Chapter 3: Help Wanted

Several hours later, Simon became aware of a presence in the room and opened one eye to verify that it was indeed Blaze. She was seated on one of the small armchairs next to his bed. She appeared to be ‘meditating’. He assumed that was probably the equivalent of his sleep cycle. He went back to sleep.

Somewhat later, Blaze shook him gently and announced that visitors were about to land and he should get ready. He showered quickly, dressed, shaved and made himself presentable. He grabbed some snack food and put it out on the kitchen table then strode out the back door of the cabin to greet his guests as they disembarked from the small plane.

He saw James, then another man in his forties exit and then a young blonde haired girl, probably in her twenties. Obviously, the other middle aged man was Nate, but who was the girl? He noticed with a practiced eye that she was rather attractive, even though bedecked in casual torn jeans, long sleeved top and a blue ski jacket. He guessed that she and Nate were more than just casual acquaintances. He noticed they had all traveled light.

Simon approached the group and introduced himself after welcoming James back.

“Welcome back James, thanks for responding on short notice. You must be Nate, welcome. I hope you enjoy your visit here. Now who is your friend?” he said with a smile.

Nate replied “Nathan Ryan here but please call me Nate. This is Tonya Ryan, my sister, the electronic genius. Thank you for allowing her to come on this trip.”

Tonya interrupted “Nate is always going on about that genius part. I just try hard to follow my ideas. I can’t wait to hear what all the mystery is about and by the way, this is such a beautiful place.”

Simon grinned “Ah, Nate’s sister. I should have guessed. My pleasure in having you all here. I finally get to meet the infamous Nate and now his sister Tonya. You have both met James, so without further ado, grab your stuff, come on in to the cabin and meet Blaze.”

Three voices responded as one. “Blaze?”

As they walked in the door and came into the main living room area, Blaze, who was seated on one of the couches, rose to greet them. She was conservatively dressed, by our standards, in typical tight bluejeans with a tight orange tank top and obviously no bra, not that she needed one, but they were not aware of that fact just yet.

“Blaze, I would like you to meet James the pilot, Nate the computer expert and Tonya the electronics genius.” Simon said smiling. “Everyone, this is Blaze.”

“Pleased to meet you!” said Blaze. James looked confused, Tonya looked curious and Nate looked, well, attracted. Actually more like bordering on ‘love struck’.

James just had to ask “Just how is it that you come to be out here, you didn’t come with Simon on the first trip and I haven’t been out since? I didn’t see any other aircraft out there. Simon, did you get a rival airline to fly her in?”

James almost looked depressed. Simon couldn’t delay the inevitable much longer.

“Okay, let’s get to the details. It will all be explained to you over the next couple of hours. Blaze and I will be doing a lot of talking, but I welcome questions as we go along. I also encourage you to make yourselves totally at home here. The bedrooms and washrooms are in the back if you need to freshen up, rest or to change clothes. The kitchen is fully equipped and you are welcome to anything you find if you are hungry or thirsty. Please relax and let us entertain you this evening. It is all on the house.”

Nate said “What have you in cold beer. It has been a thirsty trip.” as he checked out the refrigerator.

James said “Make that two, but not for the same reason!”

Nate grabbed two cold beers and passed one to James. Tonya was only interested in a cold soft drink and grabbed one out of the refrigerator. Simon followed suit and they all sat down.

Simon began “You are wondering right now, who is Blaze, how did she get here, and why are we all gathered here now? Right?” Seeing nods in the affirmative all around he continued, “I am going to start by asking a few questions of each of you. It is important that I understand your motivations in life. These will be similar to questions that I was recently asked but not necessarily for the same reasons. I want each of you to think carefully about the questions and give me honest answers. None of you has anything whatsoever to lose or fear from me or Blaze. I have invited you here because I have a project and you may be the best people that I know of to help me with it. I also feel that you will enjoy the benefits of working together on this project and because I trust you, please trust me as well.”

“James, you have worked as an airline pilot, a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) fighter pilot and now co-own a small commercial airline. You are familiar with combat in the air. You are probably good with logistics. If you could do anything you wanted for the next few years, what would it be?”, asked Simon.

James thought about it for a while and replied “I really enjoyed flying those fighters. I would like to be a fighter test pilot and perhaps train other pilots on how to fly them. I am out of the military now so I won’t likely get that opportunity.”

“Nate, I don’t know much about you except that you strike me as being honest, you like a challenge and you are really good at computer programming. If someone offered you a job that was basically ‘Do whatever you want!’, what would you do?”, asked Simon.

“That is a real difficult decision. Total freedom, hmmm, I think I would like to work on an idea I have had about creating a computer that was so sophisticated that it could actually learn new concepts. Sort of like the concept of Artificial Intelligence. I think it may be do-able and I think it is worth developing.” replied Nate.

Suppressing a grin, Simon asked “And how about you Tonya? I know even less about you than Nate, but Nate tells me that your expertise is electronics. You seem very enthusiastic, intelligent and hard working. What would you do?”

“I think I would like to start a research company that specialized in finding new ways of solving old problems. We are far too dependent on our current resources and that makes me uneasy. I want to help make a positive change in the way we use technology to solve our problems.” replied Tonya.

“That sort of leads into the next question and gives us all a look at motivations. If you could change the world for the better, would you?” Simon asked and noted the nods around the room.

Simon delivered another heavy question, “Hypothetically, if I offered you the opportunity to work on your dream jobs starting tonight, would you be prepared to drop everything else you are doing and disappear for an extended period of time and do you have any obligations that would not permit this?”

Nate and Tonya gave each other a glance and Nate spoke “I would jump at the chance. I think Tonya would also, but we go as a team.”

Tonya confirmed the message with a nod.

James was deep in thought as he replied, “Yes I would, but I owe my business partner an explanation and I would hope that he could be a part of this as well. I really have no other obligations.”

“Perhaps your business partner would also like to join if he was offered the opportunity.” suggested Simon. “Some of what we may do could run afoul of governments or organizations. I promise you, however, that anything we do will be morally legal. How do you feel about that?”

Tonya jumped back into the conversation with “It seems like you have to operate on the legal borderline these days to be successful. Governments are hampering so many positive processes that they seem to be only justifying their own jobs. I, personally wouldn’t hesitate to straighten them out if I had the ability. Politicians are just putting in time and collecting huge sums of money based on their popularity with the masses. The system needs to be re-organized.”

Nate said, “I agree with Tonya. We have been watching so much activity on the world networks that is just sickening. It is all about greed. It is taking the world down the wrong path. If I could change it, I would. No question.”

James considered the last two statements and stated “I agree also. There is so much that needs fixing. Where do you start?”

“We don’t really know each other very well yet, but I get the sense that we share many of the same personality traits and goals.” then Simon asked his next question. “Here’s another question for all of you. Several countries have been spending huge sums of money and resources on space travel to the moon, and other planets as well as studying the stars and the universe. What do you think of the resource allocations and what might we find out there?”

Nate replied “The media has been releasing a few details of current exploration events and a lot of the responses to the information is highly negative. I disagree with those people. It is a requirement that we explore. Humans have always been explorers. I swear its in our genes. Sooner or later we are going to need to travel in space. The sooner the better I say!”

James jumped in with “Imagine that! An astronaut! Can I add that to my list? I know what you mean Nate. But as to what we may find, I suspect, a lot of nothing. I think that something out there will find us first!”

Tonya, not to shy away from this topic said “It’s a must. Technology has to improve. We have to find better and faster ways to do things. Space travel should be possible but I don’t know about faster than light (FTL) travel. The space programs must continue.”

[Blaze, how are we doing so far?]

(No problems yet, Captain.)

“It looks like we are all on the same page. Now, as to Blaze’s story, this gets a bit more complicated. Grab some food and drink and we can start.” said Simon.

Once everyone was seated again and after a little polite conversation, mostly about the log cabin amenities, they got back to business.

Simon started “James dropped me off here about four days ago now and was scheduled to pick me up in three more. I took in the sights, did a little fishing, ate, relaxed and slept. It was invigorating. Yesterday afternoon there was a knock on my door! Out here, a knock? I was surprised when I opened the door to find a lovely young lady there greeting me and declaring me a neighbor.”

“Blaze?” asked Nate.

“No, she said her name was Aurora and just dropped in to welcome me to the neighborhood.” said Simon continuing with “Believe me when I tell you she was just as beautiful as Blaze.”

“Two girls, both gorgeous?” said Nate with a devious smile. “Lucky you.”

Simon continued “She proceeded to ask me similar questions to the ones I just asked you and I gave similar responses, but I was mainly interested in her story. After some consideration she finally told me how she came to be on my doorstep. I am going to ask Blaze to narrate that story but I am going to ask you all never to reveal anything that is said here now or in the future to anyone not of this group. This is absolutely vital and cannot be overstated.”

After getting verbal agreements from everyone, he instructed Blaze to describe the events from 2,423 years ago till the present. She took a moment to think.

(Recalling. Ready!)

She then began the story of the ship Aurora. They sat there stunned for the entire discourse. At first unbelieving until the end when Aurora described herself as an android and a part of the ship and the ship’s AI.

“I knew it was possible!” exclaimed Nate! “Wow, when can we meet her?”

“The Aurora is near here? This I have GOT to see!” said James.

Tonya was still in shock, staring at Blaze the whole time.

Simon interrupted and said. “There is lots more to explain, but because time is of the essence here, I will tell you that I am now the Captain of that ship. Aurora has been renamed Blazing Star and the AI and android known as Aurora no longer exist. Blaze has replaced them.”

A collective gasp came from the three guests and a question was on everyone’s lips. Simon stated “Yes, Blaze is an android. She is also linked to the ship. I assume now that you are all ‘in’ for this adventure, and make no mistake, an adventure it is likely to be. We have a few very difficult tasks ahead of us. The ship needs help badly and we are almost out of time. The first thing we have to do is get some power to her. I believe the best way to do that is by using the spare diesel generator from the cabin here to feed some power into the ship. The shuttles have a docking ring with connections for power to and from the ship. If we can get the generator plugged into that ring, we can try to feed it power. I need some help with this. We have got all necessary materials on board the ship now and need to get you guys there to assist.”

“We are all ready and willing to help, I believe!” said James.

“Yes, we are.” replied Nate.

“How do we get started?” asked Tonya.

“Warm up the shuttle, Blaze. Everyone follow her and we can get this started.” said Simon.

(Captain, I have moved the shuttle to the rear door.)

[Excellent, I didn’t know you had remote control of it, thank you!]

Blaze exited the rear door, everyone following excitedly behind. Simon trailed behind last, locking up the cabin just in case. It was after all, early evening, and you never knew who just might come knocking on your door out here.

Once everyone was seated, Blaze activated the controls and flew the shuttle to Blazing Star where she maneuvered the shuttle through the opened bay doors and landed smoothly on the floor. When everyone stepped out of the shuttle and started looking around, there were gasps and looks that showed everyone was full of questions.

Simon held up his hand and said “Please no questions just now. Over there are the drums with diesel fuel, the generator and components. James, can you get some power going into this ship with that?”

James replied “I need to know what to connect to what. This is all so different from anything I have ever seen before. Do you have any schematics?”

[Blaze, can you provide James with the necessary ‘memories’?]

(Yes, Captain. One moment.)

Blaze walked up to James and slapped a small disk on his forehead.

She said “In a few seconds it will all come to you.”

James muttered “Ouch, oh, okay, I think I get it now, thanks! Yes, I just have to find the right connections and then I should be able to rig something up! I may need some help lifting those drums, though.”

“Blaze will stay with you here while you work and can provide additional assistance. Nate and Tonya will do a quick tour of the ship with me. We will monitor the computer systems as they accept power. If you need anything, just tell Blaze.” Simon said as he left with Nate and Tonya.

The first place they went to was Command.

“Blaze” said Simon.

Instantly the hologram appeared in front of the three of them. Tonya looked confused until she realized two things. It was Blaze but this time it was a hologram.