The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal (7 page)

“
Doesn’t mean there aren’t
any,” Bin reminded her. “Just none we can discern.”

“
Well, the ship could be
the trap.”

“
True. What do you propose
to do?”

“
See who’s there.” She
turned on the space transmitter. “Hailing stranded ship in far
Earth System solar space. What is your status?” There was no
answer, only static. “Repeat, hailing stranded ship in far Earth
System solar space. What is your status? Do you require
aid?”

“
Helene, I’m scanning the
ship. There seem to be no life forms on board and systems appear
shut down.”

“
Down completely or just
running silent or in power conservation mode?”

“
As far as I can discern,
the only power is going to the beacon.”

“
Connect ship to ship?”
the autopilot asked.

Helene drummed her fingers against the
chair’s arm. “Not yet.” She considered her options. It could be a
trap and it could be a trap set by anyone. It could be a crew
stranded, probably desperate, possibly dead or dying, maybe alive
but suspended, to conserve power. Or it could be what it seemed –
salvage, a way to sum up the debt and stop waiting for her life to
begin again.

“
I hate choices like this.
So let’s belay it for a bit.” She started the engines. “We’ll get
closer. Bin, you man things, take us out at the slightest
indication it’s a trap of some kind. I’m getting into
gear.”

Helene left the bridge and headed to the
locker that held the spacesuits. She had more than one – scavenging
wasn’t always simple or easy and you didn’t want to be out here
alone without a spacesuit. The wait for rescue could be much longer
than your life.

She considered this as she carefully pulled
the spacesuit on. If this ship was what its beacon indicated – a
ship in need – then the chances were great that she’d find people
in need of rescue. That wouldn’t win her anything with the Earth
government. It wouldn’t lose her anything, but if there were living
occupants, this wouldn’t count as salvage, it would count as
rescue, and Earth would expect those rescued to reward her, not
them.

“
Bin, what’s our
status?”

“
Nothing has triggered, so
no traps around the unidentified vessel. We’re now close enough for
visual confirmation and identification. No markings on the
ship.”

“
None
whatsoever?”

“
None that are
discernable. It looks like there may have been at one time, but
they’ve been eroded, most likely by asteroids – the ship has signs
of extensive external damage.”

“
Hull breach?”

“
None that are obvious, at
least to our scans. I’ve run the schematic through the computer –
it’s not a military ship. It’s not an active ship of any
kind.”

“
What kind of inactive
ship is it?” There was no answer. “Bin? What kind of ship is
this?”

“
Earth class,
pre-expansion.” Bin wasn’t programmed to show vocal expressions of
any kind, but she knew he would have sounded awed if he was
able.

Helene felt an electric shock run through
her. “That’s impossible. There are no pre-expansion Earth ships
still in existence.” There were expansion ships on display on Earth
and in some of the older colonized planets’ museums. But there was
nothing that could honestly be said to be pre-expansion. If Bin was
correct, they had the potential salvage of the ages in front of
them.

“
Well, there’s one in
existence. And we’re floating next to it.”

“
Now that we’re closer,
can you determine if there are any life forms aboard?”

“
No. There’s some
interference.

“
What kind of
interference?”

“
So far, have been unable
to determine.” Bin was quiet for a few moments. “I believe it could
be a simple reason. The vessel is so old that its systems don’t
work with ours. We can’t read or communicate with it because our
technology is so far advanced.”

“
That makes some sense.”
New considerations arose. “Think there are people on this ship that
might attack us?”

“
Only if they could live
for hundreds of years. It’s possible, but unlikely. Historicals
indicate this type of ship held a crew of eight. That’s probably
too few to breed throughout the centuries.”

“
Keep scanning. Let’s be
as certain as we can that no attack’s coming. Also, look for how
we’d link ship to ship.”

Helene didn’t believe there could really be
someone alive, not on a pre-expansion ship. However, she’d come
across scavengers who’d been abandoned by their fellow spacers, for
a variety of reasons. She didn’t want to make the discovery of a
lifetime and be tricked out of claiming it, or worse.

“
Bin, send a transmission
to Earth. Itemize and register all our current cargo on board. Once
that’s confirmed, send them the information on the derelict. Ensure
it registers as our claim.”

“
We’ll have to connect it
ship to ship to ensure the claim is viewed as valid. I will need to
provide proof it’s in your possession.”

“
Fine. Get our cargo
listing over first. By then, I’ll be ready.”

“
Earth has confirmed and
registered cargo listing,” Bin advised. “Salvage Affairs would like
to speak with you. On com now.”

This was a rarity. It was possible for Earth
to do real-time communications with vessels this far out, but the
cost was normally prohibitive.

The screen in the hold went live. Helene
recognized the man’s face. “Hello, Administrator Brennan.” It
wasn’t every day the head of Salvage Affairs wanted to chat with
her. He must be using an entire year’s communications budget on
this transmission.

He smiled. “Hello, Helene. Have I read your
registry report correctly?”

“
Yes. I’m with an ancient
pre-expansion vessel.”

“
Have you explored it
yet?”

“
No. I wanted to register
first. Just in case.”

Brennan nodded. “Wise. You’re our best for a
reason.” Helene didn’t reply to this. “I have everything
registered,” he went on. “Please continue to send information as
you get it. I will ensure, once you’re confident the ship is
returning with you, that it remains a find registered to your
account.”

“
Thank you. I appreciate
that very much.” She did. It wasn’t unheard of for someone to
register a claim and have it appear under someone else’s ownership,
but Earth frowned on the practice. By registering all her cargo,
she couldn’t sell it elsewhere for a better price, but it also
couldn’t be stolen from her and resold to Earth or any of the other
planets that had a trade agreement with them. And all the planets
in Earth System had those agreements.

“
Keep me posted,” Brennan
stressed. “This is extremely exciting, and I can guarantee that
your debt will be more than paid with this find.” He cleared his
throat. “I don’t believe it wise to tell your husband just yet,
though. I believe the anticipation could make the…waiting
harder.”

“
I agree. And thank you
for your support, Administrator.”

Brennan smiled. “I won’t press for the
answer now, you’re too busy. But truly, let the past be the past
and consider a full time position. I can assure you that you’ll get
the best pay and benefits possible.”

“
I’ve been considering.
And I’ll definitely put thought into it on the way back.” This was
true, after all.

“
All we can ask for. Good
luck.”

“
To you as well.” The
screen went blank. “Bin, how are we doing with ship-to-ship
connection?”

“
I have identified where
we can attach safely. There is an airlock and our equipment should
be able to trigger it.”

“
Let’s do it.”

She felt the gentle bump that told her the
ships had connected. There was a hiss as their outer connecting
door opened. “Systems scan in progress,” the autopilot announced.
“No toxins identified.”

Bin joined her. “I’m going with you.”

“
It would be smarter for
you to stay here.”

“
I’ve programmed the
autopilot for a wide variety of eventualities. I doubt there will
be any gravitational systems working, and I have a better chance of
reviving the ship’s systems than you do.”

“
And?”

“
And it’s logical that I
go to help you.”

“
No, it’s not. But I
happen to enjoy this flaw in your programming.”

“
I don’t need a spacesuit,
I’m immune to all diseases, and I’m stronger than you.”

“
And programmed for
worrying, too.”

“
No, that’s a human
trait.”

“
Apparently it’s a robotic
trait, too.” The autopilot called the all clear and Helene hit the
button to open the inner door. It slid aside. The passage created
by their ship’s linking equipment was lit. Nothing else
was.

She and Bin headed towards the waiting
darkness.