Escape 1: Escape From Aliens (10 page)

“Star Traveler! Is the Crèche Master conscious or not?”

A low hum echoed through the round room. “He is not conscious. Will you and bioform Jane Yamaguchi awaken him later so you can have the conversation with him that you proposed?”

He looked to his combat partner. Who’d gotten in the paralyzing shot while he was drawing the cockroach’s attention. She shifted her position on the robot to point her feet downward. With a nod she indicated he should do the same. He did.

“We will,” she called over the suit comlink. “Later. Star Traveler, restore one-half of ship normal gravity in this chamber.”

A sense of falling hit him, even though his downward movement was slow. A gravity of one-fourth gee did not make people and things fall very fast.

When his feet slapped the floor, Bill stepped back and away from the descending bulk of the robot that had protected him. To his right Jane did the same as her own robot landed with a tilt on its treads. She looked around it.

“Diligent is down and shaking a lot,” she said. “His laser is on the floor close to you.”

“Thank you.” Bill stepped around the trash can robot, moved forward ten feet, bent down and grabbed the Alien’s laser tube. A few steps put him next to the spasming brown mass that was their captor and the ship’s captain.

Jane joined him. “Star Traveler, restore gravity in this room and elsewhere to ship normal gravity.”

“Restoring,” the AI said.

A half-gee pulled at his arms and legs. Which still left him weighing only a hundred of his normal two hundred pounds. Bill looked to Jane, who seemed fascinated by the twitching body of the starship captain. “You zapped him. You get first shot at chatting with our AI friend. And you’re the officer here.”

Turning her oval face to him, she looked intently at him, then realized he meant what he’d said. “Thanks. I did learn something about interrogating satellites that didn’t want to behave.” He bent down to the Alien, wondering how to restrain it.
Immobilize and control
, came to his mind thanks to a Marine DI he’d hung with while undergoing Jam training at Quantico. He pulled out his leather belt, made a loop through its buckle and pulled the loop over the critter’s thorny legs. Next he used his t-shirt to tie its two pairs of arms behind its hard shell back. Above him Jane began the dance of control.

“Star Traveler, what are your emergency procedures when all crewmembers and the ship’s captain are unconscious. Alive, but not able to give orders or make any decisions?”

A low hum echoed through the room. “Protocol Seven, Emergency Operations of the Ship dictates that I respond to all bioforms who are aware and wearing vacuum suits. That is why I have responded to you since your exit from the containment modules.”

“We understand that,” Jane said. “We appreciate your responsiveness to me and to bioform Bill MacCarthy. We have achieved our first objective of reaching the Command Bridge and making contact with Crèche Master Diligent Taskmaster. We will share our life vital information with him when he awakens. Uh, how long will it take for the Crèche Master to regain awareness? After experiencing a white tube weapon impact?”

“Nine Earth hours are required for full recovery,” the AI said, its tone calm.

“Good. We will soon transport him to his own habitat chamber to rest until he recovers.” She looked around the room, stopping when she caught sight of the central pedestal. “Is the pedestal in the middle of this room the primary control site for commanding functions of this ship?”

“It is.”

She gave him a nod as he finished securing their captor. “Can the pedestal be lowered to floor level? And is there a seat or bench built into the pedestal?”

“There is.” The gray metal pedestal began moving smoothly down. On its top the metal of its surface puckered, then rose up to create a rectangular surface. “Most bioforms prefer a bench when they are interacting with ship systems.”

“Thank you.” Jane walked over to the pedestal, stepped up onto it and sat down on the bench. “How do you display ship systems for someone seated on the bench?”

“By way of holograms and modules that emerge from the room floor,” the AI said.

In a flash Jane was surrounded by six tall holograms that depicted various parts of the ship like the Engine Chamber, the Transport Exit Chamber and a Fusion Plant Chamber. In front of her hung a swirl of white, red and yellow stars. An orange star in the middle of the swirl glowed brightly. In front of her and to either side rose pillar-like modules. They rose until they reached a level even with her hands. Which she had stretched out in surprise at the appearance of the holos.

“Fascinating,” she said softly. “Can I interact with any of these ship systems?”

A low hum sounded. “Are you the primary bioform among the two of you now present in this room? Protocol Four, Emergency Operations of the Ship dictates that I respond to the primary bioform still alert and aware whenever all ship crew and the ship master are not alert and aware.”

Bill nodded to her. Then gave her a quick salute. After all, Jane was a captain while he was enlisted. Which was what a Chief Petty Officer was despite the title. Plus she was the amateur astronomer who knew more about space, satellites, stars and the Great Beyond than he did. He pulled the twitching body of Diligent over to the room’s access door. It was still open, perhaps due to emergency programming. Or maybe its motor had died.

Jane gave him a quick smile, then looked forward at the swirl of stars. “Yes, I am the primary bioform among the two of us who are in this room. Can I alter this ship’s course? To return to the star you just visited?”

“No,” the AI said. “Once this ship enters the Alcubierre space-time modulus, it must continue on course until emergence at the star previously chosen by Crèche Master Diligent Taskmaster. If he regains awareness by the time the ship arrives at HD 128311, you may ask him to order a return to the prior star system.”

Jane gave a slow nod. “Understood. What ship systems can I affect? From this command post?”

“So long as you are the primary bioform that is aware and alert, Protocol Four dictates that I respond to any order or request by you so long as it does not endanger ship operations, or ship crew,” the AI said, its tone sounding curious. “That means you can alter internal gravity, increase a chamber’s oxygen content, request food sustenance from the Food Chamber, reassign Habitat Chambers as you wish, order ship systems into self-check and correction mode and review normal-space navigation options. You may also carry out other functions that do not impede the course of this ship, its structural integrity or its internal habitability.”

Jane gestured to Bill to join her. He walked over and stood to her left, next to one of the pillar modules. He gestured ahead at the swirl of stars and gave Jane a questioning look. She nodded approval of his questioning.

Bill thought fast. “Star Traveler, is that orange star our target star?”

“It is.”

“How soon will we arrive at the star?”

“In ten hours, forty-three minutes, thirty-nine seconds this ship will emerge from Alcubierre space-time,” the AI said calmly. “We will arrive outside the orbit of the star’s outermost planet.”

  Bill frowned. That gave them barely two hours in which to convince Diligent Taskmaster to transfer ship control to them.

“Thank you,” Jane said as she looked ahead intently. “Can you project another holo which shows the star itself, its planets, their orbits and any known spaceships that were active in the star system, according to your Library datafiles?”

“I can. Observe.”

The front swirl of stars holo moved to the left, with a new holo taking its place. The other holos moved to either side to make room. Bill looked between two holos, fixing his eyes on what Jane also saw.

An orange globe flamed brightly in the middle of the holo. Above it and below it were six white dots scattered about the star. Barely visible red spots moved in the holo. Jane sighed. “Star Traveler, change from a true image depiction to a graphic depiction of the system. Orient the system’s plane of ecliptic so it faces me, with the star at the center. Adjust planetary orbital distances so that the outermost part of the system is still visible. Exact distances are not needed. However, this holo should display the planets, asteroids and ships known to be present in this system. Overlay the orbital distance at which water will be liquid on a planetary surface. Make that zone green.”

“Adjusting,” the AI said. “Does this depiction satisfy?”

“Damn!” Bill whispered. “That is amazing!”

“It is, isn’t it?” Jane murmured softly.

In front of them hung six planets of varying sizes, their orbits centered on the orange star at the center. Planets one and two lay close to the star. A swath of green overlapped planets three and four. Between planets three and four, an asteroid belt showed as a swath of violet dots. Planet five lay just beyond the water zone. Planet six looked lonely, lying five times further out from the star than the inner five planets. Between planets three and four there moved six red dots, coming and going between the two planets that lay within the liquid water zone.

“Star Traveler, this depiction is outstanding,” Jane said. “However, if we label the distance from our Earth to our sun Sol as an AU, what are the distances of these planets from their star? Put the numbers up in the holo beside each planet. And put to one side a depiction of our planet Jupiter, which is the largest planet in Sol system.”

Numbers suddenly appeared beside each planet. “Adjusting. Planet one orbits the star at two-tenths AU. Planet two orbits at five-tenths AU. Planet three orbits at seven-tenths AU. Planet four orbits at one AU. Planet five orbits at 1.76 AU. Planet six orbits at seven AU.” The AI paused. “Like most star systems there is an outer belt of comets that orbit the star. Your Earth astronomers call it the Kuiper Belt.”

“Exactly so,” Jane said softly. “I see planet four is the size of our planet Saturn, while five is a bit larger. Are they gas giants? If so, do they have moons in orbit? And which planet is the Market world?”

“Multiple questions again,” the AI said patiently. “Yes, planets four and five are gas giants similar to the Saturn and Jupiter planets of Sol system. Each has dozens of moons in orbit. One moon orbiting planet four has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, expanses of liquid water and is listed as the Market world for this system.”

Jane frowned. “What about planet three? It is small enough to be similar to our Earth. Is it inhabited? And why are ships visiting it?”

A low hum sounded. “Planet three is occupied only by multi-celled cyanobacteria who have produced the oxygen that makes planet three habitable by bioforms such as yourself,” the ship mind said patiently. “However, the planet is too young to have evolved animal life. The local star age is just 390 million years so this system is in the early stages of life evolution. Ships visit planet three to obtain lithium and rare earth ores for space industry use.”

Jane nodded slowly. “So the Market world moon that orbits planet four was recently occupied by bioforms?”

“Correct,” the AI said. “The Market world contains 12,137 bioforms of various species. At least 410 Buyers are normally present within that population.”

Jane looked at him, bit her lip and sighed. “What will happen when ship master Diligent Taskmaster regains awareness?”

“Protocol Four dictates that I accept him as the primary bioform in control of this ship’s functions,” it said. “Crèche Master Diligent Taskmaster is listed in my records as this ship’s only ship master.”

Jane looked thoughtful. “Can Diligent Taskmaster transfer ship control to another bioform? If so, what mode of transfer do you accept?”

A low hum echoed through the room. “Such a transfer can occur. That is how control of this ship passed to Diligent Taskmaster. If he transfers ship master status to another bioform, his status will revert to crewmember. Such a transfer can occur upon verbal notice to me by him, as verified by my biosensors. Why do you inquire?”

Jane reached forward and ran slim fingers through the swirl of stars holo that lay next to the graphic of the target star system. “Because I like sitting on this bench, with ship systems responsive to my requests. I think Crèche Master Diligent Taskmaster may wish to take a vacation from the demanding duties of managing this starship.”

“Bioforms are known to experience fatigue while performing life functions,” the AI said, then hummed deeply. “What will be the role of the Bill MacCarthy bioform, if such a transfer happens?”

She smiled softly. “I think senior crewmember will be a useful designation for the man who managed to do the impossible.”

Bill looked back at the body of the giant cockroach and thought it would eventually surrender to the persuasions of Jane Yamaguchi. He had no doubt of the woman’s fortitude and determination. It was as strong as his determination to free the other captives and then return home to Earth. But would they first need to return each captive to their home planet? That was something he’d have to discuss with Jane. In the meantime, he would transport the giant cockroach to its habitat room. But soon they both would need to eat and rest before the ship arrived at the Market world star system. A place where they might face violence from other Collector ships. He looked forward to that moment. His training would then be useful. Jane saw his smile and lifted an eyebrow inquisitively.