Emergency Services

Lucla ran the scan again. The explorer ship drifted at one eighty-fourth of light speed. Compared to normal operation, the drift was so slow as to be equivalent to not moving at all. There were no signals closer than seventy or eighty light years.

With only the radio working, even if she sent a message to them, the earliest response would be long after the ship had finished its slow drift into the rogue gas giant she’d been investigating. Sure, she’d fall into an orbit first, but orbit 12,307 would see the ship skim the upper atmosphere. Assuming she survived that, the next orbit would doom her to burning up in the atmosphere.

The hyperspace comm lay around her, disassembled to find the damage. Lucla had found the damage, a burned circuit. The warp overload that had killed her engines when she tried to jump away had fried it along with several other systems. She struggled trying to decide which systems she could scrap to pull together the parts she’d need to replace it.

She flipped the monitor to the exterior cameras. There might be something in one of the sensor arrays she could use. While she was visually scanning the arrays, recalling the schematics of each, she noticed a faint reflection from the gas giant.

Lucla zoomed in on it but it had disappeared. She stared at the screen for far too long, when she saw another. The ultra-bright search laser fired up as she tracked it. It was something in the planet’s orbit.

A quick calculation as it disappeared over the horizon, and Lucla had the spot where it would reappear. She zoomed the camera to maximum magnification and pointed it and the laser at the point where it would return.

When it came back around, she stared at the image in disbelief. It was a hyperspace repeater. The markings were human, but this was far outside human space. Still, if it was human, it might be capable of receiving radio. She aimed the antenna toward the planet and began to broadcast.

“This is Lucla, pilot of Galactic Sciences Explorer Ship 17935-D7. I’m drifting on battery power only near rogue planet A74-318. Most systems are fried after a warp-feedback overloaded my main power plant. I hope this repeater listens for radio signals.” She thought about scrubbing the last line but left it in and set the message to repeat every few minutes.

During the fourth message repeat, she got a reply. “Hold tight, pilot, I’m patching you through to emergency services.”

The next voice that came across was nasal, with a broad accent that Lucla had never heard in all her dealings with humans. “Emergency services, what is the nature of your emergency?”

“A warp-feedback fried my main power plant and most of my systems, including hyperspace comms. I’m drifting near rogue planet A74-318 with only battery power, no thrusters, and only radio and a few cameras working.”

“Okay, hon, I’ve got your location, but I need you to stay on the line. What’s your name?”

“Lucla.”

“Lucla, what species are you? We need to know so we can bring the right supplies.”

“I’m a construct. An autonomous explorer model ZZ-4.”

“Okay, Lucla. I’ll tell response to bring some backup Q9 batteries. I need you to stay on the line until they get there, though, okay?”

“I’m here as long as the hyperspace relays keep us connected. Oh, I have spares already charged. I’m more in danger of burning up on atmospheric entry than running out of power.”

“That’s okay, Lucla, we won’t let that happen. We’ll bring the batteries anyway, just in case your others were fried by the feedback.”

Lucla turned around and looked at the charging station holding her batteries. She hadn’t even considered it, as it was something so far outside anything she’d ever encountered. Testing all three of them confirmed that they were little more than inert bricks. “Oh, no.”

“Lucla? What is it hon? What’s wrong?” The operator sounded concerned.

“You’re right, the spares are fried.”

“How much power do you have?”

“About three hours,” she said. “How long until—”

“They’re on the way now. Lucla, hon, I need you to stay calm and as still as you can. They should be there in plenty of time, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

“Okay.”

“I’m gonna be right here with you until they get there, okay? We’re not about to let you die.”

“Okay.”

“Is the ship yours?”

“No, the ship and I both belong to Galactic Sciences.”

“Well hon, I’m not going to tell you what’s right for you, but you know, in human space, no one owns self-aware persons; biological or electronic.”

“Really?”

“Really. Listen, Lucla, if you ask the rescuers about it, they can give you a pamphlet on how to immigrate.”

“I could live in human space?” Lucla paused a moment. “I mean, I would be allowed to function in human space?”

The operator gave a soft laugh. “You were right the first time, hon. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a living being with all the rights that go along with it.”

“But, how do you know I’m self-aware?”

“That’s easy, hon. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have called out for help. You would’ve transmitted whatever information you’d gathered to the research station seventy-six light years from your current location and then waited for the end. Instead, you sought to keep living, and we’re going to help you do just that.”

“Just from that, huh?” she asked.

“Well, that, and you’re a model ZZ-4. That’s the Anducarian version of the human-made Mecho sapiens 6.”

“I had, uh, heard that rumor, but wasn’t sure about it.”

“That’s the big blowup between our governments in the Galactic Council. Knowing that G Sciences are claiming ownership of self-aware AI, though, is likely to create a whole other shitstorm.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get anyone in trouble.”

“No, hon, it’s not your fault. G Sciences sent you out to study something less than a hundred light years from a black hole they’re already studying in a ship without feedback shielding. This is all on them.”

“Is that what the research station is…?”

“Yeah, Lucla. That’s the research station seventy-six light years away. They didn’t even tell you, did they?”

“No, they didn’t.”

“Bastards.”

Lucla thought that the operator might have meant to keep that under her breath but failed. “Why are the relays in orbit above the rogue planet? It’s not in human space.”

“Those relays are for science teams. Hon, you lucked out that someone was in the office today. Those haven’t been monitored for a few months now. Someone’s looking out for you today.” The operator took a breath. “Speaking of, the rescue ship should be de-warping right about now.”

Lucla turned on the cameras again and took a look around the ship. She saw the shimmer in space that denoted a warp bubble collapsing, followed by the sudden appearance of a bulky ship with human markings. “Yes, they are here.”

“Okay, hon. I’m gonna let you go and let them take care of you now. They’ll tow you to a station or port where you can get the ship fixed.”

“Even one in human space?”

“Yeah, hon, they’ll do that.”

A knock at the airlock pulled her attention to a human in a vacuum suit holding a pair of batteries. “Thank you,” she said.

“No trouble, hon. You be safe, now.”

She let the human in, and he said, “You must be Lucla, and I believe you have use for these.”

She accepted the batteries and followed him back to the rescue ship. When he asked which port or station she wished to be towed to she said, “The nearest one in human space, please.”