Jaunts of the Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  The next morning, Elsbeth set up for a presentation in the galley like she owned the place. She sent him a document report, but her presentation was largely visual. She started out, “Ximon, here’s what we found” and launched into a 45-minute visual presentation with lots of explanatory graphs showing variances from ideal. She kept a beer in hand or nearby.

  There was both good and bad news in the report. She hit some of the highlights as she ticked them off on her hand and displayed data graphs

  - “The jump drive appears sound, but the magnetic array needs a serious adjustment. You could easily mis-jump if you used it as is.

  - The maneuver drive looks OK, but several maneuvering thrusters are broken.

  - The fuel system needs a major cleaning and all filters replaced. It looks like she was running on skimmed fuel a lot and her filters weren’t doing a good job.

  - The computer seems stable, but it and the nav system need a million updates.

  - The communications array needs alignment, or you won’t be able to talk more than 100K or so.

  - Scanners need alignment too or fidelity and range are both dubious.

  - The reactor could use some alignment, but its output is good and no leaks

  - Artificial gravity, never good in these models, needs some parts to get above 20% standard

  - The main airlock and ramp are fine, but port airlock is broken and can’t be used, starboard airlock inner door needs repair.

  - Cargo doors are good, but the lift is shaky and slow

  - The air raft is a classic, and not in the good sense. I certainly wouldn’t attempt re-entry in that and probably wouldn’t want to fly very high. It’ll cruise through town, but that’s about it.

  - We didn’t do a full run down of minor stuff -- electrical, plumbing, lights and fixtures, but I noted quite a few that need fixed.

  - So, she needs some work to be considered ‘sound,’ but there are only a few things that MUST be fixed before you take her off planet and a few more before you try to jump with her.

  - The good news is that, though a lot of things need repaired, aligned, or tuned, I noted few major components that actually needed to be replaced. So, she won’t be an immediate money pit.”

  He was a bit dazed at the length of the list but was glad that he didn’t need to buy a new reactor or anything huge like that.

  All he could say was, “Well, I knew she didn’t just come off the assembly line, but it’s sobering to hear the list.”

  Elsbeth looked askance at that, “I assumed you were paying me to find the reality.”

  “Definitely and I can’t blame you for that reality. It is what it is. So how would you recommend fixing this?”

  “Well the fastest, easiest thing would probably be to turn it over to a ship depot facility. They’ll go over it in detail, fix everything major, and give you back a nice, pretty ship.”

  He started to interrupt, but she went on, “However, I’m sure you don’t want to spend that kind of money. So, you have two options.”

  She put up two fingers and pointed to the first, “1) You can hire a mechanic team to fix everything before you fly. That’ll probably take about 2 weeks.”

  Then, she pointed to the second, “2) You can hire a mechanic to fix the key stuff, then fly her easy with a mechanic on board and they can fix a lot of things while in flight.”

  He figured those would be the options, but asked, “How would those compare price-wise?”

  “Well, in the first, you’d pay me or some other mechanic team to fix a prioritized list of things. That’d probably be a contract at cost, plus a certain amount per day. In the second, you hire some mechanic as crew for a while, they fix what they can before you fly, and then fix what they can while you fly.”

  “That’s about what I thought. I’m looking at some jobs on ScoutLink and I’d like to take one that’s about 6-8 weeks long. If you’re open to a short-term contract, I’d like to hire you as soon as you can start. If not, I’d like to hire you to do some of the most critical repairs while looking for someone else. What do you say?”

  She looked pensive and thought for a minute before saying, “I’m open to that if you can get the tools and supplies, I need, and we can agree on a price. I could probably start on Monday or Tuesday. Would the crew just be you and me for this trip?”

  “I think so for this one, but I do have a humaniform bot, Raiza, that does a little light work and can be an extra set of hands if you need them.”

  Elsbeth snorted and smirked at that, “Sure, humaniform and helpful – an extra set of hands whenever you need them, eh?” Then she chuckled to herself and said, “Never mind, no surprise to me and none of my business. Certainly not the first one I’ve worked around. If your bot can do some useful work and you don’t mind her getting her hands dirty, she could help.”

  Ximon could tell that Elsbeth was assuming that Raiza was a sex bot. Raiza could and did serve that function at times, but Raiza DID do some other useful work. Raiza was a TrueForm Service Robot (TSR) model D8 companion bot. She was about 1.6 m tall, with a small waist, a relatively large bust, a dazzlingly beautiful face with some permanent makeup, and strawberry blond hair that fell in ringlets when not in a perfect braid.

  Elsbeth’s amusement reflected a common joke that all scout ships, or scouts, had sex bots. While not technically true, many ships, or scouts, did. Some scout missions had crews of 1-6 scouts away from port for weeks or months and it could get it awful lonely. It was not uncommon for some members of scout crews to “hook up” or even get married. The KSF never broke down and bought bot “assistants” for their ships, but most ships were equipped with awesome virtual reality (for analyzing scan results and planning missions) that was often used for porn. In any case, scout crews, as well as long-range transport crews, were prime “target markets” for the makers of sex bots. Many individuals or crews would buy or rent one when they could. But, Ximon, of course, bought Raiza to do work around the ship to save him time. It just so happened that she looked, felt, acted, and moved like a woman. His logic, such as it was, was that human-like bots worked best in human spaces and ships.

  Elsbeth went on, “So let’s talk price and supplies …” Then they dove into negotiations. Neither side was too set on a specific “deal”, so they soon reached an agreement. Elsbeth provided Ximon with an initial list of supplies to order and Ximon said he’d send the contract the next day.

  Over the next couple days, Ximon set himself (or the ship) up as a company, got a finalized contract with Elsbeth, took out a small business loan, ordered the supplies and tools that Elsbeth dictated, and generally stocked the ship. He (and Raiza) also officially moved into the ship and he set up Elsbeth with access codes so she could come and go once she started work.

  Then, he requested an appropriate basic scan mission off the ARC job board. The KSF always had requests or tasks that it couldn’t fulfill, so it would farm some of the basic ones out to its ARC personnel and ships. These didn’t pay a lot, but it was enough for some repairs and to keep the ship flying. It was also work that the ship was well suited for and which Ximon (and Elsbeth) were accustomed to. So, it was good job for a test trip. Ximon got the job and set an estimated start date about a week out, which Elsbeth said should work.

  Elsbeth did start on Monday and got right to work. Ximon helped when he could or when asked and Raiza did prove useful, fetching and carrying, serving up tools like a surgical nurse, and helping position large, bulky objects. When Ximon wasn’t helping Elsbeth with repairs, he did detailed planning for the job, plotting their likely route, jump points, etc. Elsbeth gave him daily updates on repairs and frequently ordered more parts and such. The ship was, indeed, going to be ready as planned, so he informed the ARC job office of their departure plan for the next morning and they agreed to meet at the ship at 0700.

  The mission was to take updated scans of the Avar 4, the 4th planet of the Avarian system, and its moons. The KSF would issue them 2 upgraded sensors and some
small cubesats for the mission. The Avar system has been surveyed before and there was a small mining station on asteroids sharing an orbit with the 4th planet. However, long range sensors suggested some strange atmospheric activity on Avar over the last few months. The last official survey of Avar4 was over 10 years ago and anecdotal data from passing ships was sparse and unremarkable. The star Avar was located 15.3 light years from Ximon’s home system of Tixaya and the ship had a jump range of 10.6 LY. Thus, they’d need to first Jump to an intermediary system, refuel, and then jump to Avar. Ximon planned to jump to the Taupra system, which has a few small colonies and 2 stable gas giants that can be skimmed for fuel.

  Jump: Interstellar travel is primarily accomplished using the hyperspace jump drive. The jump drive creates an intense gravo-magnetic field arrayed in such a way that it allows the ship to enter an area of folded space that allows much shorter travel to its target destination. Safely jumping requires extremely detailed navigational projections accounting for all sizable gravitational fields. It cannot safely be performed within several astronomic units (AU) of a standard star, nor too close to a planetary body. If the navigational planning is poor, there are major gravitational anomalies near the destination, or the jump drive malfunctions, a mis-jump can occur. In a mis-jump, space is not folded properly to allow travel to the destination. In minor cases, this can lead to the ship coming out of jump many thousands of kilometers from its target point, but in severe cases, it could lead to the ship crashing into a planetary or solar body or being transported to a star system located light years (LY) from the destination. The number of LY that a ship can jump at one time is known as its jump range, jump capability, or jump speed. Jump ranges are typically between 5-25 LY.

  When Elsbeth arrived, Raiza had a good breakfast waiting and Ximon had a quick announcement. He picked up some juice and said, “In honor of this trip and this grand venture, I’ve come up with an official name for this ship. Though her transponder may say, “KSS SC-1550-V” she shall be called Mantis! It may be all she has, but hopefully she’ll give us that. A toast to Mantis.”

  Elsbeth didn’t appear overly impressed, but pursed her lips, shrugged, raised her glass, said, “Mantis” and drank her juice down. Raiza did the same with her juice, though she had no need of food or drink.

  Ximon continued, “OK, with that out of the way, let’s get this baby in the sky. Elsbeth, take a few minutes to finish your food and get settled. Then, let me know when you’re ready to monitor things in Engineering while I pre-flight and take off. “

  He then directed his voice at the air generally, “KSS SC-1550-V, you are now designated as Mantis. You will respond to voice commands by that name as well as KSS SC-1550-V. Confirm.”

  Mantis’s smooth female voice responded, “Designation Mantis confirmed, Captain.”

  Mantis:

  Type: Survey Craft

  Displacement:130 tons

  Power Plant: Closed Fusion Reactor

  Thrust Rating:3.1G

  Jump Range:10.6 LY

  Sensors: Basic KSF planetary and ship package

  Computer: Type II Basic Ship Control

  Armament: None

  Defensive Systems:None

  Crew:1-8 officers and enlisted personnel

  Jaunt 1: A Meeting at Avar

  Elsbeth scarfed down a few more quick bites of breakfast, said, “Done” and headed to her room with her duffel and backpack. She was a practiced hand on a ship, so she came on comms from engineering within about 10 minutes, saying, “All readings look good so far.”

  Ximon finished pre-flight checks, got clearance from the control center, and eased Mantis up. She handled fairly well under easy acceleration and they were soon headed for the edge of space. Once they’d finished their main acceleration, Elsbeth joined him on the bridge since she could monitor almost everything from there. They both watched carefully while enjoying the flight until the got out of the gravity well of the planet. Ximon said, “Our first stop will be the Taupra gas giant where we’ll top off by skimming. ETA 19 hours to jump point to Taupra.”

  Elsbeth nodded, “Understood. I’ll need to watch the purification levels carefully when we do that to ensure we don’t ‘gunk up the works’ again. She seems to be running well. I’ll keep monitoring while working on some of the many remaining issues.”

  Ximon said, “Roger. Let me know if you need me. I’m putting her on auto-pilot and will do some more planning for our destination.”

  He then said, “Mantis, monitor all systems for operating within tolerances and direct any anomalies to my tablet as well as ship consoles. Alarm on any safety-critical systems until directed otherwise.”

  “Yes, captain. Monitoring all systems and alerting as directed.”

  Ximon checked and rechecked his jump calculations and studied the available data on both the Taupra and Avar systems. The flight to a safe jump distance was uneventful, or almost so.

  Ximon was zoning and almost dozing, monitoring progress when the ship klaxons sounded, shocking him out of both his reverie and his seat.

  Mantis said in an authoritative tone, “Captain, ship water pressure is operating 10% outside of safe tolerances! Prompt corrective action should be taken!”

  Elsbeth immediately chimed in on the circuit, “What the hell’s going on up there?”

  Ximon said, “Hold one Elsbeth” then went on “Mantis, did I not direct you to just send alerts for anomalies?”

  The ship replied, “Captain, you directed me to immediately alert you of any safety-critical system operating outside safe tolerances. The water system is safety critical in that it is vital for both the sustainment of biologic organisms, but also because it is involved in the operation of fine maneuvering thrusters, and in the cooling of key system components.”

  Ximon groaned and said, “Elsbeth, you get all that?”

  “Of course and I know the water pressure isn’t at standard levels. I told you that. It’s fine and I’ve got it shunted so we have more than enough pressure in the systems and areas we’re using. Just turn off the dang alarms or it’s going to be a really long trip because we’ve still got a lot of things outside tolerance.”

  “Roger. Mantis, just send alerts of anomalies. Do not alarm on anything except imminent collision, fire, or explosion.”

  “As you say, captain. However, I should quote from the KSF Ship’s Operation Manual 127-4 ‘The maintenance of survey craft is vital to the mission. Virtually any ship system can become safety-critical if not maintained properly.’ Therefore, I must suggest that this be repaired as soon as practical.”

  Ximon and Elsbeth angrily responded almost in unison, “Noted. Now shut up!”

  They made it out to Ximon’s calculated jump point with no further incident. Though Mantis noted multiple system anomalies, neither Elsbeth nor Ximon noted anything of immediate significance. The selected jump point was well beyond the system’s main gas giant and selected so that the next planet was at the farthest point on its orbit (i.e. on the other side of the sun). Thus, they were outside all of the largest gravitational fields.

  Ximon signaled Elsbeth, “Elsbeth, we’re at the jump point. I’d like to jump in 15 minutes if you’re not in the middle of anything that would be affected.”

  “Well, I’m in the middle of something, but it’s not related. I’ll just make sure stuff’s not going to fly around and will let you know as soon as I’m ready. I’ve put in extra monitoring checks and should be able to see any deviations or distortions …. Though, once the jump has started, it’ll pretty much be too late.”

  Ximon groaned again, “Great and thanks for that. Let me know. The main ship’s view will be on image channel 7 if you care to watch.”

  He then strapped in, double checked all the key settings and waited to hear back from Elsbeth.

  As soon as he did, he counted down, “Initiating jump sequence in 10, 9, 8 ….” And then pushed the button to initiate.

  Initiating a jump wasn’t actually all that dramati
c. There was no huge acceleration or deceleration and usually no turbulence to speak of. However, momentum did sometimes shift and you did tend to feel a lurch in your stomach and inner ear. Some described it like a fast deceleration in an elevator or the first exposure to zero-G and it did nauseate some people. So, it was customary for all personnel to at least be seated and not have a lot of loose gear around when it was initiated.

  Like many, Ximon liked to watch the stars as the jump began, but some found that view disconcerting and avoided it religiously. There wasn’t a whole lot to see. You’d be starting at a huge number of stars, then the stars would appear to move as if you were dizzy, and then …. NOTHING. When the ship jumped, the engines created an intense gravo-magnetic field that put it in any area of folded space that allows much shorter travel to its target destination. It would generally take 4-7 days to “traverse” this space and come out at your destination. However, within this space everything just appeared to be a black void and there was no sense of motion and nary a star to be seen. Again, some found this earth-shattering, but it just told serious spacers that it was time to get back to other work or get some rest. Elsbeth did the former, while Ximon did the latter.

  Over the next 6 days, Elsbeth made a lot of progress fixing systems both minor and major, with a lot of assistance from Ximon and Raiza. Ximon and Elsbeth chatted a lot as they did so. Ximon knew that Elsbeth had retired after 20 years, but he hadn’t known that she had been married once and in a civil union another time. She had no kids, but she was close to a couple of her sisters and their kids who all lived on Tixaya. She was (or considered herself to be) the “cool aunt” that had adventures and brought back fun souvenirs and pictures. Ximon was familiar with that role. He too had a few siblings, nephews, and nieces that he occasionally saw and stayed in touch with.