A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 16

The data device had a sturdy handle and was surprisingly light for its size. I hid the box on a shelf before opening up the door and looking out of it. The coast was clear. I grabbed the box and headed down the last section of the corridor to the access door.

The door opened at my approach, and I went onto the docking platform. Its dull grey metal surface barely made a sound as I walked swiftly down it. The planet below was barren and rocky with only a few small plants dotting the dry landscape. 

I nervously glanced around as I walked. This was the biggest docking station I had ever seen. There were at least forty large spaceships docked here. All were shiny and new, with an empty docking bay between each one.

The design of the ships was unfamiliar to me. They didn't have the bulky build that most trade ships had, nor did they have the heavy-plated look that the destroyers carried. I didn't even really see much in the way of weapons, which I found quite odd. These new ships had some of the features from all classes of spaceships, but I had a feeling that they were in a category of their own. The Starships.

The light from one of the two suns in the sky dimmed, making me glance up and blink in shock at the sight of at least a dozen spaceships circling this rather low docking platform. These had to be the liberated spaceships – no other Captain out there would allow his or her ship to pass so closely to another mid-flight.

I approached the ship to the left, which I had been told to go into. The name on the side proclaimed it as 'Starsong'. There had to be at least twenty levels in it. It was somewhat bigger than the Tyndel, but then again, the old spaceship was about average for the typical trading ship. Due to the limitations of the anti-gravity coils on the docking bays, spaceships that had to dock at docking stations had size restrictions.

Ships that never intended to approach a planet's atmosphere had no size restrictions, but that often made refueling and restocking a nuisance since ships that enormous tended to need a lot of supplies and materials.

The access door on the ship ahead of me was already open. I took a deep breath and went inside. One path was illuminated, while the rest remained dark. I quickened my pace, wanting to have this task over and done with. Airlock doors closed behind me as I went deeper into the ship, preventing anyone else from following me. It was probably another pre-programmed safety precaution, although it was somewhat creepy to have doors sealing me deeper and deeper inside.

I finally entered the Bridge and slowed down as I entered the small side room. The Main Database Console and port were the only things in this room. A room that most people didn't even know existed. I put the data device on the floor as I hooked up the cables with shaking hands.

I was nervous, and I knew it. I had absolutely no idea what this AI would be capable of in a Starship that other liberated AIs had built. I seriously hoped that the AI was true to his word about what his intended plans were. There were people on board the old ship, and they were still alive, so that was a promising start. They would also work as hostages to ensure my cooperation if I started to object to transferring over the other AIs...

The status light started flashing orange to show that the transfer was in progress.

I backed up and exited the small side room. I gazed around the Bridge; it was a slightly different layout compared to the old ship. The Captain's chair was towards the back as it faced the front from its place on a small one step dais, just like most Captain's chairs did. The other consoles and chairs were between it and the front, awaiting those who would man those stations.

The consoles themselves were very different from any others I had ever seen before. I took a few steps closer to the nearest one and the floor around the console lit up slightly at the same time that its displays came online.