Read Online MotherShip by Tony Chandler - Free Book Online
Authors: Tony Chandler
Tags: Science Fiction/Fantasy
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clung to his arm. The light beam on the sensor unit had automatically switched on as they tentatively stepped inside the dark interior. In the far, far distance, almost at the edge of their hearing, they could just make out the low thrumming of machinery.
“There's nobody in here, Kyle's right,” Jaric said.
Becky reached down to her waist and pulled out her blaster, still hanging on to Jaric's arm with her other hand. “Something's not right about this. Promise me you won't let Kyle get us into trouble.”
Jaric chuckled out loud. “If I can see it first with my sensor, then we won't get into trouble.”
“That doesn't make me feel better.” Becky urged Jaric forward with a nudge.
They joined Kyle. The three of them proceeded behind his dancing beam of light . The large room they first entered led them to a network of seemingly endless corridors.
Everywhere the light illuminated revealed a jumbled array of strewn furniture and other debris that littered their path. It seemed to be the remains of some terrible tragedy, but nowhere did they detect the slightest evidence of recent habitation.
The trio felt a gnawing doubt growing at the back of their minds.
Guardian followed without hesitation, communicating his visual sensors to Mother instantaneously. But just as Mother had deduced, as the children found the dusty stairwell and began descending, Guardian's communication link with her became disrupted.
“Stay at that point, Guardian. Children, do not proceed out of range from Guardian's sensors with you or I will lose contact with you completely.” Mother's voice emanated from Guardian's mouth. The battle robot's speech program was as primitive as the Fixer's and because his system programming had been devoted to battle algorithms and not to AI, he could only communicate the most basic commands via speech. At most times, Mother spoke through Guardian's systems with the children when they made planet-fall.
“Sure,” Kyle said with a confident smile. He turned and continued onward behind his dancing beam of light.
“There's something weird here,” Becky repeated as she looked furtively around into the forbidding darkness. The stairwell they stood next to was located at the far end of another large empty room after they had exited the main corridor.
“Well, my sensor reads nothing. So there can't be anything too weird,” Jaric whispered.
Jaric followed Kyle down into the well of darkness, the piercing light from his own hand-held light unit sending out a narrow beam that revealed their path for only a few meters ahead.
Becky took a deep breath, shook her head, and followed. She reached to her belt and pulled her own light unit out and flicked it on. Pointing the light with her left hand, she kept the blaster pointed down the beam of light with her right as she stepped down.
Guardian's red visuals watched as Becky disappeared into the darkness. This information was simultaneously routed to Mother. Now he tracked the children's sensor readings as they reached the first underground level. But as they began walking away from the staircase, their readings faded mysteriously—as if the children themselves were disappearing.
Mother's processors spiked with super-activity.
“Guardian, I have recalibrated my sensors to their greatest degree of detail.” A long pause of almost a millisecond ensued. “I have detected the faintest, almost distorted presence of T'ka...”
In that instant Mother's sensors were almost blinded as the hidden gun emplacement powered and fired, already pre-charged.
A human would never have reacted in time.
But in less than a quarter millisecond, Mother had raised her shields—enough to soften the blow.
Her primary power grid blew out with the sudden intensity of the direct hit. A moment later her backup replaced it, along with full shield strength. Mother routed power from every system for her weapons as her mighty engines roared to life.
Her manta-ray silhouette rose as
“There's nobody in here, Kyle's right,” Jaric said.
Becky reached down to her waist and pulled out her blaster, still hanging on to Jaric's arm with her other hand. “Something's not right about this. Promise me you won't let Kyle get us into trouble.”
Jaric chuckled out loud. “If I can see it first with my sensor, then we won't get into trouble.”
“That doesn't make me feel better.” Becky urged Jaric forward with a nudge.
They joined Kyle. The three of them proceeded behind his dancing beam of light . The large room they first entered led them to a network of seemingly endless corridors.
Everywhere the light illuminated revealed a jumbled array of strewn furniture and other debris that littered their path. It seemed to be the remains of some terrible tragedy, but nowhere did they detect the slightest evidence of recent habitation.
The trio felt a gnawing doubt growing at the back of their minds.
Guardian followed without hesitation, communicating his visual sensors to Mother instantaneously. But just as Mother had deduced, as the children found the dusty stairwell and began descending, Guardian's communication link with her became disrupted.
“Stay at that point, Guardian. Children, do not proceed out of range from Guardian's sensors with you or I will lose contact with you completely.” Mother's voice emanated from Guardian's mouth. The battle robot's speech program was as primitive as the Fixer's and because his system programming had been devoted to battle algorithms and not to AI, he could only communicate the most basic commands via speech. At most times, Mother spoke through Guardian's systems with the children when they made planet-fall.
“Sure,” Kyle said with a confident smile. He turned and continued onward behind his dancing beam of light.
“There's something weird here,” Becky repeated as she looked furtively around into the forbidding darkness. The stairwell they stood next to was located at the far end of another large empty room after they had exited the main corridor.
“Well, my sensor reads nothing. So there can't be anything too weird,” Jaric whispered.
Jaric followed Kyle down into the well of darkness, the piercing light from his own hand-held light unit sending out a narrow beam that revealed their path for only a few meters ahead.
Becky took a deep breath, shook her head, and followed. She reached to her belt and pulled her own light unit out and flicked it on. Pointing the light with her left hand, she kept the blaster pointed down the beam of light with her right as she stepped down.
Guardian's red visuals watched as Becky disappeared into the darkness. This information was simultaneously routed to Mother. Now he tracked the children's sensor readings as they reached the first underground level. But as they began walking away from the staircase, their readings faded mysteriously—as if the children themselves were disappearing.
Mother's processors spiked with super-activity.
“Guardian, I have recalibrated my sensors to their greatest degree of detail.” A long pause of almost a millisecond ensued. “I have detected the faintest, almost distorted presence of T'ka...”
In that instant Mother's sensors were almost blinded as the hidden gun emplacement powered and fired, already pre-charged.
A human would never have reacted in time.
But in less than a quarter millisecond, Mother had raised her shields—enough to soften the blow.
Her primary power grid blew out with the sudden intensity of the direct hit. A moment later her backup replaced it, along with full shield strength. Mother routed power from every system for her weapons as her mighty engines roared to life.
Her manta-ray silhouette rose as
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