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Chapter Eleven
Return Of The
Spinners
In one dreadful moment, the mood aboard the Phoenix had changed: from
light-hearted expectation to gloomy apprehension. Two conflicting fears took hold of the crew now: the fear of
Kepler 186f’s spinners and the fear of more hibernation if the humans couldn’t
inhabit the new world. There was no
question which fear they had to embrace and conquer. The dark sleep was unthinkable.
Soon after the rover’s return to the ship, the crew (both human and
androids) were huddled together, debating what to do: somehow clean the new
world of monsters such as the spinners or move on to another sector of the
planet which might very well have these creatures too.
“We don’t have the means to wipe out the spinners,” Skip concluded
grimly. “Even if we somehow did, which
would involve a poisonous gas or some sort of death ray, we would end up wiping
out other alien life forms too. You
must engage the monsters when and where you find them, eradicate them, and go
about you business, until you encounter them again.” “…Or somehow,” he added,
looking around at the crew, “discourage them from attacking.”
Abe gave him an doubtful look. “You mean a spinner repellant? How can we do that?”
“I’m thinking.” Skip closed his eyes and searched his database.
“Now that’s something a robot would do,” Mbuto whispered to Said.
Said, who had grown to respect the androids, looked expectantly up at
the Skip.
“There’s only one method I can think of to repel spinners,” Skip
announced finally, “electricity!”
“Electricity?” Abe wrinkled his nose. “You mean like a gun?”
“Yeah!” Mbuto snapped his fingers. “Like a ray gun!”
“Or a stunner,” Ingrid suggested, “like those once used to subdue
criminals or wild beasts!”
“No!” Skip shook his head politely at her. “A stunner is much too
small.” “A ray gun uses laser or particle beams, not electricity.” He gave
Mbuto a wry look. “Before you men bag yourself any monsters, we must repel
their numbers first. Eradication might
be difficult on this world.”
“I thought we were going to eradicate them!” Said frowned.
“Yeah.” Carla’s nostrils flared. “Kill those sons-of-bitches!”
Abe and Max burst into chuckles.
“Look, people.” Skip nodded thoughtfully. “I sense a mood of conquest
here, much of that mood I share the blame for in my effort to bolster your
courage, but eradication is simply not possible. We must build our habitat first and manage our current
sector. During the exploration of the
rest of the planet, you may as conquerors subdue wildlife to make the planet
yours, but you must be builders, not destroyers, on this world. What I am proposing is that we first map out
an area and station a wireless electrical fence around its perimeter—”
“What?” blurted Mbuto. “Make a fence?
Are you insane? In order to do
that we’d have to be on foot. If we’re
on foot, so will those spinners.”
“They nearly killed us all before.” Said’s eyes widened with alarm.
“They would ambush us. Make us a fine
meal, indeed.”
“Gobble, gobble, gobble!” Max teased, pointing to his mouth.
“I think we should wipe them out first!” Carla insisted. “Kill them
all!”
“Were you listening?” Abe frowned at Carla. “I agree with Skip. There’s too many of them. It’s impossible.”
“At least for the time being,” Skip seemed to equivocate, “until we
have a land base. The main purpose right
now is a habitat and base of operations, to be filled with colonists and
explorers.”
“So,” Abe pursed his lips, “….how do we manage this undertaking without
subduing the surrounding wildlife?”
“Simply put:” Skip raised a finger, “the electrical fence will be built
ahead of time. Upon arriving at the
designated area, the prefabricated barrier, will be set in place, as the rover
hovers over the ground.”
“Wouldn’t it be better just to scare them off first?” suggested Sheila.
“Phoenix Two scared them off before, didn’t it?” “
“Yeah.” Nicole nodded pertly. “They might think twice next time if we
gave them a fright!”
“They’re too stupid for that.” Carla waved impatiently “I say wipe them
out. Surely there must be a way!”
“Maybe we can tame them!” chirped Nicole, her eyes rolling crazily in
her head.
“Tame them?” Max looked at her in amazement. “A moment ago you were
suggesting we scare them off. Are you
being serious, Nicole?”
“Sure.” She bobbed her head. “We tame dogs, cats, birds, even bugs,
don’t we. Why not spinners?”
“Because,” Carla tapped her forehead, “like you they don’t have any
brains. You can’t tame those monsters!”
“Maybe not tame them,” Rusty stepped forth, as if he had just found an
important bit of data, “but we can, in fact, scare them away. We have equipment in the station that might
work!”
“Hmm.” Skip repeated his very human gesture. “…. I’ve got it all
planned,” he said after a pause. “In a prefabricated state, the old electric
fence method of holding in cattle and keeping out thieves will work just fine.”
Abe gripped his chin methodically. “I remember reading about one of
those. During the great riots, they
were used to keep out rabble. Once it’s
assembled here, will it really be so easy to rig it up without worrying about
spinners?”
Rusty’s Howdy-Doody face brightened. “It shouldn’t be a problem. We could do that easily enough. Installing it around the perimeter of the
habitat would be difficult if it can done expeditiously and in a hurry.”
“Then, safely inside the fence,” announced Sandra, “we’ll start build
the habitat, the home base of the new world.”
“At last we’re talking seriously about the colony!” Max smiled with
approval.
******
Without further delay, the crewmembers, principally Abe, Sheila, Max,
Carla, Ingrid, and the four androids with Skip moderating the meeting, now
discussed how the electrical fence could be done.
It was decided by unanimous agreement to wait until the morning before
physical commitment to the project.
During the meantime, at dinner and later, more seriously, with the aid
of the ship’s graphics, which enabled them to sketch out their ideas, they
mentally worked out a plan that would have three stages: design, fabrication,
and testing of the fence. Using the
graphics wand, Skip, with an android’s expertise, drew a diagram no human could
match: a perfectly drawn kilometer square, which he explained would be much
easier to handle than a circular shape.
Rectangles symbolizing the habitat or base were drawn in the center of
the square. Off to the side of this
first diagram, he drew a sketch of what the electrical poles would look
like. They looked very much like
twentieth century barber poles, Skip explained, after drawing an example from
his database. There were over a hundred
of them on the station, he reported, each one to be interconnected by a
wireless electrical beam controlled from a central power center, the androids
would rig up. For a being as
intelligent as Skip this seemed like an oversimplification at first.
“You’re kidding,” Cara screwed up her face. “That will require a lot of
energy. What kind of power center, that runs around the clock, will supply that
kind of power?”
“It’s pure science fiction,” Mbuto
grumbled. “It can’t possibly work!”
“I disagree!” Skip glared at his critics. “You have no idea what kind
of power sources we had available for the Triton Project. Now we can use the resources of the station
to build and protect the colony.” “It will work!” He looked squarely at the
African. “I will make it work!”
Abe wanted to believe Skip, but was, as a military man, worried,
himself, about the logistics of the plan, which seemed over-ambitious.
“Can the aft compartment of the rover hold a hundred poles?” He asked
reflectively.
“I’m not sure they can. That’s a lot of poles. Even
if they’re prefabricated and can be set down while the rover hovers over the
ground, how do they stay standing? Are
they on platforms or are they like big darts stuck in the ground?”
The last question was tinged with sarcasm. Ticking off the three questions on his hand, Skip replied dryly,
“the placement can be done in one trip, they are on weighted platforms, and no
they aren’t like big darts!” “I would prefer doing the chore in one
mission,” he belabored the point, “the sooner we place them, the sooner we can
become builders. There’s much work to
be done.”
Abe studied the diagrams on the board a moment, deeply concerned. “Why
don’t we use Phoenix Two?” He sighed. “We’d have more room then.”
“Because,” Woody gave him an incredulous look, “Phoenix Two must be on
standby in case something goes awry.”
“Awry?” Nicole’s eyes popped wide. “I don’t like that word!”
“There-there,” murmured Ingrid.
“Nothing should go wrong.” Skip raised an eyebrow.
“Should, there’s another word I don’t like,” Nicole muttered
aloud. “Will is much better.”
“There’s always going to a element of threat,” Skip looked around the
group. “This isn’t an outing or field trip.
This is serious business. The
prefabricated fence will greatly lessen danger, though.” “It’s the best we can
do!” He spread his palms with finality.
As if he had read Skip’s mind or more likely, as Said might suggest,
received a wireless transmission, Rusty stepped forth, taking his turn with the
graphics wand. “It’s like this,” he
explained, drawing stick figures beside several poles. “While the ship hovers
above the ground, two operators will set down a pole, then another and so
forth, as the poles are unreeled. To
facilitate this process, making them as perfect a square as possible, a
procedure will be used based upon an age old method used for delineating
baseball diamonds that used chalk. In
our case it is the rover, with directional coordinates, that will set the grid
lines, using laser equipment onboard the station to cut the lines in the
field. After this, following the grid
pattern, the operators will simply drop the poles, which are spaced equally
apart by wires, into place.”
“What if
we can’t find a safe location?” Said frowned. “What’s stopping the spinners
from following the rover around?”
“Nothing.”
Sheila voiced concern. “Those little bastards are everywhere!”
“We’ll
do this as quickly as possible.” Skip waved a hand. “The whole process will be
done aloft, hovering slowly, without touching the ground. If the spinners become a problem, the rover
can make a few passes over them, scatter them, then return. If they seriously intimidate the operators,
the wires can be cut. When the coast is
clear, Phoenix One can return to same spot to finish the grid. At that point, they might have to eyeball
it, based upon a previously linked pole.
When the grid is completed, a unit will dropped in the center of the
square to activate the grid. As soon as
the inside of the fence is clear of spinners and other creatures, it will be
turned on remotely from the ship.”
“Is that
really possible?” Sheila asked dubiously.
“Yes.”
He nodded with conviction. “I made an inventory of the station’s equipment and
supplies. Thanks to the scientists and
engineers for the Triton Project, everything is there. All we have to do is implement and use it!”
“That’s
quite a plan,” the captain said flatly, “but is it easy to cut those wires?”
“Easy,
snip-snip,” Sandra made scissor motion with her hands. “Don’t forget there will
be two operators.”
“Will
the operators carry weapons?” Ingrid frowned.
“Of
course.” nodded Woody. “The whole crew will be armed.”
“What if one of the spinners jumps up in the rover?” Nicole pointed to
the stick man in the diagram. “Let’s kill them all first. Then it will be easy—a walk in the park!”
Rusty seemed to give her a withering stare. “We explained that,
Nicole. It’s impossible! Why is it so hard for you to understand?”
“People!” Skip’s eyes flashed. “It has to be done! There’s no other way! You’ll go down there, set the perimeter
fence, return to the ship, and each day thereafter move equipment and building
materials to your new base… How much more simple is that?”
“Well,” Abe shrugged his shoulders. “It could work.”
“Yeah.” Max nodded hesitantly. “…. It might.”
“Just so we only have to do this once.” Mbuto heaved a sigh.
“Yes.” Nicole shuddered. “Once is quite enough!”
The edge of impatience in Skip’s voice intensified. “Of course.” His eyes narrowed to slit. “….
I made that clear. There should be no
problems.” “This will work people!” He looked around the table. “We have
incredible resources in the space station and ship’s hold—everything we need!”
Abe realized, with the androids intelligence and ingenuity, it might
just work, except for one very important point. “There is a serious problem
with Rusty and your plan. Though
theoretically, in a mechanical sense, it might work, realistically, in humans
sense, it might very well fail.”
“Oh,” Skip took a condescending tone, “…and why is that?”
“That snip-snip Sandra mentioned in order to cut a wire is an
oversimplification.” He copied her gesture. “We’re not programmed like you
people, Skip. Look at our record so
far. We don’t mean to, but we make
mistakes. If the wire-to-pole method
results in a massive entanglement, as the rover hovers in one spot, it could be
a disaster. Not only would it be a
waste of time and material, those little monsters might just hop aboard and
kill our crew.”
“All right,” he seemed to sigh, “….we’ll factor that possibility in.”
“Excuse me.” Max raised a hand. “What factor is this?”
“Simple!” Woody uttered harshly. “We’ll revise that portion of the
plan!”
Silence fell upon the group.
Lost in significance to them these moments were examples of more
human-like qualities in the androids: arrogance and irritation. Here they were at last—Earth’s precious
remnant, ready to take the first important steps in creating a habitat on the
planet. Skip and Rusty seemed to
believe that they had little to worry about from spinners—the most hideous
monsters on the planet. They made it
sound so easy to them, but they had underestimated previous explorations which
had gone awry. Despite the horrors of
the past, though, they had made a fairly good case about how safe it would
be. By their chatter, the crewmembers
seemed eager to show their mettle. In
the end, to everyone’s surprise, even Nicole volunteered to come along.
******
That night as most of the crew retired to their quarters on the
station, Abe, Sheila, and Max remained on the bridge awhile concerned about how
the electric fence would be set up.
“How long it will take to put this stuff into the rover?” Abe studied
the diagram.
“We’ll have it all ready when you wake up,” answered Skip.
“That’s right,” Max smiled wearily, “you folks don’t sleep.”
“How awful,” murmured Sheila.
With resignation, still filled with doubts, Abe listened to Skip
explain how the grid laser would work when it was set up. Located on the belly of the rover, he was
told, the device would be pre-programmed.
All Sheila had to do, he clarified, was set the rover on auto-pilot to
make straight lines, as Abe monitored the grid. Meanwhile, the operators would drop the poles one-by-one, until,
ultimately a full square was created.
“Voila!” Skip made a flurry of his hands. “A protective zone has been
made!”
“Wow!” Abe muttered, glancing at Max. “You make it sound so easy!”
“If your
careful, it is!” Skip pursed his lips.
“One thing is clear, however.” Sandra frowned. “You won’t have much
room on Phoenix One. We think it best
that you limit the number of participants.
You will need your pilot and the stronger willed members of the crew,
but until the planet is safe for exploration, Nicole should remain
onboard. Since they aren’t needed and
we need the space, I would suggest leaving Mbuto and Said on the ship too.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Abe thought a moment. “…. Nicole has proven to be a
delicate creature, but the men you included might resent being left out.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Skip spread his palms. “But the rover is crowded
enough even without being used for such a mission. You’re the captain—this is your ship, but I strongly agree with
Sandra: Nicole, Mbuto, and Said shouldn’t go; they’re not essential to the
mission, and you need space on the craft.
It’s all right for Carla and Ingrid to come along to help with the
poles, but the others might just get in the way.”
“Very well,” Abe bristled, “it seems as though your calling the shots.”
“Not at all.” Skip reached out and gripped his shoulder. “You’re
captain of this ship!”
“We are your servants now!” Woody bowed faintly
Sandra and Rusty also bowed.
Sheila giggled foolishly at this display of homage. Max and Abe exchanged looks of
surprise. When the three humans bid
them good night and entered the space station in order to retire to their
quarters, they were perplexed.
“They’re getting more human by the day,” observed Max.
“Yes,” Abe agreed. “The question is, ‘were they being deferential or
condescending just now?…. I don’t believe for a moment Woody thinks he’s my
servant, certainly not Skip. None of
the androids do. Let’s face it Max,
Skip’s running the show. They all
are. While we sleep, they’re going to
set all this up. Always, faithfully,
without complaint, Sandra and Woody feed us and tend to our needs. When we’re exploring the new world, Skip
will be watching over us alongside of his pilot. The four of them control every hour of our lives.”
“You sound bitter?” noted Max. “I think he saw that too.”
“It’s more a feeling of helplessness,” Abe explained. “From the very
beginning, considering our dependency on our caretakers, they have been in
control. Without them, we would be
doomed. How can we resent them now
then, especially Skip, who has our best interest at heart?”
“He doesn’t have a heart.” Sheila laughed sourly. “He’s still an
animation. They all are!
“That might be true,” Abe shrugged his shoulders, “but they have
humanity in them. I’ve seen I in their
eyes and heard it their words. We need
Skip and the other androids. Throughout
the voyage of the Phoenix, they kept us alive during the search. Without the ship above us, watching our
every move, we wouldn’t have survived.
At times, though Ingrid would strongly disagree, they seem to have
god-like powers, especially Skip. He is
the captain of our destiny as we sleep and ever vigilant above during
exploration when we’re awake, watching our every move, ready at a moment’s
notice to come to our aid, as he had on previous worlds.”
Max seemed unafraid, but Abe could still see fear in Sheila’s
gaze. Clasping the lieutenant’s hand he
looked deeply into her eyes. “You must be brave,” he counseled gently. “No more
timid displays. Skip called this world paradise,
which was a strange thing for an android to say. This time, Sheila, with Skip’s help and guidance, we must conquer
paradise and make it our home…. The long sleep is over. This is our world now!”
******
Sheila Livingston lie awake in her compartment
considering the captain’s words. She,
like the other crewmembers, had never been prepared for such a journey. The Triton Project was supposed to be a safe
and predictable voyage. It’s purpose
ostensibly was to explore Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, for mineral deposits
and alternate fuel. The secondary plan
conceived by the good scientists—that in the event of cataclysmic war the
vessel, carrying the remnant of Earth and cell specimens from the sleeping humans,
would continue on in search of a habitable world was not known until the
eleventh hour. No one expected this to
be a one-way trip when the war began on Earth.
Though the Phoenix appeared to have unlimited potential when this
information was disclosed, the original project wasn’t intended for extended
space travel and extended cryogenic sleep.
They weren’t trained for the horrors of alien worlds. They hadn’t bargained for this. Now it seemed so long ago, she thought to
herself: over one hundred thousand years.
Hibernation had, at times, caused her to become a mental wreck. The dangers of alien worlds, which claimed
the deaths of four crewmembers following hibernation had made her see her
mortality, yet was much better than sleep.
She and her crewmates had suffered hibernation five times now. Long ago, before that period of time which
now staggered her imagination, she was selected from thousands of candidates to
serve on the exploration ship Phoenix.
Proud and naïve she had no thought for the dangers ahead. Now that the Phoenix had become a starship
and its crew a remnant of mankind, she was no longer the girl most likely to
succeed in high school, the Air Force Academy’s top cadet, or the candidate
selected for the Triton Mission. She
was, like most of the crew, a survivor grasping for survival, without family,
without home to return to—a nomad in space, a citizen of the galaxy, arriving
as a visitor on each new world. Seen
one way, she was, as Ingrid saw it, a mote in God’s eye. Seen another way, however, she now had a
special place in the new order on Kepler 186f, as the second highest officer
among the representatives of Earth, equivalent to a four star general back
home. As such, she was
second-in-command of the starship Phoenix.
It was time she began acting like it, embrace her responsibilities, and
perform her designated role!
With these thoughts in mind, Lieutenant Sheila Livingston, fell into a troubled sleep, wondering what horrors tomorrow would bring.