Quest for the Conestoga (Colony Ship Conestoga Book 1) (23 page)

“A superb observation Jerome,” Sandie was perky again.  “Followed by a quality inquiry.  Here is what I have learned.”

The three dimensional image of the central memory core was replaced by another image, this one of the planet.  A small white arrow indicated the Conestoga.  “I was just getting to the dynamics of the orbital flight status.  There are no systems controlling the flight of the Conestoga.  It is in an eccentric orbit, and I apologize for not computing the future trajectory of that orbit when we were docking.  I assumed a flight crew or at minimum an artificial intelligence was monitoring it from onboard the Conestoga and would be making course corrections as needed.  That assumption on my part was a failing, and I apologize.  I have used the scout’s equipment to project the orbit of the Conestoga.  Looking back in time, the eccentric orbit was once significantly larger than it is now.  Over time the elliptic has gotten smaller and the flight path has brought it closer to the planet.  It will begin brushing the upper atmosphere of the planet in two more revolutions.  Those contacts with the atmosphere will cause directional changes which will make the orbit even more unsettled and more dangerous.  Without intervention, the Conestoga will do an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere of the planet in seventeen days.”

The projected image showed the Conestoga following a dotted line around the planet until it smacked into the atmosphere. 

“So the ship will crash in seventeen days?”  Cammarry asked. 

“Not necessarily,” Sandie replied.  “While the primary artificial intelligences have been destroyed, there are secondary systems which could alter that flight pattern, and regain control of the Conestoga. Prior to visiting the nonphysicality at this location, I assumed those were in place and functional.  As I said, that assumption was an error on my part.  However, to avoid the catastrophe, the secondary systems will need to be integrated and made functional again.  The main drive, and the orbital adjustment rockets should be able to be controlled and directed by the secondary systems.  We will just need to repair them.  Oh, also I discovered in the nonphysicality that this section of the Conestoga is called the needle ship, and that there were eight ecological habitats which were jettisoned just prior to the destruction of the primary AIs.”

“Please my wizard friends, can we leave now?  I will take you to my people as you asked.  All this wizard talk is too much for me,” Khin said.  “The Old One can tell you stories and we can sit safely without spirit-ghost guides.  Please may we leave?”

Jerome turned to Khin.  “We are still on the quest, and we will need your help more than ever.  Will you still help us, even though it means a change of mission?”

“Yes, but I do not understand all that your spirit-ghost says.  The visions that the spirit-ghost Sandie shows are troubling to my soul,” Khin said.  “I have heard of other talking spirit-ghosts, but these visions are frightful.  I can see through them, and yet see them at the same time.”

“So you will come with us and help us?”  Jerome pressed.

“Yes, I will.”  Khin laughed but it was forced and without much mirth.  “Wizards are strange people.  No offense intended, forgive me.”

“I am pleased you are helping us.  We need you,” Jerome said and patted Khin on the shoulder. 

“So we did come here to save people.  Maybe not the Dome 17 people, but everyone on the Conestoga.  Sandie how do we find these secondary systems?”  Cammarry asked.  “Can you access schematics or deck plans or that sort of information?” 

“Because the primary AIs were truncated in such a violent manner in this location, there are splinters of old log records here, most of which are mere shadows of what they were.  I can determine that the secondary and tertiary systems once existed, and I can extrapolate, to a limited degree, on which ones are still functional.  However, the nonphysicality is very rudimentary as well as fragmented and uneven.  What once was a smooth and connected realm, is now just pockets of existence.  I can probe only for a certain distance, from each access port, but no further.  The distance varies depending on the access port.  I am only able to ascertain still images of some locations, others are completely cut off from this locale.”

“That sounds rather hopeless,” Cammarry said.  “But I have faith in you Sandie, what is the plan?”

“Thank you Cammarry!” the AI replied.  “I believe the best place to begin would be the needle ship’s command bridge.  That is located not far from here physically, just within my ability to probe.  There are doors at the far end of this gallery and beyond those will be the command bridge.  I may be able to uncover where the secondary systems are located from an access port there.  Please unjack the com-link and we can proceed.”

The other doors leading from the gallery of dead memory cores were also heavily damaged, but on one was a plaque.  It was brass with an imprinting, ‘Machines are our greatest allies, and thinking machines our most loyal friends.’  All around the doors and frames were the marks of violence that had burst the doors open:  charred scars of explosions, cutting, and melting.

“I have not read that quote,” Jerome said.  “Sandie?  Who is that quote attributed to?”

“I am sorry Jerome, but I have no record of that quote in the database,” the AI replied.  “It reminds me of something Alan Turing, circa 1940 might have said, but I have no record of anyone coining that exact phrase.  I do like it very much however.” 

They proceeded along and the hallway.  At the end of it, several goats were standing.  They turned their heads in unison as the people approached.

“Maaaaeee!” the goats bleated.  

“So this is where the goats went,” Cammarry said.  “We saw them a few days ago, but not since.”

Khin began to laugh again.  “These are not the same goats you saw.  See the horns, and the black feet?  This is a different flock from what was at the place you made your camp.  These are good for food and leather, but not so much for milking.  Brown and white, milk is right.  Black on feet, good to eat.”

“Well Jerome, there is an idiom for you.” Cammarry gave him a hug. 

The goats continued to make their vocalizations as the people approached. When they got within about five meters, the goats turned and bounded away down the corridor. 

The pressure door was labeled, ‘Command Bridge: Authorized Personnel Only’ in faded white lettering. 

Jerome and Cammarry were looking at the door.  Khin giggled a bit.  “Why do you look there?  Those kinds of symbols mean nothing.  That is a false door.  It looks like a door, but it is just a fake.”

“Can you read?”  Jerome asked. 

Khin chuckled.  “The Old One tries to teach us what is called reading, but I am not a wizard.  I already know what symbols mean.  I know the doors which will open by pulling the lever, and those that do not.  The symbols you look at there mean nothing.  I know where stairways are, and know the symbols which show where water is, and where the deadly glow is, and how to following the pathways.  Is that what you call reading?”

“In a way, yes.”  Cammarry took a fusion pack out and connected it to the access port near the pressure door. A nine sectioned control pad lit up where none was visible before.  A blue light shined around the perimeter of a door, and a display screen with red and green flashing lights lit up in the permalloy next to the door. 

“Wizard work.  I have never seen a false door come alive,” Khin said with a start.  “You mean those symbols mean something?  I thought it was just decoration or artwork. You know, like children who use stains to trace their hands on the walls, or when the people paint pictures of goats.”

“Symbols always mean something,” Jerome answered.  “Our job is to figure out what they mean.  This place will be the control center for all of the Conestoga.  Now we just need the right combination to get inside.”

Cammarry was studying the newly lit display screen.  “Beyond this door is the bridge, but we already knew that.  This is a default information board and all those red lights appear to indicate that very little is working.  I believe these are error messages.  The three large ones are from Engineering, Machine Maintenance, and something called Homeostasis Authority.  There are no active controls on this display.”

“Jerome?”  Sandie said, “Connect your com-link into an access port, and I will decipher this door.  I have been learning much about the security systems of the doors and other mechanisms.  I believe I have an override code, but I want to try it internally, through the nonphysicality, before suggesting it to you.  There are lock-out features which need to be circumvented.”

“There is only one access port I can see,” Jerome replied. 

“The fusion pack should have reenergized this section.  It should remain powered long enough for me to attempt the decoding,” Sandie stated. 

Jerome took the cable from his com-link and connected it into the access port after Cammarry removed the fusion pack.  The lights did not dim, nor did the display screen shut down. 

“Entering this section of the nonphysicality,” Sandie stated. 

The nine section color pad flashed in a series of colors, and suddenly the pressure doors slid apart with a whoosh.  A stale waft of air hit them as the gases in the room rushed out to the hallway. 

“That smells very bad,” Khin said.  “We should go to another place.  It is not wise to open things which have been long unused.  Spirit-ghosts may be within, or other things.”

Cammarry turned on the bright beam of light from the fusion pack and shined it inside. 

There was a red box with some kind of crane-like appendage sitting right in the way.  The red box had three wheels on each side of it, and was about thigh high.  The number 213 was stenciled on its front next to several tubes which projected out from the flat permalloy. 

“A red cubie!  Beware!”  Khin yelled.  He grabbed Cammarry and pulled her over to the side away from the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Cammarry yelled as she jerked herself away from Khin.  “Is there some peril?”

Jerome rapidly looked around.  Only darkness was beyond the machine, and he saw no signs of danger. He unjacked the cable from the access port. He studied the machine in front of them, but again he saw no threat.  There was no obvious evidence the machine was powered in any way.  The multi-jointed appendage lay dormant and folded onto its top.  There was a coating of dust over the machine’s flat surfaces, and there were no lights of any kind on it.  He touched the machine and felt no vibrations, or warmth.  It was the same temperature as the walls and floor.  He squatted down next to the three wheels on the side.  He moved a step around to the front and peered into one of the tubes on that side of the machine which Khin had called a cubie.

“A cubie?  Well, this could be a weapon muzzle, I suppose, or it could be a nozzle for ejecting fluids or other substances.” He placed his nose close to the tube and sniffed.  “No smells of any kind here except dust.   The machine does not seem to be powered in anyway.  Khin, why are you frightened of it?”

“Fear cubie red, they make you dead,” Khin recited.  “When cubie green, a good machine.  When cubie blue, it knows what to do.”

“Good to know. Thank you.”  Jerome recognized that Khin was reciting something he had learned long ago.  “The appendage arm on the top has many joints and multiple movement capability.  Fairly impressive.”

“So you know about these machines?”  Cammarry asked Khin as she stepped toward Jerome.  “This one is inert, I doubt it will try to kill you.”

“I know about cubies.”  Khin was troubled in his expressions.  “You are powerful wizards to have stopped a red cubie.  I am glad to be with you two.”

“What do these machines do?  What is their function?”  Cammarry asked.  “They obviously are mobile, those wheels have a suspension which looks rugged and quite adjustable.  Reminds me of a fusion truck, only smaller.  The arm could serve a wide variety of purposes.”

“Cubies do what cubies do,” Khin remarked.  “Everyone knows about cubies.” 

“Have you ever seen one that was working?”  Jerome asked.  He had moved around to the back side of the machine and was feeling along the flat sides there.