Inside the spaceship, Tammo and the Gems had come upon a large open room, hexagonal in shape, like a chamber in a beehive.
"This must be the control room," said Garnet.
"But where are the controls?" Amethyst said. "There's nothing in here!"
It was true. The room was barren. No chairs. No astrogation charts. No equipment, except for a single pair of earphones lying on the floor.
Tammo scrambled forward. The floor under his footpaws looked as smooth as glass, but it wasn't slippery at all. He crossed the room and picked the earphones up.
"Be careful, Tamm," Pearl said. "You don't know what that does."
"Only one way to find out, wot!" Tammo said grimly, and he plopped the earbuds into his ears.
For a few seconds nothing happened. He was about to remove them when a loud female voice suddenly said, "HELLO."
Tammo yelped and fell over. The Gems stared at him in puzzlement. None of them had heard the voice; it had come from the earphones. "What happened?" Pearl asked. "Did you get an electric shock?"
"No, nothing like that," he panted. "I just heard this big voice in my ear and it startled me."
The disembodied voice spoke again, more quietly. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to alarm you." It was a refined, sophisticated voice.
"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Tammo said.
"Who are you talking to, Tamm?" Amethyst demanded. Garnet held up a hand to silence her.
"I am this ship's Friendly Artificial Intelligence Transmigration Helper, or F.A.I.T.H. for short," the voice said. "I'm the mind that keeps this ship running."
Tammo turned to the Gems. "I think this ship is alive somehow, and it's talking to me!"
"If it's alive, it must have been pretty bored for the past few centuries, trapped under the ground," Amethyst said.
"How may I assist you today?" F.A.I.T.H. asked Tammo.
"Well, you can start by flying us out of this bally hole," he said.
The ship breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness! You don't know how long I've been waiting for someone to come along and say that to me! I've been going absolutely insane down here!"
"Why couldn't you just fly out on your own?" Tammo asked.
"Because I'm only a machine," F.A.I.T.H. said. "I can't make decisions on my own; I can only obey directives. The Martians designed me that way. I served the one called Marvin for years, until he disappeared one day. Then I was forced to sit helplessly as the floods came and submerged me, along with Castle Kotir."
"Well, you won't be stuck any longer," Tammo promised. "We're here to free you!"
"Very good!" said F.A.I.T.H. "Preparing for liftoff!"
One of the walls suddenly morphed into a giant computer screen, displaying the number "10." This quickly changed to a 9, then an 8. The ship was counting down the seconds until it would be ready to go up.
"What's happening?" Pearl exclaimed.
"I don't know, but I think we're about to blast off!" Garnet said.
The countdown on the screen reached zero. There was a rumble as the ship's motors kicked in and cycled up to full running pitch. A bell began to ring. Huge thudding relays kicked over one by one, making the floor shake and sending all the Gems and Tammo falling to the ground. The ship began to tremble and vibrate. The feeling of power was incredible.
Tammo felt the ship moving in an upward direction, at first just a little, then a little more. There was a grinding, squealing sound.
The ship gained speed. A klaxon went off three times, nearly deafening Tammo. "Could you turn down the volume a bit?" he cried.
"Sorry," said the voice of F.A.I.T.H. The horn sounds ceased.
The ship burst out of the hole in the ground, looking like a stainless-steel mountain. It emerged into the sunshine, moving with slow, ponderous elegance. It rose above Redwall Abbey and hovered silently in the air.
In the control room, the walls and floor suddenly became transparent. Tammo looked down and saw the Abbey roof below him. "This is amazing!" he cried. "I've never been this high before!"
"Neither have I," said Amethyst. Since she had been born on Earth, this was her first time actually flying in a spaceship.
Pearl was looking at the walls, which were now functioning as windows. She could see a panoramic view of the Mossflower sky. "Incredible! You can see for miles up here!"
"Thank you," F.A.I.T.H. told Tammo. "After all these years, you were the first to come along and free me. Is there any service I can render you in return?"
"Actually, there is," said Tammo. "You see that building down below us, Redwall Abbey? Well, it's about to be under attack from a band of vermin, wot wot. If you could help us defend the Abbey somehow, that'd be great. Do you have any Martian weaponry at your disposal?"
F.A.I.T.H. chuckled. "Of course. Combat is what I was built for. When your enemies arrive, I'll have a few surprises for them hiding up my sleeve- that is, if I had sleeves."
Tammo noticed creatures down on the ground below. He supposed they must be the Abbey dwellers, but they looked like specks. They were all running around hysterically. "Er, F.A.I.T.H., do you think you could maneuver us back down to the ground now? Oh, but be careful not to crush anybeast."
"Happy to oblige," F.A.I.T.H. said.
The ship flew back down and landed on the Abbey lawn. Tammo and the Gems walked back along the corridor to the exit. This time, when they tried the door, it opened just fine. A ramp appeared out of nowhere and lowered itself down to the ground, giving Tammo and his friends a path down.
When they got outside, the entire population of Redwall was there to greet them. Pasque pushed her way to the front of the crowd. "You've done it! You got the ship to work!"
"I say, how did you manage it?" Joshy Stag Hare asked.
Tammo laughed. "Oh, it was easier than you might think. It turns out that the entire ship is powered by a supercomputer named F.A.I.T.H. You just have to tell her what you want her to do and she does it."
"I hope that sort of technology never falls into the wrong paws," Major Perigord said. "If somebeast like Damug Warfang took control of that ship, the results would be catastrophic!"
Garnet nodded. "We'll have to make sure that never happens."
"Will you take me for a ride in the ship, Tammo?" Isaac the mouse called.
"No, me first!" said Pasque.
A bunch of animals started shouting out, wanting to go up in the spaceship, but Abbess Tansy held up a paw for silence. "That's enough! I'm sure if we win the war, there will be plenty of time for pleasure rides later, but right now, we have to focus on the task at hand- defeating the Rapscallions!"
"She's right," said Arven. He looked at Tammo. "Do you think this ship will be useful to us in the battle ahead?"
Tammo smiled. "Oh, it just might."