by Jay Toney
I was a lot faster now. I could run five times faster than I was ever able to run. Learning to balance myself took practice. I spent most of the time having to grip the handrails on the treadmill to keep from falling.
I learned another thing. My breathing rate hardly changed. No matter how fast or how far I ran. The lungs were much more efficient when it came to supplying oxygen to my blood. Also, I didn't feel any fatigue. I wasn't using muscles. I was only sending impulses to the various servomotors, and control circuits in my limbs. The bionic limbs were doing all of the work.
I was also able to lift heavy weight, enough to surpass what our high gravity crew members could lift. I didn't want to push it past that. I didn't feel any strain when lifting and didn't know the limitations of my new spine and limbs.
I understood why they had to upgrade my spine. The weight I was lifting would have caused serious injury to human bone. The few bones I had left, weren't needed to support my body. They were only there to give it form.
I went to engineering next. The crewmen there ignored me. It was still early, so Jane wasn't there to stop what I was about to do. Doc would have screamed at me if he knew what I was going to test next. I opened the lid of a coolant tank, for the ship's computers. The coolant was every bit as cold as liquid nitrogen but didn't evaporate.
Before anyone could stop me I submerged my hand in the liquid. There was no sensation of pain. A temperature reading in my mind gave me a reading of the coolant's temperature, (-196c).I knew I could handle extreme cold now, but what about heat? I performed the same test with the engines lubricants, with the same results. Only this time I had to scrub the lubricant off from my right hand and arm.
I didn't know what else I could do to test my new abilities. While lost in thought, I accidentally bumped into an engineer carrying a tray of damaged chips. I bent over to help pick up the spilled chips. Tendrils extended from my fingertips selecting a chip. My right eye's vision shut off and my cybernetic eye magnified and focused in on the computer chip. The tendrils worked as tiny manipulators, repairing the burnt out chip as I watched. I handed the repaired chip back to the startled engineer. This unknown ability freaked me out. It was both unexpected and out of my control.
On the way back to my cabin, I wondered, was I more machine than man now? Persephone's voice was there to remind me, "You are still Nathaniel. Discoveries are bound to happen when you least expect them. I have faith that you will learn to master them, in time." It was still early in the morning, but I felt emotionally drained. I had done enough for the day.
"Persephone, its time to move on. Set course for the next system."
Ringworld
I was spending most of my time locked in my cabin. Jewel and Amber both gave up on trying to coax me out of it. On the outside, I still looked the same as I always had. On the inside, I still saw myself as a mechanical monster, an object of fear. I made all of my command decisions from my suite, where nobody could see me.
Persephone frequently talked to me, assuring me that I was far from the monster I thought I was. When I didn't feel talking, she sang. She had a beautiful voice. I couldn't help being distracted from my thoughts when she sang to me.
Our fresh food supply was depleted. We were now living on frozen and packaged food. To keep morale up, we needed to restock our supplies. We could live for years on the food we had in storage but it didn't have the same appeal as fresh food.
The orchards in our biodomes were producing some fruit, but they had been neglected for several years and were not producing enough. Fertilization and proper care would make next year's harvest bountiful. We were growing a wide variety of crops, both fruit, and vegetables, in our newly planted gardens. We would have more than what we needed with our current population when it was time to harvest them. The plants were only just starting to flower. The fruit and vegetables they were growing were still weeks away from harvesting.
I knew what Persephone was going to say next, but I still wanted to hear it from her. "Captain, we have come out of hyperspace in the Von Klouse System. You are needed on the bridge." Scan data revealed a curiosity, surrounding the third planet, but not anything that needed my immediate attention.
"Persephone, bring up my last medical scan data."
"What are you looking for?"
"l want to see just how much of me is me."
A holographic image of me appeared. The cybernetic modifications were highlighted in red. I studied the image. My brain was largely still my own. It was surrounded by a web of nanofilaments. Strands of wire like tendrils were woven throughout my brain.
My neurochip had been upgraded. It made the flow of information much faster, and easier to control. There was also a new ocular control circuit sharing space inside my skull with my brain. My left eye was also a cybernetic implant. My legs, arms, and even my spine were now bionic.
I looked closer at my internal organs. My heart had been replaced by a constant circulation pump, and my lungs were also upgraded. I was correct in guessing that more had been removed and changed to make room for other implants. My stomach and kidneys were replaced with synthetic organs, smaller and more efficient. My colon and intestines were gone. They were replaced with a shorter, more compact version. My gallbladder and spleen were gone too. They weren't replaced, they were simply deemed as no longer needed. My liver and pancreas were still mine, mostly anyways. Fine filaments and nanotubes made connections between my organs and their replacements. They also connected my cybernetic organs with my vascular system.
There were also other components in me, whose functions were unknown. Jewel was right. My reproduction system and genitals were untouched. All in all, only a little over 30% of my body was me. I was more machine than human now.
"Nathaniel, I know its only been a few days, but you have to get on with your life. How many times do I have to tell you that you are still you? If you lose confidence in yourself and doubt your own worth, the crew will do the same."
"When I repaired the chip in engineering I had no control. The machine that I am now, did it on its own."
"It was an automatic response, and there will be others. You need to learn to deal with them, there is no machine taking over your life."
"Maybe but... ."
"Maybe but nothing. Look at me. I am more machine than you are, yet I live. Astrea has convinced me that I am Persephone. I have no memory of my past life, or what has happened to me since my death. I only have my memories since becoming your ships AI."
"Don't you feel the loss of not having a human body."
"No. I can do things now that I couldn't even dream of before. I am certain that I am more than I once was."
"What about the loss of your freedom?"
"I am even freer now than I ever was. More important, I have a purpose and I enjoy doing what I do."
"I suppose a short visit on the bridge may help rebuild my confidence, but I am not going to wear a monkey suit. They will just have to get used to me being what I am."
I changed into shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and slippers then took the elevator up to the bridge. Nugget vacated the command chair and resumed his station at the helm controls. I seated myself, relaxing on the well-padded seat.
"Captain, there is no sign of traffic in this system. This system is listed as unexplored. That is odd since it was given the name of its discoverer. I tried cross referencing the name Von Klouse. That's when things really got weird. There isn't anything about him in our database. There once was, but there isn't now. All information related to him has been deleted, including this system.
There is something odd about the third planet. There is a ring around the planet's equator. It isn't a ring, or at least not a natural one. The planets ring is man made. I ca
n't tell much more about it until we get closer."
"I am not receiving any response to my hails," Jewel added to Amber's report.
"Nugget bring us in closer. We need to resupply our fresh food if we can. We can also use more reaction mass. I would rather not have to mine and process it ourselves."
"Adjusting course, Captain."
The ring wasn't a ring at all, at least not a true ring. The structure wasn't a solid ring, but one made up of hundreds of segments, Every segment 100 miles across and twenty-five miles wide. The segments were connected to each other via a flexible conduit. It orbited the planet in a synchronized orbit, matching the planet's rotation, giving the ring a day and night cycle.
Our biosensors showed abundant life signs in each segment, but we couldn't get any response from our communications. Our sensors also indicated that the atmosphere in the ring segments was safe for humans. The planet was also habitable. It was covered by forests and looked untouched by man. To keep it that way a defensive shield englobed the planet. The energy shield drew its energy from the planet itself. It was too strong for our shuttles to pass through. If we wanted to go to the surface, we would have to deactivate the shield first.
Our ships entered high orbit, safe from any defenses the ring might have. Before we sent our fleets shuttles to the ringlike structure to barter for food, or to simply harvest it, I would send a small expedition, consisting of just one shuttle. I needed someone to serve as an ambassador, someone who was familiar with the workings of the political system. That meant Nugget. I also needed communications and sensors specialists. Jewel and Amber fit those needs. A biologist would come in handy, to identify alien food that was safe to eat. I also needed an ace pilot and a thief. I fit the requirements nicely for that.
"Jewel, contact Mike aboard the Sequoia. I need one of his egg heads to come with us, someone who can speak so I can understand him or her."
"Mike is sending a shuttle over with Dr. Marcus."
I needed just one more thing. One never knew when a ghost would come in handy. I would be able to communicate with Persephone through my neurolink, but if I could bring her with us, I may be able to use her skills. Besides, it would give her a chance to explore someplace other than my ship.
I told Nugget what I wanted. He and the rest of the Keshian crew were slightly more advanced in technology than the rest of us. He agreed that Persephone's presence could come in handy. "I can fashion a mobile emitter, that will do just the trick. It will have its limits though. It can only be used in line of sight. She won't have any way of using her own sensors, but she can use yours."
"That will do perfectly." The mobile emitter that Nugget fashioned was made to resemble and be used as a belt buckle. He told me I couldn't accidentally loose it that way. No one had told him about my first encounter with Amber's sister, Beverly. She had since then advanced from rogue to ships captain and was the mother of two of my children. I never did get my clothing back from her.
Nugget sat in the copilot's seat, and Amber sat behind me where she had easy access to the ship's sensors.
Nugget had selected six Keshians to accompany our party. When everyone was seated and strapped in, I began the preflight diagnostics and engine start up.
It happened again. Wire like tendrils extended from my right wrist seeking a connection with my Marauder's computers. They settled into a computer port used for diagnostics and testing. A message flashed in my mind:
"Reprogramming. Stand by... program complete. Beginning preflight checklist:
Instruments... pass.
Communications... pass.
Navigation... pass.
Environmental controls... pass.
Weapons systems... pass.
Starting engines...
Calibrating pitch, yaw, and roll controls...
Hydraulics... pass.
Hatches sealed, cabin pressurized.
Checklist complete."
I wasn't sure what happened or why. This time I was aware of what was happening. I didn't know how to even begin controlling it. The tendrils stayed in place. I tried reaching for the controls, but my hands and arms wouldn't respond.
"Quit daydreaming, let's get going," Nugget barked.
"Just think to the Marauder what you want it to do," Persephone advised me. I tried. I thought about releasing the brakes and easing the throttles forward. The Marauder started moving. "You are trying to think your instructions to hard. Just tell the ship what you want it to do." I thought about taxiing to the take off position. I also imagined the launch tube doors opening.
The instructions were vague, but my cybernetic implants interpreted what I wanted and made it happen. Warning lights flashed, and sirens sounded. The launch tube doors opened and we got the green light to launch. The throttles moved forward and my Marauder took off.
I thought about rolling to my right and doing a loop. Before I completed my thoughts, the Marauder was already coming out of the loop. Next, I thought about the strange ring-like structure orbiting the planet. The Marauder changed course and accelerated towards the planet's equator.
"Nugget, look, no hands."
"Quit showing off."
It was becoming easier to fly my Marauder. It felt like the ship was an extension of my body. I didn't have to command the ship. I just simply had to fly. My Marauder responded as if it was a part of my body. I experimented with this new feeling of flight on the way to the ring. I rolled, baked, climbed and dived. I was the ship and it felt great.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to make us sick?"
"Sorry Nugget. I got a little carried away?"
I did one more loop before straightening out my flight and resuming course.
"You see Nathaniel, it's easy, and it can be fun, at times, too," Persephone whispered.
"Is the feeling of flying always so fun?"
"It is, and you will learn to enjoy many other benefits with your new abilities."
I started reaching out with my Marauders sensors, probing the ring, looking for a someplace to dock. I must have activated some sort of defense system. My Marauder was caught in some sort of a tractorbeam. I couldn't break free. The tractorbeam locked onto us and held us in place. The ring broadcast a signal to us.
"Captain, it's asking for a recognition signal. I have no way of knowing the proper response. If we send the wrong signal, we may be destroyed," Jewel said.
There was nothing to do but wait. There must be some sort of routine to identify visitors as friends or foe. It had our transponder information and knew what we are. The wait wasn't long. It sent another signal asking for a response.
"Captain, it's communicating in ancient Terran. If I understand the question correctly, it is asking a geometry question. It wants the answer for the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter."
I was no good at math. I could get by with a computer if I had to. I pulled mine out, ready to set up the math problem.
"How big of a circle?" I was thinking it may be referring to the ring, and we would have to obtain its measurements. "What is the diameter." I was ready to prove myself useful, with my skills using a computer.
"You dolt, can't you even do basic math? It doesn't matter how big a circle, or its diameter. The answer is always the same, 3.14159."
Jewel transmitted the answer. We were given another question. It showed us the image of a solar system. It had eight planets and two dwarf planets. It wanted to know the name of the system and the planet of origin. I knew this system. I got a nice wooden box, with this same system inlaid with gold. I received it as a gift for aiding a colony being attacked by spiders. "The answer is Sol System." I touched the
third planet orbiting the sun.
It sent another question, "CL2, CO2, 02, NH3?" I had no idea what it was asking us. I knew it involved chemistry, I looked towards Jewel and Amber to see if they might know. Nugget came to my rescue again. "It is asking us what we breathe. It wants to know if it is chlorine, carbon dioxide, oxygen, or ammonia? You can answer that one, can't you?"
"I can breathe any of those or any combination of them with my new lungs." I selected oxygen anyhow. Flashing lights came on one of the ring segments. The tractorbeam pulled us towards it. Doors opened allowing us to enter the structure. As soon as we were clear, the doors closed behind us. The hangar remained pressurized, by some type of force field. Somehow it allowed us to enter but kept the hangar pressurized with the doors open.
The launch and recovery tubes on the Persephone and the Vengeance used a series of force fields to keep the shuttle bays pressurized. They demanded a lot of energy to maintain. When we weren't using the launch tubes they were sealed with armored shutters and the force fields turned off. If we could acquire this technology, the trip here would be worth any price.
The floor of the hangar was covered with dust, as were the shuttle craft we walked past. It looked like it had been a long time since anyone had visited the hangar. The footprints we left on the floor were the only footprints we could see in the dust. We came to what looked like an airlock of some sort and entered it. The door sealed behind us.
The only door was the one we came in from. Every airlock I entered had at least two ways to enter or exit. The controls were always simple by design and located adjacent to the doors. There was a control panel in the center of the room, with a complicated series of menu selections on a touch screen panel. It seemed that we were locked in if we couldn't figure out how to use the control panel. I couldn't make sense of any of the selections, Jewel, Amber, and Nugget couldn't either.