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.