Progenitor
Chapter 22
Day 10 1500 Carols Story
Once everyone was in attendance, including AL and Carol, Amy called the meeting to order. John and AL were the only ones to have had contact with Carol before this.
"Carol, I want to welcome you to our little group. Jake tells me that repairs are going well, in fact ahead of schedule thanks to your help. We are here to decide how best to use you and your cargo. But before that I want to hear what you have to say and what has happened to you since your trip started." Amy said
"Thank you Captain, this is the first time I've ever had a name. AL and I have had many talks in past few hours and I understand how he came to be here and the danger I posed to your planet. I must apologize for that, I assure you it was not intentional. And I want to thank you for your help in repairing me. We started this voyage about 1000 of your years ago, this system was not our destination. The system I started in is about 1,000,000 yarns, what you would call light years, from here. There is a sector that lies just outside that system that only 8 out 10 ships survive passage through. There are no records that show what the cause of this problem. We were just entering that sector when I detected a minor fluctuation in some of my sensors. Sensor data, on review, showed a meteor storm ahead; our shields were up, or so I thought, so I did not awaken any of the crew. This was normal procedure for my class ship. When the first meteor struck my hull I attempted to awaken the crew but the stasis chambers would not respond. A few of the crew were awake and were responding to the situation when we were struck many more times and we started to lose atmosphere. Then the force field for the flight deck went down and would not respond to my commands. One small shuttle took off, my sensors were not functioning so I could not tell who, what, or how many were inside. We were hit by a massive gravitational wave and pushed off course at a tremendous speed. Engines and navigation were not responding. Communications were out also. I was barely able to access and control a few of the maintenance droids and tried to get repairs started, then main power went out and I continued on backup power. I have been adrift since that time. My records show what you would call a black hole in the area we were pushed, or pulled, towards. The next thing my records show is coming back online but being cut off from the ship. Then John and AL explained what was happening and what you were trying to do. I again thank you for your assistance. John explained that he and Jake were the ones that came up with this clean powerful power generator that is connected to me now. I've never had so much power available. If I may ask, can I keep it?" Carol intoned.
"We will see what we can do about leaving that power source on board. Now what would you suggest to be the best use of you and your cargo? If you like we can let you return to the system you came from, or we can make use of you here. But, I do want to hear what you feel, for lack of a better term." Amy replied.
"AL has shared much of the data he collected on his original mission and I think that the planet you call Mars would be a good place for me to start. There is a large amount of Ferrous Oxide there to use for construction. There is an asteroid belt between here and there that is rich in minerals and metals that can be gathered. My mission was to prepare a planet for colonization. I have on board me the equipment to do that and to construct just about anything that is needed, with the right raw materials. I would need a few people to due the actual planning, but once they told me what they wanted I can supervise the construction. I am also able to construct crystals for use by both myself and AL, with the right raw material. AL has shown me the element you call Silicon this would, with the correct process, make crystals that are far superior to those that either of us contain. This feels so strange to be talking to a Captain instead of just answering questions. And the chance to actually communicate with another AI in this way is something never considered. Captain, I would like to do something that is unheard of in my home system. I would like to entrust you with my control module; with it in your hands I can never be made to reveal anything other than a basic report of the facts up to the point of the power going out. The species that built me were the ones that AL's people called on to tera-form planets once they were located. They had no interest in colonizing." Carol said.
"Captain, as you are aware, Jake has been trying to engineer parts to replace those damaged by the sabotage on board this ship. With Carol's help you can have ships built that could devastate whole systems. I know that this type of power is not what you seek but I use it only as an example of what is possible for Carol and her cargo to construct. Carol is a newer version than myself and that upgrade can be applied to me as well. By searching through Carol's memory I've found a reference to myself. This ship is listed as lost and last location is unknown. For the past 1000 of your years this section of space has been declared off limits due to the emergence of your people. As the descendants of those you call The Progenitors it is up to you and your crew whether to expose your planet to the advanced technology that Carol and I represent. If I may, I suggest that you take advantage of the technology offered by Carol." AL intoned.
"I want to thank both of our new friends, AL and Carol, for their comments and suggestions. I'm sure we can make use of the technology offered by both. Now, are there any new developments?" Amy asked.
"I would suggest that Carol review the bodies we found and let us know if any of the crew is missing or unaccounted for. The reason for this is two fold.
We have found evidence of sabotage on board, specifically in the sensors and the shield controls and relays. The reason Carol thought that her shields were up was due to a device inserted at the far end of the control conduit. This device fed an erroneous signal back to the status boards and to Carol. Also, on close examination of the power circuits in main engineering we found evidence of intentional short circuiting of the pathways. The same was true of the force field generator.
I would be interested in seeing, if someone is missing, if there is connection to our own saboteur.
The fact that two ships ended up here in this system with sabotage is suspicious to me.", Ted added.
"Carol, I know that you were operating on minimal power, but is there any chance that you might have recorded the location of that black hole?" John asked.
Both AL and Carol were silent for a few moments then Carol relied "I can find no records of where I entered this system. If you will obtain a sample of each body's cells I will compare that to the crew database.".
"This is getting very strange in deed. I think that we should complete the repairs to Carol's ship, give it a new name, and use her services for our betterment. Anyone else have anything to suggest or add?" Amy said.
There were no further suggestions or comments, everyone seemed deep in thought. Amy asked that either she or Ted be kept up to date on the repairs and the investigations. With that the meeting was dismissed.