Episode Seven: Ship Off the Starboard Bow
The Marius confronts The Horns of Ammon, learning the ship is fully automated, guided by the artificial intelligence Seth, who is claiming to be a sibling of the Marius’s own AI, Lexi. Seth’s initial puzzling offer of help is unexpected, and his response to learning the Marius’s mission, enigmatic.
The Space Cruiser USS Marius, CS-1
In Orbit Around Europa
December 2056
“We’ll see? We’ll see, Seth? Just what do you mean by that?”
The captain’s voice over the bulkhead speaker was barely constrained. I’d never heard him raise his voice in anger, but he was clearly having none of this Seth’s smart aleck comments. If it had been me—I’d have blown up at the little shit. The captain, which is probably why he’s the captain, kept his anger or frustration or whatever to a low simmer.
“I mean, Captain, that I have a mission to complete, and I can’t have you interfering.”
“Well—Seth. My mission is to stop you, and unless you have some way of getting past our blockade, your mission has ended.”
After a minute, where nobody spoke, a large globular vessel detached from the central spine of The Horns. On my video feed from the bridge, an engine plum blossomed from the craft. It spun on its axis and headed for Europa.
“Weapons. Bring the particle beam cannon to bear on that craft, target the engine, and fire.”
A bright, sparkling spear of blue energy lanced out from the Marius‘s forward weapons module and struck the craft. The explosion tore the spherical tank apart, secondary explosions obliterated the craft’s engine module.
“Seth, I will remain on station and treat any further launches similarly. Stand down.”
“Captain, you don’t have the resources to stay on station. Water’s running low, fuel almost exhausted. What’s preventing me from waiting until you can no longer maintain your blockade?”
Having worked with and around him often enough, I could just imagine the captain taking a slow, calming breath. When he came back on speaker, his tone was stern and confident.
“Seth, if you won’t stand down, you’ll leave me no choice. We don’t need to wait to destroy your mining vessels. I can destroy them right now. I don’t know what that will do to you or your ship, but frankly, that’s not my concern.
“Weapons Officer, target any more of those craft that are launched. I’m heading to the gravity wheel.”
Heading to the gravity wheel? What is that all about? Ten minutes later I found out when the hatch chime sounded and there stood Captain Bullard, Chief Jemison, the moms, and my sister, Celina.
The captain stepped forward. “May we come in? We have a plan.”
I was a little flabbergasted, to say the least. I mean, I knew the captain, but my place was a mess and there was company. A warning would have been nice. But what was a girl to do? So I waved them in. It was a squeeze, but everyone found a perch, except the captain, who stood to address the group.
“Let me make it simple. We do not have the resources to get home. We don’t have the fuel or water to stay in orbit until some unknown time in the future when a relief ship gets here from Mars.”
Chief Jemison turned to address the group. “But what we do have is a spare parts depot hanging ten kilometers off the bow. Replacement engines, fuel, water, back-up equipment—everything we need to refit the Marius and head back to Mars.” She ended with a glance, and I was sure, a smile, at the captain.
Nobody spoke. They were all staring at me. I scanned the room, confused by their attention. “What?”
Chief Jemison walked over and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Do you think you can plan the engineering and mechanical tasks to do the job—get us back home?”
That surprised me. She was the chief engineer. “Me? You want me to Frankenstein the ship using components from the Horns of Ammon?”
“Yes, I do. You’re the best engineer we have when it comes to design and finding novel ways to solve problems. The crews and I will back you up. But you’re the right person for the job.”
I was humbled, which is a weird feeling for me. Maybe being pregnant was messing with my emotions, but as an engineer, it’s an enormous responsibility. But then again, a once in lifetime challenge. “Ok. Count me in.”
Celina raised her hand. Yes, she actually raised her hand. That’s my sister. The captain almost looked amused, but merely pointed.
“So, I get Celeste’s job. But why am I here and why are my mothers here?”
The captain stepped a little farther into the middle of the group. “Well, Dr. Chandler. You and your mothers have demonstrated a singular knack for talking to AIs and no small skill at diplomacy. It’ll be your job to convince the entity called Seth that he needs to cooperate, even if all he does is nothing but let Dr. Watson and the engineering teams do their work.”
Celina shuffled her feet. “I don’t know, Captain. We don’t know anything about his architecture, his directives, what is learning data was, nothing.”
Kate stood and put an arm around Celina. “Not nothing, Sweetheart. He says he’s Lexi’s brother. My guess is SS&T pirated from Jessa. We can start there.”
Celina leaned into her mom. And you could almost see the gears mesh.
The captain headed to the door. “That’s settled then. Get busy. Contact the command team if you need anything. I want daily updates.” With that, he turned on his heel and left.
Time to get busy.
Stayed tuned for Episode Nine: Heading Home and The Epilogue coming your way next week.
These two are the final episodes, but Sometimes There’s a Twist.
Thanks for reading.