Tides of the Continuum 1: Making History (8 page)

Aurora stared forward, “Let’s all hope.”

-MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM ' BISHOP '

-FILTERING...

-DECRYPTING...

-TRANSLATING...

-DISPLAYING MESSAGE CONTENT:

We approach. If you cannot fulfill your obligation, then our accord is null.

-COMPOSING REPLY FROM 'ROOK':

You have no chance of success without

me. I'm back on schedule, but at the

cost of accuracy.

11

Aurora and Lincoln walked from the maglev into a small hallway near the center of the ship. They entered a spacious room, the door of which held the label “Ops”. Inside the room, the walls were not decorated, nor were there any odd colors, as she had expected. The back wall sported several computer access stations, each with its own padded seat. Some people were milling around doing various jobs. As they entered, someone shouted, “Colonel on deck!”

Lincoln responded reflexively, “As you were. Give me an update.”

First Officer Paul Cutler approached Lincoln and reported. “Sir, we are currently on course to meet the Koratind Ratahn fleet at System 36 Oph. We project ETA at three days, six hours and thirty minutes. Athena reports our android forces are in position to be deployed at your command.”

At that moment, a call came over the central network. It was a matter concerning power relays or something. Aurora didn’t catch all of it. Lincoln left the room before the man finished talking, and the transmission was being routed through his collar comlink.

Aurora walked into the adjacent conference room. She went to the long mahogany conference table at one end of the room, and sat down. Until this time, she was completely unaware that any of this could be possible, let alone probable. Of all the science books she had read, not one had mentioned anything close to what she was living. Her life was being turned u
pside down in front of her eyes, and yet, when she thought about it, none of it seemed unlikely at all. It all made perfect sense.

And then, amidst her meditating, Aurora’s mind touched on something interesting. “Athena?”

“Yes, Aurora? Can I help you?” asked the computer.

“I had an interesting thought. Why would I be contacted with a message dream, if I weren’t the one in a position of responsibility over this ship? Why wasn’t Lincoln given the dream?”

“This is a good question, indeed. I myself have wondered about this subject. It could mean one of several things. The Colonel may have been too distraught to receive the dream. Recently, he commemorated the sixth anniversary of his late wife’s death. It may also be that the Visitors believe you are going to play some other part in future events. It may be that you needed to receive it to teach you something that you would have otherwise not learned.”

Aurora was tired. It was nearly nine in the evening by the Legion’s reckoning of time. She stood and stretched. “Can you direct me to my quarters? It’s almost my bedtime.”

“Certainly, Aurora. Shall I have a meal waiting for you when you get there?” asked Athena.

“Sure, and make it warm, please. I’m not in the mood for combat rations again,” said Aurora.

“You didn’t have to eat them the first time. But I think I can have something whipped up,” said Athena. “Something like spaghetti, or lasagna, or a thick t-bone?”

Aurora smiled as she stepped into the maglev and turned to face the door. “Actually, I was thinking of something more like a pepperoni pizza, and maybe a two liter of cola. Gosh, I wish I could share the pizza with you.”

Athena paused for a second, and then responded. “I might be able to grant that wish,” she explained, “you see, about a year ago, I toyed with an idea for a child care unit that would be more aesthetically pleasing for the smaller children for which I sometimes care. It seemed like the children were always frightened by my androids, though I only meant to care for them. I designed and built several models with the specific purpose of being more motherly to the children, less metal. They were covered with a thin layer of skin-like materiel, and padded with a kind of foam cushioning, to simulate fatty tissues. They were fitted with lifelike hair, teeth, tongue, and swallowing processes. They can eat, to simulate human behavior and, well you get the picture. I could have one meet you at your quarters to deliver your pizza. Would that be satisfactory?”

“Alright, but no lasers coming out your fingers or anything like that. I get a dinner friend, and you get to care for those in your custody, one in particular anyway,” said Aurora. Somehow, she felt more at home on this gigantic star cruiser, and all it took was to eat pizza with another friendly woman.

Ten minutes later, Aurora found her way to her quarters. An older looking woman holding a flat container and a bottle-like thermos met her at her door. She was shorter than Aurora, maybe five feet tall. She was pleasantly plump, but not overweight. Her hair was a darker shade of gray, pulled back into a neat curl. There wasn’t any makeup, as far as Aurora could tell, anywhere on her face. Her appearance wasn’t frightening. In fact, Aurora found herself being drawn into the motherly illusion Athena portrayed. She seemed very kind and warm hearted, even though Aurora knew she was primarily steel and bolts under that fleshy skin of hers. When she spoke, Aurora was surprised to hear Athena’s voice without it sounding metallic or hollow. It was as if this woman was the person, whose words came through all the comlinks and hidden speakers.

“I brought your cola and pizza, fizzy and hot, respectively. May I come in?” The words were definitely Athena’s, but the body seemed to be mismatched. And yet, they fit perfectly into this woman’s mouth as if she
was
Athena.

“Sure, come on in, make yourself at home. I mean, well, you know what I mean.” Aurora was still trying to come to grips with the fact that this woman, who looked so lifelike, was actually an automaton, controlled by a vast central computer system.

“Yes, I know what you mean, Aurora. It’s hard for some people to grasp. That’s why these units are used primarily for child care. But then, I haven’t had much use for them lately, since all my children have left the ship for a safer refuge.” Athena sounded sad. “I miss them, you know. I hope we succeed in our venture to protect Earth. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow.”

-MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM ' BISHOP '

-FILTERING...

-DECRYPTING...

-TRANSLATING...

-DISPLAYING MESSAGE CONTENT:

You will do your part,

or forfeit your pay.

Be ready for us.

-COMPOSING REPLY FROM 'ROOK':

The Bird passed inspection.

We are moving to intercept

you. Do not stray from your

course.

12

The next day passed quickly as each team
and officer fulfilled his or her duties. Aurora felt surprised at how fast time seemed to pass without the sun rising and setting. She filled her time enduring a few emergency procedure drills and wandering about the ship, enjoying the various interesting locations and features. Morning and evening had no real meaning to the crew, other than the designated times to sleep and wake up as the Legion cruised through the limitless perpetual night.

The next morning came fast
, and then faded into afternoon. The evening before the battle was a surprise; most of the crew went to their various quarters to enjoy large family-style meals with brothers and cousins. The food services division prepared large roast-like dishes, as the crew drained bottles of fruity beverages. Aurora had been invited to the Cruz’s quarters to join in the festivities.

About half way through the meal, Aurora asked the reason for the parties. Amelia answered, “We are grateful for our families. Our assignment out here in space has helped us to realize how important they really are, and just how easy it is to lose them. Life is such a fragile thing, it’s a shame so many people take it for granted.”

“Have there ever been any accidents in space, with people, I mean?” Her question was sincere. She didn’t mean to kill the mood. The smiles disappeared slowly as each remembered those they had lost.

Eliza started somberly “There have been some. The last one, some years ago, has left the deepest scars. The pilot of a small freighter was delivering some equipment to another ship the Legion met. Although she was quite experienced, she didn’t accurately calculate her speed into the docking bay. Her destination wasn’t a vehicle storage bay like the large one you landed in; it was only a few hundred feet deep. Before she knew it, she had run out of time and space. Her ship hit the back wall of the bay at about a hundred miles per hour, crushing the cockpit and killing her instantly.”

“We were all so confident in our own abilities,” continued Amelia, “that we got a little over presumptuous about our own mortality. Some say that was a wake up call, others say it was a punishment. Either way, we learned a hard lesson and saw just how easy it is to make fatal mistakes here. It also reminded us of the value of our loved ones.”

“The pilot, did she leave any family behind?” asked Aurora.

Eliza looked at her sister, Amelia, and then answered. “She was married to a good man. He treated her well, and still mourns her passing.”

Amelia continued, “He sits everyday in the Colonel’s chair.”

After the meal, Aurora wandered through the halls on the way back to her room. It was a short walk, but she needed some time to think along the way. She thought of her family, her biological family, back on Earth. She had made several attempts to meet them, but they had turned her down. They requested their name not be given to her. It had taken her a long time to recover from the rejection. She buried her anger and resentment, only to feel them resurface briefly in the following years.

Now, here, Aurora finally started to feel like a part of something larger than just herself, she was part of a family.

She rounded a corner and awkwardly bumped into the Colonel. She stepped away quickly, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to run into you,” she apologized.

“No, it’s all right. I should have been watching where I was going. Are you okay?” Lincoln asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” Aurora responded, “I’m fine. Are you busy? Now that you are a big boss, I feel like I haven't had a chance to talk with my friend Lincoln.”

Lincoln checked his watch. "Well, yeah, I do have a few minutes to spare. How are you handling all of this change? This upcoming battle wasn't necessarily a part of the syllabus."

"Actually, I'm a bit dazed, but surprisingly okay with it. I feel more at home here than I did on campus in Liberty Falls. The whole battle has me spooked, but I really like the people that I've met."

For a moment, there was silence. Before Lincoln could reply, a comlink broke the air. A lieutenant from another part of the ship reported, “We've registered a large mass of metal in our path. Estimated time to intercept: ten minutes, thirty seconds. Should we continue past it?”

Lincoln assumed his role as Colonel again and responded, “No. Drop from cruise speed and approach with extreme caution. Athena?”

“Yes, Colonel Smyth?” Athena answered.

“Prepare for attack. If it’s a ship, try to hale it. Text only. We have to keep you a secret as long as possible.” Lincoln turned to Aurora and added, “Would you like to join me in Ops?”

They made their way to a maglev. When they were inside it, Aurora asked, "Do you think it's the Black Core?"

Athena answered. “I don't think so. I have slowed us to a crawl. The mass is one hundred miles off our starboard bow, and moving fast on inertia alone. I can detect no propulsion from within it. I am attempting to match its course and speed. It appears to be symmetrical, man made, machined…hollow. There are several ruptures in its hull, all on one side, midway along its keel. From the twisting of the plates, I’d guess that the side if the ship was rammed by another object. There are, however, no scratches or striations to suggest the colliding object had any physical surface. Upon closer inspection, I discern that the damage is consistent with recorded incidents of underwater hull rupture. It is, however, not likely that a space born explosion would cause this type of damage. It seems as if the vessel has imploded in several sections.”

Lincoln and Aurora arrived at Ops. Lincoln asked Athena to show the derelict on a viewer. There, in grim illustration, was a small freighter, probably only several hundred feet long, looking as if it had swallowed a black hole. None dared to speak for a minute. Then Athena continued, “I sense an odd resonant energy onboard the craft. I sense high concentrations of gravitons, positrons, and x-radiation near the aft quarter. No life forms, dead or alive. I sense no residual cellular material of any kind. If I may propose a possibility, Colonel?”

“Go ahead,” granted Lincoln.

“I would suggest that this was a test target of the graviton weapon. We may safely assume that the weapon is completely operational, as of thirty days ago, based on the age of the wreckage. And based on its path of travel, we’re going in the right direction to meet the Black Core."