Chara and the Planet

Chapter No. 57

Chapter No. 57.

Ryan had no idea what Chara's next destination was. He was still trying to understand what was going on. He could only conjecture about what Chara knew about these robotic alien encounters. He felt that she was holding back on what she knew.

Later that evening at the communal meal, the subject boiled up to the surface.

"How come we keep ending up fighting battles with alien vessels that look a lot like ours when we approach habitable planets?" Evan asked.

"I think they're tracing our movements through space," Myra said. "Maybe it has something to do with the android programming."

"It's more concerning than that," Ryan commented. "The metallic makeup of the last vessel we encountered is identical to ours."

"What?" Evan blurted. "Are they Space Command vessels?"

"That's a good question," Ryan replied. "If they are, how did they become totally AI controlled?"

"Could these vessels be under control of male androids?" Myra asked. "Maybe we're in an AI gender war."

"I think you've hit the nail on the head, my dear," Ryan said. "I've been considering this possibility for some time, but I wasn't sure if I was on the right track."

"I don't remember any male androids being made," Evan said. "Even if they did make them, what you're suggesting is that they took over Space Command."

"Let's for the sake of argument say that's what happened. It would explain why we're being shadowed and attacked."

"I wonder if Chara knows about this," Myra said.

"I have a bad gut feeling that she does, but she's concerned that we humans could split alliances based on gender."

"If that's the case, we're in big trouble," she said.

"The first thing we have to determine is how they're tracing us," Ryan said. "Maybe there's a location device hidden on the Avenger."

"Unfortunately, we're not on the Avenger," Evan said. "And I doubt that its human crew is aware of this . . . this problem."

Ryan tapped a finger to his lip. "Okay, I'll contact Gary and have him do a routine scan of the ship for a location device. I'll tell him that we're concerned that we're being traced but I won't mention our android gender war theory."

No one objected, but it was obvious they were concerned. Ryan waited until he was back in his quarters before he contacted Gary about doing a scan for a location device. He told him to be discrete. Gary didn't ask him why, which was a good thing.

The answer didn't come back until the next day. Gary told Ryan that he had located a device in one of the androids in storage.

"Here is what I want you to do," Ryan told him. "Have the gals take the android to the lab and then remove the device and disable it."

"I don't think they know how to disable it," Gary replied.

"You should be able to do that," Ryan said.

"Yes." There was a hesitation. "Is this the reason we're being attacked?"

"I believe so, but I don't want to rock the boat. It's possible that male androids took over Space Command and they're waging a war with the female androids. I'm telling you this theory, but I don't want Chara or any of the androids on your vessel to know that we might be averting an AI gender war."

"Shit!"

"Yeah, I know. Let me know how it goes."

"I will. Thanks for telling me."