Science Fiction Smack Down 2017

Round 03: Harvester

The image of the starship Thirst was no more than a streak of elongated color until it reduced speed. The forward sections were the first to stop, with the rest of the ship catching up a moment later and removing the visual distortion caused by its velocity.  A massive block, the only deviation in the shape of the hull was in thestern where the six cylinders of the main engines were mounted.

"Destination reached, Oort Cloud section J93," the raven-haired officer at the forward helm station reported. She looked ready to be sick.

"First time through a Delkor Projector?" I asked as I swiveled my engineering station chair in her direction.

"Yeah," she answered, placing a hand on her stomach as if trying to will her breakfast to stay down.

"After a dozen or more jumps, you'll get used to it," I promised.

"Terrific," she muttered unenthusiastically.

The Delkor Projectors had been invented more than six hundred years ago, but even today, in the year 3020, the massive stations were still in use. Before members of the science caste had invented the Projectors, space flight and colonization had always required massive engines and considerable amounts of fuel in order to move vessels across the vast distances of space.

The scientists had discovered atomic bonds could be stretched to considerable distances without breaking them. Individual ships and entire fleets could be transmitted anywhere in the galaxy one atomic layer at a time. Since each transmitted section was only one atom thick, it could be projected faster and further than the actual mass of the ship would allow.

"Full scan," the Captain ordered. The broad shouldered man seemed even more imposing sitting in the throne-like chair in the center of the bridge.

"Sensors are detecting cometary debris, high concentrations of stellar dust, and twenty seven fragments of sufficient size for harvesting," the science officer reported. His eyes and ears were concealed behind a sensor visor wrapped around his head, three lines of glowing blue light cutting horizontally across the front of black device. The visor created a virtual space around the wearer, allowing the science officer to see everything as if he were the ship itself. Items of interest were highlighted for his inspection, and manipulation of the science station controls could adjust various features and functions as needed.

"Engineer Walden," the Captain said to me. "Deploy your teams and begin harvesting at once."

"Aye Captain," I answered. Leaving my station on the bridge, I headed toward the flight deck where my people would be waiting.

The flight deck was wide, open, and bustling with activity when I arrived. Like me, the engineering and mining teams were all attired in the blaze orange jumpsuits of the labor caste rather than the slate gray worn by those on the bridge who belonged to the warrior caste.

Racks with supplies, tools, equipment, and replacement parts were organized between the harvester pods. Deploying the harvesters was standard after nearly every projection into deep space, and since everyone was already prepping the harvesters for launch, I didn't interrupt them and continued toward harvester pod one.

A lumpy sphere made from a series of triangular panels, reflective silver in color, the harvester pod was ten feet in height with eight extendable arms curled up underneath it like the tentacles of an octopus. Flexible pipes were connected to the housing where mechanical arms attached, and the tubes curved around the harvester to the square block of the extractor system on the back of the craft.

Opening one of the triangular panels, I was confronted by the strangest noise I had ever heard. My copilot resided in the left half of the harvester, his chair facing away with its back up against the back of my seat.