Doctor Who_ Father Time - Lance Parkin [119]
With her father dead, there was no hope for the Last One, now. It was all but over.
The lift door opened and Ferran strode on to the bridge.
‘Computer, what is our status?’
‘Ship is in class-three orbit above planet Earth, all ship systems are operating at full capacity, with the exception of the time engine, which is repairing in line with previous reports.’
Ferran turned briefly to the Deputy. ‘Like it never went away. Computer, use internal sensors to locate Miranda.’
‘Internal surveillance is not functioning.’
‘You told me all ship systems were working at full capacity.’
‘The surveillance system, while powered from the ship’s generators, is your technology retrofitted to the ship. As such it is not classified as a ship system.’
Ferran stared up at the pyramid. Computer was artificially intelligent, and had shown signs of having a personality, a sentience, in the past. He had often been struck by a sense that Computer was being insolent, or wilful.
‘Why would it be malfunctioning?’ he asked his Deputy.
She wore a puzzled expression. For his benefit, he assumed, as she wouldn’t be feeling puzzled. ‘It would have gone to stand-by mode when the power went down. It sounds as if it hasn’t automatically started up again when power was restored.’
Ferran turned back to Computer. ‘Are the internal cameras working?’ They were original features of the ship.
‘They are. A visual search of the ship will take several minutes, and coverage is limited to those areas mapped by your people.’
Ferran narrowed his eyes. Computer had steadfastly refused to release any technical information or deck plans of Supremacy unless his people figured it out for themselves. His best engineers had tried to override Computer’s security, but had found nothing. Computer seemed to bear no malice to those who tried – or have any objection to the mapping teams. Almost perversely, when a mapping team had searched an area, Computer released the details. There seemed no way round this, and Computer offered no explanation.
‘Computer put images from the internal cameras on screen.’
The holographic bubble became a montage, a confused collection of images. There was no sound, just movement and colour.
Ferran stared at them. ‘How?’
In the refectory, three dozen slaves, and half a dozen guards were holding a group of technicians hostage, while a smaller group was barricading the doors.
The armoury door was open, and a small man was passing out neutron guns to slaves and guards. None of the guards were wearing helmets, but some had material tied around their arms or necks – scarves, bandanas: marks of individuality.
There was a firefight going on in the hydroponics area – neutron bolts picking out guards, who fell from their positions in the trees and behind statues.
Slaves surged down corridors in the barracks areas, opening up the doors, dragging out the sleeping guards.
The saucer cradles at the far end of the ship were controlled by slaves, guards and technicians, who were sharing food and laughter.
The main engines were secured behind sealed bulkheads and doors thicker than any bank vault’s. Inside the engine rooms, the engineers and technicians cowered, prepared barricades and argued among themselves. Ferran could not hear what they were saying, but it seemed one group – the minority, thankfully – wanted to open the doors and welcome the rebels in. For their part, on the other side of the barriers, slave crews were slowly burning big holes using heavy cutting gear.
‘Computer: activate pain inducers throughout the ship. Everywhere but this room.’
‘Unable to comply.’
The Deputy pointed him to the lower left-hand corner of the hologlobe. ‘They’ve smashed the master control unit.’
Ferran stared into the screen, transfixed by what he saw.
‘Seal the bridge,’ he ordered.
* * *
She’d killed a man once.
Miranda had been haunted by it every day since.
She had no doubt that Sallak had deserved to die. He’d killed her parents, his master had murdered her family. It really was kill or be killed. She