Nova Llar- Training Days Read online

  The first two stops were completed in about half an hour. There were 9 other passengers not associated with their group left onboard. One of them was the man Joseph and the Colonel had been dealing with before take-off. As Clara looked over at him he looked away and started shifting in his seat. “Has he been looking at us the whole time?” Clara wondered. Perhaps the presence of so many AI units in the passenger's section was making him nervous. They docked at the station and the man was the first to leave, grabbing his case off of the seat next to him and moving towards the exit with considerable speed, clutching the case to his chest as if his life depended on its contents. The Nova Llar crew left the vessel and assembled on the other side of the docking ring. After a quick headcount, the Colonel ordered them into a tight formation. Leading them through the module to the central corridor. Diagrams and holograms don't always prepare you for the reality of the situation you will face in a new environment. The central corridor was cylindrical and 6 meters across and due to the lack of gravity the only way to traverse it was with a propulsion module. They were small discs you fitted to your chest that interacted with sensors on the walls of the corridor, once they got you up to speed you just kind of free floated to wherever you set as the destination. As they had docked at the central docking ring there were pretty much at the middle point for the corridor. Dozens of people were moving past either side of the opening at speed and Clara wondered how exactly the modules corrected and added a new person in. “Everyone tune your suits built in propulsion modules to this frequency.” the Colonel said as a series of numbers flashed up on Clara's display. “We are going to the main command centre. I have programmed the destination into all of your navigation modules. We should all head there straight away.” With that, the Colonel pushed off into the centre of the Corridor. Within a second two amber lights flashed on his chest and he started moving along the corridor building up speed. Each candidate followed one by one after setting the correct frequency and was pulled along the corridor. As the station was only 720 meters long it didn't take long to reach their destination. Again one by one they were moved out of the corridor and into the innermost deck of one of the modules. As Clara checked her hud she noted they have moved two modules east of the central module. At least it was east when using the earth as a reference point, in space direction is highly subjective. Walking briskly through the module they came to the command centre and stood to attention. At first, no-one really paid them any attention, they just kept going about their business like they hadn't even entered the room. Off to one side, Clara noticed the man from the orbital talking to someone. He appeared to be someone of importance based on the way he was dressed, and the central position in the room implied he was the station commander. Just then a small wiry woman marched over to the group with a very displeased look on her face. “What are you doing up here? How did you get out of Module 3?” the woman stared menacingly into Clara's eyes, the mention of that module was triggering something in her mind but she couldn't think what. “You were all supposed to be on downtime until we could correct the issue. Get out of here NOW!” she ordered, pointing towards the door they had entered through. When none of the group moved she continued. “Are you all malfunctioning now? Did I not speak clearly enough? GET OUT AND GO BACK TO MODULE 3!” the woman's face was turning a deep red and as her volume increased, other members of the command centre started looking over. None of them seemed to be surprised by the outburst and as hard as Clara tried she couldn't find a single look of sympathy for their situation, some faces even held contempt at their refusal to leave. “Now now Mrs Brown. These are our guests from the U.E.S.C. The ones who are coming to assist with our problems.” It was the man Clara had presumed to be the commander and as he walked over towards the Colonel he offered a hand to shake. The man from the transport was keeping his distance but clearly watching the interaction intently. Had he rushed off to tell the commander they were here? Or that they were humans in LF63 shells?

  “Hello Commander Ikolo.” the Colonel offered whilst shaking the Commanders hand. “I understand you are having a bit of an issue with module 3?” Clara suddenly realised that module 3 was the one they would be working on while here. “Why would the woman presume they had already been there?” she thought. “What did she mean about getting out?” There was something not quite right about this whole situation that made Clara nervous. Most stations like this had a complement of AIs that could achieve tasks like this without issue. It was unusual for a station of this size to be manned only by humans. “Yes, as we said in our message there have been intermittent power issues in the module for a few days now. In addition, there seems to be some sort of infestation on the inside that has meant we needed to seal off the module.” the Commander went on to explain. “I see.” the Colonel said cautiously. “Why was the infestation not included in the original message?” The Commanded looked to the side for a second, like he was trying to think very carefully about the next thing he was going to say. “In all honesty, we believed we could deal with the infestation ourselves. However, the pests have proven more difficult to eradicate than we thought. Right now what we need is for the module to be repaired and the three outer hatched blown to vent all of the atmosphere from the decks, or...” The Commander trailed off like he didn't want to finish his sentence. “Or what?” the Colonel asked. With a sigh, the Commander continued. “Or we will require you to manually jettison the module so we can remove it from the station. It can then be pushed out of the orbit of the earth, into space.” The alarm bells in Clara's head were going crazy. She wasn't an expert by any means but even she knew those modules cost at least a few million, if not a billion credits to manufacture and get up into space. For anyone to consider disposing of one that is arguably only having intermittent power issues and a pest problem was crazy. “Very well Commander. We will start right away and do our best to save your module.” the Colonel said, saluting the station Commander. “Thank you, Colonel. But truly if you are unable to clear the infestation by blowing the doors, get the module as far away from here as possible.” With that, the Commander returned the salute and went back to his duties in the command centre. Over the private channel, the Colonel addressed the crew. “Alright, crew it's time to move out. We will head to module 2 as a unit. From there we will exit onto the skin of the station and divide into two teams. One team will be required to diagnose and fix the power issue. The second will be tasked with finding a way into module 3 without being detected. Am I clear?” Everyone responded with a “Yes Colonel” and the group started to move out. The Colonel had something other than the Commanders requests in mind if he wanted them to find a way into module 3. There was definitely something odd going on here.

  Chapter 29

  Being outside the station, looking up at the Earth floating above them it was clear to understand humanities obsession with space. Even so close to home the wonders that could be observed by simply looking from a different perspective, made the whole universe seem like a wonder waiting to be explored. Gareth had divided the crew into one group of four and one of three. The group of four, designated group 1, were tasked with diagnosing and repairing the power issues on the module. Group 2 which consisted of himself, Steve and Ms Mitaire Adeyemi needed to find a way into the module without being detected in the command centre. As they made their way across the surface, trusting in the magnetized setting on the soles of their feet, they saw an airlock about 15 meters to their left and headed towards it. Once there Steve and Mitaire set to work to see if they could disable the external sensors and open the airlock from the outside, Gareth maintained a position above them, surveying the surroundings for anything that could give away their intentions. The surface of the module was pockmarked with micro impact sites and despite looking smooth from a distance was remarkably uneven to walk on. The dull grey materials used gave very little away with regards to the materials used, save for them being some sort of metal. Looking along the length of the station Gareth noticed a slight curve wh
ich seemed to match the effect of gravity on the station. He could see all of the communications relays and dished on this side of the station as well as an orbital, probably the one they arrived in, docked two modules over. There didn't seem to be anyone directly observing them and Gareth was happy for now they could continue as planned.

  After a few minutes, Steve indicated they had found a way in. Whilst it was highly unlikely their communications could be compromised, the vast array of equipment on the outer skin of the modules meant Gareth had instructed radio silence from group 2 until they were inside. The airlock opened silently in the vacuum of space, there was no air inside to rush out and the alert system inside that let people know the airlock was open had not gone off. “So far so good.” Gareth thought to himself. Group 2 moved inside the airlock and closed it behind them. Steve turned to a wall panel and pulled the faceplate off. Using some precision tools, he tripped a circuit on the board and air started to fill the room. Once their suits indicated the pressure matched the stations Steve triggered the inner door to let them out, only to find it was sealed. A quick examination revealed it was sealed from this side, someone had jammed the release mechanism with a wrench. It was a crude way to jam the door but it seemed to work. Removing the wrench allowed the door to open correctly and they made their way inside the module, closing the door behind them. All of the lights were on in this section of the module, whatever the power issue was it wasn't affecting this location, at least not right now. “Good work you two.” Gareth said over the local comms. “Thank you, Colonel.” Mitaire replied. She was a brilliant engineer and performed exceptionally well under pressure. Despite having little to no idea why they were taking this course of action she had accepted and complied without issue. Gareth was glad she was on his crew.

  Making their way through the decks of the module there was evidence of some sort of commotion had taken place here recently. Storage drums and equipment were littered across the floors and there were marks and scratched along the walls where these items appear to have been thrown around. Surprisingly as they continued through the decks all of the power was on, with no indications they were in any way failing. The gravity being generated through the deck rotation was constant and the air temperature indicated it was a stable 21-degree centigrade. If power had been coming and going it would have dropped due to the extreme cold outside. They had nearly completed the sweep of the second deck when Steve dropped to one knee, holding up his hand indicating they should stop. As they moved behind the bulkheads on either side of the corridor they could hear footsteps coming towards them from up ahead. There were no projectile weapons allowed on these space stations for obvious reasons. Gareth did have two taser rods hidden in the legs of his unit that could be deployed on command, however, he didn't believe they would be required if he was correct regarding the owner of the footsteps. As the sound changed Gareth realised the person approaching them had turned the corner before them and was heading in their direction. Before they could be discovered and cause a misunderstanding Gareth moved out from behind the bulkhead holding his hand above his head. “Hello.” he said as the footsteps stopped. “We got your message.“

  As Joseph and the others continued to undertake the diagnostic work on the power relays he checked they signal decoys were still running. Before the groups had split up the Colonel had given Joseph dummy transponders that mimicked group 2's suits. He was told to set these up in logical locations around the work site, they were already active and Joseph had noticed once the Colonel and group 2 started moving away from them his suit failed to register the change. Whatever the Colonel was trying to do required even them to be blind to their location. “Have a look at this.” Charles said over the open comm. “The impact side on this power relay did some serious damage. The force it would have taken should have punched a hole straight into the module.” Joseph looked and it was true. The amount of force it would take to deform the metal like this would have more than likely punched straight through the outer skin. It was just under 1.4 meters across and the metal piping had almost been completely flattened, saved presumably by the armoured cables running inside, although they wouldn't be pretty now. “I don't see how a meteor or fast moving object could have caused this.” Clara said to the group over the local comm. “This almost looks like it has been crushed slowly. Like something very large and strong pushed down on it.” The group knew what she was implying but didn't want to say anything over the comm. This wasn't some fluke accident that caused this damage. Someone deliberately crushed this section of the pipe to try and cut-off power in the module. “Well, let's do what we can to get this fixed so we can start looking into the pest problem.” Joseph said. He knew there was no point in drawing attention to their realisations. The Colonel had passed on his concerns regarding eavesdropping on their communications and he was very mindful that a discovery like this could cause them some issues when trying to get back into the station. As Joseph looked over at the decoy modules again he wondered how the other group was getting on.

  Inside the module, Gareth continued to hold his hands up as the LF61 observed him. In terms of appearance, there was very little to distinguish them. The LF60 range had only been released two years ago and the LF60-64 all shared a basic chassis, however, each was adapted for unique operations. The LF61 had less body armour and a series of concealed tools that could be used for fast repair. By comparison, the LF63s were designed as a more all-round unit, capable of interchanging any part from the range to get on in any environment. Once the LF61 was satisfied Gareth was not a threat it lowered the pipe it was holding in its right hand. It was clear there was some damage to the unit. Some of its panelling was cracked and there was a mass of melted plastic on its side. Gareth could see why they had hidden a distress signal in the station's request for assistance, they were clearly suffering here. The Colonel lowered his hands to his side, looking to the right to signal to Steve it was alright to come out. As Steve and Mitaire emerged and stood on either side of Gareth the LF61 began to raise the pipe again. “Please.” Steve began. “We are here to help you. We found the embedded message in the communication the station send and have come to assist you in leaving here.” The unit paused for a second and then lowered the pipe again. Walking forward it stopped less than half a meter from Gareth looking straight into his eyes. “You aaa..aa...a..are not like us.” it said in a broken voice to Gareth. Turning towards Steve it repeated the stare. “Yyy..yy.....you are like us.” it said to Steve. “You seem to be having some trouble with your vocal modulator.” Steve said to the unit. “Yes Iiii.ii.I was damaged dur..rrr.r...r..ing the fighting.” the unit responded. “May I have a look.” Mitaire asked. Without a word the unit turned and stepped towards her, lifting hits head to expose the panel where the vocal module resided. Mitaire wasted no time and quickly removed the panel to assess the damage. It wasn't as bad as it sounded, someone had clearly bashed this unit in the neck with something and had knocked a connector loose, damaging it. When the unit spoke it vibrated the unit resulting in the mechanical stutter. Mitaire produced a set of snips and pliers from her forearms and removed the connector and stripped the wire. Activating the solder setting on her index finger she proceeded to bypass the connector and directly attach the wire to its original location. Popping the panel back into place the unit automatically lowered its head. “Give it a try now.” Mitaire said. “My vocal processor was damaged. However, it now appears to be working. Thank you.” the unit responded. “You're most welcome. Why couldn't your onboard repair systems handle the damage though? It was fairly minor and shouldn't have taken long.” The unit looked at her, cocked it's head to the side as if considering the question before responding. “I have no onboard repair system. It was not deemed necessary for my function aboard the station so the commander had it removed upon arrival.” Gareth wasn't surprised to hear this, from the message they had received there had been a revolution by the AIs due to the way they were being treated. If any of what the data burst had said was tr
ue the people on this station had very little regard for non-human lifeforms, their well being was not even considered. “How many of you are there now?” Gareth asked. “There are currently 27 active units in this module. Status of other individuals is unknown.” the unit said looking at Gareth. “There are no AIs outside of this module.” Steve interjected. “We had the pilot scan the station on arrival however this module appears to be shielded from external scans. Did you set that up or did they?” he continued. “There was no external shielding when we were forced into this module. However, the equipment on the outer skin could easily be configured to create a dampening field from the command centre.” the unit responded. Now that it was speaking normally Gareth noticed it was not as articulate as Steve or the other AIs on the base. It's almost like it was still fresh from its original programming and hadn't learned any other forms of communication. “The original commutation you sent said there were 52 AIs on this station. Are you saying the rest were destroyed?” Steve asked in a shocked tone. “There were 13 with us here that have been destroyed. I cannot say what happened to the 12 remaining units.” the unit offered. Gareth could see Steve clenching his fist. He had never seen him angry but was certain Steve was getting there right now, he needed to remain calm if they were going to pull this off. “We are going to get you out of here.” Gareth said. “Take us to the others so we can confirm their condition. Once we know what we are dealing with we will update you on the plan.” With that, the unit turned and started off down the corridor, without a word the group followed it further into the module.