Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 32

I transferred the information about the Mars and Earth portals to my tablet along with the special coordinates for the planet Udon and was just about to head to the food replicator for another glass of tea when an amber beacon began to flash over head and announced that there was a traveler inbound. The heavy stone doors that sealed the portal parted and I could see the swirling cyclone that was the exit point for the Einstein-Rosen bridge. I stood and walked closer to the portal and awaited the arrival of the announced traveler. I waited at the edge of the platform for several minutes before Major Sima stepped out of the swirling gray matter beyond the doorway.

I was surprised to see Sima back so soon as it had appeared that she was called away on urgent business before, but it was good to see her again and we greeted each other as she stepped off the platform. I could tell that she was a little disoriented as she stumbled slightly on the first step. I suspected that transversing the galaxy in a manner of minutes could do that to a person and as we finished our greeting I was hoping that soon I could find out for myself.

I mentioned to Sima that I was off to the replicator alcove for some tea and asked if she would join me, and she quickly accepted my offer though I got the feeling that she did not quite understand the Earth word "tea" that I used to describe the beverage. I made my selection and specified the temperature and received a tall glass of cold liquid that was about the closest thing that I could come to that resembled tea. Sima chose a different beverage that was delivered hot, and smelled quiet a bit like coffee. I made a note of her selection and vowed to give that a try in the morning.

Sima was not as cordial as she was the first time that we met and she seemed to be all business this time. We took our beverages and made small talk as we made our way back to the central control room. Sima moved to the main terminal and quickly brought up a series of pictures that I had been viewing earlier. She focused in as I did on the Drax Corporation logo on the side of my shuttle and asked in a stern voice what this symbol was.

Before I answered her I asked why she had been monitoring my activities when I was told earlier that I had free usage of the data systems.

Sima assured me that they were not eves dropping on me, but several items in my searches caused her superiors some concern when a red flag was activated as I pulled up these images.

I nodded and explained to the Major that the image that she was asking about was the long-range shuttle that brought me to this planet.

Her next question was about the shuttle's point of origin.

I retrieved my tablet from my backpack and pulled up the star chart that I had saved that depicted the planet Udon and explained that I believed that the planet of origin was the planet Udon as that was the last place I remember being before waking up on Galora.

The Major listened intently as I told her about being given the anti-agapic, and about the wild dream that I had after the medical procedure, and then about how I woke up alone and climbed out of a malfunctioning stasis chamber.

It took Sima a few minutes to process the details of my arrival here before she asked, "So you were unconscious the entire trip?"

I nodded in the affirmative then watched as Sima flipped through several more pictures.

Sima paused then zoomed in on the pursuing ship in the same manner as I had before, then asked if I could identify this vessel.

I shook my head and informed her that I also tried to identify the ship but was given a data error for my efforts.

Sima confirmed that her and her superiors received the same error when they made the same query.

I could tell that there was more that she was not telling me so I pressed her a little by asking why the picture of this ship sent up the red flag.

The ship she said resembled a one of legend, but the legend was so old that there were no accurate pictorial recordings of such ships until now, previously all they had on these ships were old ink drawings from antiquity. She explained that Central Command had not been aware of this ship's visit to Galora due to the damage caused by the rogue agent that was responsible for this planet. Had he not altered the programming here, Central Command would have responded sooner to investigate the sighting.

I looked at her in silence as she finished speaking then just as I was about to ask her about the legend she cut me off and asked how I felt about taking a trip to Udon with her.

She did not have to wait long for my affirmative answer.

Sima sat down at the console next to me and brought up a panel that displayed ship schematics. I watched as she selected science, maintenance, habitation, and light weapons module from the items available. Next she switched screens and made a selection from a list of hull types. He selection was a medium range scout ship, and as I looked over her choices, I could see that she was just under the craft's maximum weight with the modules that she had chosen.

As Sima submitted her design she informed me that the maintenance bots in the hanger bay will have our ship ready at first light and we will make our way to Udon in the morning.

I did the calculations in my head and figured that it would take about three weeks by Doenges class shuttle to make the trip to Udon and I assumed that the ship we were going to take would probably make the journey in less time.

Sima took a few more minutes working at the console as I packed my tablet back into my backpack. As Sima finished her work I asked her to follow me as I had something that I wished to show her.

She tried to put me off by saying that she had more work to do, but I insisted. I gently took her by the arm and led her from the control room, down the hallway and up the steps toward the temple complex. The stone cover over the steps slid back and we walked up together. As we reached the top of the stairs the temple complex was in total darkness except for the light provided by the three moons that had now risen high in the sky as we were drawing close to the midnight hour.

I took a seat on the top step of the staircase that led down toward the deserted city below and asked the Major to join me.

She took a seat on the step opposite me and as I pointed toward the three beautiful moons, her gaze followed my hand and for a few minutes we sat together and enjoyed the view.

I could tell that Sima needed some time to relax and as we gazed at the moons I spoke to her of my time on Galora and how I found peace in watching the moons rise, as Udon did not have a single moon. While we were making small talk about the night sky and the moons, I turned to conversation back to the images in the control room and asked flat out, "What is so important about the vessel in the picture, and what is this legend that you had mentioned earlier?"

She turned her gaze from the moons to my face, smiled then told me that some things had to remain a secret, but if I joined her Ksatria Cahaya, she could answer my question.

I smiled back to her and laughed along with her and understood where she was coming from. I told her that I was planning on joining her but wanted to do a little more research before giving her my answer.

I think Sima understood my apprehension after all that had happened to me here over the past few months. We spent the next few hours talking about things that she was able to discuss without me having to sell my soul to the PTB or the KC. She began to grow tired and excused herself and went to sack out for a while. She said that she would meet me in the replicator alcove at 0500 for breakfast.

I agreed then watched her as she disappeared down the stairway that led from the temple area. Sima appeared to be in her late thirties but looked a lot younger than her chronological age and could easily be taken for someone in their late twenties. She was a few inches shorter than I was and rather slender. Her short blonde hair always had that wild unkempt early morning walk of shame look as it framed her pretty face perfectly.

After a few minutes of admiring the departing Major, I turned back to my tablet and reviewed the specifications of the ship that she had selected for us. There was something about the design that I did not quite like, so without her permission I made a few changes, but what surprised me the most was that my request was accepted. The design she had chosen was perfect for a routine maintenance mission, but we were heading into the unknown, and given the look of the craft that had perused my shuttle, I thought we should have a more sturdy ship than the one that Sima had selected.

I kept the same modules that she had selected but I selected the Explorer space frame instead of the Scout frame. The Scout frame mounted the installed modules in an exposed lattice framework while the Explorer frame mounted the requested components inside a large delta winged ship outfitted with ablative armor. Not only could the Explorer frame take more damage, it also had more firepower than the Scout frame. The delta wing design would also make the ship more maneuverable in an oxygen atmosphere, and given the design of the ship that attacked my shuttle, this would give us an advantage should we find a similar ship patrolling around Udon.

I spent the rest of the night looking over the specs of the ship we were going to take and figured that we now had the best design available, even though most of the components were over six thousand years old and were probably constructed by the lowest bidder. I hope that the Major would not complain too much about my changing her design, and to reassure myself that I had made the right decision I took a walk to the hanger bay to watch the bots begin to configure our ship.

The vessel was a beautiful golden color, but it was not constructed of gold, nor was it painted. The hull was constructed of some sort of composite that I had never seen before. I tried to access the specs for the alloy but it appears that the formula for making such an alloy was either lost or classified above my access level. I was leaning more to the prospect that it had been lost as no security warning was issued upon my request for the information.

I walked a circle around the construction area and watched the bots do their work. I so wanted to walk up and touch the craft that they were refitting but there was such a fury of activity surrounding the craft, for my own safety I thought it best to observe from a distance. As I walked around the craft I also took note of the other partially assembled vessels in the hangar. It was easy to identify the others as being of the Scout, Freighter, and Maintenance classes.

I spent more time watching the construction then I had realized and I was jolted back to the reality of the moment when I felt a slight vibration on the back of my neck and a message came through my data port in the voice of Major Sima. In a pleasant voice she reminded me of the time and bid me to wake up and meet her in the replicator alcove.

I responded quickly that I was on my way and made a dash from the hangar to the alcove. Along the way I contacted maintenance control and instructed them to send a bot over to my quarters to pack up my few belongings and take them to the ship.

When I arrived at the alcove the Major was standing there looking all sharp in her neatly pressed uniform, and here I was running in wearing the same clothing that she had left me in the previous evening. She may have had the walk of shame hairstyle, but here I was in the walk of shame outfit and neither of us had done anything the least bit shameful.

Sima handed me a hot mug of something that she called "jallah", but to me it tasted just like coffee. It was then that I came to the realization that every culture I have encountered so far, and that goes for the people who created the replicators some six thousand years ago, had a drink similar to coffee and tea.

As I accepted the drink from her, she informed me that our departure would be delayed for about an hour due to the unauthorized design changes that I had made. My heart skipped a beat as I knew that I had been caught. I paused for a second then went into my explanation as to why I made the changes. At first she was a bit confused by what I was telling her.

Sima confessed to me that she was not a pilot or combat officer and that her specialty was in administration and communication and that perhaps my training and past experience led me to make a better choice in ship design for us.

I looked at her for a moment, and then asked her who was going to fly the ship if she was not a pilot.

The autopilot was her response to my question.

I told her that this was unacceptable to me as she was possibly taking us into a hostile environment and was going to trust our lives to an autopilot.

I suspect that she had this all planned out but of course she never admitted it, but after I voiced my objection to the autopilot, she told me that if I felt better about it, she could request Central Command send us a pilot which could take days, or I could fly the ship if I thought I could handle it.

I smiled as her words struck home. I quickly accessed the flight deck information for the Explorer class ship and looked over the controls. I knew that this information was contained in the data that was downloaded into my brain while I was in the tank, and I recognized the controls as if I had used them before.

Of course I can handle it I told her.

With that said we finished our coffee and headed toward the hangar bay.

The Major went aboard our ship just as my personal items were placed in our sleeping quarters. I remained outside to do a preflight inspection of the ship's exterior just like they taught us at the academy. The walk around was pretty much just a formality but it was a good practice also, just to make sure that there were no tools or such left where they could cause damage to a running engine. It was also reassuring to know that there were no cracks, or structural damage to the hull or the landing struts.

As I made my way around the outside of the craft, I had my first chance to actually touch its external skin, and when my finger tips came in contact with the surface, they made slight indentations just as they would while giving a lover's skin a soft caress. It was then that the color of the external surface changed from gold to white, but the change was just under the area in contact with my fingertips. As I walked and kept in contact with the hull, a streak of white for each fingertip followed me then changed back into its golden color as I moved away.

I began to sense that the skin of the ship was a living organism. As I continued my walk around I was startled when the words, "Good Morning Kitty" were broadcast directly into my head without the use of my data port.

Good morning. How shall I address you?

I do not have name but the maintenance robots are calling me Galora One.

Galora One it is then.

Would you like to give me another name?

I can do that?

Yes you may. It is customary for Annu pilots to name their ships.

But I am not Annu.

Kitty, the DNA residue left on my skin from your touch indicates that you are indeed Annu.

I stopped my walk around immediately as I realized that this ship knew more about me than I did, and also could tell me more than the databases that I had been trying to access in the control center. Perhaps their database had been damaged, or perhaps it had been tampered with, but somehow the information that I was looking for was contained in this vessel's memory.

Galora One, your new name will be Sheba.

Understood, my new name is Sheba.

Sheba, file this conversation in a private area and restrict access to myself only.

Request filed and marked as ordered. Kitty, our launch time is approaching, please come aboard.

Thank you Sheba.

As I ascended the ramp leading to the interior of the ship, I pressed the palm of my hand against its skin one last time before entering. I felt a pleasant tingle emanating from the craft and within seconds the exterior color was changed from it antique looking gold color to a mottled series of grey, purple and black patches that resembled the pattern that a leopard's coat would have. I was amazed that Sheba knew that purple was my favorite color and changed her outward appearance for me.

I entered the walkway that traversed from the flight deck to the installed modules and as soon as I entered the doorway, I felt a formal connection to Sheba through the data port at the base of my skull and immediately I was seeing the technical readouts from the many sensors inside and outside the ship. I was now totally connected to the ship. To test the connection I ordered the external crew door to be closed and sealed and the ramp retracted into the hull. Within seconds my request had been carried out.

I went over the readings that were available to me and I knew that the engines and internal systems were ready and fully functional. I contacted Sima through her data port and asked if she was ready to depart. When she replied in the affirmative I gave Sheba the command to prepare for departure and made my way to the flight deck to take my place in the pilot's seat. This was just a formality as I now realized that I could control the ship from anywhere, but I preferred to be in the pilot's seat for take off.

The hangar bay was located under a huge stone landing pad to the South of the city, and once I gave the command to prepare for departure, the stone cover parted wide enough to allow us to pass through. When the closure was fully retracted the ship's engines roared to life. There was no need to strap in to the pilot's seat, though there was a safety harness available on both the pilot and co-pilot's seats for emergency use. The ship would transverse the distance from the ground to space via anti-gravity thrusters, which would give us a nice smooth ride that is unless we flew through some sort of storm.

With the engines online and powered up I gave the command to lift off and shortly after that we were clear of the hangar bay and on our way toward the darkness of space. Once we were clear of the planet's atmosphere and gravity I manually pitched the ship over so that the planet was visible through the flight deck's windows and got my first view of the planet Galora. It was a beautiful view from space. Galora closely resembled Earth from high orbit, except that Galora was much larger than Earth. I spent about ten minutes watching Galora shrink in the window and was totally captivated by the beauty of the spinning globe that I did not hear Sima enter the flight deck and was not aware of her presence until she parked herself in the co-pilots seat.

I looked at Sima, and then connected with Sheba without using my installed data port. I did not want to create any transmissions that Sima could possibly read or intercept, being that I did not really know her that well.

Sheba, log all activities and functions as private for my access only and encrypt data with my genetic code, DNA and brain wave patterns. Full biological scans to be required for access.

Request confirmed, security set as requested.

Once the security perimeters were set I instructed Sheba to take us to Udon and supplied the coordinates from my tablet. Once the course was locked in I brought the hyper drive online and adjusted the ship's heading. The ship sent out a bright amber pulse toward deep space and within seconds a swirling yellow jump point began to form. It did not take long for the point to fully form and firm up. Once the jump point was ready Sheba began a countdown starting at ten and working backwards. When the countdown reached zero the engines roared to life and sent is quickly into the spinning golden vortex. Once we passed through the vortex we lost our view of the stars and were surrounded by total darkness. We had no stars or heavenly bodies to navigate by. We were now locked on course toward Udon... that is if my navigational calculations were correct.