Chapter 680

The Retreat

... Later as they were all sitting in the living room of the Retreat while the wolves were exploring the grounds, Morales said, “Jeff, I had begun to think that Lobo and Lila weren’t very enthusiastic about our trip. Somehow, I think that’s changed now,” he finished with a chuckle.

“I had nothing to do with it. It was totally Ship’s idea. And, in case you’re wondering, each wolf has their own, uh... facility designed specifically for them. And... each now has their own console and seat on the bridge as well. That was my idea. Before you ask, there are bound to be animals we’ll encounter in our travels, intelligent or not, and the wolves’ insights might well come in handy. They are highly intelligent, so why not use that intelligence? Ship has also suggested that she prepare courses for them. They are limited by not having hands, but she thinks they could still be taught functional tasks and maybe even be able to stand watches.

“We, all of us,” he said as his gaze took in everyone, “have been undergoing training — physical conditioning and weapons training. That will continue, as well as training with Ship’s point defense weapons. The training topics will expand as our journey continues. Oh, I don’t intend to increase everything to the point of training becoming a burden; however, I suspect that some of the new will wear off soon enough, and people will become bored. Studying and learning about new systems might be a welcome change. Space is unimaginably huge. Even with Ship’s speed, it will take time to move from one system to another, check if it has a suitable planet, then move on if it doesn’t. If it does have life, we’ll have to determine if it’s intelligent life, then learn the language by using the Miadax’s equipment or have English mapped into some of the aliens’ brains. On and on until we can complete the research to determine if any of the subjects know anything about the race that built Ship’s brain.

“The General’s scientists have continued to enhance his chamber’s abilities from its humble beginnings. A significant breakthrough came with the ability to detect planets in what is referred to as the Goldilocks zone, or more properly, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ). That’s not to say that there isn’t intelligent life on less hospitable planets to our species, but the General’s thought on the subject was why unnecessarily complicate things. Ship’s detection abilities are superior, of course, but it will still take time as we drop out of warp for her to survey each system — with our assistance. And don’t forget the interceptors. I suspect they will be an invaluable tool, and not just for defense.

“However, as the First Officer will attest, even with the Miadax’s advanced automation, it still required a crew of hundreds to operate their survey and conquest ship. Ship, of course, is far more advanced, but she has to maintain and operate all those systems and more. All with one brain — granted, a vastly superior brain — but nevertheless, still one brain to operate and oversee everything. That’s one of the reasons she insists that she designed herself to be more efficiently operated by a crew.”

“But she’s so advanced that I thought that things would never go wrong with her,” Morales hedged.

Jeff locked eyes with his friend. “I wish you were right, and I’m sure Ship would agree. Unfortunately, except for some very specific instances, even she is affected by the second law of thermodynamics, just as everything else is in the universe.”

At Morales’ blank look, Ashley spoke up. “In very basic terms, the law means that everything tends toward disorder. Say you have a box of marbles that you drop. Marbles will scatter everywhere. How about a thousand-piece puzzle picture that you have just finished putting together. The table tips over, and the pieces hit the floor scattering everywhere. That’s the second law of thermodynamics in action.”

“Excellent,” Jeff complimented Morales’ engineer wife’s choice of examples.

“Of course, Ship can maintain the engines she has built, and she has mechanicals to assist, but she is in overall charge. Some of her systems operate with little or no input from her, but other systems, again such as her engines, must have detailed and almost constant... supervision. And she has different drive systems, which complicates things even more.

“Multiply all that by the literally thousands of systems that one brain has to oversee, repair and calibrate, and you get the basic idea. Yet, we can’t help, because we don’t have the knowledge required even to oversee most of her systems, let alone diagnose the problems and repair them.

“So ... I propose that, most of us just being passengers, we begin to learn, and I’m not referring to merely using her systems, but learning the science behind each so that we can actually be of help to her. And yes, even with her time dilation didactics, it will take months to learn the science behind some systems and maybe even years for others. On systems such as her engines, there may only be one or two of us who are capable of a complete understanding of the science behind them. Obviously, I’m referring to Helen and Selina.”

After a second, Jeff went on, “Time will pass whether we sit around being bored, or we spend the time being educated by Ship’s excellent teaching system. Look at what Arlene and Ann have done. They’ve graduated from the basic academy, and both have gone on far beyond that. When I realized what they were doing, I had to scramble to keep up with them.”

Seeing the look on most of their faces, he went quickly on. “Oh, I’m not referring to constant study or work, just a few hours a week — our time. But trust me on this, just looking at the stars, no matter how realistic Ship’s holos are or how many games you play, boredom will eventually set in. But ... there’s a cure for it, and that thing is the search for knowledge. I think the human race as a whole has an innate thirst for it.

“And ... there’s another reason that’s of equal importance. I can’t speak for the Miadax race, but I’m almost certain it holds true for them as well. There’s an old proverb that pretty much says it all: Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. The military seems well aware of this because a soldier with nothing to do will soon be given something to keep them busy and consequently out of trouble. At least, that’s been my take on things. Back when I had a team,” he said with just a hint of resentment in his voice, “I kept my people busy. Training ad nauseam not only passes the time, but it tends to save lives when the shit hits the fan.

“Now, we don’t have people that we have to keep busy to keep them out of trouble — at least I hope we don’t — but most of us are human, and as I said before, I think this will apply to the Miadax as well. If we have nothing to do, guess how long before we are squabbling among ourselves. There will be things to do, watches to stand, but with as many of us as there are, there will still be large blocks of time with basically nothing to do. We will use some of that idle time to increase our knowledge of Ship’s science. She is willing to teach it from the very basics, and we’re going to take her up on it.

“I don’t want us to be a crew of monkeys. Press this button or move this lever to make this piece of Ship’s equipment do something. I want to know what pressing that button or moving that lever actually does, and why it does it.”

Diana caught her husband’s attention. “Jeff, I can only speak for myself, but I suspect there are others that feel the same way I do. Some people are far more science oriented than others...”

“Why?” he asked, interrupting her.

“Why what?”

“Why are some more science oriented than others?”

“Well, I ... suppose they understand science better than others.”

“Why?”

“Uh...” she said, but she was obviously beginning to comprehend.

“Might it be that some people understand more about science because they have studied more about the subject? Look around you. How many in this room would you consider to be not very sharp? Think about it. You know damn well there isn’t a single person in here who isn’t very smart, indeed. To borrow an overused expression: they’re all sharp as a tack. Hmmm?

“Let me put another two cents’ worth into the conversation. I strongly suspect that anyone in this room who is skeptical about studying science probably dodged as much of it as they could in school. I propose that anyone here can learn at least the basics behind Ship’s systems by spending a few months or a year in her teaching system — in other words, her academy. I’ve never seen a trooper who loved something in training who did not eventually become good at it — maybe even superb at it. And... I think that any of us who have spent much time in Ship’s academy will agree that they managed to learn the material. It sometimes was not fun, but I think that any of us who have been there will agree that we’re proud of the knowledge we acquired — no matter how difficult the learning was. I might even add a caveat to that. The harder it was, the more pride we had when we finally passed the damn test.”

There were several chuckles in the room as he finished the last sentence.

“How long are we going to be gone?” Charlotte, the wife who had been part of the excavating crew, asked.

“Good question, Sweetheart,” he responded with a grin. “It’s a good question because I don’t know the answer. As you all know, I promised Ship that I would do what I could to find the race that built her brain. With the vast amount of time elapsed since she and her supplies were left in that cavern system, and with that race already in dire straits because of being attacked by a superior force, there are too many variables to give a definitive answer. That said, I plan to search until even Ship decides that the search is useless. That’s not to say that we will be gone until that time is reached. I suspect that we’ll return home at some point, maybe to rest up and relax for a while, then perhaps return to our search with new ideas. I simply can’t know that at this point with what little information I have or Ship has.

“However, we shouldn’t look at the trip as work. We’re probably going to see things that most of us have never even imagined. Look at it as a vacation — and it will be. We’re going to explore new star systems and new dimensions. Morales’ 2214 is in a different but nearly identical dimension from what we’re experiencing here and now. Maybe some clue we find will lead us to another dimension where the laws of nature are different. We know things of that nature exist — at least the ones of us who met that thing in the ice cave.

“As we all know, except maybe Adrienné and her people, the General’s science teams have encountered several races via the portal. Some were aggressive, while others weren’t. Sometimes what is rare here on Earth is common in a system out there somewhere and vice versa. My team and I have experienced aggressive beings, but unlike the scientists, who are the true explorers, we only got to be on the planets where there were aggressive beings who had usually already attacked our science team or were obviously preparing to do so.

“We plan to go in peace, but as President Roosevelt once said, ‘Speak softly but carry a big stick.’ Our away teams will go armed and wearing the General’s latest concealable armor. I do not plan to lose any of my wives or friends to an alien with an attitude. We already came close enough with Arlene.”

“So, how do we get started with learning about Ship?” Morales asked, which pleased Jeff immensely.

“As I implied, I will not try to cram this down anyone’s throat. First, we have to bring everyone up to speed physically, which will culminate, at least here on Earth, with the obstacle course. By then, the group that is going to accompany us should be ready to move aboard Ship.

“What if we forget something? Or maybe someone just can’t stand shipboard life? I want to find out about it before we leave and won’t have to spend days bringing someone home. I’ve considered moving everyone aboard, then have Ship take us out to, say, the beginning of the Kuiper belt which begins past the orbit of Neptune. That’s far enough away to be considered deep space, and while we’re there, we can explore some of the larger asteroids or planetoids that we may run across, all the while becoming accustomed to shipboard life.”