Quest for the Conestoga (Colony Ship Conestoga Book 1)

by John Thornton

  The stairway was only partially visible as there was a sliding door over the top of it which was about two-thirds of the way closed.

  On the other side of the command bridge was a pressure door which was a symmetrical counterpart to the one they had entered through. It was closed.

  “Sandie? Do you see any usable access ports? The only ones I see have material jammed in them or are melted over.”

  “The vandals were thorough in their devastation of the bridge,” Sandie replied. “I have seen no functional access ports since you entered here.”

  Cammarry walked back to where the red cubie was located. She then followed the wall and discovered a small doorway, only about a meter wide. The door swung open as she pushed on it. “There is some kind of apartment here. Several beds, a sink and toilets. No plant growth here either.”

  Jerome called back, “The air vents are all closed in here.” He pointed at the ceiling and the floor where the vent covers were closed and intact. “Probably why it is so musty and stale smelling in here. We have seen water coming from what were air circulation vents in other places, but here it looks like the bridge was sealed off.”

  “A security measure against the plant life? Or against the vandals? Well, all the plant life scattered about does seem odd for a spacecraft,” Cammarry replied as she walked back from the door to the apartment. “I had my mind around the idea of ecosystems or biotopes in certain designated sections of this ship, like the missing cylinders, but did not expect it all over like it is. Except for here. No plant life here, but we find more deliberate destruction. Perhaps worse than we have seen anywhere else, except for in that graveyard, that gallery of dead AIs. Do you think the same people who destroyed the AIs’ memory cores are the ones who ruined the bridge?”

  “Seems to be the case, but why? Why such vicious vandalism of their own control systems? Suicide attempt? Mass panic? It makes no sense to me, but who knows?” Jerome asked. “Shall we assess the lower level, or open that next pressure door?”

  Khin was still standing by the control board. “Opening doors is not always wise. If doors are already open, animals can go in and out of that place. If it is safe for animals, it may be safe for people.”

  “That decides it,” Cammarry smiled at Khin. “Thank you Khin. Please keep helping us, you know this place, and we do not. I appreciate your wisdom. The stairway is open, well sort of open, so we should check down there before opening that next pressure door. I wonder how we will ever find the location for the secondary controls? It is obvious this bridge is kaput.”

  Jerome squeezed past the stuck door and descended the stairs. The beam of light shot through the dust his steps kicked up. “It is dark down here.”

  “I can help!” Khin called happily and raced down the stairs and around Jerome. Again he disappeared into the shadows. A moment later there was a long series of clicks and lights flickered overhead. “I show my reading skills by turning on more lights!”

  Khin was standing at the end of a small corridor, a wide smile across his face. “I now understand why wizard places are so bright. Wizards have trouble seeing in the low light. I never thought wizards had bad eyes, but you do.”

  A work station was next to him. This one was not ruined like the command bridge above. The countertop was in good repair, and the assorted gauges, monitors, buttons and levers did not have any damage.

  “Khin? Did you see what is behind you?” Jerome asked as Cammarry descended and stood next to him.

  “The dead body. Sure, sure. Dead bodies are sometimes in places where animals do not go. Mostly the rats take care of dead bodies. This one dead a long long time. No rats here.” Khin was unruffled.

  The body was very dried out and mummified. It was wearing a white shirt with blue selves, and matching blue pants. The clothing was in good condition. Next to the body were several items.

  “A crew member,” Cammarry said. She walked over and knelt down next to the body. “Well manufactured clothing, tools, and this is some kind of hand weapon.”

  “Just a dead wizard,” Khin stated bluntly. “I hear no spirit-ghost here.”

  Jerome turned and looked back at the stairs. From the new angle he could see scorch marks on the inside of the sliding overhead door. “That person was firing at the stairway. I think in defensive action against what was happening up on the bridge.”

  “There is a small device here next to the body and the weapon. It has an access port on the side.” Cammarry picked up the item. It was palm sized and covered in dust. It had a small display on one side, and several buttons along one edge. “The weapon is obviously burned out. The circuits I can see are fried. Just an old-style energy weapon anyway.”

  “If you plug in the com-link I might be able to help assess that,” Sandie said. “Not the weapon, but the other item. I conjecture it is an information storage tool. It is similar to items found in the historical records from a hundred years ago, the time when the Conestoga was launched.”

  Cammarry jacked the cable into the small device.

  “Assessment completed. It is a portable communication and information system. It was designed to store data in a primitive manner and much of that information is corrupted and therefore lost. It belonged to someone named Captain Lance Lechner. I conjecture that the body you see is that same person. The uniform it is wearing could be that of a flight crewman, perhaps an officer, and maybe the captain’s. The information in the old device has some remains of records on Captain Lechner interacting with numerous people. The detailed information is corrupted, but I have reconstituted a few conversations which took place at the end of the record. I warn you, they are incomplete and fragmentary.”

  “What can you show us?” Cammarry asked.

  Sandie replied, “I am sorry, but I cannot show you anything. I can only reconstruct the messages and read the pericope to you. The audio and visual data is too corrupted to display anything. Here is what I can recover: From Officer Sara Casey: ‘….habbie families in open… have revolted…. Blue circles… and they plan to jettison the habbie for landing on….’ Captain Lance Lechner responded, ‘…..punched a message through that accursed spot which grabbed us….. planet fall will be successful… need to ….. provisions for needle ship crew….. aeroponics will…’ and that is the first interaction I was able to reconstitute.”

  “The Captain knew how to get a signal back!” Cammarry said excitedly. “If he can do it, so can we.”

  “Where there is a will, there is a way, and there is hope,” Jerome replied. “Sandie? What else did you find out? You said there were other discussions.”

  “Not so much discussions as fragments of interactions,” Sandie said. “The next is between someone called an engineer, a doctor, and Captain Lance Lechner. Here is that information: doctor states, ‘…. need a stable food source…. zoology says animal, plant system can….might be stable for years…cytology confirmed…’ Captain Lance Lechner replies, ‘…the whole needle ship? Initiate the plan… Get info to habbie brains…’ Shortly after this, what I assume is during the same conversation, the person called engineer interjects with, ‘….all eight brains aware…. Habbie’s not destroyed….. aggregate ingredients from Beta acquired…. …docking soon, we can use the gig’s engines as propelling force…. …will it matter? It might work, worth a try….’”

  “What were they trying?” Cammarry asked in wonder. “Is it about making planet fall, or getting into orbit, or what?”

  “Those messages are missing a lot of vital facts,” Jerome said. “What brains are they speaking about? Is that all there was?”

  Sandie continued, “The final bit of information is very sad. It is Captain Lance Lechner speaking. He states, ‘Ship’s Brain trust under habbie insurgent attack. Security overrun. I will hold them off while the gig’s gizmo does its work. Sara is dead…. …we have failed miserably… Brains in habbies acknowledged….Unknown for future …cannot believe it comes to this…. I do not know which is a worse fate, that planet o
r being trapped on this needle ship…. May God in his mercy let the habbies survive….’ That is the end of the information which was reconstituted.” The emotion was thick in Sandie’s artificial voice.

  “Sandie, keep analyzing that and make some conjectures and extrapolations. What are habbies? What brains is he talking about? Can you access anything that tells us about the secondary systems so we can make course corrections?” Cammarry asked.

  “Nothing on that device. Can you connect the com-link to another access port on that work station?” Sandie replied. “There looks to be several which are undamaged.”

  Cammarry unjacked the cable and walked to the work station. Khin was standing there with his hand on the light controls. She located another access port and connected in the cable.

  “Entering this section of the nonphysicality,” Sandie said. “Jerome, please connect in a fusion pack. I believe I have found something very helpful!”

  Jerome set a fusion pack on the end of the work station. He connected it to a different access port. The work station came alive with readings, lights, the needles on gauges sprang to life, and the monitors blinked on.

  “Much more wizard work!” Khin said and pulled his hand back away from the light controls. “You understand all this? You two must be the greatest wizards since the Old One.”

  Cammarry and Jerome ignored him as they concentrated on the work station. Systems were starting to power up, and readings were being displayed. On the left side monitor, there was a column with twenty different names. All were highlighted in bright flashing red.

  “I think those are the twenty dead AIs in that other room,” Jerome said as he looked carefully at them. “The list does read like primary artificial intelligence systems. What a waste!” He reached up and touched the first one on the list with his finger.

  An annoying sound came from the monitor. “I bet that is a negative function warning.”

  “Yes! Yes! That sound means the spirit-ghost will not answer. Some doors and other things sound that way when they are broken. After a time, the sound does not come anymore, no matter how much you push it,” Khin said. “It comes at first and for a while, then does not come anymore. Were you trying to open that bright door?”

  “In a way I was trying to open it, yes,” Jerome responded. “I was looking to interface or gain control over one of the systems.” He pushed the next one down, and it too gave off the annoying sound.

  “You wizards are so brave! Trying to control a spirit-ghost? Oh what courage!” Khin’s face shone with adoration.

  Cammarry had been studying the bank of controls. She pushed a slide lever to the right and then twisted a dial. With each click of the dial the monitor on the right flashed a new image. Many images were highlighted in red, and some were wavering and crisscrossed with lines of static. After several more adjustments, a green screen came on with basic white lettering. ‘Bypass secondary lattice?’ the monitor blinked in green.

  Cammarry reached up and tapped the blinking green letters. “This really is an antique. Touch activated and confirmed. I am into the tertiary system auxiliary controls.”

  “That was new and innovative in its time. Evolution and innovation go hand in hand. Success is to think like they did yesterday and make it apply to what we need to be sufficient for today,” Jerome said as he watched Cammarry work. “You would have fit into the twenty-first century well.”

  “Before or after the Great Event?” Cammarry laughed. “Or during?”

  “We are in our own Great Event right now. If we can change the Conestoga’s course, our future and everyone else here will be better,” Jerome said.

  “But not Dome 17’s future,” Cammarry replied. “Unless we can find out how that Captain got the message through. I came here to save all of them.” Sweat was running down her face as she made miniscule adjustments. “Sandie, can you assist me in these modifications?”

  “I apologize, but I cannot help in that way. To be crude, you are on manual. Your physical adjustments are outside the nonphysicality, and while I can see what you are doing, from the com-link, I cannot influence any of the things you are altering. I do see some of the aftereffects in the nonphysicality, as larger places have opened, but I cannot connect to anything more useful than the operations board at the work station. I will keep probing.”

  The monitor shifted again as Cammarry clicked the dial another time.

  “You just opened a conduit to the main engines!” Sandie exclaimed. “I am able to assess them now.”

  “Finally. Now Sandie can do the course corrections,” Cammarry said with relief. “Use the scouts scanning and then fire the engines to correct course.”

  “Sadly, that will not work. It is an excellent idea, however, I cannot make any course corrections. The main engines are in a similar state to the gallery of memory cores, and the command bridge. It is a barren wasteland of broken connections and shattered linkages. I conjecture that the attackers that Captain Lance Lechner called ‘habbie insurrectionists’ destroyed the main engines. They show a very similar style of damage.”

  Cammarry readjusted and modified again what she was doing. “I am back in tertiary auxiliary control. I see life support, gravity manipulation, and two other systems running, they are marked in green. I am afraid if I try to adjust them, or use their subsystems, they may very well shut down. There is a manually initiated program here, outlined in yellow, which is called ‘per aspera ad astra! tutum deficient circum propositum’ but I have no idea what that means.”

  “That is a very old Earth language,” Jerome said. “It means roughly, ‘Through adversity to the stars! Fail safe circles the objective’.”

  “Jerome, that is not quite accurate,” Sandie started to say.

  “I see it is connected to orbital adjustment rockets!” Cammarry explained as she slightly altered the setting. I am initiating it!”

  Cammarry turned the dial, slid the lever back to the opposite side, and then pushed in on the dial. The monitor screen flashed and the yellow outline around the words on the screen shifted to brilliant blue color in a steady glow.

  The left monitor shifted and a view of the green planet was seen. The right monitor kept glowing the brilliant blue color.

  Cabta 3F awoke. A dormant system which was over one-hundred years old, responded to the call. It actually worked. Cabta 3F, a barely sentient, redundant fail-safe system, a tertiary artificial intelligence, sprang into action. Its agenda was simple. Assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation were its next steps, in that order. It had been resting quietly, not thinking about anything, just waiting for the time it might be needed. It was not even aware enough to know there was a passage of time as its central memory core sat in a remote corner of an engineering closet, deep within the bowels of the needle ship. When it awoke, the fluids began to bubble and move, and its mechanical and artificial brain started processing. It used its links and couplings for assessment to determine the ship’s position in space, and looked for the target world. Being rather simplistic, for an artificial intelligence system, and being that the green world was close, Cabta 3F identified that as the target world. It complied the information and compared the ship’s location to the planet. Assessment completed.

  Planning took place. The goal was to insert the Conestoga into a stable orbit so the habitats could be jettisoned and landed on the planet. The original builders of Cabta 3F designed it to be used in case there was limited human leadership at the end of the generations long voyage through space. Cabta 3F did not notice that there were no habitats connected any longer to the needle ship. That was irrelevant to the goal of establishing a stable orbit. It followed its programming by calculating speed, conditions, and trajectories needed to make the course corrections.

  Implementation of the plan was the next step. Cabta 3F tried the main engines. There was no response. Since Cabta 3F had no emotional components or even the ability to understand emotions, it just switched to the next algorithm. It called for the or
bital adjustment rockets. In sixteen places on the needle ship section of the Colony Ship Conestoga, Cabta 3F linked to huge rocket motors. It had looked for all twenty-two of the original orbital adjustment rockets, but only sixteen responded. Cabta 3F modified its calculation to use the sixteen. Each of those immense rocket motors swiveled into precise positions.

  In a choreographed dance of timing and meticulousness, set by Cabta 3F, the signal was sent for those rockets to fire.

  Thirteen responded appropriately. Two rockets fired, but their power sheared off the permalloy connecting brackets which held them to the frame of the needle ship. Both of those swooshed away on a wild ride into space, fortunately not striking any part of the Conestoga. The last rocket exploded. That explosion tore a huge section of the needle ship into pieces and exposed some compartments to vacuum. Automatic sealers clanged shut, bulkhead doors locked, and pressurization was maintained, although a slow leak of atmosphere resulted.