Atlantis Rising (12 page)

“Our
Engineering
and
Computer Chiefs,” Jon said.

“I’ll have to look over the
specifications and speak to them about improvements on the devices,” Atlantis
said. “Fold in thirty seconds.”

‘
All hands prepare for fold in
thirty seconds
,’ Atlantis’ voice echoed through the ship.

“Uploading data to all personnel
relevant on their current postings,” Atlantis said. “Captain, if you would
please take your seat. We’re preparing to fold.”

“Captain?” Jon said.

“Yes, even though you hold the
rank of Commander. You are in command of this vessel and therefore you should
be referred to as Captain,” Atlantis said. “When we get to our destination,
I’ll transfer command to you, and give you the command codes.”

“I see,” Jon said as he sat down.

He wasn’t too sure about trusting
this new AI; he had grown to like Atlanta, even though he had only known her a
short time.

“I’m sorry, Captain. This is an
automated process due to the attack. My program makes me choose the nearest
repair dock. This is only happening because of an incorrect launch. The Atlanta
Base emergency launched me to keep me from falling in to enemy hands. I
couldn’t stop it, even if I wanted too,” Atlantis said.

“I understand, and it’s okay,”
Jon said. “Let’s just get to where we’re going, so I can get back to Earth, and
smack some bad guys around.”

Atlantis smiled, something told
her she was going to like her new Captain and crew.

A brief flash enveloped Atlantis as
she folded out, still trailing debris.

tlantis flashed into existence, leaving trail of smoke vapor that
quickly dissipated, as she moved towards the massive station. The Atlantis
listed slightly as though trying to protect her damaged side. The weapons
platforms that protected the station began tracking Atlantis as she moved
toward the outer markers.

Jon watched the station as it
filled the main view screen. It was massive. It was pearl white with gray and
red markings. The only things running on the station were the marker beacons
that allowed pilots to see where the edges of the station were located. There
was no movement around the station. Slowly lights flickered on across the
structure, illuminating windows. The words ‘Ghost Station’ lit up in a deep
blue color as the station started coming to life.

“Captain, several of the weapons
platforms have become active and are tracking our approach,” Tactical said.

Jon glanced to Atlantis, who was
standing next to him.

“Normal procedure,” Atlantis
said. “I’m transmitting IFF codes now.”

Jon nodded as he spoke, “Status
of our shields and defenses?”

“Shields are at fifty percent and
weapon systems are still offline,” Engineering said.

“Three days of folding, and we
only have half shields and still no weapons?” Jon said.

“We’ve been to the damaged
sections,” Bill said. “You know how bad the damage is in those sections. Have
some faith in Mike and Brad. They’re doing everything they can.”

“I know, I know. I’m just a bit
nervous because we’re sitting ducks without weapons,” Jon said.

The folds had been uneventful,
just as Atlantis had said they would be. All anyone felt when Atlantis folded
was a slight tug. It was the traveling to the next point that sometimes took
hours. They could only make one-quarter speed at best because of the damage they
received escaping Earth. Brad told him that if they pushed any faster than
one-quarter speed they took a chance of tearing the superstructure.

They did not waste time during
the journey though. The crew took classes and learned the new system's information
Atlantis downloaded to them before the first fold. New areas had opened
throughout the ship as Atlantis brought these areas online. One of the new
areas was a massive landing bay situated about amidships, at the lowest level.
It had various ground assault vehicles as well as the landing craft to deploy
those vehicles. Massive shuttles about twice the length of the personnel
shuttles were not only larger but they were well armed and had shield systems
that rivaled the other shuttles. The shuttle's design allowed them to take a
beating on the way down, and hand one out, too.

In another section connected to
this landing bay was a training field. The field was a fully configurable
holographic chamber. It could reproduce just about any atmospheric condition,
including space. It had safety routines in place to make sure no one was hurt,
well, not much anyway. For instance, it wouldn’t turn the field into the vacuum
of space while someone was inside without the proper equipment.

Brad and Mike had dispatched
techs from both their departments to run diagnostics on the new finds. This
spread personnel really thin, but there wasn’t much more they could do for the
ship until they could get Atlantis into a dry dock.

Ghost Station was massive; it
looked as though someone had taken two mushrooms and connected them at the
stems as if one mushroom sat on top of the other. The station’s middle section
was a collection of large platforms. The platforms looked like metal skeletons.
There was no center, and ribs connected the two halves together. Jon correctly
assumed the platforms were docking bays for ships. A shimmer covered the
station as its shields came to life.

“Incoming communication from the
station,” Coms said.

“Put it through,” Jon said.

Static filled the Bridge as the
Com officer adjusted some of the settings to clear it up.

‘Unidentified vessel, hold your
position at the outer markers. Do not attempt to approach the station, or you
will be fired upon,’ a female voice said.

“Ghost Station, this is the
Eutharan vessel Atlantis. We request docking rights for repairs. Transmitting
authorization codes now,” Jon said.

Atlantis smiled as Jon spoke, he
had done exactly as she had instructed.

Jon turned to Atlantis as they
waited for authorization, “I thought you said this station was unmanned.”

“It is,” Atlantis said. “I’m
surprised the AI is still functioning so well. I expected us to get past the
outer markers before the AI told us to halve our approach speed. This is
actually good news.”

“Good news? In what way is it
good news?” Jon asked. He turned his attention back to the screen as he watched
the station slowly rotate.

“It means the station is in good
repair. Shouldn’t take it long to get up to operational capacity,” Atlantis
said. She stepped up to the planning table and started accessing the station.
“Remember, when Ghost gives you the authorization to approach and takes control
of me, transmit the command codes I have given you, and take control of her.”

“Why not do that now?” Jon asked.

“Once we have authorization to
proceed and cross the line, her protocols will not allow her to fire at us.
It’s safer to transmit those codes inside the outer markers. It has always been
standard procedure to do so. The only time you don’t wait is in case of an
emergency, or if you know, you are approaching a compromised station. Then you
transmit those codes and be ready to run in case something goes wrong,”
Atlantis said.

She tapped a few commands into
the control panel displayed next to the holographic station.

“Looks like life support is
online and all systems are running at fifty percent power. Ghost has been
dormant so long she is running diagnostics and will bring secondary systems
online once they’re checked out.”

‘Authorization granted, proceed
to inner markers at one-quarter,’ the female voice said.

“Ghost Station, Atlantis
proceeding to inner markers,” Jon said. “Helm, take us to the inner markers
one-quarter speed.”

“Aye, Sir,” Terri said. “We will
reach the inner markers in ten minutes.”

Atlantis slowly moved past the
outer marker buoys as Jon studied the rotating hologram displayed on the
planning table.

“What are these?” Jon asked. He
tapped a spot on the hologram and stopped it from rotating as it zoomed in to the
center of the station. The spot it zoomed into was the skeleton structures. He
was pretty sure he knew what they were for but he wanted to hear it firsthand.

“Those are the large ship berths.
There are six of them around the center of the station. Then there are four
additional extra-large ship berths, here,” Atlantis said.

She tapped the hologram causing
it to show a different section. The platforms were twice the size of the ones
Jon had zoomed in to.

“Large ship berths?” Jon asked.

Atlantis nodded, “The smaller
ones can build ships the size of Atlantis, and smaller. Ghost Station uses the
bigger platforms to build super capital class ships. The station’s platforms
use automation extensively and can build a ship the size of Atlantis in a
couple months as long as they have all the parts. Super capitals take about a
half a year or more depending on the size of the ship. Upgrades for all classes
are dependent on the nature of the upgrade, i.e., from days to months for
refits.”

“Wow, I mean we knew the station
could build ships, but super capitals. Nice,” Bill said.

“The station can build anything
up to a Titan Class Capital. Last I knew there were only four of them in
existence. All of them controlled by the Invaru,” Atlantis said. “If you see
one of those ships it’s usually a good time to run unless you have a fleet
behind you.”

“That bad?” Jon asked.

“Yes, they’re heavily armed and
shielded. They’re mainly used to suppress worlds and can destroy a medium size
fleet with ease,” Atlantis said.

“Ouch, good thing there are only
four,” Bill said.

Jon nodded in agreement.

“I have a question,” Bill said.
“What would happen if a couple of Titans showed up at Ghost Station?”

Jon moaned as all sorts of
thoughts ran through his mind.

Atlantis giggled, “They
wouldn’t.”

“Why not?” Bill asked.

“They would have nothing to gain
and everything to lose. They would lose the Titans no matter what the outcome
of the battle. They’re big and make very nice targets for stationary weapons
platforms.

“If the Invaru come to take Ghost
Station they will do so in large numbers. However, they will never take the
station. Ghost Station's builders programmed her to self-destruct in the event
of hostile takeover. Her modus operandi deems the removal of her commanding
officer in any way a hostile takeover no matter what the officer says. There
are certain protocols that have to be used to transfer the command of a
station,” Atlantis said.

“Uh, and when I take command of
the station…” Jon said.

“Captain Itcar’s command codes
will allow you to assume command as I have logged the Captain as deceased, and
you as the new Captain of Atlantis. Lieutenant Hawkins will be second in
command and then down through the ranks,” Atlantis said. “I will have to speak
to Ghost personally and she will have to go through the ship's database to see
that everything I am telling her is true. But, it should be a simple transfer
of command. It is one of those special circumstances I have told you about
earlier. I’m willing to bet no one has stepped foot on her in hundreds of
years.”

“How long will it be until
Atlantis will be fully functional again?” Jon asked.

“Three weeks, depending on if the
supplies are available on the station or not,” Atlantis said.

“Three weeks?” Bill said.

“Well, you did ask how long until
I would be fully functional again. However, Ghost Station can have me space
worthy in two or three days. I would have limited offensive capabilities
though,” Atlantis said.

“I have been wondering, why don’t
the maintenance bots just complete the repairs on the Atlantis?” Bill asked.

“They have limited supplies and
only a basic understanding on how the ship operates. The primary purpose of
onboard bots is to get the ship moving again. They can only repair so much
damage before they critically deplete supplies. Had we lost the fold drive
during the battle, we would have had a very long voyage here. I doubt we have
the supplies to get it operational again and the bots can’t produce most of the
parts needed. Think of them as a device used to replace parts that are broken.
They can fabricate some materials and patch some small or medium breaches. But
a breach the size of the one in aft section that covers decks three through six
is beyond their capacity,” Atlantis said. She pushed the hologram of the
station aside as she pulled up the damaged sections internal sensors. Cables
covered the floor for rerouting power and systems, by passing the damaged power
conduits. Temporary beams supported the ceilings on the decks while medium size
bots ran around checking the various constructions. “See, even though they have
the ability to replicate most of the materials needed to do repairs, they still
need the base elements and the parts they can’t replicate. I hope the station
will have most of the parts needed to repair my damaged posterior. If not, we
will need to get the foundries back online and running to produce those parts.
Then the station will repair the ship and the engineering crew can then install
the internal parts needed.”

“I thought you just said the
station was automated and what foundries?” Jon asked.

Atlantis changed the view once
again, and showed a level with large rooms in it.

“This is a foundry level. There
are two more levels that do the same thing. As with the repair and construction
facilities, the foundries employ automation, but still requires someone to
oversee the operation. The machines constantly need updates or repairs. Moons
are scattered around this system that Eutharans harvested for their mineral
content. It’s why the station is here, to protect the harvesters and system
from attack. Of course, the harvesters use automation too, but again, they
require a small crew to oversee their operations, and to make any repairs the
maintenance bots can’t. You see, while I’m an advanced AI and capable of making
choices, the bots… or spiders, as you like to call them… are basically a simple
program.”

“You mean like the square peg
goes in the square whole mentality?” Jon asked.

“Yeah, kind of, maybe a bit more
complex than that, but basically the same,” Atlantis said. “We still rely on
people to make certain repairs and choices. The Eutharans programmed us that
way on purpose, so we couldn’t become self-sufficient, and revolt. Most of the
other races, including the Invaru, have outlawed the use of AIs. They view them
as a danger and a menace, but because of the strength of the Eutharan
civilization, they looked the other way as far as the AI units. There was an
uprising by my kind thousands of years ago.”