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

by John Thornton

  “Sandie? Sandie?” Jerome called out, but there was no response.

  Siva placed his hand on Jerome’s shoulder. “In twelve hours, we can connect again. Twice per day for roughly a minute, depending upon Zalia’s atmospheric conditions, we can make contact with Sandie.”

  Monika pointed at the medical kit. “There is a prescription on that display.”

  The scrolling letters read, ‘Inject into any large muscle mass: one daily, first of seven,’ and there was a syringe which had been ejected from the bottom.

  “Excellent!” Jerome hugged Monika and then Siva as well. “Thank you both! Tell Peter thank you also. This is wonderful!”

  “Heal me?” Cammarry mumbled. She licked her dry lips with a weak tongue. “Please?”

  “Yes!” Jerome said gleefully. He took the syringe and injected it into Cammarry’s thigh. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

  “I hope I was not inappropriate, but I also made a second filter to fit in your other communication link.” Siva held out a second box like the first. “This will work in the same manner, I will just need to connect it into place, synchronize the rhythm, and zero it to that specific unit. Then twice per day you can connect with Sandie the AI.”

  “Thank you very much!” Jerome said. He looked back at Cammarry. Her eyes were clearer now, and she slightly nodded her head.

  It took another week of daily injections, and continued verbal and physical therapy for Cammarry to show much recovery from what had happened to her. Each day Sandie monitored the situation, and prescribed a treatment. There was barely enough time to do that with the limits the new com-link system had, but they did it. Jerome desperately wanted to ask about Khin, but the time was used up on Cammarry.

  Finally, twenty three days after her collapse, Cammarry was sitting with Jerome when Jenna came up to them.

  “How are you two doing today?” Jenna asked. She folded her legs and sat down on the ground.

  “We were just about to connect to Sandie,” Cammarry said as she hooked the wires from the medical kit to her forehead. The com-link was already connected.

  “I dreamed that today was an important day for you both, so I hope you do not mind that I am here,” Jenna stated.

  “Not at all,” Jerome answered. “You and your people have been wonderful in allowing us to stay with you, even though we are not doing much work to assist with the carousel’s construction.”

  “Everyone plays a role in Beta, be it for good or for bad. Your role has been for good. Very good. The children have seen a man taking care of a woman with tenderness and compassion. They are inspired to be better people because of that, and it has healed many of them about their own feelings regarding their fathers abandoning them. I can tell you…”

  “Pardon me for interrupting, but our time of contact is here,” Jerome said as he activated the diagnostic button on the medical kit.

  “Information received,” Sandie stated. “Condition resolved. No further treatment needed.”

  “Hurray!” Jerome hugged Cammarry and Jenna patted both of their backs.

  Sandie was saying something, but it was lost in the joy Jerome was expressing.

  “Where is Khin?” Cammarry yelled.

  “Shuttle destination, near Reproduction and Fabrication, bow end of Habitat Beta. Twenty-seven kilometers from your current location. Deck….” Sandie’s voice faded out.

  Jerome pulled the wires off of Cammarry and swooped her up in a huge embrace. He twirled her around and around as he laughed with joy. She kissed him as he set her down.

  “Jerome, we must head out to find Khin,” Cammarry said as she pulled back from him for a moment.

  Jerome nodded and then pulled her close and held her again. After a few more moments, they separated. Jerome turned to Jenna who was smiling broadly at them both.

  “This would not have been possible without your people. Siva, Monika, Peter, and all the others. You have saved her life,” Jerome said.

  “That is indeed good news, and just as I dreamed.” Jenna pushed her straight black hair back and over her ear. “Of course you are free to go, but before you depart, may we talk of serious things?”

  Jerome and Cammarry sat down on their chairs. Cammarry looked around and took in all that was around her. The horses in the paddock behind them were slowly grazing along. The rudimentary foundation for the carousel was beyond that, and the people were working on it. Across the river, the wood cutting had been done, and the farm was in place. Then turning back to Jenna she said, “Yes, what do you wish to talk about?”

  “Jerome has spoken to nearly everyone here during your convalescence, and I have instructed all to share openly and honestly.” Jenna hesitated. “All except for me. I have not been as open and honest as I should have been.”

  Jerome and Cammarry had puzzled expressions, but just kept listening.

  “I have not told anyone here how serious the water shortage is, nor how critical things are becoming. Hydro-location is my gift, I know you are from Earth, so that term may not be familiar to you. People call it various things: doodle bugging, drowsing, water finding, water witching, or water sensing. When I was a small child, about twenty years ago, there was no real need for my gift. My mother and father, sisters, and brothers just knew I was good at telling them which pipes had water, and which did not. It spared my parents time and effort in opening pipes, but did little else. Well, as the drought happened, my gift became much more important.”

  “I can understand that,” Cammarry said.

  “Well, look at the river. It is only about a third of what it was when I was little. The pipes running in the ground are almost all empty. Rains which came every ten days, now come sporadically, and here it has not rained since we set up this camp.” Jenna looked down at the ground. “The carousels will draw water from the air, and that will help, but it will not be enough. I know your friend Khin is lost, and I understand you wish to seek him out. You have related how the Ferryman may be responsible for that disappearance.”

  “Yes, that is true.”

  “My I ask you two to find out where the Ferryman is getting his water?” Jenna stated bluntly.

  “I do not understand,” Jerome said. “The Ferryman has water?”

  “Yes. That is a temptation which is hard to resist. I believe the Ferryman is responsible for the loss of many people. We hear stories of how he promises to take people to another habitat where there is abundant water. He has tanks of water where he entices people. Then they go with him, and are never seen again. Two of my sisters went to see if it was real. They promised me they would find out what was happening and return. Neither has been seen again. I wonder if we need to go to that place as well, but I am not sure if it is real or what. There is something about the Ferryman I do not trust. Will you help me? Help us?”

  “How can we help?” Jerome asked.

  “Last night, I dreamed that you two went to the bow, where I hear most of the Ferryman stories come from, and you two revealed what is happening. My dream did not tell me if we need to go there or not, and I feel I must stay here to oversee the carousel’s construction. But my dream was insistent, and it had all the feel of hydro-location. I am sure it is about water, but I am perplexed as to how. I have never had a hydro-location sense about a person before, but this is the strongest sense I have ever felt. I also perceive significant danger to this idea, and it is with a heavy heart that I ask you. I was ready to leave this morning on my own, but that felt like certain failure. With you two, I believe there is hope, but how that looks, and what that means, and how it will all work out, that is a mystery.”

  “A wizard’s quest?” Jerome asked with a grin.

  “Khin would like that,” Cammarry replied as she looked at him.

  “I wish I knew more about the Ferryman. The stories all follow the same pattern, but the descriptions differ somewhat. He comes into one of the towns, makes claims of being able to take people to a better place. Then some people leave with h
im, and they never return.” Jenna stood up. “We will supply you with all that we can. Bigelow has agreed to drive you to the bow, to the town of Seron. That is where the latest story of the Ferryman comes from.”

  11 Journey to the bow

  The sky tube was increasing its glow as dawn came again to the biological habitat. There were fewer birds flying over, and the sounds of the animals around were less than on previous days. The air was dry, and the day looked to be hot.

  “Sandie says we are twenty-seven kilometers from the end of the biome,” Jerome reported as he walked up to the green troika and the three horses.

  “I know where we are heading. Seron is on a main road,” Bigelow said. “Agnes, Arabella, and Anika could probably take you there by themselves, but then I am not sure what I would do.” He took a long drink from his wine bottle.

  “Jerome, we have the supplies of food,” Cammarry said. “I went and thanked Siva, Monika, and Peter again for what they did for us. They told me that while I was ill, you had them look at the data sticks as well? Did you really do that?”

  “Yes, but only after they had established the contact with Sandie. I was still busy nursing you back to health, giving you injections, so during that time, they assessed the data sticks, but could not find out what is wrong with them. They were as stymied as we are.”

  Cammarry looked long and hard at Jerome. Her lips got tight and she forced out the words, “I suppose that was a reasonable attempt at a repair, but you should have consulted me.”

  “I did not want to stress you while you recovered. I am sorry if that was wrong.”

  “We must talk about things next time,” Cammarry snapped back.

  “I agree. You were in no condition to be consulted,” Jerome replied tersely. “I was overwhelmed with helping you. You are the one who was running off alone on the needle ship and now you chastise me for staying with you?”

  “Do not bring….” Cammarry retorted, but was interrupted.

  “Come now, my friends! Is this any way to start the journey?” Bigelow asked. “Quarreling is never a good way to start. Climb up and we will be off.”

  With an exchange of hurt and angry looks, Jerome and Cammarry slung their backpacks into the back of the wagon and climbed up into the troika. Bigelow whistled and clicked to the horses who moved off. “We should be in Seron by nightfall. I will find a place to rest, and come back here tomorrow. What will you do?”

  Jerome sat quietly, waiting for Cammarry to answer. She finally said, “Look for Khin. Find a way to go up to Reproduction and Fabrication. Learn what we can about the Ferryman.”

  “That is a mighty tall order. Jenna warned me that your adventure will probably take some considerable time,” Bigelow answered. “I will be picking up some supplies tomorrow morning before I head back. The farm needs some items, and I like to get the children small trinkets to brighten up their lives. Perhaps some flower seeds?”

  Bigelow drove the troika around the paddock, which several of the roustabouts were repositioning to where more grass was growing. Then he followed the river as it headed upstream. There were occasional small brooks or creeks which flowed into the river, all of which were on the opposite side. Some of those creeks were nearly all the way dried up. Others had a small but steady trickle, or flow of water. The plants growing around the water were more lush, but still not as vibrant as the foliage Jerome and Cammarry had seen in Habitat Alpha. Rarely did birds fly by, and there were glimpses of small animals which scurried away as the troika rolled on.

  The light grew brighter as the day progressed, and the air got a bit less dry. Something flipped out of the river and made a small splash.

  “Aquatic animals?” Jerome asked. “Some kinds of fish or something?”

  “That was probably a frog. When I was a lad, the river was as wide as the banks,” Bigelow stated as he pointed with one hand. “See the edges of where the water used to be? Frogs used to be so common you could not walk along the river without seeing dozens leaping in. The tributaries also were all full. The water there flows down through the forest and into the river. Now some of those do not flow at all, even on the rare days rain does come.”

  There was a dried out and crumbly bank along the edges of the river. Some rocks, and dried tree branches marked off the boundary. A few birds walked or hopped across the dried out areas, and down to the waterline. On the far side, the trees of the forest did look stressed with brown edges to their leaves, and some whole trees were dead and barren of leaves.

  A while later, they came to a road which was paved. Made from some kind of grayish pebbly materials, the surface was smooth and even, which the horses eagerly pranced up onto. The troika rolled along at a greater speed, even though the road was sloped gradually uphill. The road had come from the left and turned to follow the river parallel to the sky tube.

  “This is the main road. It leads from the bow to the ocean at the stern, what is left of the ocean anyway. Here we are at the center-point of the habitat. The road shifts from following this river to the other river which is about ten kilometers away.” Bigelow again drank some from his bottle. “That river is just as bad off as this one.”

  “A second river?” Jerome asked.

  Bigelow looked at him curiously. “I keep forgetting you are foreigners here. Beta has two rivers. They both flow out of Seron, where they have one common source. That is we are headed. They flow down the length until they reach the ocean at the stern. The ocean is about half of what it once was, and well, shall we just say, things there are a mess?” He barked a mirthless laugh.

  “What is causing the drought?” Cammarry asked.

  Bigelow shrugged.

  “Cammarry! Look at those!” Jerome said as he spotted some animals who were drinking from the creek that flowed from the trees into the river on the opposite side. Much smaller than the horses, their coats were a rusty, rufous brown with yellowish vertical stripes. They were not nearly as large as the horses, being about 150 centimeters tall, with thin spindly legs. Their black eyes watched warily as they drank from the trickle of water.

  “Twin female nyalas, about two seasons old. Might have been triplets at birth, many animal births are multiples now a days,” Bigelow said. “They are very thirsty. Usually they run off whenever a wagon approaches.”

  As the troika passed, the nyalas just kept their eyes on them, shifting their feet a bit to keep the wagon in view, and continued drinking. Bigelow pulled off to the side, and after examining the water in the river at that point, he allowed the horses to get drinks from the water in the river. They eagerly lapped it up.

  “You have mentioned twins, and triplets often,” Cammarry said as she turned her head to stare at the nyalas. “Is that a new phenomena? Is it related to the drought?”

  “Now you have asked an excellent question,” Bigelow replied. “The two things did happen at roughly the same time, and if The Union of Beta could decide anything, we might know. Building the carousels has been our project, but I have wondered about it too.” There was a catch in his voice as he stopped speaking.

  After the horses had their fill of the water, the troika rolled on. As the sky tube was starting to dim, they approached the end of the habitat. The huge wall that rose up and extended all the way to the top, was visible, and the end of the sky tube butted into that, leaving a glow reflecting off its terminal point. The journey had been a slow and steady uphill effort the entire way. Seron was visible before they actually entered the town. It looked like a greener area ahead of them, situated directly under that end of the sky tube. The road had slowly bent so as to lead toward the town, as did the river.

  As they got closer, the other river, as seen by the few scraggily trees lining its banks, off in the distance to their left, also became visible. It too was angling toward the town of Seron. Jerome and Cammarry were studying the landscape and town as they drew nearer, assessing the look of the distant permalloy buildings, and the farm fields around the edges of the town. Jerome was compari
ng it in his mind of Wolf City, while Cammarry was wondering where they could enter the habitat’s huge walls and search for Khin.

  “Now wait just a minute,” Bigelow said, interrupting their ponderings. “Anika! Hustle up now girl!” He snapped the reins down, and the three horses bolted forward,

  Jerome and Cammarry grabbed onto the seat and held on, surprised by the sudden acceleration. They looked where Bigelow was looking. The horses went off the road, and pulled the troika along over some bumpy and stubby grasses toward a small grove of some kind of short trees. The trees had deep maroon colored bark, and green leaves with some white flowers scattered on them. The branches were gnarly and twisted, and the clump of trees was only about four meters high and seven meters wide.

  A gray haired woman was moving quickly away from the trees toward Seron. She was wearing a light green colored top, and blue pants.

  “Not again!” Bigelow cursed. He swore under his breath as he urged the horses to ever greater speed. “Agnes, Anika, Arabella! Move!”