AL CLARK - Avalon -: (Book Two) Page 9

  “It is quite straightforward. A verbal command such as, ‘Computer—workshop’, will activate the transport to the shop.

  When Al spoke the command, a circular section of the ceiling disappeared, and a similarly sized section of the floor lifted the explorers to the next level, the shop. When they stepped off the lift, the circle disappeared and became a solid floor.

  The rest area and the shop together made a cube, divided in two to make two large rooms. The work area was simple in design, and more extensive than expected, with three elevated work tables in the center, and complicated looking machinery surrounding the tables. Tiro appeared by a piece of equipment and spoke, “Computer—begin configuration,” and the machine came to life. Holographic displays came online, and control panels appeared with the designations written in English. Most of it made little sense to the majority of the team, except for Edward Florida. He went from panel to panel, recognizing some of the buttons, levers, and gauges. Still, he had many questions.

  “The storage devices we use are nothing like yours. How do I input my data?” he asked.

  “The easiest way would be to use printed material. Do you have the capability to print documents?”

  “I can do that,” Edward replied.

  “Place your documents here,” said the hologram while pointing at a slot in the shiny metal surface. “It will be converted to instructions the machine can interpret and the part requested will materialize here in the replicator chamber.” The alien indicated a four-foot-square box with a transparent plastic cover.

  While Edward and the alien hologram discussed details concerning the manufacture of the needed devices, the rest of the team spread out to look around. Robot Nine stood by the entrance to the transport cube, perfectly still, with only his eyes roving the room. He appeared to be doing little, but inside, he was very busy. Calculating risk parameters, air quality, conditions in the room that might be hazardous to the people he was assigned to protect, and status of communications with the outside world.

  Long ago, the robot was told to address Al Clark as ‘Chief’, but that designation did not seem to stick, and the robot consistently referred to him as Chief Clark. “We have not checked in with Camelot in two hours. Do you think we should go outside and check on their well-being Chief Clark?”

  After what happened last time, Al thought this a good idea, which generated a question he needed to ask Tiro. Walking over and interrupting their discussion, Al got the attention of Tiro. “If we split up, can we talk to each other on our communication devices?”

  “There is no internal shielding inside the complex. Only to the exterior and inside the sleeping compartments.”

  “Why the sleeping compartments?” Al asked.

  “Sleep to my people is sacred and regulated, and unless there is a significant danger to the outpost, disturbing someone during a sleep cycle is strictly forbidden. It is one of the reasons we live so long.”

  “All right, I can see that. What do you do if there is an emergency?”

  “We knock on the door.”

  It made sense to Al, and he was again reminded not to rely too much on technology.

  Al took Robot Nine with him and left the others to go outside and call Camelot. As soon as they materialized in the hangar bay, he called the captain to verify they could still communicate. The captain answered immediately, and this reassured Al that Tiro was truly there to help. They made their way to the hangar door hologram and stepped through to the outside world.

  “Come in Sid. Can you hear me?”

  “Yes sir, I read you loud and clear,” replied Sid.

  “Anything to report?”

  “Nothing specific sir, although there is one thing I should let you know. More people are getting sick. The medical staff and Doctor Cody are beginning to have a hard time keeping up.”

  “Weren’t the sick patients being isolated? Has the quarantine been broken?”

  “No sir, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Just today, five more people have come down sick and had to be added to the list. We had to modify one of the classrooms to make room.”

  “Just to be sure, I want you to assign an officer to both the clinic and the classroom. Post them outside the door, and give them a mask to wear. Make sure no one violates the quarantine.”

  “I will do that sir, can I ask where you are? I mean—when will you be back? People are starting to get spooked.”

  “We have a couple more things to do here, but we will be back by dark. Ask Doc Cody to post something on the network about the sickness, with an emphasis on preventing panic.”

  “Okay, will do sir.” Sid had been his second in command for several years and asked no more questions than necessary to perform his job.

  “Anything else?”

  “Nothing else sir. The watcher spotted a pair of Riktors, but they were a couple of miles out, and headed somewhere else.”

  “Okay Sid, I’ll see you when I get back. Take care—and keep your eyes open.”

  “Will do sir, see you tonight.”

  Al put his datapad back in his pocket and looked out towards Camelot. Halfway up the mountain, he had an excellent view, and could see for miles around their little village. He considered the advantages of posting someone here with a good pair of binoculars, freeing up the watcher for closer patrols. It was something worth thinking over.

  He and Robot Nine returned to the others to get caught up on their discoveries.

  Chris and Tammy were fussing over the replicator with Tiro answering their questions. Edward could be seen standing by the control panel and making notes on his pad. Elizabeth had her face inside an open console panel, trying to learn more about the inner workings of the advanced facility.

  After the couple seconds it took to get used to the fact that they had materialized in a new location, Robot Nine took his spot by the transport door, and Al walked over to his wife. “Complicated?” he asked.

  “It makes no sense at all. Mostly clear pipes, with microscopic wiring inside. Everything is color-coded though.” She thought for a second and then added, “I think I have a lot of learning to do.”

  Chris could be heard across the room exclaiming, “That is so great!”

  They all turned to see the reason for his excitement. With a large smile, he was holding up what appeared to be a clay water pitcher by its handle. Tammy was standing next to him, with her hands up to her mouth in amazement.

  He explained, “You ask for a pitcher, and you get a pitcher!”

  The replicator had a menu, and you could choose from many different necessary items. Chris had seen the water pitcher in a small hologram projected above the unit, and with Tiro’s assistance, had generated a perfectly glazed dark-red replica of the water container; complete with the lid off to the side.

  “I can’t imagine how many times I have wished for one of these. Great for tea, or coffee, or even cold water. There is only a couple in the whole settlement.”

  “Can your device make food, or drink?” Chris asked Tiro.

  “This machine is not for that purpose. We limit organic replications to the sleeping…cells.”

  “We can order food in the sleeping quarters?”

  “Yes, and selections can be made using Earth specifications.”

  Tammy had to interrupt, “Can I order hot chocolate?”

  Tiro’s hologram hesitated for only a second, searching some hidden database, and then found the answer to her question, “Yes ma’am, you may have hot chocolate.”

  Excitement ruled the room. This shop and the facility it was a part of was turning out to be the answer to a lot of their problems.

  Liz asked Al, “I didn’t think to check. Are the beds soft?” Can someone stay here and be…okay?”

  Tiro had answered Liz before Al had a chance. “This sentinel station that we called Visto is now yours to do with as you wish. It has been silent and unused for too long, and Visto needs occupation. Our time is long past, and we will not be returning. It is
my hope you will continue our research.”

  ****

  To nobody’s surprise, the Observatory was in the shape of a square. They had once again used the transporter and materialized into another clear cubicle. The descriptions beside the glowing buttons on the transporter pedestal had changed, and now they were labeled, from top to bottom: Observatory, Hanger Bay, Sleep Quarters, Sampling Room, and Library.

  The room they occupied was thirty feet by thirty feet with tapering walls that led to a peak thirty feet up. The walls and ceiling were barren, and in the center were four three-quarter sized chairs in a circle facing out towards the blank walls. Before each chair, control panels stood on pedestals, waiting to do what-ever-it-was that they did. On closer inspection, the instructions were in English.

  In one corner stood Tiro, waiting to be of assistance. He had what appeared to be a smile on his ancient, alien face as he said, “This is the best part of Visto and why I could not leave. If someone would just press the button marked ‘View’, on any of the consoles….”

  Chris was closest to a station, and with the impetuousness of youth, he reached down and touched the suggested icon. The walls glimmered for just a moment, and without warning—disappeared; taking with them the top of the mountain.

  They were standing on a platform at the peak of the summit, with nothing between them and the outside but an invisible force field. Thin blue lines made an outline of the room, indicating where the walls were and where they met the ceiling. The view was beyond belief.

  The team from Camelot stood in awe and were held speechless for a good five minutes.

  Their little circular town was visible in its entirety. Tiny people rushed around inside the encircling fence; going about their late afternoon activities. The sun was beginning to set, and the first of the fence lighting and streetlights were coming on. The natives’ small mountain with the cave entrance to their homes could be seen in the distance, even tinier people hanging clothes and children playing on the grass covered ledge. The river close by could be seen meandering through the landscape, ending over the horizon under the setting sun; far away in the distance.

  “If not for the trees, with some good binoculars we could see everything for thirty miles in all directions,” remarked Al.

  “You do not require…binoculars,” Tiro volunteered, “Turn on a monitor, and you will get a representation of the wall you are facing. Touch the screen to indicate where it is you want to expand, and the screen will show you the enlarged image.”

  Chris sat in the chair before the console and found it two sizes too small, “We will need to change these chairs…obviously,” he pointed out.

  He found the instructions and commands to be simple and user-friendly and soon had a crystal clear view of the front door of the community center on the monitor.

  “That looks like Mister Vanderson going into the center; probably going in to get supplies,” Chris said in amazement.

  The captain suggested, “We should post a couple people up here full time. Maybe work in shifts. From here we could spot anything of any size approaching the village.”

  They spent another half-hour spying on the valley, and finally decided they had to leave.

  “I’ll take first watch. I could even start right now,” Chris volunteered.

  The captain smiled and answered with, “It is going to be dark soon Chris, and there won’t be much to see. We can begin the rotation soon enough. I would like to become more familiar with this place before we turn people loose here.”

  The captain looked at his friends and then verbalized his thoughts, “We are going to have to tell the village about this place. I think a secret like this would be almost impossible to keep, and besides, we will need the co-operation of everybody regardless. For the time being, we will tell them we have discovered the facility and will use it to post lookouts to monitor the outskirts of Camelot. Other than that, we will have to keep the details secret until we learn more.”

  As the sun settled below the horizon, and the clouds glowed a rose colored red, they left the Visto Sentinel Station and headed home in the gathering darkness; vacating a place they did not want to leave.

  With the little cube needed to summon Tiro safely stored in a box located in Al’s pocket, the access badge of Tiro’s companion on a chain and hidden under his shirt, and the captain carrying the additional access cards, they felt they had the keys to improving their world.

  Chapter Seven

  Doctor Cody was becoming concerned. In the beginning, he was merely puzzled, but now the problem had turned serious. The malady that worried him was not in any of the databases and defied his search to locate its cause. The symptoms were flu-like, and if not treated soon enough, or aggressively enough, the result was apparently fatal. His first patient had died only hours ago.

  Cody worked all the harder to solve his perplexing puzzle. Because of the contagious nature of the disease, every patient displaying symptoms was immediately evacuated to the Excalibur and its medical facilities. Traveling back and forth between the ship and the planet left little time to sleep, and he was tired and agitated.

  As soon as he realized that planetary isolation was not working, he had implemented the evacuation protocol. Anyone with a runny nose, congestion, sneezing, or that felt tired or sick, was sent up to the ship in the next shuttle. This morning twenty-two people occupied the converted hiber-pod recovery rooms in the medical center. Now there were twenty-one.

  Currently, Cody was in the medical center using the computer assisted microscopes located in the main lab. With the help of the instruments, he had learned that the sickness was virus related. What concerned him was this particular virus was an unknown strain, and without precedent.

  The eradication of the flu virus on Earth happened years before their departure and when the researchers developed a vaccine that could deal with all the worst strains of the virus, the well to do people of Earth enjoyed an essentially flu-free planet.

  “I have managed to produce some of the vaccine used on Earth, but it does not seem to be working,” Cody explained to Al in his refined Haitian accent. “It is making me go crazy!”

  Al had come up to see how Cody was doing and also to check on Kira. When he entered the room and saw how the doctor looked, he asked, “When was the last time you had any sleep?”

  Doctor Cody looked up from the microscope’s eyepiece with weary eyes and sighed, “I do not know. Maybe three days?”

  “You look like crap Cody. You should take a break and get a shower…and some sleep.”

  “I do not have time. I have three other critical cases that require I find the answer to this sickness quickly.”

  “You’ve checked the obvious possibilities already…right?”

  “I have tested the water, both the underground rainwater tanks, and the river. I have checked most of our food stocks, and the contact we have with animals. I can find no connection. I am missing something, but I do not know what.”

  “I suggest rest Cody, you are working too hard, and when people do that, they can’t usually see the forest for the trees.”

  “Maybe you are right Al, as soon as I finish these samples, I will try to sleep. How was the trip to the mountain?”

  Al did not need more prodding to express his excitement about the Visto station. “You will not believe this place. There is a room at the top where the walls disappear, and you can see for miles. There are machines there that can reproduce almost anything you want; not to mention the transporters, and video records that go back a thousand years. There is also someone there named Tiro that can explain everything.”

  “Tiro?” Cody repeated.

  “Yes, he is a holographic guide created by the last survivor. I guess in his own image. Very helpful. You will have to go when you get this flu thing figured out.”

  “I look forward to that,” Cody replied in a distracted voice.

  Al could see he was keeping him from his work and stood up, “How is Kira doing?
Is she adapting to her situation?”

  “She is a very determined young woman, and can’t stop asking questions. I keep telling her she must be patient, but she does not listen.”

  “Does she like Edward’s music? The old stuff?

  “Why yes Mr. Clark, I believe she does. She plays it regularly and loudly. You should go see her. She wants very much to talk about what her new legs will be like, and she always seems to be in a better mood after talking to you.”

  It didn’t dawn on Al what his friend might mean until he realized she would soon be part robot, like him. Al smiled, patted his friend on the shoulder and left for a quick visit with Kira. Cody turned back to his quest for the cure.

  ****

  The community meeting the captain arranged occurred the previous night, and it did not go quite as expected when he informed the colonists of the sentinel station. “Inside the mountain to the west of Camelot, we have discovered a hidden research outpost, designed to monitor the inhabitants of this area.”

  The room fell silent. Only the soft whoosh of the air handlers could be heard as they waited for their mayor, the captain, to continue.

  “On our initial exploration we learned the facility was abandoned at least a thousand years ago, but still has power and ventilation. The prime advantage of this discovery is the lookout station located at the top of the mountain. From the top of that mountain, we can see for miles around; with an exceptional view of the village. This vantage point will allow us to maintain a watch for predators that intrude into our area.

  “Beginning very soon, there will be two people stationed at the lookout full time, and the senior staff will continue exploring the facility. We will ascertain the usefulness and safety of the various rooms and technology in a regulated, scientific method. I will make sure the team makes regular posts to the network keeping you up to date—are there any questions?”

  The captain told them the truth, for the most part. Too much information, given to people without context or proper education, inevitably leads to unintended consequences.