Harvester 7 (6 page)

"Search
complete." flashed on his screen.

"Folk law and
rumours." he sighed as he read the only information available to
him about the warrior race he was due to meet in a few short
months, "It would have been good to know a little bit about these
guys." then he had a thought, "Hey Go'an, you asleep?" he called
out testing the promise made.

"What can I do
for you?" came an instant reply.

"So not
asleep," he grinned, "Can you transfer any data you've got on the
Diurians, I fancy a little light bedtime reading and our library
isn't that good."

"Kressa has
all of the information you need, just ask her."

"Her?" Maulik
replied with a laugh, "Giving the ship a designation I can almost
understand, but assigning a gender... that's just crazy."

"But of course
she has a gender, she is female, can you not differentiate between
the sexes?"

"Of course I
can, but that is just a machine."

Go'an
chuckled, "Go and interface with her Maulik, Kressa will contact me
when your link is established."

Shaking his
head Maulik hopped onto the grav-lift and descended. He could play
Go'an's game for a while, "A female ship." he laughed as he entered
Hold 32 and strode up the ramp into the deceptively spacious
interior of Kressa.

"OK lady,
let’s talk." he laughed as he lowered himself into the molten seat
and waited a second for it to mould, "If you are female it would
explain the attitude." he grinned.

"What attitude
are you referring to Maulik?" questioned the ship.

"Forget it."
he laughed, "Just a little joke... so how do I interface with
you?"

"Place your
finger on the blue pad to establish the link."

As Maulik
touched the softly glowing pad he felt a surge of nervous energy
and emotion with an almost feral quality, he sensed aggression, not
aimed at him but pent up like a coiled spring waiting to
explode.

"Kressa?" he
asked cautiously.

"Yes Maulik, I
can hear you, and feel you." The voice almost purred and definitely
had a feminine quality, "What is it that you wish to know?"

"What are
you?"

"I am
Kressa."

"I know that is your designation, but
what
are you Kressa?"

"I am a
hybrid," she replied, "Part mechanical, part organic."

"How is that
even possible?" Maulik asked in wonder. He didn't doubt her words,
he only marvelled at the technology, "Do you Eat? Breathe? Sleep?
Feel?"

"So many
questions Maulik." she replied, "I do not eat in the traditional
sense, but I process compounds into a fuel that is used to maintain
my organic systems, so in a way, yes I eat, we share the atmosphere
within my outer skin, so yes I breathe. I have no need for sleep
but I do relax my mind when I regenerate. You ask if I feel? That
is a very vague question Maulik... Are you asking about the
physical sensation or the emotional sensation?"

"Both I
guess." answered Maulik as he questioned his sanity, was he really
talking to, and listening to a machine?

"I feel no
pain, but I do register damage sustained, so no is the answer to
the first part of your question."

"And
emotionally?" he shook his head, this couldn't be real!

"I sense that
you doubt me Maulik." she stated, "I must be a very new experience
for such a primitive being as yourself, but I can assure you that I
am very real, and very alive... and yes I experience emotions, do
you want to know what emotions I feel Maulik?"

Maulik sensed
her passion and regretted his earlier doubts.

"I feel
loneliness and frustration, yes Maulik, frustration, I was bred for
speed, to hunt, to kill my prey, but I find myself locked inside
this shell, and this shell is locked inside this ship of yours, and
I am lonely Maulik, I am alone, for two months I have had only
myself and my thoughts for company."

"I didn't
know." he stammered, "If I had known you would not have been alone,
I would have talked to you, just as we are now."

"Good, you have finally linked." laughed Go'an as he cut into
their conversation, "She is quite a feat of engineering for
a
Level 7
species
isn't she." he chuckled.

"Do you ever
tire of making that point, yes, I admit, the Watu are more advanced
than us, but you have a lot to learn about compassion, why didn't
you tell me Kressa was alive? She is distressed and I could have
prevented that if I had known sooner."

"That is your
fault," snapped Go'an, "If you had taken the time to read the tech
sheets you would have been fully aware of her status and
needs."

A feeling of
guilt enveloped Maulik as he admitted he had been putting off the
study until a later date, "I'm sorry Kressa, he is correct, I
should have read your data sheets, can you forgive me?" He sensed a
warmth and the strange purring again.

"I think we
will work well together," she sighed, "Yes I forgive you
Maulik."

"Very
touching," added Go'an with a hint of condescension in his voice,
"Kressa, display all data on the Diurians for Scout Maulik. Maybe
now he appreciates the need to study his mission more thoroughly."
And with that last word he severed the connection.

"I really am
sorry Kressa... I mean that you have been all alone down here."

"Can you teach
me what you know about the Diurians, in a few months we will be
meeting them together, it's important we both understand what we
are going to face."

"Do you want
visual or verbal data." she asked.

"I think
verbal will be good." he smiled, "That is if you don't mind reading
to me." the soft purring returned and she began to speak.

***

Over the
following days Maulik spent most of his time with Kressa, they
talked for hours as he learned her moods. His greatest surprise was
to find that the ship was deeply emotional.

"Before we
linked properly, why didn't you tell me about yourself... I mean
your needs and solitude?" He asked one late afternoon.

"My
programming did not permit such contact," she admitted, "Although I
am partly organic, and as you now know have feelings, until the
link was established safety protocols were in place that prevented
me from responding beyond simple replies."

"The organic
part of you?" he struggled to find the right words to phrase his
question, "How much of you is organic, which parts of you? I'm sure
I didn't ask that right, but I'm curious."

"My brain
Maulik, my brain is all that is required for this ship."

"This ship,"
she paused, "Me... I exist without my natural body, this ship has
become my body... and my prison." she tailed off quietly.

"I feel for
you." he replied with honesty, he had been reading up on Kressa's
specs, "But if it isn't a difficult subject...?"

Kressa
anticipated his question, "My brain was transplanted when I was a
cub, my old body died, my new mechanical body keeps me alive."

"I did read
about that, but what I don't understand... is why?"

Kressa
chuckled, "Take me outside this ship and you will begin to
understand. My mind is faster than any computer, my instincts are
sharper than any Watu, or Terrillian," she giggled, "I am a wild
and savage creature."

"You should
not label yourself as savage," he rebuked her, "You are
sensitive."

"Programming."
she replied, "While I am at rest and perceive no threat my mind is
controlled, I am docile and polite... but send me into action and
the protocols are lifted, my true nature emerges... Maulik, I am
savage and violent and fearless, and I will warn you now, if we run
into danger you will not be able to control me... so don't even
try, just rely on me to keep us both safe while I destroy our
enemy."

"That sounds
reassuring and also a little frightening," he laughed, "Do you have
any picture of your natural form?"

The image that
was flashed into his mind was both beautiful and awe inspiring.
Kressa in her natural state was clearly a predator, her body was
lithe and feline, elegant and built for speed with long graceful
legs and supple tail for balance. She reminded him of L4 life forms
that he had harvested, and the though gave him pause, she was
identical to a species that he had witnessed stalking and running
down L3 prey, that creature had been a pale blue that blended with
its surrounding perfectly, Kressa was vivid red with vertical brown
and gold bars that tapered as they travelled down her slender
legs.

"You are
beautiful." he grinned and felt her deep purring.

"Thank you
Maulik, I was once."

"And you still
are," he chuckled, "The body you have now is very different, but it
is also beautiful. Just three more days." he reassured her, "And
then we will take a look outside... and you can show me just how
fast and agile you are."

***

"It's called
scheduled
maintenance for a reason." laughed Relik as his
Master considered dropping out of FTL early.

"Yeah, I know." sighed Maulik as he fought the desire to take
his new found
friend
out into open space. He had begun to consider Kressa as a
friend, she interacted with him with awareness and a consciousness.
She was alive, and despite being mainly mechanical he couldn't
remove the image of the sleek red feline with razor claws and
teeth, she was a living breathing being, not hardware, and he had
the right to develop a friendship with her, despite the looks of
dismay he caught from his bridge crew.

"You don't
know her the way I do," he had tried to explain to Relik, "She is
alive, she is emotional, funny and serious at the same time... oh
why am I explaining it to you?" he sighed as he caught the glimmer
of pity in the back of his friends mind.

"It's a scout
ship." he replied with a shake of the head, "Very advanced, I
agree, but still just a ship."

"Just a ship."
laughed Maulik but didn't push the issue, his crew couldn't
understand the bond that was growing between Kressa and
himself.

"From what I
have learned about the Diurians I'm relieved I have her with me,"
he thought, because the history between the Watu and the Diurians
was troubled to say the least and he was certain that his welcome
would not be warm. "I just hope she's as good as she claims to
be."

***

"It is vital
to my mission for the Federation to practice with Kressa." he had
told Relik in defence of his eagerness to rush down to Hold 32 the
second 7 had come to a standstill in high orbit of a giant, but
dead planet. "Dead because of the harvesters" he reminded himself,
he remembered the same planet teeming with life only ninety years
before. There had been nothing above L3, but the now barren world
had been in its infancy, who knew where evolution would have taken
those humble organisms?

"Sad, but not
my main concern today." he grinned as he stepped off the grav-lift
and fought the urge to run.

Jumping into
the seat he placed his finger automatically on the bright blue
touch panel and instantly felt Kressa's excitement.

"Ready when
you are." he laughed as the seat quickly solidified cushioning him
securely.

"I will be as
soon as you open the Hold doors." she laughed in return. A rapid
blink and shimmer on his mirror membrane, and the doors slid open
with a rush of atmosphere and deep metallic clanging, the shields
flickered across the growing opening and arrested the rush of vital
methane that was venting into space.

"What do I
do?" he questioned and heard a deep and throaty purr.

"Nothing." she
sighed, "Just hang on tight." The interior cockpit lighting dimmed
as the reactor in the rear began to hum as it built power. Suddenly
Maulik understood why the seat moulded so completely around his
body as Kressa shot forward through the still opening doors and in
a split second jinked a 90° turn that crushed him into the
cushioning and made his head spin.

"By the Gods."
he exclaimed in awe.

"You've not
seen anything yet." she purred and with a burst of acceleration
that crammed him down further into his seat and blurred his vision
she leapt instantly past the speed of light.

"Where shall
we go?" the delight clear in her voice.

"Anywhere you
want." he grinned as his body settled into the acceleration.
Suddenly a star chart appeared in his mind.

"Pick one."
she offered.

"Do we have
enough fuel?" he asked with concern, he recognised the chart and
all of the systems were many hours distant.

"I make my
own," she laughed, "So don't worry about that, now choose your
star."

Maulik
selected at random and braced himself, Kressa was having fun after
being idle for so long, she had also determined to show him her
full capabilities and he knew the ride was going to be
interesting.

"OK, that's
good," she signalled, "Now prepare yourself for the ride of a
lifetime." and as the words entered his mind she accelerated.

That was a
moment in his life that Maulik would never forget, he also
understood that he would never let Kressa go, he wasn't sure if
Go'an would want her back after the mission or not, but at that
moment he knew he wouldn't let her go regardless of the
consequences.

"She is your
ship now." answered Go'an as he entered Maulik's mind
uninvited.

"Do I ever
have a thought that you don't monitor?" he snapped feeling more
violated that usual.

"I do give you
some privacy... occasionally," chuckled the Chancellor, "But that
was a question that I thought I should answer directly. For some
strange reason which I admit I do not fully understand this Kressa
unit appears to have developed a very deep bond with you, sometimes
it happens that way, and in such cases it is best not to break that
bond, it is distressing for both ship and pilot."