by Peter Ponzo
CHAPTER 7
Master of the Ship
Runr was hungry. It had been almost eight days since he had crawled into the storage area of Andromeda. The few foodsticks he had brought were gone and the small bottle of water was almost empty. Nevertheless he had made the right decision to sneak onto the ship while it was on the landing pad. He may never again have the opportunity to go to Earth. But now he must tell Captain Cruder that he was on board. They would surely not take him back to Home planet. They would feed him and take him to Earth.
He smiled, stretched, jumped easily to his feet and started across the large storage bin littered with boxes and short poles of some shiny material, piles of soft mats, several engines of some sort and shelves filled with electronic components. When he reached the door he found it closed, and locked. He might yell and scream, then Captain Cruder would hear him and open the door.
Runr stepped back and began to yell. After a minute he stopped and waited but there was no sound from beyond the door. He banged on the door, but to no avail. He walked back to a box and sat down, thinking.
There may be some console in the storage area. He hadn't left his corner since he first hid there and didn't know his way around. He pushed over boxes, shuffled through the shelves. Nothing. He returned to his box and sat again. On the floor, hidden beneath a pile of soft material, were two short, shiny silver-grey poles. He kicked at them and some of the soft covering material fell away. Runr looked carefully then quickly pulled away the remaining material.
It was TOM.
Runr knelt beside the android and shook him. There was no sign of life. He placed his hands on the android's silver chest and closed his eyes. Blue lights danced about his hands. The boy moaned, then sang ... a lilting then rising then falling wail. The blue lights quickened.
"Runr? Is that you?"
Runr jumped up with a start and looked into TOM's glowing eyes.
"TOM? Are you alive?"
"Yes Runr, I am operational, but I cannot deduce my whereabouts."
"You are on the transworld vessel Andromeda. We are headed for Earth."
TOM stopped and looked around. "If we are on the Andromeda, then ..." The android climbed to his feet. "That is quite impossible. I must contact master Kevn. Captain Cruder, he ..."
"TOM, perhaps you can help me open the door. Then we can talk to Captain Cruder and he can give us something to eat and -"
"Young man, the Captain is a criminal. He fired a weapon. I was paralyzed. We must proceed with caution. Yes, we will open the door and we must then take control of this vessel and return to Home planet."
The android walked slowly to the door, ran his hand across the surface and pushed lightly. Runr watched closely. That was no way to get out; he had tried that. The door was massive and would not budge. The boy was about to make a suggestion when TOM turned and faced the boy, crouched and put both hands before his face, fingers stiff, elbows slightly bent. Runr frowned.
"Hai!" cried TOM as he wheeled and brought both hands crashing onto the door. The android straightened and waited. Runr was about to suggest an alternative when he saw the door move and slowly, slowly fall outward.
"TOM, that's amazing ... how did you do that?" said Runr delightedly.
"A technique available to anyone who is a student of old Earth," said TOM as he stepped gingerly through the doorway. Runr shook his head, smiled and followed.
They walked quietly through the corridors looking and listening for any sign of Captain Cruder. When they entered a small room with a ship control panel, TOM studied it intently.
"I do not recognize the design," he said. "Can you talk to this computer Runr?"
Runr placed his hands on the panel and closed his eyes, moaned, sang, then said that he could not.
"Hmmph!" grunted TOM, "probably a silicon idiot."
They left and continued cautiously through the corridors.
"Listen," said Runr. "Do you hear that?"
... and they jumped all up
and they jumped all down
and they covered the groun' with brown all 'round
"Yes, it sounds like - like -"
"Like singing. It is, it's singing!"
Runr ran forward, stopped in front of an open door and peered inside. TOM, who was considerably taller, peered into the room over the boy's head. On the cot - or almost on the cot - was Adrian Humple, Mayor of York Sector in the Americas, planet Earth. He was quite drunk. Tom walked into the room and stood before the cot. Runr waited at the door, peering around the door jamb.
"Mayor Humple, in the name of the citizens of the Dome I place you under arrest," said TOM.
Humple looked up without surprise.
"Whatzza ... whatzza charge offisher?"
"The charge is kidnapping a citizen of the Dome." TOM looked about the room. It was a small storage room without access to the ship computer and no evidence of any weapons. He turned on his heel, walked to the door and left the room, closing the door behind him. There was a bolt on the outside and he locked the door.
"Are you going to keep him in there?" asked Runr.
"Yes, until we return to Home planet. Come Runr, now we must find Captain Cruder."
______________________________________________________
"Okay," said Gry, "we ... uh, launch the shuttle when we're still a jillion miles from Earth. We pray they don't notice us comin' in. We try to look like space debris ..."
"That won't work," said Sal. "They're bound to notice us. We can approach beyond their sun. That'll get us within a hundred million kilometers or so ... but as soon as we're within a few hundred thousand kilometers ..."
"That's when we ... uh, have to look like space debris," grunted Gry.
"Do they have any large space platform? Something else to hide behind?" asked Sal
"The moon! We can hide behind their moon!" cried Kevn.
"Earth has a moon?" asked Sal. "Yes, of course it has. How far is it from -"
"- about three hundred thousand kilometers I think," said Kevn.
"Does it have an atmosphere? Does it have any life on board? Can we land there and -"
"It's too small to support an atmosphere but we can create our own - that's not a problem. Then we can launch a shuttle from the moon."
"And they won't ... uh, see K-47 sittin' on their moon?" said Gry.
"Well ... at that distance, maybe -"
"One side of the moon," said the shipcomp, "is never visible from the surface of Earth."
They looked at each other. "LIZ, thanks for the good news," said Kevn. "That's it then. We approach behind their sun then, somehow, approach from the other side of their moon. LIZ? Can you compute a trajectory which will always keep either their sun or their moon between us; between K-47 and Earth?"
"Yes, master Kevn," answered LIZ.
"Okay, then we land on the far side of the moon and launch a shuttle," said Sal. "We make a mad dash that last 300,000 kilometers or so and hope they don't see us."
There was silence as they visualized that last mad dash.
"One thing," mumbled Gry. "When we land, if we land ... uh, where do we land?"
"That's a problem," said Kevn. "Earth is a huge planet. Didn't Humple say there were thousands of cities? Which one do we choose?"
They all slumped in their chair.
"Master Kevn," said LIZ. "There is no trajectory which meets your specifications."
"Thanks LIZ. Suppose we approach beyond the sun, unseen, then enter subspace and come out beyond the moon?" asked Kevn. "Is that possible, LIZ?"
"The distortions imposed by the presence of Earth's sun will be large," answered LIZ. "Subspace entry would be problematic. I will compute maximum stress as a function of Sun-to-moon trajectory and select the optimal path." There was a pause, then LIZ added, "I must also report the absence of Auria-17." Another pause, then, "However I think the lack of radiation from that star is due to interference from cosmic dust."
"We can lead thee there," came a voice from the portal.
They jumped and turned to see Captain Jacob Cruder enter the room. Kevn stood and ran to the Captain just as he collapsed.
"Jacob, you're hurt," said Kevn. "What happened? How did you get on board? How did -"
"Oh! I forgot," cried Gry, pulling his rings. "What a fool I am! I ... uh, found him on the ground back Home. He was dead. I thought he was dead. I put him ... somewhere, I can't remember where I put him. But he was dead, I think ... I thought."
"Thank you, Gry," said Cruder. "We woke by the entrance. We have been hiding in the store room. The lasergun of Mayor Humple ... we did not trust the Mayor and attempted to modify it ... to limit the power - else we would indeed be dead."
"Captain, sit still," said Kevn. "You must be weak. How long has it been? You haven't had a thing to eat since -"
"Master Kevn," said Cruder, "We must admit to theft. We ate what we found in the store room."
"The algae concentrate," said Gry. "Poor Crud ... uh, Cruder. He ate the algae concentrate."
Captain Cruder looked at Gry with anguish.
"Is that bad?" he asked, concerned.
"Bad?" said Gry. "It's awful!"
______________________________________________________
TOM was at the control panel. The android's fingers flew over the keyboard and the responses on the monitor came as rapidly. After ten minutes TOM stopped.
"It does little good to attempt communication with a silicon idiot," he said in disgust. "The computer which runs this vessel is quite retarded."
"TOM," said Runr, "can you not turn the vessel around - head back Home?"
"No, I cannot. The computer will take the vessel to Earth and will not respond rationally to any request to -"
"Can you use this?" said Runr holding the manual out to TOM. "It was lying on the floor."
TOM took the manual, read the cover then flipped through the pages at lightning speed, muttering occasionally. Runr waited. At last TOM put down the manual and returned to the keyboard.
reset vectors to Home planet /Waiser-sector
ONE MOMENT PLEASE ... VECTORS RESET
initiate subspace entry and exits as appropriate
ONE MOMENT PLEASE ... DIRECTIVE UNDERSTOOD
set speed to 90% light-speed
INVALID DIRECTIVE ... SPEED EXCEEDS MAXIMUM
set speed to 80% light-speed
INVALID DIRECTIVE ... SPEED EXCEEDS MAXIMUM
state maximum speed
STATE ... BAD COMMAND OR FILE NAME
MAXIMUM ... INVALID DIRECTIVE - PLEASE REWORD
TOM rose and placed his hands on his hips.
"Idiot," he muttered then turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Runr watched him leave then placed his hands on the control panel, closed his eyes and moaned and sang. He waited. There was no response.
"Idiot," he murmured, and followed TOM.
The android was sitting, cross-legged, on a large and comfortable chair in a nearby cabin, his lap filled with several large manuals. Runr entered and sat on the floor beside him.
"What do we do now, TOM?" he asked.
"The computer has, I assume, reset its vectors and will use the subspace folds as needed. It is headed for Home planet. Now we must wait."
______________________________________________________
When Mayor Humple awoke he found himself on a cot in a small storage room. He shook his head and staggered to the door. It was locked. "Damnation!" He looked about the room. There was no other exit and no access to the ship computer. He ran at the door and rebounded. "Aargh!" He sat on the cot and tried to recall events. There was an android - the android had locked him in this room - the android had been paralyzed, how did it manage to overcome the paralysis? He picked up the bottle on the cot and sniffed into the open mouth. "Should have stuck to bourbon." He walked to the door, still holding the bottle and began to shout: "Android! Open this door! This is your master speaking! I command you to open this door!" He stood back and waited. There was no response so he pounded on the door and continued to shout.
TOM looked up from his comfortable chair. "My boy, I think I hear the Mayor calling."
"Yes TOM, I hear him too."
"Let us determine whether he has knowledge of the ship computer which is not contained in these manuals." TOM pushed the manuals onto the floor and left, followed by Runr. They could hear the Mayor shouting. When they reached the storage room TOM waited for Humple to stop then said, quietly, lying: "Mayor Humple, I am afraid that this vessel is headed for a star system and we are unable to modify its trajectory. Should we continue we will all be destroyed. Are you aware of the procedures necessary to -"
"Yes! Yes!" shouted Humple. "I am an expert! Let me out and I will guide the ship back to Earth!"
"Mayor Humple, we insist upon returning to Home planet. However, the procedures necessary for establishing an orbit about Home planet and for landing -"
"Let me out! I can do all that. I am an expert! If your wish is to return to Home planet then I will certainly oblige. I will be happy to oblige -"
"TOM," whispered Runr. "I do not trust him. How can you be sure -"
"My boy, I do recognize that he cannot be trusted," whispered TOM. "I must therefore extract the knowledge I seek without placing ourselves at risk. I will do just that."
The android unlocked the door and stood back. "Mayor Humple, you may open the door but I must warn you that I -"
The door flew open and Humple rushed at the android swinging the empty brandy bottle. TOM grasped the Mayor's wrist in midswing and lifted him off the floor.
"I must warn you that I possess strength beyond that of humanoids," said TOM quietly. He walked to the control room still holding the struggling Humple aloft.
Runr was delighted.