Chapter 5: Ivan

A few days later, Laine and Cathy visited the lido for a swim in the pool.

When they entered, they found Jem already there, in her usual hammock.

What they hadn’t expected was the hologram of the beach was different.

“You’ve changed the scenery!” said Laine.

“Yes, I changed it yesterday. I don’t understand why, but the sound relaxes me,” said Jem.

The surrounding hologram showed cliffs and a waterfall that appeared to feed into the pool. Laine noticed bubbles in the pool where the water seemed to arrive.

“I like it,” said Cathy.

“Care to join us for a swim, Commodore?”

“You go ahead without me, I like it where I am,” said Jem.

Laine and Cathy stowed their towels on recliners and climbed into the water. Although it was the same pool, the updated hologram made the experience new.

“It seems so real, and yet we’re not on a planet. We’re travelling through space,” said Cathy.

“Brian created this for us to unwind during our travels,” said Laine.

Cathy and Laine swam back and forth in the pool, chatting and soaking up the artificial sun.

A while later, Jem was feeling hungry. The heat and the simulated salty air gave her an appetite.

“Ship, please locate Lieutenant Saria,” said Jem.

“The Lieutenant is in the gymnasium, Commodore,” replied Ship.

“When she’s done there, ask her to join us for lunch here,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Jem stretched in the hammock and closed her eyes and listened to the waterfall.

Communal meals helped avoid a morale problem.

“I have a visitor?” I asked.

“A native is banging on the outer airlock and calling your name,” replied Ivan.

I put down the parts I was working on, stood up, and brushed the dust off my robe. I need to get a proper jumpsuit soon.

“Ivan, can you guide me back to the airlock? Please inform her I will be there soon,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ivan.

I left the engineering section and followed a trail of lights.

Soon, I stepped out through the airlock and into the valley. The sun was high in the sky.

The airlock door slid closed behind me as I took a deep breath.

“Ahh, that’s better,” I said.

In front of me, a female M’goo was kneeling, eyes downcast. A basket of food was beside her. She looked up briefly when I spoke.

“Please don’t kneel before me,” I said, concerned my actions were already harming these people.

She looked up at me.

“But you big magic!” she said.

“Not really,” I said.

“When I called for you, cave spirit said you coming,” she said. “Then you come.”

Cave spirit? How could I get out of this?

“I sent word, so you’d know I heard you,” I said.

She tilted her head as she tried to take in my words. Then she shrugged. Perhaps spirits and magic were the best explanations they could understand.

“D’Monds sent me to bring you food and water,” she said.

Since she remained kneeled, I got down to her level and sat on the ground next to her.

“Thank you. I guess I lost track of time,” I said.

She smiled and shrugged.

I looked at the basket.

“What is your name?” I asked.

She looked at me. “Ella,” she said.

“Will you eat with me, Ella?” I asked.

“I have already eaten. This is for you,” she replied. She moved the basket within my reach.

There was a pie containing meat and vegetables. I took a bite while she watched me. Before I finished the pie, she took a stopper off an earthenware bottle and poured me a drink.

“Thank you,” I said.

“D’Monds say you fix big magic,” she said.

“Yes. It may take a while,” I said.

“That good,” she said with a smile.

I soon finished my meal, so I stood. She gathered the items into her basket.

“I have to return to my work inside,” I said.

Ella nodded and left for the settlement. I returned to the airlock. The door opened, and I stepped through to resume my work.

I followed the lights back to the engineering section. It seemed dark and dusty in here after sitting outside in the sunshine.

I returned to the pile of parts and resumed my work. Ivan helped with advice. Unless I could make these old parts work, I was unlikely to build new ones from scratch.

Later, I had a working power cell plugged in to a charging port. With luck, I’d have one functioning maintenance bot soon.

Finally, I stood before a completed maintenance bot. I plugged in the power cell and waited for something to happen.

Nothing happened.

“Ivan, what now?” I asked.

“It should boot up now. Check the power couplings, Captain,” replied Ivan.

Half an hour later, I’d discovered dirty connections that blocked the power flow. I cleaned them and put it back together.

After about a minute, the diagnostic panel lit up.

“Captain, the maintenance bot completed the boot up sequence. It has connected to the network,” said Ivan. The AI almost sounded excited at the event.

“Good,” I said. I was tiring of messing around with millennia-old parts. I hoped this would be the start of something positive.

A moment later, the maintenance bot moved slowly away.

“Where’s it going?” I asked.

“First, it will build components for additional maintenance bots,” replied Ivan.

“That makes sense. Do you have a functioning communicator and a jumpsuit?” I asked.

“Try looking in the decontamination section,” said Ivan.

“Guide me there,” I said.

Lights came on, and I left engineering.

Once I arrived in decontamination, I didn’t find a jumpsuit. I found a communicator that someone had left plugged in to charge. I picked it up and called Ivan on it.

“Ivan, can you receive me?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” came the reply.

I put the communicator in the pocket of my robe.

“Will this communicator reach you from the settlement?” I asked.

“The exterior communications array is offline,” replied Ivan.

I sighed.

“Can you run a connection to the outer hull around the airlock? Use it as a makeshift antenna,” I said.

“I’ll add that task to the list,” replied Ivan.

“I plan to stay at the nearby settlement while repairs are underway. Contact me when you can, or when you need my services,” I said.

“Understood, Captain,” said Ivan.

I returned to the airlock. I’d done all I could for the day.

Once again, I stepped outside and breathed the fresh air.

I ambled back to the settlement, thinking about what to do next. With luck, the work I’d done today would restart the auto-repair systems. Ivan was prioritizing the repairs, and I could leave it to him. I’d have to check tomorrow.

At the settlement, I visited D’Monds. He was at his structure, sitting on the bench on his porch. I could swear he was eager to see me.

“Brian! How is it going?” he asked.

“The magic is ancient. It takes time to fix,” I replied.

He thought on my words.

“Ancient magic,” he said.

“Yes, and on the brink of failure. It was sorely in need of repair,” I said.

He smiled and nodded.

“You fix?” he asked.

“In time I will fix,” I replied.

He smiled enthusiastically.

“You hungry? We eat!” he said.

“Thank you, I’d like that,” I said.

Soon, food arrived. I sat with D’Monds as we ate an evening meal together. He seemed more genuine than Krolos, which comforted me with what I was doing for them.

“My niece Ella brought you food earlier today. She spoke of a cave spirit,” said D’Monds.

I almost choked on a mouthful of food, so I sipped on a cup of water.

“The spirit provides power to the big magic. I help the spirit fix it,” I said. I hoped this was enough of an answer for him.

He nodded.

“The big magic always helped the M’goo. Please tell cave spirit thank you,” he said.

“I will tell him tomorrow. It’s late and I need rest soon,” I said.

“Of course. Hard work fix big magic, need rest,” he said.

D’Monds clapped his hands, and Ella arrived. I guess she was waiting nearby for his call.

“She will walk you back to your structure,” he said.

Ella escorted me to my structure and left me to rest.

I’d intended to check in with Ivan and test the communicator, but I was too tired. Soon I was fast asleep.

I awoke to the sound of banging on the door. My mind was struggling, because it seemed I’d only just gone to sleep.

I was still groggy when D’Monds entered and approached my bed.

“Brian! Something has happened,” he said. His face looked anxious.

I rolled to my side and sat up, trying to clear the sleep from my brain. How I wished I had a cup of coffee.

He helped me to my feet and guided me outside and towards the waterfall, only the waterfall wasn’t there!

“See!” he said.

“Crap,” I swore in Ori. D’Monds looked at me strangely.

“I will go fix. You send out scouts to the valley below,” I said.

He nodded and yelled at several other M’goo. I turned in the cave’s direction.

D’Monds soon caught up with me. “What happened?” he asked.

“I will find out. Please tell everyone to remain calm,” I replied. I didn’t want to explain more, or have him insist to join me inside the cave. I’d already said too much about cave spirits.

He nodded and left to talk with the others.

I arrived at the cave and entered through the airlock.

“Ivan, status report,” I said tersely.