Alone in Paradise (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 2) Read online

  “Actually, that is not necessary. You will find a maintenance access hatch three meters behind the pilot seat.”

  Raising her eyebrows, Anna measured from the seat to the deck plate in question. It was not marked in any way, and appeared just like the rest of the tiles comprising the floor of the bridge. She examined the deck plate, gliding her fingertips along its edge for some clue on how to open it. Luck was not on her side. She planted her hands on the plate and leaned forward, thinking about how to open it, when she heard a click from the floor. Curious, Anna leaned back and lifted her hands off the floor. The deck plate swung upward at a slow, controlled pace to reveal the hatch leading into the bowels of the ship. Flashlight in hand, she climbed through the portal.

  The compartment gave Anna feelings of claustrophobia, as it was filled with ship systems from one end to the other. But a narrow crawlspace that traversed the length of the ship provided her sufficient access to maneuver. She searched her immediate surroundings for the sensor array, but got lost in the myriad of systems in place.

  “Kate!” Her voice sounded hollow as it echoed against the metal parts around her. “Can you detect my wristcomp?”

  The wristcomp’s communicator turned on. “Yes, I can.”

  Anna peeked at her wristcomp, and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “Please send me the blueprints of the ship.”

  The requested document appeared in her view, and she spent a few minutes searching for the sensor array. Finding it positioned behind a few other components directly above her, she moved to its location and knelt on the catwalk. “Whoever designed this ship clearly didn’t take maintenance into account.”

  Removing the three parts blocking her access to the sensors took only a few minutes. She ran a diagnostic test of the sensors to determine what was wrong, only to confirm they were fully operational.

  With a sigh, Anna returned the other parts to their appropriate locations. “Time to find something to dig the ship out with.”

  Chapter 5

  “I am not sure if anything suitable is listed in the ship’s inventory.” Kate’s comment from her wrist took Anna by surprise. She’d forgotten the channel was open. “But, you are welcome to review the manifest and see if you find anything.”

  “Ryan carried cargo?”

  “It is mostly foodstuffs and personal effects, but something may be there that you could find suitable.”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  While she climbed out of the maintenance crawlspace, Anna decided she appreciated having a computer she could finally get along with. As she reached the deck, Kate turned where she stood by the pilot chair. “Do you want to look over the manifest now?”

  Anna nodded, and the document appeared on the control panel. She reviewed the information. “Doesn’t look like I could use anything on here. Thanks anyway, Kate.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Anna had moved a few steps toward the airlock, but turned back to regard Kate, and shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to use my hands.” She turned away and walked into the airlock.

  Kate called after her, as the airlock was closing, “Be careful out there.”

  Anna climbed out of the upper hatch and moved toward the front of the ship, slipping her work gloves onto her hands. The tight-fitting neoprene gloves felt like a second skin, but the pleather pads on her palm and fingertips made her feel like a gecko, or some other exotic creature. After securing them around her wrists, she sat above the forward viewport window and slid down to where the ship’s nose lay buried in the soil.

  Judging by the dirt and rocks piled around the craft, up to the bottom edge of the windshield, Anna estimated she would have to dig at least a couple of meters down to uncover the forward sensor emitter, and another meter or two down and all the way around the nose to completely free the ship from being half-buried. With a heavy sigh, she resigned herself to digging duty for the rest of the day.

  After a few minutes, Anna got a nagging feeling somebody was watching her. She looked up and spotted Kate. The two stared at each other awkwardly. Then Anna waved to her companion, prompting a return wave from the avatar. She toggled her wristcomp communicator. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “No, I’m just watching you work.”

  Unsure how to respond, Anna’s mouth hung open as she searched for the words. She had never experienced anyone watching her like this, and it unsettled her. Knowing that it was really the ship’s computer, the act of Kate observing her made her skin crawl. Why is the computer doing this? Is this what the real Kate was like while she lived?

  Anna returned to her wristcomp. “Um, why don’t you monitor the sensors and let me know if anything changes on it?”

  “I am already doing that.”

  “How about running a diagnostic of the sensor systems to make sure they are in working order?”

  “Diagnostic initiated. It should be done in about a minute.”

  “Checked the ship’s power levels?”

  “Currently at maximum.”

  “Run a self-diagnostic?”

  “I did that when I was rebooting.”

  “Find some more food?”

  “Have you checked the kitchen?”

  Anna, hoping to throw a question in to test the computer’s response, recoiled. She stared dumbfounded at Kate for a few seconds while trying to wrap her head around the question.

  “Kitchen?”

  “Yes, the kitchen.”

  Anna browsed through her mental map of the ship. I don’t remember a kitchen? Her mind stretched back to her time with Ryan aboard the station, when he had prepared the picnic lunch. He said he had gotten the food from his ship, and they certainly weren’t MREs. “Oh, my god. I’m so stupid. I completely forgot. Where is it?”

  “The kitchen is located directly behind the airlock.”

  Anna scrambled up the nose of the ship toward the airlock. Within seconds, she had entered the airlock, slid down the ladder to the floor, and burst through the lower door onto the bridge. She ignored Kate and rushed past her to the back of the ship.

  As soon as Anna emerged in the small corridor that curved through the living area of the vessel, her eyes fell upon the one door in the ship she had never opened: the unmarked hatch to the central room. For some reason, she’d believed it to contain some insignificant part of the ship. With a shrug, she moved to the entryway and pressed the switch. The door unsealed and slid into the wall like all the others, revealing a dark, narrow room. Leaning in, Anna’s jaw dropped as she gazed at the contents within. Against the forward wall sat a kitchenette, complete with a chest-sized refrigerator and freezer, counter space, cabinets, and a countertop oven. Three boxes labeled as canned food, which may have been stacked in front of the refrigerator, now rested in disarray on the floor. “No way.”

  Anna burst into the room and shot toward the boxes. She tore into the nearest case and pulled a can out. Its label read Whole Kernel Corn. She returned the can and checked several others, finding more corn, green beans, and other vegetables. The other cases, much to her delight, contained enough canned goods to last her for at least another month without having to supplement it with any locally-grown food.

  Shoving the boxes behind her, Anna threw open the refrigerator and gawked at the packages of chilled and frozen meat stored within. She chuckled at first, not believing her dumb luck, and followed it with full laughter as she rifled through the various meats to see what had become available to her.

  “He must have stocked up before flying out to me.” She ripped open a package of deli-sliced turkey and stuffed a slice in her mouth, resting back on her legs as she chewed. “Oh, that’s so good.”

  “I see you have found the kitchen,” Kate dryly stated from the entrance.

  Looking at Kate over her shoulder, Anna grinned like a little girl. She finished chewing, and gulped down the meat. “Kate, I could kiss you.” She clamored to her feet.

  Kate blushed. “Sorry, but I am not
that kind of girl.”

  Anna’s grin shifted into a twisted smirk as she stared at Kate for a few seconds. She beamed again after a few seconds, and ate another slice of turkey.

  “You just made my week.” Anna dropped her gaze to the package of food in her hand again. “I can’t believe that I never looked in here. I just walked by it, never suspecting what was in here. Thank you.”

  Kate smiled back. “You are quite welcome. But, you should probably finish eating your lunch and get back to digging.”

  Anna lifted her eyes from the package, her smile gone. “What for? The ship’s not going anywhere.”

  “No, but it is starting to get dark outside.”

  “What do you mean ‘It’s getting dark’?” Anna raised an eyebrow and cocked her head.

  “It is getting dark outside.”

  After closing the package of meat and placing it back in the refrigerator, Anna ran through Kate and out the kitchen door. The act of passing through her set Kate off kilter, forcing her to pause for a second before marching after Anna in a huff.

  “Excuse me! Do not do that.” Kate sounded mad.

  “Do what?” Anna entered the airlock but paused before pressing the switch.

  “Do what? You ran right through me.”

  Anna’s voice echoed out of the airlock. “But, you’re a hologram.”

  Stopping at the airlock door, Kate put her hands on her hips. Her eyes flared. “That does not make it right. I have feelings, you know. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  With a smirk, Anna pressed the switch. “Like you’re not really there?”

  Kate stammered in disbelief. “Wh…where are you going? Come back here!”

  The door sealed before her. Anna thought about Kate’s reaction. I didn’t think she’d get upset at that. Maybe holograms have advanced during my absence to where they have more natural reactions to their surroundings. I really don’t want another bad relationship with a computer. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime. Anna’s expression dropped. She opened the airlock door again.

  “You’re right, Kate. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just not used to a, pardon the expression, living hologram.”

  Kate’s face relaxed a bit, and showed a hint of a smile. She glanced at the floor for a brief second, then looked back at Anna.

  “Well, okay. But, consider yourself lucky that I can not take a physical form. I would have clobbered you by now.”

  Anna grinned at the response before closing the airlock and ascending the ladder. She emerged through the top hatch and stood on the hull while staring at the sky. The sunlight appeared to be as bright as before, but the gas giant that filled most of the sky loomed closer to g Lupi, threatening to eclipse it.

  Anna toggled her wristcomp. “Kate, are you sure it’s getting dark out here?”

  “The amount of sunlight being received by the solar cells has decreased by eight percent since this time yesterday. Yes, it is getting darker.”

  She looked at the nose of the ship, then back at the sky. Cursing under her breath, Anna returned to the nose and set to digging again. As the day progressed, she noticed the light getting dimmer, but not enough to make it difficult to see without aid.

  Several hours later, Anna had dug out enough soil to give her easy access to the sensor emitter. She turned on her flashlight and found a few small cracks on the outside covering, which she was confident were a result of the crash. In fact, most of the hull plating around it was crumpled and scarred from the impact. She leaned back against the small ridge of earth she had created and wiped her brow with the back of her wrist.

  Anna activated her communicator. “Kate?”

  “Yes, Anna.”

  “Are the sensors online?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Judging from the hull damage I see out here, I’ll be surprised if it works again outside of having the emitter replaced.”

  “Anna, you have not asked about the results of the diagnostic yet.”

  “Well, what’ve you got?”

  “The circuit is not complete. According to the test results, the sensor array appears to have become separated at the point where the forward emitter and duplexer connect.”

  Anna mulled over her statement for a second. “Kate, would the sensors normally be able to scan through a couple meters of soil?”

  “Under normal circumstances, the sensor suite should be able to scan through about twenty meters of soil without any difficulty.”

  Anna paused and looked up at the forward window, just in time to see Kate walk into view and look back. Frustration pervaded her mind. She ripped the gloves off her hands and stuffed them into her belt.

  “Are you kidding me?” She stood and stretched her back and legs.

  “No, I am not.”

  Anna pointed at the ship’s nose. “You mean to tell me that I didn’t have to sit out here for hours digging the ship out of the ground?”

  Kate hesitated. “Well, no. You did not.”

  “Wha…why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I am sorry.” Kate’s face grew long. “I did not know if you would be okay with me interrupting you.”

  Anna looked at the ground, then back at the hologram, anger making her cheeks hot. “Interrupt me next time.”

  “I will remember that. Sorry, Anna.”

  Kate’s apology had a soothing effect on her attitude. “It’s okay, Kate. We’re both learning about each other.”

  The smile from the hologram signaled her approval.

  Anna climbed up the front of the ship and into the airlock, meeting Kate as she walked onto the bridge. She marched around her to the access panel in the floor. “I need you to send me a schematic of the sensor array once I reach the system below the deck.”

  “On its way.”

  After climbing into the bowels of the ship, Anna crawled as far forward as she could and activated the holographic screen. The orange glow provided her enough light to remove the components between her and the sensor array, and finally disconnect the sensors themselves from their mount against the hull. The system weighed more than she expected, and she almost smashed her hand against a brace as she maneuvered it out of place.

  “Anna,” Kate announced through the wristcomp. “The amount of sunlight being received by the solar cells has dropped another twenty-five percent over the past six hours.”

  Anna grunted as she moved the system away from its manifold with care, to where she could bring her other hand up to help. She brought the sensor suite to the crawlway and placed it on the grated deck plate. She paused to consider Kate’s announcement. “How is our energy consumption?”

  “At our current rate, we have enough power to run current systems continuously for eleven days, three hours, and forty-eight minutes.”

  “Once we lose sunlight, how long will it last?”

  “At current consumption, our power stores would last seven days, twelve hours, and forty-one minutes.”

  “How long will we be without the sun?”

  Kate paused for a few seconds. “According to the data you gathered on your survey, we will be without sunlight for twenty-three hours and forty-seven minutes.”

  “Almost a whole day without sunlight?” Skepticism tainted Anna’s response. Anna crawled to the access hatch and poked her head out. Kate stood by the pilot’s seat, looking out at the landscape cast in twilight. “Really?”

  Kate regarded her over her shoulder. “Yes, it is true.”

  Anna considered the situation for a few seconds. “But, it’s just an eclipse. Right?”

  Kate answered with a serious nod.

  Anna frowned. “Why was I thinking that this was going to last for a long time?” Her frown morphed into a smile, and she shrugged. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about shutting anything down. Back to work.”

  Chapter 6

  Anna examined and repaired the sensor array while lying on the crawlspace floor for over an hour, with only the light from her flashlight
illuminating her work. She would have carried the array up to the bridge and fixed it under better lighting, but its sheer weight negated that idea.

  After the issue was fixed as best she could, she maneuvered the heavy piece of equipment back into position and secured it. Once she’d attached the power feed to the unit, she returned to the bridge and ran another diagnostic on the sensors. A few minutes later, the test results came back positive.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Anna tested the system by initiating a passive scan of the area. The dedicated holographic display attached to the control interface replaced the white noise static with a 3D image of the landscape around her, out to a range of approximately ten kilometers.

  “Not nearly far enough.” Anna frowned, disappointed. “I’ll have to work on that.”

  As she looked over the display, a large lake almost five kilometers away looked strangely familiar to her. She leaned in closer to the readout and studied it. “Kate, cross-reference the sensor display with the survey results for the moon taken about a month ago.”

  “Okay.”

  Anna turned her head toward Kate. “Oh, hey! Once you are done, display the results on a separate…display, and orient the sensor readout to the moon’s north.”

  “You got it, Anna.”

  Several seconds passed until the results appeared next to her. As she suspected, the ship had crashed a few kilometers away from the spot where the flash was detected. Anna smiled, thankful for the twist of fate.

  Anna rose to her feet. “You know what? I think I am in the mood to do a little hiking.”

  “Are you sure that is wise, Anna? Sunlight is rapidly fading. You may get lost.”

  “The route I want to take is fairly easy. I want to go to the lake at the far end of current sensor range. I plan to follow the river between here and there. I shouldn’t get lost. Besides, it might be a nice change of pace to see this place without the sun.”

  “Anna, I do not mean to interrupt you, but I am picking up a telemetry signal.”

  Anna did a double-take. “A…a what?”