The Krakow Klub (2 page)

John took a seat and the craft lifted off
silently. There was no sense of motion due to the gravitational
drive technology involved. Soon, they were soaring away from the
Earth at an ever increasing speed. John smiled at the thought of
having the capability of traveling at nearly the speed of light.
But, today, that wouldn’t be necessary. The flight would only be
about a million miles, so maximum speed would not be required. It
would merely be a short and relaxing trip.

While in stealth mode, no radar system in the
world could detect John’s craft as the outer skin absorbed all
forms of radiation encountered except for the visible light
spectrum. Rays from that little slice of the spectrum were merely
bent around the craft, leaving it in its invisible state.

Ever on the alert for John’s
needs, Mister T, left the cabin and soon returned with a light
snack and a drink.

After beginning to eat, he asked the robot to
tell him all about Maxxine.

Maxx had programmed Mister T to speak English
fluently.
Also,
he had the ability to improve
his linguistic skills from experience. Mister T was an apt pupil
and currently spoke with virtually no perceptible accent. It was
most like a well-trained actor or some other TV personality. His
pronunciations were
precise,
his diction was
nearly perfect,
and both were
delivered
in a tone of voice that gave the impression of
earnestness and sincerity.

Mister T took a seat and replied, “You will
be most pleased with her. Maxx has truly outdone himself this time.
She will amaze you! And, don’t forget, you’ll be visiting your new
home base for the first time. The craft is most impressive and was
built using all of the latest designs and materials. Your living
quarters are of the highest
standards,
and
there are facilities for guests that you might wish to have in the
future. It’s also a working
ship,
so there are
manufacturing and laboratory areas as well as maintenance
facilities for your fleet of
space
craft.”

Continuing, Mister T added, “As
per your instructions, I have rented a small warehouse in Key West.
It is by the water, so your craft can easily arrive and depart
without detection. There is plenty of space to stock everything
that you might need delivered to the space station, including
food.
I used your identity to make the deal.”

Then laughing heartily, Mister T continued,
“By the way, thanks for the loan of your driver’s license. Maybe
you can get me one of my own as soon as we set up
housekeeping.”

Mister T continued, “Last, but certainly not
least, the materials laboratories on the craft are busy completing
your order for gold bulimia.
The entire amount will
be available to you before you return to Earth. I understand that
is to be about ten days from now.”

John interrupted with a smile, “That’s
bullion
, not
bulimia
. Just add that word to your
language databank.”

Continuing to smile, John added, “Other than
the little linguistic faux pas, you have performed your duties
admirably. I hope that you will find your new life here
satisfactory since you’ve been assigned to me permanently.”

Mister T promptly replied, “Thanks, Boss, I
am most pleased to be in your service, sir. I could have likely
been reprogrammed and reconfigured for some other function,
possibly mining. Or, I could have even been dismantled
entirely
and my parts saved for some other purpose. A
horrible thought if I do say so myself. As far as I’m concerned,
being assigned to you permanently is a true blessing.”

John looked over at Mister T and gave a small
salute. “I often forget that you’re not human. I’m still constantly
amazed at how perfectly Maxx designed and constructed you.
You are so humanlike that I am tempted to offer you
food or drink.
Sorry, I don’t mean to make fun of your
status as a robot.”

“Well, sir, that is true, I am a robot. But
there are compensating balances. I am quite happy in my present
configuration. Humans must spend a
considerable
amount
of time eating, drinking, and sleeping. I am free to
do other things with my time.”

A few minutes later, Mister T announced that
they were nearing the space station and turned on the viewing
camera so that John could watch their approach. Maxxine had also
turned off stealth mode so John could see the
spacecraft
during their last few minutes of travel.
First, there was only a bright point of light in the dark sky, but
it soon became larger and larger as they neared it. John could make
out the details of the space
station,
and it
was truly an awesome sight.

“Thanks for turning on the viewing camera,
Mister T. I want to see my space station from all angles.” John
stared at the screen in wonderment.

John sat in stunned silence as he suddenly
realized the enormity of what he now possessed. He took a deep
breath and pushed aside the thought of how carefully he would have
to handle his largess. The responsibility suddenly weighed on
him,
and he felt his chest tighten. What had
he done? Why had he asked for all of this? He had flippantly
demanded so much. He had half expected that Maxx would summarily
reject his demand as ridiculous. But he had not. He had agreed to
the request without a single question or complaint.

Now, John worried that he would not be able
to handle his enormous power with proper restraints. Even a slight
mistake could result in disaster for himself, or even worse, for
everyone else in the world. He shook his head and appreciated the
system of checks and balances that Tanaka had created for Maxx and
the Master Control Module. He would surely need something
comparable in his life now that he
was
claiming his Mylean legacy.

Mister T, completely unaware of John’s
thoughts, proudly prattled on describing the space station and many
of
Maxxine's
awesome capabilities. He pointed
out the four entry ports, one of which was designated for human
use. The remaining three
ports handled various other
spacecraft in his fleet.

John asked Mister T, “In stealth mode, I
understand that the
craft is
invisible
, but if it absorbs all radiation that hits it,
doesn’t that create a visual black spot?”

Mister T, smiling, replied, “Oh no, Boss.
Maxx is much too clever for that.
It seems that
virtually all biological creatures
that he has
encountered so far ‘see’ only a small segment of the
electromagnetic spectrum. So Maxx simply designed the stealth
system to bend visible light waves around the object.
That
way you can see what is on the other side of the craft, but the
craft is still invisible. Without the light bending, there would be
a black hole at the position of the craft. It’s an example of
the brilliance
of Mylean technology.”

John made a quick mental calculation and
decided that it must be at least ten miles, or more, in diameter
and that the
midsection
was about five miles
thick. The overall shape was that of a huge compressed globe. Or,
what we on the Earth might call a flying saucer.

Maxx designed the structure so that only a
small portion of interior space would be adapted to support living
beings.
The remainder and much larger portion of the
craft was used to support a multitude of facilities. Such
facilities included storage space for spacecraft, laboratories,
production lines, warehouses, and facilities for the maintenance
and repair of the many robotic workers.

Upon arriving, they were whisked through the
port designated for humans, and their craft landed at a docking
station quite similar to the one that John had encountered on the
interstellar transporter. However, there
was
no other craft anywhere to be seen. After a few moments of thought,
John realized that no other craft was needed, at least at this
time. This space island, his space station, would normally have
only one resident and that resident would only be there
occasionally.

“Mister T, let’s head to the control room. I
can check out the living quarters later.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” he replied with a quick
salute, and then directed their small transport craft straight
towards the opposite wall at a dizzying speed. Just seconds before
a horrific impact, a door in the wall flashed opened and they
slipped through without slowing down into a tube-like passageway.
John, normally imperturbable, suddenly realized that he had been
clutching his armrests so tightly that his knuckles had become
white. He breathed
a
sigh
of relief that they were still alive and then made a promise to
himself to have Maxxine check and recheck the door’s control
mechanisms before and after each use. No point in tempting
fate.

They flew through the passageway at breakneck
speed and again headed directly toward what seemed to be a solid
wall at the end of the passage. As they traveled through the
passageway, soft lights of ever-changing colors bathed the craft as
they passed through them. As John had thought on his trip to Mylea,
it was like riding
through
a rainbow.

Soon they arrived at their
destination,
and the little craft halted at the entrance
of the control room.

John stepped out of the craft and entered.
The entire room and all its contents were a dazzling white. The
room was rather small and contained only a sleek, slightly curved
desk about twelve feet in length with a single chair positioned in
front of it. There were no visible controls or meters, no sounds,
no microphone—just a shining white desk and chair with a large
screen mounted on the wall facing the desk.

John walked over to the chair and sat down.
It immediately adjusted itself to his weight and height, allowing
him to sit comfortably. The screen adjusted itself to the proper
eye level for him and almost instantly began to glow with soft
pulsating colors. A seductive female voice began to speak.
“Welcome, Mr. Scott. I have been awaiting your arrival with great
anticipation. I am
Maxxine,
and I am pleased
to be your humble servant.”

John leaned forward and replied, “The
pleasure is all mine,
Maxxine. Please refer
to
me as John, not Mr. Scott. I’m anxious to review the resources
available to me, including your programs and applications. Let’s
begin with an inventory and analysis of the principal resources.
Please make it concise. We’ll go into details later.”

He was still rather dumbfounded by the sexy
voice and had a very sneaky suspicion that dear old Maxx had done
it deliberately just to annoy him or as some joke. He muttered to
himself, “Maxx, you devious creature. You can’t rattle me! I like
that voice and just wish that I’d thought of it myself. It reminds
me of old Marilyn Monroe movies.”

Maxxine purred, “Yes, sir. Just watch the
screen. I have prepared a virtual tour of our facilities
here on the
main ship.
Afterward
, we can review our external resources.”

The giant curved screen displayed the arrival
port. The image was
three-dimensional
and made
John feel that he could almost step directly into the picture. The
clarity of the images was amazing—a definite improvement over the
screens he had last seen when visiting Maxx.

Maxxine’s
voice was now
quite authoritative and businesslike. “As you can see, this is the
arrival port for biological beings. This entrance can accommodate
up to four of your transport craft at one time. Transit tubes are
behind the wall and lead out to all locations on the ship capable
of supporting biological beings.

“I’m sure that Mister T has already explained
that only a few areas of the ship have been designed to support the
physical requirements of humans. The remaining areas are climate
and atmospherically controlled based on the type of work being done
there. If you should ever need additional space for biologicals,
these areas can be upgraded to support them quite easily.

“Next, you’ll see the living quarters. There
are a total of twenty-five suites for humans, each with two
bedrooms, a bathroom, and a lounge area allowing you to have up to
one hundred guests at a time. Maxx has also included facilities for
a few small canines, one named Mitch, to be specific. She will be
most pleased with the careful planning that Maxx did to ensure her
comfort. Apparently Maxx was quite taken with the little beast when
she recently visited him.

“In the central section of the living
quarters, you will find a dining area along with complete catering
facilities. Maxx suggested that this area be multifunctional, so
I’ve designed it so that it can
also serve
as
a meeting room or a lecture room. For
presentations,
there is a drop-down video screen
mounted
on
the ceiling.
You will find a small control button beside the entrance that will
cause the screen to drop down at the front of the room. There is
also a remote control available as well.

“As for food, there is a service area just
behind the dining area where we have complete supplies and
materials to handle you and your guests. Food will be prepared and
delivered by
specially
designed robots. These
robots, the new ‘Mister T’ class, will be produced by a
manufacturing line that I am currently completing. It is an
extremely complex manufacturing
process,
and I
am relying heavily on Maxx since he has all the details from his
original production of Mister T.”