Rear Sections.

Mary’s voice sounded from every speaker in the rear sections, creating yet another commotion amongst the disaster weary inhabitants.

“Could senior council members please report to Johan’s workshop? There have been developments that require your deliberation.”

Thief’s mother, now recovered enough to move around, joined the crowd, leaving the hospital at great haste. If it involved Johan, it involved her daughter. She was going there too, and nobody better try to stop her.

Doctor Warren peeled off her gloves and followed. “Well, there goes any hope of quarantine.” She sighed.

“Mamma!” Thief ran to her mother, giving her a fierce hug before leading her further into the workshop and finding her a prime position for the meeting. The two stopped hugging long enough for Mamma to update Emily.

“Your parents are fine, Emily. Your father’s recovery is a day behind mine and your mother has remained virus free, isolated in the hydroponics section.”

Emily wiped a joyful tear from her cheek but had to ask, “And Hamish’s family?”

Thief’s mother looked downcast. “They didn’t make it. They’re our most recent casualties, I’m afraid. Where is he?”

“Asleep at my place. Oh, Thief, how are we going to tell him?”

Mary saved Thief from having to answer, by hushing all the commotion in the packed room. Council men and woman stopped their chatter and interrogations of Johan and looked up as she spoke.

“Thank you for attending this briefing. You may refer to me as Mary. I am the Attenborough’s control and command AI.”

“The Attenborough?” Emily leaned over and whispered to Johan.

“It’s the original name of the ship. Long story.”

Mary continued. “I will keep this concise, as I understand you have at least two urgent issues. However, a certain amount of context can aide with comprehension.” Most people in the room looked desperate to interrupt and ask their own questions, but none were brave enough.

“Even prior to what you call the ‘cataclysm’, one hundred and ninety-three years ago, records of your history were incomplete. The primary cause of this data loss? A religious movement spanning at least two generations, around five hundred years BC. You still use BC for ‘before cataclysm’ Johan?”

“Yes, Mary.”

“Good. That makes the chronology easy to reference. The movement, known as “Earthers” believed the ship to be a form of purgatory. A punishment for humankind’s environmental destruction of Earth. That it was not on its way to the Proxima Centauri system, but orbiting Earth, waiting for their redemption and repudiation of technology. Whereupon it would return them to the planet, to rebuild a Luddite society. They attempted to destroy most technology on board, including the computer systems that held your history and references to the original mission. Another faction overcame the Earthers and tried to restore systems, with my help. But a vast amount of data stored on damaged solid-state drives was irrecoverable.”

The workshop had grown warm and stuffy, with so many bodies squashed together, listening.

“Therefore, your records are incomplete, but my programming and memory contain the core mission objectives, values, and a detailed history of the ship’s performance. The minutiae of life onboard, through the ages, is not so important.” An elderly woman, sat on the bottom bunk, looked like she may beg to differ, but didn’t get the chance.

“This ship, The Attenborough, named after a famous conservationist, was constructed in low Earth orbit, between the years 1300BC and 1100BC, in your frame of reference. At the time, the period was known as 2120AD to 2320AD. Humanity diverted their resources to lifting payloads to the orbiting construction yard daily, for many years. The Attenborough’s mission? To colonise Proxima B, an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the star, Proxima Centauri. I believe you’re aware of this. It’s a key piece of information that survived the periods of civil unrest and even The Earther’s brief reign.”

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“Yes, we knew some of that.” The woman on the bottom bunk answered. “But there’s so much missing from the intervening years. Can we read all your records?”

“Another time, yes, of course. But allow me to continue this briefing.” Mary answered. “The cataclysm, and various other detrimental events, have not impinged on the goal of colonisation. We remain on course and expect to enter the Proxima system in four hundred-and three-years’ time. It is my primary aim to ensure that occurs. Once in orbit, I estimate at least one generation will need to re-engineer the ship to survive a de-orbit and descent to the planet.”

“My second aim, with an equal weighting as the first, is to assist enough of your descendants to make planet fall and establish a colony, thus continuing Earth’s legacy. This requires a minimum of five hundred individuals, to avoid inbreeding and reduce genetic drift. Because of recent events, you now number four hundred and seventy-three.” Mary paused to let that sink in.

“And thus, we come to the two major challenges confronting us.” A murmur drifted through the audience.

“The first, your viral disease outbreak. From what I’ve been able to determine, this is a respiratory corona virus that attacks cell receptors of the type known as ‘ACE2’, found in the lungs and elsewhere in your bodies. But your lungs offer the virus the easiest invasive pathway. Your fatalities have likely all succumbed because of an immune system over reaction, flooding the lung’s alveoli with mucus. This hinders adequate gas exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide.”

Doctor Warren, at the back of the room, nodded.

“A very similar viral outbreak occurred on Earth, around one hundred years before construction of the Attenborough began. I have the data and capability in the forward labs to construct a vaccine, and treatments. However, I will need a patient’s blood sample, in order to narrow down the particular strain.”

“Yes!” Doctor Warren clapped her hands in delight.

“The second challenge,” Mary continued, expressing no emotion regarding the good news she’d delivered, “Is that a pair of vampires occupy the ship’s front sections.”

Those listening couldn’t contain themselves any longer. Their shocked reactions created a cacophony of noise. Thief and Emily blocked their ears. Thief’s mother held her daughter close.

When the commotion died down, Mary asked, “Johan, how much context around vampires do you need?”

Johan glanced over his shoulder at the shocked faces.

“Only enough as it pertains to our current predicament. I don’t think we need any Earth history of them.”

“Acknowledged.” said Mary. “The first generation of colonists, elected by a political entity known as the United Nations, included a pair of scientists descended from an Eastern European vampire bloodline” Emily leaned over to Thief and whispered, “What’s Eastern European?”

“You’ll do it in History!” Thief whispered back.

“They lived among the ship’s population, undetected for generations. However, while vampires don’t require the genetic diversity that humans do, their inbreeding can still lead to genetic degradation. This has manifested itself in recent generations as an amplification of a few characteristics. Principally, what they refer to as “blood lust” has become harder for them to control. And they’ve lost the ability to judge risk and consequences. Although that’s only my observation, based on their behaviour.

“So there’s only two of them? That have been attacking us?” A councilman asked.

“Yes. There are two that survived the cataclysm, but there’s only one that has been taking your people,” Mary replied, “The sister, Bianca, hunts for both of them. Her brother, Sebastian, has other interests. An added complication is the core algorithms that constrain me. Bianca is a crew member, and a valuable colonist. I cannot harm her. I must also follow her orders, at least to some degree. She carries the authority of Senior Science Officer, inherited from her deceased father.”

“Right. So, it’s up to us. Let’s go get the bitch!” said Thief.

“Sarah!” Her mother gave her a soft clip across her bare scalp.

“Bianca is superior to humans, in all physical respects,” Mary cautioned, “She’s stronger, faster, and more agile. I do not recommend confronting her unarmed. Even several of your adult males would struggle to overpower her.”

“So we need weapons?” Emily jumped into the conversation to back her friend up.

“Yes.”

“We have banned firearms for centuries.” said Johan, “Nobody has ever found any, not that I know of. But I could print a plastic gun and make ammunition from phosphorus.”

Mary poured cold water on his idea. “The printing will take too long. The gun would warp after a few discharges. Also, the projectile may not have sufficient velocity to inflict fatal injuries. Earth legend suggests that wooden weapons are more effective against vampires. That’s unlikely to hold up to scientific scrutiny, but I would be negligent if I didn’t include it for consideration.”

“And where are we going to find wood, on a spaceship?”

“There is a place. If one of your ancient legends is to be believed.”