Chara and the Planet

Chapter No. 33

Chapter No.33.

The Avenger came out of warp a million kilometers out from a habitable planet orbiting a K-class star with a luminosity half that of the Sun. Its two companion stars have luminosities fractions of that of the main star. The planet orbited the main star every 223 days. A larger massive planet orbited the star every 42 days.

Ryan had trouble imagining an intelligent species having evolved on a planet in a system this complicated. However, he was not going to argue the point with Chara.

"I have detected a vessel in orbit around the planet," Alma said. "It does not match any vessel in our list."

"What is its status?" Chara asked.

"I am detecting no energy source," Alma replied.

"Maybe we should go into cloak," Ryan suggested.

"There appears to be no signs of a civilization on the planet. This has to be a research vessel."

"Yes, but from where?"

"I will put us into a higher orbit," Chara said.

"I don't think that vessel is from our galaxy," Alma said. "The alloy readings of the outside shell are not consistent with materials we're familiar with."

"I can't find anything that suggests a way to get inside it," Myra said.

Chara turned to Ryan. "We'll go over and check it out."

Ryan nodded his approval, but he had a bad feeling about this situation.

Before Chara left the command deck, she turned to Alma, who took over her pilot's station. "Keep the engines on standby and make certain that the shielding system is operative."

Alma turned to her. "I will."

Chara and Ryan went to hanger deck to board a shuttle. After evacuating the atmosphere of the hanger deck and opening the main door, Chara maneuvered the shuttle out of the hanger and began a careful journey to the mystery ship, slowing the shuttle to a crawl as it approached the huge totally black cylindrical object with no obvious markings or detail on its surface.

"I don't see anything that would allow us to enter this thing," Ryan said.

Chara didn't reply. She seemed to be lost in thought. After several minutes of silence as the shuttle passed under the vessel, Chara suddenly turned the shuttle and blasted away from the vessel. She established contact with the Avenger. "Fire up the engines. Go to full shielding. As soon as I have this shuttle in the hanger, go to maximum engine power on a course away from the planet."

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked, his brow furrelled.

"This is not a vessel. It is a bomb."

"I assume it's going to blow."

"Yes."

Ryan swallowed hard.

Chara got the shuttle into the hanger deck and latched it to the floor before Alma accelerated the Avenger into a course that would take it away from the planet.

"Full power," Chara told her over the communication system.

Suddenly, the alien object exploded in a blinding flash of gamma rays that could probably be seen from Earth, if anyone was looking their way in 57 years. The force of the explosion shook the Avenger. Ryan could feel the effect while sitting in the shuttle stuck to the hanger floor.

"Holy . . . that was some explosion!" He turned to Chara. "Why in the hell would they put an explosive device with that power in orbit around a planet?"

"It might not have anything to do with the planet," Chara said. "I sense it as being the device from some machine society."

"You mean like you?"

"Not quite like me, perhaps more robotic. Their vessel was disabled, and they didn't want anyone to discover their technology."

Ryan offered her a nervous smile. "Well, I'm again indebted to you for saving my life."

"We both would have been destroyed."

"Where do you think they came from?"

"Assuming that their vessel had warp capability, they could be from a system more towards the center of the galaxy."

"Why there?"

"Because they could survive on planets orbiting in the part of the galaxy that's more dangerous."

"As from radiation?"

"Yes. The center of our galaxy is dominated by a supermassive black hole that represents a threat to biological life."

"Wouldn't a robotic sentient species have been created by a biological species?"

Chara paused before replying. "I am not certain that robotic evolution would be possible, but it is something we should consider."

"I agree," Ryan said with a subtle smile.

They returned to the command deck, and Chara assumed her pilot's station. She studied some astronomical data before changing the Avenger's course and going to warp.

"Where are we headed to?" Ryan asked.

"I have located a possible habitable system two hundred light years down the Orion arm. Its star is like our Sun."

Ryan elected not to argue her choice. He had no idea how she was able to know where these kinds of solar systems were located.

Later that evening when the humans gathered for supper, Ryan seemed more stoic than normal.

"tt appears that we are seeing the more dangerous aspects of this cruel universe," Evan said. "You and Chara are trying to see how close you can come to oblivion."

Ryan sighed. "Yeah, it sure looks that way. Fortunately, Chara has the ability to sense danger and escape it."

"You must know that if you and Chara are destroyed, the rest of us will be in a more dangerous situation. I'm not sure if the rest of these robotic bitches will tolerate us like she does."

"I understand your concern, but I have no other course of action than to obey her. Hopefully, we'll find less dangerous situations in the future. I believe that Chara is attempting to find an AI based life form that evolved."

"How is that even possible?" Myra asked. "Machines are the product of intelligent biological species."

"That's from our experience, but who knows what lurks out there in an unpredictable universe."

That crazy idea made them uncertain of the future, and doubt is the predecessor of fear.