Transplant (6 page)

He somehow felt the nightmare wouldn’t return, but time alone would prove that point one way or another. As the quest for anti-nightmare data was no longer a priority, he went back to the diary of his antecedents; opening the page where he had left off last time he had read it.

He had scanned through many pages of the diary before something caught his attention sufficiently to make him forget all about the nightmare realization, and concentrate on what he was doing.

‘I think I have found a way into the internal workings of the ship. Quite by accident, one of the lifts stopped at a service tunnel instead of the corridor we intended to use on our journey to one of the hydroponics gardens to gather fruit.

Next day when I had some free time, I went back to the lift and punched in the corridor number we had used the day before, and sure enough, the lift stopped at the service tunnel. Either there was a fault in the original wiring, or something has gone wrong in the circuitry somewhere. I tried it once again, and it worked, I was at the service tunnel again.

A set of rails in the tunnel floor would suggest that a vehicle of some sort was intended to travel the tunnel, but if there are other lift access points like the one I was in, I should be able to go from one to the next using the space at each intersection as a safe haven should a vehicle approach.

I listened intently, but could only hear the soft murmur of sound that is ever present on the ship, so I took a chance and stepped down onto the floor between the rails.

As there was still no sign of a vehicle, I bent double and did my best to run on to what I thought might be the next intersection, but it proved to be much further on than I had anticipated.

My one fear was that someone might take control of the lift while I was in the tunnel, and then I would have no way back to the main corridors of the ship.

I took a foolish chance, and three intersections later my back was aching from the strain of being bent double. As I had proved the point that I had gained access to otherwise hidden parts of the great ship, and should, with a bit of luck, be able to wander around freely at some time in the future, I returned to my starting point.

Thankfully the lift was still in position, and I made my way back up to the main corridor, deciding not to tell anyone about my discovery in case they should try to discourage me or even inform the Captain of what I had found.

It was three days later before I had sufficient spare time to explore the labyrinth of tunnels which we are normally denied access to, and in the meantime I had a good look at the ship’s map on the equipment room wall.

It only showed details of rooms which we are allowed to go into, the others have numbers on them, but there is no means to open them that I have yet found.

The service tunnels are not shown at all on the map, so I shall have to try and map them out myself as I go along. I did manage to acquire a large pen-like marker, so as I proceed along from point to point, I shall mark my way so that I can locate my point of origin again, as each intersection and section of tunnel seem identical. Others may wish to follow in my footsteps, so with the markings and my map, their task will be made that much easier.

I am so excited about my forthcoming exploration of the ship that I have great difficulty in hiding it from the others, and only hope that no one follows me when I set out after the mid-day meal break.

Here the narrative stopped, and a different hand had continued the writing. Glyn felt a surge of disappointment when he realized that something unpleasant must have happened to the original author.

Checking his time piece, Glyn realized he had yet again spent more time in the book room than intended, and as the evening meal would soon be served he replaced the book in its place, and hurried back to the main section of the ship  in time to join the others as they filed into the eating room.

Several people commented on how bonny and glowing Mia looked, which he thought was a little premature considering how little time had passed since they had been asked to go to the Medic’s room. So he put it down to over enthusiasm mixed with a little propitiation, as no one else was bearing a child at the time, though many would very much have liked to, if they had been given the chance.

No one asked him where he had been, although he had been missing for hours and there weren’t that many people aboard the ship that his lack of presence wouldn’t be queried by someone.

Mia was still bubbling over with the forthcoming event, although it was still a long way off in reality. ‘How nice to be so simple,’ he thought, and then dismissed the idea, as he quite enjoyed the little mysteries of life, especially the concept of forbidden areas on board the ship.

The meal progressed as normal, the usual chit-chat and banter being interspersed with ribald comments as the ‘chef’s’ offerings, sporting more gaudy colours than usual, were produced to the delight of those who specialized in such criticisms.

Glyn wondered about returning to the book room after the meal, but thought better of it, as such time was usually spent with the other members of the ship in one way or another, and although no one missed him during the afternoon visit, his absence now might well not go unrecorded, and awkward questions could be asked.

A ‘ping’ sounded, and all turned their attention towards the screen over the hatchway.

‘Some of you are concerned about the safety of using the equipment in the Medic’s room. All the equipment has been checked over and found to be working perfectly.’

‘It is only the verbal and screen responses of the Medic which have malfunctioned, and these are not of paramount importance to your continued well being. I have taken over the duties of the Medic’s verbal circuits and will answer any pertinent questions which may arise in the future. For those of you who are interested, there is a large mass of rock, probably part of the remains of a broken-up planet, approaching from the rear end of the ship. It is in no danger of hitting the ship, but should be a spectacular sight for those of you interested in stellar activities.  That is all, have a pleasant evening.’ The click of the audio system cutting off seemed all the louder in the ensuing silence.

‘I for one, want to have a look at that.’ Arki looked around to see if anyone else was interested. Glyn was the only one who responded with a ‘Me too.’ and wondered why no one else had joined in.

The group broke up, some going to the games room, some flexing their muscles indicating that the exercise equipment was going to get a working over, while a small group of the females gathered around Mia and were deep in conversation, probably about the child she was now carrying.

Glyn and Arki made their way to the observation room which was situated near the front end of the ship, both of them unable to understand why no one else had shown an interest in such an unusual event.

‘You know, I sometimes wonder if the rest of them are getting a little too introverted in their own self importance to the exclusion of the overall reason for this expedition, and the tremendous technical achievement of those who built the ship.’ Glyn was at last venting some of the repressed feeling he had been aware of for some time, and Arki was just about the only person he felt safe to voice his opinions to.

‘I’ve thought the same for some time,’ replied Arki, ‘we are sustained and surrounded by man’s greatest technical achievements, and most of us just take it for granted. Seems a pity to me.’

They had now reached the observation chamber door and it opened obediently to their presence, silently closing to leave them cocooned in the small blister of transparent material which comprised the observation room. Four chairs, firmly secured to the floor, faced outwards, affording those seated upon them an unrestricted view of the star field outside the ship, and giving the observer the feeling of being isolated in space.

‘I don’t see any sign of an asteroid.’ said Arki, scanning the star field which almost surrounded them, ‘but then the Captain didn’t say when it would appear.’

‘It must be soon, I should think, or he would have mentioned a specific time.’ replied Glyn, trying to locate the piece of space debris.

They passed a pleasant half hour or so, enjoying each others company and the fact that they both held similar views on most of the things which mattered in their world.

Glyn was just about to suggest that they return to the others, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a few stars suddenly wink out of existence.

‘I think our visitor is about to make its presence felt, look back there.’ he nodded his head indicating the section of the dome which was nearest the rear of the ship.

Arki strained forward, as if getting as near as possible to the transparent shield of the dome would increase his depth of vision.

‘Yes, I see it now. My God it’s big. Hope the Captain is right when he said it will pass us by.’

Slowly, the huge mass of what was once part of a planet, crept up to the ship, blocking out the stars as if a giant black curtain had been drawn across the heavens.

The sheer size of the asteroid made it look much closer to the ship than it actually was, and both observers in the dome shrank back instinctively, and then chuckled at their involuntary reaction to the spectacle before them.

The asteroid had blocked out the star light facing the dome, while light from the other side of the ship lit up the surface of the dark space traveller, allowing some detail of its surface to be seen and casting a shadow of the ship on its surface.

‘Now that’s interesting,’ commented Glyn, ‘it’s the first time since the ship’s been sent on its voyage that any of its inhabitants have had a chance to see its true shape.’

It’s certainly bigger than the equipment room map would indicate,’ added Arki, ‘but then we can’t be sure as we don’t know the actual distance we are from the asteroid’s surface.’

Both men sat there in stunned silence while the enormous lump of space rock slowly drifted by them, dwarfing their ship into insignificance.

‘Look at that, about four o’clock on the lower edge, it looks like a structure of some kind. See how the star light reflects off those stilt like protuberances, they must be metallic to shine like that.’ Glyn was getting really excited now, his voice going up several tones.

‘Could be, could be.’ Arki didn’t sound as certain as Glyn had, but then he was the more cautious of the two.

‘Who’s to say we are the only ones in the universe, just because no one has as yet made contact with anyone else?’ Arki added, not wanting to dampen Glyn’s enthusiasm, meanwhile looking for a more natural explanation of the phenomenon.

As the huge mass slowly glided by, the angle at which the light struck the strange construction on its surface changed also, adding more detail for the two observers.

‘You know, I think you’re right. It does look as if it’s been built, it’s far too symmetrical for a natural occurrence, at least any that I can envisage.’

‘It can’t be the remains of another space ship, it’s far too big for that, besides which, most of it looks like rock, and if it were the remains of a shattered planet, then I would have thought all surface features would have been destroyed in the break up. So what the hell is it?’

‘You may well ask.’ replied Arki, realizing the question was really rhetorical anyway.

As the huge mass slowly crept past their ship, details of more strange constructions came into view, confounding every theory the two observers could come up with.

Eventually, the massive asteroid overtook the ship, showing its rear end as it slowly pulled ahead, and that gave rise to more speculation as the two strained forwards to soak up every possible detail.

‘See that circle of black markings on the end, they look like holes to me, and they’re big enough to put this ship in.’

‘Now that is far to contrived for a natural happening,’ Arki said, ‘and on a massive scale. Just look at the size of it.’

‘Looks as if those holes ran right through what ever it was and the bit we’re seeing broke off from the main whatever, if you see what I mean.’ Arki was having a hard time expressing himself coherently.

As the asteroid slid from view, overtaking the ship in the process, the pair were left with more questions than answers, and certainly more than they had started out with.

‘I’m going to question the Captain about this.’ said Glyn.

‘I think you’ll be wasting your time, I can’t see him coming up with anything very interesting.’ Arki offered. ‘Why not? He knew about the asteroid long before we did, and he must have observed its passing, so he must have more knowledge about it than us, what with all the instruments he has at his disposal. I think it’s worth a try.’ Glyn was determined, so Arki went along with him just in case it worked.

Once the asteroid had passed and the stars shone forth again, as beautiful and overwhelming as the sight was, it paled into insignificance after what the pair had been witness to, so they left the observation room, returning to the main area of the ship where the normalities of life were going on.

‘Hello you two, what have you been up to? You look as if you’ve seen something a bit shattering.’ Benz looked surprised.

‘We have, the passing asteroid the Captain mentioned at the meal break. You should have seen it, absolutely massive, made us feel quite insignificant.’ Arki relied, trying to raise a little enthusiasm in the otherwise staid Benz.

‘Oh that, I think I’d rather not see that sort of thing really, it has nothing to do with life here as far as I’m concerned, and the Captain would have done something about it if we were in any danger.’ Benz was, as usual, agog with indifference about such things.

‘You would have been if it had come closer, and hit us up the rear end.’ Glyn didn’t like the dismissive attitude displayed by Benz, but then, remembering what Benz was like, changed the subject and asked him what he had been doing.

The rest of the evening passed as most did, visiting various groups engaged in time passing activities. Glyn and Arki split up, each going their separate ways with their separate thoughts about what they had just seen.