Space Chronicles The Beginning

Chapter 16

Are aliens responsible for human life on the planet Earth? If so, why can't we blame these aliens for global warming?

The command deck of the X-3002 was quieter than normal for the start of a mission. The crew was getting used to the procedure and it had been more than a month since the last mission. The mood was one of subdued resolve.

Marty turned to George. "Who won the pool?"

"Uma. She correctly picked Nu2 Lupi as our destination."

"You mean that you and Karl missed?"

George chuckled. "Yep."

Marty turned to Uma. "How did you manage to out guess these two?"

"I found out that SETI had a promising signal from the Lupus constellation, and Nu2 Lupi is a star like ours."

Marty laughed.

"Jump in two minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

The jump went as expected. The crew was getting jaded to these emotionally disturbing transfers through a singularity. Being stretched out to infinity and spiraled through a tiny hole didn’t upset them anymore.

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Reduce our velocity to 2000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

As the forward engines screamed, the crew migrated to their respective workstations, except for Marty and Angie. They were already at theirs.

"I'm not detecting any energy signals," Marty said. "At least, not yet."

"The star is a G2V main sequence dwarf that is 99 percent as large as our sun," Karl said. "It's 97 percent as luminous."

"There are four inner and four outer planets," George said. "The second planet is at 0.8 AU and the third is at 1.01 AU."

"The third planet has water and oxygen," Anna said. "The second planet has much less water and is oxygen depleted."

"Adjust our course to orbit the third planet, Delphi. Maintain current velocity."

"Yes, Angie."

"We've detected a carrier signal from three" Brigit said. "We're still in the process of analyzing it."

The engines pulsed several times.

"We're going through a field of proto-comets," Marty said. "We should be encountering planetoids in the next ten minutes."

"I have audio," Brigit said before she switched her audio. A series of sounds that resembled dog barks emanated from the main speakers."

"Oh, great," Marty said. "Now we have dog aliens."

"Those barks as you call them are varying in pitch and tempo," Lia said.

“I have video,” Brigit said. She switched it to the main screen.

Marty was the first to react. “What the hell? That looks like a Centaur.”

“Not really,” Ferris said. “A Centaur is the combination of a man and a horse. That is neither.”

“It has four legs,” Marty said. “And, if I’m not mistaken, those are hooves on those legs.”

“Yes, but the body is not that of a horse. It has a shape that more resembles a jackal. See the long pointy tail.”