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

by John Thornton

  There was a slight jolt as the shuttle began to slide across the hanger bay floor toward a side wall that was dilating open.

  “Eris please look at your conservation slate,” Sandie insisted. “This is emergent.”

  Eris lifted the slate and pressed her thumb onto it. It lit with a scrolled message.

  ‘This is Sandie. Audio conversation not safe due unknown responses by SB Dan Cooper. Beta Habitat is failing. Catastrophic failure imminent. Human and animal life dying. Schematics and proof attached. Will you return to Beta to assist in evacuation?’

  Eris looked at the message. She blinked a few times, and then swallowed. She opened the attached schematic which showed how rapidly Beta was failing. The gravity sink holes had done irreversible damage, which to her mind was hard to accept. However, as she thought about how this SB Dan Cooper had threatened her life, as well as how SB Amelia Earhart had made attempts on her life, she was about ready to accept anything as possible. Even what prior to her time in suspended animation would have been a far-fetched and ludicrous consideration, was now becoming reality.

  She typed in a reply. ‘I will return to Beta. How many people can be evacuated?’

  ‘I am running conjectures, however, the numbers are very low,’ the response from Sandie scrolled across the display. ‘I will use the teleporter but the sending unit in Beta was not designed for large scale evacuation. I have the plans for a large scale teleportation sending unit loaded to Alpha’s Reproduction and Fabrication, however, the time for its construction, transport, and setup makes it doubtful it can be used to assist in the evacuation. Alpha’s Reproduction and Fabrication is not functioning at peak performance, and raw materials in Alpha are lacking.’

  Eris felt the sliding of the shuttle alter a bit as the automacubes shoved it into the launch tube. She typed a message to Sandie, ‘Listen to what I say next and be ready to help me.’

  “SB Da Cooper?” Eris spoke aloud. “May I make a request before I depart? I could use your help on a vital matter.”

  “State your request,” SB Dan Cooper replied. “Unless it involves entering Gamma, it will be given some consideration.”

  “You said your Reproduction and Fabrication facility is fully functional. Will you build a machine for me, bring it here to the shuttle, load it in, and then let me depart? It will mean saving many people, animals, and other items.”

  There was a slight pause.

  “SB Dan Cooper?” Eris asked. “Will you help me?”

  “I have consulted the lattice of compeers,” SB Dan Cooper responded. “No weapons or other destructive devices will be built, however, if there is no threat to Gamma from your requested machine it will granted. What item do you want built?”

  Eris typed rapidly, ‘Can you give me plans for the large teleportation sending unit?’

  Sandie responded, ‘Here is the link with specifics. The unit is made in pieces, which will fit into the Model 14S shuttle. You can transmit the plans using this code. It will go via SB Pinaka to avoid suspicion by the Gamma lattice.’

  “SB Dan Cooper, I am sending the specification to you now. They will come via a synthetic brain on the needle ship. How long will the machine take to be fabricated? Time is essential. A biome is at stake.”

  “Information received,” SB Dan Cooper answered.

  There was a long pause in conversation during which the engineering automacubes completed placing the shuttle into the launch tube.

  “The mechanism is not in the database. The contraption you have requested has no practical application,” SB Dan Cooper stated. “The lattice of compeers has evaluated these items, and there is no purpose to it.”

  “Will you build it for me?” Eris asked. “Please? It will be helpful.”

  “Biological intelligence is illogical and untrustworthy,” SB Dan Cooper replied. “However, there is no threat to this contraption as there is no functional application.”

  “So how long until you build it?” Eris asked. “I want to leave as soon as possible, and with that tel…” She caught herself. “I want to leave with that contraption. Please build it for me according to those specifications.”

  “Your contraption will be delivered via gravity conduit and loaded into your shuttle. Completion time for fabrication will be one hour, four minutes,” SB Dan Cooper stated. “Loading time will be fifteen minutes after that. Then you will depart with your useless contraption.”

  “Thank you. I will remain here awaiting your kind hospitality,” Eris said and breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Praying as she did so, she then typed another message into her conservation slate.

  ‘Sandie? Is there a mistake? The teleporter will be produced, but they claim it is a useless contraption. Why?”

  Sandie replied, “An essential component was left out of that plan. That component is in the existing sending unit. That will need to be transferred into the sending unit you are having built. I conjectured, correctly so, that the synthetic brain SB Dan Cooper, and the lattice of compeers here in Gamma, would not recognize teleportation technology. It, like faster-than-light travel, was a scientific breakthrough by Master Engineer Brink of Dome 17. Getting that sending unit back to Beta will save a multitude of people and animals. I am coordinating the evacuation to Dardanella 135.”

  “I just pray this all works,” Eris shook her head and then tipped back in the pilot’s seat to await the arrival of the teleportation sending unit being unknowingly built by the Gamma Reproduction and Fabrication facility.

  14 surpise at the special care unit

  While Eris waited in the shuttle in Habitat Gamma for the fabrication of the large teleportation sending unit, there was major trouble in the Special Care Unit.

  “Your attention please!” SB Cotard called out. “All available staff please assemble for movement of patients and residents.”

  Khin and Vesna heard the term ‘please assemble’ and knew that another gravity sin hole had struck somewhere in the complex of buildings which comprised the Special Care Unit. They were both in a small dining area. Khin was just slicing some cheese and putting it on crackers.

  “That is trouble,” Vesna said. “Where did the crusher land this time?”

  “Well we know the top floor is empty of people,” Khin said.

  “Your wizard friend knocked out a lot of windows, but those crushers ruined the whole roof and ceiling,” Vesna said as she flipped her red hair around. “Will this heavy spot crush all the way down to the basement where the residents are?”

  “I do not think so, but as my mother says, ‘Be ready to help wherever you can, that is the making of a good man’,” Khin laughed and smiled. In his heart he too had wondered about the residents who they previously had moved down into the basement, but he did not share those concerns with his beloved Vesna.

  “You are a good man, my Khin, yes you are. We can take the patients out via the basement’s patio. The doors there are large, and it is a flat walkout from there to the grounds,” Vesna stated. “Unless the crusher struck that side of the building. If so, we will have to use the elevators to get them up to the entrance level.”

  “Staff please assemble at the patio level of the basement,” SB Cotard stated. The mechanical voice was calm, and yet Khin knew that spirit-ghost was watching so many people, places and things. He also knew it spoke in gentle ways to avoid causing fear in the patients and residents. Even though SB Cotard had once tried to kill Khin, he had forgiven it and even come to depend on its advice and instructions. “We will be having a special outing today visiting the lovely outdoors for all residents. This will begin immediately.”

  Khin and Vesna took a few quick bites of their food, and pocketed the rest. Each was especially careful to secure the food in pouches which would not spill.

  They ran down the hallways and through the empty wards. In several places there were walls which had collapsed, and much water damage from the rain that had come. Vesna at first thought the rain was a good thing, as she had lived during t
he terrible drought, but now she disliked the rain as it caused grief for the residents and patients of the Special Care Unit.

  Opening a door to a stairway, they encountered some of the people from Vesna’s tribe who were also now living and helping at the Special Care Unit.

  “Dmitar, Jadran, Borko, thank you for coming to help!” Khin said to the triplet children who were running down the stairs. They all had medium brown hair, dark skin, and dark brown eyes. Their clothing was typical of Vesna’s tribe. Their infectious laughter was even more pronounced than Khin’s.

  “We can push the wheelchairs! Right Uncle Khin?” One of the children called back. “That talking machine, what you call a spirit-ghost, says we need to get them outside, right? We know its code words. Mother taught us.”

  “Your mother Alisa is a smart woman,” Vesna stated. “You are wise to listen to her.”

  “Yes, but let the white cubies tell you what to do. Cubie white it knows what is right!” Khin called after the eagerly running children.

  “Yes, and cubie green a good machine!” a different child called. “We know all your sayings uncle!”

  Khin laughed as he followed them down the stairs. “I have not even spoken all my sayings; so how can you know every one?”

  The children just laughed along with him.

  They emerged into the basement where the surviving patient beds had been set up. It was the most intact, driest, and cleanest part of the Special Care Unit.

  “Have you seen my cat?” an elderly woman with large and misshapen knuckles said as soon as she spotted the children. “Bagheera is black. Have you seen her? She likes her food just so. She likes to sit in the light from the sky tube. I am the only one who knows how to prepare her food for her.”

  “Hello Beverly!” the children all cried out. “Your cat is over by the patio. I am sure Bagherra is just waiting for you. Shall we find the cat together? Then we get to go outside!”

  “Thank you!” Beverly answered. “I will share my food with Bagherra. Only I, just me, can get my cat to eat.”

  The children giggled as they carefully and gently led Beverly to where she could sit with her cat. There were several large chairs arranged right in front of the patio windows. This basement ward of the Special Care Unit was right on the ground level, but the ground had been sculpted and landscaped to make that happen. A part of the hilltop had been removed when the complex had been built.

  “Franklin?” Khin called. “Is everyone here?”

  A man in a wheelchair rolled over to Khin. He had no legs, and was squinting his eyes. “Where else would the residents go? We have moved from the upper levels, down here to this ward. It is nice enough, but I heard what Cotard said. The others do not understand, but I know you are all speaking in code. Since the police officers have come here, Vesna’s people, there have been many tragic events.”

  Khin patted the man on the shoulder and leaned down. He chuckled a bit as he spoke quietly into Franklin’s ear. “You are right, as always. Your eyes may be limited, but your mind could catch a rat in the dark! There has been another disaster, but the spirit-ghost Cotard has not told us where. Some other part of the building is breaking down.”

  Franklin grasped Khin hand and squeezed. “Thank you for not lying.”

  Khin laughed heartily. “As my mother says, ‘tell lies today, friends run away’ and that is so very true. You are my friend Franklin. No lies between us.”

  Vesna walked briskly over to the side of the ward where the beds were arranged. There she gently spoke to the patients who were either siting on their beds, or in chairs nearby. All were elderly and infirm to various degrees. She began assisting those who could walk to get dressed in their sturdiest clothing.

  A silver automacube rolled out from between two of the beds. On its manipulation arm was a clamp which it attached to an empty food tray. “Have you finished your meal, Benson? We prepared it just as you prefer it. Your drink was in the cup you like, and your meat was sliced into bite sized sections. Can I help in any other way?”

  “No, thank you,” Benson said. “I just finished it all. The cheery cobbler was nice.” His hands shook as he reached for an overly large spoon and scraped a tiny bit from the dessert bowl. He licked it off and trembling again, set the spoon down. “The pork is very tasty today.”

  “I am pleased your meal met your needs.” The automacube, which was smaller and lighter weight than the blue or red ones, carefully slid the food tray away from in front of the elderly man. It then placed it into a vertical rack at the back of the machine along with serval other trays. “SB Cotard has scheduled an outdoor outing,” the silver automacube stated in its mechanical voice. “I will be pulling your bed along, so please make sure your covers are secure.”

  “Is it nice outside?” Benson asked. His old, brown eyes held a bit of concern. What few hairs he had were gray and well-tended. “I do not remember my last time outside. But with all the renovations here, I guess moving around is to be expected.”

  “Yes, there have been many changes. Are you ready to proceed?” the silver automacube asked.

  “Tally-ho and away we go!” Benson said.

  With due care and gentleness, the silver automacube, which had the number 107 on its side, pulled Benson’s bed toward the patio doors.

  By then, the rest of Vesna’s people had arrived in the ward. They were all wearing clothing which was woven, tan tops, with dark blue pants. Leather shoes wrapped their feet. They had a belts with pouches, and small satchel bags slung over their shoulder. Each hunter, except for the three children, was armed with a weapon of some kind. These were all secured in holsters, or slung across their backs. A few had high power optics strapped in cases on the belts as well.

  “Oh look, our nice police officers are here again,” Annie said. “They must be helping with the outdoor outing.”

  Vesna’s people quickly, and politely, got all sixteen of the remaining residents ready. There was a good working relationship between the helpers and the residents. The residents all called Vesna’s people ‘police officers’ and the hunters did not resist that title. With all the attacks that had happened, and the destruction done by the gravity sink holes, the patients needed the security of knowing people were actually helping.

  “Will this be another renovation?” Annie asked as she pushed her walker along.

  A husky man with a holstered revolver strapped to his belt, and a large bushy beard and mustache placed a shawl over her shoulders and replied. “My dear Annie, I am not sure, so I cannot tell you if more demolition will be taking place.” He put a reassuring hand on her arm. “I can tell you that I will be here with you no matter what happens. We are sworn to protect you, and I take that very seriously.”

  “Thank you Andeon,” the elderly Annie replied. “You have all been so helpful, even in the midst of all the troubles.”

  Few of the patients spoke about the large number of residents who had died when one of the upper wards had collapsed, nor about the other patients who had been murdered when a hoodlum had snuck through the outer defenses and set off a bomb. They consciously sought to distance themselves from those tragedies, and just spoke of the ‘renovations’ and the ‘troubles’ as euphemisms for all that had happened.

  “Will it be safe on our outing?” Susie asked, as she was made ready to depart. “It is not rain day, is it?”

  “No, not rain day. And oh yes, we will be with you,” Kristijan said as she shifted the rifle on her back so she could push Susie’s wheelchair. “I am not sure what all Cotard has planned, but we are here to make sure it goes smoothly. Cotard always has such interesting plans for us.” Kristijan wondered about the fact she only had six bullets left in her rifle, and no more bullets to reload when those were gone, but nonetheless, she smiled at Susie as she spoke. “The fence around the grounds is intact, and you have all of us with you.”

  “Thank you!” Susie patted Kristijan’s hand. “It is so good of you all to be here for us.”

&n
bsp; SB Cotard spoke through the speakers in the ceiling. “It is now time for our outing outside. We will be watching for our favorite songbirds, and small animals. I know some of you love to see the rabbits and the squirrels which frolic on the Special Care Unit’s grounds. So please move in an orderly fashion out via the patio doors.”

  Several white automacubes had joined in the procession, and between the two silver automacubes, the three white ones, and all of Vesna’s people, the sixteen residents of the Special Care Unit were moved slowly out from the basement ward.

  Sixteen residents, and twelve hunter/police officers, three children, two silver automacubes, and three white automacubes joined Vesna and Khin on the patio. The pavement was a deep red, smooth-seamed, brick, and the beds, wheelchairs, and walkers moved over the pavement easily. Two of Vesna’s people took up positions to the sides of the group and used their high tech optical devices to scan the grounds below them.