The Vampires of Antyllus Page 6

  Depending on one's perspective Dave either lay down or stepped into his cell. As he did, a clear barrier slid out to cover him from knees to shoulders to hold him in place. At his temples two small copper colored cones emerged from the inside of the cell and were pointed at the sides of his head.

  Several minutes passed and nothing happened. Dave concluded that Narcissia was waiting for everyone to become secure. He watched as a fellow floated by on his way to his cell, and it occurred to Dave that the guy looked just like Tommy Dorset from his college freshman year. Tommy had mocked his desire to join the Air Force, calling him a loser in front of everyone. He laughed saying that a life spent in the military was a wasted life and told everyone Dave's life would never go anywhere. Dave had always been a wallflower. In those days, he seldom stood up for himself. Enlisted life, two tours in the Middle East, and combat in Oceania had stiffened his resolve and made a man out of him. He wished Tommy Dorset could see him now: two assignments on the Moon and now off to a completely new world. Last he heard, Tommy was an accountant—albeit a successful one. He'd also heard Tommy had a wife and two kids.

  Over Ismay, Narcissia's voice spoke to him. "Master Sergeant Dave Mitchel, please relax. You will experience a sensation akin to fatigue, followed by sleep."

  "Narcissia, will I be awakened during the flight?"

  "Unknown."

  "Will I dream?"

  "No."

  Chapter 4

  Impact

  Kathy considered the experience of suspended animation more like death than sleep. No dreams, no perception of consciousness at all. To Kathy, it seemed she had no more closed her eyes than she was awakened.

  Narcissia's voice came to her over Ismay, "Major Kathy Selina. Awaken please. You are needed."

  "Nar-Kissing, is zat you?" Kathy felt a little befuddled.

  "Major, the average time necessary to recover from SA is three point two five minutes. As we wait, I will inform you of our situation.

  "There has been a failure of the power supply into sphere one as well as a failure of the redundant systems. Sphere one is on emergency backup power and has seven hours remaining before the batteries are exhausted. Without power, cryostasis cannot be maintained and it is imperative that the biological population in sphere one be kept in cryostasis as there is neither food nor water on board in quantities to sustain them for the next year and seven months.”

  Kathy put her hand to her head, and closed her eyes. “I thought I’d seen the last of being hung over.”

  "Major, the loss of power has disabled the Michio Kaku towers leaving sphere one vulnerable to radiation and micro-meteor impacts.

  "If repair of the original system is not possible I can provide reconfiguration options in order to keep power flowing into sphere one."

  "How is it possible," Kathy looked up and around her, half expecting to see the person she was talking to. "that the system, and its backups, all go down at once?"

  "Damage seems to indicate an impact by a foreign body somewhere along external conduit sixty-seven, forty-five between router sixteen eighty, and the secondary junction, forty, thirty-five. This resulted in a cascading failure—"

  "I understand. Who have you awakened?" Instantly a list of fifteen SUBs and their areas of expertise flashed through her mind. Dave's name was not on the list.

  "Narcissia, I will need Master Sergeant Dave Mitchel, as well."

  "Major, I assure you that the individuals I have selected have the knowledge to repair—"

  "Look honey, I don't have time for a debate. I know Sergeant Mitchel, he is knowledgeable, proficient, and the best supervisor Squadron Eight ever had, but most of all, he and I work well together. That kind of human interaction and cooperation is difficult to quantify. I need him on this, wake him up."

  "As you wish Major Selina."

  As she spoke, the fifteen SUBs were all floating toward her. Almost all SUBs came from the military of the allied nations; therefore, they would all know the drill. Also, being SUBs, they already had been thoroughly briefed and provided all the necessary schematics by Narcissia.

  Kathy looked at the faces and the identifiers; she did not know any of these individuals.

  "Ma'am," a Colour Sergeant from the UK spoke up, "Narcissia has filled us in. She tells us you're the OIC. How'd you want this organized, ma'am?"

  "I'm awaiting the awaking of my maintenance supervisor, but in the meantime, Colour Sergeant Fitzgerald, take four volunteers, get into some ess-cep suits, and get me an evaluation of the extent of the damage outside the ship.”

  "Yes, ma'am!" He saluted and turned around. "You four, with me!"

  ○O○

  As the five were departing, Dave floated up. He'd seen the UK NCO salute, realized they were in the presence of ten other SUBs, some from other countries, so he, too, saluted Kathy. He realized that it was the proper thing to do, regardless. He stopped just outside the floating ring of people with his eyes fixed on some far away spot. He was evaluating all the information he'd received from Narcissia. Then he turned to Kathy. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to know how bad the damage is to the—"

  "That's where Colour Sergeant Fitzgerald is headed right now," Kathy replied.

  "Great, let's go to this supply room Narcissia indicated and check the inventory." Dave looked up at a female NCO from the US Army. "Sergeant First Class Ling, take these people and go double-check the continuity of the line from here," he pointed it out on the schematic in their minds over Ismay, "to the point where it enters sphere one. Stay in communication."

  "Wilco. Let's fly, people," And they, too, were off.

  Kathy and Dave floated through sphere four. They entered the ship's spine and passed through the axle of the FGS, the false gravity section, then down the long central corridor to cargo container eight-H, the second section of cargo containers forward of sphere four where the parts they needed were stored.

  "Thanks for waking me," Dave commented.

  "How do you know that?"

  "Narcissia. She woke me with the words…Major Selina desires you assist her against my recommendation."

  Kathy smiled. "I must have hurt her feelings."

  "Regardless, thanks. I want to help you, ah, I want to help the mission…you know…any way I can."

  "I know, Sergeant, we live to serve."

  As they checked the inventory list Narcissia provided them over Ismay against what was actually in the container, it became apparent that the inventory did not match up with what was actually on hand.

  "Ma'am, the inventory puts the extra AE-35 units right here, and there are none. It looks to me like they never were."

  "Narcissia, this is Major Selina."

  "Yes, Major."

  "Narcissia we are in container eight H, area one, one, seven. We do not find the AE-35 units indicated on your inventory. They should be in section twelve, cabinet sixty-five, on shelf three."

  Without hesitation Narcissia asked, "Have you conducted a thorough search?"

  Kathy shot Dave a look. "Yes, Narcissia, we have looked everywhere within the section."

  "I would suggest a more detailed search, but for the time restraints," Narcissia replied.

  Dave butted in now. "Just tell us if there is another unit elsewhere."

  "No, Sergeant, there are supposed to be six units in that cabinet."

  "Is there one we can cannibalize somewhere aboard the ship?" Dave asked

  "Wait a minute," Kathy declared, "If we circumvent the damaged rather than repair it, will we still need an AE-35?"

  "Yes, ma'am, I'm afraid so." Narcissia replied. "Without it, the plasma flow will be unrestricted causing a thermodynamic—"

  "Okay, then, Narcissia, is there another unit we can use?"

  "Yes, it is in the Command section, in the control room behind maintenance access panel twenty-two. It is currently regulating—"

  "Is it essential to either the ship's ability to get us to our destination or to maintain life support?"

  "No,
Major. It is part of the weapons control package."

  "Weapons?"

  "I see it." Dave exclaimed. He'd been looking at his mental schematic. "Ya know, ma'am, over the years I've found that the on-screen inventory seldom reflects the reality in the supply room."

  "Let's go," Kathy replied.

  "Major Selina, shouldn't you stay to direct operations?" Narcissia asked.

  "Good point. Colour Sergeant Fitzgerald and Sergeant First Class Ling, do you read, over?" Kathy's method of speaking fell into military radio and telephone communication procedure. The term was still used, despite the fact there had not been any telephones or radios in use in over a century.

  Both NCO's responded in kind.

  "Report," Kathy said.

  "Ma'am," SFC Ling began, "we are currently at point eight niner and we have positive continuity so far. Over."

  "Roger, break, Fitzgerald, what have you got there?"

  "Major, this is Fitzgerald, we've found massive damage to the conduit one…twenty-one, that’s two, one meters from the Alpha Bravo box. This thing is tango uniform, ma'am…beggin’ yer pardon, ma'am. Over."

  "Fitzgerald, this is Selina, roger. Break, I want both elements to return inside to sphere one. We're going with plan Bravo. Narcissia will instruct us how to redirect the power. We need a new Alpha Echo three five unit so Sergeant Mitchel and I are headed to the command section to get one. Everyone Charlie Mike and we'll catch up with you. Fitzgerald, report to me at each mile marker. Over."

  "Roger that, ma'am. Over."

  "This is Selina, out."

  "Excuse me," Narcissia interjected, "your form of conversation, though professional, is unnecessary. You may speak as if having a normal conversation. It will speed things up."

  "Narcissia, we military types have been using this form of speech to communicate for over two hundred years, we're comfortable with it. But thanks."

  Dave and Kathy were again out in the main corridor that ran down the ship's spine. They started to hand over hand when Narcissia addressed them again. "Major, I have dispatched a transport platform to you it will arrive in seventeen seconds. These conveyances are used to move cargo through the vessel. The platform will significantly reduce your travel time.”

  "Outstanding," Kathy responded.

  The corridor had four flat walls, and in each corner ran a metal rail that Kathy thought was to facilitate hand over hand locomotion. When the platform arrived, she discovered their true purpose. From each corner of the platform ran two rods, for a total of eight. These connected with the four rails and thus powered and guided the platform through the corridor.

  They floated aboard and grabbed hold of the handrail just as Narcissia fired the platform forward at a frightening speed.

  As they moved through the spheres, they were stunned by the number of Bios they saw on board.

  "Narcissia," Kathy called to the AVAC over Ismay. "All these people did not come to this ship from the Moon. I assume the other two ships are also equally loaded—that could only mean—"

  "Major," Narcissia interrupted, "passengers have been loading onto the ships for eighteen months before our departure. Shuttles from Earth have been docking directly with the ships in lunar orbit."

  "All these people volunteered for a one-way trip?" Kathy asked.

  "Most have, yes."

  "Most, what do you mean 'most'? Have some of these people been forced to come along?"

  "There are some paid security personnel aboard, reinforcements for those security personnel already on Antyllus. They expect to return to Earth on the next return voyage."

  "Paid security personnel? You mean mercenaries."

  "No, Major, a paid professional security agency."

  "Paid security?" Dave questioned. "Talk about injecting wolves in among the academic sheep."

  "For what purpose do they need additional security, when they have a detachment of allied soldiers up there for that purpose?" Kathy asked of Narcissia. She did not respond.

  Exiting sphere one, it was a short ride to a set of massive black double doors.

  "This is the entrance to your black soda can, Dave," Kathy observed. The doors opened. The light beyond was extremely dim. Dave and Kathy simply adjusted their vision to see clearly. As they progressed, they noticed passages with signs like "A", "B", "AB" and "O". On their right, they passed a sign that read "Antigen Assignment." Then they passed signs like "Plasma, Red Cells, White Cells, Platelets." Another sign read, "Agglutination Cessation."

  Kathy asked Narcissia, "What is this, some kind of hospital?"

  "I am sorry, Major, but you are not cleared to access that information."

  "Not cleared?"

  "My guess," Dave offered, "is that we are in the blood bank of a medical resupply container."

  "They must be having a lot of trouble with bleeding up there. This seems to be a massive blood lab, a massive classified, blood lab."

  The tram passed out of the corridor and ran through the heart of the huge, dark container. From their position on the platform Kathy and Dave could look all around into the main portion of this mysterious section—it was a vast storage cavity. All about were what appeared to be compressed gas cylinders—hundreds of them. They all looked as if they were hanging from the hull. The base of each cylinder pointed down, as though the tram's rails were the center of gravity. An eerie greenish light illuminated a thick mist that seemed to cling to and swirl around the cylinders.

  Each cylinder was color coded with bands around their bodies.

  "What the hell is this?" Dave asked.

  "I have no idea," Kathy replied. "Narcissia, explain to us what it is we are seeing here."

  "I am sorry, Major, but you are not cleared to access that information."

  "That's an order, Narcissia."

  "I am sorry, Major, but you are not cleared to access that information."

  Just then, the platform re-entered the darkened corridor at the forward end of the cylinder and proceeded into the command section.

  Dave looked at Kathy and asked, "Could those have been bombs of some kind?"

  "Stored like that? I doubt it."

  The inside of the hammer head was a series of tight corridors and various rooms, most dedicated to the ship's functions, but several were obviously designed to be crew's living quarters. Some were vacant, some, being locked, were presumably spoken for. None of the crew were here, of course, they were all in cryostasis.

  The bridge of the Demeter was an expansive place: a hundred meters wide, two stories tall, and thirty meters deep. The forward bulkhead, though it appeared to be glass, was entirely made of Kotov's plastic steel—a transparent layered polymer nanocomposite. The view outside was spectacular. They beheld a vast endless canvas of stars and illuminated gasses. Directly ahead were two reddish stars, one brighter than the other. This binary set, Elpis 229 A and B, was their destination, still almost two years away.

  The room was ablaze with instrumentality. Every aspect of the ship's operations could be monitored and controlled from here. It looked nothing like the bridge of a naval vessel. There was no ship's wheel, or any obvious steering controls for that matter.

  There were several chairs scattered about, one at each station and a few extras. However, to the room's right side, stood a chair that looked more like a throne than anything else, particularly to Dave's eyes. This, he decided, must be the captain's chair, though there were no instruments on or near it.

  This room more closely resembled a computer's mass memory center. And, indeed, it was more a computer mainframe than a true 'bridge', as this ship was entirely automated.

  After a moment of stunned silence, Kathy elbowed Dave. "Come on, the panel is over here."

  Dave, of course, knew where it was; he had received the same schematic Kathy had. To their far right was a bank of tall, gray panels, each marked with a number. Kathy counted out loud, "Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, ah…maintenance access panel twenty-two." They had it open quickly and both floated ins
ide the tight space, looking for the unit.

  "It's basically a thirty-centimeter black cube, ma'am, with a silver handle on its top," Dave clarified.

  The narrow passage was lined, floor to ceiling, with all manner of devices that were quite alien to Kathy, but Dave knew them all. He mumbled the nomenclature of several of the components as he identified them. "Here's an RC-65A, a BC-728. Wow," he exclaimed, "look at this, the new UL-45A7. They call this the golden boy because—"

  "Let's concentrate on that AE-35, shall we?" There was a sense of urgency in Kathy's voice. Over three hours had passed.

  "Yes, ma'am." Dave slid past her to get forward and, as he did, they brushed together. Dave became suddenly aware of her body. He became noticeably uncomfortable.

  "I'm sorry, ma'am."

  "Sorry for what? Have you found the unit?"

  "Ah…yes. Yes, here it is." Dave quickly detached it from its bracket and disconnected the two cannon plugs.

  As they made their way out of the closet, Narcissia's voice spoke to both of them, "Of course, once inside the planetary system, the AE-35 will have to be returned, I will inform the regular crew upon their revival."

  "You're all heart, Narcissia." Kathy said, still wondering why weapons were necessary. She then checked her internal chronometer. "Okay, we have plenty of time, based on Colour Sergeant Fitzgerald's last report. We'll have to return to—"

  "Major Selina," Narcissia interrupted, "I have detected a large dust cloud ahead of us. It contains a few fragments of rock as large as six centimeters. Given our combined speeds, and the fact that the Michio Kaku towers protecting sphere one are still inoperative, these fragments pose a threat to the ship. I have taken evasive action but a fifty-eight percent probability still exists of a collision—time to impact approximately seventy minutes."

  "Keep me advised Narcissia. In the event of a collision, I want you to awaken as many SUBs as necessary to react."

  "Major Selina, that course of action is SOP in the event of an emergency."

  "Dave, we've got to get this back to sphere one fast. And I want you to double check the work done there."