Chapter 507

The Prison Planet – the Ship

As soon as he looked up, Morales knew why Jeff had suggested they grab hold, because his instinct cried out that he was going to fall into something bottomless.

“Fuck,” Morales growled quietly as he reflexively reached with one hand for a nearby console to keep from falling into the abyss, while with the other, he hugged Jasmine to him at the same time that she grabbed hold of him.

Diana, as well as the others, noted the couple’s reaction. The Clan Queen and her husband exchanged a knowing glance, sharing information the way that long-time married couples often do.

“Ladies, I apologize for my language,” Morales said, his face flushed. “It just ... feels like you can fall into it.”

Selina smiled when she realized that she had again been included with the women.

“What is that?” Morales asked in a weak voice as he stared into the sea of stars that seemed close enough to touch – or fall into forever. “I mean, it’s obviously a view of the stars, but...”

“Just a live holo image of space above us, minus the atmosphere and light interference from this planet’s sun,” Jeff explained. “Ship could take us up there in little more than a moment, but I don’t have permission from the General for you to leave the planet.”

“Oh, crap,” Morales quietly whispered. Then, in a normal voice, “All this is real, isn’t it?” After a second’s hesitation, he went on. “Coming through the portal is one thing. We just stepped in the chamber and were suddenly standing somewhere else, but this... thing is really a spaceship, isn’t it?” He had voiced the word thing very quietly and almost reverently.

“I am, indeed, real, and welcome aboard,” Ship spoke aloud to Morales and Jasmine.

The two locked eyes for a moment before Jasmine spoke. “Uh, thank you ... Ship.” Then turning to Jeff, “I hope I used the correct form of address.”

Jeff didn’t answer, but even as the grin touched his face, Ship responded with, “My name is Ship, so you did, indeed, use the correct form. Thank you.”

“I was in the field when you were at the base,” Jasmine continued, “so I didn’t get to, uh, meet you, but we are both very impressed, indeed.”

Turning back to Jeff, “I’ve heard a lot about her, although after seeing and conversing with her, I realize that she is something beyond impressive.”

Jeff could feel Ship’s pleasure at Jasmine’s comment.

After Selina pointed to and named several of the brighter stars, Ship turned off the view and Arlene took them on a tour of the consoles, explaining what each station did. “Ship is perfectly capable of doing everything herself, but she values human judgment, and she thinks that she will be able to fight more efficiently and effectively with that human judgment and ingenuity factored in. She was, after all, designed to be the best battleship ever. She says that AIs are sometimes able to logically predict what another AI will do, because they might well do the same thing themselves but, from her research of humans, she thinks that our sometimes unpredictability in conjunction with her mind, will be unstoppable. In battle, she hopes to merge our minds with hers to make her even more effective.”

The tour of the bridge ended with Jasmine and Morales standing at the very front of the bridge. At a mental command from Jeff, what both Morales and Jasmine had thought was a big screen that curved around the front, suddenly turned into a holographic view of the cave entrance from roughly a hundred feet above, but the effect was as if the front of the bridge had disappeared. Morales grunted and Jasmine hissed out a breath. The instinct was to grab hold of something to keep from falling through the “opening”.

“Sorry,” Jeff said. “I asked her to show the cave entrance and didn’t think to warn you that this holo would appear just as real as the one of space above us.

Feeling foolish, Morales commented, “I guess I’m a bit behind on the state of technology these days.”

But the Prime was shaking his head, “We’re all behind with our technology. This is Ship’s. There’s nothing on this bridge from Earth except us.”

Jeff grew quiet as Ship spoke to him mentally. “I have detected a phenomenally strong telepathic transmission that seems to originate from deep inside the cave beneath me.” After a long pause, she went on, “I am not certain, but it seems as if I am detecting only a small portion of what must be the full transmission.” After another hesitation, she continued. “Although the analogy is terribly imprecise, you might think of a controlling band to an Earth type radio transmission, but keep in mind that only very poorly depicts the true meaning of what I am trying to describe. As I have stated previously, there are no terms in your language to properly describe telepathic transmissions.“

“I was wondering if you would detect anything concerning the column area,” Jeff sent back. “The general consensus among us is that it might be some type of booster station for messages – origin of messages unknown as well as their destination. I invite you to view our investigative trip to the column area in my memory to facilitate your update of our trip there.”

“As you will, My Prime.”

A moment later, Ship knew all Jeff did about the column area.

“I generally agree with the basis of your assessment. However, I need to access more of those transmissions in order to obtain enough data to make even a general summation of their purpose. As I mentioned, what I received appears to have been only some type of controlling or supporting structure for the main transmission and is totally alien to any race’s telepathic transmissions that I have ever encountered. Although I am familiar with many telepathic races, this transmission appears to be supported by energy levels many times in excess of any telepathic signal I have ever encountered before, and ... the transmission itself seems ... out of phase, almost as if it is somehow being transmitted in another dimension, or even between the dimensions,” she finished, mysteriously. “This is something entirely new to me and I will certainly devote considerable research time toward solving its full properties.“

Jeff quickly explained about the proposed study by a team composed of scientists selected by the General. He didn’t, however, mention anything about Selina wanting to visit.

“With your permission, I will leave a remote to monitor other possible transmissions while I continue to analyze and research the data I have already collected.”

“Sounds good,” Jeff sent back. “I will also give you a copy of our recording when we visited the column place, and with Mr. Morales’ and Ms. Conners’ permission, I will send you a copy of Ms. Conners’ recordings and notes.”

They continued with the tour, Jeff allowing Arlene and Selina to guide them, eventually stopping in the lounge where Jeff ushered them to the serving counter. “We usually order from here, although you can actually do it anywhere in the room.” Mentally, he asked Ship to display her list of refreshments.

Selina ordered hers, and when Morales’ turn came, he just ordered what came to mind. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the drink appeared on the counter, a glass of ice beside it.

“Please give us a view of an approach from near space, say ... from three thousand miles up, and slow the approach speed,” Jeff asked Ship while focusing on a nearby wall.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Jasmine said when she noticed the hologram. “Look, Hon. Look at the Earth.”

Jeff had selected a large round table for them, not far from the wall that Ship had chosen for the recorded view. It was just to Morales’ left, but Jasmine, sitting a little farther around the table, could easily see it too. When Morales noticed, he had to force himself to keep from flinching as the camera’s view moved toward the Earth. “I haven’t felt us move, so that has to be some kind of recording – I hope. I don’t want the General irritated, thinking I was trying to escape or something,” he finished, trying to joke.

“Actually,” Jeff said, “due to Ship’s inertialess drive, there would be no feeling of movement, but this is, indeed, a recording of her approach to Earth after my family took a short trip to the moon and back. I thought it would add a little atmosphere to our meeting. And speaking of atmosphere and meetings, have you ladies decided when the wedding will be?”

“Welll...” Jasmine began with a big smile. “Morales and I haven’t had a chance to discuss it in detail.”

Having finally realized that Jasmine really wanted to marry him, Morales cleared his throat and hesitantly said, “If you mean it, the sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

Jasmine lunged to throw her arms around him, kissing him deeply even in front of the others. Blushing when she realized what she had done, she, nevertheless, turned to Diana. “In that case,” she began, with a quick look at Morales for conformation. With his nod and grin, she continued, “Any time you guys can schedule it with whomever is going to marry us, will be great. Is that okay, Baby?”

Morales just grinned back at her and nodded. “I think you’ve lost your mind, but I’m going to take you up on it before you come to your senses.”

Diana tried to catch her husband’s eye. Suspecting, he looked away.

“Jeff, you know what we need to do,” she quietly said while squeezing his hand. When he didn’t respond, she leaned close and whispered into his ear, “We need to talk right now, Baby.” Then, turning to Jasmine and Morales, “Sorry, you two. I need to speak with my husband. We’ll be back shortly,” she said as she came to her feet, grabbed Jeff’s hand and urged him to stand.

“Please excuse us,” an embarrassed Prime mumbled.

Down the corridor and out of earshot, Jeff turned to his wife. “Di, I know what you want, but I’m not ready to enhance them just yet. You’re certainly aware of what that will do. Like I said, he’s a prisoner – a lifer. After Little One enhances him, he’ll live practically forever. A normal life sentence is bad enough on this planet, but being forced to live that long in a cave ... Not to mention doing the same thing to Jasmine. Of course, she can return to Earth whenever she wishes, but still ... Di, I’m not sure about this.”

“So, talk the General into commuting Morales’ sentence.”

Jeff sighed. “If I push him too hard, he’ll dig in his heels and never change his mind. He’s a friend and cuts me some slack because of it, but he’s a General. I’ve actually only gone head to head with him that one time. I won because I’m a Prime, but there’s no sense fighting him and ruining a friendship when he’s going to come around sooner or later, anyway.”

“You regret sentencing Morales to life, don’t you?” Diana accused.

The Prime stared at her before he finally sighed. “I thought we had delved deeply enough into motives, but, as you well know, I’m beginning to wonder.”

“Baby, one of these days in the not too distant future, we’re going to go looking for the race that built Ship’s brain, right?”

“Di, you know I have to. She very much wants to, and with all she has given us, how can I refuse? But remember, we have to deal with the aliens first.”

Diana ignored his comment and went on. “So, it’s been millions of years since they put her brain in that cavern and gave her those instructions, hmmm?”

“Probably...” he began, but Diana just continued.

“So, no telling how long our search will last, or what type of planets we might have to explore in that search. What about a team that consists of a man who can communicate mentally with a couple of giant wolves? They can smell better – and that is a huge understatement – and according to Morales, have sharper vision than any human has any right to have. That combination would be hard to beat if we happen to be searching for clues in what passes for a forest on some alien planet.”

“Di, that’s a stretch...”

“No. It is not a stretch. I, like you, am just trying to think of every eventuality. It’s not as if we can just call home for whatever we need. And then there’s Jasmine. Suppose we meet with individuals from another civilization somewhere in our travels? You’ve been there. You know there are many races out there, and our encountering some of them is practically inevitable. Might a cultural anthropologist come in handy under those circumstances, hmmm?” she asked somewhat sarcastically. “And what if we find some artifacts? She, at least, has a minor in physical anthropology, too. All that knowledge could very well be of help in our search.”

“Dammit, Di. I can see your point, but he is a prisoner. Would you trust him? I mean, really trust him if there were just the two of you stranded somewhere?”

The Clan Queen stared at him for a moment, then burst out in giggles. “Baby, you were just talking about stretches. What in the world do you call that, but a stretch?” she said, drawing out and stressing the word.

After a moment, he gave up and chuckled. “Okay. I see your point, but the fact remains, he is a lifetime prisoner on 2214. If Whitworth won’t change his mind...”

“Leave that to me,” she said as she grasped her husband’s fatigues just below the collar and pulled herself to him, making sure her breasts were pressed fully against his chest. As she lifted her face to his while opening her mouth slightly for the kiss, she repeated, “Just leave that to me.”