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

by John Thornton

  “Condolences on the loss of flight crew,” SB Pinaka stated. “I am a tertiary system and became activated when the Captain Level Disaster Alert was implemented by Captain Lance Lechner. I attempted to integrate with the lattice of compeers at that time, but it was deteriorating, collapsing, and in cascade failure. I have no records of events prior to my activation. Captain Lechner himself issued the commands which isolated me in this work station. His commands dictated my core programming to spend 90% of all efforts on defensive power. First, I was to maintain the constant application of the repulsor fields. Second, I was to oversee engagement of exterior threats via the microparticle turrets. Apologies for not assisting in repelling human insurrectionists. I have no other information to report.”

  “SB Pinaka, I command you to investigate the work stations here in Navigation and Astrogation, override code,” Eris paused just as bit as she recalled the highest level command override she could remember. “O-215-HAR-00X.”

  “I am required to ask the following,” SB Pinaka said, “You are aware that using that code will terminate the Captain Level Disaster Alert? Do you still wish to proceed?”

  “You have been overseeing those systems for a long time. What is a safe operations level which will not allow compromise and yet also allow you to integrate the workstations here?” Eris asked.

  “An appropriate and safe level to maintain the repulsor and microparticle turrets at effective operating levels, as determined from past history would be to reduce power of repulsor and microparticle turrets to 68% of my operational capacity. That will allow a very wide fail-safe margin above anything that was needed since I began these operations. Do you wish me to do so? And do you affirm cancellation of the Captain Level Disaster Alert?”

  “Yes, SB Pinaka, I confirm cancellation. Please reduce power and oversight as you described. Then integrate with all five work stations. Use caution as the systems may not be responding in prescribed ways.”

  The synthetic brain’s mechanical voice had tones of pleasure in them. “I am now integrating with the other four work stations here in Navigation and Astrogation.”

  “Excellent!” Eris clapped her hands together and sighed a huge relief.

  “This process may take some time. I am encountering severe fragmentation in lattice foundation and am having to reconstitute that substrata,” SB Pinaka reported.

  All five work stations were now glowing and operating. The display screens were synchronized, and as SB Pinaka worked, Eris could tell information was being transferred and utilized.

  “SB Pinaka? Give me your best estimate as to when you can report of the integration of these systems? I need as much information as possible as quickly as possible, but we cannot afford any mistakes.”

  “Estimated integration at seven hours, if conditions remain the same,” SB Pinaka replied. “At that point I will have fully assessed the data bases in all these systems and will have compiled a computation on ship’s status as best I can.”

  “That is longer than I expected. I am exhausted,” Eris yawned. “I know there are living quarters next to here, but that disgrace named Connie Martin may have been using them.”

  Eris reached over and placed her palm on the top side of the blue automacube marked EA-270. She had not really studied it much. It was in rough shape. There were damage marks all across its one side, and several of the drive wheels showed gouges. As the automacube’s systems responded to Eris presence, it disengaged its manipulation arm from the access port it had been connected into. The small display showed Earth’s location, but it was only a localized view, and she knew the Conestoga had passed beyond that region of space long ago. On another display was a field of debris which was moving away from the Conestoga.

  “Oh the remains of what was blown out of the Captain’s Hanger Bay. Why would an automacube track that?” Eris asked in puzzlement. She then yawned, covered her mouth, and yawned again. The exhaustion was catching up to her.

  “So you were searching for home?” Eris said as she analyzed the command routines for the automacube. A three-dimensional diagnostic projection appeared over the back of the automacube in response to Eris’ inquiry. “But who programed you for that? Interesting. What is this?” Eris stared at an unknown wave pattern on the automacube’s communication linkage readout. “Who is Sandie?”

  “Intruder warning!” SB Pinaka called out. “Unknown system in connection with automacube EA-270. Potentially insurrectionist activity.”

  8 gathering information

  “A member of the flight crew?” Cammarry asked. “Do you mean Cadet Danny?”

  “The Old One from Khin’s Goat People?” Jerome asked. “He would be a long way from his home in that grand hall where the village of the Goat People is located.”

  The AI Sandie replied, “I too doubt it is Cadet Danny. I conjecture a low possibility of Cadet Danny interacting with the automacube, due to his age and limited physical abilities. Those factors rule against him having made a journey of that distance. EA-270 is currently in diagnostic mode. That was induced by a crew member. I can override that diagnostic and use EA-270’s optics to show us the crew member.”

  “We have not heard of any other crew,” Cammarry said. “Just the three tribes of people here on the needle ship.”

  “Unless it is one of Khin’s wizards,” Jerome chuckled as he recalled Khin’s comments. “Or one of his monsters.”

  Cammarry gave Jerome a big smile, but her words were cool. “Mock him all you want. He knew how to fry that closet.”

  Jerome put his hand on Cammarry’s shoulder, “Yes, ‘find a monster lair, burn out every hair,’ was what he said. I have seen enough here to wonder about what he calls monsters and wizards. I did not mean to mock him, sorry. That does remind me. Sandie? Did that red automacube get to Khin and Vesna and set up a defensive zone around the Special Care Unit?”

  “S-1DT is en route. No abnormalities observed. No gravity sink holes. No unknown vehicles. I am continuing to map its progress. I cannot give an exact estimate on its arrive time. I conjecture a high probability of it successfully reaching the Special Care Unit,” Sandie answered. “However, I am still uncertain what course of action you wish to pursue in regard to this unknown crew member.”

  “We can certainly use some allies,” Cammarry said.

  “Our track record is not good at making allies of the people we meet. We have enemies in Alpha and enemies Beta, but only because we stood up for something and kept our values,” Jerome pumped his fist several times over. “Sandie, can we covertly observe that crew member?”

  “Unfortunately no,” Sandie answered. “That crew member has full access to EA-270. From what I can tell, those actions show someone with higher level technical skills than anyone we have encountered so far on the needle ship. I was not even aware of the existence of those diagnostic programs which are now running on EA-270. They were hidden by encryption codes and buffers which kept them off the main programming platform of the automacube.”

  Cammarry smiled again and stated, “Perhaps it is a wizard, only a technological one. I say we just introduce ourselves. That automacube was probing for where Earth is, and we already know that Cosmic Crinkle caused some vast distances to be traversed. Shall we just greet this potential friend?”

  “Good thinking,” Jerome agreed. “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to attempt, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in an introduction.”

  Cammarry rolled her eyes at Jerome, smiled, and then spoke. “Sandie? Please establish a link so we can meet this crew member.”

  “Two-way audio and visual linkage established. It is only in two-dimensional form,” Sandie stated.

  A display screen on the side of the Goat Room lit up. Through that could be seen Navigation and Astrogation from the point of view of the end of EA-270’s manipulation arm. There was a slight offset or tilt to the images. Then someone moved into view. Her face blocked everything else out. Her youthful
golden brown eyes looked weary. Her dark brown hair parted down the middle.

  “Who are you and what is a Sandie operating system?” Eris snapped.

  “I am Cammarry, and this is Jerome. Sandie is an artificial intelligence system working with us.”

  “There are no AIs on the Conestoga with the designation of Sandie.” Eris backed away a bit from the camera. The rest of the room was revealed again. All the work stations were lit up and operating. Eris was dressed in a light blue fatigues. The various pouches and pockets were full, and tools and supplies hung from her overstuffed duty belt. “What is your rank and status?”

  Cammarry looked to Jerome who just gave a slight nod. So Cammarry decided to share the truth. “We are not originally from the Conestoga. We came here from Earth.”

  “Faster-than-light engines?” Eris asked with her mouth parted in wonder. “Theoretically possible, but unlikely. I am aware of the research done by Kitabatake-Russel-Azikiwe, as well as the ideas by Alcubierre, which were a dead end. As far as I know there are no working plans, only basic research with mixed results. Some say that the light barrier cannot be passed, but engineers are divided on that subject.” Eris pulled at her lip unconsciously, then remembered what SB Pinaka had stated about the two manmade objects which had just appeared near the Conestoga, without incoming trajectories. “Tell me more about how you came here?”

  Jerome was racking his brain trying to recall hundred-year-old propulsion designers. The names Kitabatake-Russel-Azikiwe sounded vaguely familiar, but he could not place what that group had done. He just squeezed Cammarry’s shoulder in support as she began to explain more.

  “Earth is now dead. We were in Dome 17, the last refuge for humanity….” Cammarry gave a brief but concise overview of the Dome 17 missions to the seven colony ships, first by robotic probe and followed by the FTL scout ships. Cammarry was clear about their adventures and the mission for recovery a colony ship. She concluded with their failed attempt to bring the Dome 17 survivors to the Conestoga. She did not discuss much about what was found in Alpha or Beta habitats.

  “Teleportation?” Eris cringed a bit. “And faster-than-light travel? Well, I imagine a lot of advancements can happen in a hundred-year span. That is assuming the chronographs on the ship are correct. There has been severe damage. Of that I am absolutely certain, but I am not sure how you both fit into this.” Eris yawned again. “You came from Dome 17? That sounds like the Dillion Vermeer project that started about ten years ago, well, ten years before launch.”

  “Yes, Dome 17 was part of that project,” Cammarry replied.

  Eris yawned and shook her head. “You say your people did make it to the CS5 Eschaton? That colony ship was a big mystery, run by those religious zealots. Picked their crews by lottery and by highest bidder. No quality control there. Chaos run amuck. Here on the Conestoga we were chosen only if we were the best in our fields. My parents are both at the very top of their…” Eris stopped as tears began to run down her face.

  “What has happened?” Jerome asked as he leaned forward toward the display.

  “You do not seem like….” Eris sniffled and then took some deep breaths. “You do not appear to be insurgents, but I am not sure what to believe.” She yawned and cried a bit at the same time. Turning her head, she spoke away from the camera. “SB Pinaka, the two objects you detected which you said just appeared near the Conestoga, could they have been the robotic probe and that scout?”

  The mechanical voice of SB Pinaka replied, “They fit the general time frames as described by the two human with whom you are in conference. Warning. Insurgent tactics might well use guile, mendacious statements, and prevarication. I advise extreme caution.”

  “You have a working synthetic brain?” Jerome said with surprise. “The automacube never reported that. Sandie, were you aware of that system?”

  “Not until now,” Sandie the AI interjected in a kind and gentle manner. “Crew member, we have not been introduced. I am the artificial intelligence system Sandie you asked about. I was built by Master Engineer Brink in Dome 17 and I will answer any questions you want about our journey here, or what we have learned about your ship.”

  “Impressive,” Eris stated. “Near human realism in tone and inflexion. As I said, I am familiar with some research that is… I should say, was, going on into spacecraft propulsion. The Conestoga’s main drives are state-of-the-art, at least when we launched they were, being powered by micro and subatomic magnetospheric proton disruption coupled to gravity manipulated wave ejection. This allows for the inertia suppression systems to prevent injury from sheer forces and velocity changes, so long as the constant gravity manipulation fields are in place. Okay Sandie, so explain your faster-than-light drive system to me. So how will your faster-than….”

  “Before we get into discussion,” Cammarry interrupted. “I want to know your story. I do not mean to be presumptuous, but I do not even know your name. I am hearing hints about you being at the launch, but that was a hundred years ago. What is your story? You said something about your parents, and I do not mean to pry, but what has happened?”

  Tears welled up in Eris eyes. She stared at Cammarry, locking eye contact with her. Cammarry’s brown eyes meeting Eris’ golden eyes. Finally, Eris nodded a bit, then yawned again. She spoke, “I am Junior Engineer Lorelei Eris Concordia, but I go by Eris. Some hours ago I was awakened…” Eris explained her own background, and did not spare any of the gruesome details of her parent’s deaths.

  Jerome spoke up, “Just as the body goes into shock after a physical trauma, so too does the human psyche go into shock after a major loss. We have a medical kit here which I would be happy to have you use to see what physiological and psychological factors are happening with you.”

  Eris bristled up a bit. “I am fine and fit for duty.”

  “Jerome, the poor girl has suffered a horrific loss,” Cammarry chided. “Yes, we can offer her our medical kit, but show some compassion on her grief. We both offer our condolences to you, and offer our assistance however we can help.”

  Eris then sighed and yawned again. “Actually, to be honest and blunt, I am not at a point to make any decisions right now. I am exhausted and hungry. I am not sure who to trust or what is happening. A good engineer cannot make sound assessments and repairs unless proper care is taken of the mind and body. I suggest that right now we allow our perspective information systems to share with each other. My SB Pinaka and your Sandie. I see this automacube has some sophisticated communication links, and those tend to confirm your story. I can manually just shut down this automacube if you are insurgents.” Eris paused for a moment and lifted her hands to her lips. With a slight covering of her mouth she stated, “I have established a defense perimeter around Navigation and Astrogation using four security automacubes which I independently empowered and programmed prior to entering here. They are all free from the lattice and the nonphysicality, so do not try to interfere with them. I am taking no chances. They will physically protect my presence here. They are authorized to use lethal force. I will eat and rest, and then reconnect with you, say in eight hours. Agreed?”

  “Eris, do you have proper food?” Cammarry asked. “The indigenous human population here eats animals using barbaric methods. There are rats, goats, and chickens, as well as the various plants that grow everywhere.”

  “Do not forget the cheeses,” Jerome laughed a bit. “The Goat People love their cheeses.”

  Eris thought about the emergency supplies she had retrieved from the ESRC as well as the eagerness the two hunters she had encountered had for the dead animal. These adventurers, Cammarry and Jerome, were different from those hunters, and did remind Eris of the kind of people she should have awoken with in the repository. She felt a tinge of guilt at lying about having a security and defensive system established, but she was not fully convinced that Cammarry and Jerome were safe.

  “Yes, I have food. I unloaded an ESRC…” Eris began to explain.

  “Were yo
u injured in doing that?” Cammarry snapped. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth parted. She was thinking of what she had endured. The nightmare of a young woman being under Shadow’s influence terrified Cammarry.

  “No, it was operational. No risk of injury there. It was fully stocked. So I am well supplied, secure, and safe. I hope to speak to you again in eight hours,” Eris yawned again, several times in a row. Eris paused for a moment, then went on. “However, I warn you, I have set the defensive system with lethal parameters, and I will be sleeping. Do not try to approach my position. I will not have time to reprogram the security to prevent you from being injured, or worse.”

  “It would take a long time to walk to your location,” Cammarry stated. “You have our promise we will not molest or trouble you in any way. I think it is a good idea for the systems, SB Pinaka and Sandie to interact. I am so sorry for your terrible loss.”

  “We will speak again. And thank you for your compassion,” Eris replied. Eris pondered the comment about walking to her location, and that gave her more hope that what Cammarry and Jerome had said was the truth.