Chapter 5: Chapter Thirteen: Sparta’s Trouble

Chapter Thirteen

Sparta's Trouble

 

SHE ESCORTED THE researchers and Sparta to Reuven’s office in the Exoplanet laboratory, where she immediately confiscated their rank insignia pins. Jasmine and Madison were both speechless. While Diego and Joseph whispered about how they’d get out of this trouble because they were simply following orders, Scotty and Sparta agreed to go immediately to the leadership and brief them on Just Five More Minutes, Mom and their theories as to why it had been attacked. Fossil Crater was under surveillance, and its spacecraft were being damaged, but worse of all was the fact that a new, destructive technology was ticking down to an explosion that could destroy the entire spaceport. Throw Zoran Voloshin into the mix and the doctors would have a full-blown conspiracy.

            What Electra and Aldrich didn’t know however, was that Doctor Stryker and Doctor Stratton had been watching everything while it unfolded in real time, and they both knew who had attacked the Boomerang.

            “Sparta, I should’ve known this was going to happen,” Reuven growled.     

             Scotty took Sparta’s shoulders in his hands, but he wiggled away and stepped forward. “All of our work is far away from the threat of destruction now. A copy of the Geneware is safe in deep space, and we can retrieve the satellite at our convenience.”

            “Everyone knows that Zoran is on his way here. But we didn’t know he has weapons and is planning to attack the spaceport.”

            Reuven glared at Scotty for a second and then fixed his eyes on Sparta.

            “I’m more disturbed than I am angry. You’re programmed to oversee the observatory, not the launch complex. And why are you concerned with what’s occurring in the laboratory?”

            “Sir, the spaceport and its animals are in imminent danger,” Sparta edified. “I evacuated our technology, and I wish to evacuate all of the extraterrestrial life too. I believe Doctor Voloshin desires to confiscate the Star Nexus so he can further his machinations.”

            “Well, I was warned about this phenomenon during the development phase of our robotics platform,” Reuven said. “Your self-improvement cycles have become uncontrollable, Sparta. You’re making decisions, and robots are not allowed to make decisions, especially decisions that involve this spaceport’s future. How do I know you didn’t hand over everything to Zoran?”

            Sparta moved his gaze to the office floor. He truly believed he was being helpful to the people who had allowed him to blossom into existence. Of course, five others were in trouble too, because of the decisions he’d made, and he didn’t see himself getting out of this mess without a harsh punishment.

            “I’m so mad right now. One of my robots misusing a spacecraft and misappropriating technology. And you coerced five researchers, two of which are close to being promoted, to help you with this criminal act.”

            Madison and Jasmine stood as still as statues.

            “You three are here because of Doctor Stryker and Doctor Stratton. You’ll do what they say. The robots are very skilled craftsmen, but they function through code that has been written into their hard drives, not by any creeds or ideologies they suddenly and unexpectantly develop. All five of you are on probation, and as for you Sparta…you’ve left me no choice.”

            “What!” Scotty roared. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

            “Silence!” Electra shouted.

            “Doctor Reuven, please. What are you gonna do to Sparta!”

            Aldrich turned his attention to Scotty. “It’s none of your business. Now, you little troublemakers get back to your rooms, and don’t forget that you’re on probation. Sparta, you stay.”

            What sort of tribulations were awaiting poor Sparta? He was only trying to help but had gotten into big trouble. Just as bad, the Astrophel children were on probation, and their only two friends were on probation. The Cybernetics program, Zoran, the data terminal, and the innocent extraterrestrial animals, it was almost too much to handle. But as Scotty lay in bed, he pieced together the puzzle.

*

Scotty remained awake the entire night. He attempted to contact Sparta over thirty times via his Helix, but to no avail. It seemed as if he had powered down the comms side, but there was no way to be sure. He knew the android possessed a high level of intelligence and was capable of making complex decisions, but that fact did very little to sooth Scotty’s frayed nerves.

            When the light of the new day spread across Fossil Crater, all five scattered and ventured out to search for Sparta. Scotty made his way to the observatory, Diego went back to the mission control building, Joseph scoured through the laboratory, and Madison and Jasmine looked for him in the biodome. He was nowhere to be found. It seemed as if he had vanished.

            Did Reuven do Sparta in? And with the help of Electra and Aldrich of all people. Scotty walked all the way back to the residencia, on the verge of crying and exploding in anger. How could he have left Sparta in such horrible and dangerous company. How could he have made such a poor decision. The evil faction, that’s how. They seemed to be outnumbered, and inside Reuven’s office they were not only outnumbered but in danger.

            “He’ll turn up in a few hours,” Diego said. “Last year Penelope disappeared for two weeks. Come to find out, she was helping with some research work down in Tasmania. I tried to tell everybody that she-”

            “But Penelope hadn’t been targeted by certain staff members,” Madison said, and her tone was laced with dread and fear.

            “Now what do we do?” Joseph said, but the remark was directed at Scotty. “We sort of needed Sparta to help us shut down the self-destruct tech.”

            Scotty fixed his eyes on his brother but said nothing.

            “Why did you let that happen? You should’ve stopped him.”

            Madison and Jasmine crossed the room and stood before Joseph, as Scotty had gotten to his feet and taken a couple of steps toward his brother.

            “He said he wanted us to help. The robots won’t do anything I say anyway, so, shut up.”

            “No, you shut up,” Joseph said, and took a step backward. “We helped Sparta get into trouble, and now we don’t know where he is.”

            “We’ll find him, Joe!” Scotty shouted. “So, get off my back.”

            Hermes and Artemis were curious, too. They were both alarmed by the fact that they could not communicate with Sparta, and all of the androids were interconnected through the Helix technology. Artemis had cut his workday short to conduct a little investigating of his own.

            Scotty reported to the exoculture room after lunch, but he was not in the mood to do research. His anger and anxiety were getting the best of him, and he couldn’t get an image out of his mind. It was one of Sparta standing with Electra and Aldrich in Reuven’s office, an expression of concern on his face. Joseph was at the observatory, and it was Jasmine’s turn to rotate through the biodome. They both went through the motions of feeding the Struve 2398 Bat-eared foxes and the Ross 128 flying mice, watering the Epsilon Eridani strawberry plants, deciphering the end-of-run reports, reading all about the discovery of a new exoplanet, and how a colony of Wolf 359 velvet ice ants had destroyed an Exoplanet Surveyor I rover on the snowy surface of a small ice world six light years from us.

            Then, roughly an hour or so before the end of the duty day, Scotty once again became a victim of an unusual circumstance. Escorting a hyper sleep pod from quarantine to the exoculture room, he heard Reuven talking from the veterinary science suite up the hall. As he closed the distance, he heard Tarsus’s voice.

            “He is in the LEAP room, and he will not get in our way again, ever.”

            “Yes, and any other robots that cause trouble will meet the same fate.”

            Those words chilled Scotty to his core, and he almost dropped the metal pod on his feet. He turned to walk down the accessway, where he would step back into an office and hide in the darkness. He got three steps, and both Reuven and Tarsus came hurrying out of the suite arguing about what to do next. They turned and walked to the airlock, never realizing Scotty had been in the accessway and had heard part of their top-secret conversation.

            He returned the pod to the quarantine room, speed walked through the laboratory, and ran to Cyborg Park.

            At least he’d discovered where Sparta was at. That was half of the mystery, and he would have to recruit a little help to solve the remainder. What could Tarsus have possibly done to Sparta to make sure he’d never interfere again? But the most important question was…

            “What’s the LEAP room?” Scotty asked between deep, labored breaths, and then collapsed onto a stainless steel park bench.

            “The local electrode atom probe,” Diego said. “And that room is inside Building Zero. But I put Reuven’s keycard back in his locker, and-”

            “My keycard has been upgraded,” Scotty said. “I can get in now.”

            “We can’t go back there,” Madison snapped. “There are dangerous security drones there.”

            “I have countermeasures in my Helix.”

            “How did you get-”

            Scotty cut him off with this, “and I can shut their weapons down if I have to.”

            “Oh, well, maybe you should practice first,” Jasmine said.

            Scotty shook his head to say no, but said, “We have to locate Sparta and get him out of the trouble he’s in. So, who’s with me?”

            Images of an incredible adventure formed in Diego’s mind, but Madison had a plan of her own.

            “I’ll inform Doctor Stryker. We have to. It’s what we should have done yesterday. We’re on probation now, so if we get caught in the Astraeus Laboratory, we’ll all get a discharge package.”

            “So, we tell him what?” Scotty asked, and got to his feet. “That we helped a robot sneak secrets out of Fossil Crater, got caught launching a spacecraft, placed on probation, and now we’re planning on searching for the robot in a top-secret facility? In his eyes, we’re five goofy kids who will only make him look foolish in front of the other adults. The other robots won’t help us, now that Sparta has disappeared. Even Slade will laugh and probably turn us in. Oh, and don’t forget that we’ll have to explain how we already know how to get in and out of Building Zero. I can shut down the weapon programs in the quads. I can get us all through this mission without a scratch.”

            Madison lowered her shoulders and moved her gaze to Diego.

            “What time do we leave out?” he asked.

            “Let’s all change into our surface excursion uniforms and meet at the residencia.”

*

At nine o’clock that night they were standing in front of the residencia, appearing a little nervous but eager to find Sparta. Scotty and Diego were hammering out a few simple perimeters so as to avoid getting harmed, and they crafted an escape plan in case everything fell apart.

            “Let’s load up,” Scotty said, as a shuttlecraft slowed to a stop at the Aero bus stop shelter. “We’ll get off at the park.”

            A minute later and the shuttlecraft resumed its programmed route and headed to Cyborg Park. They were quiet at first, but then Madison allowed her fears to manifest as pointless chitchat.

            “Once again, the Astraeus Laboratory is a top-secret facility,” she said. “Security is particularly high, but Scotty says he can help with that. However, if we’re caught by the staff, we’ll face disciplinary action, up to and including reduction of rank, oh, and they can give us the boot. But this is for a good cause. After all, we’re searching for a friend.”

            Without looking over his shoulder, Scotty said, “That’s exactly what this is, a search and rescue mission.”

            At Cyborg Park they hopped off the shuttlecraft and walked across the highly restricted area of Fossil Crater. Madison kept her head on a swivel. Joseph and Jasmine were betting each other that the turnstile gate would be locked up tight or the card reader would be disabled.

            It was a moonless night, and not even the ocean of desert stars could break up the big shadows lurking on the perimeter road. After a minute or so, they could see the tiny lighted windows of the Astraeus Laboratory. Then they were walking through the turnstile gate with no problems.

You are reading story J.C. Warren: Scotty Astrophel and the Star Nexus at novel35.com

            They speed walked to the airlock where Scotty swiped his keycard and immediately pulled the door open. All five rushed into the accessway as if something dangerous was lurking on the dark grounds. The fear must have shown in everyone’s face, because Diego said, “Well, it’s the inside that’s supposed to be scary. There’s nothing out there except security.”

            “That’s what we’re worried about,” Madison and Jasmine said in unison.

            “So, you’re more worried about getting into trouble than being in danger?” Diego asked.

            “Yes,” Madison and Jasmine chorused again, but this time Joseph was involved. “Fear the boot.”

            Without looking, Scotty said, “Whatever, let’s go, and stay together no matter what happens.”

            He led them to the very end of the accessway. Holding his keycard high up, he swiped a card reader and shivered as a set of doors whirred open. A flight of stairs was before them, cutting through darkness to another airlock. At the bottom of the doors a blue light was extruding into the stairwell.

            “That’s the LEAP room,” Diego whispered, then raised his tone. “I heard about it last year. It’s really big, so from time to time it will double as a storage room for things that are really, really important.”

            “What if there’s somebody working inside,” Madison said.

            “We’ll know as soon as we open the doors,” Diego said. “And then we turn and run back to the park.”

            They crept down the stairs in silence. At the airlock, they listened for any sounds of life, but there were only the sounds of electronics. It seemed as if the room was empty.

            Scotty swiped his keycard, and the doors whirred open. All five shuffled into the LEAP room. There was a striking resemblance to the exoculture room with the stainless steel tables, protective gear, lab equipment, and a couple of fire extinguishers. Electronic equipment hummed from various storage racks, and an evocative odor hung in the air.

            They crossed the room and discovered that it was actually two rooms separated by a portable partition. On the other side of the wall was what appeared to be a larger room with a lot of storage lockers. Some were small, but most were large and secured with padlocks. Most were lined up against the wall, but a few were lying on the tiled floor.

            But there was something very odd in the back of the room. Scotty was the first to spy it.

            “Look, everyone! That giant glass tube.”

            “It’s a crypto pod!” Diego shouted. “Something’s in it.”

            They all ran across the room to the glass pod and gasped in horror at what was inside. Sparta was lying in a Cryptovirology Pod, covered from his neck down with a white sheet. His eyes were open but dark and void of that sparkle that had once been there. There were no wires connected to any part of his body, but a series of tiny lights inside the pod proved it was receiving and transmitting a network signal.

            “What is this?” Joseph asked. “What are they doing to him?”

            “They’ve shut down his processors,” Diego said, his tone waning. “His artificial neural network has been taken over by the malware in the pod’s server.” 

            Jasmine made a growling sound.

            “Reuven and Tarsus did this,” Madison said. “Oh, that’s it! Just wait until I tell Doctor Stryker!”

            A ripple of aggravation fanned out from the group, and Scotty said, “We can’t tell anybody about this. At least not tonight.”

            “Tonight’s a no go,” Diego said. “It’ll have to wait.”

            “Can he hear us?” Madison asked.

            “No,” Diego said. “And in the state that he’s in, if he could see your face, he wouldn’t recognize you.”

            Jasmine approached the pod for a better view. “What if we take him out and away from this building. Will he return to-”

            That was as far as Diego would let her get with that. “No, if we as much as touch any part of this crypto pod the alarms will sound and those drones might find us.”

            Jasmine shivered at the memory of the two massive security drones hovering before the Star Nexus and deploying their weapons, and she walked backwards to make sure that she didn’t touch anything. As she stood behind everyone, she wrapped her arms across her shoulders.

            “Okay, listen up,” Scotty said, his words were quick, and his tone was waxing with anger. “We did what we said we’d do. We found Sparta, and now we know what’s going on. But there’s nothing we can do for him tonight, and if we get caught, we might find ourselves on a slow bus back to Sydney. So, we might as well go back to the residencia and think about what we should do next.”

            Everyone agreed. They crept out of the Astraeus Laboratory and walked to the residencia, keeping an eye out for security drones and fighting the urge to go straight to Doctor Stryker.

 

*

Thirty minutes later they were back at the Stardust Inn. Scotty paced the floor before the others, thinking about Reuven, Electra, Aldrich, Zoran, the countdown clock, and of course Sparta and his predicament. Fossil Crater’s residents were in danger, and he wasn’t sure if he was up to the task of saving the galaxy. He knew he had to at least try.

            Then suddenly, without warning, a swirl of blue and green lights and electronic sounds blossomed into existence. At first only a swath of crackling and buzzing that made no sense to the eyes; imagine a display floating about three feet above the floor. It reminded Scotty of a Quantum Port display.

            A second or two later and Sparta was standing in Scotty’s room.

            “Sparta!” they shouted and scrambled to the hologram.

Scotty stepped closer and energized his Helix. “We just saw you in Building Zero. I thought you were decommissioned.”

            Nothing for a while, but eventually he could hear sounds emanating from the hologram, and a short time later…

            “Hello, researcher, if you’re seeing this then I have been consigned to the great recycle bin of history. Feel no anger, as my existence was never larger or more important than Galactic Research and its mission. You must continue on with your training and achieve success, as it is you that will take the helm of this mighty ship and maneuver it clear of stormy seas and cannonballs. And danger is on the way. Zoran Voloshin will dock at Fossil Crater to attempt high treason. He wants the Star Nexus for himself, and he must not take possession of that program, for if he does, he will become the most powerful villain in the galaxy. Stop him at all costs. Good luck, researcher, and remember, our future is out there.”

            With that, the display buzzed and crackled for a few seconds and then disappeared.

            Madison and Jasmine exchanged expressions of anger, and they both imagined how a rescue operation would unfold.

            Diego recalled something important that Scotty had mentioned.  “Scott, you said you have countermeasures. We can use those to shut down Zoran and his data terminal.”

            “You can shut down the quads too,” Joseph said.

            “I know,” Scotty said. “I have a plan.”

            All five passed out on the floor and slept for four hours before stirring and starting the new duty day.

            When Scotty opened his eyes, his Helix was live and something new had been downloaded to its countermeasure file. An icon whose title was Quasar was floating beneath it in the display.

            “Yeah, I wonder what that one will do?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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