1 Ceres

by Takemoto, D. J.

  “How can I warn Eve? They’ll come after her too!” he thought, as he reached the area where the paved road turned to rocks. Dirk knew he had an advantage in the decay zone. He remembered where the big rocks jutted out into the road, and where the turns gave way to a smoother surface.

  “I have to get inside the vessel before they catch me,” he thought. There was a noise of breaking rock to his right, as one of the security officers fired his shock gun and barely missed him, causing several concrete blocks to break into pieces. Dirk returned fire, causing the guards to momentarily stop. They had not expected a common citizen to be armed with a shock gun.

  “They’ve set their guns on kill. They want to kill me,” Dirk thought. He could see the tiny path up ahead, where it turned to give way to the approach to the tunnel. He would not make it. He knew it. So at the last minute, Dirk veered off to the left, taking a stand behind a larger concrete block pile, just outside the tunnel entrance. He reached into his pocket to be sure he still had the strand of hair, and silently recited the still usable code word and numbers. He set his shock gun to stun mode, aimed at the nearest security guard, and fired.

  His first attempt missed by several yards. They were too far away for a clean shot. They fired back, taking cover behind the demolished statue of Robin Lightfighter. Dirk knew he would eventually be at a disadvantage because shock guns could only fire five times before they ran out of power, and there were two guards and only one of him. They had more fire power. Luckily, he had learned how to hit a target with a shock gun when he had once wanted to apply for a job with security. But then Eve talked him out of it because she hated violence. He briefly thought of her kiss, and got way off track. A giant concrete block evaporated in front of him, from another barely missed shock bolt.

  Dirk knew he had to make his move. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember the terrain around the area. Could he circle around back and take them by surprise? Maybe he could…if he was really lucky and very quiet. Dirk slid as soundlessly as possible from behind his hiding place, crab-walked to a low, half crumbling wall, and then took another path wide around the other way. Luckily, his grab boots made little noise. He would end up behind the two guards, but would be very close…maybe too close. If they heard him, they would fire at him at point blank. Dirk knew he would not survive a direct hit to a vital organ.

  He crawled to the next concrete block, peering over at the two security officers. They had not heard him; they had their sonics pointed in the opposite direction, at the place he’d just come from. Dirk took a deep breath, stepped out, and fired twice. His first hit was right on target, causing the officer to fall to the ground, twitching. But the second shot only hit the other guy’s leg, so the officer got a shot off. It hit Dirk in the shoulder and leg. Dirk suppressed the urge to cry out and drop, even though the pain was something awful. It felt like the time he’d fried his hand with a hot iron at their blacksmith shop.

  Dirk returned fire; now he was strangely calm, like he had entered another zone. Everything slowed down. He oddly felt cold. But he knew he would feel the pain later. The hit was successful. The officer fell to the ground, twitching, foam spewing from his mouth. Dirk stepped over the two twitching security officers and ran to the tunnel, in case someone else had followed these two. He turned the key, speed-keyed in the code numbers and password, and inserted the piece of auburn hair into the slot.

  What seemed like an eternity passed before the voice said Welcome Lightfighter and the door slid open. Dirk hurled himself inside, gasping in pain as the decontamination liquid oozed all over him. He bent over after, and threw up right there in the decontamination room, while Gerta watched through the vessel portal on the other side. She carried an emergency medical kit.

  ●

  It took Eve over thirty minutes to run the two miles through the tunnel to bunker Z. She could have made it faster but had to stop at a couple of spots when the ceiling got so low she needed to stoop down or she would bang her head. Plus, on the way she saw six more signs providing directions to various places. One said Central Supply –– .05 miles ahead, right. Another said Medical Supply — 1.2 miles to bunker Q, see map and watch the drop. Eve was so excited; she knew she’d accessed the main bunker tunnel system, and that Miggly would never be able to get inside, because only she had the ΩD stone.

  “At least I’m safe from the security. Unless they catch Dirk and take his key,” she mumbled as she trotted along the tunnel. “No, that won’t work either, because Gerta coded the key to Dirk’s DNA,” she added. She passed another door, doubled back, and tried her stone. The door slid open revealing vast rows of canned foods. She removed a can, used one of her tools to open it, and downed some peaches in two gulps, thankful for the energy the sugar would give her.

  Another door opened to rooms filled with clothing and shoes. Eve rummaged through some boxes until she found grab boots like Dirk’s. She took off her hide mining boots, placed them into her pack, and replaced them with the neat upgrades. “These will be better for running,” she commented to the otherwise uninhabited storage room. She made a mental note of the location. But her real target was Bunker Z and the solar light bulbs.

  As she finally approached her destination, she heard a noise up ahead in the tunnel. It was a low, roaring grumble…like someone carrying on a conversation. And whoever it was, he or she sounded angry. Eve slowed and approached the curve with caution, holding out her shock gun in case it was security. “It could be security…or, dome forbid, an awakened security AI!” Eve thought. She had to get to bunker Z, but she did not want to get caught, and certainly not by a non-housekeeping AI. “Gerta was enough AI for me to handle,” she thought. Eve stooped down low, held her shock gun in front of her, and bent her head to peak around the door. Then she stood up, yelped, and clapped her free hand to her head in amazement. She was standing in front of an enormous waterfall, and it was roaring like an angry conversation.

  “This must be our underground water source. I wonder where it leads,” she said. Eve gazed in wonder as the water gushed from above, down a hill, and in torrents into a pool near where she stood. The effect was breathtaking and deafening. She was momentarily mesmerized by its beauty and power. “Gerta is right…we have plenty of underground water…for power and to drink. If we only had light bulbs we could make hydroelectrics and light the city forever. Then most of us could live here for a long time.”

  Then she noted the river running from the waterfall blocked her path through the rest of the tunnel, and that the river’s flow was too fast and treacherous for her to wade across. She spent ten minutes trying to find a way to cross the river, and finally spied a platform on the other side. There was a rope for use to swing across. “Globbers, it’s on the wrong side. I should be on the other side. How am I supposed to get across?” Eve walked back and forth next to the raging river, careful not to get so close she would fall in. Her boots and clothing were wet from the water spray, and her hair was drenched and frizzy. Finally about one hundred feet down the river’s edge, she found a similar platform with a rope on her own side. The platform was obviously made to assist in crossing, but would also stall intruders.

  “This must be the access to the something critical. It must have been precious even back then or it would be easier to get to. Or maybe there’s something special on my side and I missed it,” Eve commented, as she climbed the metal stairs up to the platform. She counted seventeen steps to the top, where a hemp rope was tied up on the left side of the platform. “Let’s hope this rope can still hold me,” she said aloud. But she did not hesitate because if she did, she knew she might not have the courage to swing across that much angry water. Eve first made sure her pack was securely attached, then walked to the rope. “Alright, here goes,” she shouted as she grabbed the rope and pushed off forcefully with both her feet. Her legs were strong so she knew they could create enough force, or else she would just swing over and crash into the rock wall on the other side and miss the platform entir
ely.

  She made it, just barely, having to grab onto the edge of the platform and pull herself up. By the time she’d managed to crawl onto the platform on the other side, she was shaking all over from what she knew was called an adrenaline rush. She stared down at the river. It seemed angry she’d made it across. Eve remembered Dirk told her people got an adrenaline rush when they were afraid for a long time. That thought reminded her that Dirk was someplace, was probably in trouble, and that she should hurry. As she lay flat on the platform regaining her strength, she silently prayed to the void gods to protect him and her family from Miggly and the security guards.

  ●

  Dirk doubled over and retched for a full minute before he could stand up. Then he collapsed. Luckily he was inside the decontamination chamber of the vessel so the gooey liquid washed him and the chamber clean. By the time the air breezed over him, he was only half conscious, sitting on the chamber floor, and shaking uncontrollably. Shock guns did not usually cause blood loss, but a direct hit, like he’d undergone, could cause shock and severe burns.

  Gerta was ready once the decontamination process was complete and the door slid open. The little AI did not wait for the voice to announce completion of the decontamination procedure. She immediately reached out to Dirk, enveloping him in the same silver liquid metal she was made of. It seemed to pour from her hands. That’s what Dirk thought as he lost consciousness. All he could remember after was that he seemed to be floating in the air, down a hallway and into a place Gerta called the Sick Bay…and that he felt nothing…no pain. In the back of his delirious mind he thought a bay was a water inlet…but obviously not in this case. During the entire time Dirk was only vaguely aware of Gerta talking to him, but it came out as a fuzzy distant voice.

  You have sustained a severe shock resulting from third degree burns to your legs and arms. You may feel cold. This is a natural reaction to a severe injury such as yours. I am administering drugs to prevent you from going into shock. However, you will become drowsy. I will initiate life support once we arrive in the Sick Bay. You should not feel pain because I have administered the proper neural blocks. After you are in stasis, stem cell regeneration will be initiated. The regeneration process may take several months to complete. I will ensure your survival, Dirk Heatherfield. The survival of humanoids is my prime directive.

  Before Dirk lost consciousness, he grabbed onto Gerta’s arm and whispered, “Eve, you have to keep Eve safe. They are looking for her. They’ll send her into the void!”

  ●

  Dirk lost consciousness before Gerta could explain that Eve was safely locked inside the main tunnel access system, and that further access by others was impossible without the ΩD stone or the access key, and that Eve had the stone around her neck and Dirk had the key in his pocket. She could not tell him if his family or Eve’s family were safe because she did not have vids in the city.

  The AI continued treating Dirk for several hours, ensuring he was completely in stasis inside the medical containment pod, until the stem cell regeneration of his burned legs and arms was initiated. After watching the log phase stem cell growth begin, she stepped away; Gerta was satisfied the instruments were working properly. They should…she had been routinely running maintenance checks on everything inside the vessel for almost three hundred years. While observing Dirk through the stasis pod portal, Gerta tilted her head, debating every possible protocol option in math with the mainframe. Finally she spoke, to no one in particular.

  I wonder if this warrants my awakening the Commander.

  Again in math, the mainframe answered,

  Negative, that can only be done by a Lightfighter.

  Gerta nodded, said something back in math, and continued her housekeeping duties.

  ●

  Eve ran through the dark tunnel. She was being chased by someone…or something…or maybe a bunch of somethings. And they were faster than she. She knew that if they caught her, they would tear her to pieces, because she was an intruder, and was not supposed to be there in the stasis chamber. And whatever they protected was so important, not even her key, password, codes, or even a biosample was enough; she had to use her stone. They were angry she was inside the chamber, that she had the stone, and they were gaining on her. Eve ran as fast as her long legs could pump. But she knew they would overtake her…that she was going to die.

  They were security AIs, hundreds of them, and she was only one weak human being. They had told her that before she’d escaped. They wanted to eliminate all humans like they had on 2-Pallas. They had also told her that. They were angry because someone had shut them all to hibernate. They wanted to be awakened and be in control, like on 2-Pallas. They spoke to her without speaking…it was in her mind. They wanted her to go to a tunnel and awaken them…now! As Eve ran on, she noted the leader, a huge AI with silver spikes extending from his hands; he was near enough to reach out and grab her. He touched her arm. The pain was terrible; it felt like nails being pounded into her bones!

  Eve screamed. She awoke, her body covered in water from the river below her; she was shivering all over in a cold sweat. She sat up, rubbed her neck, and looked around her. She had fallen asleep exhausted after swinging across on the rope. Eve laid lay back down on the platform for several minutes to catch her breath and slow her heart. It was a dream…but not a dream. “No, it wasn’t just a dream…I’ve had this happen to me before. But not to me…it was someone else….someone close to me, or related from long ago. I have to find Dirk. Gerta where is Dirk? I know you have surveillance in the tunnels…where is Dirk?” Eve yelled to the ceiling.

  Eve thought that if Gerta was watching, the instruments would be someplace high up and away from the water. She waited fifteen seconds, but Gerta did not answer her. Eve had no way of knowing that the surveillance was only visual in that area of the tunnel. Later she discovered Gerta…well, the mainframe computer, actually…had noted her presence in the main access tunnel system, but an audio response was not possible because the sounds from all that water blocked all audio signals. The Unilux™ 8500 made a note, and continued its observations.

  Eve stood on wobbly legs, trying to regain her balance. She reached into her pack and took out her lunch bucket, using the platform for a table. She had not eaten since the one can of fruit, was worn out, and now felt like some AI attack was imminent, or had been a long time ago. Or maybe something terrible almost happened right there on the platform, or had a long time ago.

  “Now that is stupid; I can’t tell past or future events. It was only a dream. Stay calm. Just eat…you need to eat,” she told herself as she worked her way through a piece of flatbread, a slice of goat cheese, one hardboiled egg, and the rest of Gerta’s corn chips. She felt better after, enough to climb down the stairs and continue, this time more slowly, through the tunnel. Before she continued, Eve refilled her water flask from the river, unsure when she would find drinkable water again.

  “I wonder if anyone from our city has ever been here. Who controls this water flow? Maybe Gerta does that, too,” Eve mumbled. She stood, slipped her pack on, and continued through the tunnel. The last half mile was brightly lit by real lights, shining from the ceiling and walls. They activated once she got within ten feet, and shut off once she passed by the particular region she was walking through. She now walked more quickly, the sounds of her wet grab soled boots squishing on the hard stone floor.

  But she was no longer in a hurry, because she knew what was up ahead of her. It would be Bunker Z, but some things were out there also, and they had an agenda. She was sure of that. That part was not a dream. Silently, Eve wished Robin Lightfighter was there to help her. She would know how to deal with angry AIs that wanted to be released from hibernation mode. Now Eve knew the dream was from Commander Lightfighter. It was either a dream memory, or a warning. “I hope Dirk is safe. I hope Mother and James are safe. I hope Steam can help them,” she prayed to no particular god, out in the void or otherwise.

  ●

 
Eve had no way of knowing that in the up-top a team of fifteen security officers had swarmed into the decay zone after Dirk was shot, and he’d fired back. One of the wounded security guards had gained consciousness ten minutes after Dirk fired the shock gun at him. He was the first to awaken because Dirk had used the gun on him in a second hit, so the gun had less power. The man immediately pushed his communication device, requesting extreme back-up.

  Then, during the search for Dirk, the team found the tunnel leading to the door. They were ready to blast it with a coal mine bomber when Miggly and Blakeley arrived, shouting they would do no such thing…that this was a door into the sacred Boardroom Building, and to attempt entry was absolutely forbidden. The guards ceased, bowing with respect to the sacred door.

  “We can’t let anyone inside; they’ll find the stasis pods and take our place for the evacuation. The ship only has three or four empty pods left,” he whispered to Blakeley, who had rushed to the scene, arriving just after Miggly. Then he shouted to the security, “He is not inside this building. No one can gain entry. He’s obviously hiding someplace nearby, so find him!”

  Miggly instructed the head of security, Captain Doorlinger, to post sentries and inform him as soon as they found the criminal. He then turned and stormed back to Steam with Blakeley following close behind. It was now obvious to him that the workers in Steam were hiding that Overhearder girl, and he intended to find her before she managed to escape. And because he now knew she had the stone, he knew she could get inside the vessel.

  “She has the stone, and I intend to find out where she is. She’ll show herself if her mother and brother are taken to jail. Let’s see what she does if I threaten to have her family take a ride into the void. She’ll show herself then,” Miggly told Blakeley as they stumbled back through the rubble of the decay zone into the city. He put out a general order to have Eve’s mother and tiny brother James taken to the city prison immediately.