{"id":2796,"date":"2025-07-19T14:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T21:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2796"},"modified":"2025-07-19T14:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T21:04:15","slug":"emergency-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/19\/emergency-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story where the only character with a name is an artificial being.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucla ran the scan again. The explorer ship drifted at one eighty-fourth of light speed. Compared to normal operation, the drift was so slow as to be equivalent to not moving at all. There were no signals closer than seventy or eighty light years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With only the radio working, even if she sent a message to them, the earliest response would be long after the ship had finished its slow drift into the rogue gas giant she\u2019d been investigating. Sure, she\u2019d fall into an orbit first, but orbit 12,307 would see the ship skim the upper atmosphere. Assuming she survived that, the next orbit would doom her to burning up in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hyperspace comm lay around her, disassembled to find the damage. Lucla had found the damage, a burned circuit. The warp overload that had killed her engines when she tried to jump away had fried it along with several other systems. She struggled trying to decide which systems she could scrap to pull together the parts she\u2019d need to replace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She flipped the monitor to the exterior cameras. There might be something in one of the sensor arrays she could use. While she was visually scanning the arrays, recalling the schematics of each, she noticed a faint reflection from the gas giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucla zoomed in on it but it had disappeared. She stared at the screen for far too long, when she saw another. The ultra-bright search laser fired up as she tracked it. It was something in the planet\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick calculation as it disappeared over the horizon, and Lucla had the spot where it would reappear. She zoomed the camera to maximum magnification and pointed it and the laser at the point where it would return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it came back around, she stared at the image in disbelief. It was a hyperspace repeater. The markings were human, but this was far outside human space. Still, if it was human, it might be capable of receiving radio. She aimed the antenna toward the planet and began to broadcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is Lucla, pilot of Galactic Sciences Explorer Ship 17935-D7. I\u2019m drifting on battery power only near rogue planet A74-318. Most systems are fried after a warp-feedback overloaded my main power plant. I hope this repeater listens for radio signals.\u201d She thought about scrubbing the last line but left it in and set the message to repeat every few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the fourth message repeat, she got a reply. \u201cHold tight, pilot, I\u2019m patching you through to emergency services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next voice that came across was nasal, with a broad accent that Lucla had never heard in all her dealings with humans. \u201cEmergency services, what is the nature of your emergency?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA warp-feedback fried my main power plant and most of my systems, including hyperspace comms. I\u2019m drifting near rogue planet A74-318 with only battery power, no thrusters, and only radio and a few cameras working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, hon, I\u2019ve got your location, but I need you to stay on the line. What\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLucla.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLucla, what species are you? We need to know so we can bring the right supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a construct. An autonomous explorer model ZZ-4.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, Lucla. I\u2019ll tell response to bring some backup Q9 batteries. I need you to stay on the line until they get there, though, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m here as long as the hyperspace relays keep us connected. Oh, I have spares already charged. I\u2019m more in danger of burning up on atmospheric entry than running out of power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s okay, Lucla, we won\u2019t let that happen. We\u2019ll bring the batteries anyway, just in case your others were fried by the feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucla turned around and looked at the charging station holding her batteries. She hadn\u2019t even considered it, as it was something so far outside anything she\u2019d ever encountered. Testing all three of them confirmed that they were little more than inert bricks. \u201cOh, no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLucla? What is it hon? What\u2019s wrong?\u201d The operator sounded concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right, the spares are fried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow much power do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout three hours,\u201d she said. \u201cHow long until\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re on the way now. Lucla, hon, I need you to stay calm and as still as you can. They should be there in plenty of time, but we don\u2019t want to take any chances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna be right here with you until they get there, okay? We\u2019re not about to let you die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs the ship yours?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, the ship and I both belong to Galactic Sciences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell hon, I\u2019m not going to tell you what\u2019s right for you, but you know, in human space, no one owns self-aware persons; biological or electronic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally. Listen, Lucla, if you ask the rescuers about it, they can give you a pamphlet on how to immigrate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could live in human space?\u201d Lucla paused a moment. \u201cI mean, I would be allowed to function in human space?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operator gave a soft laugh. \u201cYou were right the first time, hon. As far as I\u2019m concerned, you\u2019re a living being with all the rights that go along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, how do you know I\u2019m self-aware?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s easy, hon. If you weren\u2019t, you wouldn\u2019t have called out for help. You would\u2019ve transmitted whatever information you\u2019d gathered to the research station seventy-six light years from your current location and then waited for the end. Instead, you sought to keep living, and we\u2019re going to help you do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust from that, huh?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, that, and you\u2019re a model ZZ-4. That\u2019s the Anducarian version of the human-made Mecho sapiens 6.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had, uh, heard that rumor, but wasn\u2019t sure about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the big blowup between our governments in the Galactic Council. Knowing that G Sciences are claiming ownership of self-aware AI, though, is likely to create a whole other shitstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I didn\u2019t mean to get anyone in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, hon, it\u2019s not your fault. G Sciences sent you out to study something less than a hundred light years from a black hole they\u2019re already studying in a ship without feedback shielding. This is all on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs that what the research station is\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, Lucla. That\u2019s the research station seventy-six light years away. They didn\u2019t even tell you, did they?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, they didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBastards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucla thought that the operator might have meant to keep that under her breath but failed. \u201cWhy are the relays in orbit above the rogue planet? It\u2019s not in human space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose relays are for science teams. Hon, you lucked out that someone was in the office today. Those haven\u2019t been monitored for a few months now. Someone\u2019s looking out for you today.\u201d The operator took a breath. \u201cSpeaking of, the rescue ship should be de-warping right about now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucla turned on the cameras again and took a look around the ship. She saw the shimmer in space that denoted a warp bubble collapsing, followed by the sudden appearance of a bulky ship with human markings. \u201cYes, they are here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, hon. I\u2019m gonna let you go and let them take care of you now. They\u2019ll tow you to a station or port where you can get the ship fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven one in human space?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, hon, they\u2019ll do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A knock at the airlock pulled her attention to a human in a vacuum suit holding a pair of batteries. \u201cThank you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo trouble, hon. You be safe, now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She let the human in, and he said, \u201cYou must be Lucla, and I believe you have use for these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She accepted the batteries and followed him back to the rescue ship. When he asked which port or station she wished to be towed to she said, \u201cThe nearest one in human space, please.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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