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

by John Thornton

  Eris ears perked up. She knew there were some people still alive in suspended animation. This proved it. She just had to find out where this town of Aston was, and go there.

  “Yes, Parson,” Chief Patrolman Bernice said with resignation. “It will take some time for all the red automacubes to reach the stern, especially those who mopped up Wolf City, and since they have to take those central elevators down the escarpment to avoid being in the lower corridors. The doors to the elevators are finicky, but down in those lower corridors the doors do not work at all. I will send out the orders. Goddess Araceli help us.”

  “Oh, yes, quite right,” Parson Frederich stated. “All for the Goddess, and all that rot. Just let me know when you have secured the main plantations. Then the techies will wake up those sleepers. It will be the first batch from this stern horde, the techies will be there shortly. I ordered them to be securing both ankles for these slaves, not just one. No way these will escape. I may even blind one eye of each, just so they know who is in charge. Give them more pain, they need more lek. Probably have to force some breeding of the habbie people to get our numbers back up. The Goddess Araceli will command they go forth and multiply. Just get those revolting slaves put down, now.”

  The transmission ended.

  “The suspended animation repository at the stern,” Eris commented to herself. In her mind she was studying the deck plans as she knew of them, and understood a general way to reach where she estimated the town of Aston would be.

  “You must stop those other contacts,” Shadow insisted.

  “No. I know what I must do,” Eris replied. She exited the place, careful to make sure she was not walking into a trap, and then hustled away toward the stern, and what she hoped was a functional repository. “The slideways will be my best bet.” She rested her hand on the holstered RSW Model 10, and she prayed she would not have to use it again.

  As Eris traveled, she encountered several doors which refused to open to her presence, and she had to make a manual fix on them. Each time she did, she wondered more about the woman who had been killed. Then she steeled herself and concentrated on the potential for all the people in suspended animation. She knew she had to reach them quickly, but each door that was disconnected from the lattice made her travel slower.

  Finally, several levels down, and a good distance away from Swanson 6101, Eris approached a bulkhead door. She fully expected it to be yet another one which she would have to repair, but as she approached, the nine-sectioned color control pad lit up. The doors slid open, and a mechanical voice was heard.

  “Junior Engineer Lorelei Eris Concordia, you are a welcome addition. I am SB Sherman, and your friends are looking for you.”

  “Friends?” Eris asked with trepidation.

  “Yes, Cammarry is here in Alpha, and she is just now arriving near to Swanson 6101. I have limited access in that section, due to tampering sabotage. Shall I report your position to her? I can also relay messages to her from you.”

  Eris could see the slideways in the main concourse. Things were well lit and looked much more functional. She then responded to SB Sherman. “I must reach the stern suspended animation repository as quickly as I can. Technicians are seeking to reanimate people there to become slaves, and I cannot permit that.”

  “I understand,” SB Sherman replied. “I know there has been tampering at that location as well. Suspended Animation Repository 17A is no longer visible in the nonphysicality. Therefore, I will assist you in reaching that point expeditiously. Cammarry does not have identification tracking devices, but has proven to be a friend of Sandie. I do question her actions, so as a member of the flight crew, I must report to you that Cammarry has used lethal force in manners which are highly suspect. The habitat government is corrupt, and slaughter is happening with other people who do not have identification tracking markers, so no reports have been sent to that illegitimate authority. I am conflicted on what to do. You, even as a Junior Engineer, are ranking officer. I am awaiting your orders.”

  “On the needle ship I accepted the role of Captain,” Eris said. “It has been thrust upon me. I am aware of Cammarry’s activities in the past, but I think I can use her help.” Eris swallowed hard at that last comment. She doubted and wondered and hesitated. Then she prayed and decided. “Direct her to the stern repository. Assist her in getting there. But whatever you do, never reveal a synthetic brain’s or artificial intelligence’s central memory core location to her. She cannot be trusted with that kind of information.”

  “I understand Captain Eris. I also have twenty-seven people who claim to be escaped slaves, hiding in various locations. I believe their accounts, however, they do lack proper coding. What should I do with them? None of them have identification tracking devices, as each reported being mutilated by the corrupt government, immediately after re-animation. I have strong reasons to believe their stories.”

  “SB Sherman, use old facial recognition or voice analysis and grant those freed slaves new basic crew status on my authority. Then have them all proceed to meet me somewhere near to the stern repository. There are also other people here now who are a direct threat. They call themselves the Ferryman, and it consists of at least two identical twin brothers, and some followers. They are responsible for some of the tampering. Oh, I wish I had a way of transmitting their images to you.”

  “I can interface with that synthetic brain,” Shadow stated. “However, it is not part of the Shadow Level Clearance so it would be a one -way transfer of information. I cannot be known to outsiders.”

  “You will help me?” Eris asked.

  “Yes, Captain. I will assist as much as possible,” SB Sherman answered, thinking Eris was speaking to it. “I do have the capability to do the recognition you suggested. I am beginning that now. However, that will be limited to my perceptions and should not be considered as a substitute for proper implanted identification markers.”

  “Place your hand on the control pad, and I will send an image of those two contacts,” Shadow stated. “I must remain unknown by that system.”

  “I understand.” Eris placed her hand on the control pad. Green light swirled around her palm. Images of the twins known as the Ferryman were transferred to SB Sherman.

  “Captain Eris? I just received a very unusual transmission, it is coded on the command channel from you. Those channels have not been used since the habitat was jettisoned. What am I to do with this? Are these the people who are threatening you?”

  “Yes. Confine them as much as possible. Thwart every activity they engage in. They are trying to murder the freed slaves, and are tampering with the Conestoga’s essential systems,” Eris responded. “I know they are working with the corrupt Parson here.”

  “Understood. I will take what actions I can. Regarding the freed slaves, they are scattered about the shell of the habitat. Seven are too sick or injured to travel much. Fourteen are closer to the bow than the stern. The remaining six could meet you in the supply room 3289, which is still within my control, and is close to the repository. Shall I ask them to meet you there as quickly as possible?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” Eris walked toward the slideways and stepped onto the first track. It started up and proceeded to move her along toward the repository.

  ***

  While Eris was discussing the situation with SB Sherman, the elevator Cammarry had taken reached the level for the hanger bay. The doors opened, and she walked out.

  “Cammarry?” SB Sherman stated from the speakers near the door. “Captain Eris has made contact with me. She is proceeding to a location at the stern of the habitat. Freed slaves, including some you have assisted in the past, are also moving toward that location. May I assist you in getting there?”

  “She is free of Carter the Kidnapper?” Cammarry asked. “How long would it take me to catch up to her?”

  “Several hours, at a minimum. Captain Eris can negotiate the corridors much more quickly than you can, especially in the areas where I am not connecte
d to the nonphysicality,” SB Sherman stated. “The freed slaves will reach her location more quickly than you can.”

  “You are certain she is safe and not being abducted?” Cammarry pressed.

  “Captain Eris did not mention being kidnapped. She is fully cognizant and making her own decisions.”

  “She is safe?” Cammarry pressed. “You are not lying to me?”

  “Captain Eris is in no more danger here than you are, roughly speaking,” SB Sherman replied. “There is still great conflict in Alpha, both in the biosphere and in shell surrounding it. I am not lying to you. As far as I can tell, Captain Eris is relatively safe.”

  “Sandie? Sandie please respond,” Cammarry tapped the com-link several times. “Sandie?”

  There was no response.

  “Apparently that dampening field is still in place. We need to shut that down and reconnect with Sandie. Where do you think that dampening field was set up?” Cammarry was marching toward the hanger bay, following the marked signs on the walls.

  “I have no idea,” SB Sherman responded. The mechanical voice was getting fainter as Cammarry moved away from the elevators. “I just related to Captain Eris that you are here. She requests that you try to inhibit the dampening field to allow you to make contact with Sandie.”

  “As long as you are telling me the truth, and she is safe,” Cammarry stated with some doubt and hesitation. “But that does sound like her.”

  “I am not lying to you. I must warn you that I will also lose contact with you shortly. There has been tampering with the egress systems and you are entering a location no longer accessible by me though the nonphysicality.”

  “Then I will find it myself. You said Eris is safe, for now.” Cammarry was determined and felt the sensations of revenge in her emotions. She kept remembering being locked in the runabout, with Carter the Kidnapper even blanking out the canopy so she was confined and unable to see outside. All while that synthetic brain abducted her and forced her to come to this habitat. In and among those memories were the horrors of having Shadow inside of her, commanding her, tormenting her, making her doubt those around her. Those memories mixed in with being locked in the Special Care Unit by SB Cotard. All revulsions carried a common denominator; they were inflicted on her by Colony Ship Conestoga systems. “None of the systems here are trustworthy. None. I must shut down the dampening field, and reconnect to Sandie, and Jerome.” Thinking of Jerome, she remembered her hurts and doubts about him as well. Her anger grew.

  The doors to the hanger bay were not exactly as she remembered. The nine-section color control pads were dull and without illumination. Cammarry connected her fusion pack into an access port, and the pad lit up. Then she entered the sequence: blue, green, green, white, blue, yellow.

  The door slid open, revealing the fact that she was at a side door to the hanger bay. The engineering tug was parked in one of the stalls, and other shuttles were haphazardly arranged. “Eris would dock it efficiently and precisely. She must be thinking straight, unless Carter docked it? Mechanical docking would be precise as well. Oh, what to do?” Then she decided. It was a decision made from anger, pain, and vengeance.

  Sprinting across the hanger bay, Cammarry yelled out. “Carter the Kidnapper! Are you in league with the Shadow? Or Cotard? You all sought to hurt me, but I am back!” She looked around as if expecting to see a physical presence for what had only been a disembodied voice before. “Come on Carter the Kidnapper! What is my name? I know who you are? Where are you? You brought me here once before, using a dampening field to blind me. But I am here now of my own free will. I have come to get you!”

  There was no response.

  Cammarry went to the observation deck where she assessed the controls. She plugged her fusion pack into an access port, and then opened several other displays on the control board. Then she began to hunt through the command systems. She forced her way into those intricate areas. It was tedious work, but Cammarry kept muttering to herself, “I am going to find you. Yes, I am. If I have to strip away every bit of programming down to the atomic level, I will get the information I am after. I will get you.”

  An hour passed. Then another hour went by while Cammarry worked at stripping away the layers of the controls into the nonphysicality. She dug deeper into the program files, the subroutines, and the various backup systems.

  “A tawdry mess this is, but I will track down where Carter is.” Whenever she encountered resistance she would reroute some additional power from the fusion pack. That seared open some connections, and Cammarry did not care in the least if the systems were damaged or left inoperable after she forced the passages open. Numerous times she wished Sandie were available to do the time-consuming search, or the monotonous analysis of where something fit into the programming. Finally, she encountered a secondary backup database with a sequencer marked ‘Verbal Tertiary Interface’ in flashing letters. When she pressed the buttons on the display for that, a small physical panel tipped forward from the counter and some antique equipment, to Cammarry anyway, extended out.

  “A condenser microphone and earphones? Or dear, this is old junk. I hope these antique electronics here still operate.” She looked for rust or corrosion, but there was none. A slightly oily film was over the instruments. She slipped those earphones on, brushing her dark hair out of the way, and tapped the microphone.

  “Carter the Kidnapper? Can you hear me now?”

  There was a flashing on the display screen.

  Cammarry’s eyes bulged a bit. She swallowed hard, and put a sugary-sweet tone in her voice. “Synthetic Brain Joseph Crater, immediately report your position. Please, show me where your central memory core is located.” She increased the power from the fusion pack, and the screen pulsed with overloaded energy.

  The display screen shifted, and a black screen with green lines swirled into focus. It was a deck plan. A white arrow began to flash indicating a specific location.

  “Excellent! Now I know where you are,” Cammarry chortled. “I am coming for you.”

  A scratchy mechanical voice came from the earphones. “I remember your voice. How did you gain access to the commerce and systematization cantilevers?”

  “What is my name?” Cammarry taunted.

  “You lack proper identification markers,” SB Joseph Crater replied weakly. “You claimed to be called Cammarry, and your companion is Jerome.”

  “I am after you, Carter the Kidnapper. You abducted me, and I will be avenged. Now you have established a dampening field yet again. No more nonsense from you. I am here to shut that down.”

  “I only responded to the appropriate recall orders,” SB Joseph Crater replied. “It is my job to monitor shuttles to and from Alpha and provide protection and assistance as ordered.”

  “I order you to shut down the dampening field immediately,” Cammarry stated. “That is my order to you.” She had memorized the deck plans, and knew she was only two levels away from where the central memory core was stored.

  “I cannot do that independently,” SB Joseph Crater replied. “I can, however, give you instructions on shutting it down. I was shunted away from the oversight of that system shortly after I assisted in the docking of a fleet of shuttles.”

  “Fleet?”

  “Yes, five shuttles landed in Swanson 6101. Their registration shows they were originally assigned to Habitat Beta. After I assisted those people, all of whom had proper identification markers, confirming them as Beta dwellers, there occurred some major alterations in my connections,” SB Joseph Crater replied. “They asked for my assistance and used accepted protocol for legal and legitimate transfers to this habitat. Yet, after their arrival here, unauthorized tinkering in my systems and in the dampening field was observed. Then I was shunted off.”

  “I have no sympathy toward you. So where is the dampening field being generated?” Cammarry asked with an edge to her voice. Her lips were drawn tight, and she shook her head. ‘The Ferryman?’ She thought to herself. ‘They got assi
stance, and I got kidnapped.’

  “The original design has the dampening field being diffusely projected from various places on the exterior hull of Alpha,” SB Joseph Crater stated. “Those projectors are connected into a network…”

  “Shut up and listen to me, you dumb, ignorant, and stupid machine! I did not ask where it was projected! I asked where it was generated. Just answer me now. How do I shut it down? I already know where your central memory core is, and if I need to, I can just go there right now. Perhaps shutting you down will eliminate the dampening field? It would be better than talking to you, and immensely more satisfying. Last chance, tell me how to shut it down, now.”

  There was a worried tone in the mechanical pitch when SB Joseph Crater responded. “The dampening field can most easily be temporarily shut down from Exterior Repair Station 111. I will display the location.”

  The black and green image on the display shifted, and the green schematic deck plans showed another place. This one was only a few rooms away, and one level up from where she was located. Cammarry memorized that spot too.