Season 2 Episode 05: A Sentry in The Dark

Can Carol salvage some Goultaran sentry robots?

The elevator stopped at what seemed to Carol like six or so stories, underground and a bright light suddenly came on. Then cold, stagnant air hissed from around the edges of the door and washed into the elevator as it opened into the darkness beyond. His muscles were already tense and trembling in the cramped and unfamiliar elevator; Chattanooga stomped his feet nervously, his hooves sounding like the preamble to a rock song. Carol would have preferred to be quieter, and she began to doubt the wisdom of bringing him here.

Carol heard words spoken to them in the Goultaran language from somewhere in the room. Chattanooga stopped his nervous dance and perked his head.

“Security code, please,” she heard the translator speak into her ear.

“Security code?” Carol asked innocently, reaching into her pocket with her left hand. She heard her translator repeat her words in Goultaran. Her right hand still clutched her pistol, which had a flashlight attached, but she immediately ruled out pointing it into the room as the owner of the unseen voice inside would likely react with violence.

“Yes,” the voice said patiently. “Speak your security code.”

Her left hand finally reached what it had been searching for in her pocket, and she pushed the large button on it. It burst out a string of words in Goultaran so loud that it startled both her and Chattanooga, and they both twitched. Her heart hammered out several seconds as she waited for the reply. She still didn't know how many threats she faced or where they stood.

“That security code is inadequate for this facility,” said the voice. “You must already know that you've entered a restricted area that requires additional clearance.”

The prerecorded message she’d played contained a code that identified her as equipment repair personnel. She’d obtained it from the Space Force for use in these situations, and she had expected it to work.

“Of course, I know this is a restricted area,” she said, her voice failing to hide her fear. “That is my code.”

“That code is a personnel ID number only and does not include the clearance addendum needed to work in this area,” said the voice politely. “Please holster your sidearm and provide the proper code for entering this area.”

She breathed comfort into her shaking hands, patting Chattanooga on the neck and sliding her pistol back into its holster. Then, she located her other flashlight and searched her pack for her tablet.

“Bet you're glad to see me,” she said. “It's been a very long time since we last checked on you to perform maintenance on your systems.”

Roughly a century to be exact.

“It has,” the voice acknowledged.

She found the tablet and searched the files for anything that might be a special security code.

“Is it 6859452N?”

“That is the clearance addendum for the transportation hub, not for here,” the voice said. “Who issued your work order?”

“I don't know his name,” she said with a smile, relieved that the sentry had asked her a question she could answer truthfully. She located her backup plan, an emergency disabling protocol she’d loaded onto her tablet that flashed a visual signal. The ancient Goultarans had devised the flash code to shut down malfunctioning robotic sentries for repair.

“I have my work order right here,” she lied. “I don't see any special codes on it, though. Maybe I’m missing something. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes.”

She slid the tablet under her belt and dismounted. Before stepping into the room, she stopped and stroked Chattanooga’s head for a minute. The animal had calmed somewhat as he sensed her resolve and growing confidence in the situation. She shined her flashlight around the room, and her heart jumped suddenly when she saw no less than five robotic sentries standing in front of her.

“Whi...which one of y...you was I speaking with?”

Crap! She thought. I studdered!

Automated translators needed the speaker to talk clearly and distinctly and her translator repeated her garbled words into Goultaran that she knew would come out wrong. She rested her right hand on the butt of her pistol and waited, beginning to wish that she’d ask for the military to come in here shooting after all.

“I do not understand,” said one of the five sentries. “Why do you need to speak to a restroom?”

“I mean...I need to use the restroom,” she replied with a chuckle. Again, that wasn’t a lie either.

“Show me the work order,” said the sentry.

She stepped forward and set the timer on the shutdown app to a one-second delay before turning the tablet around to show the sentry the screen. As she did, she kept her other hand on the handle of her holstered pistol just in case the flash code didn’t work on all five of the sentries at once.

The sequence of bright flashes burst from the tablet screen, and she stood for a moment, waiting to see what would happen. The sentries didn’t move.

She waved her tablet in front of the sentry’s face.

“Well?” She said. “Is the security code included on the work order or not?”

Intense pain suddenly exploded along her spine, and an electric charge passed through her, causing her to scream in agony and drop to the floor. Her whole body trembled from the shock and began to tingle clear to her fingertips as she rolled over and saw that they had another sentry standing next to the doorway behind her.

Not cool!

She drew her pistol, and the sentry shot her again as Chattanooga bleated angrily and charged into the room.