Chara and the Planet

Chapter No. 36

Chapter No.36.

The Avenger dropped out of warp near Chara's planet. Surprisingly, there were no vessels near it, and it appeared to be the same as when they left it.

"That's weird," Ryan said. "There's no evidence that Space Command has been here."

"They were too busy trying to destroy us," Chara said.

"She might be right," Evan said. "We destroyed several of their major ships."

"Yes, but we had better be careful. I don't trust those bastards." Ryan turned to Chara. "I guess it'll be you and me going down there to see if there are any bogeymen hiding in the bushes."

"I think we had better send a team to the other continent just in case," Chara said.

"Who wants to volunteer?" Ryan asked.

"I'll go," Evan said.

"I'll go with you," Martha said.

Ryan stood up. "Good. Let's get this done."

Chara, Ryan, Evan and Martha went down to the hanger deck and activated two shuttles. The trips down to the surface were uneventful. They didn't find any bogeymen. Chara and Ryan parked on the tarmac near the tower complex and walked to the tower.

"Nothing is changed here," Ryan said after they entered the tower. "Apparently, no one came here to search for us."

"Yes," Chara replied. "It's as it was when we left."

Evan and Martha were not having the same experience. They parked near the Space Command facility on the adjacent island continent and walked up to it. What they found inside changed everything.

Evan had no problem gaining entrance to the facility and when the lights were activated, he and Martha were astounded by what they saw.

"Holy fuck! There must be thousands of androids in here."

Martha activated her energy rifle. "This isn't right. Why would Space Command go after us. They have a large enough army right here."

"This is weird," Evan said. He activated his communication device. "We have found a big surprise here."

"What?" Ryan replied.

"There are thousands of androids here in charging stations."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. We in the main facility and they're in charging stations."

"Hopefully, this isn't a trap."

"So far, everything is peaceful."

"Okay, check it out and let us know if there's any threat."

"Will do."

Ryan turned to Chara. "They found thousands of androids in storage over there. So far, there's no evidence of a trap."

"We have room on the Avenger for them if we sequence their charging periods," Chara said. "You can apply the calming routine to their memories."

"If there's that many of them over there, why did they come after us?"

"It's obvious. They wanted to destroy us so that they could use these androids here to take over Earth without us interfering."

"Yes, that makes sense. Now we have all of them."

"That is right, Ryan."

"That's okay, but there is no way I'm going to risk their lives in an attack on Earth. We can use what we have to bargain for a settlement."

"I doubt that they would bargain honestly," Chara said. "I'm concerned that it would lead to a trap."

Ryan turned to her. "Do you experience fear?"

"Yes, but I have learned to ignore it. There are times that I am depressed. I don't like that."

Ryan was surprised to hear that she had human emotions. It was yet another indication that androids were sentient, not just AI based robotic machines.

They began a more thorough search of the tower complex, especially the lab area. Everything seemed the same as they left it, another indication that Space Command never came here.

"There are some positronic brains and other android parts here," Ryan said. "We may as well take them to the vessel."

"I assume that you want to remain on the ship," Chara said.

"Yes. The vessel has superior weapons and the means to escape."

"I agree."

Evan and Martha returned.

"I've started the transfer of the androids to the Avenger," Evan said. "We're going to be up to our ears in androids."

"The more the merrier," Ryan said. "At least they won't be used by Space Command."

"Did you find anything here?"

"No. It's as we left it. There are some android parts here that we can transfer to the ship."

"I assume that we're going to live on the ship."

"Yes. It's safer than here."

Evan agreed with that.

After the transfers were completed, the humans met for supper and a discussion of what was next.

"We're packed to max," Myra said. "Are we going to live on this vessel from now on?"

"I believe it's our best chance at being safe," Ryan said. "Our next step is to go as far away as we can to avoid any further contact with Space Command."

"We might run into an intelligent species that won't care for us poking around their territory," Myra said.

"If there are intelligent species out there, it's not certain that they would have space capabilities, at least not within a thousand light years of Earth. If there were, we'd know about them by now."

"So, our mission is to find another intelligent species and hope they're not as fucked up as we humans are?"

"Ryan couldn't help cracking a grin. "Hopefully, we can avoid any contact. What we want to know is if they represent a threat to us."

"That sounds more like a military reconnoiter."

"Yes and no. We want to know if they are just searching for intelligent species like us or looking for some planet to conquer. The survival of both us humans and the androids might depend on what we find."

"Are the androids okay with this idea?"

"I think they are. They are not only sentient they have human emotions, including fear."

The others were surprised to hear that revelation. It meant that they were living in a new universe, one that included intelligent biological species as well as Ai based.