The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  “Cammarry! There is no need to be so rude and irritated,” Jerome intervened. “This is difficult for all of us.”

  “So what?” Cammarry snapped. “You want to just quit and sit around playing some ancient musical instrument? I am not giving up. Sandie, assess the nonphysicality here and find me something that will help us.”

  “I am happy to assist,” Sandie replied, ignoring the meanness. “Please connect the cable into an access port.”

  Cammarry pulled the retractable cable out and inserted it into an access port near the door to the apartment. Nothing happened.

  “Well?” Cammarry snapped. “What did you find?”

  “I found that this access port is not functional. Please try another one,” Sandie answered.

  Cammarry pressed her lips tightly together and yanked the cable from the wall. She looked around and found another access port next to a broken monitor on the other wall. “Try this one.”

  “It is functional. I am entering the nonphysicality now,” Sandie said. A moment later the AI stated, “This section of the nonphysicality is also segmented away from the others. There is an interesting finding here. There is a power line which runs through this apartment and to a small place forty meters down the hall and around a corner. The schematics show a limited amount of information about that other locality. That place has an identification as an Emergency Supply Rescue Cabinet. Links and couplings from that location appear to branch to other locations, however, from this spot there is a nonphysical chasm which I cannot cross to do further assessments. I only have a shadowy sense of what lies in that Emergency Supply Rescue Cabinet. There is a list labeled, ‘standard ESRC equipment’ which I can read from this distance.”

  “So tell me what you found,” Cammarry snapped. “It is about time you helped us.”

  Jerome took in a deep breath and refrained from criticizing Cammarry. Instead he said, “While you two investigate those things, I will remove the dim lighting in the ceiling of the bedroom to make for a more pleasant night’s sleep. We will not be successful in anything unless we get proper sleep and food. When that happens we can continue onward.” He walked away who Cammarry did not reply.

  “The ESRC is said to contain the following as standard equipment: ‘Fire suppression equipment, first-aid supplies, a vibration saw, a pocket tool kit, a level B console’. I also found reference to ESRCs potentially having a ‘backup special control panel’ behind them,” Sandie stated. “I cannot tell from here what is in that specific ESRC. Shall we check it out?” Sandie’s bubbly optimism continued, despite the way Cammarry was acting.

  “Of course! Anything we can find that will help us. We need to punch a signal through, and we must find some way to do that. That crazy old man said a shuttle might have the equipment needed. Sandie? I am sorry for being angry. I just wish we had connected back to Dome 17.”

  “Yes, our inability to do that is tragic and difficult,” Sandie replied. “As you exit this apartment, turn right, and follow the hall for ten meters. The ESRC will be on your right.”

  Cammarry, not saying anything to Jerome, unjacked the com-link and left the apartment. In the hallway Cammarry pulled out her fusion pack and activated the light. The bright beam cut through the gloom of the dimly lit corridor. She walked about twenty meters and encountered a fence. The hallway was the typical style of the Conestoga, covered by the growth medium with short plants growing on the floor. The walls were dull with marks of stains where water had run out of the open ventilation ductwork. The wire fence was about a meter and a half high, and woven into a mesh with spaces about three fingers square. On one side of the dim corridor the wire fence had been welded to several spots on the wall. At the other side, the fence mesh was butted up against the wall, and several heavy and thick wires wrapped around metal rings which were set into the wall. Cammarry unhooked the heavy wire from the rings and pulled back on the mesh. It moved easily enough, and she continued into the hallway. She did not shut the fence behind her.

  Reaching the corner, the hallway separated into a Y at a junction. She took the right hand corridor. “Sandie, I do not see anything like what you described. What should I look for exactly?”

  The AI answered, “I am not sure. You are within one meter of the location, as perceived in the nonphysicality. I do not have any way of predicting how it will look from your point of view.”

  “I do!” Cammarry exclaimed. She set the fusion pack down and adjusted its light which illuminated the area. She reached forward and brushed hard against the wall. Some growth medium slid off, and revealed a black letter R. With vigorous rubbing and brushing, Cammarry revealed the front surface of a cabinet door. It was labeled with ESRC in black on the dull lighter colored door. Some parts of the lettering had yellow around them, which had once outlined the whole perimeter of the label.

  Cammarry pulled a multi-tool from her belt pouch. She opened a small permalloy blade and began to dig the gunk out of the seam around the door. “I do not see a handle or lever of anyway to open this.”

  “It may be automated,” Sandie answered. “In an emergency, it might come open, or there may have been a remote control method of opening it.”

  “That is really dumb if it is for emergencies,” Cammarry remarked. “But the corrupted state of this old ship leaves a lot to be desired. I do not see any access ports, but there might be one under this grime and grit.” She continued to dig at the seam, and then pushed in on the side of the door. A small panel opened a fraction. “Found it!”

  “An access port?” Sandie asked.

  “No. The manual controls to open this thing.” Using the blade, Cammarry forced that panel to move and inside it was a yellow lever. She pulled down on that and with an unexpectedly loud pop, the ESRC door swung open, and the yellow handle broke off and fell to the deck.

  Inside there were three shelves, about thirty centimeters deep. On the lowest shelf was a wound up hose which was connected to the back wall of the box. The red colored hose was marked ‘Fire Retardant’. Next to that was an antique vibration saw with a set of interchangeable blades. Cammarry recalled the far superior molecular torch in her backpack and dismissed that old tool. The center shelf had a green colored box which Cammarry took out and opened. Inside were gauze bandages, some stainless steel scissors, and several vials of some kind of liquids. Looking at the labels, she saw that they were antiseptics and topical medications. The top shelf had a number of small brown boxes all stamped with ‘Emergency Rations’ which Cammarry examined more closely and realized were some kind of food. The cartons which held them were tiny suspended animation containers, and the food inside might still be safe to eat. She broke the seal on one of the boxes, and a fresh, warm, and enticing smell struck her nose.

  “It is food,” Cammarry said to herself. “Food in suspended animation, but now ready. It has to be better than those cheeses of Khin.”

  “That looks to be a food that was called, hash, if I am identifying it correctly,” Sandie said.

  “It has a strong taste, but not too excessive.” Cammarry finished eating the hash from its container, and then set the empty down. She packed all the other food packages into her backpack. After they were stored away, she then examined the rear of the cabinet. There was a sliding lever which she activated, and the shelves folded down and made a sort of frame around the hose. Then the back of the cabinet slid down and revealed a nine section color control pad. All nine sections were brightly lit up. Next to that was an access port.

  “Sandie, we finally are getting somewhere,” Cammarry said as she pulled the cable out and jacked it into the port.

  “Assessing the nonphysicality,” Sandie said. “The security code here on this color pad is blue, green, green, white, blue, yellow. It looks as if there is another compartment behind this one. That code will allow you to gain entrance to that compartment.”

  “Excellent!” Cammarry replied and punched in the access code sequence.

  “Maaaaaa! Yeeeoooo! Baaaaaeee!
”

  Cammarry jumped! Several loud goats were bleating right behind her. Three full grown goats leaped around her and one butted her from behind very aggressively. She fell forward as well as leaping in an attempt to get away. The compartment at the rear of the ESRC also opened at that same moment and her arm fell into the area behind.

  “Youch!” Cammarry yelled as something slashed down on her arm. It cut through her tough radiations absorbing material clothing and sliced a deep gash in her forearm.

  “Implantation complete,” a very strange voice said.

  Cammarry jerked her arm out of the cabinet, and as she pulled away, the com-link on her ear fell off as the cable was wrapped around some of the items on the shelves.

  The goat rammed her again as she plopped down onto the plant covered floor.

  “Go away!” Cammarry screamed as she struck out at the goat. Blood was pouring from her injured arm.

  “Grrrrrr.” A deep throated and rumbly noise came from the com-link.

  The goats all stopped short and stared.

  Then a loud, ear piercing bay came from the com-link followed by another growl and a very loud howl. “Yowlllleee! Harruuuwwleeee!!”

  The goats fled in terror.

  “Cammarry, I see you are injured,” Sandie said, her voice replacing the mean sounding animal noises that had been emanating from the com-link. “Please place direct pressure on the wound and use a gel pack.”

  Cammarry used her uninjured arm’s hand to squeeze down hard on the injury. That stanched the blood flow. As she did that, she used her injured arm’s hand to grab the medical kit. It was awkward, but she was able to get it out and pulled one of the packs of trauma gel from the side of it. Ripping the trauma gel package open, she spread that on the injury. It immediately sealed and sterilized the wound.

  “That looks like a very good immediate response,” Sandie said. “Can you explain what happened?”

  “No,” Cammarry replied as she watched the trauma gel harden. “I got struck from behind, by that animal, and then something carved into my arm.”

  She was then able to connect the wires from the medical kit to her arm. She activated the diagnostic. It read out, ‘Female in excellent health suffering from a puncture and slashing wound to right arm. Trauma gel has been applied. No further treatment necessary. Wound is clean edged and free of foreign objects. Gel contains analgesics. Prognosis excellent.’

  “Sandie what did you mean by saying, ‘Implantation complete’?”

  “I did not say that,” Sandie answered. “I have reviewed the audio and video from this incident, and there is no record of those words being said. I have identified the implement which injured you. It was only briefly in your field of vision, so I did not get a prolonged look at it. If you can replace the com-link on your ear, I can continue to assist in a more efficient manner.”

  Cammarry replaced the medical kit into her backpack, and then picked up the com-link and secured it to her ear. “Sandie, what was all that noise?”

  “That was a recorded cry of a feral dog, circa 1990s. I was unsure what effect it would have on the goats, but it was the first predator which I considered. I needed to protect you.”

  “It scared the goats, and me as well,” Cammarry said. “I guess I misunderstood what I was hearing with the animals and the injury.”

  Jerome came charging down the hallway, the Willie Blaster held at the ready. “Cammarry, Sandie said you were injured. What happened?”

  Cammarry held out her arm with the ripped open sleeve and the dried trauma gel. “Something in this cabinet slashed my arm.”

  Jerome had deep concern etched on his face, but Cammarry looked past it and into the cabinet. ‘My arm will heal fine.”

  Jerome turned to also look closely inside the ESRC. The back wall had lowered down revealing a chamber. Inside that was a control board with dials, gauges, buttons, and a small display screen. The screen was pulsing with a dull yellow glow. Along the top of the chamber was a folded up, multi-jointed, mechanical arm. On the end of that was a triple fingered appendage. Blood was across the tips of two of the fingers on that. There were also fragments from Cammarry’s RAM shirt.

  “That is what injured me, but what is it?”

  Jerome reached tentatively toward it and the mechanical limb shot downward in a vicious slash. He jumped back, and it missed him completely. Across the screen scrolled the words, ‘Unauthorized Access Forbidden’ in bold black lettering.

  “Sandie? You said you had the code to enter this. You let me get injured?”

  “Cammarry, I gave you the proper access codes for that color pad. This control board must be secured using a different protocol,” Sandie replied. “I apologize for not knowing this would happen.”

  “Was it shown in the nonphysicality?” Jerome asked.

  “No. The schematics showed the control board, and the locked access panel. I circumvented the access panel to achieve the proper color sequence code, but I saw no evidence of any other security programs,” Sandie replied. “The nonphysicality here is in poor condition, and the readings are not complete.”

  “Then you could not have known,” Jerome said simply. “It is not your fault.”

  “Why are you defending Sandie? I am the one who got injured.”

  “Cammarry, I am so sorry you were hurt, but Sandie could not have known. The systems here are broken, segregated, and sometimes look to be very poorly designed. It was bad that you got hurt, but no one is at fault.” Jerome put the Willie Blaster away. “You should come back to that apartment we found. You need to rest and recover. We can evaluate this more later.”

  “No. I want to find out all about this ESRC thing,” Cammarry said roughly. “I am still trying to complete our mission.”

  “Cammarry, it really would be better if we rested.” Jerome was gentle in his words.

  “I said no. Do your old sayings confuse that word? I think I was pretty clear on that. No means no,” Cammarry snapped back. “Please leave.”

  “I will stay and help you,” Jerome offered. “We are in this together. The most powerful force on this planet is cooperation.”

  “Enough with your old witticisms. We are not on a planet; in case you have forgotten. This is a derelict, old colony ship. Your obsolete idioms and colloquialisms will not get the job done,” Cammarry snarled. “Please go now. I will join you when I have his figured out.”

  Jerome was hurt, surprised, and baffled. “Call me on the com-link if I can be of any help.”

  “Sure, I will summon you when needed. Just go away, now,” Cammarry snapped and turned her back.

  Jerome walked quietly away.

  Sandie spoke next, “Cammarry? Was the injury to your arm more severe than I understood?”

  “The injury you let me receive? Now you care about it?”

  “I apologize for that. I will use utmost caution in upcoming assessments. Please forgive me.”

  Cammarry ignored the artificial intelligence system. She unpacked her molecular torch and fired it up. She was set to severe the mechanical arm and then begin an investigation of the control board. As she reached forward, with her cutting blade ready to be deployed, the small display screen blinked and changed from yellow with black lettering to a deep blue screen with white letters. ‘Access Granted. Identity Recognized’ scrolled across the screen.

  “The system knows you,” the strange voice stated.

  “So now it is safe?” Cammarry said but kept her eye on the mechanical arm.

  “It might be prudent to wait and assess this when both you and Jerome are here to watch for….” Sandie began to say.

  “Shut up!” Cammarry ordered. “You already let me get hurt, you have done enough. I can do this better without your interference.”

  Using the molecular saw, she switched its settings to welding and sealed several spots on the joints of the mechanical arm to prevent it from operation.

  The display screen now scrolled out, ‘How may I be of assistance?” An ol
d style keyboard slid out from beneath the display screen.

  “Ask it what you need. It will be reliable and trustworthy,” the odd voice said.

  “Where is engineering?” Cammarry said as she typed. “This thing must have audio inputs as well as this antique mode of inquiry. A keyboard? What an inefficient manner to work.”

  “May I suggest that…” Sandie began.

  “I told you to shut up. I want my privacy for once!” Cammarry pulled the com-link from her ear and switched it off. She set the com-link down on the shelf in the ESRC.

  “Now we can speak more freely,” the voice came to Cammarry again. “I am Shadow, and I want to help you with your mission.”

  “So I found one of the Conestoga’s artificial intelligence systems? One that is functional? Excellent. I guess that old man, Danny, was wrong. I knew there were some AIs here on this old ship, well he called you synthetic brains, or SBs. Is that what you want to be called?”