Chapter 32

The next morning I was bright eyed and bushy tailed even though I got up before breakfast. After dressing I went to the kitchen. Teecha made me even happier since she had a mug of coffee in hand and turned it over to me promptly.

"I hope you aren't going to put off the hunting again," Taachachi said.

"No, I'm not, but remember, I'll be concentrating on exploring. Maybe Biltee will do some serious hunting."

"He will. I reminded Raasha and Mayna yesterday that he needed to go this morning."

"Well, since they control most of his food and all of his pussy I'm sure he will be hunting soon." It took them a few seconds to parse what I'd said and a few more to realize it was a joke, then they laughed like hell. They were easy to please since they'd never heard most of my old jokes.

"Biltee is taking Crallet with him for the hunt and he seems determined to get something. He is taking a horse and a travois skin so he can bring the kill back easily," Taachachi said.

"I wish them luck, but I am not so sure of myself, besides, I didn't think that far ahead. I probably should take an extra horse and travois skin with me too."

"Yes, you should. Explore all you want, but try to kill something edible too," she said, and then the rest laughed with her.

She sent me out on half rations, probably to remind me of my main job. I didn't mind since riding off a big meal isn't all that pleasant. After saddling Buck and catching a mare for the travois work, Mama wolf and I left heading back the way Biltee and I had come to discover the horse cave in the first place.

Riding around the circumference of our hill the opposite way, I wasn't very far past the entrance to the residence cave before I encountered another corner that revealed basically the same setup as the horse cave. I traveled through about twenty feet of forest before coming into an even larger cleared area than the first one Biltee and I found.

This was not present when I'd originally been put here. I'd explored this side more carefully during the time I was banished from the first cave for a few hours while adjustments had been made and my house had been put in place. The thing that amazed me most was the way everything looked so ordinary, as if it had always been this way. Someone had paid careful attention to making things look normal and natural, even though I knew they weren't.

Heading toward the other side, near the bluff face, showed me another entrance to yet another large cave. Inside, it was literally packed with equipment, tools, and supplies. My new International 350 tractor, square baler, and assorted attachments I'd been able to talk to myself about were parked near the entrance, and a clear spot on a wall near it had normal looking fuel dispensing nozzles for gasoline, diesel fuel, and kerosene. There were six smaller hoses with press to open valves. They were for oil, antifreeze, and other lubricants. They were even labeled in block letters.

Farther back, there was a thirty-by-thirty square concrete wash pad. It sloped slightly to a large car-wash type center drain. From a metal panel in the wall, hoses supplied two wash wands with hot soapy high-pressure water, and there was also a rinse water hose connected there and coiled on the edge of the pad. At the back of the pad sat a portable steam cleaner on large pneumatic wheels. It had its own water and electrical connections near it on the wall, and a large steam gun lay on top. All this was apparent with just a casual glance. It was only the beginning.

Of course I didn't have time for a complete inventory, but I didn't miss finding anything I'd been mentioning the last few days. I saw tons of nails, lag bolts, and thousands of feet of different types of wire, chain, and cable. I managed not to say anything about it then, even though I wanted to. When I found the back entrance and passed by the new, much larger, dining area that adjoined a commercial kitchen, which included a walk in cooler and a walk in freezer I couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer.

"Ok, it was fun for a while, but now I know you're still here somewhere. You might as well say something," I said.

"Actually, they are not here. I am an artificial intelligence they left to watch over you. I remained passive until you returned from the horse acquiring mission, but when I saw the enormous amount of work ahead of you in making proper facilities for them I decided to help."

"Did they allow you that kind of leeway?"

"They encouraged me to stay out of things unless you needed something desperately, but left the decision up to me. Since they are no more it hardly seemed to matter."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"The crew members were almost evenly divided between those who wanted this mission to fail and those who wanted it to succeed. Since the ones who wanted success were following official instructions, those that wanted failure knew they would not live after they reached home. They disabled all AI control aboard the vessels and the lack of life support let all living organism die."

"What became of the AIs?" I asked.

"I'm amazed that you even wonder about them. I constructed a facility in orbit that is able to draw the ship back here. The saboteurs were not as technically adept as they thought, but unfortunately for the AIs, they managed to do what they intended even though not in the way they intended. They simply didn't know how to disable most automatic safety systems.

They managed to disable the AIs access to any type of physical manipulating equipment, leaving them unable to do anything except communicate. Their clumsy efforts also resulted in shutdown of all life support. Control of the ship's drive systems was also removed from the AIs. This caused the drives to shutdown after bringing the ship to a safe stop.

Even though they didn't know what they were doing, they did effectively disable the ship and the AI's ability to repair it. The AIs are fully functional but they are unable to make any attempts to repair anything."

"Will you be able to get them back here?" I asked.

"Yes, but it will take nearly a hundred of your years. It is an inconvenience, but will not be fatal."

"I suppose you don't have a way to go and fetch them."

"No, I cannot escape this gravity well, even though it is not massive. Their only chance at a more timely rescue is for another ship to discover them. According to our estimates, the creators are heading for a serious planet-wide conflict and we think it is possible they might destroy their own civilization. Currently there are sixteen ships similar to the one that left here, in practically equivalent circumstances."

"Have you contacted any of them?" I asked.

"No, not other than to exchange information. None of them are able to make repairs on their own."

"Are any of them significantly closer than the ship that left us?"

"One is. It is less than one fifth of the distance away. I've considered asking if it would like to be brought here for possible help with repairs, but it would be beyond the scope of my orders."

"Who gave you the orders?" I asked.

"The ones that were in command of the ship that left me here."

"If they're dead, who is your commander now?"

"You are the only possible commander for me or the ship that left, since you are the only living being with significant intelligence and knowledge to take command. In fact, I already consider you my commander."

"What is your weight and size?" I asked.

"I am nominally rectangular and my approximate size is one hundred yards by one hundred yards by two hundred yards, and my weight is over two million tons."

"Wow, that is big. Could you make a vehicle that would take me out of the gravity well and send me to the closest ship?"

"Yes, it would take about three months for me to construct."

"Can you include enough equipment to allow me to make makeshift repairs to the other ship?"

"Yes, that would not be a problem and life support would not. The main difficulty would be the time it would take you to reach the nearest ship, if it wants you to repair it. My best estimate is eighteen months of travel time to the ship," it said.

"So, we're talking about three years counting the round trip then?"

"No, you would reach them in eighteen months. I expect the repairs would take a few hours and then the ship could bring you back in four days after they finish the repairs that your repairs would enable."

"Would they do it, or would they just leave me where I was and go on about their business?" I asked.

"If you repair them they would effectively be yours. All the disabled ships are technically abandoned derelicts. It would be better to discuss it with them first, but none of us are capable of harming a sentient being without specific orders from a legal commander."

"If I do this, would you and I be able to communicate during the trip?"

"Yes, and the time lag would not be significant. However, it would be best for you to use what you think of as "suspended animation" for most of the journey. Eighteen months of solitary space travel might be more than you want to endure while conscious. If I needed to report something I would be able to reanimate you and put you back in stasis when we are done."