Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Incident On Deck Forty-Three: Part 2
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Incident On Deck Forty-Three: Part 2
Continued...
The Lighthouse was a deep-space station made up of huge, linked structures and located about ten billion kilometres from Earth. As a result of wars and economic collapse it serviced fewer ships than it had been designed for, so few these days that most of its two-hundred strong crew were kept comatose in several deep sleep facilities. They were revived periodically, ostensibly in order to check systems and maintain physical condition, but more important was the prevention of deep psychosis that could occur during extended coma-sleep. The whole crew was only woken when a ship was due to arrive.
The section of the vast structure that Jamilah and Rob needed to reach was one that held several crew quarters and the huge, humming structure that housed the systems and servers that made up CyDar. Spinning slowly to create life-giving gravity, the structure was honeycombed by a series of mag-lev platforms that transported them to the designated area of damage in just under five minutes. The door was secure and the view through the doorscreen showed nothing.
“Cydar, please pressurise sections forty-three A through forty-three D.”
There was a long pause.
“I am unable to comply, Captain Hurford. That section is offline.”
They cut their comms and made faceplate contact.
“What the hell, Rob? How much damage would that take? We’d see something, surely?”
“Maybe. CyDar would have responded differently. She’s being deliberately vague, buying time perhaps. Let’s go in.”
They entered the suspect section, sealing the door behind them. To their left was a long row of general storage bays, built onto the interior wall of the hull. They had only travelled about forty metres along the corridor when the reason for the damage report became apparent. The door to area forty-three nineteen was warped, scorched and hanging from one hinge.
“CyDar, you seeing this?”
“Affirmative, Captain McCullen. It appears to have been burst open from the inside. There is apparent heat damage. Not a meteorite, that would have penetrated further.”
“Agreed. It would probably have gone right through the station.”
They reached the door and looked into the bay. A blackened, scored tubular object about two metres long was buried in the deck at an angle. A ring of extendable spokes had stopped it penetrating any further, bending the plates into a shallow crater. Half way up, a section of the tube was hanging open.
Jamilah pointed up, past the tube.
“Look at that. It punched through the hull and then stopped dead. Definitely not space debris.”
“No, it’s some sort of drone. Not one I’ve seen before, either. And it had a cargo.”
“An armed passenger, by the look of that door.” She inspected the tube interior and the floor below it. “There appear to be connecting points inside… No organic matter anywhere. I think it must be robotic.”
“CyDar, some form of AI has invaded The Lighthouse. We are unsure of its nature, but it may be capable of deadly force.” There was silence. “CyDar, can you hear me?”
“I have located the intruder, Captains.” There was a long pause. “It has invaded my central core. It is with me.”
to be continued......
(c) iamacamera 2022
Image: Lexica.art
View all episodes
By TuonelaContinued...
The Lighthouse was a deep-space station made up of huge, linked structures and located about ten billion kilometres from Earth. As a result of wars and economic collapse it serviced fewer ships than it had been designed for, so few these days that most of its two-hundred strong crew were kept comatose in several deep sleep facilities. They were revived periodically, ostensibly in order to check systems and maintain physical condition, but more important was the prevention of deep psychosis that could occur during extended coma-sleep. The whole crew was only woken when a ship was due to arrive.
The section of the vast structure that Jamilah and Rob needed to reach was one that held several crew quarters and the huge, humming structure that housed the systems and servers that made up CyDar. Spinning slowly to create life-giving gravity, the structure was honeycombed by a series of mag-lev platforms that transported them to the designated area of damage in just under five minutes. The door was secure and the view through the doorscreen showed nothing.
“Cydar, please pressurise sections forty-three A through forty-three D.”
There was a long pause.
“I am unable to comply, Captain Hurford. That section is offline.”
They cut their comms and made faceplate contact.
“What the hell, Rob? How much damage would that take? We’d see something, surely?”
“Maybe. CyDar would have responded differently. She’s being deliberately vague, buying time perhaps. Let’s go in.”
They entered the suspect section, sealing the door behind them. To their left was a long row of general storage bays, built onto the interior wall of the hull. They had only travelled about forty metres along the corridor when the reason for the damage report became apparent. The door to area forty-three nineteen was warped, scorched and hanging from one hinge.
“CyDar, you seeing this?”
“Affirmative, Captain McCullen. It appears to have been burst open from the inside. There is apparent heat damage. Not a meteorite, that would have penetrated further.”
“Agreed. It would probably have gone right through the station.”
They reached the door and looked into the bay. A blackened, scored tubular object about two metres long was buried in the deck at an angle. A ring of extendable spokes had stopped it penetrating any further, bending the plates into a shallow crater. Half way up, a section of the tube was hanging open.
Jamilah pointed up, past the tube.
“Look at that. It punched through the hull and then stopped dead. Definitely not space debris.”
“No, it’s some sort of drone. Not one I’ve seen before, either. And it had a cargo.”
“An armed passenger, by the look of that door.” She inspected the tube interior and the floor below it. “There appear to be connecting points inside… No organic matter anywhere. I think it must be robotic.”
“CyDar, some form of AI has invaded The Lighthouse. We are unsure of its nature, but it may be capable of deadly force.” There was silence. “CyDar, can you hear me?”
“I have located the intruder, Captains.” There was a long pause. “It has invaded my central core. It is with me.”
to be continued......
(c) iamacamera 2022
Image: Lexica.art