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

by John Thornton

  “You two are not inside yet, so save the praise and congratulations.” Cammarry snapped the words out before she thought of it.

  “This feels odd in here. The gravity vectors are different,” Jerome said, ignoring Cammarry’s comment.

  “Right. The Conestoga generates its own gravity manipulation,” Monika replied. “But you already know that, sorry.”

  “Yes, we saw how well the Conestoga’s systems worked in Beta with those gravity sink holes. The Crocks have some way of wrecking that. Maybe living in dense gravity like they do gave them a long time to study it? We have only known about how to alter gravity for a hundred and fifty years or so.”

  Monika snapped the line and the knot she had tied onto the shuttle slipped loose. “Now to pull the cargo net and our supplies over here.”

  She and Jerome pulled, and the cargo net came slowly across the derrick. As it got closer and closer, it also was moving toward the edge of the derrick.

  “If it falls, will the line hold it?” Jerome asked.

  “I have the end tied off here, and the line should have enough strength, even in this heavy gravity,” Monika replied. “I hope. Just do not let it pull you over. You are worth more than any amount of supplies.”

  The cargo net and their remaining supplies, did not slip off the edge, but it was a close thing. When the bundle reached them, they pulled it up and into the airlock. Then Jerome assessed the gauges. Inside, next to the exterior door were the buttons marked ‘Depressurize’ in blue color and ‘Pressurize’ in rust color. He pressed the blue button.

  The lights flashed as the doors closed. Pumps worked to expel the planet Zalia’s atmosphere from the airlock. The gauges showed the status of the air around them. One gauge read ‘Near Vacuum’ and then Jerome pressed the other button. The cycle repeated, this time bringing the air from inside the Conestoga into the airlock. Indicator lights signaled when that process was completed, and the door from the airlock to the command chair room had a display which was flashing ‘Atmospheric Harmony Achieved’. That also showed up on the large display screen in front of Cammarry.

  “Jerome, there are disassembled parts in here,” Monika said as she turned and looked at the side walls where Cammarry had removed the macroactinide capacitor enhancer. “That looks to be some kind of generational node for dispersing actinides and neutrinos. Advanced stuff, the roustabouts seldom worked with technology for the items outside of the biome. Beta had made planet-fall, and the actual spaceship technology was not quite as important to us.”

  “Cammarry? Is the airlock functional?” Jerome asked.

  “Would I direct you here, if it was not?” Cammarry snapped her response. “Why do you need to ask stupid questions?”

  “All systems are safe now,” SB Sherman stated to Cammarry. “The airlock has completed its cycle.”

  “Come on in,” Cammarry said as she stepped over and pressed the appropriate controls to open the door. Stale odors wafted inside as the door opened, but nothing toxic.

  Monika and Jerome, clad in their spacesuits, stepped inside. Jerome popped off the bubble helmet. “It might be a problem to get back to NS-99, but we are here.” He smiled widely as he and Monika carried the cargo net of supplies into the room. They set them down by the mechanisms Cammarry had scattered about. He eyed that broken mess, but did not comment on in. Instead he looked right at Cammarry. “I am happy you are safe, and so pleased the teleporter worked for you to get here.”

  “I walked here. The teleporter took me to Reproduction and Fabrication. Never mind, we should head out to help Eris,” Cammarry said, rudely turning away from Jerome. Her face was hard and cold.

  “Thank you for your help,” Monika added, despite the frosty reception. She pulled off the spacesuit, and stepped across the room to the storage area. She carefully hung up the new-style spacesuit among the others which were there.

  Cammarry eyed the weapon on Monika’s hip, but said nothing. She walked out of the room after putting on her own backpack and picking up the AWAD.

  Jerome saw her leaving and said, “It will take some time to get the supplies unpacked and reloaded.”

  “You have plenty of help with you,” Cammarry said and then marched down the corridor. “Sandie? Give me directions to Eris’ location.”

  “It would be more prudent for the three of you to travel together,” Sandie the AI responded. “The small lattice of compeers in Alpha is rather limited, and SB Sherman does not have each and every door and corridor secured, or even monitored. You do not want to encounter another trapped door, with a rigged for detonation control pad, or some other improvised snare.”

  “How did you know?” Cammarry said as she kept briskly walking away. “Oh, I suppose all the antique synthetic brains here told you what they knew. That trap was set by Carter the Kidnapper, so…” She wondered about what she was going to say to complete her thought and just held her tongue. “You are right. I will wait for those other two.”

  “SB Sherman did inform me about the incident with your hand. That was a regrettable injury, and I am sure it was both physically and emotionally traumatic. I also reviewed the views from the com-links about that trap. I conjecture only a low probability it was set there by any synthetic brain. It is much more likely, 83% probability, that it was set there by human beings.”

  “So we have more human enemies. No surprise there. This is Alpha and I imagine those slave traders are still angry, especially if they have learned what I did.” Cammarry swallowed a few times, hard, and thought about the brief conversation with Eris. She felt some remorse for cutting off that talk, but then she felt anger about SB Sherman reporting things behind her back. Emotions rolled inside Cammarry. “The slave traders might have done it, or it could have been the Ferryman, I suppose.”

  “Did I hear you say the Ferryman?” Jerome asked as he caught up to her. “I heard what Eris said, and she briefed us a bit, after you stepped out of the discussion.” He had the Willie Blaster on his belt, and some supplies in a backpack. The backpack was smaller than the one he usually used.

  Monika was a few steps behind, and had a slung pouch over her shoulder.

  “Sandie, lead us there.” Cammarry ordered, but ignored Jerome’s inquiry.

  The three people walked on, following the guidance provided by Sandie and Alpha’s allied synthetic brains. Little did they know, others had been listening to the entire thing ever since the dampening field had shut down.

  ***

  Meanwhile, at the stern of the habitat, several decks below the town of Aston, Eris was approaching the corridors which led to Suspended Animation Repository 17A. She had passed through a bulkhead door, but the hallway beyond was lit only by the occasional emergency, amber colored, lights.

  “This is the closest spot I can access,” SB Sherman said via the com-link connections Sandie had made. “I cannot even utilize the speakers here at this door. The nonphysicality beyond is unreachable, and unreadable by me or any of the other connected systems. Sorry.”

  “I too cannot offer much from here,” Shadow said to Eris, but only she heard. “The other contacts have not allowed me to access them fully. They resist me. You must stop them.”

  Eris squinted her eyes, trying herself to resist Shadow. It helped, but not completely. With her were some of the freed slaves. Those people had been hiding in the corridors, protected somewhat by SB Sherman. They were clad in new coveralls, which they had liberated from supply rooms, and had a few tools and knives. They had two weapons which had been taken from the patrolmen during their escapes; one rifle with seven rounds, and a revolver with six rounds. Eris was the only one with a more sophisticated weapon. She had checked the two armories which were along the way. One had been burned and all that was left were charred and ruined frames of weapons. The other armory locker had had its doors pried off in some past incident, and all those weapons were missing.

  “We lack all the proper gear,” Eris whispered to the seven people who were following her. “But
we can take this by surprise. We need to go forward and check out the next hall. The synthetic brain cannot access that section. The repository is around the next corner, and thirty meters down that hall. Wait here while I check it out.”

  “Captain Eris,” said a man named Inteus, “I will scout ahead. None of us have implants. The ship barely recognizes us; you are too important to all of us. I am not a soldier, but I will not be a slave ever again.” His blue eyes were intense as they met Eris’ golden eyes.

  “Take Sreeja, Luljeta, and Linda with you. Linda, you have one of the lamps, but use it only for emergencies.” Eris motioned to the other freed slaves. “Watch out for each other. Sreeja, you be careful. You have the revolver, but remember, it will cause a loud sound if you use it. Too much sound or light, and our position will be revealed to the patrolmen.”

  Sreeja, his dark brown skin still showing only partially healed wounds, nodded. “I understand Captain. An energy weapon would be quieter, but in hell you use what you have, right? I never expected to wake up to this nightmare, and I want to save others from these horrors.” He rubbed a hand over his straight black hair, his black eyes peering at her with strength. I expected to awake on Tlalocan, not Gehenna.” He then wiped the sweat off his hand as he raised the revolver.

  Eris nearly responded by telling him he was lucky to have survived reanimation, as the memories of her own horrific time and the thoughts about the people she had seen die in the repository flashed through her mind. They were never far from her thoughts, but Sreeja’s time as a slave gave him credibility to speak. She just nodded at him. Then she silently prayed for help.

  The four of them slipped ahead, walking quietly and carefully next to the side walls of the corridor. At the corner Sreeja paused and looked down the cross passage. He then motioned for the others to follow him.

  “Gilbert, Doreen, and Rodolfo,” Eris looked at the rest of her band of freed slaves. “Stay with me. We will proceed up to that corner, but keep watch on all sides. Gilbert, keep the rifle aimed and ready, down that way.”

  Eris pulled out her own weapon, the RSW Model 10, but felt like a hypocrite. She was not even sure she could shoot someone else, after what had happened when she had fired it. She mentally prayed for strength, guidance, and safety for the people she was leading.

  “Should we just wait for those other people who are coming?” Rodolfo asked. “You said they are better equipped: weapons, communications, and whatnot.”

  “No. There is no time. We must secure the repository as soon as possible.”

  As Eris and her group reached the corner, she heard Sreeja call out in a loud voice.

  “Come quickly! No one else is here. Hurry!”

  Eris and the others raced around the corner and down the hallway. The doors to Suspended Animation Repository 17A were closed. The nine-section color control pad was dark. Eris placed her hand up against the pad, and it glowed dimly.

  “Only tertiary power at the door,” Eris announced. She feared the repository would be in a shambles. If the primary power was gone, then the auxiliary power would cover it, but if that also failed, then tertiary power would kick-in, but that would not be adequate to sustain the energy-hunger needs of the suspended animation cocoons. Eris prayed fervently as her mind calculated the potentials for how the doors could be on tertiary power, but the repository remain functional. She knew it was possible, but the more likely condition would be to find the repository exhausted, and the people inside dead. Hope came from the conversation she had overheard, but she also knew people could lie, be deceived, or have outdated information. “Help me get these doors open.”

  Several others grabbed at the doors as Eris punched in a command override code to the weakly glowing control pad.

  “Security is coming!” Someone yelled from down the corridor.

  Kablam. Kablam. Kablam.

  Bullets from a security automacube zinged around where the people stood near the entrance.

  “Returning fire!” Gilbert shouted. “Sreeja, aim for the patrolmen!”

  “I am not a soldier!”

  Bang. Bang.

  Bam. Bam.

  The revolver and rifle fire sounded much less brawny than the weapons from the automacube.

  The control pad accepted the code, and the doors parted partially. Then there was a negative function sound.

  “Force them apart!” Someone screamed and placed her hands into the crack between the doors. Other hands grabbed that spot as well and the crowd wrenched open the doors. Two of the people squirmed inside, one elbowing Eris in the stomach as she did so. The doors were about a third of the way open.

  “Come here!” Eris ordered and yelled down the hall. “We have the doors open now. Hurry!” She was standing alone at the repository’s entry.

  Eris looked down the dimly lit hall, and muzzle flashes lit it up as the red automacube, somewhere in the distance fired again.

  Kablam. Kablam.

  Eris could see that the corridor twisted off to the right, and somewhere beyond her field of vision was the approaching automacube. In the flash of light as it fired, the two men in the hall were silhouetted. One was on each side of the hall. They were slightly protected as they stood in other doorways, where there was a bit of cover, but their positions were tenuous. They continued to shoot back.

  Bam. Bam.

  Their muzzle flashes were small and brief. Not like the huge flash from the automacube. Eris saw anger and rage on their faces in those brief strobes of light.

  “I said retreat! Get back here!” Eris yelled. “Now!”

  Plop! Plop!

  Canisters came bouncing down the hall, spinning and spraying a grayish-white fog. As the canisters settled, they stopped right in the center of the corridor, near the men’s position.

  Eris watched as the men finally turned to run toward her. The others had all entered the repository, she and the men were all that remained. The gas was filling that section of that corridor. The men were choking and coughing as they scrambled to get away. The revolver and rifle were held, but not used as the men sought to cover their faces with one hand.

  That was when Eris saw the red automacube come around the bend. She aimed her own RSW Model 10 at the machine. It was not a clear or easy target as she stared down the sights. The men were running and staggering in the hall, the machine was behind them and gaining on them.

  Eris hesitated. If she fired, she might strike one of the men, as they were fumbling and moving in a haphazard manner down the hall. The billowing foggy smoke of the gas was obscuring some of the things moving behind the men.

  Suddenly, three brilliant lights came on from the front of the automacube They pierced the fog of gas. The dazzling beams made Eris squint.

  “You must stop the corrupt contacts. Shoot!” Shadow urged.

  “Come on!” Eris yelled, getting some whiffs of the gas. Her finger increased the pressure on the trigger, as she tried to aim for the automacube. Yet, still she hesitated.

  Eeefffuuuuaaaaaam!!!

  Incendiary gel shot from the automacube, overtaking the two men. The chemical smell was heavy in the corridor. They both screamed even before it was ignited.

  “No!” Eris fired the RSW Model 10 and one of the beams of light shattered just before the corridor was engulfed in a raging inferno of flames. The flames shot from the nose of the automacube and rushed in a wave toward the men, kindling and bursting the gel into a scorching inferno at five hundred degrees.

  The dying men’s screams escalated and then abruptly stopped. Eris saw them turning black, but then the flames embroiled around them and all that was seen was a wall of fire approaching her.

  She jumped back and quickly slid into the repository. She slammed her hand against the inside control pad and screamed, “Emergency close!” The blast from the fire whipped by as the door creaked to a close. The pack on Eris’ back was seared by the heat, and she ripped it off of her. Tendrils of smoke rose from it as some of the people standing nearby smacked a
t it with their hands or flopped it around on the deck to extinguish it.

  “Gilbert and Sreeja?” someone asked.

  Eris shook her head and said, “Gone.” She then turned around and looked at the nine-section color control pad. It was glowing brightly. It had been instinct which had caused her to issue the emergency close command, but it had worked. Looking around, the glow from the control pad was all the light that there was. The faces of the other people shone up at her in its glow. The air felt like they were in a large room, and the outside doors had said it was Suspended Amination Repository 17A, but Eris wondered about what they would find. The stink from her burnt pack was acrid, and unpleasant. But she could feel ventilation moving that smell away.

  Eris entered a lock and seal sequence code and said, “Containment seal. Unlock only by my orders.”

  “Affirmative,” a mechanical voice responded. It was not a voice that Eris recognized.