Quest for the Conestoga (Colony Ship Conestoga Book 1) (13 page)

“Hello Sandie.  We are ready for an adventure,” Cammarry said.  “How will you help us?”

“I am so glad you asked,” Sandie replied.  “I will be there every moment of our journey.  The faster-than-light scout, which from now on I will simply call our FTL scout, can be manually piloted, but I will be directing its operations and engaging the FTL systems.  Brink requested that I set your arrival for one-hundred meters outside of the target beacon on the robotic probe.  That should allow us to have a good place for proper assessment of the Colony Ship Conestoga.  I will be able to do scanning, take readings, make conjectures, analysis, evaluation, implementations, as we explore the Conestoga.  Additionally, I will also be monitoring your biological status and I can take limited action on my own initiative should either or both of you become injured, ill, or otherwise incapacitated.  We will succeed in this grand mission.”

“Greeting Sandie,” Jerome offered.  “Forgive me for calling you perky, I meant no offense.”

“I am perky!”  Sandie replied.  “That is part of what Brink designed into me as he compared your psychological needs, as conveyed by Doctor Chambers, with what type of artificial intelligence personality would best match you as a couple.  So here I am, made just right for you both.  We will be a great three-member team!”

Brink smiled and patted the side of the ship with pride saying, “You can trust Sandie.  She and the other new AIs are the best we have ever designed.  Now, to the basic details.  Your FTL flight time will be just over fifteen hours.  The sling will launch you into Earth orbit.  Sandie will fly you to a designated distance away and then the FTL system will initiate and you will transit from orbit around Earth to one hundred meters off of target beacon.  You will have zero inertia when FTL systems terminate.  You and Sandie can then decide where on the Conestoga to dock.  I wish we had schematics or even some simple plans of those colony ships, but all we have are generalities, and some are conflicting.  The records are incomplete.”

“Brink,” Sandie said soothingly.  “That is in no way your fault.  The records were lost long ago, and I will do my very best to find a proper way to latch onto the Conestoga. Count on me!”

“Now as to the teleportation system.  Sandie has complete plans and details.  Also it is stored in every data stick you are taking along. You can familiarize yourselves with the building of the system en route or after you reach the colony ship.”

“Brink?  Can we land the scout on the planet?”  Cammarry asked. 

“Planet?  Oh yes, the message from the Conestoga claims to have made planet fall.  We doubt the accuracy of that report, as there are no known star systems at that location.  I did calculate and consider contingencies nonetheless.  No, this FTL scout cannot land on a planet.  FTL and space travel are one thing, entering an unknown planet’s atmosphere, which could be a myriad of types, is far more challenging.  The sling launch can get your out of Earth’s orbit, but you cannot reenter.  The mass limits we have to work with for faster-than-light transit prohibit the proper levels of thermal shielding and configurations to meet those reentry demands.  You will need to dock with the Conestoga.”

“I will help with that,” Sandie chimed in.  “On the remote chance that there is a planet, I have conjectured a solution.  After we establish the teleportation system, then we will have ready access to all of Dome 17’s manufacturing facilities. Once the personnel are secured, we could build the parts for a planetary landing vehicle here, and ship them through the teleportation conduit to be assembled at the target location.  Then the lander can be deployed and we can go exploring on that potential planet.”

“Sandie, that is a good suggestion,” Brink stated.

“Thank you sir!”

Walking into the sling bay through a different doorway were Muriel, Lorna, and Jubal. 

Muriel and Lorna looked normal compared to Jubal who was barely containing his rage.  He marched over to Jerome and Cammarry.  He pointed his finger at them.  “I will have you know I was outvoted.  I do not think you are qualified for this mission.  Not qualified at all, neither by your personalities nor by your abilities.”

Brink walked over.  “Control yourself or I will have you ejected from my sling bay.”  Several of the technicians were standing with their arms folded.  They looked more than ready to physically fulfill Brink’s wishes.

“I am on the Committee and I will….”  Jubal began, but then he looked more closely at Brink’s countenance and at the technicians.  “I apologize…. I am just concerned for this mission… I only wanted the best and….” His words trailed off to a mumble.   He stepped back and away.  

“The Committee did vote to allow you both on this mission, and you are to be commended for your bravery.” Muriel said.  Lorna walked up and gave each of them a warm hug. 

Jubal stood glaring at them both.  “I have been outvoted, however, since you are going I do wish you success.”  His teeth were gritted a bit, but his eyes looked softer than moments before.  “We need this plan to succeed, and so I hope you can accomplish this.” 

“Thank you Jubal,” Cammarry said with grace.  “I know the tension between us, and for anything I may have done to contribute to that, I apologize.  These times are extremely stressful, and every adventurer needs your support.  The next teams that come through here will need all three of you to give them encouragement.”

“I will try,” Jubal replied.

Jerome held his tongue.

“Please enter the FTL scout,” Brink said.  “For this part, all you need to do is be secured in the acceleration seats.  You will not perceive much acceleration.  The launch will commence as soon as you are secured in place.”

“Come on in my new friends,” Sandie spritely called.  “Our cosmic quest is about to begin!”

Jerome nodded at Murial as she and Lorna turned and walked out.  Then he followed Cammarry to the hatchway.  Only one person at a time could crawl in, turn and get settled into the seats in the ship.  They wiggled to position themselves into the seats.  There were a couple of grab bars, but no buttons, levers or hand controls of any kind.  Several panels looked like they might open, but neither of them tried to open the controls. 

The outward view was intriguing.   The magnetic track, held back just mere millimeters from the exterior of the scout ship itself by the gravitronic apparatus which encircled the craft, led onward to the ejection tube.  It looked like an open maw ahead of them into which the cone of the scout would just barely fit.   

Sandie, the new and spunky artificial intelligence called out, “I am ready to release the magnetic anchors and initiate gravity inhibition and inertia suppression on your signal Brink.  The crew are now getting seated into place.”

“Belted in and ready to go!”  Cammarry called out. 

“I too am secured,” Jerome said.  “I am reminded of the saying, ‘Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’”

“I am with you in this!”  Sandie said in her mechanical voice. 

“Final check, clear the sling bay,” Brink commanded.  There was no one in the launch area.  All the technicians had moved to behind the protective clear permalloy.  “Sandie, you may launch when ready.”

“My fourth check of supplies and equipment is confirmed.  FTL scout ship ready at 100%.  Jerome?  Cammarry? Are you ready?  The residual of such high-speed passage will scorch the ejection tube sterile.  It will be so hot the gasses inside the tube will be fired into oblivion, but you are safe in here with me,” Sandie said.  “The gravity manipulation will negate nearly all excessive sensation of motion.  Inertia will not be a concern, that issue is being addressed and compensated.  Our passage out of the dome will appear nearly instantaneous.  Then the ejection tube will be cooled for the next sling launch.”

Jerome answered.  “Ready Sandie.  ‘You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.’”

“Old-World contractions?”  Cammarry laughed.  “You are using antique verbiage while in the most advanced technology the world has ever created.  This is an adventure.  Ready Sandie!”

The AI Sandie replied, “I conjecture you will find the view spectacular!  Sling bay launch now.  The quest for the Conestoga begins.”

7 The conestoga is reached?

The sling bay disappeared from view as the FTL scout was launched. 

Sandie narrated the entire event.  “We are passing out of the remnant atmosphere of planet Earth and finishing stage one.  You are now effectively in zero-gravity and will remain in that state for the duration of the flight.  The view outside will be clearing momentarily.  I will rotate the ship for your viewing pleasure and for posterity.  We will spend approximately ninety seconds in orbit before stage two of the process is initiated.  Please watch for the stars, moon, and the retreating view of the Earth.  You will not have the opportunity to ever see this again.  I am recording it all into the data sticks for future generations to know what we have done.  Stage two will propel us away from Earth, and I estimate that process will take five minutes.  When we reach the established safe distance, I will initiate stage three and engage the FTL system.  At that point we will leave the solar system.”

The tan color outside the clear permalloy of the scout shifted after a moment and then parted.  They passed out of the atmosphere and into orbit.  The planet was to the side of them as the scout barrel rolled onto its side.  Jerome and Cammarry felt no weight, and their belts held them into the comfort of the seats. 

“That is the world?” Cammarry asked as the arc of the horizon became visible.  “It is one giant tan ball of waste.”

“Yes, that is the Earth in its current condition,” Sandie replied. 

Jerome let out a deep breath.  “The heavens whirl above you, displaying to you simply amazing glories, and still our eyes are on the ground.”

He looked at the whole tan ball which was just one enormous blob with fuzzy edges.  There was no sign of the passage of the scout ship out of the atmosphere.  The tan murky gasses were unchanged by their passage.  He then looked away from the dusty ball of death and was astounded. 

The tan ball was set against a deep black background.  Scattered across that blackness was a myriad of twinkling lights.  The stars were shining down and never before had Jerome or Cammarry ever looked for so long a distance or seen such majesty. 

“The inferior or bottom of the scout is now blocking the view of the sun.  I have arranged it this way for the moment, so as to limit excessive sunshine reaching you, and to enhance your viewing pleasure.  I will be rotating the scout and the solar filters will be in place.  You should still receive a superb view of the sun, but it will not be painful.  Be aware you are only seeing a partial view of its light.”

The scout rolled around and the Earth was replaced by a brilliant yellow glow.  The glow filled the cockpit of the scout until the blackness of space was no longer visible, and only the warm yellow light from the sun was seen.

“That is so sweet!”  Cammarry said.

“Natural sunlight is very important for human beings,” Sandie stated.  “Sadly, it had to be replaced by imitation lighting in Dome 17.  Our scout will be rolling again, as we proceed to the proper position for the FTL engagement.  We will be passing the natural satellite of Earth, the moon.  I will roll the scout so that you will be able to see the ruins of Moonbase Alpha as we pass over.  There is no atmosphere on the moon any longer, being that Moonbase Alpha’s terraforming attempts failed, so I can fly the scout close by without any undue risks.”

The scout ship rotated and accelerated.  The dry, tan, and dead Earth receded.  The silvery disk of the moon was ahead as they rapidly approached. 

“It looks like another dead dome,” Jerome stated as he looked down on the ruins.  The cluster of broken buildings was all located inside one of the large craters on the silvery white surface of the moon. There were no lights or other signs of power or activity.  It was a graveyard.

“It is like a ruined dome, except we can at least see it in full.  This is simply overwhelming to be able to see such vast distances.   The domes I visited I could barely see from the outside due to the dust,” Cammarry added.  “The Moonbase buildings are all breeched, that is clear enough.  I forget how many people died in that fiasco.”

“Moonbase Alpha was first established on….”  Sandie began to recite details, but was interrupted. 

“Hey diddle dumb. The cat and the drum. The cow jumped over the moon.  A spotted dog laughed, to see such sights, and the dish ran away with doubloons,” Jerome said.  “I have never understood most of that poem about the moon, but apparently it was very common.  I have read it in various forms from many of the ancient cultures.”

“Cat?  Dog?  Cow?” Cammarry asked.  “Those were types of beasts, correct? Animals? Were they part of the failed Moonbase Alpha?  Or just ancient folklore?”

“Jerome, may I answer?”  Sandie eagerly asked. 

“Sure Sandie, like I said, I have never understood it.  Better to hear about some obscure sonnet than the details of the failed and fatal experiment called Moonbase Alpha.”

“Thank you Jerome!  The archives show that quote is from what was called a nursery rhyme. It was a style of oratory commonly told to children.  I have sixteen different versions in my records.  It dates from somewhere roughly five hundred years ago and probably was created with no specific meaning beyond its entertainment value.  It may have just been syllabic nonsense sounds.  However, the cat, the dog, and the cow, were common domestic animals.  The cat may refer to the wild cats of nature, but more likely is a reference to a house cat.  The house cat was from antiquity almost purely a pleasure and companion animal, but is not known to have literally played any musical instruments, like drums or fiddles.   The dog was a companion and work animal whose fur was of varied types and styles and commonly was spotted.  The cow was an animal raised for it lactate and as a food source, but not reportedly a good jumping animal.  Cows are recorded as prancing and vaulting when in emotional states.   None of those animals were likely part of Moonbase Alpha, at least according to the records which survived the Great Event.”

“They ate animals?”  Cammarry asked.  “I know they did, it just sounds disgusting.”

The view out the clear permalloy showed the moon and the ruins of the base receding away. 

“We are nearly at the position for stage three, FTL engagement.  Are you both ready?”  Sandie asked.  “The excitement is about to expand exponentially.”

“Yes!”  Cammarry and Jerome answered in unison. 

“FTL transit initiated.  Here we go!” Sandie said. 

Everything outside the scout ship suddenly changed.  Inside everything felt exactly the same.   

“FTL systems operating at 100% of expected function,” Sandie reported.  “Estimated time of arrival at the Conestoga, fifteen hours, four minutes.”

“Outside is so different.  I have no quotes for this,” Jerome said as he gazed out of the view port.  “Gray emptiness, or maybe nothingness?  Gray is better than tan, but it looks endless.”

“It is really a change.  The dust and tan I was used to.  That can be seen anytime you look out of Dome 17.”  Cammarry’s voice was soft and subtle.  “The blackness of space was spectacular, the stars magical, the sunlight gorgeous, and the moon was hauntingly beautiful.   Now this view is just strange.  So gray, so shifting, so odd.”

“What is out there, or is that even the wrong question,” Jerome asked.  “I understand the basics, so is there even an out there?”

“What you are perceiving is not a place, in the conventional use of the term.  It is a transition, or translation, or is indefinable.  Chief Brink has the calculations and equations stored for your inspection, if that would be helpful.  I doubt mathematics can address your question, as it feels like you are expressing emotions rather than looking for measurements.  Am I correct?”  Sandie asked. 

“Yes, you are correct,” Jerome answered.  “I trust Brink’s computations.  I do have a question about where we are going.  Have you analyzed the available information about the Colony Ship Conestoga?  If so, what have you learned?”

“Excellent!”  Sandie replied.  “Let me start with the name Conestoga.  The name appears to originate with a group of indigenous people on the continent of North America.  Some regions and other geographical features were also named after those people.  The application of the name to the colony ship probably relates back to the Conestoga wagon which was pulled by teams of animals.  The records show that the Conestoga style wagon was used extensively during the migrations of people across North America. It was designed as an all-weather vehicle which could transport roughly five tons of materials and people.  For that era, the vehicle was cutting edge technology.  The animals used as engines for the wagon were cows, bulls, oxen, mules, donkeys, horses, and possibly other types of large animals.  I see no connection between the cows of Conestoga wagons, and the cow jumping over the moon of the nursery rhyme.”

“So the people who launched the colony ship named it after that ancient animal-powered vehicle?”  Cammarry asked.  “It makes sense, since the colony ships apparently have biological habitats and I understandably those will include animals.”

“I concur with your assessment and conjecture. Well done Cammarry,” Sandie said.  “It is a joy to work with you.  I was unable to locate construction plans, or any schematics specific to the Colony Ship Conestoga.  I do have general, very rough, and sometimes contradictory descriptions of the colony ships in general.  They were built in space and consist of a central drive section around which were attached a number of much larger cylindrical biological habitats.  Records are not consistent on the number of those habitats.  I have been reviewing what was learned from the robotic probes, and comparing that to the information from the historical records.  Unfortunately, many records were lost since the time of the colony ship program.  The most recent information gained that specifically relates to the Conestoga is that there was some unknown and undated incident.  An artificial intelligence system, which is unnamed, transmitted the following auditory message.”

A very scratchy, distorted, and fuzzy sounding voice came on. 

“Conestoga has made planet fall.  The Conesto….”

“That is quite brief and mysterious,” Cammarry said.  “No other messages or information?”

“I am sorry, there is not much more,” Sandie replied.  “No visuals at all.  No other audio. Nothing else directly from the Conestoga.  I have run a multitude of tests on that small recording and you are correct, it is mysterious.  There are parts of the recording which do not correlate to the others and I am only able to make low probability conjectures on the etiology of those anomalies.”

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of our desire to understand,” Jerome stated.  “So when we get there I know I have a desire to understand what happened.  I believe the star charts and plotting show no known solar systems at the Conestoga’s location, is that correct?”

“Yes, Jerome, you are correct.  There has not been a detected solar system at that location. The robotic probe did not have adequate sensors for stellar plotting. I have run conjectures on why no system has been observed at that location, but I am lacking sufficient data to know if there is an undetected system there, or if the message is in error.  Those are the two potentials I can see.  It is very interesting that the Conestoga has not progressed on any trajectory since it was located.  That gives some weight to the potential there is a star system there.  We have no idea how long it has been in that relatively stable location as we are unsure of the Conestoga’s flight speed, velocity, acceleration or other factors including the precise launch date.  The crew may have stopped at that location, however, the ship could also have experienced a failed drive system.”

“The Conestoga could be dead in the water,” Jerome stated.  “That would mean a lot of re-engineering work for us.”

“Dead in the water?”  Cammarry asked.  “What does that mean?  John has spoken of planets having vast expanses of water.  Would the ship have crashed into one of those water places and everyone died?”

“Sorry, Cammarry.  I believe dead in the water is an old idiom for ‘lacking movement or the ability to proceed.’  Am I correct Sandie?”

“Yes!  That is the way the phrase was used in olden times,” Sandie chirped in.  “Historical records show that phrase originated with sailing vessels on oceans.  When the wind was diminished, there would not be enough power for the sailing vessel to continue, therefore it was stuck, stopped, dead in the water.”