A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 9

Cynthia walked beside me as we entered the Medical Bay. The same lady greeted me, "Oh, you just missed Steve. He was discharged as being fit for duty two hours ago."

I really wanted to throttle the Maintenance Overseer for his terrible timing. To get discharged after I had spent far too many hours playing with that food heater...

I smiled at the friendly lady. "I was actually coming for a regular check-up. The Cargo Bay is usually too busy when we leave port for me to stop in easily. Do you happen to have time for a check-up?"

The medic was happy for something to do and smiled as she replied, "Of course. Right this way please."

She took me to a small side room as Cynthia tagged along. I knew the drill and stepped into the cylinder-shaped tube. The front and back were open so that those who were claustrophobic didn't have any problems, although I wasn't bothered by tight spaces.

The medic was already at the console and the scanning bars started humming. I closed my eyes against the bright light as they moved up and down through the cylinder to scan every inch of my body.

"The scan is done."

I opened my eyes and stepped out of the tube. I made a face at the panel with a tracing of a hand on it, but obediently put my hand where it was supposed to go. I felt a prick as the machine stole a small skin and blood sample.

I waited several minutes for the machines to give the medic a verdict.

The medic scanned through everything on her screen. "Your neural readings are a bit higher than normal. I assume you had a stressful day today?"

I made a face. "You have no idea..."

She smiled in understanding, having been around Steve for two days, she probably knew that I was doing most of the work in both areas. "Other than that, everything else is perfect. Please stop by soon."

"Thank you very much. Have a good evening."

"You too."

I glanced at Cynthia as we left the Medical Bay. "Happy now?"

She thought for a moment before replying, "Not really... You left those treats on your bed, and I only had one so far." She took off running full tilt.

"Hey! Those are mine!" I started to run after her, but she was one of those people who resembled a lightning bolt if she had incentive.

I shook my head as I slowed to a stop. There was no reason to work harder when I could work smarter. I pulled out my Analyzer and quickly revoked her access to my room. Those little tidbits were safe now. I decided to go for a shower on this level, just so she couldn't easily find me.

*         *        *

Days passed by slowly, and I was starting to get excited since we were only a day away from docking. We would stay in port for five days, and I would be able to leave the spaceship every evening, as well as have one full day off as part of my ship-leave. Otherwise, my days would be very busy as I helped shuffle cargo around.

I had programmed my Analyzer to alert me if any tickets were submitted from the Bridge's dining area, but none came through, and from Steve's silence, I doubted that he had seen my electrical job yet.

The alert wouldn't stop him from taking the ticket, but it would give me a much-needed heads-up. Work in the Cargo Bay was starting to pick up though, so Steve had to look after his own tickets.

I was currently sitting in one of the cargo forklifts as I moved a crate into a storage area closer to the loading docks. The crates weren't much bigger than the machine I was driving. Smaller crates fit through doors and loading docks easier, which was a good thing since some ports were not well equipped for moving things around.

I carefully stacked it on top of several other crates and marked it as moved on my Analyzer. A flashing orange light on the control panel of the forklift made me sigh.

I used the Analyzer to scan the machine, unsurprised to see that one faulty part had finally failed. This machine was in such bad shape that even the rather cheap Captain was willing to buy two new ones. I turned the machine off and walked back to the parts cabinet for the replacement part.

It reminded me of the spaceship's accusation, that there were plans to turn the ship into scrap metal. This ship was an older model, which was probably getting close to being replaced. Although I am not sure why the AI was so concerned; most Captains simply transfer the AI over to the new ship, since it is familiar with how things normally worked with that crew and schedule, as well as being aware of potential troubles we may come across if it has encountered them before.

The spaceship, its main computer, and the AI were so closely interwoven that they were often considered to be more or less one entity. Perhaps the AI had thought that as well. I rounded the corner and my steps hesitated as I realized that Steve was in Mack's office.

There was no ticket for that food heater, and I can't see him just checking it out of curiosity, unless he wandered through and the cook mentioned something... The door was mostly shut though, showing that they did not wish to be disturbed.

I approached the wall beside the office and examined the shelving of the cabinet as I searched for the proper part. Their low voices came through the nearby door.

"We haven't been able to get full control of that system, ever since the ship tried to take over. The Navigation system seems to be working well enough, and the engines are keeping us on course, but we can't change future destinations. The software is completely locked up and no override works."

Mack sounded slightly worried. "We are still going to the Telbert planet, right?"

"Yeah, thrusters and engines and all of that are working and responding, but we can't change any of the destinations."

"Once we are docked, we can always have it fixed."

I quietly removed the part from the shelf and started edging away from the door. If I was caught eavesdropping, even inadvertently, it would not be a good thing. I listened closely, but was ready to duck behind some of the loading bay machines at a moment's notice.

"That is what the computer technicians told them. It isn't the console or physical components, at least as far as we can tell. Considering it happened after that upgrade, we are positive the problem is software related and possibly due to how the upgrade was reversed. Took some arguing with the Captain, but they plan to leave it alone until we are safely docked."

That was a relief. I didn't want people to dabble with important software systems when we were so close to a planet while things were still working well enough to get us there. I had experienced one close call already.

"At least someone has some brains."

"Yeah. Just keep it quiet, else it could cause panic, and we are still too far away from solid ground to have the crew freaking out."

Their talk turned to some intergalactic sports game, and I decided that I had overheard enough. I crept away before I got caught so close to the office. I went back to the cargo forklift and replaced the part before moving onto my next ticket.

I drove the forklift towards the next crate as my mind whirled through the implications of what I had overheard. One thing was certain though, I wanted to be on Terra Firma when they tried to correct that software.

And the first thing on my list of supplies to buy during ship-leave was an oxygen tank that could be refilled with just a few oxygen crystals...