Tracking the Trailblazer (Colony Ship Trailblazer Book 1) Read online

  “These com-links are wireless—to use an antiquated term. We have two sets of them for each of you. All the conjectures made in Dome 17 affirmed that that method would be sufficient, however, I now have my doubts. Janae’s situation revealed how a barrier to communication can be catastrophic. I am reconsidering adding some additional and redundant—a tertiary or backup—method of communication. Brink did include four com-links, which are in the supplies. While you sleep, I will review our mission protocols and conjecture some other possibilities. There may not be a better solution, but I want to explore all avenues of thought. A hindrance to communication could very well mean failure in the mission. Ken, you have brought up an excellent point. Thank you. Now, sleep well. There are pharmaceuticals in the med-kit should you need assistance in sleeping. Janae wisely took a small dose of one of those.”

  “We have access to the med-kits in the cockpit?” Ken was surprised as the cockpit was very cramped and tight.

  “Yes, one med-kit is available and Janae used it. The scout was designed to accommodate the pilots, and the risk of injury during flight is real. The conjectured risk is small, but not impossible. The med-kit is in the center console, in a small compartment. The pilot seats are also removable, and that would allow access to the second med-kit as well as some of your stored gear. I suggest you sleep now.”

  “Agreed. I think I will be able to sleep without help, but thank you.” Ken pondered all that had been learned, and glanced out into the gray swirls of nothingness just beyond the clear permalloy. Along the edges of his vision the gray was a somewhat different shade, than it was directly ahead, although it was hard to tell. The view seemed to have depth and shallowness all at the same time. He fell asleep while wondering how something could look like that.

  A number of hours passed while Janae and Ken slept. Kimberly ran conjectures, designs, and potential implementations, and then repeated them over and over. Every aspect of the mission was re-evaluated. Kimberly did not admit it to Ken, and especially not to Janae, but the revelations of Committee Member Jubal’s treachery with the complicit assistance of Doctor Larson had shaken Kimberly’s faith in the mission parameters, and objectives. And so, Kimberly redid all the work, including all the mathematics. It was a laborious task, even for the most advanced artificial intelligence system humanity had ever built.

  Time passed.

  Ken opened his eyes, and saw that Janae was already moving around the tight cabin. He opened his mouth to make a provocative comment about her looks, and how nice it was to wake up next to her, but the image of a monkey popped into his mind. He snapped his mouth shut.

  Janae looked over at him. “We have two hours until we come out of faster-than-light travel. I am shocked I slept as long and as well as I did.”

  “You needed it, I am sure. Emotional trauma is grueling. I am thankful our RAM suits recycle wastes,” Ken replied with a grin. He hoped toilet humor was more appropriate than flirtation, but a stab of doubt nibbled at his thoughts.

  “That does make it convenient, but I hope we do not have to live in our suits. I am sure it is not fashionable.” Janae flipped her hair back over an ear.

  “Survival is always fashionable. Kimberly told me there was a tutorial on environmental systems. Shall we review that together? We can eat our food ration while we do.” He took a sip from the straw at the collar of his RAM suit. Refreshing water was there, he did not consider what the water had once been. All adventurers were comfortable with recycled food and water.

  “Sounds like a plan. Oh, and thank you again for believing me. Sometime, after we reconnect to Earth, I want you to tell me all about yourself. I think there is more to you, Ken, than I was led to believe. I may have misjudged you.”

  Ken just smiled back, and restrained a sexualized comment. Then he said, “Misjudged me? Probably not. I am a rascal about relationships. Maybe this mission will change that?”

  “We will both be heroes when we get the teleporter connected, and I look forward to exposing Jubal and Larson,” Janae said through gritted teeth.

  “I will support you unconditionally. Kimberly? Begin that tutorial, but no monkey-people, if you please.”

  “Monkey-people?” Janae queried.

  “Kimberly used some images to educate me. Personal stuff.”

  Kimberly started the tutorial on the twin screens in the cockpit. The AI began with, “When we arrive at the Trailblazer our first task will be gaining entry. Just getting to the Trailblazer is not sufficient, we must make sure we can dock to the ship, then make safe entry, then find a suitable place for the teleportation receiving pad. That means a large enough location, but also a place where food and water can be found for the roughly fifteen hundred refugees. This tutorial is about what we might find once we have gotten inside the colony ship. According to the best historical records, each colony ship had a number—the records are unclear, and contradictory, regarding the specifics as to whether there were four, six, or eight habitats per ship—of unique biological areas. The exact composition of what was inside those biomes is also undefined, but here are some general considerations…,”

  Ken and Janae watched, questioned, and discussed it all with Kimberly.

  “We now have only thirty-eight minutes until FTL transition is completed and we arrive at the destination,” Kimberly declared. “Ken brought up an issue of communication, and I have an unorthodox plan for a redundancy level of communication.”

  “Will it allow me to contact Dome 17 immediately, and tell them?” Janae inquired hopefully.

  “Unfortunately, no. This plan is about your keeping in direct contact with me,” Kimberly said. “The primary method has you both using the com-links which are securely connected to my systems. The weak spot in that plan is the interface between the com-link and your human bodies. Should that com-link be separated from your body, I would lose connection with you. I propose, and it is indeed unorthodox, that we take the spare com-links and removed the tiny audio filament, and implant it permanently in each of you.”

  “What?” Ken was startled. “Implant the audio filament? That would ruin the com-link for anything but hearing and speaking. How would that improve our chances?”

  “I understand,” Janae interjected. “We lose a lot of the abilities, but we permanently secure the connection. The only thing that would destroy that connection would be for someone to physically get into the scout and tear open the console and dig out Kimberly’s Atomic Level Processor, or surgically slicing out the audio filament from one of us. I like the idea. How do we do it?”

  “I know Kimberly’s ALP is built into the scout ship. It is almost like how our brains are in our bodies. But putting the audio filament into our bodies as well? We will lose the secondary set of com-links.”

  “Ken is correct,” Kimberly affirmed. “The second set of com-links would not be functional after the filament is removed.”

  “Let me see if I understand,” Janae stated. “You are suggesting we do these filament implants to prevent possible communication blockages, but by doing so that replaces the backup set of com-links. We would still have the first set, so we risk losing that backup. Which risk is greater, losing the backups, or have a com-link disconnected from us at an inopportune moment. Jubal cut off my AI and I was a prisoner in my own apartment. What are the risks?”

  Kimberly answered, “I have factored in all that I have conjectured and made those calculations. Both courses of action have some risk. I have also reviewed the history of the planning for this mission. I believe the implanted filament offers a slightly greater chance of added success in the mission, because it broadens our opportunities, and minimizes some risk. This idea is not original to me. An implanted communicator—with a more sophisticated system—was originally Brink’s idea, supported by Willie, and affirmed by Doctor Carolyn. It was vigorously opposed by Jubal in the planning stages at the Committee meetings. When I reviewed those discussions, I found Jubal’s comments were eerily similar to diary notes made by Doct
or Larson. I believe those two discussed this and opposed it. The Committee voted two to one against using implanted communicators. Lorna was the only one who supported Brink’s plan.”

  “You have witch-doctor Larson’s personal diary?” Janae’s voice was elevated in pitch and tone.

  “Brink loaded all of Dome 17’s information storage systems into my memories. All I had to do was find the right encryption codes, and unlock the recordings. There is no absolute confession in her diary, but her entries do give further support to your claims, be it indirectly. Regarding this implanted communication issue, she vigorously opposed it, feeling it would relegate her role and power over clients to a lower position.”

  “Since she and Jubal were against it, then I am even more for it!”

  Ken looked at Janae. “I will do as Janae wants. I support her.”

  “We can wait until we land on the Trailblazer, or we can do the procedure now,” Kimberly stated.

  “Do it now!”

  “Agreed, but with a question,” Ken hesitantly replied. “Will this be a constant communication, or can I shut it off for privacy?”

  Janae gave him a wry smile. “Worried about me overhearing one of your seduction sessions?”

  “Actually, I was concerned about you, and your own privacy. I did not want to be seen as some kind of audio voyeur trying to get into your intimate spaces. Seriously, if this is a constant audio feed, I wonder if I can stand hearing everything from you, and me, and Kimberly all at once. My brain might explode from too much stimulation.”

  “I see. Or, perhaps I should say, I hear what you are getting at. Kimberly, will there be an on and off switch?”

  “Yes. It will be much like the com-links. A finger tap over the surface of the area will activate it, or deactivate it. Ken’s concern about constant audio is well founded. However, that will not happen,” the AI replied. “In fact, due to the limited abilities which this plan offers, it will only allow for communication between each of you and me. You will not be able to directly speak to each other.”

  “Then I agree, again.” With a slight shrug of her shoulders Janae looked again at Ken with a new appreciation for him. “You can replay information from Ken to me and back.”

  “I support Janae,” Ken said. “How do we do it?”

  Kimberly instructed them on how to unhook the seatbacks of the pilot’s chairs and gain access to the storage compartment where the com-links were located. It was a very tight undertaking, and was made more difficult by the zero gravity conditions. Yet, Janae worked her slender body around and pressed her back up against the clear permalloy, so Ken could reach under the seatback and withdraw two of the com-links.

  Using the precision tool set that each of them had, they easily extracted the tiny audio filament. It was no wider than a human hair, and about a centimeter long.

  “Kimberly? How will this be powered? We are cutting it off from the energy source in the com-link.”

  “Janae, the audio filament will be attuned to the electrical activity of your own human body. Your cells generate electrical charges via various electrolytes. The filament will tap into those charges, which will then power its sending and receiving abilities. You will now need to insert it. I have instructed the medical kit to dispense two large bore syringes filled with sterilization fluids. For each of you, drop the filament into the syringe, then inject it into the superior portion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, of your teammate.”

  Janae felt along around her ear. “I can do this myself.”

  “I would be happy to assist, if that would help. I think precise placement might be important,” Ken said. His voice was flat as he was trying to hide his own anxiety about what was happening.

  “Ken is correct,” Kimberly stated. “It is possible you could do the insertion correctly, by self-administration, but the success will be assured by working together and injecting it into each other.”

  “I will let you do me first,” Ken said. “That way if something goes wrong, we can stop and not do it to you. I trust you Janae, even though this is really unexpected.”

  Janae took the syringe which had slid from the medical kit, inserted the audio filament into the top, and handed it to Ken. “Do you want to inspect it first?”

  “No, just be gentle.” Ken tipped his head to the side, and exposed the area.

  With a very tender touch, Janae inserted the needle under the skin, and implanted the tiny filament. “The deed is done.”

  “Kimberly? Is it functional?” Ken asked.

  “Yes, I am reading you. Now, just tap it to shut it down.”

  Ken touched the area, and while it was slightly tender, it was also somewhat numb. The connection was severed. “I hope we do not need these. But I see the wisdom of having an alternative way to communicate.”

  Janae tipped her neck. “Now, connect me in as well. I wish this would allow me to speak right to everyone in Dome 17.”

  Ken carefully prepared the next syringe, putting the last audio filament into the sterilizing fluid. He then injected it into her skin, and washed off the tiny drop of blood that was the only external evidence of any implantation. “You are all set.”

  “Kimberly? Is this working?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. It seems to me that communication should have been a higher priority.”

  “Janae, it looked like these missions were more hastily put together than we thought. Sure, it came up fast at the meetings, and the one hundred twenty days struck us all hard. But still, they gave us no way to reconnect to the dome until we set up the teleporter, and only one team can set up the teleportation receiving pad. Just one out of seven. I wonder if there would there be a way to contact the other teams on those other colony ships?”

  Kimberly interjected, “That too is an interesting conundrum. The reports say no, but they were issued from the Committee. We are unsure of what communication methods the colony ships themselves possess, but to reach the required distances will mean faster-than-light radio. I will investigate potentials regarding that as well. A functional receiving pad will have FTL radio capabilities. I do know that Brink seriously desired to establish multiple teleportation sending units. However, the array required to effectively penetrate through the toxic atmosphere of Earth is very large and complex. There was only time to build one sending unit. Again, however, the Committee issued the final orders on that. I will do further investigations into the records. Right now, reassemble all the items, and secure yourselves into the seats. We will be exiting FTL flight in three minutes.”

  8

  A Surprising Welcome

  With their bodies strapped into the pilot seats, gear stored back in its snug compartments, a slight throb beneath their left ears, and a sense of anticipation, Janae and Ken stared out at the odd gray nothingness. With just a blink of an eye, the gray was gone. Replacing it was a black blanket with twinkling bits of silver.

  “Stars!” Ken gasped.

  “Where is the Trailblazer?” Janae asked. “I see nothing but stars, although the sight is amazing.” Janae’s heart was pounding. She had never been able to see for such a vast distance before, except on the brief time after they had been slung from Dome 17 and before engaging the FTL drive, but then she was too occupied with trying to contact the dome. With that issue being less pressing on her mind, she took a few moments to actually look at the enchanting beauty of deep space, and spacious it was. The reaches, depths, and seemingly unlimited expanse was hard for her mind to accept, and so, she refocused on the mission. “Where is the Trailblazer. I cannot see it.”

  “I am turning the scout about. I have found a large mass on scanners. It will be difficult for you to observe, as it will just be blocking parts of the star fields behind it. Human visual acuity is too limited to adequately differentiate the shades of black you are observing. Thus far, I have not seen any exterior lights on the Trailblazer.”

  The scout ship’s thrusters fired, and the tiny spacecraft shifted about. The moti
on of the scout was not perceived by Janae, nor Ken. The inertia suppression systems were functioning well, and the thruster’s exertion of force was nowhere near enough to overcome that technology.

  “But the ship is here?” Janae asked. “It really is?”

  “Affirmative,” the AI replied. “Our distance to the closest part is one thousand five hundred nineteen meters away. I am matching velocities with the Trailblazer. It is moving significantly slower than conjectures predicted. I believe we are approaching it from its bow.”

  “Still not bad targeting, over such a great distance! Bravo to Brink and his crew!” Ken smiled broadly. “And to you Kimberly! Bravo!”

  “I had my doubts,” Janae confessed. “I admit I wondered if this trip was how Jubal was going to kill me, and take you two along with me. I guess the conspiracy is not all-encompassing. What can we tell of the Trailblazer?”

  “I will put an enhanced visual display overlay on the windows, and on the small screen in the cockpit,” Kimberly stated. “I am making this from technical scanning observations.”