Everybody had their opinions as to why the colony leader Martha Turner had called the emergency meeting. As usual, the rumor-mongers were all wrong.

  Martha stood up, clapped her hands and bellowed, “SILENCE!” She inwardly chuckled to herself when the bedlam instantly stopped. “You still have it, old girl,” she told herself. In a softer voice she said, “Everybody, please sit.” She waited until everyone settled down before she began. “I am sure that everybody present wants to know the reason for this emergency meeting…”

  A fear-monger in the crowd interrupted her and said, “I heard that yet another reactor has broken down. Are we all going to die in the dark?”

  The room again erupted into chaos. Martha closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. “Silence!” she bellowed again. When the room was once again reasonably quiet she looked at the man who had spoken and with a voice dripping with disdain said, “I know that this will be difficult for you Robert, but please try not to be a complete moron.”

  Refusing to be put off the man said, “Madam, everyone knows that reactor number two has broken down.”

  Another voice piped up and shouted, “Yes, if we are going to have to move outside or die in the dark we have a right to know!”

  Martha lost her temper for real this time and she bellowed, “Oh bloody hell. I swear you people are all morons. If I wasn’t here to wipe your bloody behinds for you, you would all smell even worse than you already do!” She pointed at Robert and said, “You are guilty of fear mongering and inciting a riot. If I hear another word from you this meeting I will charge you with contempt of council.” Robert’s face turned bright red. He shut his mouth with an audible click and he sat back down into his chair with a thud.

  Martha’s eyes bored holes into everyone around the room and she said, “Does anybody else want to be charged with contempt of council?” Everyone averted their eyes, shook their heads no and muttered softly.

  James, who was sitting at the back of the room with Ryan, leaned to his friend’s ear and said, “Bloody hell Ryan. This is all your fault!”

  Ryan shushed him and said back, “Quiet! I want to hear what she has to say!”

  Martha, satisfied that she had their complete attention, said, “Very good.” She looked daggers at Robert who sunk lower into his chair and said, “On the record, to set the idiot’s mind at ease, no, we are not about to all die in the dark. No, we are not all moving outside. Yes, we are starting a farm outside to increase our food supply. No, no reactors are currently down. The repair work on reactor number four has been completed and for Pete’s sake, reactor number two hasn’t failed, exploded or anything else so dire. It simply needed a cooling system flush. It was down less than a day.” James’s face took on a look of astonishment when she actually smiled at him and Ryan and said, “Our two reactor techs James Zeus and Ryan Grey have completed the work in record time. The reactors are all now running at peak efficiency.” Pointedly looking at Robert she reiterated, “All FIVE reactors are online and running well.” Martha glared around the room and said, “Now, if there are no more, bloody, idiotic rumors, we shall get to the real reason for this meeting.”

  Every face turned towards her expectantly. Martha turned to the large wall hanging LCD screen and said, “Computer, please display the image from station seventy-six.” When the grainy, low-resolution image filled the screen, Martha turned and addressed the crowd. “That image is from the transportation station at colony number seventy-six. Not long ago, somebody at this station called for a transport vehicle. If you look closely at the floor, you can see that there are several sets of fresh footprints in the dust.” She paused for effect and then said, “Gentlemen and ladies, what you see here is evidence that we are not alone after all. Apparently, colony number seventy-six is still viable.”

  The room erupted into utter chaos. Martha let them all vent for a minute or so and then she made sit down motions with her hands. Next, she spoke without her usual bluster. “It is unknown why nobody has ever heard from them before now but the evidence is compelling. The footprints in the dust and the computer transportation logs both confirm that there has been activity here in the last few days.” She turned to the screen and said, “Computer, please attempt a connection to the council chamber computer at colony number seventy-six.”

  The computer avatar’s image instantly appeared on the screen. After several seconds he said, “I am sorry Madam. I am unable to establish a connection to colony number seventy-six.” Martha was about to say some more when Ryan spoke up from the back of the room. “If I may, Madam. Let me try something.” Martha nodded to him and said, “Be my guest.”

  Ryan walked over to the cabinet that contained the council chambers computer and pulled out a tray holding a keyboard. He logged in, opened a command window and typed:

  C:Usersryan_grey>ping 192.168.76.1

  Pinging 192.168.76.1 with 32 bytes of data:

  Request timed out.

  Request timed out.

  Request timed out.

  Request timed out.

  Ping statistics for 192.168.76.1:

  Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% packet loss),

  C:Usersryan_grey>

  Ryan turned to Martha and said, “I am sorry Madam. There is no internet connection between here and their council chamber. I
don’t understand it. We obviously can connect to the transport station. The only explanation is that their internal network is down.”

  “Or their computer is dead,” Martha said. The room erupted into yet another round of bedlam. Each person vying to be heard so they could give their informed opinion. Martha closed her eyes, took another calming breath and again silenced the room with another shout. “Quiet everybody! We just don’t know. Anything we say now will just be a guess. What we need are FACTS. I intend to send an expedition to investigate colony number seventy-six.” Martha gestured to Ryan and James to come and join her. “Uh-oh,” James muttered under his breath. When they joined her, Martha put her hands upon their shoulders and said, “These fine gentlemen made the discovery so of course they are going on the expedition.”

  James looked at her in alarm. “What? Wait! Why us?” he cried. “I am a geek, not an explorer. What if they have descended into barbarism and are cannibals or something? Can’t you send somebody else?” he pleaded.

  Martha shook her head no. “Nonsense James. You will be fine. I do, however agree that some security is prudent.” She pointed to a severe-looking young Asian woman. “Lucy, please join us.”

  Lucy, a petite and very fit woman in a security uniform, snapped to attention and hurried to the front of the room. Her face was round and her eyes spoke of great intelligence. She moved with the grace of a cat. She stood beside Martha and said, “Yes Madam. How may I be of assistance?”

  Martha smiled at her. She liked Lucy for her no-nonsense attitude. “Lucy, I need you to provide security for this expedition.”

  Lucy bowed to Martha and said simply, “Yes Madam.”

  Martha turned to James and said, “There you go James. You have your security.” James did not dare show his discomfort and wisely just said, “Thank you, madam.”

  Martha faced the trio and finished up by saying, “This is a fact-finding mission only. You are to take a travel vehicle to colony number seventy-six. Once there you are to assess their condition. You are to see if they appear to still be civilized, have food to share and to make contact with their leaders.” She looked them over and said, “Do you have any questions?”