Chapter 2

I awoke with a start. I was feeling slightly disoriented, as I slowly began to come out of the deep sleep, I had been in. It took a moment for me to become aware of my surroundings and realize that what had happened had not been a dream. I was lying in an enormous bed, in a room bigger than I had ever slept in before. The dishware from my meal the night before was still sitting on the table where I had eaten. I went over to the wall near the shower unit, to look for a toilet of some kind, but could not find one. I searched for a button that could make one appear but other than the buttons in the shower, I could find nothing.

“Great,” I muttered to myself. “First time on an alien vessel and I didn’t ask where the toilets were. Should have asked Tali before I fell asleep.”

“You should have asked me what, Captain?” Her sudden appearance beside me was startling and caused me to jump.

Again, she appeared just as she had the night before. The same light orange, translucent hue, with the same pleasing female shape.

I cleared my throat nervously and answered, “I should have asked about where the toilet for this room was. I can’t seem to find a compartment that has it hidden away, and I am not versed in your language or technology.”

With a simple nod from the hologram, a section of wall within the shower retracted and a toilet slid forward. Relief washed over me, and I chuckled a little bit, as my plan had been to use the shower to relieve myself if a toilet couldn’t be found. I went into the stall in a rush, the pressure was becoming a bit much. As I extracted myself from my pants and allowed myself the release I needed, I realized that I still had an audience. I was shocked to see that Tali was still there observing me as I relieved myself. It was a surreal experience, and I almost made a mess from noticing her still standing there. I hurried myself along and put myself away haphazardly to limit how long I was exposed to the alien intelligence.

“Was it really necessary to watch me do that?” I asked, voicing my irritation at her watching me. I was unaccustomed to doing any of that in front of others and it bled out into my words. Tali looked the least bit fazed by my question or the tone in which I had imparted it.

Tali looked a bit contrite and said, “I didn’t realize that you would be uncomfortable by my presence, Captain. The Mac’skarian that crewed this ship were used to the fact that the A.I. was always watching everything on the ship. Even if my holo-avatar is not active, my sensors are always watching every square millimeter of the ship in case I am needed.”

The fact that I would always be watched by her was a sobering thought, but I understood the necessity. I would just have to get used It, hopefully the crew themselves were not as free in that respect. I went to the basin next to the shower and it filled with just enough water to freshen up. I would have to wait until the ship’s systems were at full capacity before I would think of wasting any of its limited resources.

Patting my face dry, I turned and asked, “Tali, what is the status of the collection of fissionable material? I remember you said that it was nearby and that you would be sending two drones.”

“You are correct, Captain,” she nodded. “I dispatched two drones ten point six hours ago to the target destination. The drilling down to the material took two point four hours to complete and for the last eight point two hours they have been collecting the material. At present we have collected seven tons of material that will be processed into three point five tons of fuel. One more ton of material will get us to the four-ton threshold of our fuel tanks. This will give enough fuel to get us to the nearest estimated Mac’skarian port, however, I plan to collect as much as possible before we leave, in case of any emergency situations we could find ourselves in. We have two small cargo bays that I can modify to become temporary fuel tanks, if you would allow me to. Estimated time to completion of collection of total material is one point six hours. Time to completion of fuel processing, four point three hours. Time to take off, eight point two hours and counting.”

So, in roughly eight hours we would be taking off; that was a sobering thought. While I had no memories to tie me to this planet, there was still a sense of foreboding at the thought of leaving. I shook my head and attempted to focus my thoughts on what I needed to do. There was no time to hesitate or second-guess myself and I wasn’t doing this alone. Besides, there was a life that hung in the balance.

I turned to my holo-companion and asked, “Tali, what can I do to help move things along? I am feeling kind of useless here at the moment.”

“All preparations for launch will be handled by myself or the drones,” she replied with a smile. “However, I will need assistance to remove the deceased crew members from the ship. The drones that I currently have are not able to move them due to the limitations of their functions. It would take resources we currently don’t have to modify them to do such work. I can send one out to start digging graves for them and the process should be complete in three standard hours. If you could also give me the necessary authorization to collect the extra material to store in the modified bays, I would appreciate it.”

I nodded and replied, “Ok Tali, you have the authorization to collect as much surplus material as you can before we take off. As for the remains of the deceased crew members, I can see to it that they receive a proper burial. I do have one question though, how am I supposed to get them out of the pods? I mean, I haven’t been shown how anything works yet, and didn’t you say that there was still a phase to complete?”

Tali nodded, “All good questions, sir. If you would please follow me, you will need to go to the bridge, so we can establish security clearance protocols for you.”

I turned to follow her but stopped and said, “Before we do that, Tail, what do I do with the dishware and cup that I used last night? You didn’t exactly cover that part yet.”

“Please place the used goods into the receptacle for the food dispensary,” she replied, gesturing to the receptacle. “It will detect them and break them down into the necessary component material.”

With that, she turned and walked through the wall. After I placed the used dishes in the receptacle in my room, I went out to the common area and made my way back to the bridge. When I entered the room, I saw Tali standing near the console between the functional pod containing the pilot and the closest pod on the right side of the room. As I approached the now active console, a small rectangular pad rose a half inch from the surface of the console.

Gesturing to the pad, Tali said, “Please place your hand on the pad and state your name for the computer system. You will then be prompted to give a security command code.”

“Only one problem with that, Tali,” I said with a laugh. “I don’t remember my name or who I am, remember. I don’t even recall if I have ever heard a security code before, or how it would go.”

Tali nodded in understanding, “I apologize, Captain, I was hoping that after some rest, you would have gained something of your memory back. I detect that the swelling in your skull has gone down, however, there seem to be residual effects to your long-term memory.”

The lack of information put a damper on things, for sure and I began to pace as I tried to think of a solution to this particular predicament. I needed to have a name in order to log my credentials into their computer system. Once I had that, I was sure that could come up with some random code that would do the job. I had no idea what my name was, nor did I have a list of names in my memory to choose from. Tali had called me ‘Human’ when I had first woken up and the more, I mulled it over, the more a name began to form. After a little bit of time, the name ‘Hugh’ kept popping into my head. As I began to think of a last name, I kept remembering the only thing I could see when I woke. The cavern had been dark, but when I looked around, I could see the stars from the hole I fell through. I walked up to the console and placed my hand firmly on the pad.

After a flash of light from the pad, Tali announced, “Scan of your DNA structure and of your palm print is now complete, Captain. Please speak your name so it can be registered in our system.”

I took a deep breath and replied, “My name is Hugh Stargazer.”

There was a glow from the panel and a chorus of sounds that, no doubt, acknowledged my information had been recorded in the system core.

“Very good, Captain Stargazer, a very wise choice of a name, sir,” Tali said with a slight bow. “Please give your security command override code. This code will allow you to override security lock outs when necessary and to protect systems from enemies in the event of being boarded.”

I scratched my head and said, “Umm, ok. How about this: Security command authorization code, Alpha-Bravo-One-One-Zulu-Seven.”

“Very good, sir, name and command codes have been accepted and stored in the ship’s computer core. All systems are now under your authority and only the Mac’skarian Admiralty could lock you out of our systems now. We are now set for lift off, you can now use your handprint to release the pods and return them to their original state. However, at this time the stasis release cycle for the functional pod will not be complete for 24 hours.”

I made my way to the closest pod and placed my hand against the side. Beeps and mechanical sounds began to come from the pod as it released its seals. The tube began to retreat and contort as it reverted back to a chair. The smell of the remains filled the cabin and I found it hard not to throw up. I pushed back the queasy feelings boiling up from my stomach and concentrated on the task at hand.

Tali activated a small holographic screen in the palm of her hand, “Sir, there are protective suits in the medical bay, that is the second door on the right, just past the crew quarters. Inside you will see yellow suits stored in open lockers along the wall, with helmets above them. Put on both to protect yourself from bacteria present from decomposition and to protect your senses from the smell of rotting flesh.”

Nodding in agreement, I left the bridge quickly and went to the medical bay. As I entered the medical bay, I stopped briefly to familiarize myself with what was inside. There were consoles and display screens along the wall to the left, no doubt to display patient information. Unlike when I first entered the ship, these displays, along with ceiling lights, were all active. In the center of the room was a bed with a console on the side and half cylinders of glass at either end. It looked as if a patient could enter through the exposed middle section so that once they were lying down the glass would close and seal the patient inside. Along the far wall were the suits Tali had spoken of. They were stored in an open locker area just as Tali had said. Beside that looked to be a much larger version of the food dispensary, the receptacle looked to be big enough to fit clothing into. Along the right wall was a desk with a terminal on it, a few things that looked like baskets and a few chairs.

I made my way over to the far wall and found a suit that looked to be my size. I took the suit off and looked to see how I would get inside of it. The legs looked to be built for Mac’skarian physiology instead of human, specifically in how the pants were designed. As I pondered what I would do to get the suit on, Tali appeared beside me.

“Captain, if you would please press the red button on the left side of the belt, that will split the top and bottom sections of the suit. If you would please place the bottoms into the receptacle, I can break them down and replace them with ones that will fit your leg structure better. Also, there is a hover lift in the engineering room that I am sure, will allow you to make your task somewhat less strenuous to complete. It is the door at the end of the hallway you first came in.”