Humankind has found the stars - and forgotten the coordinates of their home planet. Then Hana does the impossible and gets pregnant. Her mother's predictions ringing in her ears, she sets out to find humanity's lost cradle. She only has a myth to gu...
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Chapter 13 — by Wuckster
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Pexels - Free-to-use photo by Ricardo Ribeiro
"Did they just open fire on us?" Hana exchanged incredulous glances with her companions.
"Diagnostics indicate we have indeed been impacted by some sort of projectile weapon," ALI piped up. "We've suffered some superficial damage to the outer hull, but nothing to write home about. 'Tis but a flesh wound, you might say. All indications are that it wasn't a very high powered explosive. That said if we get hit enough times or in just the right spot, we could be in for some trouble."
As if on cue a dull thudding sound reverberated through the bridge and the ship shook hard enough to knock Amphilion off his feet.
"Phili!" Hana gasped.
"No need to worry." He got shakily back to his feet and dusted himself off. "I'm okay."
"Another minor impact," ALI reported. "That one might leave a little mark. Oh, my poor beautiful exterior. Maybe we can buff it out?"
"Where are these shots being fired from?" Sanju asked. Splotches of orange flitted across xeir face.
"Scanners indicate a lone ship in close planetary orbit. Looks like it's there mostly for defensive purposes. It's not large enough to carry many passengers, and I don't register any cloaking or warp speed abilities. We could simply outrun this little bugger if push comes to shove."
"Can we fire back at it?" Sanju asked.
"Hold on," Hana raised an open hand. "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. The last thing we want is to get into a firefight with Earth. Can we bring them up on the comm screen? Maybe we can reason with them."
"Let me see what I can do," ALI said. "Hang on... aha! I've contacted their ship's computer. Yes... You can call me ALI. What should I call you?... Oh, that's an interesting name. May I ask where it comes from?... Are you serious? Oh, that's too much! Listen, if you want to hear a really funny story, let me tell you about this AI I heard about called HOBART..."
