Chapter 6: Awakening

-- Earth time: 1100--

I scowled when I touched the skeleton in the large tank.

I couldn’t detect the spores that Veldor had written that should be in there. The skeleton reminded me of a bleached tubular coral formation. If the being had been alive, it was supposed to look fleshier, like a sea sponge.

The books I had read indicated the organisms that created the formation used the skeleton as a massive data store device. It grew more tubes as it aged and shifted the data as it let an old tube die. It often had at least one redundancy system and often two or three.

As long as the skeleton wasn’t disturbed, a new colony of organisms could spawn and connect to the data that was stored in it. I’d even asked Vaughn about them, but the book had indicated its knowledge was minimal on the subject.

It only knew what has been written in it when it had still been a magical book and what information it could receive from the data collection devices that had been released into this star system. The backup system he had managed to connect to in the old ship section didn’t have any information on this topic.

When I asked him, what the satellites looked like and how big they were, Vaughn hadn’t been able to give me a direct answer. He simply said that they didn’t look at themselves. I asked if he could connect to a controller when it was active, and the book implied that it could if it needed too.

I then remembered that he had connected to the section of the ship that was here. With any luck, its old controller might still have live spores that I could collect. He had given me hope, and I thanked him.

As difficult as he was to communicate with at times, Vaughn had helped keep me sane since I had landed here. He put up with my endless questions and gave me someone, even though he was a book, to confide in. I knew he would keep my confidences as well. He was my Shrink, and I depended on him even though I’d never tell him that.

When I went and looked at the old ship section, I was amazed just how big it was. From the side, the section looked like an annulus with about a 100m of the length of the circumference on the base and about 60m square on the top that would have joined onto the inner ring. It was close to 60m at its highest point from the ground, I guessed since several metres of it were buried in the ground.

I walked around it and found where Winifred had removed a section to get at the malfunctioning engine. I let out my senses but couldn’t detect any residual radiation. I guessed that Winifred and two thousand years rain and weather must have dissipated it to a level that it wasn’t detectable from normal background radiation of the planet.

I entered the section at this point, clambered up into the hull and found that I needed to activate my wand to use it as a torch. I’d found this feature handy when I had been exploring the darker areas of Citadel when I had been looking for the power rooms so I could reactivate the power in my first week here.

The level I was on was a huge empty chamber. I knew the engines were beneath me and that this level had stored the smaller shuttles, which the Keltrians had used when exploring new systems. The people who had not been in stasis must have used them to get to the other sections of the ship.

My new problem was how to get to the small mezzanine floor nearly 20m above me, as I doubted the central lift worked anymore. That floor had a sealed stairwell that I should be able to access. I wasn’t sure if my teleportation capabilities would get me up there.

I’d been working hard on this skill, but it wasn’t something that I was brilliant at doing. If I could see where I wanted to go, I could often get there okay. So I pictured in my mind the floor above me and cast the spell.

I felt myself shiver and when I opened my eyes, I was delighted that I was where I wanted to be. It had been my best jump ever, and I was very proud of myself.

I had little difficulty opening the access and wound my way up the stairs to the top level. I was glad I had magical abilities because without them I would have been buggered if I’d climbing ten flights of stairs in my condition.

I exited the stairwell at Level 2 and wandered around until I found the room that the controller was supposed to be located in. I was surprised to find that this level still had power. This controller was also not dead.

I determined that she was in some sort of hibernation mode. At least eighty percent of her structure was a bare skeleton, but the centre most section was definitely alive. Not really understanding why I put my hands into the tank and touched the live structure.

I hurriedly pulled them back when I felt a pulse in the flesh that I was touching. I then clamped my hands over my ears as multiple piercing alarms went off. I sighed when they stopped suddenly.

“Shit, the damn nutrients tank is empty,” a cranky female voice said.

I giggled. “Hello Torus-5,” I greeted the tank.

Torus-5 harrumphed. “About time one of you lot turned up. I’ve been running on empty so long I’m surprised some of me, is still active.”

“Sorry, I was just as surprised to find you alive. I had been told that the other controller in the city died about twenty years ago. The stupid bitch didn’t leave any spores in the tank. I came here hoping that you might have so I could get the city working again.”

“Oh, I see. Very unusual for a controller to do that. My daughter would have been barely two thousand years old. However, for me to spawn again, I’d need some fresh water and nutrients. I’m dying here, girl. I suspect she also had this problem if she died. We never did have a reliable connection.”

I looked around and then looked at the entity. “What if I just move you?”

“Why?”

“Well, this ship is dead. You’re not exactly doing any good to anyone here, and I need a controller for the city. We’ve got the other tank all setup and ready to go. Can’t you integrate into the other structure?”

“Of course I can,” she said peevishly. She was quiet for a minute and then said in a thoughtful voice, “To be honest I’ve been bloody bored here and since they took my androids and stripped the ship it’s been difficult to maintain just myself.”

“If you gently break away the data tubes around me and pick up the central core carefully, I can survive in a tank of water for an hour or so, so you can transport me. How much of the other tank does my daughter’s data system take up?”

“That tank is three times the size of this one in length and breadth and half as high again. The skeleton in it is located in one quadrant. I noticed in the centre of the other three quadrants is a gold perforated disc about 20cm round. I think there is one under what would be the centre of the other structure. Is that important?”

Torus chuckled. “Yes, very important. If you place me over one of the discs close to the other structure, I can connect to it much faster. You may need to strengthen the magic of the system for me.”

“However, I should be able to rebuild the other core as an extension of me and access the data for the city so you can get it up and running. It will be a lot more fun than sitting around here.”

“What about the pieces that will be left here, do you need them?” I asked.

“No, that contains rudimentary data about this ship. I don’t believe it will of much use to you. They stripped just about anything useful from me a long time ago. I’ve only maintained the histories of the people and star charts and such.”

“Great, well then, I’d better find something to put you in. You do whatever you need to do, while I see what I can find,” I told her. I had a look at the area that was still alive to get an idea of the size of the container I needed and then started looking.

I soon found my quest wasn’t that easy. As Torus had mentioned, the Keltrian’s had stripped the ship. Even being bolted down didn’t make it safe from whoever had gone through her. They had even removed doors and wall sheeting.

I was down on Level 5 when I came across a room that apparently only a wizard could enter. It had a spell that directed you away from the wall the door was in. I wondered why it was spelled this way as I unravel the spell. When the door opened, I understood, it was the Treasury.

I stood looking into the huge storage room, in amazement. It was stacked high with rows of boxes. They were at least 150cm long by 80cm square. I estimated there were at least five hundred boxes in this room. A name was on each box, and many had the same name.

When I approached one and opened it, it was full of all sorts of items that the owner must have considered worth owning at the time. Small boxes inside contained jewellery. Others boxes contained cutlery and dinner services of various precious metals.

There were knick-knacks, statues, bowls and even ingots of gold and silver and other metals. Some boxes were packed with what I assumed were jewelled court clothes and others with short bales of cloths and folded linens.

I decided that for now, they could stay where they were. I would organise their removal later. I chuckled as I’d bet that the owners had been pissed they couldn’t find them when they tried stripping the ship.

I left the room, put a new spell on the door and kept looking. I found another door on the next level that I had to magically open, and this time I knew I was in luck. It had been some sort of laboratory, and it hadn’t been ransacked.

I found a glass container that looked about the size and shape of a baby’s bath and decided that it would be perfect for what I wanted. I happily took it back to Torus-5. I even tried blinking since I knew her location.

I told Torus-5 while I was filling the bath that I hoped I had enough magical energy to get her outside the ship. Torus said to just think about the room where I wanted to go and go there.

I was dubious, as I hadn’t managed to transport myself so far before. Torus-5 asked me to say the words that I’d been using so far. So I did. Torus-5 informed me I was saying them wrong and then she said the words but stressed different vowels.

Once she was happy that I was saying it correctly, she instructed me how to get her out on her current tank. I soon had her in the bath. I picked it up and repeated the words as Torus-5 had instructed me and blinked.

“Wow! I didn’t realise the pronunciation was so important,” I said to Torus-5 as I placed the tub on the floor. I carefully lifted Torus-5 out and placed her over one of the gold discs next to the other structure.

While Torus-5 settled in, I checked my notes on how to get the system going and started up the filtration system and the nutrients system. I checked everything was working how it said it should and then looked back in the tank.

I noticed Torus-5 was a little brighter in colour and looked more alive. I found myself touching her and repeating a health and tissue repair spell and then some other spells I wasn’t sure of, but they seemed appropriate when they came to my mind.

I altered the spells slightly, so I used Torus-5’s inflexions on the words and Torus pulsed under my hand. The centre of the skeleton suddenly glowed and then took on a lovely coral pink hue.

“Thank you, Crystal, that was just the spell I needed to help me link to the other core. Ooh! Look at all these lovely systems I have to play with. So much needs fixing.”

She went quite for a few moments and then said, “Crystal did you find the spells to activate the shields?”

“Yes, I’ve had Collin and Alyn working on getting the towers fixed why?”

“Darlin girl, we have a bloody meteor shower headed our way. We need those shields up now,” Torus-5 said with urgency.

Fear leapt in me and without thought, I blinked to find Collin and Alyn in the café. “Come, I need you both,” I said and grabbed them.

I blinked them down to Torus-5. “Put your hands in the tank. Then when I say, you need to repeat the following phrases with me. You must get the pronunciation correct,” I told them firmly.

I said the phrases several times, with Torus offering a little help. When she was happy we were saying them correctly, we put our hands in the tank and said them again as spells.

The lights in the room glowed very bright for a few seconds and then settled back down. They were brighter than before but not overly bright for the lighting of a room.

Torus-5 sighed, “Ooh! That is so much better. The power grid is up to full strength with the towers that have activated. Three towers on the southern side haven’t activated. However, my systems don’t indicate that the area is occupied and there are no significate structures.”

“When do you expect the meteorites to hit, Torus-5?” I asked anxiously.

“I think if you go outside, you will witness an amazing sight in about five minutes,” she answered.

I paled, “What? Do mean if I’d dawdled around much longer in your old ship the city would have been hit?”

“Not just hit my dear, decimated. There are at least three of them, which cause me concern. The shield is not going to appreciate being hit by them. It may be just as well that the other towers aren’t activated.”

“I project that the biggest meteor will hit in that area. We have coverage of around twenty klicks in diameter that protects the main part of the city, the wharf and us. You might wish to send someone to warn the residents that the earth is going to get a bit jumpy, real soon,” she suggested.

“You two touch me,” I said, and when they did, I blinked. We found ourselves in the main market, and I told them to run and tell all they could, to get out of the buildings. Collin and Alyn didn’t hesitate, and they ran yelling to all to get out into the open areas.

I headed off in a third direction. I used a spell to make my voice penetrate every structure and told everyone to get out in the open as an earthquake was coming. People ran into the streets wondering what was going on.

They found themselves looking at the sky when the first small meteorite hit the shield to their east. It shattered upon impact and provided quite a light show in the late afternoon sunlight as the shield vaporised most of it.

Then we saw that at least three larger ones were heading our way. Many of the people just stood and watched in awe. Several smaller meteorites the size of baseballs and basketballs hit the shield and vaporised in massive showers of sparks and small explosions.

Then the first big one that was close to five metres round and twice as long hit to the north of us. If the shield hadn’t been activated, it would have hit the wharf area.

As it was, the meteor ricocheted off the shield with a massive boom and crashed into the sea a klick to the north. It shook the earth on impact. People screamed and hit the ground to hug it.

A gigantic geyser of water and steam blew high into the air at the impact sight. A massive circular wave formed and rose up to 25m into the air within minutes of the meteor’s impact. The wave rolled out and smashed into the shield and the unprotected bay area. The earth shook us again.

The wave decimated the unprotected foreshore and smothered it in sea water. It was then sucked back to the centre of impact and the as the geyser dropped, new smaller waves rolled out again, but their impacts weren’t as great. The real damage had been done.

Many of the people didn’t see the waves or geyser as they had their arms over their heads or were crawling for cover. Personally, I thought it was the most awesome show of nature’s might. I was spellbound by its ferociousness to even think of being frightened.

I turned to watch the second big meteor hit about five minutes later. It was aiming for the lake. It was of similar mass but at least a metre wider and a couple metres shorter than the first big one. The arc of the shield and the meteorite’s more downward trajectory meant it hit with a solid whump.

The shield sparked and arced like a lightning storm when it hit. Several bolts of energy even penetrated it to hit the ground around the lake. One of the tall trees burst into an instant inferno and burnt like a giant torch.

Some people swore that shield seemed to flex inwards like a heavy ball being tossed in a sheet. The boom of the collision was deafening. Then the meteor exploded, and thousands of smaller shards flew in as many directions as pieces.

Some of the pieces came back down and hit the shield a second or third time as they bounced across it. Some flew far enough away to impact the ground. The shield had absorbed a lot of the excess energy and had strengthened. The crystals in the towers glowed brilliantly, and you couldn’t look at them with naked eyes.

Later we found a ring surrounding the town that averaged 30cm wide and up to a 50cm deep where the shield directed energy into the earth and had melted it. Small spot fires were observed in the hills outside the shield, but the recent rain didn’t allow them to spread far.

I think we all watched the big one. It was shaped more like an Aussie Rules football it was at least ten metres round in its centre and glowed hot from coming through the atmosphere.

Collin said, “It’s an iron cored meteorite. Most of the lighter elements, if there were any, have burnt off. It’s going to hit hard.”

The towers on the south, if they had activated, would have added an arc of another ten klicks width to the shield we had, in that direction. The meteorite hit about five klicks away from the edge of the shield to the east or us.

It managed to hit the western side of the river that came into town from the east. Due to the rains, the river was flowing fast as the water drained from the mountain range that was about five klicks further away again.