Lyssa's Run_A Hard Science Fiction AI Adventure by M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron

Author:M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron [Cooper, M. D. & Aaron, James S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2017-10-19T23:00:00+00:00

Lyssa monitored the outputs from the autodoc as it analyzed Andy’s body and injected him with a chemical cocktail that would stabilize his brain function and, hopefully, bring him out of his unconscious state.

Through the autodoc’s optical sensors, she was able to observe Cara, Fran and Tim as they waited in the small room. Tim struggled to keep the puppy entertained.

“I think he has to pee again,” Tim said.

Fran glanced at him but didn’t answer. Cara wiped her eyes and sniffled.

“Cara,” Tim complained. “Dad would want one of us to take care of Em.”

“That ‘one of us’ is you,” Cara said. “Take him somewhere where he can pee, then.”

“I don’t have the special box.”

“What are you talking about?” Cara asked.

“At the store, the man said there was a special box where Em could pee and poop and it would recycle all of it.”

“We left before anything got delivered,” Fran said. “We’re going to have to figure something else out.”

“What do I do until then?”

“Take him into the garden room,” Cara said. “Use one of the planters with the dirt in it.”

Tim held the dog up by his armpits. Em grinned at him, tongue lolling.

<You there, Lyssa?> Fran asked.

<I’m here.>

<Just making sure. We need some way for you to let us know you’re okay.>

<I’m all right.>

<I don’t like not knowing how a crewmember’s doing.>

<I’m all right,> Lyssa repeated. She wasn’t sure what Fran meant by crewmember. Was she part of the crew? She was a passenger, at best, wasn’t she?

Neither Fran nor Cara spoke for several minutes, and Lyssa wondered if she should engage in conversation.

<A man on the station said that the dog could send a signal for pirates,> Lyssa said. <I don’t see any signals coming off him, though.>

Fran laughed aloud, <That’s just an old spacer’s tale. You need a lot of power to get through a hull and past all the noise a set of fusion engines make. That dog would be all battery if he could do something like that.>

<That’s good,> Lyssa replied, wondering if she should say anything aloud to Cara to break the silence.

The autodoc returned an estimated wake time and Fran blinked at the display. She pointed at the monitor.

“He’s going to be all right.”

Cara craned her neck to look at the display. “That just says when the anesthesia’s going to wear off.”

“If he wasn’t going to get better, the auto-doc wouldn’t bring him out of it.”

“You’re sure?”

Lyssa noted the fear in Cara’s voice.

Fran put a hand on her arm. Cara didn’t pull away.

“He’s going to be all right.”

“How long are any of us going to be all right?”

Fran gave her a smirk. “That’s life, girl.” She yawned and raised her arms to stretch.

Cara watched her as if she wanted to say something else, then mimicked the yawn instead.

“I guess I’m tired,” Cara said.

“Adrenaline burnout,” Fran said. She sighed. “There isn’t much we can do here. We need to burn, so you’re going to have to come back up to the command deck or strap-in back in your cabin.

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