“Even if it’s possible, I doubt any salvage attempt could be arranged quickly enough to prevent the ship slipping into the sea,” said Jane.
Richard placed a hand gently on the lump in his jacket. He was impatient to be off the ship before his stowaway was discovered or something killed him. He glanced at the door at the far end of the room and then at Henry, who stood at the end of an aisle. Though Lucy was out of sight down one of the rows, the constant clicking of her camera revealed her position. “Henry,” he called out. Henry glanced at him. “I think we should leave.” He pointed at the hole in the ceiling. “The monster entered through there and there could be more.”
Henry nodded. They’d lingered long enough. “Lucy, we have to go.”
Lucy sighed. “I know.” Reluctantly she moved out of the aisle, but continued to take photographs on the route to the exit.
They passed out of the specimen room and followed Richard’s hurried walk to the auxiliary control room.
The Mimic entered the auxiliary control room, descended the curving slope, walked past the table and down the steps to the lower control area. She walked over to a console and pulled out a tube similar to the one that attached itself to Henry’s neck in the main control room. When she moved the end toward her face, her form parted to reveal the large queen within. The tube hissed when it latched onto her. A press of a few buttons transferred the information she required to her brain. The tube detached and slid back into the console. As her face reformed, an upper door opened. She faded into invisibility and moved across the room.
The team reached the control room without encountering any other creatures. Once all were inside, they spread along the balcony and gazed at the room below. Richard pointed at the table he’d told them about, noticing the lights that had previously been dark on the control panel were now lit. “I’ve no idea what it does, but from what you told me, I think it might be what the computer was talking about.”
They walked down the ramp and crowded around the table.
When Jane pressed a button beside one of the displays, a menu appeared with an English option. She tapped the word on the screen. A second menu appeared. She read through the selection and chose Internal Navigation and tapped Deck Plans on the third option screen.
They stepped back from the table when the purple gelatinous fluid covering its top moved. Columns of the substance rose up and tendrils seeped out into horizontal lines to form layers. Details began to form on every surface. Slightly less than thirty seconds later they all stared at a purple 3D representation of the ship’s internal layout.
They stepped forward for a closer look. Set out like this they were able to see for the first time how huge the ship was. They’d barely visited a quarter of its main rooms.
Max leaned forward and peered through one of the levels, moving his head from side to side for different viewpoints. “It’s amazing.”
Theo was also fascinated by the technology that had produced such a detailed model so quickly. “It’s similar to something a 3D printer would produce.”
For a few moments they all studied the model, looking at it from different angles and heights.
The click of a camera roused them from their examination. They glanced at Richard.
He smiled. “One for the scrapbook.”
“Good idea,” said Lucy, who’d been so fascinated by the model, she’d neglected to photograph it. She pulled out her camera and snapped off some photos.
“For all its expertly rendered details, I can’t see how it helps us plan a safe route to the engine room, as we’ve no idea where the monsters are,” said Henry.
Jane turned her attention to the control screen again. She pressed the Additional Details option. The menu that appeared had the option they required. She selected the Show Life-forms option.
When blobs of the gelatinous substance peeled off to form the creatures roaming the vessel, they were again astounded by the level of detail produced by the advanced technology. Each life-form aboard the ship was represented. What was even more amazing was that very few of the depicted aliens were static. Their eyes followed the movements of the creatures in their particular field of vision.
“I’ve never seen anything like this and wouldn’t have believed it possible if I hadn’t seen it for myself.” Theo reached out and poked one of the tiny creatures; it felt gooey to the touch. It oozed past his finger as if the obstacle wasn’t there.
Lucy pointed at a section of the model. “Look, even we’re represented.”
Their tiny forms in the model mimicked their movements when they crowded around Lucy to see for themselves. Jane raised an arm and waved. Her tiny self did the same.
For the first time in a long while they laughed as each formed a position that was copied by their 3D representations. Max even did a little dance that his smaller facsimile copied.
“As fascinating and entertaining as this is,” said Henry, “we need to find a safe route to the engine room.” He pointed at the control screen. “Is it possible to plot a route on that thing, Jane?”
Jane read through the list of options displayed on the screen and tapped a few choices on consecutive menus. “I can’t find anything that’s going to help us other than to show the different levels one at a time.” A press of the touch screen removed all the levels from the 3D image to leave an expanded view of the level they were on.
They again examined the model.
Lucy scanned the nearby rooms and corridors on the 3D blueprint. “At least there’s no monsters close by.”
Theo traced a path with a finger from the room they were in to a staircase leading down to a lower level. “This route is currently free of the creatures.”
“Jane, can you bring up the lower level so we can see where the stairs lead?” asked Henry.
The layout of the lower level promptly appeared, complete with roaming creatures. As before, any rooms that spanned more than one level, as the cathedral and engine room did, were depicted in their entirety.
The staircase led to a long corridor that ended abruptly at a missing area of the model that stretched the width of the ship and beyond that was the engine room.
Max pointed at the blank section. “That could be caused by the damaged sensors the computer mentioned.
“The missing section’s a worry, but that’s our route,” said Henry. “It’s a long haul, but as far as we can tell, it’s currently free of monsters.”
Jane brought up the level they were on again.
Jack pointed out the doors along the route that weren’t functioning before. “We’ll have to hope the computer was able to power these doors up, because going back the way we came isn’t an option.”
Their eyes settled on the cathedral room and the insect-like creatures crawling through it and up and down the sloping path. A large congregation of the insects waited by the door they had fled through what now seemed a long time ago, as if waiting for them to return.
“Okay, everyone, memorize the route,” said Henry.
Richard snapped off photographs of the planned route.
When everyone had familiarized themselves with the path to the staircase, they exited the room.
The Mimic faded into view and stared at the model for a few moments before tapping the control screen to bring up the lower level. Her dark eyes studied the rooms, corridors and prowling monsters and then glanced at the door the humans had disappeared through. She’d understood everything they said and was pleased they were heading for the exit. Soon her long imprisonment would be over. She moved across the room and exited through a different door than that taken by the humans.