Chapter Nine
"Here Goes Nothing!"
He began going from station to station setting controls. He finally sat down on the Commander's chair. "Computer," he said, "I'm warming up the turbines and the gravity lift units. I'll take you out of the structure manually, and up to one thousand feet. Then we'll disembark through the hatch and you'll take the ship on into the sun. Is that understood?"
"Directions are understood," the computer answered, "but I cannot comply. Following your directions would violate my first command."
The General closed his eyes. "First command?" he repeated very slowly. "First command does not apply. When we leave the ship there will be no organic life forms on board. The greater danger will be to other life forms if the bacteria in this ship contaminates a living world."
"Understood," the computer said, "and accepted. I will willingly destroy myself to protect organic life forms. But I cannot destroy the life forms in the hold, in order to save others, if an alternate course of action is available"
"Very well," the General said. "Why didn't you TELL me there were organic life forms in the hold?"
"You never asked," the computer answered.
The General shook his head. "Can you give me navigational headings to a world where the life forms can exist?"
"Negative," the computer answered. "I have not been programmed with that information. I know only that the life forms are crystalline based, and I must maintain a temperature in the hold of no less than one-hundred-and-fifty solars. These were the only instructions I was given. They were surviving well until my masters picked them up. Might I suggest returning them to the coordinates where found them; a volcanic crater on the planet Zed X? To carry out the task, however, I WILL need additional propellant. I do not have enough to take off and land."
The General rose and began to walk around irritatedly, began visiting each station again and making changes. Then he picked up the radio and began to call outside. "Captain, do you read?"
"Yes, sir," a voice came back full of static.
"We've got an unforeseen problem in here. I need a combustible fuel....anything....gasoline, kerosene, diesel, whatever you can find, pretty near a couple of hundred gallons. There's a universal filling hatch in the side of the ship, right stern. If you have to punch a hole through the wall to get hoses in, do it. But we're running out of time. We've only got a little over an hour."
"We've got our fuel truck, sir," the Captain answered, "but there's only about one hundred gallons left in it. We'll start pumping that while we're looking for more. If we have to drain our vehicles we'll get it, General! Can you come out to recharge your systems?"
"No," the General answered, "Every time we use that hatch increases the risk of an accident. We're staying put. Move it, man!"
"Yes, sir! We're working now, General."
The General shut off the radio. "Computer," he barked, "keep me advised on how the loading is going, and if the fuel is sufficient. Come on, Donald, let's have a look in the hold."
They opened the hold's outer door and went to the inner hatch to peer through its tiny window. Twelve objects could be seen hanging from straps around the hold. "They're BEAUTIFUL!" Donald exclaimed, "What are they?"
"Crystallines," the General answered, "one of the most beautiful life forms I have ever encountered; gentle, peaceful, non aggressive; absolutely no danger to anyone. I wondered what could have been so valuable that these fools would've landed on a quarantined world. Now I know. They're the most defiled kind of beings in the universe."
He motioned Donald back through the hatch, and continued talking as they left. "They were slavers! Crystallines' body parts are worth a fortune on the black market. They have many industrial uses, and young Crystallines are natural computers. Taken away from their parents at birth they can be programmed to perform BILLIONS of functions, sometimes whole planets are controlled by an enslaved Crystalline. A breeding stock like that in there would be worth a fortune to some unscrupulous race. No wonder they were willing to risk death!"
He went back out into the control room. "Computer," he asked, "how did your masters find their cargo?"
"They picked up an emergency signal," the computer answered. "Their ship was disabled and went down. They arrived before the rescue party, abducting these individuals. One of the crew, however, found an artifact of the native race and brought it on board. There was a decontamination failure, the rest you are aware of. They have finished loading the primary fuel. It is satisfactory but only half my need."
"They're working on it," the General answered.
"They must hurry!" the computer continued. "I have been calculating your air supply will barely be sufficient."
"I know!" the General answered, "I know!"
Minutes ticked by and slowly, agonizingly the men outside gathered fuel. It seemed like forever before the computer finally announced, "I have sufficient propellant."
The General had been busy setting the controls. "Good !" he cried. He picked up his radio. "Captain, get your people clear. We're getting out of here!"
"The last ones are out now, sir!" the Captain announced. "Good luck!"
The General again took the Commander's chair, began to flick levers, and turn dials. He picked up the detonator that would blow out the wall, said "Here goes nothing!" and pressed a button.