Scrapyard Ship 4 Realms of Time (4 page)

Both Dira and Ricket moved to virtual consoles to access the Minian’s medical database.

In moments Dira threw her hands up in defeat. “I’m locked out. It was worth a try anyway,” she said as she stepped away.

Ricket stayed at his console a moment longer. Virtual displays around the room came alive, along with some characteristic beeps of medical devices being initiated. Hearing the familiar sound, Dira grinned and turned back to her console, starting to scroll curiously through several screens of information. “Ricket, you’re brilliant, as usual.” Turning to Jason she said, “This technology is amazing, Captain; we need to get this … all of this over to The Lilly,” she urged.

“
As long as things are compatible,” Jason said.

Jason stepped from Medical out into the corridor. So similar to The Lilly’s, but newer—bigger. Uneasy, he had a feeling of trespassing into someone else’s space, which, of course, was exactly what they were doing. But they needed to hurry. How long before the Caldurians came looking for their ship? What would their reaction be, seeing it in its current condition?

“
Orion, Billy, I need you to check out the Minian’s weapon systems. Go see what is still operational. Operational without a functioning bridge.”

“
Aye, Cap,” Billy replied.

“
Let’s keep in contact. Check in every ten minutes.”

“
Aye, Cap.”

Billy and Orion headed off down the corridor, as Jason turned back into Medical. Dira, still at the console, was oohing and ahing over each new discovery.

“
You going to be all right?”

Without looking up, Dira nodded at Jason and said, “Yes, sir, I’m fine. You don’t mind if I hang out here for a while, do you?”

“
No, but you too check in with me every ten minutes or so,” Jason replied.

Ricket, who’d been watching Dira do research at the console, stepped away and joined Jason as he left Medical. As they headed toward the closest DeckPort, Ricket slowed.

“
The Minian’s AI is still operational. It’s staying quiet, in the background. But its many ship systems, ones that would require its functionality, are operational.”

“
So you’re wondering why it hasn’t taken hostile actions against us?” Jason queried him.

“
Yes and no, Captain. There’s little doubt that the AI is aware of our presence and where we’ve come from. After all, The Lilly, too, is a Caldurian vessel. As with the drone, Teardrop, artificial intelligence here has progressed far beyond that on The Lilly.”

“
How would that demonstrate itself?”

“
No way to tell, at this point. But factors such as self-preservation may be an aspect.” They both stopped before stepping through the DeckPort.

“
How safe is this?”

“
I do not know,” Ricket replied.

“
AI, are you there?” Jason asked, looking up and around the large corridor.

“
Yes, Captain Reynolds, I am here,” a female voice replied. It sounded extremely humanlike, even having personality inflections. There was a questioning nature to her simple response, as if saying I am here, but I’m not quite sure what to do with you yet.

“
Is it safe for us to use the DeckPorts?”

“
Yes, Captain. If you are inferring that I would use it to do you bodily harm, understand I would not need a DeckPort for that purpose.”

That made perfect sense to Jason. “Lead on, Ricket. Let’s go find the phase-synthesizer.” They emerged into a slightly smaller corridor, exactly halfway between two circular cul-de-sacs at its opposite ends.

Ricket led the way, moving off to the right. They came to three separate eight-foot-high doors. Ricket approached one and it dissolved away, allowing them access. Jason followed Ricket inside and quickly realized the compartment was not what they were looking for. This was more like a laboratory, with rows of benches and a myriad of highly advanced test equipment. There was another door to their left and, like the first one, it dissolved away as they came near.

Jason could immediately tell they’d found it. The area was easily as large as the flight deck on The Lilly. The phase-synthesizer had multiple hatches and ports of varying sizes, some hundreds of feet wide and just as tall. While the phase-synthesizer on The Lilly looked like ad hoc equipment that was more of an add-on afterthought, here everything was integrated and of a much larger scale.

Ricket stepped to one of the virtual displays, a touchscreen, and seemed to know how to access what he was looking for. Jason was hailed.

“
Go for Captain.”

“
Hey, Cap,” Billy said, “we’ve taken a look at the ship’s tactical capabilities, including any viable weapons.”

“
What have you discovered?”

“
That this is one brute of a ship. Both plasma and laser cannons, big and mean-looking rail-guns, and something else.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Well, I’m not so sure it falls in the category of a weapon; probably has more to do with propulsion or helm control. Ricket should take a look.”

“
We can do that later. Why don’t you and Orion head back to us. Your HUDs should show you the way.”

“
Aye, Cap.”

Jason hailed Dira, surprised she hadn’t called in yet. There was no response. He could see her life icon was still active.

“
I’ll be back soon. I’m going to check in on Dira,” Jason told Ricket, and headed out of the compartment. Jogging down the corridor, he kept an eye on her icon, which was still active, but unmoving.

“
Go for Billy, Cap.”

“
Billy, I’m on my way back to Medical. You two meet me there.”

Jason hit the DeckPort at full stride and exited without slowing. Billy and Orion arrived from the opposite direction and the three of them entered Medical together.

Dira was not where he’d left her, though her icon showed her still in Medical.

“
Dira?”

There was a scuffling noise behind the liquid containers, and he noticed Dira’s legs.

Jason realized Medical was even larger than he’d first noted, seeing that it continued past the six clear containers another ten feet or so. Dira was on the ground—not moving.

Jason hurried to her side and unlatched her helmet, gently pulling it free. Her eyes fluttered open and she nervously looked around.

“
She okay, Cap?” Orion asked.

“
Yeah, she’s okay. Right, Dira, you okay?”

“
I shouldn’t have touched it, I guess.”

She gestured toward one of the ten-foot-tall glass enclosures. A stepladder was at its side and at its top the enclosure’s lid was askew.

“
There was something in the container; it started moving. It seemed to be trying to communicate. I guess I let curiosity get the best of me. I reached in and touched it.”

The organism was moving within its enclosure and began to make noises.

“
Is that what you heard? What you thought was a form of communication?”

Billy stepped over to the towering enclosure and tapped on its surface. In a blink, the organism moved next to Billy, its fifteen or twenty thick tentacle legs constantly moving and probing.

“
Seems to be a cross between an octopus and something else, something definitely otherworldly,” Orion said, making a face. “You actually wanted to touch one of these things, Dira?”

Dira, with Jason’s help, slowly got to her feet. She shrugged. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Or if I was even thinking. More like I was compelled to touch it.” Right then, the other five enclosures came alive with movement. Startled, Jason, Dira, Billy and Orion jumped back in unison.

“
Shit, they’re all occupied,” Billy said. “They must have been lying flat along the bottom.”

“
And they can change their size,” Orion said, stepping closer.

All four of them watched. The organisms not only dramatically changed their size, but their shape as well.

“
This one here looks like a baby seal. Kinda cute,” Billy said, back to tapping on the enclosure.

“
I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jason warned.

Dira bent over to retrieve her medical pack. Startled again, Billy was the first to notice, and pointed. “Stand perfectly still, Dira.”

She froze. Her eyes widened with realization of what had happened.

“
Everyone just stand still while I take a look, “Jason said. “It’s OK, Dira, I’m just going to move around to your back.” Jason slowly moved to Dira’s left and peered around her shoulders. He nodded his head, reached down and picked up her helmet. Slowly, he stepped in close and brought it up in front of her, positioning it so it would slide over her head. The escaped organism shifted and one of its arms extended out above Dira’s right shoulder and probed at the helmet, exploring first around its exterior and then within the helmet’s opening. Two more tentacles reached out and took hold of the helmet. Jason froze, and immediately felt his grip loosening. Unable to hold on to the helmet, he glanced over at Billy. Relieved, Jason saw that Billy had the muzzle of his multi-gun pointing at the creature.

“
Say the word, Cap, and that thing’s fried calamari.”

Both Jason and Dira’s eyes darted to Billy, unappreciative of his bad joke.

Startled for the third time, the organism shifted its weight upward on her shoulders. Now, holding the helmet directly over Dira’s head, the multi-armed creature brought it gently down until the helmet seated into the cowling at her suit’s neck. More arms extended, their tapered ends probed until they had found the latching mechanism. With a click, her helmet was secured.

Chapter 6

Perhaps even more impressive than the organism replacing Dira’s helmet onto her head was its willingness to relocate itself from Dira’s shoulders, maneuver back across the deck, and work its way up the side of its enclosure.

They watched as it used thousands of suction-cups, along the posterior of its arms, to pull itself up along the flat surface. At the top, one by one its arms, and then its thick shapeless body, fell into the clear liquid within the enclosure. Then, reaching up with one tentacled arm, it lifted the enclosure’s lid and dragged it back into position, letting it fall into place.

Jason turned to Dira. “How do you feel? Did you get stung? Did it bite you?” She took her helmet off and checked her scalp, then her neck, with one hand. “Doesn’t appear to be anything amiss. And it was more like a shock, anyway.”

“
Let us know the second you notice something. Anything at all. I don’t need to remind you what happened to Morgan back on HAB 12, do I?”

“
I wish you hadn’t mentioned that. Now I’ll be thinking about that all day …”

“
Sorry, I’m just saying—”

“
I know what you’re saying, Jason. I think I’m fine.”

More noise came from the enclosures. Within four of them the organisms had changed shape. Dira brought a hand up to her mouth; the others simply let their jaws drop. Suspended in the liquid now were four human shapes; shapes that were an exact duplicate of their own bodies. The only exception—these forms were totally naked.

Billy’s eyebrows shot up in an arc, letting his eyes linger a bit too long on Dira’s twin naked body. Orion was already spinning him around and pushing him out of Medical. Jason pulled himself away and followed the other two. Dira was the last to leave and caught up to Jason in the corridor. He glanced over at her and they locked eyes.

“
Well, I told you Jhardian girls are anatomically different,” she said, and nervously laughed out loud.

* * *

They entered the compartment housing the phase-synthesizer. Seeing the device for a second time, Jason was just as impressed by its sheer size as he was the first time. The device had been initiated and now maintained a consistent low-level humming sound. Ricket emerged from behind a console and was startled by their presence.