Space Viking's Throne by MERRY CHRISTMAS

Author:MERRY CHRISTMAS [CHRISTMAS, MERRY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pequod Press
Published: 2012-10-12T05:00:00+00:00

II

They gathered in Ladbrok’s new office to hear the final word on Merlin. The initial reports coming back from the computer specialists were disappointing.

“Will it do the job?” Morland asked.

“Oh no, sir,” said one of the specialists on Count Zhorgay’s staff. “From what we can tell, this computer hasn’t been maintained for seven or eight centuries—maybe more. It was an advanced model for its day; apparently, it was used by the Federation’s Terran Third Force Command to direct the war against the System States. Unfortunately, too many of the parts have deteriorated beyond repair and any replacements would have to be jury-rigged. Some of them are so far gone we’d need the original plans to replace them. It would take a miracle to get this old baby up and running.”

“I would have to agree,” said another specialist. “If we had detailed plans and the right machinery, we might be able to get it operating in a year or two. As it is…?” He threw out his hands in defeat.

“It would be a valuable exercise,” one engineer stated. “Who knows how much computer technology was lost after the Collapse? There is much we could learn from studying this old computer.”

Everyone in the room was quiet for a few seconds until an older woman spoke up. Morland couldn’t remember whether she was one of the computer specialists or one of the historians, who had eagerly flocked to the meeting based on rumors of what was discovered.

“I’m afraid my colleagues are right, Commodore,” she stated authoritatively. “This old computer is never going to amount to much. Even if this old machine still worked, it would have been slower than one of our modern computers. Computers always alternate between being able to compute massive amounts of data and being able to work very quickly. In the Old Federation large computers such as this one used machine language and were designed to be large data crunchers.”

“Thank you,” Morland said, wanting to cut off what he feared was a lecture on the history of computing machines. “I appreciate the effort all of you have put into this project on such short notice. I’ll let you know, if I need further help.”

After the room was vacated except for his command staff, Morland asked Giffard Zhorgay, “What is your estimate of how long you’ll need my ship’s computer?”

“I’ve gone over the design, Commodore. I estimate it will take between five and six G.S. months to complete the project thoroughly.”

He frowned.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the best estimate I can provide.”

Morland nodded. “Then I guess I’ll have to accept it.”

He gestured to Ladbrok and Zhorgay to accompany him and left the room. Ladbrok looked a little apprehensive over what might happen in his office while he was gone.

“Well, that was a waste of time. Who was that woman, Giffard?” Morland asked.

“Ursulla Hovenden,” Zhorgay replied. “She’s one of the best computer specialists on my staff. She’s not as knowledgeable as some of the others, but a lot more practical about what works, rather than what could work.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.