Scrapyard Ship (7 page)

“Dad! Where have you been?” Mollie asked, admonishing Jason in a motherly tone. She got up from the floor where she had been playing some kind of 3D virtual game—which hung suspended in the air—seemingly waiting for her next move. She ran over and hugged her father, giving a disapproving scowl as she looked up at Jason. He hugged her back and smiled. Taking in the surroundings, Jason was again taken aback by the ship.

Lieutenant Perkins said, “This is the captain’s ready room.” To the left was a hallway, which Jason guessed led to the rest of the suite. The room was divided into two sections: the first was a conference room with an oval table and was configured with multiple large display units placed high up on the curved bulkhead. The adjoining room, more like an office, held a large desk with a stone or marble-type surface. Four comfortably padded chairs and a matching couch completed the furnishings in the cabin. The lieutenant continued to speak as they proceeded down the hallway.

“Here you have a kitchenette and a small eating area. Jason noticed a small alcove and virtual workstation across the hall from the kitchenette.

"What's this?" Jason asked.

"Oh, that's similar to the food replicator in the kitchenette, it’s your garment replicator. This is used for things like your daily spacer and officer jumpsuits as well as any other casual attire—everything here is recyclable. Of course garments are custom-sized and fitted to each crewmember's unique body. Similarly, any replication of combat-type gear is handled through the gunny’s station on Deck 2." The thought of needing combat gear had thrown Jason, but in lieu of recent events it made sense.

“Moving down the hall, you have two bedrooms—here on the right is Mollie’s room, with her own wash facilities, and here on the left is your bedroom, also with its own wash facilities. Jason took it all in. Both of their cabins seemed relatively large and well appointed for a military vessel. Again, Jason needed to cut the tour short.

“Would it be possible, Lieutenant, for you to give my daughter and me some privacy? We really need to have some time right now.”

“Of course; I’ll be on the bridge, one level down at the forward end of the ship.”

“Thank you—I’ve been there and will find you shortly,” Jason said, quickly ushering the lieutenant out of the suite. Turning back to Mollie, he was more concerned how to best explain everything that had occurred up top—the attack by the Craing, her mother’s abduction…

“Come on, kiddo, sit down for a sec,” Jason said, gesturing for her to sit on the couch. “None of this is going to be easy for you, Mollie. And I’m very very sorry. Things are happening beyond our control. Unbelievable things. There’s a war of sorts occurring above our planet and we are now involved in it.”

“Yeah, I know all this already, Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Remember, I saw you and Grandpa talking?”

“Oh, that’s right… wasn’t sure how much of that you actually understood. But Mollie, there’s more to it than that. The Craing, the aliens that Grandpa was talking about… Well, they’re above us right now, attacking our home, our planet. And worst of all, they’ve taken your mother and others onto their ships. But I’m going to get her back—I promise you, we’ll somehow get her back.”  Mollie’s eyes brimmed with tears; comprehension of what her father said now taking hold. Looking down at his daughter, Jason wondered how she was going to handle what was coming.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Mollie?”

“When are we going after her; when are we getting Mom back?

“Very soon.”

Chapter 4

Jason arrived at the bridge four hours later. Tired, but he had needed to spend some quality time with Mollie before putting her to bed. Earlier, they had played several virtual games—all of which she’d easily won. She was a natural at thinking in terms of 3D space. Her favorite, a virtual Hide and Seek game, with AI-generated avatars—so real-looking even Mollie’s Little Kitty T-shirt was perfectly depicted. Looking down at the quasi-transparent, perfectly scaled representation of The Lilly, Jason realized it was just as much a learning tool as it was a game. He’d watched her, getting totally enveloped into the game. Then, at other times, the reality of their situation would sober her mood. Sometimes for only moments, sometimes longer, the tears would come. Then, just as quickly, they were gone.

“Oh, Dad, watch this—it’s so cool,” she said, excitedly. She jumped up off the floor and pushed several of the chairs back against the wall, giving them more room for the game. Using her hands she pulled and stretched the corners of the virtual ship, making it almost fill the room. Then, using a finger, she tapped at the side of the now-floating representation of The Lilly—it gently spun around on its axis.

By the time they finished playing, they both had an excellent idea of the ship’s basic layout, including the bridge, mess hall, observatory, gymnasium, engineering and communications sections, and something called the Zoo—which had Mollie more than a little interested. Jason also noticed there were numerous inaccessible greyed-out areas.

Lieutenant Perkins didn’t immediately notice Jason standing mere feet outside the entrance to the bridge, giving Jason time to take a better look around the ship’s command center. The room was oblong with gently curved and padded bulkheads narrowing slightly towards the front of the room. As he’d noticed before, the most impressive aspect of the bridge was the massive curved virtual display that completely encircled the top of the room 360 degrees. Both sides of the room were lined with consoles and a myriad of complex instruments; each had an integrated small monitor. Additionally, there were three two-seater consoles, each one at a different level, facing forward. A command chair and two smaller officer’s chairs placed slightly behind it were located on the top level at the back of the bridge. The room easily held ten crewmembers, but only four were present. Two men sat with their feet up on their consoles—laughing and cavorting about something. Lieutenant Perkins sat in the command chair reviewing his tablet—although Jason noticed the tablet was completely virtual and there was no actual hardware present. The lieutenant looked up when Jason entered the bridge. A boson’s whistle sounded from somewhere followed by “Captain on deck!” announced in a pleasant female voice.

“Good evening, Captain,” greeted Lieutenant Perkins, as he stood and came to attention. Jason, not comfortable in the least with having the captain moniker, let alone full responsibility for the vessel, smiled and took a seat at a nearby console.

“As you were, Lieutenant, please sit.” Jason gazed around the command center again before looking at the junior officer. “Can we have the room for a moment, gentlemen?” Jason requested, and then waited while the other three crewmembers shuffled out. “You and I both know I’m ill-prepared to captain this ship, Lieutenant. It seems fairly insurmountable, my learning what will be necessary to—” Jason looked around again, defeated. Lieutenant Perkins smiled and sat down next to Jason.

“Basically, sir, you just don’t know what you don’t know yet.”

“There has to be someone onboard more qualified to command this ship than myself,” Jason said flatly.

“I’m from a small town in Iowa, one of the few crewmembers also from Earth. Three years ago I was pulled into this war, similar to you, and brought before the admiral on a day when my life changed forever. I was clueless, totally out of my element here. Hell, I was a junior officer—just off my first tour in Afghanistan. I flew a helicopter, for God’s sake.”

Jason smiled at the younger officer’s candor. “OK, so how do I get up to speed with all this?”

“Both Ricket and The Lilly have amazing technological capabilities—and the ability to infuse you with the necessary technical knowledge for you to move forward, all fairly quickly. It’s more of a medical procedure than anything else. What they cannot do is make you into a natural leader. Or someone the crew will willingly follow into battle. You already have those unique qualities, and that’s why we need your help. The admiral has faith in you, and to be honest, so do I.”

Jason noticed the top of a baseball cap moving behind one of the consoles, and then Ricket appeared to the left of the lieutenant. Like a small child, he climbed up on a chair, turned and sat facing forward. “We must proceed with your HyperLearning process as soon as possible,” Ricket said, looking from one to the other. “That is if you have decided to join the crew, and commit to this endeavor.”

“So what kind of procedure will this be? Is it dangerous? Nothing can happen to me, I may be all Mollie has left.”

“Not so dangerous—but quite painful,” Ricket replied evenly. The lieutenant squirmed in his seat and nodded his head.

“Truth is, it hurts like a son of a bitch—it’s no fun. There’s a different HyperLearning procedure for every rank. I can’t even imagine what it’ll feel like for a captain,” the lieutenant said, eyebrows raised.

“My father went through this?”

“Yes,” Ricket replied, “for both the captaincy level, and then again later for the admiral’s.”

Jason looked from one to the other—deciding what to do. “I really don’t have a choice do I?”

Both Ricket and Lieutenant Perkins replied simultaneously: “Not really.”

Jason couldn't think of a reason to put off the inevitable. He was like a ship without a rudder right now—unable to properly lead the crew and frustrated that more and more time was elapsing without a rescue attempt plan for Nan, or even some semblance of a plan.

* * *

From what Ricket had conveyed, the procedure would take several hours, and his recovery time would be a day or two after that. Jason was anxious to get into space and on track to find Nan. He would do whatever was necessary to make that happen. But seeing the state of the crew, their limited experience and total lack of discipline, well, it didn't give him much confidence.

Once in Medical, Dira, a female med-tech or perhaps a doctor of alien origin, was helping Jason prepare for the procedure. She had instructed him to empty his bladder and bowels, and then change into a special outer garment. Dira helped Jason into the same clamshell capsule Mollie had been placed in earlier. Jason lay back and tried to relax. He saw Dira looking over Ricket's shoulder as he rapidly entered information into the terminal pad. Ricket was explaining to her how to configure a captain-rank level, HyperLearning module for Jason's particular physiology. Jason saw Dira nod her head as Ricket went through a list of screen prompts and configuration settings. It seemed Dira was being trained on the use of this equipment. Ricket's calm monotone voice was starting to make Jason sleepy. But then he heard the tension in Dira's voice as she pointed to a listing on the screen.

"So he'll be getting the full spacer prep material, including astrophysics basics, applied quantum theory, the latest FTL design material, the biological as well as nano-sciences package, and the complete operation and maintenance of space-bearing vessels material? That seems like a lot, Ricket, at one time."

"Actually," Ricket said, “the admiral has ordered up the complete HyperLearning panel for Jason, everything The Lilly has to offer, including the admiralty-level strategic capsule." Ricket paused and looked over at Jason.

Dira, shaking her head said, "That’s the same procedure your father undertook, and substantially more to boot." She took a step back and put her hands on her hips—an indignant expression on her face. “Personally, I think that's too much, and why are you doing the nano-implants procedure simultaneously, Ricket?" Ricket and Dira held each other’s stare, and then both looked at Jason, eyebrows raised.

Jason was pretty sure he was hearing a bit more information than he should be. He definitely felt uncomfortable with a technician questioning an officer in front of him. Or was Ricket really an officer? Jason couldn't imagine this sort of disrespect occurring on board a naval vessel—insubordination was a serious infraction. But then again, maybe Dira was right to question Ricket—especially if what Ricket was configuring was considered dangerous? But why not hold the conversation off line, in private?  Jason realized his mind was quickly reeling out of control. He'd deal with the crew and what was proper military conduct over time. For now, though, he needed to sleep and get the procedure over with. He noticed the two of them looking at him for a response.

"Yes, load it up. I won’t have time to undergo this procedure again, and I’ll need all the intelligence data you’ve got to be at my disposal. Please, finish up and get things moving along." Both nodded. Dira, attempting a smile, clearly looked worried. After a few more taps at the screen the clamshell began to close. Jason abruptly leaned forward and turned toward Ricket.

"So, don't forget Mollie is up early," Jason reminded. “She’ll be looking for me. You'll be there, right? You'll explain where I'm at, right?”

Calmly, Ricket replied, "I'll be there, yes; I'll explain where you're at. Lie back and stop squirming around, please.”

Jason's last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep were of Mollie, then of Nan being forced onto the Craing ship.

He had never experienced anything close to this. The pain was unrelenting. But it was the invasion of his mind, his thoughts—a complete disregard for his inner sanctity—the total loss of self that was the worst. He’d become conscious several times during the night. At one point, he looked out and saw Dira watching him. Her pale violet skin contrasted with her short black hair and, something possibly unique to her species, eyelashes extending several inches. She gave him an assuring nod, checked his vitals again, and left Medical. By the time the clamshell was open again, Jason felt like he’d been thrown off the side of a building. Dira was there, using a wet cloth on his forehead, concern in her eyes.

“So, I guess I survived,” Jason said, attempting a smile.”

“Actually, it was touch and go. Around 2:00 a.m. I checked in on you. Your vitals registered higher than they should. Then you
alarmed
two more times in the night, showing tearing had occurred in your cerebral cortex. Ricket had assured me that the nano-implants would repair any damage. He was right. Once they were introduced, no more problems.”