The Second War (Wars Without End Book 2) by David Collins

Author:David Collins [Collins, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

Waking

I awoke inside the medical chamber and heard Anderson's voice talking to me. My arm and back both hurt really bad.

“Keith Robinson, can you hear me?”

“What happened? Is the ship safe?”

“We have been making manual repairs for forty-eight hours so far. Diego Ortega went outside for a spacewalk with a grinder, cut down some flared debris from some of the holes, and put patches on the outside of the pressure hull. Some of the inside pressure hull damage will need a drone to fix, and we don't have those. We have two operational drones, but the AI cannot communicate with them. The AI needs to talk to you, and we jury-rigged this connection. Most of the ship is holding pressure.”

The mechanical voice said, “Please Identify.”

“This is Keith Robinson, captain of this ship.”

“Please list the last four digits of your nine-digit ID code.”

It took a few seconds to guess it wanted part of my SSAN, and I gave the numbers.”

“Acceptable response. This ship cannot make the appropriate repairs. A nonstandard quantum link connection has offered to initiate the ship's repairs. The time of arrival is listed as seventy-three hours and thirty-seven minutes. Should I accept the offer?”

“It doesn't sound like we have any choice.”

“Please respond with yes, no, or I need more time.”

“Yes.”

Anderson said, “What was that about?”

“I thought that was something you initiated.”

“No, Connect me to the AI again.

“Hello… Hello? Can you hear me? Hello…”

The mechanical voice said, “Redirecting all power to the medical pods. All processors will enter a hibernation state. Some individuals are in hardened suits that are not in medical or stasis pods. These must connect the suits to the external air supply ports as the ship's pressure will leak to unsafe levels in twenty-two hours.”

“I hope help arrives in a day. Did you look at the manual for extended periods on the external air connections?”

“Unfortunately, I did; I will have everyone remove the suits and put on the extended-wear diapers. No one can hold it for three days. I will have them also fill the helmet water tanks. I am having the medical pod put you back asleep. The display says you will need to be in there for five days. I will have it wake you when we know what is coming for rescue.”

“Thanks…”

Then I went back to sleep.

.. .. ..

I awoke an indeterminate period later, still trapped inside the medical pod.

A strange voice said, “Hello, the entity Luna indicated that you are the ship's captain. Are you Keith Robinson of species human?”

“Yes, I am. How is the ship? Who are you?”

“Good, you ask about the ship first. Was that a question about the entity Luna or the biological entities contained within her hull?”

“Both, actually, some of my crew, the biologicals, were prepared for an extended stay in uncomfortable suits with minimal sanitary features.”

“Those have already been transferred to spare medical pods we picked up from some ships we found. Several of the biologicals were in some distress, and I suspended the communication channel that was causing the problems.

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