Anti Life

by Allen Kuzara

  The word should always made Alvarez feel uneasy. At least they hadn’t crashed into the star. “Parker, report,” he said.

  Parker gripped his console. “Sir, the engines are blown.”

  “We’re stranded?”

  “No, interstellar travel is still possible. I’m talking about our thrusters. We won’t be able to maneuver when we’re not in IST.”

  Alvarez bit his lip. He didn’t understand how interstellar travel was even possible, let alone the actual mechanics of engine design.

  “That’s not our only concern,” Parker continued. “York is on her way to disengage the energy-transfer coupling from the main reactor. If she doesn’t do it within about three minutes, it will overload and blow the reactor. Then we really are stuck,” he paused, “or worse.”

  Alvarez clenched his fist trying not to appear shocked. He kept his panic locked down. He learned long ago that the most important thing in a crisis was to keep yourself together. It didn’t matter how you felt. There was no way to feel calm. You had to act calm. What you did was more important than what you felt. Focus on doing the next right thing. He swallowed the lump in his throat and said, “What’s the cause for the malfunction?”

  “It’s just a new design. I knew something like this could happen. We took the Constance out too soon, before the customary six weeks of extensive testing. I don’t know why McKinley was so dead set on using the Constance.”

  “At least he allowed you to bring extra parts,” Alvarez said.

  Parker eased up a bit. “Yeah. We’ve got enough parts to rebuild the ship twice over…” He stiffened. “If there’s time.”

  Thomson interrupted, “Colonel Alvarez, look.”

  Out the main bay window Alvarez saw a small shuttle appear. “What’s he doing?” Alvarez said. He grabbed the communication console, hits the transmitter, and said, “Brennen, report. Brennen.”

  Jitters said, “S-s-sir, it’s no use. Communications are down.”

  “If we get through this alive, I’m going to…” Alvarez controlled himself. He couldn’t lose it in front of the crew. He turned to Parker. “Do you need to assist York?”

  “There’s little I could do. Where she’s going, there’s barely enough room for one person. Her size and skill means she can do it faster than I could.”

  The crew was silent. A faint hum, first sounding like ringing in the ears, grew louder and higher pitched. “Jitters,” Alvarez said. “Go check on the grunts and report back.”

  “You got it, Colonel.”

  Everyone else at the helm waited by their consoles. The hum continued to rise in pitch but grabbed new, lower frequencies that combined into a nauseating oscillation.

  Alvarez watched Brennen’s shuttle. No doubt, Alvarez shared the thoughts of everyone else on board: was the combustion chamber going to blow? Would they be stranded or die? But Alvarez’s overriding thought was unique; if they blew up, Brennen would get away with acting like a spoiled child. No, if they blew up, he would get away with murder, because he took their only shuttle, their only mode of escape from the ticking time bomb inside the Constance.

  Brennen’s shuttle moved at the same rapid speed as before, but now, because of the distance, it appeared to drift like debris in an asteroid belt. Not far beyond the shuttle, Alvarez saw a small glimmer. It must be the probe, he thought.

  The crew grew restless. A bead of sweat, blood red from the track lights, dripped from Thomson’s brow. Parker paced the dark room with one hand covering his face, the other on his hip. The two technicians sat holding their heads in their hands. Alvarez felt a blender in his guts as the supersonic hum grew inaudible.

  Suddenly, a rapid metallic clang pulsed for a couple seconds and then nothing. Alvarez looked at Parker who exhaled an unmistakable sigh of relief. The crew cheered.

  Jitters returned to the helm. Sitting down at his console, he said, “The men are fine, sir. Except for a couple stationed in the cargo bay, everyone was in their barracks. They were a little confused by the lights going out, but I got them settled down.” Alvarez wondered what substances that had entailed.

  Terra York returned to the helm. She reported to Alvarez, “We’re in the clear, sir. Now it’s time to start making repairs.”

  “Is it safe to turn on the systems?” he asked Parker.

  “I think it should be fine now, but we’re not going to have sub-IST maneuverability until repairs are made. York disengaged the power coupling, which isn’t hard to replace. But I’m guessing we’ll need to swap out some major components. I won’t know for sure until we run a full diagnostic and manually inspect the combustion chamber and its contiguous components.”

  Alvarez looked at the Jitters and gave him the nod. Within moments the lights, communications, and computers were back online.

  Either Parker wasn’t satisfied with Alvarez’s non-response, or he was stuck in engineering mode and was thinking out loud. “I’m certain we’ve got all the parts we need,” he said, “and the energy-transfer coupling might even be in good enough shape to continue using it. I suspect the problem is the combustion chamber. Replacing it is a real bear. We can’t do it from within the ship. We have to take it on a transport table outside the main cargo bay doors, space-walk it around the ship, open the service hatch, pull out the old chamber, and secure the new chamber from outside.”

  Alvarez heard him but said nothing. He was busy pulling up ship schematics, the combustion chamber specifically. “I can’t seem to find the service hatch, the service shaft, or half of what you’re talking about on the computer’s diagrams.”

  “Oh, that’s to be expected,” Parker said. “Much of this was an after-thought, something we changed late in the design process.”

  “A mistake?”

  “Mistake is too strong a word. This is par for the course. Initial designs only work on paper. Once metal meets rivet, there are going to be some disconnects between theory and practice. The only reason the schematics aren’t up to date is because we took the Constance out ahead of schedule.”

  Alvarez wondered what other surprises were waiting for him. “How long is this going to take?”

  “Several hours, at least. I’ll know more once I get a look at it.”

  “You better get to it.

  Chapter 12

  Brennen reviewed his notes from the shuttle’s console. Despite the mission coming together so quickly, he was thoroughly prepared. The shuttle was crowded. It was a one room vessel, and Brennen had stacked the posterior section full of tools and materials including dozens of oxygen tanks.

  He turned from his console and faced forward in the cockpit. Out his window, the research probe now appeared larger than the Constance. A light and a ringer went off. “They must have communications back online,” he said. “John, when I have something to tell you, I’ll let you know.” Brennen shut off the ringer, dismissing the hail.

  “Just in case,” he said to himself, bringing up the transceiver protocol. He clicked the probe’s signature tab from the two signals available on his console. The screen flashed TRANSMITTING.

  “Research probe NC-108D, this is a rescue party from Novos, Dr. Michael Brennen speaking. Can anyone hear me?”

  There was no reply. “Didn’t think so. Proceeding as planned,” he said.

  The shuttle neared the probe. Brennen disengaged the autopilot and grabbed the holographic controls. They were an orange/red projection. Once he gripped the controls, they moved with his hands as long as he kept them the right distance apart. The holograph stretched and compressed like putty.

  He sat the controls in his lap and guided the shuttle to within docking range of the probe but stopped short. Something was wrong. Beside the main hatch was a small rectangular opening, its cover missing. Even from this distance, Brennen could see that the primary power control was disengaged. I can’t even get aboard without that plugged in, he thought.

  Brennen pulled his hands apart. The holographic controls snapped back into their original positi
on above the console. He waved one hand, and the holograph disappeared.

  “Computer, execute application robotics initiation protocol,” he said. The computer chirped. Then he heard external machinery begin to grind.

  A picture appeared on his screen, nearly identical to his cockpit view. He saw part of the probe. The entrance shaft was highlighted with special graphics. Brennen clicked on the highlighted image and then felt a vibration in the floor.

  The robotic unit appeared in the bottom part of the screen. It disembarked from the shuttle and headed towards the probe, a short distance away. Before it reached the hatch, Brennen said, “Pause initiation protocol.”

  The unit stopped. “Robot, attempt to engage primary power control on the compartment next to the main hatch,” he said.

  There was a split-second pause. Then the cylindrical unit fired micro-thrusters, shifting its trajectory. Now in line with the power control, long arms extended like antennae to the exposed panel. Moments later, Brennen’s screen read, “Primary power restored.”

  “Good,” he said. “Unit, continue with initiation protocol.”

  After the unit realigned itself with the entrance shaft, the image on the screen flickered. It changed to the robotic unit’s camera. The entrance shaft grew larger until the screen turned black.

  Brennen said, “Computer, open shaft and employ mobile voyeur.” The screen went fuzzy as the unit opened the hatch and switched to the voyeur’s camera.

  “Electromagnetic interference,” he muttered.

  New holographic controls appeared above the console, this time with a joy-stick configuration. Brennen grabbed them and moved the voyeur forward inside the probe. The screen was still black.

  He breathed, “So you didn’t get the lights back on after all.”

  With his left hand, he toggled the commands until LUMINOSO appeared.

  “Spanish? The last guy…” he said.

  The voyeur sprayed white light into the primary airlock, the first of the probe’s two main compartments. The other compartment was the main living space. The airlock was the smaller of the two, replete with tools and decontamination equipment. Adjoining the two sections was a small, redundant airlock where the final sequence of decontamination protocols was administered.

  Brennen maneuvered the robot further into the primary airlock. The voyeur was perfect for these situations. It had treads like a dozer for normal gravity environs, but it was equally mobile sans gravity via its thruster array.

  As Brennen tilted the stick forward in a smooth motion, the voyeur propelled itself through an intricate series of tiny thruster bursts each with different angles and durations. The voyeur’s computer constantly adjusted to maintain a safe speed and trajectory. But for the operator, it was a smooth, effortless experience.

  The voyeur was the ideal tool for this job. Novos had many unmanned probes in space, and voyeurs carried out many of the chores, in and outside of the vessels. They were great cost savers for corps, especially with the rising price of unskilled labor. Most vessels, specifically their doors, were designed to be operated by voyeurs.

  He turned the unit to face the hatch. “Close hatch door,” he said. Nothing happened. Apparently, none of the automated systems were working. That meant artificial gravity couldn’t be restored from within the airlock. I’ll have to do things manually, he thought.

  He needed to find the right command. He toggled through his tools list. He selected ENTRADA. Nothing happened. “That should have done it,” he said.

  He toggled through more commands. “Let’s try one more. I hope I’m remembering my Spanish.” He selected CIERRA. Immediately, the voyeur extended three arms toward the perimeter of the hatch. They locked in place, hand-in-glove in the three circular slots.

  After making contact, there was a loud distorted sound over the comm. Without atmosphere, the reverberations inside the probe were inaudible, but the arms, in direct contact with the vessel, resonated sound to the comms. As the arms spun, the grinding, squeaking sounds over saturated its microphone.

  Brennen watched as three curved, scissor blades coalesced, closing the hatch. The sound subsided, and the voyeur arms detached from the entrance.

  Brennen scanned the airlock one last time. He couldn’t afford to miss anything that could point to the probe tech’s condition and whereabouts. He saw nothing but tools attached to white walls and some floating plastic. He figured the technician must have thrown some of his trash into the airlock.

  Brennen turned the unit to face the redundant airlock that lead to the main living quarters. Inside the narrow passageway, he toggled from CIERRA to ENTRADA. He said, “Let’s see if anybody’s home.” The voyeur again reached its arms to the slots around the hatch producing the same unpleasant discord as the scissor hatch opened.

  He held his breath, glimpsing the living quarters for the first time. The lights were still out. This larger compartment was difficult to illuminate with the voyeur’s onboard lights.

  Brennen was methodical. He directed the voyeur to follow the wall on the right, attempting to outline the room’s perimeter. Nothing was as it should be. Above a tacky green couch floated an acoustic guitar with a sunburst finish. Its black hard-case was near the ceiling. The couch below was apparently attached to the floor, probably to secure it during pre-launch transport.

  Brennen assumed the chaotic conditions resulted after life support and artificial gravity were lost. For numerous reasons, the airlock compartment commonly lost AG, but the main living quarters was designed to have its atmosphere and gravity maintained.

  The voyeur maneuvered around the floating debris and came to the kitchenette. Above the sink were dozens of silverware utensils and a pot of noodles strung out like frozen lightning bolts. “Filthy slob,” he said.

  Past the kitchen, Brennen moved the voyeur around a doorless partition. Suspended above the floor were various pieces of exercise equipment. “Keep moving,” Brennen told himself.

  The next partition had a series of bunks. Why would a probe with only one technician have more than one bed? he wondered. He moved the voyeur closer. The bottom bunk was empty except for blankets and a pillow. He twisted a knob causing the voyeur to rise. Its camera peered over the mattress of the top bunk. Floating below the ceiling was something covered with blankets. It was a body. Its back was turned toward the voyeur.

  “Why would you go to bed if you were losing life-support?” Brennen said.

  He jostled the holograph. New controls emerged on each side, like wings from a fuselage. He moved two of the voyeur’s arms forward, clasping the olive-drab blanket. Brennen held his breath. The arms peeled the blanket off the body, which was wearing a standard Novos active-wear suit. One of the arms bumped the body causing it to drift. It smashed against the wall and spun back toward the voyeur.

  Brennen tried to avoid impact by repositioning the unit. But it took too long. A tan, featureless face smacked into the voyeur’s camera spinning it and the body out of position.

  Brennen yelled. He lost his grip, and the holograph snapped back to its original position above the console. He exhaled slowly, then reached for the controls. He hit a command key, and the voyeur stabilized its position. The camera was aimed toward the ceiling. He repositioned the unit and spotted the body in the corner resting between the bunks and partition. He moved the voyeur closer.

  “Pathetic,” he said.

  A companion doll’s foam-for-face stared back at him. They were more commonly called space-buddies, the source of a million jokes. It was too unsophisticated to be an android. It was barely even robotic, its movements limited to walking, sitting and grossly inauthentic head gestures. It had no mouth or eyes, and its hands were pointed nubs. It was designed to resemble a human, not replace one.

  The lack of features was intentional. It allowed people to imprint their own images onto the space-buddy. Psychologists found that more realism made SBs too impersonal. People have a knack, almost a need, for filling in gaps. If machines have
too many details, people ultimately reject the artificial construct.

  The early years of deep space exploration proved that people as social creatures had real limits in handling isolation. SBs were a crude, but effective way to extend the duration of a solo missions. They told stories, read books, and carried out basic conversations with soloists. It wasn’t a stretch for people who talk to their pets or house plants to begin conversing with a human shaped computer chip.

  Back at Novos, Brennen had repeatedly expressed doubt in the efficacy of SBs, despite case studies to the contrary. The very idea of needing a human, faux or real, was repulsive.

  Brennen moved the voyeur out of the bunk area and to what appeared to be the work station. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said. He approached the systems control console.

  “It’s a long shot,” he muttered. “Voyeur, interface with the console. Attempt to restore systems computer.”

  The voyeur attached one arm to an exposed socket. Even with main power offline, the voyeur could jump start some of the systems.

  A moment passed. Brennen studied the blank console screen. A green blinking dash appeared.

  “Computer, restore life-support systems, and artificial gravity.” The voyeur, more self-aware than a space-buddy, placed itself on the floor, using its extended arm to brace itself against the console.

  The interior lights came on, first flickering and then a constant, sterile-white. Brennen, still squinting from the brightness, turned the voyeur’s camera. He panned across the rest of the room.

  “Where is he?” he said.

  There was a cacophonous crash. Startled, Brennen again lost his grip of the holographic controls.

  “I should have anticipated that,” he said.

  The artificial gravity was online. All the floating objects—boxes, pots and pans, a guitar—had fallen to the floor simultaneously.

  Brennen continued his search. Lights made it easier, but the AG created new hurdles. The voyeur, now on treads, had to clear desks, chairs, and other debris.