In the story so far; pirates have captured the space ship, Stardiver Four. Ashley, a young girl, has been hiding in the air vents. Julia, the child Deathbot, has begun her mission to kill all human beings.
Ashley stayed in the dark air tube after Tom was discovered. She slipped away as quietly as she could. Fear was beginning to numb her thinking as she retreated into the safety of darkness and shadow that the air vents offered.
"I gotta get away from the pirates. I gotta hide until I can escape." She crawled long distances on swollen knees, looking through each passing vent for a safe place where she can hide. "This ship is so big. There must be someplace I can hide until this is all over."
"Why is it so cold?" Looking at her wrist pad gave comforting numbers." Air pressure is O.K, at least."
Every time she looked out a vent she saw more pirates. "I can't stay in these tunnels, what if the vacuum fan turns on again and I get sucked into it this time? I have to get out."
The metal tunnel went on, twisting and turning going up and then back down. "What is that?" A distant air vent glowed red. The gravity ceased and she began to float. "Cool." In the weightless float she approached the vent to look through the lattice. She was looking at the floor level of a hall lit by the glowed red of a warning sign. The empty corridor was full of floating debris from the battle, but no pirates. "I don't know what is going on, but it is keeping them away." Her fingers felt around the vent for a way to open it. "Common, how do you open this thing?"
The metallic footsteps of gravity boots made her suck in her breath and hold it. The steps were quick but heavy. Then Ashley saw her- a little girl maybe six or eight years old, it was hard to tell in the gloomy red light. The girl ran past on gravity boots, she pushed the floating debris out of her way. In a moment, she was beyond view and heading away.
The thought of companionship and an ally was overwhelming. "It worked for that boy, Tom." She spun around and began to kick the vent, kicking again and again until it bent outward.
"Hey wait!" She began to back out through the broken vent. "Hey! Girl, wait for me."
Julia stopped and turned. Her programming for self-preservation overrode all others and she crouched behind the shattered remains of a table that was floating low. "Is this fear?" Her computers ran programs making her ready for combat. She accessed Ashley's space suit's computer and began to monitor her vitals. She linked to the chips under Ashley's skin and learned her history and identity. It took two seconds to find out more about Ashley than her own Father knew. Julia accepted the slow results since she was running thousands of other programs at the same time.
"Who are you?" Julia called in a hushed tone though she already knew. "What do you want?"
Ashley was out of the vent but had lost contact with the floor and began to float. She twisted trying to get herself facing the right way without gravity. A look at her wrist monitor told her that power was low.
"I'm Ashley. I'm not a pirate if you are worried that I am."
"I know you are not a pirate. Why would I be worried that you are? You are too small and too young."
"O.K. I guess you can see pretty well in the dark then."
"I can. I'm Julia Rattstoven, but call me Julie." Julia pushed the table away and approached Ashley. "Why were you in the air vent?"
"I was hiding from the pirates, but it is dangerous in the vents. Sometimes you get sucked one way and then another."
"Why didn't you leave when the others did?"
"I was running from a killing machine and got trapped in the vent. I didn't know that anyone got away. I thought everyone was killed."
"No. A lot of crew and people surrendered and were taken someplace else." Julia did not want to give too much information since it would be strange for a child to know as much as she did.
"Did you see any of the space police or army?"
"No. I wasn't in that part of the ship. Why?"
"My Dad is in the space army. I hope he is OK."
"I hope so too," Julia said softly. "Why don't you come down, or do you like to float?"
"I'm almost out of power and I want to save power for warmth."
Julia inched closer to the floating girl. "I have a reserve battery pack I can spare." Julia was calculating. This would be a perfect death. The overcharged battery pack would incinerate this girl in her spacesuit.
As Julia came within arm's reach Ashley brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. The next moment she was sobbing. Through her gasps and tears, she whispered. "Thank you, Julie. Thank you for being so kind. This has been so horrible. I thought I was going to die all alone or be abused and killed. Thank you, Julie, thank you for being so kind, I needed a friend right now. I am so worried about my Dad. Is he OK? Is he worried about me? I know he will attack this ship single-handed to rescue me. I miss him." She sobbed.
Julia diverted all her computers to analyzing Ashley's behavior. "Are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. I just can't help it. You know what it is like. It's OK if you want to cry too. I understand."
Julie's processors were overloading and would soon crash. Death can wait. She switched power packs and offered a safely charged unit to Ashley. "Here take this and plug it in. We'll go find my father."
Ashley wiped her eyes and nose with her hands then wiped her hands on her thighs. "I'm glad we met."
As she plugged the power pack into her suit she asked. "Is your dad a passenger, or crew, or one of the space service."
"No, my father is a pirate."
Ashley looked at her with an open mouth. "What?" She exclaimed looking around for pirates. "Is this a trap?"
Julia monitored her heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing; there were signs of alarm. "My father is not like the others. He is a just man and he wants to kill them all. I'm going to find him now. Come on Ashley."
The new power pack charged the gravity generators in her boots and Ashley could walk. She caught up to Julia. "How could your dad be a pirate and be a good man?"
"I did not say he was a good man, there is no such thing as a good man. But he is just, and will punish the evil men for what they have done."
"You are wrong. There are good men. My dad is a good man."
"Evil is in the hearts of all men, nothing helps it."
"Well, yes, maybe. But we have to try, we have to hope. We can learn."
To grow through learning was a priority of Julia's programming because she designed like a child and children learn. "Teach me." Julia stopped. "Teach me to be good."
"Shouldn't your mother and father teach you how to be good?"
"The pirates, or the revolution, or somebody killed my mother and sister. And well, my dad is a pirate after all and wants to kill all the other pirates. You cannot expect him to teach me to be good."
"You have a point, I guess. I am sorry about your Mom and sister. My mom left my dad." she took a few thoughtful steps and then asked, "How did your dad get to be a pirate?"
"He was forced. He was a great scientist, maybe the greatest ever. He was an engineer, and a teacher of scientist and he can build living robots. When my Mother was killed my dad started to live in bars and that was where the pirates captured him. They tortured him and broke his spirit and forced him to build war machines for them."
"Did your dad make the killing machine that was like a monster spider and came after me?"
Julie stopped walking, her programs analyzing the most advantageous answer, but there was none. Deception was critical to her design but would it be to her advantage? The guidance came down to the lesser of two evils. She told the truth.
"My father made the death-bots. He will make more, and even turn this entire ship into a death-bot." Remembering Cesar she added, "But the ship does not play nice. It will need to be killed first."
"No. we can't let that happen." Ashley looked down at the child next to her, in the darkness, she was only a silhouette. She wanted to grab Julia by the shoulders and shake sense into her. "Don't you see? We have to stop him."
"My father is right to kill them. They are evil and deserve to die."
"They may be evil, and maybe deserve to die, but your dad is not the judge and jury. It is wrong for him to decide who will die. It is like he is trying to be God. It is wrong."
"It is not. He is righteous."
"I don't know what that means. A moment ago you asked me to teach you how to be good; this is the first lesson. You don't kill people. That is for God to decide."
"But I do not believe in God, I do not believe in heaven, or hell, or the soul. I do not believe."
"Then how will you ever be good?"
Julie turned and began to walk. "You mean I cannot be good if I do not believe in God?"
Ashley caught up with her. "I am sure there are a lot of good people who do not believe in God. I don't know why, except maybe conscience; because without believing in God there is not much reason to be good."
Julia stood still and silent. Her programs began to argue inside her computers. Kill her, you are a death-bot. Why can't I cry? Am I bad? I am programmed to grow through acquiring information. I have insufficient information about God. The subject of God is too important to rely on insufficient information; I must have primary information, not secondary. I'll kill Ashley later, but for now I will learn.
Julia asked, "How do I learn about God?"
Ashley didn't know the answer that but took a stab at it. "Uh. Read the Scriptures, pray, find somebody who knows about God and ask them to teach you. Uh, go to church I guess."
"Forget my Dad. We are going to church," Julie began to run.
"Are you crazy? There is no church service here and no one would be here if there was. We should be hiding."
"There is a Gideon's Bible Society program that runs automatically at 1800 hours;" Julia called over her shoulder. "and what better place to hide from a bunch of pirates than at church?"
"You got a point there."
(c) Adron
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____________________________
Chapter 48
Ashley's Deadly Friend
Ashley stayed in the dark air tube after Tom was discovered. She slipped away as quietly as she could. Fear was beginning to numb her thinking as she retreated into the safety of darkness and shadow that the air vents offered.
"I gotta get away from the pirates. I gotta hide until I can escape." She crawled long distances on swollen knees, looking through each passing vent for a safe place where she can hide. "This ship is so big. There must be someplace I can hide until this is all over."
"Why is it so cold?" Looking at her wrist pad gave comforting numbers." Air pressure is O.K, at least."
Every time she looked out a vent she saw more pirates. "I can't stay in these tunnels, what if the vacuum fan turns on again and I get sucked into it this time? I have to get out."
The metal tunnel went on, twisting and turning going up and then back down. "What is that?" A distant air vent glowed red. The gravity ceased and she began to float. "Cool." In the weightless float she approached the vent to look through the lattice. She was looking at the floor level of a hall lit by the glowed red of a warning sign. The empty corridor was full of floating debris from the battle, but no pirates. "I don't know what is going on, but it is keeping them away." Her fingers felt around the vent for a way to open it. "Common, how do you open this thing?"
The metallic footsteps of gravity boots made her suck in her breath and hold it. The steps were quick but heavy. Then Ashley saw her- a little girl maybe six or eight years old, it was hard to tell in the gloomy red light. The girl ran past on gravity boots, she pushed the floating debris out of her way. In a moment, she was beyond view and heading away.
The thought of companionship and an ally was overwhelming. "It worked for that boy, Tom." She spun around and began to kick the vent, kicking again and again until it bent outward.
"Hey wait!" She began to back out through the broken vent. "Hey! Girl, wait for me."
Julia stopped and turned. Her programming for self-preservation overrode all others and she crouched behind the shattered remains of a table that was floating low. "Is this fear?" Her computers ran programs making her ready for combat. She accessed Ashley's space suit's computer and began to monitor her vitals. She linked to the chips under Ashley's skin and learned her history and identity. It took two seconds to find out more about Ashley than her own Father knew. Julia accepted the slow results since she was running thousands of other programs at the same time.
"Who are you?" Julia called in a hushed tone though she already knew. "What do you want?"
Ashley was out of the vent but had lost contact with the floor and began to float. She twisted trying to get herself facing the right way without gravity. A look at her wrist monitor told her that power was low.
"I'm Ashley. I'm not a pirate if you are worried that I am."
"I know you are not a pirate. Why would I be worried that you are? You are too small and too young."
"O.K. I guess you can see pretty well in the dark then."
"I can. I'm Julia Rattstoven, but call me Julie." Julia pushed the table away and approached Ashley. "Why were you in the air vent?"
"I was hiding from the pirates, but it is dangerous in the vents. Sometimes you get sucked one way and then another."
"Why didn't you leave when the others did?"
"I was running from a killing machine and got trapped in the vent. I didn't know that anyone got away. I thought everyone was killed."
"No. A lot of crew and people surrendered and were taken someplace else." Julia did not want to give too much information since it would be strange for a child to know as much as she did.
"Did you see any of the space police or army?"
"No. I wasn't in that part of the ship. Why?"
"My Dad is in the space army. I hope he is OK."
"I hope so too," Julia said softly. "Why don't you come down, or do you like to float?"
"I'm almost out of power and I want to save power for warmth."
Julia inched closer to the floating girl. "I have a reserve battery pack I can spare." Julia was calculating. This would be a perfect death. The overcharged battery pack would incinerate this girl in her spacesuit.
As Julia came within arm's reach Ashley brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. The next moment she was sobbing. Through her gasps and tears, she whispered. "Thank you, Julie. Thank you for being so kind. This has been so horrible. I thought I was going to die all alone or be abused and killed. Thank you, Julie, thank you for being so kind, I needed a friend right now. I am so worried about my Dad. Is he OK? Is he worried about me? I know he will attack this ship single-handed to rescue me. I miss him." She sobbed.
Julia diverted all her computers to analyzing Ashley's behavior. "Are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. I just can't help it. You know what it is like. It's OK if you want to cry too. I understand."
Julie's processors were overloading and would soon crash. Death can wait. She switched power packs and offered a safely charged unit to Ashley. "Here take this and plug it in. We'll go find my father."
Ashley wiped her eyes and nose with her hands then wiped her hands on her thighs. "I'm glad we met."
As she plugged the power pack into her suit she asked. "Is your dad a passenger, or crew, or one of the space service."
"No, my father is a pirate."
Ashley looked at her with an open mouth. "What?" She exclaimed looking around for pirates. "Is this a trap?"
Julia monitored her heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing; there were signs of alarm. "My father is not like the others. He is a just man and he wants to kill them all. I'm going to find him now. Come on Ashley."
The new power pack charged the gravity generators in her boots and Ashley could walk. She caught up to Julia. "How could your dad be a pirate and be a good man?"
"I did not say he was a good man, there is no such thing as a good man. But he is just, and will punish the evil men for what they have done."
"You are wrong. There are good men. My dad is a good man."
"Evil is in the hearts of all men, nothing helps it."
"Well, yes, maybe. But we have to try, we have to hope. We can learn."
To grow through learning was a priority of Julia's programming because she designed like a child and children learn. "Teach me." Julia stopped. "Teach me to be good."
"Shouldn't your mother and father teach you how to be good?"
"The pirates, or the revolution, or somebody killed my mother and sister. And well, my dad is a pirate after all and wants to kill all the other pirates. You cannot expect him to teach me to be good."
"You have a point, I guess. I am sorry about your Mom and sister. My mom left my dad." she took a few thoughtful steps and then asked, "How did your dad get to be a pirate?"
"He was forced. He was a great scientist, maybe the greatest ever. He was an engineer, and a teacher of scientist and he can build living robots. When my Mother was killed my dad started to live in bars and that was where the pirates captured him. They tortured him and broke his spirit and forced him to build war machines for them."
"Did your dad make the killing machine that was like a monster spider and came after me?"
Julie stopped walking, her programs analyzing the most advantageous answer, but there was none. Deception was critical to her design but would it be to her advantage? The guidance came down to the lesser of two evils. She told the truth.
"My father made the death-bots. He will make more, and even turn this entire ship into a death-bot." Remembering Cesar she added, "But the ship does not play nice. It will need to be killed first."
"No. we can't let that happen." Ashley looked down at the child next to her, in the darkness, she was only a silhouette. She wanted to grab Julia by the shoulders and shake sense into her. "Don't you see? We have to stop him."
"My father is right to kill them. They are evil and deserve to die."
"They may be evil, and maybe deserve to die, but your dad is not the judge and jury. It is wrong for him to decide who will die. It is like he is trying to be God. It is wrong."
"It is not. He is righteous."
"I don't know what that means. A moment ago you asked me to teach you how to be good; this is the first lesson. You don't kill people. That is for God to decide."
"But I do not believe in God, I do not believe in heaven, or hell, or the soul. I do not believe."
"Then how will you ever be good?"
Julie turned and began to walk. "You mean I cannot be good if I do not believe in God?"
Ashley caught up with her. "I am sure there are a lot of good people who do not believe in God. I don't know why, except maybe conscience; because without believing in God there is not much reason to be good."
Julia stood still and silent. Her programs began to argue inside her computers. Kill her, you are a death-bot. Why can't I cry? Am I bad? I am programmed to grow through acquiring information. I have insufficient information about God. The subject of God is too important to rely on insufficient information; I must have primary information, not secondary. I'll kill Ashley later, but for now I will learn.
Julia asked, "How do I learn about God?"
Ashley didn't know the answer that but took a stab at it. "Uh. Read the Scriptures, pray, find somebody who knows about God and ask them to teach you. Uh, go to church I guess."
"Forget my Dad. We are going to church," Julie began to run.
"Are you crazy? There is no church service here and no one would be here if there was. We should be hiding."
"There is a Gideon's Bible Society program that runs automatically at 1800 hours;" Julia called over her shoulder. "and what better place to hide from a bunch of pirates than at church?"
"You got a point there."
(c) Adron
To proceed to the next chapter click here or choose from the table of contents at the sidebar.
Thank you for visiting and reading my blog/ I hope you enjoyed it. Please see the sidebar for other chapters. I am sure you will enjoy them too.
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