Auxiliary Control

“All right, ” he told himself as he stared at the brightly lit panel. “I’m here.”

It had been surprisingly easy to reach Auxiliary Control. For pirates, they were incredibly inept. They didn’t even bother to secure the room or the corridors that led to it, and they must have known about it and what someone with the right knowledge could do there. Not that they would meet any resistance, anyway. The vessel was an ark, not a combat ship. If Security Services didn’t take care of the threat, then no one would. But the pirates couldn’t have known that. Could they?

“Doesn’t matter,” he decided under his breath. He’s gotten there, and that was all that counted.

He stared stupidly at the readouts. They didn’t make any sense, and they didn’t need to. That was what the computer was for.

The computer. The same one that failed to trigger Security Services was supposed to guide him as he… what? Sabotaged the ship so the pirates couldn’t hijack it elsewhere? It already told him that he couldn’t destroy anything without killing everyone on board, and he had no other ideas. There hadn’t been time to think of any as he sneaked his way through the ship. He was more worried about being caught than anything else. But how was he supposed to know it would be so easy? He could have used that time to come up with a plan. He exhaled in exasperation.

“Nothing I can do about that,” he muttered to himself. “So, now what?”

“Please clarify the inquiry,” the pad faintly chimed.

He looked at it irritably, but his annoyance was mostly with himself. After their conversation in the ductwork, he’d forgotten to turn the volume up again. He wasn’t sure why that was so irritating, but it was. After adjusting the volume, he griped, “I wasn’t talking to you, Bitsy!”

The pad didn’t reply. Not even an apology. The computer wasn’t programed for that. It kept every conversation efficient, if anything. Still, it was another flaw in the system that he wished someone would eventually correct.

He looked over the controls, but he didn’t really see them. They were just something to look at while he thought about what to do. Disabling the ship in any way was out of the question. He had to keep the pirates from gaining control of it instead.

“Computer,” he said, “Can I redirect navigational control to Auxiliary and lock the Bridge out?”

“Command override is required for system redirection,” the pad replied. “Command override is required for system lockout.”

“Okay,” he said. “Override the system and redirect navigational control to Auxiliary Control.”

“Unable to comply,” the pad replied. “Command codes are required to override and redirect Navigational Control.”

“Okay,” he said, growing annoyed again. “Give me the codes.”

“Unable to comply,” the pad replied. Was there a little smugness in its tone?

And it didn’t elaborate, which peeved him even more. After a brief wait, he irritably snapped, “Why not?”

“Only command personnel have access to override commands,” it told him.

He slammed his hands against the panel. It figured! One more obstacle, and he didn’t know how much time he had left before the pirates took over. For all he knew, they might already have altered the ship’s course. He certainly wouldn’t know it if they had. And how long would it take for them to realize their mistake in not securing Auxiliary Control and send over a team? Were they already on their way? Did he even have time to get back in the ducts before they discovered him? He didn’t know anything!

“Frak!” he spat. He was no good at this! He wasn’t Security! And why hadn’t the system detected the pirates? What kind of tech were they using?

“It might be nice to know what they were doing,” he grumbled to himself. “Maybe find out if I’m safe here or not.”

“Please restate the inquiry,” the pad replied.

“Shut up!” he told it. And paused in thought. If he knew where the pirates were and what they were doing, it might give him enough warning to allow him to escape. It was worth a shot.

“Computer, show me where the pirates are,” he commanded.

“Please restate the inquiry,” it dutifully replied.

“The pirates,” he irritably emphasized. “Show me the pirates!”

The pad paused. “Unable to comply.”

He clenched his teeth tight. “Why not?”

“There are no pirates aboard this vessel,” it replied.

“No -?” he cut himself off before he cursed the pad out. Of course! The computer wouldn’t label them as pirates. That was too archaic. “Show me where the intruders are, then!”

The pad paused. “There are no intruders aboard this vessel.”

Damn it! He forgot. If Security Services hadn’t detected intruders, neither would the computer. “Then, show me the Bridge!”

A monitor at eye level flickered as its display changed to a view of the Bridge. On it, he saw pale-colored aliens in strange environmental gear, their helmets removed, inspecting control panels as they slowly wandered around, occasionally touching one and studying it closely. He bristled to see them moving so freely in a restricted area. Stupid Security Services!

Despite hating their presence, he watched them for a while, then grimly said, “Show me the Drive Deck, too,”

Another monitor flickered, its display shifting to a view overlooking the Deck, and there he saw more aliens, some of them with darker skin but of the same species as the others, wandering around, inspecting and touching displays just like their counterparts on the Bridge. His throat rumbled with a disapproving growl. They didn’t belong there! None of them did!

“What are they looking for?” he asked suspiciously. There was no reason for pirates to attack the ship. It was an ark, not a cargo ship. There was nothing valuable aboard, not even the panels. Those were already obsolete at launch and couldn’t be of use to anybody. So, what did they want? What could possibly interest them? Unless…

“Please restate the inquiry,” the pad dutifully replied.

“Shut up,” he snapped at it. But it was too late. He had an idea brewing that might explain everything, but the interruption popped it and it was gone. Just like that! With no trace of it remaining in his head. “Stupid thing!”

Back to being just another ignorant maintenance worker, he glanced between the panels displaying the pirates, trying to find his idea again, but it eluded him, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no point in trying to recapture it. He might remember it later, but for the present, he would just have to think of something else.

The pirates kept glancing at each other, their mouths moving. “Wish I could hear what they were saying.”

Audio snapped to life from both panels and conversations from both ends of the ship mingled in a nearly incoherent jumble. Startled, he snapped, “Turn it off!”

The computer complied and he took a breath to compose himself. It wasn’t the computer’s fault that it was sometimes too eager to please. But it was its own fault that it was sometimes very stupid. At least it hadn’t included video in the order to “turn it off.” The pirates and their trespassing were still on display.

“Give me audio for the Bridge,” he commanded, reasoning that if there was a commander amongst them, that one would go to the Bridge.

The Bridge display abruptly began speaking, one of the aliens saying, “…must be it.”

The others gathered around the alien, and one of them said, “Are you sure?”

The first one peered closely at the panels arrayed before him. “I think so, sir.”

The apparent commander turned to one of the gathered and pointed at the panels. “Can you translate that?”

The third alien bent around the first, inspecting one of the panels, and within minutes turned to the commander. “It might take some time to get the nuances, but I think I can get a working translation within an hour.”

“Do it,” the commander told her. At least, he assumed it was a her. She had the same feminine facial features as his own kind.

The commander stepped away from the group and sharply said, “Drive Deck! What’s your status?”

“It’s a remarkable system, sir,” a voice came from his communications device, wherever it was on his environmental suit. “It would take years to study it all.”

“You have two hours,” the commander told the voice. “Make the best of it.”

“Aye, sir!”

That was strange. What were they studying? And why? Why would an alien species with the technology to thwart the ship’s security protocols be interested in lesser technology? And what did that first alien find? Navigational controls, or something else? Nothing he saw answered any of his questions! It only opened up more!

“I’m felgercarb at this!” he cursed. “It’s not even my job!”

He shook his head. If Security Services wasn’t going to do anything about the intruders, then no one was. That was it. Apparently, he was the only one that cared about the security of the mission, and he was in so far over his head that… well, he didn’t want to think about how unqualified he was to handle anything like this. He didn’t have a clue as to what to do next.

“I can’t say here,” he told himself, picking up the pad. The ducts were safer. He knew them better than any alien, especially with the pad to help him find his way. He could hide in them for months, if necessary, although that two-hour deadline their commander mentioned did bother him. What was that all about? What was going to happen in two hours?

“I can’t just hide, either,” he answered. That two-hour deadline sounded ominous. The commander made it sound like the world was going to end. No, he couldn’t just hide and wait it out. He had to do something incredibly stupid.

He had to ask the aliens what they were doing.