"…while I suspected that the low yields were due to a lack of nitrates in the soil, this hypothesis was disproved when I reviewed the samples that Violet provided. After analysis, I determined that sufficient quantities of nitrogen and nitrogen fixing bacteria were present in all areas tested.

"The next essential nutrient I investigated that, if in low enough quantities, could impede plant growth was phosphorus, commonly found in the natural environment as a component of phosphate. I conducted another battery of tests with the soil samples, but was unable to find any significant correlation between the levels of phosphate in the different plots and crop yields…"

The autopilot had been droning on for ages. While Violet had been desperately trying to pay attention the entire time, despite the excruciating level of detail he was going into, she finally had enough. The final straw was when McCrea, seated on a chair that she had brought in for him to sit on, began nodding off.

"Auto?"

He paused in the middle of his lecture, and said, "Violet. Please do not interrupt. I am relaying important information to our superior officer."

"Yeah, well…" She rubbed the back of her head. "Wouldn't it be more efficient if you gave Captain McCrea a brief summary now, and then presented him with a written copy for him to read on his own time? That way, you wouldn't have to waste time giving a verbal report."

Auto mulled over her suggestion, and then inclined slightly. "You are correct, I commend your judgment. Do you agree to Violet's proposal, Captain?"

McCrea jolted back to wakefulness, and let out a mighty yawn. "What? Oh, sure. Good idea, Violet."

"It is agreed, then. Very well." Auto pushed and held a button on the SDA console, causing the slideshow on the holoscreen behind him to flash madly through a succession of images, before it settled on a picture of the root system of a stalk of wheat. The diagram suddenly ballooned to fill the screen, focusing in on a single root section. Labels flashed into existence around the plant, with enigmatic labels such as 'pericycle,' 'apical meristem,' and 'endodermis.' One bulbous structure, which was circled in red several times, was labeled 'endomycorrhiza.'

With a tap of a button that caused the marked root part to flash, Auto said, "That is what was missing, sir."

McCrea got up out of his chair, and peered at the slide. "End-o-my-co-rhi-za? What's that?"

Rather than explaining, the autopilot said simply, "Computer. Define mycorrhiza."

A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic, or occasionally weakly pathogenic, association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. In a mycorrhizal association the fungus may colonize the roots of a host plant either intracellularly, where it is referred to as endomycorrhiza, or extracellularly, where it is called ectomycorrhiza.

These relationships are an important component of soil life, and ninety-five percent of all living plants are mycorrhizal. Without the presence of these useful fungi that aid in the absorption of essential nutrients and minerals, most plants will perform poorly.

When the computer finished speaking, Auto said, "While your community has performed adequately up until now, and your EVE probe Lily has shown exceptional resourcefulness in performing as a resident agronomist, she is hampered by her extreme focus on the science of botany. I doubt that it occurred to her that the field of mycology could provide some insight into the colony's problems."

"What's the next step, then?"

"I have already taken it, sir. I have instructed the on-board organic synthesis manufactories to re-create spores of several of the common species of fungi that lived symbiotically with your major food crops." Auto consulted an internal timer. "They should be ready for distribution in 327 minutes, sir, due to their low genetic complexity."

"Great!" McCrea smiled, and reached up to give the autopilot a friendly pat. "You did really well, Auto. Thank you."

Auto inched away a bit, uncomfortable with this sudden display of affection. "Ah, you are welcome captain. However, I was merely performing my duty."

Violet held up a hand, getting his attention. "With respect, sir, that's a load of crap," she interjected. "You have no idea of what you've done. With this problem fixed, this'll take a lot of pressure off of our food stores. We've been living pretty close to the knife, from what I've heard."

"Yes. Thank you for your input, EVE probe." The autopilot changed the subject. "Are there any other matters you wish to cover, while you are here, Captain?"

McCrea stared up at the ceiling, frowning. Then his gaze snapped back to Auto. "Actually, there is. I've wanted to do this for a long, long, time." He took a deep breath. "I would like to contact the other ships."

"Impossible, sir."

"How's it impossible? I know that you used to have those yearly pow-wows with the other autopilots. I would have done it myself, years ago, if the darned quantum transceiver didn't jabber some gobbledygook about a 'Number 15A General Operation Error.' I figured that you must be the only one who can use the stupid thing."

"Incorrect, captain," Auto said calmly. "A 15A GOE is, bluntly, when there is insufficient power to run the quantum transceiver."

"What d'you mean, insufficient power? We have loads of the stuff!" McCrea squinted at the wheel-shaped 'bot. "Don't we?"

"Not enough for our purposes." Auto's processor strips swung idly from side to side, as he thought of the best way to explain the matter. "Captain, have you heard the theory of how the universe is like a rubber sheet, with lead weights placed upon it?"

"Yeah, that's the one where planets and stuff make these big dents in space, right?"

Once again, Auto was struck by how much more knowledgeable this captain was, compared the one he knew ten years ago. "Correct. When we communicate with the other ships, both sender and receiver are on a level playing field. Transmissions may be sent easily and quickly. However, we are currently located in a gravity 'well.' In order to force the signal over the edge of our indentation, massive amounts of energy must be consumed. More than the amounts provided by the Axiom's fusion reactors."

McCrea was about to accept what Auto had said, when he remembered something from an old holodrama he used to watch. "But people on Earth could use q-ceivers all the time to talk to each other. You can't be saying that one person needed a whole power plant to himself just to give someone a call!"

Auto said diffidently, "That is true, but both callers were located inside the gravity well. They were not attempting to contact someone from outside of it."

"Oh." The captain sucked on a tooth, trying to think of another solution. "Well… since the problem is the Earth's gravity… Couldn't we shoot the Axiom back into space?"

"Definitely not, sir. The ship has not been properly maintained for a decade. Unless you are willing to pull all available robot and human taskforces from their assigned duties for several months, so that they could ready the Axiom for launch, we cannot even contemplate that as an option."

McCrea said, exhaling angrily, "Dammit! Okay, so what's that leave us?"

"The only choice available is to activate one of the defunct power plants in the city." Auto went silent, as he searched his internal databases. "There is a decommissioned research facility nearby. According to my records, it had a viable fusion power plant that was mothballed, but not disassembled. Only a single technician would be needed to reactivate it, as the process would be entirely automated."

As one, both man and autopilot turned to stare at Violet, who had been quiet for most of their exchange. She sighed. Why was her fate always to be the designated gofer?