Noah - 5. Chapter 5

Date: 2nd April 2419
Location: MMV Noah, Unknown

“Transferring power to the core.” Crewman Long announced in the crowded control room that had over the past few months evolved into the ship’s bridge. For all that time we had been sat, dead in space in the middle of the asteroid field where we had ended up after the emergency jump. Thanks to the efforts of the three surviving pilots and Ensign Bodgit’s engineering crews we were back up to normal power levels. Unfortunately without any main computer system there was very little more that could be done.

All the schematics for devices and components were in the ship’s surviving memory cores but we had no way to access them. That meant that while the majority of the hull had been repaired and a lot of areas made inaccessible after the asteroid’s impact were once again habitable we had no way of repairing or recreating damaged components so we had been sitting blind, virtually immobile and unable to do much more than survive on emergency rations for four months.

Crewman Long had spent the last months staring endlessly at a small computer tied into a matter sequencer, designing and creating the new computer components from scratch. On several occasions she was still there from the night before when I started my morning shift and I had to order her to rest but thanks to her dedication we were a month ahead of schedule and ready to bring the new core online.

“Power flow looks stable, Yang, keep your eye on that.” She told another crewman near her then turned to me, standing and saluting officially. “Main computer is ready for activation, Sir.” She reported with a grin.

“Very good Ensign, begin the activation sequence.” I ordered with equal formality.

The displays surrounding me that had previously been offline flicked on, each displaying details of the boot sequence. While the code scrolled, occasionally an error message would appear causing Long to groan, bend over her console and restart the activation sequence after changing a few settings. On the seventh attempt the system cleared the boot and status reports started appearing on various screens while details of crew manifests and ship designs flashed over others. Finally each screen settled on a single display and for the first time since we performed the emergency jump the MNet was fully operational.

After four months of silence the data pouring through my mind now seemed overwhelming, like walking from a dark room into the midday sun. System reports, video uplinks, error messages; my mind was being flooded by huge amounts of information marked by the computer as important to my command and it was a huge shock to my system. I shut off the data port of my neural link and my mind relaxed as the input vanished, suddenly the room seemed quieter, as if someone had turned off a loud speaker.

“Core operational, Sir.” Crewman Long beamed, standing in front of me with a holopad held out. “Most data has been retrieved from the backup databanks, but we lost everything from after we left dock, including the neural maps of anyone who was killed in the impact.”

“What about the colonists’ maps?” I asked. The main role of the Arc class vessel was to ensure the survival of the M Military should any catastrophic event occur. To that end, the ship was designed with not only the refinery capability that had ensured we had power (and subsequently the food, water and air that were sustaining us) but also the construction bay capable of building any sized ship which we had blueprints for and most vitally now, the cloning facility.

All citizens of the M Military were implanted at birth with the Neural Link, a small chip in the brain which connected to the memory centres and senses. The link not only allowed people to communicate and access information from any location but also constantly transmitted a person’s memories and experiences to huge computer systems known as Neural Administration Systems, usually located aboard colonies, or to smaller systems designed to operate for limited numbers of people such as the crew of a ship. These experiences were compiled into a neural map of the individual, essentially forming an electronic copy of their memories. As these maps could not be compressed while ‘active’, meaning the person was alive, well and transmitting it required huge amounts of data space to be set aside. When a person left range of one of the NAS’ or died their map would be marked as ‘inactive’, at which point it would be scheduled for compression and storage. A neural map would remain inactive for one Europa day (E.D.) before being stored. If at any time in that period the person re-entered range of any NAS, the map would be reactivated. After one E.D. if a person was unaccounted for their map would be compressed into a single data file along with their DNA profile and stored until their status could be confirmed. If a body or evidence of a person’s probable demise could be found after their map became inactive, the map could be written to a ‘Null Body’ along with their DNA profile, restoring them to life from the last time they were in range of a planet or ship. Requiring a profile be inactive, along with numerous other safety measures and procedures ensured there could not be more than one of any person alive at any time.

A Null Body was a basic human being made with completely highly recessive genes and grown in maturation chambers with no mind to an approximate age of twenty Earth years, considered to be the prime age for a body. When ready the body would be cryogenically stored in a cloning facility until required, at which point DNA from the deceased would be imprinted to the body’s cellular nuclei and their neural map written to the blank mind. As a result anyone who was cloned was initially Caucasian, tall, blonde haired and blue eyed and thanks to conditioning during maturation highly fit and in perfect health. When the cells of the body next replicated, thanks to the DNA imprint they would divide and possess the qualities of the person’s original body, though the physical age and fitness would remain. Due to this system it would take up to seven years for a person’s own DNA to become fully assertive though hair, eye and skin colour would quickly change and with the application of nanite bots able to reshape bone at the atomic level height and facial features would be restored in a matter of days.

Due to the size and complexity of the facilities they were previously only ever found on colonies. Thanks to its size and power output ability the Noah held such a facility along with over three million compressed neural maps and DNA profiles. With these, we had a huge number of potential crewmembers aboard, all we needed was the Null Bodies and we could colonise planets, or replace lost crewmembers.

“Three million, two hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred viable maps and profiles.” She replied, after tapping the holopad. “The main problem is the Null Bodies; when we lost power the stasis units went offline and the bodies perished. To restore any more crew we will need to breed more and mature them. It will be at least a year before the first batch become viable for use.”

“Tell the chief medic to get started straight away, the sooner they get put into maturation the sooner we can restore the crew.” Now that the ship had a good supply of fuel and the computer systems were active we had two priorities; to restore the crew and rebuild the sections of the ship destroyed in the asteroid impact. Restoring the crew could not begin until we had sufficient Null Bodies to place them in, but now that the computer systems were online we had access to the blueprints of all the components we would need to build any thing we needed; all we would have to do would be sequence and install them.

“I have five repair crews, with the sequencers back to full capability I can have them start work rebuilding within the hour.” Ensign Bodgit said as he walked up to my chair, dismissing Crewman Long. “I was thinking of restoring the construction bay first off, that way we can start building ourselves some Ants and get the defences back up, unless you would rather they prioritise on another area?” I had finally managed to get him from formally addressing me after every statement or question but I was still working on getting him to take confidence in his decisions.

“That will be fine, Bodgit.” I replied. While I disliked excessive formality it would be a step too far to be on first name terms with your crew, especially whilst on duty. “What about the rock, have you figured out any way of dislodging it yet?”

“I’m afraid not. When it came to rest in the heart of the ship it essentially became part of its supporting structure. If we were to remove it now, I believe the ship will lose what little structural integrity it has left around that area. We can build around it and I think we can build through it but its here to stay.” He said apologetically. A true comrade leader, he felt every success was down to his crews and every failure was his fault.

“Then I want you to assign a couple of teams to getting some passageways built through it.” I told him. Currently the only way to get from one side of it to the other was to climb down to the very bottom decks, go underneath it and then climb back up again. With 110 decks, it was often a very long diversion.

“Done.” He reported after a moment staring into space as he ordered his crews about via the ‘net. “If you don’t mind, I’ll head to the construction bay, give my men a hand.”

“Go ahead, I’ll contact you if I need anything more.” I nodded to him and he turned and walked out of the control room.

It had been a long day and I was looking forward to taking a soothing bath when I went off duty. Since I could remember, I had wanted my own command and not have to run around all day for someone else but now I was the top man, I often found myself wishing for the days I was just ‘one of the guys’ again. Duty shifts were now far slower, without the busy work of superior officers to keep me entertained my days consisted mainly of sitting in the control room and watching everyone else work. I had taken a few shifts as co-pilot on the mining shuttle but in reality there was little for me to do once I had issued the daily orders.

Off duty too I noticed how the crew reacted differently to me; As the second in command I was still one of the crew and in the recreational facilities they wouldn’t hesitate to join me in a drink, invite me to join a game or song or include me in conversations. As the commander there was a wall of anonymity. When I entered the bar it would get much quieter; the rowdiness and din that accompanied groups of people enjoying themselves decreased and I often ended up lurking over a drink alone at a table, surrounded by people whom I felt wished I wasn’t there so they could misbehave again. It was lonely at the top.

“Lieutenant you have the bridge.” I told one of the officers mulling about the command room before getting from my chair and walking out. The main advantage of being in command; the ability to let someone else do it.

As I walked along the corridor and made my way to the quarters I had commandeered I reactivated my neural link’s data port but at a reduced rate. Once again images, sounds and messages flooded into my mind but at a more manageable rate than before. The details I could pick out on the condition of the ship were scary-it had been a miracle that we had survived the emergency jump, let alone the asteroid impact too. I let my mind wander freely, allowing the most important information find me. The more information my mind processed the more I felt I could process and little by little I upped the rate of the port until it was running normally. When you were used to the influx of raw data mixed with information it became little more than white noise. The most important things bubbled to the surface and found you, things such as personal messages and urgent reports, while most of the less important things that a commander of a ship would still need to know stayed out of the way until needed.

I jumped slightly when the door to my quarters slid into the wall as I approached; With the main computer offline all internal sensors were operating on minimal functionality, barely monitoring oxygen levels and vague crew locations. All doors had two mechanisms; the automatic opening used when an authorised crewmember approached required the main computer to be online. Every door aboard the ship except those in air locks also had a second door built into it; Hung on old fashioned hinges and with manual locking mechanisms they were used when power was low or the main computer was down. It was the small details such as these that had slipped my mind over the last few months operating with minimal technology.

Walking up to the 10” cube cut into the interior wall inside I was about to tap the control to sequence one of the basic ration meals everyone aboard had been living on when a blue light shimmered over the bottom of the alcove and a steaming pizza appeared with a glass of lager. With the computer online, the sequencer was no longer limited to basic ration meals and water and was activated by the desire and intention of the user.

I sat at the table underneath the room’s sole exterior window. Outside I could see eight small blue lights shrinking into the distance as the Bee shuttle launched for another mining shift. Taking my first bite from the pizza in front of me I remembered what I had been missing the last few months. Without main computer access the food sequencers had only been capable of creating water and basic rations-cubes of protein infused with vitamins, while they weren’t unpleasant they were no contest for real food. The whole 6” pizza vanished in a few mouthfuls, along with the lager, leaving me suddenly feeling rather bloated.

The rest of the room was pretty basic; designed to be regular crew quarters and not those of an officer it was pretty cramped and other than the bed near the door remained unfurnished. The walls were, in line with most M Military design, a matt black metal with grey highlighting. The floors were a dark grey rubber and the ceiling covered in the standard illumination panels that lit every inch of the ship. The only colour in the room was the yellow and blue circle of the M Military logo displayed on the monitor embedded in the wall. On Earth, the villa I had grown up in had been decorated in the most wonderful earthen tones-terracotta’s, reds and browns. M Military architecture was stunning externally but interiors were designed for efficiency.

Deciding to take advantage of the active ‘net I laid back onto the black-sheeted bunk and closed my eyes. When I reopened them I found myself basking in the sun of Earth’s Mediterranean region, back at the villa I had been torn away from so long ago. I still longed for those lazy days in between schooling where I would spend all day around the pool or playing on the beach with the other children. I knew when earth was destroyed that I could never come back but it had long ago become my favourite place to recreate in my mindscape. Stripping off I slipped into the cool water of the swimming pool, enjoying the sensations as I swam lengths and occasionally dived below the surface.

Letting myself sink to the bottom I looked up; the clear blue sky and bright yellow sun seemed so foreign now. Europa’s atmosphere was too thin to really be called blue and the sun was always watery and weak. This was home to me, a place where I could be truly warm and comfortable. This place was all about happy memories of careless days when my most pressing responsibility included what filling to have in the sandwich.

The sounds of the local wildlife filled my ears as I broke the surface-all manner of birds’ song backed with the rustling of the wind through the trees. Lying on one of the loungers surrounding the pool I picked up a newspaper from the table. Inside it was a number of the more important messages the computer had selected from the real world, presented in the theme of the fantasy. Reading through a few I decided that the department chiefs had everything in hand and that they required no further input on my behalf. With nothing more to do I made myself comfortable and dozed off into peaceful sleep.

The ever present white glow from the illumination panels met me when I woke up. Checking the ship’s time through my neural link I had been asleep for five hours. Sitting up and sliding off the bed I started to strip as I walked towards the small bathroom. The door slid shut behind me and when I was standing in the middle of the room I sent the signal to activate the cleanser.

As the gravity around me changed I rose and hovered half a meter in the air before the field activated. Every hair on my body stood on end as the electric charge built up below my skin. After a few moments of tingling the charge began to rise, leaving my skin and taking with it the day’s accumulated grime and dead cells before pulsing and vanishing a few inches away from my body, taking the dirt with it. Slowly the gravity returned to normal and my cleansed feet touched the ground.

A clean uniform was already waiting in the sequencer when I stepped back into the main room. I slipped into it and put my used one into the device, watching it vanish in a blue glow. Standing at the window I watched as the Bee flew past with a chunk of rock in tow, heading for the Mining bay.

Deciding to check up on the ship’s status I made my way through the corridors and ladders until I arrived a full hour later at the construction bay. The last time I had been in here I had barely escaped with the Lieutenant who had become my pilot for the day before the ceiling collapsed. Since then the hull breaches had been patched up and the atmosphere restored, but besides clearing the debris little had changed. The illumination panels were nearly all missing, meaning the crew was operating with lighting spheres and torches. Since computer power had been restored most of the crew was now using hand-held tractor generators to move the heavier chunks of debris to the sequencer for recycling.

“Morning, Commander.” Ensign Bodgit greeted me as he appeared from one of the work crews. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“No, thank you Bodgit; I’m just here to see what’s going on in person.” I replied. “What sort of time frame do you think it’s going to be before we can start getting a few new craft operational?”

“Well fortunately the sequencer here survived in tact, so without any unforeseen problems I think we can have the bay up and running in a couple of weeks. Once the Temporal Bubble Generator is fixed then it will be like the crew is pulling double shifts.”

Nodding I let him return to the job he was working on before I entered and walked around the charred deck. The bay was a large open space over two hundred meters square, when fully operational a dock housing heavy antigravity generators and tractor beams hung from the ceiling where medium sized vessels could be constructed and repaired, the remnants of which were currently being cleared from the bottom of the bay. Along the side wall were 14 landing pads about 30 meters square spread over several levels and linked by the same elevator and ladder arrangement as in the fighter bay, where shuttles and fighter craft could be assembled and repaired. Currently they were all damaged to some level but once they were all structurally sound each one could be used to construct a separate craft to fill our stocks.

A few months ago Bodgit had been a lowly Ensign, barely out of the academy and expecting a ‘normal’ career path. Watching him both working and delegating to the work crews I could see that he was filling the role he had been thrust into well and would make a fine Chief Engineer.

“Need a hand?” I asked a Crewman who was struggling to move a large chunk of debris from one of the platforms.

“Yeah, there’s a spare HandTrac on that pile of crap.” He replied without looking away from the control panel on his handheld tractor emitter, where the mass levels were just too high for it to lift. As soon as I had engaged the beam from the spare device the red numbers quickly fell to a yellow level and the debris rose into the air easily. “Stay with me, let’s go slow and steady over to the sequencer.”

Walking just behind him and monitoring the readings on my HandTrac we slowly made our way to the sequencer, finally placing it on the pad and watching it vanish in a green blur.

“Cheers mate, I’d never have shifted that crap alone.” He said once the blur had vanished and turned towards me. “Oh, shit sorry Sir, I didn’t realise…” He began to apologise for his informality before I interrupted him.

“Don’t worry about it, Crewman…?” I paused to let him introduce himself.

“Lyle, Sir.” He replied, coming to attention. When I waited more it took him a few moments to get the hint that I wanted his first name. Since normally officers rarely ask for the first names of their subordinates his confusion was understandable. “Gavin Lyle.”

“Gavin, I think there’s more junk we need to shift on that platform, c’mon.” I turned and started walking back to the platform that Lyle had been working on. “You working alone on this one, Gavin?” I asked as we reached it. Most of the other platforms had two-man crews working on them.

“Yeah, we’re a bit short handed, not much we can do about it though. I just got the short straw on this one.” He replied nervously.

A thought crossed my mind and I beckoned Bodgit over to us with a message. Since we had been stranded, the compliment of Marines that were onboard had done little but training and sparring in their barracks. They weren’t the brightest bunch in the M Military but they were strong and reliable.

“Yes, Sir?” Bodgit asked when he reached the edge of the platform.

“You’re a bit short handed here, think you could do with some more muscle?” I asked.

“Always, what do you have in mind?”

“If I bring the Marines down here, could you use them?”

Bodgit hesitated for a moment. While all citizens of the M Military were trained to a basic level in every job, Marines were often those who had failed for whatever reason at their original chosen career path and who had been reassigned to the Marines. That meant that though they were fairly capable they were the lowest IQ group and were often regarded as walking muscle. They were formidable warriors on the ground or on a ship but that is where their use often ended and they didn’t usually mix very much with the rest of society, preferring instead to spend time in the barracks training.

“I think so. I could split them off with my crews and as long as they do what they say it should help a good bit.” He finally replied.

“Ok, I’ll have their CO bring a couple of squads down, assign them how you like.”

Nodding, Bodgit went off to brief his crew chiefs and plan the best way to use the Marines. While he was doing that I hailed the Marine Commanding Officer, Colonel Atkinson.

“Yes, Commander?” His voice appeared in my mind.

“Colonel, I need a couple of squads to help out in the Construction Bay.” I sent back. Technically he was the same rank as myself so I couldn’t order him to send his men to me but it was shipboard etiquette for all officers regardless of rank to abide by wishes of the senior Command officer.

“I think I can spare some guys, what gear do they need?”

“Nothing, its muscle work. All they need is themselves.”

“Alright, I’ll have them with you soon.” A ‘squawk’ signified that he had closed the channel and I returned to where I was before. The barracks were positioned towards the forward section of the ship, so they had taken little damage after the jump and the Marines now made up a fair proportion of the crew. Before the computer core was brought online there was little they could do to help out, so they had pretty much stayed in the barracks and left the rest of the crew alone as they usually did. Now that the core was back online and the repair crews could do their jobs, manpower was low and they could be used to help out.

With the Construction Bay located at the upper rear of the ship and with the asteroid blocking off most of the more direct access ways it would be up to an hour until the Marine squads arrived. Until then I helped Lyle with the clearing efforts, stacking debris before walking it over to the sequencer and recycling it, chatting socially while we worked.

It was 45 minutes before the well disciplined Marines marched through the air lock and fell into two ranks while Colonel Atkinson looked around the bay for me. Marines were the only people in the M Military not to wear the black uniform and bend, instead they wore specially designed adaptive camouflage uniforms, incorporating old fashioned camouflage design and advanced cloaking technology. When the cloak was disabled the shipboard uniform was a mixture of randomly patterned greys and blacks, but there were a variety of colour schemes for different environments. When enabled the cloak used light bending and EM absorbing technology to render the person completely invisible when stationary and very difficult to spot when moving, only being given away by a slight distortion where the suit cannot quite keep up with the movement. As ever, each Marine had their sidearm strapped to their right leg and a utility pack (usually containing various knives, first aid equipment and extra power cells but customised by each soldier) on their left. Compared to the other crewmembers in the bay, they were physically much larger. Marines had an extremely intensive training regimen and the result was tremendous physical strength and agility allowing them to wear the heavy combat armour and carry the largest mobile weapons.

It took the Colonel a few moments to see me even when I was walking towards him. As a man who lived in a highly strict and organised world where officers never got their hands dirty he was undoubtedly expecting me to be organising the work crews, but I learned long ago that sometimes mucking in with everyone else builds bonds and respect, as well as being far more productive than shouting at everyone around you.

Ever the stickler for protocol he called the marines to attention as I approached, sending a notable vibration in the floor as sixteen muscular legs stamped at once, no doubt sending large quantities of dust onto the crews below.

“Marines reporting as requested, SIR.” He reported, snapping to attention himself, emphasising the ‘Sir’ heavily, as if he were addressing a General or any other superior officer, but made sure to say ‘requested’ rather than ‘ordered’ as he would had I been in the Marine Chain of Command.

“At ease, Colonel.” I replied, quickly sending a message to Bodgit to come over. “This is Ensign Bodgit, he is in charge of the repair crews and will divide your men between them.” I told him as the Ensign walked up.

“They should do.” Bodgit commented, casting an appraising eye over the statue-like men all staring blankly ahead. “Can they operate HandTracs?” He directed the question to the Colonel.

“Of course they can, Mister Bodgit. Contrary to popular belief Marines are not stupid.” His tone was somewhat condescending as he addressed the junior officer, who seemed suddenly intimidated by the Colonel standing a good foot higher than him and nearly double his size.

“Very well, Colonel.” I interrupted quickly before the Ensign could dig himself in even deeper. “You are dismissed, Ensign Bodgit can organise your men from here.” I addressed him sternly, hoping he would get the message and not argue. Marines were notoriously thick headed and once they felt hard done-by they would carry on an argument for hours, however small the original point.

Hesitating for a moment, he finally grunted then turned and marched out of the bay. Leaving Bodgit to organise his new manpower I left the bay myself.

Now that the crew had something to do, not to mention the now open bar serving drinks and meals, few were wandering the corridors so they were deserted. Heading back to my quarters I passed only a few crewmembers, mainly people just off duty and heading to their quarters or the bar.

Once inside my quarters I stripped off and once again ran a cleaning cycle. Getting another uniform from the sequencer I decided to visit the bar.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the bar, down seventeen decks and several hundred meters from the nearest access hatch. If we could get the grav lifts back operational it would take a fraction of that time, but until the shafts were cleared and repaired everyone would have to keep climbing around the ship via the access shafts.

The bar was not a massive space like many aboard the ship, but was easily large enough to accommodate up to 250 crew members comfortably. Along one wall ran the actual bar, with crewmen from various career paths serving. As there were no positions on a military vessel for ‘service’ personnel the crew took it in turns to perform such duties as manning the bar. The rest of the room was filled with tables and chairs, with the occasional HoloPool table scattered around. As usual the bar was fairly busy, but with the skeleton surviving crew it wasn’t packed.

The bustle of the room quickly died down when I had been spotted entering, as it always did. Walking between the tables to the bar, each crewmember nodded in acknowledgement as I passed them but remained hushed. At the bar the bartender quickly sequenced the Europan Ale I ordered and scurried to the other end. This was the reaction I always received when I came here since I had taken command. I would usually be left alone until I got so bored I left to try to find some entertainment.

“Evening, Commander.” A voice brought me out of my thoughts. I don’t know how long I had been sitting there but my drink was nearly empty so it must have been a while. “Is this place taken?” The voice asked.

Looking up I saw Crewman Lyle standing in front of me. “No, ah go ahead.” I replied.

“Thanks.” He said as he sat on the bar stool and beckoned the bartender over. After ordering a Vagan Split he turned to me. “Don’t see you down here very often, Sir. I’d have thought it’d be a bit too, ahh, lively for you.”

“Lose the ‘sir’ Gavin, we’re in the bar, and I like lively.” I told him with a sigh, “The problem is; liveliness and command don’t mix. It was lively in here until I walked in, then everyone suddenly got very well behaved.”

“No mischief for the boss, eh?” He replied with a chuckle, taking a sip of his drink. “Perhaps you just need to show people you’re not that uptight.”

“And how do you suppose I do that?” I asked with a little sarcasm and bitterness seeping in.

“Fancy a game of pool?” He asked in response. “You can break.”

I didn’t see how a game of pool would change anything but as it would be more interesting than sitting bored at the bar I accepted and we walked over to one of the HoloPool tables. When the game was initialised the cushions, balls and cues appeared on the flat grey surface, ready to play.