CHAPTER 10

AID

Conservatory Chamber

As Jing walked around the base of the shaft, Victor joined him. The vegetation near the elevator was a kind of short grass-like plant, punctuated by small bushes and shrubs. They followed a worn path in the vegetation towards a nearby water source.

Victor, still looking forward, whispered, 'This place is strange. It reminds me of a zoo, but there aren't any people about.'

'I think we're right about poachers,' Jing commented, his voice low.

A small animal Jing didn't recognize, scurried out of a bush. The creature watched them from beside the path and didn't run when they walked past it. It looked like a small mouse but had six spindly legs and a gleam of something metallic on its head.

The pair looked at the creature as they walked past it.

'It didn't run,' Victor said.

'Maybe it's used to people.'

'If every animal in here is domesticated, then I don't think it's poachers.'

'Why not? Animals that don't run away when you want to catch them seems like a pretty good idea.'

'And a lot of work,' Victor pointed out.

They made it to the edge of the water and stopped. They looked around. Across the small stream, a herd of large quadrupeds with leathery brown hide were walking across their field of view. Jing looked around and said, 'Have you recognized anything yet?'

'One thing. I recognized one of the squat red bushes near the elevator. It's a bush that grows on the planet one of my cousins is on.'

Jing nodded. 'I've yet to recognize anything. We should see if Lenny has anything in the archive on some of these animal types.'

'I think we should keep Lenny dark for now,' Victor said.

Jing nodded and looked around. A flock of four-winged creatures with bright red feathers flew overhead. One of them let out a cry that reminded him of something he'd heard during his training in one of the U.P.N. training schools. He walked over to Victor and pointed at the birds.

'Don't those remind you of Admiral Tolmin's pet?'

'From Intelligence?' Victor asked.

'Yeah, him.'

Victor watch the creatures as they flew out of sight behind one of the support pillars. 'Jingo the bird? Yeah... they do.'

'Admiral Tolmin said his bird came from his home world. He got it as a gift from his father when he was promoted to Admiral.'

'I think you’re probably right, we should compare these animals to animals in our database. We could get a notion of the area of operation of this,' Victor looked around, 'conservatory.'

The two heard a noise, they turned around and saw the elevator coming into view again in the shaft.

'Let's get back,' Victor said, heading up the path. Jing followed him.

***

Sam turned around to see the elevator car come to a stop, another robot standing inside it. This robot was identical to the one that had brought them here. The doors to the car opened, and it stepped out, handing a package to the robot with them. The second robot got back on the elevator, and the car shifted down out of sight, back the way it had come.

'Which of your party is the injured?' the robot asked.

Sam pointed to Dan, who was leaning against John.

The robot stepped toward him and folded open the package, revealing an array of handheld medical tools. The robot grabbed one that looked like a gun with a screen on it and pointed it toward Dan. A pale light came from the end of the gun, and the screen displayed information relating to his body.

'He has fractured ribs, and a broken leg. I am also detecting signs of damage to his internal organs. However, they appear to have been stabilized.'

'We had treated him with our ship-based medical systems, but they are rudimentary,' Sam said.

'The procedures were exact in quality; you have a most skilled physician on board,' the robot commented.

'Oh, it was our Guardian, he's linked to our medical systems and has medical programming,' Jing replied.

The robot was silent for a moment. 'Guardians are usually not tasked with medical procedures.'

'Military Guardians can take on the extra uh... responsibilities depending on the skills of the crew,' Sam said, 'We are a small ship without a trained medical officer.'

'I see. Most interesting. It has been some time since I have heard of the advancements of Guardians,' The robot said and reached into a compartment on its side and pulled out several capsules, 'These will help with your pain.'

Dan took the capsules and popped one in his mouth. 'Thanks.'

'What kind of Guardian are you?' Ise asked.

'I am a...' the robot hesitated, 'A PE model Guardian core.'

'A PE? Those are ancient and were only used for mining operations and ship-based systems, how do you manage all this?' Jing asked, with a note of surprise.

'I was upgraded by the owners of the facility.'

'That can be dangerous,' Ise commented.

'It has not been without its trade-offs, but considering that I am not in charge of any humans, the risks are minimal. Now I am afraid this robot has duties to attend to and cannot remain here with you.'

'What about our injured crewman?' Sam said.

'He should be all right. I recommend you get him to a proper medical facility soon though.'

'We still have the matter of the alien pilot that we saw come here,' Sam said.

'I have not seen him, but if it is your responsibility to find him, then you may search the facility. You may not go to the lower levels though,' the robot replied.

'That would make a thorough search difficult.'

'If I spot the pilot in the lower levels, I will inform you. Now, this robot really must be on its way,' the robot said.

Sam frowned. 'Let us know if your owners come back, we'd like to ask them some questions.'

'Of course,' the robot said.

It turned and left.