Adventures on RV Traveler (Free Trader Series Book 3)

by Craig Martelle

  They checked the storage area behind the space, expecting to find more bodies. They were pleased when they did not. The area led to the track system where parts could be moved anywhere in the ship using the central access. They saw the corridor and the bulkhead of the Bridge. Having seen the three-dimensional maps and now looking at it fresh, it all made sense. One central spindle upon which everything turned. The corridor to the bridge remained steady. The external shell of the ship was steady. Everything else rotated.

  The ancients were geniuses, industrial giants who not only devised this ship, they built it and flew it for three millennia to the Cygnus system. Braden and Micah took in the sights from the end of the parts storage area, rectifying what they saw with the maps in their heads.

  When they returned to the Maintenance and Service space on radial zero, they couldn’t tell if anything changed. Micah expanded her window and asked Holly for an update.

  He didn’t answer for an uncomfortably long period of time.

  ‘I am into their system. I didn’t want to risk failure by stopping. I’ve solidified my access, building a shielded portal. I am reviewing the coding now to answer our questions. Why and how did they lock out the main computer? What is their primary goal? How are they communicating with each other? What future attacks can we expect? How can we ‘fix’ them to keep running the ship as I need them to?’ Micah raised her eyebrows at the last part. She wasn’t happy with Holly leading an Android army. She held her tongue and reduced the window.

  “Let’s have a look at that burn on your chest. Where else are you hurt?” Micah saw Braden favoring his arm and his leg. She pulled him close to her and demanded that he take his clothes off.

  “Right here, lover? With the Android watching?” He winked at her and started gyrating as he unbuckled and unbuttoned.

  “Stop it, you! You’ve taken everything the Androids have thrown at us. I want to see the injuries you’re hiding!”

  Braden took off his harness, light armor, and shirt. His chest hair was matted and smelled rank. They’d rinsed off in the stream on Deck 2, but how long ago was that--two, three sleeps? They’d probably have to burn their clothes when they got back, unless a Server Bot came to the rescue.

  Braden’s Old Tech fabric armor had protected his chest, but his arms were uncovered. There was a thin line across Braden’s upper left arm where the Android’s laser beam had burned across. It wasn’t deep, but it looked painful. Micah rubbed numbweed on it, pleased with the relief on Braden’s face. The bandage around his lost fingers had loosened. She tightened it. The lasers sealed the wounds, so there was no blood, but the damage was extensive. She wondered if the Medical Laboratory at New Sanctuary could do anything for her mate. In addition to the scarring, he was starting to leave body parts behind.

  She checked his ankle, which was heavily bruised, but not broken. There wasn’t anything she could do to help that. When they got back to the Aviary, he could soak it in the cool stream. For now, zero-g kept his weight from it, but it was starting to swell. She knew that he would be in worse shape later.

  She expanded her window. ‘Holly, do we have to stay here? Do you need us back on the Bridge or can we go to the Aviary?’

  As the President, she should have told Holly what they were going to do, not asked for permission. But they were on the ship, and he had answers that they needed. He controlled everything because the ship was just like him, a living machine.

  ‘I have things under control. I simply need time. Pik and Aadi can join you on Deck 2 if they wish. They should send the humans to their Crew Quarters. I will lock them out of the Bridge. That will be easier than trying to watch them.’ Holly was congenial, but seemed distracted, which was difficult for a disembodied hologram to pull off. Micah knew how busy he was and shut it out of her mind. Let him work his programs and systems.

  Braden dressed after Micah told him they could go to the Aviary. ‘Aadi! You and Pik will see the humans off the Bridge, then Holly will lock it behind you. Take them to their quarters and then you two join us in the Aviary.’

  ‘That sounds wonderful, Master Micah! Holly has already instructed old Treecia and Gill to leave the Bridge. They resisted briefly, but Pik has his spear and they thought better of fighting back. They are leaving. We’ll let them take the elevator by themselves, then we’ll take the next one. Holly wants Pik to mash a few more buttons before we go.’ Aadi was cordial and soon told Micah that they’d left the Bridge and were on their way.

  Braden and Micah pulled themselves down the access tube, then waited for the elevator to appear. They went to the Bridge level first where the elevator could reorient itself, then they went to Deck 2. They dropped lightly to the floor as the elevator slowed. They walked into the Aviary almost normally, although Braden limped heavily once he put weight on his damaged ankle.

  They welcomed the cacophony of sound. It was a better normal for those from the planet. The companions waited patiently, happy to have their feet under them. The Golden Warrior sprawled across a limb, his legs dangling, with Skirill and Zyena beside him. Aadi floated serenely nearby. Pik stood in the shade, looking like he wanted to enter the forest.

  “The stream and lake should be right through there.” Braden pointed at a gap in the trees. Without waiting, Braden hobbled in the direction he’d pointed. Micah caught up to him and threw her arm across his shoulders. Once Pik saw where they were going, he moved in front of them, keeping his spear at the ready. He hadn’t done a good job of protecting Braden so far and felt he needed to redeem himself.

  The Hawkoids flew from the branch over the trees and down to the small lake. They flared together, landing close on a tree branch that overhung the stream pouring into the lake.

  Aadi swam after them. He had much to discuss with the humans.

  40 – A Break

  Braden sat on a rock, dangling his foot in the stream and letting the cold water work on his ankle. The bruise was an ugly color, but the pain lessened as the water chilled his lower leg.

  Braden and Micah had closed their windows fully. When they usually closed them, it meant they were reduced in size, shoved in a corner away from their line of sight. This time, their neural implants were off.

  ‘Holly will take as much control as we’ll give him. I think he was designed that way. You, Master President, can limit what he does. I’ve seen him defer to you when I know he wants something different. He is our friend, for now.’ Aadi talked through the facts as he’d seen them. With Holly projected on the Bridge, this was the first time the companions other than the Tortoid had any long term interaction with the hologram.

  ‘How will we know if he turns and decides it’s time to take over?’ Micah asked as she swam about the lake, having washed her clothes before jumping in. They hung on a tree beside a small beach. Braden’s shirt and pants hung with them. He had a blaster at his side.

  Just in case.

  Holly was certain the Androids communicated with each other on a closed system. They’d been told that the President and her entourage of intelligent animals were dangerous. At least there were fourteen fewer Androids to deal with. He suspected that the Traveler shipped out from Earth with thousands of Androids on board. How many were destroyed before they isolated themselves? Holly didn’t know, which meant that he didn’t know how many remained.

  ‘I fear that we won’t know in time. We need to establish the failsafe before then.’ Aadi blinked slowly as he chose his words carefully. ‘You need to issue the commands.’ Micah swam closer, staying away from the cooler water feeding the lake.

  “You’re telling me I have to tell Holly to do something, but we don’t know what by a certain time, but we don’t know when.” Braden nodded and then shook his head. Exactly.

  ‘Yes, Master Micah. Before we get off this ship, we need to decide what order you have to give it. What will keep it from driving us to a new war?’

  Braden shrugged. He had thought long and hard when they were traveling on the planet and hadn’t
come up with anything. If it wasn’t as simple as telling Holly not to start a war, then he was lost. He couldn’t think like the hologram. He pinned his hopes on Aadi, First Master of the Tortoise Consortium.

  The Tortoid came up with the purity test, an interesting concept coming from a mutant, but he wasn’t applying it to physical attributes.

  Micah still chewed on it. She believed the answer was there. They only had to find it.

  She got out of the water and sauntered toward Braden. He was instantly aware of her nakedness. “Now, now. I don’t think we’ll be doing anything on this ship. This place bothers me. Things here wants us dead.”

  ‘I will watch over you,’ G-War said warmly.

  ‘And me, Master Humans,’ Aadi chimed in as he swam through the air toward the far side of the lake.

  ‘And us,’ Skirill and Zyena said in unison. They took to the air and circled lazily around the opening above the lake.

  ‘And me. I will keep you safe to my last breath,’ Pik added after the others.

  “I guess we have no choice now but to let our friends protect us,” Braden offered as he stood gingerly. His ankle hurt, but not as much as before. It would all be forgotten soon.

  ‘Thank you all,’ Micah said softly as she joined her partner on the shore of the small lake fed by a trickling stream.

  41 – Aligning the Ship

  They realized that Holly had finished mastering the ship’s systems when they felt something different. Besides being pulled toward the deck, there was a new force pulling them aft.

  The ship was moving.

  They’d forgotten to turn their neural implants back on. Going through the steps, they reactivated their implants and opened the windows.

  ‘Sorry, Holly, we got distracted. We assume you are aligning the ship?’ Micah wanted Holly’s confirmation.

  ‘Yes, the ship is breaking orbit and moving to the far side of the moon. We’ll stay beyond the gravitational pull of the nearby planetary bodies so the line of sight between Cygnus VI and the ship is uninterrupted. Once there, we’ll begin the transfer process. We can transfer twelve at one time. It’ll take two full process cycles to complete.’

  ‘How long will that be, in turns?’ Micah asked.

  ‘It will take a total of five days, or five turns in your vernacular. I asked before you went aboard the Traveler that you keep your neural implants active. Please do not turn them off again. We are in a critical phase of ship operation. I may need to talk with you at any time and get permission to perform necessary actions, or if you wish, you could give me blanket access to everything regarding the ship.’

  Is he baiting me, Micah thought. Braden watched the proceeding in his own window. He shook his head as well as mouthed the word no.

  ‘Please accept our apologies. We will leave our implants active until you have saved us all. You know I can’t give blanket permission. No one, not even me, should have that much power. We need to maintain a failsafe, to avoid accidental killings and ultimately, to avoid war,’ Micah said firmly. She wanted to plant the seed in Holly’s consciousness and nurture it until it blossomed and he lived within its shade.

  ‘I understand,’ Holly said in his calm voice. ‘Here is what’s going on. The ship is accelerating on a trajectory that takes it past the moon, away from Cygnus VII. I will cut power shortly and the gravity from the moon will pull the ship around it. I will engage the engines briefly to depart the moon’s orbit. Once our trajectory to space is confirmed, I will rotate the ship and fire the engines at intervals until the ship is stopped. I will then use the attitude thrusters to ensure the aft end of the ship is canted forty-five degrees from Cygnus VI. This will be perfect alignment to begin the matter transfer process. The people of Cygnus VI have informed me that they are standing by. We should be ready to begin transferring them in less than one turn, by your measure. I’ve added a countdown clock to your window, so that you will know the exact moment the first group from Cygnus VI is on board. I will adjust the time as necessary as I learn more.’

  Braden and Micah didn’t want to tell Holly they didn’t understand what he said so Micah settled for, ‘Thanks, Holly. You’ve done incredible work to get us to this point. We look forward to being back in the New Command Center where we can laugh and smile about this grand adventure we’re on.’

  Braden gave her a thumbs up, and then looked at the countdown clock before reducing his window.

  77:04

  Holly’s time showed that in seventy-seven hours and four minutes, twelve survivors would be puking in the matter transmission chamber. Then they’d find their way into the engineering spaces where they were told to wait until the next group arrived. Hopefully the vines were dead and not angry. They’d ask Holly to advise the group more fully on what awaited them, including Braden, Micah, and the companions.

  Holly didn’t need them on the Bridge. He was moving the ship without human or Android assistance.

  “The Androids.,” Braden said. He’d almost forgotten about them. “I think they are going to be waiting for us, trying to stop us or looking for revenge.” Braden absently rubbed his arm where the Android’s laser beam would leave a permanent mark.

  “As long as Holly has the Bridge, I think we can head aft,” Braden suggested. He didn’t know how long it would take to get back. He hoped they could make it more quickly, but as he always said, hope is a lousy plan.

  “Your hover car awaits, Master President,” Braden said with a bow.

  “I hope my manservant remembers how to drive it, otherwise a serious beating may be in his future,” she said with a smirk and a toss of her head. Her colored braids flipped over her shoulder as she strolled away from the lake. They left the rest of their latest capybara dinner for the birds, which Zyena said would be happy to clean up the remainder.

  They’d rested for a couple turns on Deck 2 before the ship started moving. Braden barely limped when he walked, while the others were well and healthy. It had been a good rest. They were ready for the next leg in their journey home.

  42 – The Ramp Between Decks

  Braden hadn’t forgotten how to operate the hover car. It responded to his gentle caresses, taking them quickly across Deck 2. He seemed to enjoy weaving his way between the trees and over grand roots, dodging birds that frolicked close to the windows. The car had a full load, but they weren’t in a hurry.

  Skirill and Zyena flew ahead and were waiting for them when they arrived at the ramp. Micah got out and walked to the door, opened it, and went through. The screen started rolling up, and Braden eased the hover car closer. As soon as he could drive underneath, he did and Micah reversed the process. Birds flew in and out, until one screech from Zyena sent those inside racing back to Deck 2. With the Hawkoids perched on the edge of the doors, the companions started downward.

  The hover car handled sluggishly. The Hawkoids weren’t that heavy to upset the balance of the vehicle, but Braden stopped after a short drive and got out to make sure nothing was wrong.

  The buzzing in his head started as soon as he left the vehicle. It felt like when the underwater vehicle tried to talk with him, but magnified. He dropped to his knees. Micah felt it too, light at first, but quickly building in intensity. The companions looked on in alarm. There was no sound in their minds.

  Old Tech.

  Pik opened the door on his side of the car and the companions pushed Aadi out. They followed him onto the ramp and looked about. Micah remained in the hover car, pressing her hands tightly against the sides of her head.

  Aadi swam forward, while G-War ran ahead. Pik looked behind them. He held his spear ready as he stalked back the way they’d come.

  The Hawkoids took to the air. Skirill flew past Aadi while Zyena flew upwards toward the screen.

  ‘There, Golden Warrior. Do you see it? A box of some sort.’ The ‘cat stalked the box, hackles raised. He sniffed it.

  Androids.

  ‘Take care of this thing, Aadi,’ G-War requested and then bolted away. The T
ortoid delivered a focused thunderclap into the box, exploding it magnificently. Sparks of all colors showered the ramp, temporarily blinding the companions. Skirill should not have watched, but he did. He backwinged when he couldn’t see anything, trying to hover, hoping that his sight would return quickly.

  With the ship spinning, the deck moved appreciably while he tried to hover. The ramp’s wall closed on him until his wingtip hit it. Skirill adjusted, then dropped lower. When his wingtip hit again, he realized he needed help. ‘Can anyone see to help me land?’

  ‘I’m coming!’ Zyena shouted over the mindlink. Her sleek body flashed the short distance past the hover car to where Skirill struggled. She shared her view with him and shortly, he landed on the ramp. Soon, shapes came back into focus. Zyena landed next to him, looking closely.

  The Tortoid and Hillcat recovered as quickly. The companions were happy to see their humans standing.

  ‘Holly, what the crap was that?’ Braden walked closer to the box. The pain in his head wouldn’t soon be forgotten.

  ‘I was afraid this would happen. It appears that the Androids are not at all pleased. They are fighting back. Watch yourselves. There are numerous access ways from the ramp to the area between decks. This is where the crew ran the ship. The main decks in the core areas are like the bed of a wagon, to use an analogy that. They carry things that will be needed someplace else. But the people driving the wagon are elsewhere. The horses, the harness, your bow, the place you sleep – those are all separate from the wagon bed. The wagon bed is the area between decks. It is extensive and filled with everything necessary to operate the ship.’

  ‘We don’t want to go that way, Holly. It sounds like tight quarters where our Hawkoid friends won’t be able to help us.’

  ‘Your hover car is out of commission. Deck 3 is over run with beetles. Deck 2. Maybe you can take Deck 2 to the forward bulkhead and access the pod system there?’ Holly suggested.