Chapter 9

Edited by Steve

Tim sat in the lounge after the girls headed to their quarters. He didn’t want to go back to bed. “Sarha, could you meet me on deck three, please?” Tim asked.

“I will be there when you exit the lift,” Sarha replied.

Tim left the lounge and headed for the lift. As he exited the lift on Deck 3, Sarha stood there waiting. “Tim, how may I help you?”

“Could you give me a tour of this deck?” He started to look around.

“Tim, I have told you about the family units here. There are over four hundred and sixty units on each of the two decks. The warehouse units they used for things brought in from the worlds they visited Also, agriculture and orchards are at the far end.

“Please show me one of the family units.”

“Tim, this unit right across the hall is a family unit for four individuals.” They stepped to the door; it opened automatically, allowing her and Tim to enter.

Tim walked into the unit. The first room was the living room; Tim toured the whole unit, noticing one thing. “Sarha, there seems to be something missing.”

“Tim, what do you mean, something’s missing?” Sarha, while looking around the unit, saw everything was in its place, per the original plans.

“Sarha, this unit looks great, but has it ever been lived in?”

“All the units were lived in for many cycles. “Why would you ask?” Sarha asked with a questionable look.

“If it’s been lived in, where are all their possessions, like clothes, toys, and things like that?”

“Tim, I am sorry; I did not understand. “After each unit’s occupants left, the bots cleared and cleaned it.”

“What do you mean, cleared?”

“Everything that remained was stored or sent to the replicator.”

“OK, now I understand why this place looks so new.” Tim turned to leave.

“Tim, are there any other questions about the living quarters?”

“Sarha, I have one question, but not about the living quarters; how many captains have you had?”

“I have had four hundred twenty-five captains over the last 10,000 cycles; you must remember that I have had no one on board for the last 1,250 cycles.”

“Thank you for answering my questions. “Let’s continue with the tour.”

Sarha and Tim moved back out to the hallway. “Tim, I can answer all your questions if they are asked correctly.”

“What do you mean in the right way?”

“Since I am an AI, I am programmed to answer questions if asked in a certain way. If they are not, I’m programmed to give a standard reply. “Do not know at this time.”

“So, if I get that reply, I know I have not asked the question correctly, correct?”

“Yes, thank you for understanding.”

“Sarha, have you had your bots clean out the warehouses?” He now looked around for the way to the warehouse units. “Sarha, please show me the way to the warehouses.”

Sarha turned to go to the left. “Tim, in the center of the hallway is a moving walkway. It’s divided in half, with each half going in different directions. This way, it saves time and steps. “Please step onto the side going to your left.” Sarha requested.

Tim stepped onto the moving walkway. “Sarha, this walkway does not operate all the time, does it?”

“No, I had it started when you came off the lift. “I start the machines when you or the girls enter any area.”

Sarha and Tim moved along the walkway. Sarha pointed out the different stores and food locations. He could tell where the bots had worked on these decks to keep everything functioning. Tim was surprised at the diverse types of stores and food places. After the retail area stopped, the agriculture area began.

“This area contains vertical farming stack crops, which grow crops on top of one another in a climate-controlled environment. The process uses our advanced technology to produce food in the quantity needed when the ship has a full crew. But since there was nobody here, I shut it down, and I will start up a few of these units for your use.”

In the background, Tim saw a few bots doing some work. “Sarha, if these farms worked, why did your former crewmembers die?”

“I cannot answer because the ones in charge did not put it into my database.”

“You have a video recording of the people in charge talking to each other?”

“Do not know at this time.”

“OK, I’ll think of another way to ask later,” he said. They moved along on the walkway and now came to the orchards.

“Sarha, these trees, they’re still growing! “What do you do with the fruits they grow?”

“We put them into the replicator storage unit,” said Sarha.

“Do you know what kind of trees and fruits you have?”

“Yes, each time a former crewmember planted one, its location and name were added to my database. There are forty-one different types.”

She stopped the moving walkway at the first unit. “Tim, we have come to the storage units; which one would you like to see?”

“Sarha, are all the former Captain’s belongings in one unit? “If so, could I see that unit?”

“Yes, all four hundred twenty-five of the Captain’s belongings are in this unit. “Shall I open it?”

The door was about 12 feet wide. Sarha commanded the automatic overhead door to the unit to open. As the door retracted to the ceiling, he saw several items stacked on top of each other.

“Sarha, is everything the Captains owned in here?” He stood at the entrance, looking at all the items he could see from where he was standing.

“No, Tim, I only placed the essential items in here. “Would you like to see the items now?”

“I would like to see some of the items, but where would I lay them out so I could see them? There isn’t enough room in the hallway.”