Dreams among Stars (24 page)

Tiredly Mark lays his head on his he arms folded on the table. Motherly instincts, which I never knew to be within me, stir as he lies there so exhausted in a childlike manner.

In actuality I am barely able to keep myself awake, so we two search the new headquarters for a place to crash. In one of the larger rooms a huge crowd of our fellow comrades lies crammed together on some mattresses and we simply slump down in their midst.

Friends. Laughing. Whirring. Many Friends. So Many. All my friends dart around before my eyes. One falls to the ground, no energy. Sad, but I just can make more. My home, so fine. Everything shines, let my friends clean everything again though, just to watch.

What? Oh, no. Oh! Foes, there!

Outside eyes show humans, again humans.

Want to open the door, again. I cannot allow this.

Nevermore!

Open the doors and let my friends fly, red mist, so fine. No humans no more.

Soaked in sweat I wake, this had been the rooms of a maintenance center in my dream. The humans I had seen, had been the Benefactors soldiers. The realization hits me like a hammer and I am instantly erect, which disturbs the sleep of a stranger whose back I had used as cushion. I hurry out of the room and search Richard, whom I find with red rimmed eyes and hoarse voice grown together with a conference tables seat.

“
I need to get to the maintenance center for the ships drive.” I interrupt the
discussion he was just having. Tiredly he looks at me and I go on “The main computer there has gone completely berserk, if it gets connected to the other four in this state…” for a moment I hesitate, but then decide to tell it like it is “then all of the ship could become one gigantic death-trap.” Richard only sighs, pushes a stack of papers to the side to then only confirm my words by a short “Okay”. Just when I am about to ask if he understood what I had been saying he waves to one of the folks waiting at the tables side. “Find Ernest, tell him we need an escort. For Helen.” He looks at me questioningly “With at least a dozen soldiers?” I shake my not with my head and explain. “A handful has to be enough. We must be fast.” The assistant hurries away and I put my hand on Richards shoulder. “Thanks! But you should really go get some sleep.” He just smiles languidly “We can sleep, when we are dead. Well okay you are right of course. Now shoo and go safe the world.” After saying that the guards should wait outside and giving him a hug as goodbye I go and search Irene.
 

She had fallen asleep in a huge armchair and with a bit of regret I wake her.

Then I tell her about Mark and ask her to take care of him and the other children and if possible maybe even find their families. After that I fetch Mark and introduce Irene to him to then give both my goodbye.

Outside Ernest is waiting for me and insists on accompanying me, together with four strongly-built fellas we depart. On the way I explain to my five companions, that the main computer of the maintenance center has gone completely haywire and is using his maintenance drones as killer machines. As of yet lacking a good plan to approach this problem, one of the soldiers asks how we could protect ourselves from the drones, the question makes it clear to me that our shield generators don’t offer sufficient protection.

The central is not too far away, she lies directly within a large hall, which shields the drives from the rest of the ship.

We get near the entrance, as suddenly Marple signals be an incoming connection request from Kara. I gestures to the others to hold and then greet Kara with great ardor. We talk for at least half a hour to exchange news. The troop that was to connect and overhaul the maintenance center in C 5 IV with me, had finished successfully despite my having been captured. Kara personally had taken up the task of getting the stern central running and connected. The security service was extremely busy protecting the maintenance crews, which only made slow progress. Even so the troops numbers constantly grew and a very many facilities on the outer docks had been repaired and also the material recycling was going very well.

But having the security service members spread throughout the ship resulted in a stalemate situation within the tunnels towards the inner deck. Kara rejoiced when I told about the occupation of the “imperial city” at the water treatment plants. When I told her about the troble with the main computer of the maintenance center she asked if maybe a space suit could offer sufficient protection against the drones.

That had been the solution I had needed, but there were no airlocks in the inner decks, so the only possibility was to find a fabber and make a suit myself.

I promised to Kara to stay in touch and had Marple perform a thorough scan of the environment.

Unluckily the closest fabber was within the maintenance center before us, so the only possibility was to go back to the treatment plants.

However Marple located unexpected signs of life directly behind the entrance. “There are life signals behind the door.” I told Ernest and went closer to the entrance. “Only four, two of them with a very weak pulse are lying on the ground.” As I proceed towards the door Ernest holds me back. “You should avoid unnecessary risks.” I sigh, but nod and he signals to our companions to take point. The automatic door seems to ponder for a bit before opening up, but then opens to let the four through.

Only for a short moment fighting noises are to be heard, the quiet returns. In the meantime I ask Ernest, what name he chose for his glasses and he smiles a bit sadly and replies “Susanna”. One of our comrades signals to us that the fighting is done with and we also enter into the hall.

Four Iron Warriors had been able to save themselves and flee the onslaught, we drag the two stunned and the two wounded out of the drives hall.

“
We split.” I tell Ernest. “I go back to fetch two space suits and you stay with them.” I point to the soldiers of the Benefactor and take out my medkit, which I still have with me. “Take care of them. I’ll be back shortly.” Two of the fighters stay with Ernest and the other two go with me.
 

During the short tour back I have Marple scan which of my friends is available to be hailed. Obviously Richard, Irene and Ernest are in range. Also Agatha and Hask are being shown, but Rolf is not available. I open a connection with Hask “Where have you been? We searched for you all over!” I give a short summary about me being captured by the Benefactor and as a thanks turning the tables on him and occupying his city with the help of some new friends. “But pray tell, it seems I cannot reach Rolf, do you know where he is?” “Well he had been helping with conquering the middle decks, probably he joined the effort to try and find a way to breach into the inner decks. You should know he was extremely worried about you.” Obviously Rolf was in an area with weak signal… some tunnel then probably. “With the city fallen the fighting in the tunnels surely will soon find an end.” Says Hask “I’ll have more security service people dispatched towards the inner deck lines. Regrettably we are kept very busy with preventing the Open Eyes and Flying Hustlers to kill each other. And its nigh impossible to keep the middle deck folks from lynching the Iron Warriors. Eh, also my people are still taking side much too easily, but I will get this sorted out somehow.” I thank Hasks for the news, in the meantime we are back in the city and I search the nearest working fabber. Quickly I have two space suits made and then we already are on our way back, my two companions are the brothers Steven and Max and without complains they carry the heavy suits.

As Ernest notices our approach he agitatedly runs to meet us. “We have another problem, the Benefactor is on the way towards the rift. He wants to prove the ship being an illusion by blowing open the hull!” I loudly curse and berate Ernest for not using Susanna to call me and informing me directly. Then I connect to Richard and Hask, hurriedly introduce them to each other and explain that the Benefactor has to be found before getting to the rift. Ernest joins the talk and informs us that the Benefactors squad apparently carries quite some advanced equipment, which had not been destroyed in the palace.

“
Don’t underestimate him. Forget about the tunnel fights. No matter how you have to stop him. I’ll take care of the main computer here, then I’ll be back in touch.”
 

With that I end the conversation.

Ernest stays with me and we send our companions back to the city. It takes a while to squeeze into the suits and our mobility leaves a lot to be desired, as the suits are mainly meant to be used outside at zero gravity.

A hasty modification I made are energy shields, together with additional energy cells. Briefly I explain to Ernest how to enable the shields and then shove an explosive charge in his hand. “If I don’t make it you will have to destroy the mainframe. Look with this picture you can see where to best place the explosives.” After he ties the explosive package tightly to his suit, I give the best possible implication of a hug as is possible in the suit. “I thank you so much for all the help!” Ernest just nods and clanks his arm against mine, then we take off.

Behind the door only a two hundred meters should separate us from the maintenance center, yet we only make very slow progress. The first hundred meters take at least a quarter of an hour. Only a few meters ahead I recognize my dream had been very real. We had learned from the four escaped soldiers that they had only lost two companions, but seeing the messily strewn out chunks made it difficult to believe that the carnage stemmed from only two bodies. “Shields up!” I hear Ernest call and already we are surrounded by whizzing shapes. From now on progress is barely possible, after a short thirty meters the shields already are history. Now a perpetual rasping and scratching fills our ears. Finally after nearing the finish line the opened door glides shut tight in front of us leaving me swearing loudly. As I set my gun to maximum power and fire at the door I realize to my horror that I had no chance to smelt through it quickly enough. I tap Ernest on the helmet and takes his explosive charge. A short two minutes of time I give us to find cover, we barely make it around the corner of the central, as the explosion loudly resounds. For a short moment the drones let us be, but as we rush towards the entrance they intensify their efforts, already I feel on my skin that the suit is getting tenuous in places. I detach my gun from the mounting on my arm and with a bit of effort attach it on Ernest’s arm. “Marple, instruct Susanna how to operate that gun. Ernest has to try and disable as many drones as possible, while we take care of the main computer.” On seeing Ernest start shooting systematically at the drones I sit down at the terminal. Marple tries to gain access, but no chance. I should have brought more explosives.

Our last chance is cutting off the current supply, the inbuilt tools of the suits arm quickly let me open the mainframes access cover. Suddenly all drones hastily flee the room.

I mentally prepare for the worst and hurry to find the current mains, as suddenly Marple announces “I have been able to establish a connection to the mainframe of the center. Good news, your status as maintenance technician is established. Oh dear, we are asked to provide information if the Cleansweep-Protocol is still effective.”

I swallow hard, there had been rumors going around about the existence of such a protocol, but it was frowned upon the notion and seen as bad joke. Still it did explain the current situation. “No, of course not Marple! The protocol is invalid, all systems to normal.” Angrily I smash my fist on the terminal, then I start getting out of my suit. Out of my eyes corner I suddenly see Ernest break down and quicken my efforts to get out. When I am finally able to throw the remains of the suit aside and hurry to Ernest I see blood flowing out from his suit.

As fast as possible I remove his suit, he is still breathing and his back had been punctured at much too many places. The blood is flowing out far too strong. No time to find the fabber and no medkit at the ready. Without hesitation I undress and tear my uniform up, then I use the cloth stripes to wrap Ernest’s wounds as tight as possible. He is barely breathing, but the blood loss has been reduced to a minimum.

I ignore being totally smudgy and search the fabber, with great relief I find it fully operational and with a fair amount of material reserves. Quickly I have a medkit made, then I take proper care of each wound on Ernest’s back. With some effort I manage to place him on one of the daybeds, scan him throughly again, but it only were flesh wounds. All he would need is a lot of rest, so I administer a sleeping drug, caress his hair and say “Thank you.”

Then I run a full system diagnostic on the maintenance centers main computer, no trace of the madness I witnessed in my dream remains. Instead I find a very comprehensive report from Bernhard Nwosu, it counts close to a hundred pages and I have it loaded on Marple.

The danger here is avoided and I am in dire need of a shower, but before that I need to know if there are news about the Benefactor.

I have the fabber output a small repair kit and a light blue summer dress meant for one use only.

As I trod towards the separating walls of the halls entrance at a smart pace I notice that the drones attacks had left their traces on me as well. But that are only scratches and I simply slap a patch on every spot that I notice while moving forward.

At the entrance Max and Steven greet me beaming, apparently the two had decided to ignore the orders to go back and had been waiting for us. Worriedly they ask about Ernest and after telling them about our struggles I send the two on their way towards the central, to make sure Ernest is doing alright. I establish a channel to Hask, while in the course of setting up a radio signal amplifier on the wall using the repair kit, drawing a connection line to the side behind the entrance and setting up another amplifier. “No, we didn’t catch him yet” he replies to my first question. I give a summary of my situation and while moving back to the maintenance central Hask tries his best to talk me out of joining in the hunt for the Benefactor. He even gets Agatha and Kara into the debate, but even the three united cannot manage to convince me to back down. “Yes, I am well aware I don’t have to solve all the problems on my own. But I am familiar with the kind of weapons he could have with him and if I make it to the rift before he does, I might find a way to stop his plans or at the least repair the damages he could make, hopefully quickly enough.” Kara explains that she would arrive at the rift soon with her crew and also Agatha would be with her shortly. Agatha’s mastery of the maintenance drones was an uncontested fact. So the debate goes to and fro. At the end I am swayed into at least doing a short rest at the maintenance center. Nevertheless as soon as I would have refreshed myself and had eaten something I would move out again.