Running With Argentine (31 page)

Aboard
the Roosevelt

"The
corridor stretches on forever… About 100 yards down we found some cabins with
their doors open.

They were close to a T-intersection and what I assume were
elevators and stairwells.

We entered the cabins carefully and searched them
thoroughly. Just like the rest of the ship they were all incredibly clean, and
these didn't look lived in. There were no personal effects whatsoever, other
than…"

"Other than…" Argentine prodded.

"Except for clothing," the lieutenant said.
"Neatly laid out on the bed of each room."

"And what would be unusual about that?"

"Well, they certainly weren't uniforms. We decided to
check the pockets and found several of these," he said while handing
Argentine a small card.

Argentine held it up and looked at it. It was a photo ID
that said,
Paladin III Security Force
.

ΔΔΔ

There wasn't
anything else to be done so they continued their explorations of the ship.

Paula had mapped out what she remembered of the layout;
giving them more an idea of general directions rather than specifics.

One interesting aspect of the ship was its tram system.

While there were elevators spaced evenly throughout the
ship, there were actually shuttles or trams designed to carry crew down the
vast length and breadth.

Paula remembered that the ship was basically divided into
six sections; three of which were intended to be occupied on a full-time basis…

The front of the ship extended forward like a massive beak;
a long beak that was a full twenty-six stories high. Most of the ship's
infrastructure, as well as the crew villages, were located here. Each village
contained its own small shops, restaurants, and entertainment. The two lateral
shuttle hangers were attached to this section as well as every ship-centric
scientific department from hydroponics to environmental quality control.

Immediately behind this front section, the ship split into
the four parts that made up the majority of the ship's length. Spaced
equidistantly around a relatively open center, upper scaffolding held humongous
chambers that Paula knew nothing about.

A long stretch of smaller scaffolding ran the length of the
port and starboard side. Paula seem to think they had something to do with the
ship's engines, but wasn't even sure about that.

The bottom section, or keel, was the most interesting. It
was a massive eighteen-deck section that housed most of the research-centric
scientific personnel, their labs, and their villages. In addition, Paula
believed this section had the capacity to carry thousands of additional
passengers.

She claimed that at the time the ship was hijacked the
ship’s complement was only about twenty-seven hundred people. She was certain,
however, that she remembered times when they'd housed over four thousand – and
that had still left entire sections of the ship unused.

When someone had questioned her memory, she’d just laughed…
And then started reminiscing about how the children would play and hide in
those very same unoccupied sections. She explained that this was a generational
ship. Designed for long duration exploration. People raised families and
celebrated the passing of elders when they crewed on a ship like the Roosevelt.

The furthest section aft reconnected the four sections into
one massive hub. It contained the large-scale workshops, heavy industry, power
plant, and massive engines.

The T.L.S. Roosevelt was literally a small city.

The Pelican’s second shuttle run had carried Paula's
wheelchair aboard. They were using it now to push forward and find the bridge.

At the same time, the chief was taking a small team to find
the tram that would take them to the engineering section.

It was a somewhat eerie experience. They all carried hand
lamps; the emergency lighting would keep you from tripping, but not much else.

Paula's memory might've been vague back in her cabin when
she was describing the ship's layout, but along the way she seemed very
confident. She would occasionally have to stop at an intersection and
illuminate a section of blank wall. It was as if she were reading something
none of the rest of them could see. She would then, once again, guide the group
forward without hesitation.

The last elevator the group used opened up onto a very wide
corridor.

The team walked its length until it ended at four sets of
double doors.

They helped Paula out of her chair and she, without
hesitation, walked up to the bulkhead that separated the two center doors and
placed her palm upon it.

Both sets of center doors opened and we walked onto the
bridge.

It was incredible…

ΔΔΔ

The bridge itself
was a large dome.

The two outside doors led down a shallow ramp to a 5 foot
sunken area that comprised the outside two thirds of the dome floor.

The inner two doors opened up on a slightly raised section
that extended forward but stopped well short of the center of the room.

It was wide enough to comfortably hold several work consoles,
each with its own seat. At center, is what was obviously the Captain's Chair.

Behind it, in slightly raised theater style seating, were a
dozen other plush seats.

Everyone had stopped in their tracks when they’d first
entered. The size of the room was… Unexpected. And though Argentine and his
team quickly recovered and started talking excitedly, Paula remained
transfixed.

He said to her quietly, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yes!" she whispered back.

She looked up at Argentine and said, "Let me show you
something…" And then louder, "Sami, you'll want to see this."

She shuffled over to one of the consoles and set down.
"This is the astrogation station," she said with pride. "Watch
this…"

She placed her hands palms down on the console… And the
entire dome transformed into a giant star field…

Aboard
the Roosevelt

At about the
same time in a different area of the ship, the chief almost lost his balance…

They'd just stepped on a tram that he’d hoped would
transverse the entire length of the ships keel.

He wasn't used to experiencing the effects of inertia on a
spaceship. One of the many things that had made spaceflight possible (one of
the most important things, actually), was inertial dampening. The massive
acceleration's used in space flight would crush everyone and everything without
this important piece of technology.

But he'd never been on a ship, he realized, that was big
enough to carry these type of moving parts inside it.

And that wasn't the biggest surprise…

He almost lost his balance again, but this time it was from
an overwhelming feeling of expanse... When their tramcar had exited the forward
section of the ship it became obvious that the top half of the car was
transparent – and the tube they were traveling in was built into the top of the
keel.

The other three scaffolded sections of the ship were now
visible in all their detail.

As fast as their tramcar must be moving, the other parts of the
ship were so distant it felt like they were inching along.

The chief, Dr. Amaya, and Marco and Nicu Petulengro all
stood with their mouths agape; the majesty and size of what they were looking
at was… Awesome.

The chief gave yet another start when Nicu grabbed his arm
and pointed…

"There! Look! People! There's someone here!"

It took a moment, but the chief finally found what he was
pointing at and almost had to pull his heart back out from his throat…

There were moving lights… A bunch of them.

And if there were moving lights, it meant ships.

He was just about to raise Argentine on his comm when they
came into a closer view of one of those objects…

"They're machines," the doctor observed. "I
don't think they're big enough for even a single pilot."

She was right, the chief realized. They were looking at some
type of robotic maintenance work. It made sense, when he thought about it some
more. A ship this size, no matter how advanced, would need constant upkeep…

But the robotic technology on display here was certainly far
more advanced than anything he'd experienced.

ΔΔΔ

Eventually
their tramcar left the transparent tube it had been traveling in and the chief
assumed they were in the aft hub. The tramcar, however, didn't stop.

"How do we stop the car and get off?" Nicu asked.

The chief had no idea but said, "We don't need to stop
it. We want to go all the way to the end, anyway. That's where we'll find
engineering."

When the car stopped the doors automatically slid open. They
exited the tram and only took a few steps before, again, they all stopped and
stared…

They were in a massive chamber. A chamber that just might
extend the entire width and height of the hub.

It was full of massive equipment and latticed structural
supports.

"What is all this?" asked the doctor.

"Unless I miss my guess," the chief replied
absently. "Those huge constructs there are heatsinks – one for each
engine. Those could very well be magnetic containment bottles. I've just never
seen them that… Large.”

"Where are the engines themselves?" Nicu asked.

"That's the aft environmental bulkhead," the chief
said pointing to a twenty story high, heavily reinforced wall. The engines will
be just on the other side of it. We'd need special protection to inspect
them."

They eventually discovered the glass-walled control room for
the massive engineering space. It was a third of the way up the bow-side
bulkhead and could be accessed by stairs or elevator.

Once he'd inspected the control room he knew it would
require some study, but the chief figured he more or less had a handle on the
controls.

"So what controls the Dreamspace motors?" Marco
asked.

"Nothing here," the chief responded. "As a
matter of fact, I don't see any Dreamspace machinery anywhere in this
chamber."

In addition to two side doors opening onto the engineering
space, there was a door set into the solid bulkhead on the bow side of the
room.

Pointing to it the chief said, "Let's see where that
takes us."

ΔΔΔ

The next
compartment forward did hold the Dreamspace motors.

The control room door had immediately slid open as he
stepped up to it revealing an almost identical control room on the other side
of the bulkhead.

The chamber it serviced, although still large, was
considerably smaller.

The chief glanced around the room through the glass-like
windows; the equipment in this chamber was much more familiar to him. Obviously
of an advanced design, most of it was still clearly recognizable.

Maybe Dreamspace technology could only be refined so far?

What held most of his attention, however, was the forward
bulkhead of the chamber. It was convex; as if it represented the closest third
of a sphere that was mostly hidden on the other side.

There was a walking bridge from this control room to a hatch
on the sphere.

The chief didn't need an engraved imitation…

Because this chamber was much smaller it didn't take long to
transverse the bridge.

The door into the sphere didn't immediately open.

The chief, copying what he'd seen Paula do, put his flat
palm on the bulkhead next to it. To his surprise, it then opened.

The control room they walked into was similar to the first
two. But the chamber it overlooked was anything but…

After only a few moments the chief keyed his comm…

"Captain, we found the engine room. We also found the
room that contains the Dreamspace motors...

"Yes, they're all incredible… But we've also found a
third chamber."

"No, that's just it. The equipment I'm looking at is
incredible… It's like nothing I've ever seen. And no, Captain. I have no idea
what it's for…"

Aboard
the Roosevelt

Argentine
stared in wonder at the dome that covered the entire room.

He momentarily considered if he was looking through an
actual transparent dome when suddenly the star scape shifted and zoomed
slightly in to highlight a blinking star…

"That is the Paladin-system," Paula said aloud.

Another blinking light appeared halfway across the dome…

"And this is our current location."

On one of the lower edges of the forward side of the dome, a
large screen appeared and began rapidly flickering through many different
configurations. After a moment, the screen magically moved to the left and a
second appeared in its old position. Albeit more slowly, it too began
flickering through images.

Both screens were large enough to be seen by everyone in the
room, although they occupied only a small portion of the dome. Argentine
realized that the entire dome itself must be a computer screen, probably
configurable in an unimaginable number of ways.

"Captain, what would you have me do?" Paula asked.

"Ahh… Do you think you could take the ship out of
Defensive Mode?" he asked.

"I honestly don't…" Suddenly a smile spread across
her face.

Just then, Argentine’s comm beeped…

"Captain? Is my signal getting through? This is Rory. I
don't know what you just did, but all of the sudden I'm picking up normal
energy readings from the ship. It's like someone lifted a veil or something."

"I hear you, Rory. I think we just took the ship out of
its automatic defensive mode, and apparently dampening her energy signature was
part of that…"

As he was speaking he watched Paula nod at his words.

"Captain? There's something else… Remember that huge
hanger-like structure running along the side of the fuselage? It's open and it
just lit up. I even have approach strobes."

Paula spoke up, "If you want, you can bring your ship
aboard now. It might make things much easier."

"Rory, are you sure the hangers will be big enough?
Would Barry have any trouble piloting the ship in?"

"The hanger’s more than big enough… And yeah, there’s
so much room even a blind teenager could bring the ship in. Is that what you
want us to do?"

As Argentine was telling Rory to go ahead and do it he
could've sworn that Paula giggled.

He turned to Sami, Mandi, and the lieutenant…

"Well, it looks like we have a ship."

ΔΔΔ

Paula fell
asleep in her wheelchair before they'd made it all the way back to her cabin.

Along the way, though, she had explained a few things…

The golden circlet she was wearing was actually part of the
ship. When calibrated to its wearer, it was a cerebral interface that enhanced
an individual's ability to communicate with the ship’s core intelligence.

For astrogators at their station on the bridge, it could be
a totally immersive experience. For everyone else, however, it was much less
pervasive.

A crewman, for example, when wearing it would almost
instinctively know which doors on the ship would open for him and which
wouldn't. The more senior the officer, apparently, the more beneficial they
were.

Before she'd fallen asleep, Paula had suggested that they
search enough crew quarters to find a good fitting circlet for everyone. She'd
never done it before, but she was fairly confident she could communicate with
the medical bay's computer well enough to have them re-customized to each
crewman's unique brain waves.

She'd also returned the ship to normal lighting.

Argentine had just finished a conversation with the chief.
He’d seen him get riled up and animated before, but this was something special.

Apparently the level of technology he'd found was an
engineer's dream, and some of the rest of it was totally unrecognizable. The
fact that they'd observed maintenance bots also answered another question he'd
been wondering about… Why was the ship so clean?

And why had they not run across any bodies?

Once they'd returned Paula to her cabin, he'd instructed
Mandi and the lieutenant to go guide Rory and the rest of the crew back to this
section and have everyone claim a cabin.

"Oh, and bring something to eat with you. We haven't
found the mess hall yet," he'd remembered to add.

He then waited for the chief's team to get back before
starting anything else.

In his mind, they needed to get some rest and then each find
a circlet interface, and get Paula to the Medical Bay.

He might have a ship, but it wouldn't be until then that he
would know if he could command it…

ΔΔΔ

"This is
the first time I've seen her excited about anything," the lieutenant said
quietly to Argentine.

They'd found the medical section roughly 40 minutes ago and
still weren't finished exploring it.

Doctor Amaya had said, "This isn't a medical bay… It's
a hospital!" She’d then immediately headed off to explore another section
of it.

Meanwhile, Paula had found a console where she could
interface with the medical computers. She'd been at it for quite a while
without any apparent results, and Argentine was starting to get worried…

"Any luck?" he finally asked.

"Yes, and no…" she responded cryptically. "I
can get the ship to calibrate the interfaces, but first the crew person needs
to have their identity and rank verified."

Argentine immediately understood the problem. Paula was an
astrogation officer so she had been able to vet Sami as a fellow astrogation
officer. But an astrogation officer couldn't necessarily vet an engineer, for
example.

"Maybe we’re approaching it wrong," Argentine
suggested. "As an astrogator you can't vet another specialty, but as the
senior officer aboard couldn't you vouch for another ship's officer?"

"I don't know if it will work that way," Paula
responded with a distracted voice. She was still typing on the consoles
holographic interface…

"It would also have to be Sami to do it. She's now the
senior recognized officer on the ship."

Argentine glanced over at Sami who straightened up and
comically puffed up her chest…

"Don't go getting any ideas, girl," he said with a
laugh.

Paula interrupted with, "Actually Captain… You may be
right. I'm going to start Sami on the calibration procedure and then we'll find
out…"