“Status of weapons?” Eris asked. She flipped open a separate display, a smaller one on the control console in front of her.
Monika’s face appeared on that display. “Captain? What is happening? All my monitors here are showing that strange purple ship.”
“What weapons are available?” Eris asked.
Monika glanced hurriedly across the instruments in front of her. “None of the new ones are yet in position to fire. The probes can be launched, they could be used to ram into that other ship at full speed. No warhead, or explosions, but just a crash like a projectile slug slamming into a wall. We only have a few of those. The repulsor generators and microparticle turrets all show ready, but that thing would need to be right on top of us for those to even engage it. Are we going to fight?”
“Not unless we have to,” Eris replied. “And only if they find us.”
For a few tense moments, it looked like the Jellie ship was closing on them.
“The enemy is approaching the last contact point we had with the Zalian ship,” SB Pinaka reported.
“We are about to learn if they see us or not,” Eris said. She prayed that they could remain hidden.
The Jellie ship stopped at the exact point where the Zalian ship had shoved the Conestoga. It then pulsed its strange bluish-purple light in a long series of discordant flashes.
“Sandie what does that mean?” Eris asked in a whisper. She consciously knew that the Jellie ship was a long distance away, and that there was no chance of them hearing her, and yet she was almost holding her breath, and spoke in a low tone.
“I can conjecture no answer to your inquiry. They could be doing any number of things. I am sorry, I cannot give you more details. The emissions from the Jellie ship are fluctuating, but not in a pattern which is discernable to me,” Sandie replied. “I am recording it and adding it to the database we received from the Zalians so I can further assess it.”
Eris opened another small display and Siva’s face appeared. “Yes, Captain, how can I help?” It was clear he had no idea the Jellie ship had been moving.
“Your test of the main drive? Can you have that ready to go on my command?” Eris asked.
Something in her voice alerted Siva to the seriousness of whatever was happening. He looked at a conservation slate in his hand. “Yes, Captain. Give the word, and less than two minutes later the test can commence.”
“Good. We may need that, standby.”
Eris switched to look at Monika. “Monika, be ready to launch those probes as projectile weapons, but when I give the command. Target the center of that Jellie ship, or anywhere you see that looks like a vulnerable place. Be ready to fire when I order Siva to start the main drive test. Your probes might give us enough time to get moving.”
Monika’s eyes grew wide and she responded, “I will do my best. Awaiting your command.” Her face was drawn as she watched her own monitors. Her hands were resting near the controls for the few weapons they had.
The lights from the Jellie ship then stopped their erratic flashing and settled into a steady and deeper purple glow.
Monika’s voice came from the small display. “Do we have any idea on the range of that pink blasting beam they use? Could we be out of their range?”
SB Pinaka replied, “The satellite network was much closer to the planet’s surface, when they deployed that pink beam to such devastating consequences, than we are to that Jellie ship. However, we have no idea of that pink beam’s possible range. I believe there is something else that might be to our benefit. There is debris from the Zalian ship, and also some remains from the destroyed satellites. That rubble is floating in space. While the Conestoga has a much greater overall mass, some of that debris is still radiating heat signatures, especially the fragments of the satellites. That might be causing some interference, and distraction, if they are looking for variations in heat.”
“Can we use that to our advantage somehow? Perhaps teleport things out and away from the Conestoga? Put some kind of decoys of chaff out to confuse them?” Eris suggested. “Epsilon may have died in their teleportation attempt, but what if we teleported junk which radiated heat, or something?”
“I am moving some engineering automacubes into place to push non-essential materials onto the sending pad of the teleporter. However, I warn you. The outcome of doing teleportation without a receiving pad is impossible to predict. The items will not come out like they went in. Also, the targeting is haphazard. If we did send junk, it is statistically almost as likely to land onboard the Conestoga or near to our position, as it is to land far away,” Sandie stated. “I conjecture a nearly certain teleportation failure, not having a receiving pad for reconstitution. Of those failures, I conjecture a moderate risk of revealing our own position, and a low, but possible risk of doing structural damage to the Conestoga. Those risks are roughly equivalent to the chance for a successful diversion. The decision is yours Captain, but this is not a good option.”
An anxious, and very tense, period of time followed while everyone waited to see what the Jellie ship would do. It just remained in that one place, glowing its annoying and eye irritating bluish-purple light.
“Finally! They are moving away!” Monika said with obvious relief in her voice.
“That is correct,” SB Pinaka confirmed. “They are again following the flightpath of that last Zalian spaceship as it rammed the satellites.”
“Attention all compeers on the lattice!” Eris commanded. “Please maximize all work on weapon’s systems. Weapons are now our prime priority. Secondary priority is getting the main drive ready, but that will also mean manufacturing rocket fuel, and thruster fuel. Those involved with the essential functions of Alpha’s biome, life support of the needle ship, and safety for spaceflight will continue operations. All other considerations are to be suspended until further notice.”
SB Pinaka relayed, “The lattice of compeers is complying with your commands, Captain. Production of the weapons, warheads, missiles, and fuel sources has been increased by 18%. That is the best we can do without sacrificing essential services which would endanger flight, life support, or the ship’s integrity.”
“Thank you,” Eris replied. “Monika, please keep me informed on delivery of missiles or other weapon systems. The engineering automacubes are building some of the Vindicator Missiles. If they become operational before the warheads, I will consider using them as blunt-force attack slugs. If we get attacked, I may not be able to authorize use of the weapons. If you cannot reach me, I trust your decisions on how to respond. That goes for Jerome as well.”
“Me?” A visibly started Monika replied. “I am a roustabout, but, well, I understand. Thank you. I will tell Jerome to watch for that as well,” Monika replied with an uneasy smile.
“Siva?” Eris asked. “You and your team keep at the main drive. If you can find a way to test it without giving our position away, or alternatively, if the test can be done at full power, that could be helpful. Align the scoop, concentrator, and ejectors. We may only get one chance to race out of here. I want to make the most of that chance. It very well could be our last flight, so it must be a good one. Please get the drive ready to go at the highest possible thrust levels.”
“I will keep seeing what I can do,” Siva replied. “Sandie has set me up with another consultation with Dome 17’s Brink, well the AI’s simulation of Brink anyway. We will keep hammering at this project. Oh, our carousel goes around, and this one will not let us down.”
“You almost sound like your friend Bigelow,” Eris smiled. “Keep at the work. Sing all you want, but get the job done.”
“Count on it,” Siva replied. “I will never quit.”
With all the small displays closed, Eris was alone with the systems of the Conestoga again. The large center display still showed space, while one side display showed the Jellie ship as it followed along back toward Zalia. The other side display showed the target world. It had never looked so far away.
“SB Pinaka,
put up an animation over the center display screen with the location for that Cosmic Crinkle. Give me a countdown illuminated beneath that, figuring our current speed.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The animated overlay appeared on the display.
Eris looked at it and prayed silently that they would make it there without the Jellies detecting them. In her mind, she doubted that would happen, and wondered if they had any chance in a slugging match with the Jellie ship, which she was now beginning to think of as the Jellie raider.
5 When people fall into danger
Dmitar’s eyes fluttered a bit in the flickering and sputtering light. Claire again poked him with her foot. She was too afraid to call out, the beast that had grabbed them might be close by. Again, she jabbed her toes into Dmitar’s side, but he only stirred a small amount. ‘At least he is not dead,’ she thought, but it was little comfort. She twisted her head around and looked up. Both her hands and wrists were lashed to a steel cleat, and her fingers were numb as they bent down over those ropes. Her elbows were straight, but she was seated upright against the wall. That was how she had awoken, and was scared to try to stand. Her arms ached, but she was not even sure she could stand up, as she was so tightly bound to the cleat. So again, she prodded Dmitar with her toe.
He mumbled something, and that made Claire stop poking him. She could tell, in the flickers of the light, that he was tied up as well, but his hands were strapped down on either side of him as he lay on his back. His head was to her right side, and she just wished he would open his eyes so she could look at something other than the horrors which were in the opposite direction.
Without wanting to, but somehow drawn to look again, she glanced over to that other part of the room. She tried to look at the vertical pipes which descended down from the ceiling to enter into the floor, but she could not keep focused on them. A short distance away was a square fan, whose blades were slowly turning, the air being pulled toward it. Claire tried to watch the rotation of that fan, but her mind would not allow for the distraction. Instead, the gristly scene of the dead bodies sucked her eyes to them again. She had first seen it all when she awakened. Her face had been pointing right at those dead bodies.
There were at least two bodies against the wall. Both had some clothing on them, but Claire could not tell, from those clothes, if they were from the Goat People, Chicken People, or Fruit People. The clothing was odd, and she tried to look at that, study it, memorize it. But her attention could not be focused on the mundane, for the dead bodies inside the clothing somehow attracted her gaze. The dried bones were ghastly. The mummified flesh was too horrible for her to look away. Her smoky eyes misted over with tears, as she looked at the metal collars which encircled the nearest body’s neck. Long, light brown, stringy hair fell to the sides of the skull which was above that collar. The collar was strapped to the wall by ropes. The vacant holes in the skull looked back at her, and their dark recesses were not lit by the flickering light at all. They were just two black pits accusing her, or warning her, or perhaps pleading with her. There was no jaw, but only the broken upper teeth were there, partially hidden by a dried-out mask of flesh. But again, she looked back at the black, empty eye sockets. They terrified, attracted, and sickened her, all at the same time. It was almost as if she could be sucked into that blackness herself.
“What?”
Claire nearly screamed as she heard Dmitar’s mumbled words. His voice had broken the spell the dead body had on her. She reached her foot out and rubbed it alongside of Dmitar’s body. As she looked at him, he opened one eye, then the other. His mouth moved into a huge, but silent scream, as he saw then bodies himself. His tongue licked its way around his dry and cracked lips, but his gaping mouth stayed open. His eyes were now nearly as widely expanded as his mouth.
“Hush,” whispered Claire. “Hush, or it might come back.”
Dmitar’s brown eyes darted from side to side, and he pulled at his bindings. His chest was heaving as he breathed rapidly. After a few tugs, he realized he could not move, and he then just looked at Claire. He finally closed his mouth, and moved his jaw side to side.
“Where?” He croaked out the question.
“No idea.” Claire nodded upward.
Dmitar’s eyes followed and he saw her bound hands. Further above her was a platform of some kind which extended back and away from where the children were held captive. The flickering light was up there somewhere, but he could not see the fixture, only the light as it flickered in an inconsistent way. It was not the dim light he had learned to live with on the needle ship, nor was the light like that in the fruit orchards, and it was nothing like the warm light from Beta’s sky tube.
Tears flowed down Dmitar’s face as he looked at Claire and knew she was as trapped as he was. With all his might, he yanked at his tied hands, but that only caused the ropes to bite more into his flesh.
Claire whispered again, “What do we do?”
Dmitar shook his head. He had never felt so much fear in his life. Escaping the devastation of Beta had been horrific, but he had been with his brothers and mother. Now, he had none of them, but he looked at Claire and felt some strength returning as her smoky-gray eyes seemed to hold a promise of some hope. He had no idea what that might be, but locking eye contact with her made him feel better.
Claire felt that as well. So, she too looked deeply at Dmitar.
“Hello? Is anyone in here?” a woman’s voice came floating from somewhere.
“Help us!” Claire yelled.
“Down here. Oh, thank you!” Dmitar hollered.
There were some heavy footsteps on the platform above where the children were, and then a woman appeared. She was wearing a light brown utility suit, with a fairly large box strapped onto her back. Down the outsides of her legs were silvery permalloy braces which whirred a bit as she moved. In her hand was an energy weapon.
“Oh, thank the stars I have found you!” the woman said and jumped from the platform. She landed softly, and the braces on her legs absorbed the shock as they bent at the built-in joints of hip, knee, and ankle. She looked down at the children. “Did one of those creatures bring you here? Is it still around?” She waved the energy weapon in various directed as she stared at the children.
“Please get us out of here,” Claire begged.
“Oh, of course,” the woman said. She had pale skin, and a deeply wrinkled face. Her gray hair was cut in a short bob. She holstered the energy weapon, and pulled out a handle. Thumbing a switch, a ten-centimeter, dual-edged blade came out the end.
“Oh dear, you poor children,” she said as she slipped the knife into the ropes holding Claire’s wrists. “Be still while I cut you loose. You, lad, watch for one of the creatures. Yell, if you see one.”
“What are they?” Claire asked as she watched the woman cut the ropes.
“They are evil, is what they are,” the woman responded. As she squatted down, the braces on her legs whirred a bit louder. Claire looked at the woman whose eyes were sunken with heavy crow’s feet wrinkles at the sides. Claire could not tell her eye color. The woman caught Claire looking at her, and just replied, “I will have you free in a moment. You poor thing, arms up like that.”
As the ropes parted, Claire’s arms fell to her sides, and felt heavy like weighted sacks. Her fingers hurt as blood was returning to her hands.
“Wiggle your fingers like a good little girl, and get that circulation flowing. We must get you out of here.” The woman barely gave a glance to the dead bodies nearby, but looked down at Dmitar. She inserted the knife under the rope that was holding the hand closest to her. As she did, she stepped forward in her squat. The braces whirred again as servos and motors adjusted her stance. Dmitar looked at the braces.
“Oh, my sweet little lad, this is an exoskeleton. It helps me carry heavy weights, run fast, and leap when I need to. Do not let a machine frighten you.” The sharp knife sliced through that rope, and Dmitar rolled over and tried to pull his other h
and free.
“Little lad, let me cut you free. Then we must leave here. Some of those creatures could be back at any moment.”
“Thank you,” Dmitar said as she cut the last binding. He sat up, and got somewhat dizzy.
“Whoa there,” the woman said, as she caught him with one hand and put the retracted knife away. “The creature’s venom might have a lingering effect on you. I will lead you to safety.”
“I want to go home, please?”
“I will send you home as soon as it is safe. Trust me. First, we need to get you away from here,” the woman picked up Claire and then leaped up. The exoskeleton caused her movement to be much greater than an unassisted human could do. Together they landed without harm on the platform. She gently set Claire down. “Yell, if one of the creatures come.” Then jumped down to get Dmitar.
The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books Page 228