Chapter 10: A Leap of Faith

“What?” Ericson said in shock. “You got to be kidding me!”

“It is the only solution to this problem. I might not have all the data, but simulations in my programming indicate that the crew’s life is in danger. I need to do this. Please let me talk to the Captain or pass it along to him for him to consider it.”

Ericson had to think quickly. Each second was starting to become precious. The fact was that Minerva was most likely correct. The idea that she had actually made sense, but it was something that he had to make a decision on as well. It was a leap of faith, and it meant that he needed to bring it up to the captain. He put his hand to his chin as he considered it. She released her hand from the display, breaking the connection to the bridge. She had nothing further to say on the matter. She presented her case, and now it was up to everyone to carry it out.

“You are really sure about this?”

“It is the only solution. Any other action will only likely put the crew in further jeopardy.”

“Alright ... the only way it will be accepted is to have us both go to the bridge and talk to the Captain at the same time,” he told her.

“This will violate the Captain’s orders. Are you prepared to commit to an illogical action?”

Ericson responded by putting his hand to her shoulder. He smiled a little bit. Her ears and cat-like nose seemed to twitch a little bit as she looked at him in a perplexed state. “It is as you said. This is the perfect opportunity for you to make a name for yourself. We will have to violate the rules to make this happen. We need to help Akari and Dulari that are on the shuttle along with the others.”

She only seemed partially convinced as she looked at the hand on her shoulder. Her ears tuned to his direction before she looked at him again.

“There are nine minutes and four seconds left before the shuttle passes us,” she said.

“Then let’s do the crazy part and leave the room. Come on!”

He turned to the door and began to move as fast as he could. Minerva started to also move at a quick rate. Her digitigrade legs were like springs. The door opened up as he ran out to the passageway. She was close behind him as the door closed behind her.

“I know you downloaded the entire layout of the ship into your databanks,” he told her. “We will head over to the bridge as fast as we can move.”

They began to run down the passageway. Door after door passed by them as Minerva’s clawed feet clicked the deck below her. She was fast but only limited by the speed that Ericson was running.

“It is estimated that at this speed and rate that we will reach the bridge in less than three minutes.”

“Trying to run as fast as I can go!” he yelled back.

There was a simple blur of the two as they ran down the long corridor that led to the main ladder out of the centripetal ring. Their feet were pushing them as fast as they could run. If anyone saw them, it would appear as a synthetic cat-like android that was running behind a bearded man in a white jumpsuit. Of course, stranger things have happened before. This is the 24^th century, after all.

“Remember that we are heading into no gravity!” Ericson told her as he reached the pipe passageway ladder.

While she was running, Minerva, with both of her synthetic arms reached behind her and grabbed her hair. As Ericson was climbing up the ladder, within less than three seconds, she had done a rapid quick tie of her own hair. It was now shorter as it was tied up into a large bun. He would have been amazed if he had seen it, but he was moving as fast as he could up the pipe that led out of the centripetal ring.

She was quick as her feet gripped the ladder. She began to move with perfect efficiency as she would grip the ladder and move upward. She knew exactly what she was doing and how it had to be done.

“How are you doing?...” he stopped as he looked behind him and down the ladder. He was shocked to see how quickly she redid her hair. She stopped as she reached right up to his feet. He wasn’t even able to complete the sentence that he was going to ask her.

“Why have you stopped?” she asked. Her eyes were giving him a stern look.

He resumed his climbing. “Alright, I guess you mean what you said when you were operating at full efficiency.”

“I have full motor functions available for this body. I admit that I am adjusting to the rapid movements as we speak.”

“You don’t seem to be having any issues with it.”

“My calculations show that I would have reached the ladder in less than seventeen seconds after we left the computer lab. Even without you in front of me, it would have taken me eighteen point seven seconds to reach the ladder. This is also without the need to tie my hair up to prevent it from experiencing weightlessness.”

“Are you sure you can do this?” he asked her as he was nearing the exit point of the ladder chute.

“It is very likely possible I will accomplish this task. Several variables are currently in the way to make it succeed, though.”

Ericson didn’t have to think about it as he left the rotating ring and grabbed the handrails to lead him to the central section of the ship. He quickly got himself used to the weightlessness as he could see Minerva trying to exit the spinning mechanism as well. The spinning motion would place her at the top and then to the left of him as she leaped out and grabbed the hand railing. He passed the second rotating ring as he sat down on the deck, plating beyond it. His magnetic shoes clipped on and glued him to the deck plating. He could feel being weightless once again. The reality of leaving the rotating ring was all too real.

Minerva was right behind him as her body climbed past the second rotating ring. She swung her body to the deck as her digitigrade legs took most of the force of the impact of the landing. Her magnetic pads clicked on, keeping her to the deck.

There was at least a couple of seconds as she stopped to feel the motion of what was happening. Ericson turned around to see her reacting to being in a zero-g environment.

“Welcome to beyond the ring as we always say,” he told her. “This is what it is like for us to experience the lack of gravity.”

He turned around as he began to jog down the hall. His magnetic shoes were adjusting to the rapid movements, clicking on and off to allow his feet and legs to move as fast as he could. Careful attention had to be made, however. He could only run so fast even by this method. Running in absolute zero-g could cause a person to accidentally push too hard upward, not allowing the magnetic shoes to grab the deck properly. In other words, if you ran at your top speed, it was possible to launch yourself up into the ceiling accidentally. The crews on spaceships were very well aware of this and usually took precautions to avoid running down the halls except in emergencies.

Minerva began to run forward slowly at first but eventually reached Ericson’s speed. Her clawed feet and magnetic pads were natural and graceful. Ericson wasn’t used to how loud her running was, though. When she was walking around the computer lab, she barely generated any sound at all, but in a more emergency setting like this, her foot folly was much louder.

“Here is the elevator,” Ericson noted to Minerva as the doors opened up. He ran into it as Minerva got into it. “The elevator will take us straight up to the dorsal bridge. The captain should be there. Be ready for whatever may happen.”

“Noted,” she said.

He went and touched the panel as the elevator began to rise. It was a short trip lasting about ten seconds. It passed deck two and then deck 1. The elevator slowed down to a stop as it gave a light ping sound to indicate that they have reached their destination.

The doors opened up to reveal the large armored section of the bridge. Technically, there were no windows in this bridge. It was one long u-shaped room with a massive display screen. It provided a 270-degree arc of viewing with additional displays that showed the aft section of the ship. In reality, displays were all over the room. The bridge was about as high tech as it could ever look.

There were a couple of computer consoles that two random crew members had their hands on. Much like what Minerva was doing or what Ericson possessed, the crew had similar augmented left arms that were touching a control console. There were no keypads to these consoles as a series of lights would radiate from the hands. The crews that interacted with these consoles were essentially linked to the ship itself, giving out commands and being able to receive data in return. Console screens would depict the status of different components and equipment on the ship.

Ericson knew that Jabr and Akari didn’t carry one of these augmented arms, instead preferring to have a regular left arm or right arm to interact with equipment. Consoles were friendly towards either preferred choice. Jabr instead used a computer tablet to interact with others and equipment. He saw Jabr at one of the far-right consoles. A projected keypad on the console allowed him to interact with it.

The crew was all dressed in their red and blue jumpsuits. They were so busy that they didn’t even notice Ericson and Minerva’s arrival behind them. The captain instead was the first to figure it out when he turned around.

The captain’s response was instant. He had shut off his arm display and pointed his hand at Ericson and Minerva.

“You!” Captain Nguyen called out to Ericson. “We are in the middle of an emergency situation, and you dare show your face here!” his eyes looked at Minerva and knew immediately who she was. There was anger in his face. “You brought her here and disobeyed what I said!”

Some of the crew reacted when they turned to look at the scene. A couple of them quickly resumed their posts, but Jabr was taken off guard. Even he knew that shit was about to fly.

“Captain!” Ericson called out to him. “We have been monitoring the situation that is going on with the Gray Whale. This is Minerva, she has had a chance to evaluate the situation, and she wants to help out in rescuing the crew of the shuttle.”

Nguyen was angry but levelheaded. He gripped his knuckles but seemed to keep his composure. Nonetheless, he was pretty pissed at what he saw. It was the first time he saw the advanced AI and her body. His anger instead went towards the man that brought her to the bridge in the first place.

“You better have a damned good reason for showing up. My attention is to the crew on that shuttle right now. After this is over, I will have your head! Then she gets thrown into the scrap pile! You have put everyone in this bridge in danger.”

“Captain, I assure you that we are here to help you!” Ericson explained to him, but Nguyen shook his head. It was Minerva however, that seemed to calm him down, though.

“Captain Maxwell Nguyen,” Minerva replied in the calmest and steady voice. “My name is Minerva. I have had a chance to evaluate the situation that is going on with the shuttle. The priority goal is to rescue the crew of the shuttle. If I receive all the data, I can offer my services in helping them out.”

Nguyen, instead, simply gave her a blank stare. It seemed like her words, despite his feelings towards androids and AIs, were getting through to him. It seemed that reasoning was the victor at the moment. The captain had less to worry about than some robotic AI that was walking around the ship. He had a shuttle to recover and a crew to save.

“You are lucky, I don’t have a gun available, or I would have shot you. My attention is devoted to helping the shuttle and bringing them home.”

“I assure you, Captain, that my goal is the exact same,” she told him. “My friend is on board that shuttle. Her name is Akari.”

Again, these words seemed to affect him. He was getting more and more convinced every second. Ericson decided that anything else he said would only agitate the situation more. It was Minerva’s job now to explain her proposal, and it was up to the captain to accept it. Much was being waged at the moment, and everyone’s lives were on the line. Nguyen seemed to give her the breathing space to explain by being silent.

“I have reviewed every scenario in place,” Minerva explained. “The first step is for this ship to maintain a parallel course and speed with the shuttle. We can use the ship’s thrusters to bring the shuttle as close to the hangar deck as possible.”

“I had a similar idea, but the shuttle can’t land with the spin it is achieving. The sudden stop and impact will injure the shuttle crew. The tow cable will not be able to stop the shuttle either without causing a similar effect.”

“What is the status of the shuttle crew?”

The Captain pointed to one of the bridge crew. “What is the update on the shuttle crew?” he asked to answer her question.

The man that was Jeffry was behind his console, reading the data on the screen. “All five are in their spacesuits, but pilot Dulari reports a malfunction in her suit. She can maintain the air in her suit for twenty minutes. The crew is reporting nausea as the shuttle continues to spin.”

“There is your question, machine...” he told her, being a skeptic. “What does the smartest AI, have to offer to save the crew?”

“Once the Tyson reaches a close parallel and proximity with the shuttle, I believe that I can leap onto the shuttle from the open hangar.”

Ericson already knew the answer to this question, and it was an insane one. Even he would have never recommended it, but Minerva was determined. The crew needed help, and there was only one way to achieve it with the Tyson’s current resources. The captain himself displayed a similar reaction that he had as well.

“What?” Nguyen replied.

“Once I grab the shuttle hatch, I will then enter the sealed doors and enter the cabin. Once there, I will detach one of the two power cores that are in my body. From there, my core will be connected to the system of the shuttle and regain control of it. I can then slow down the shuttle and allow it to renter the hangar bay. I am the only one that can properly enter into space. My body does not need to worry about the frigid temperatures of space, nor do I need to worry about the lack of oxygen and air pressure. I am also the most expendable of the crew. My life to helping the five individuals is a logical assessment. Anytime utilized by the other crew to get into a spacesuit will only take more time to get to the shuttle.”

It was exactly what Nguyen needed to hear. He folded his arms as he looked at her. It actually made him smile.

“Navigator Jeffry, I want you to activate the forward thrusters. Bring this ship to a parallel course with the shuttle. I want you to bring that shuttle as close to the hangar bay as possible.”

Jeffry didn’t hesitate. “Aye, sir.”

“You are putting yourself at risk,” Ericson told her. “The shuttle is spinning, which will make it hard for you to grab it. You will only have one chance to grab the shuttle. If you leap and miss, you will be floating freely in space.”

They began to feel a slight pull forward. The ship’s forward thrusters were slowly getting hotter. Red flames were jetting out as the ship slowly began to move backward. The controlled burn was a careful one. Jeffry was trying to ensure that the ship would match the correct speed and proximity to the shuttle.

“Minerva can use a rope or cable to tie herself up,” Nguyen said. “If she misses, she can simply pull herself back and try again.”

“I will not miss,” she told both of them. “If my AI is in sync with the current course and speed of the Tyson and the shuttle, I can easily calculate the force needed for me to jump off from the hangar and onto the shuttle’s hull.”

“Yeah ... but what about your frame?” Ericson asked. “Your body can only handle so much damage.”

“I believe that my jump will be adequate enough for me to reach the shuttle without much damage. This is simple mathematics that my program can handle.”

The ship began to pick up speed. Jeffry was activating the other vectoring thrusters carefully as it began to shift a little bit to port. The main display screen showed the Gray Whale that was still spinning. It was moving at a moderate forward trajectory. The Tyson was having to perform a series of minor turns and adjustments to put itself as close to the shuttle as possible. Space might have been hostile towards human life, but the laws of physics were a friendly one to spaceships.

Ericson knew that the Tyson, just like any spaceship constructed by Mars, were fully capable of reaching the same speeds in reverse without issue or problem. Ship collisions were infrequent since there was so much space available. The sea of blackness could allow the shuttle to remain in that forward spin forever unless another gravitational body was to act on it. Jupiter and Europa obviously did have some effect on the shuttle and the Tyson, but the calculated thrusts already compensated for it.