Star Fields

Chapter No.62 Kindness

Chapter No.62 Kindness

A little kindness goes a long way.

The next day, after more observations, Molly had a suggestion. "That island they're living on isn't the most habitable. We've seen several storms hit it just since we've arrived here. There doesn't seem to be all that much vegetation. Those humans are not having it easy down there."

"The question is: how did they get here?"

Molly pointed to an object on the opposite side of the island. "That looks a lot like a crashed space vessel. Maybe they're escapees from a reptilian food farm."

I looked at a zoomed image of the object. "Yes, I believe you're right. That does look like a vessel. I don't think it has warp capability. Maybe there is a reptilian food farm planet near to this system."

"There is." Molly said, changing the image to another planet. "This planet is at the edge of the habitable zone. It appears to have suffered weapons' damage."

I rubbed my chin. "Yes, now that I can see it better, that crashed vessel looks a lot like a reptilian craft. I'll bet these people escaped from the food farm planet and came here to escape the Scath attack."

"I suppose the only way we'll know is if we go down there."

I turned to Judy. "We'll go down in one of the new D-class shuttles. Alice, Ellen and Ben can go with us fully armed."

"Yes, Jason."

I turned to Alexa and Marie. "I think you should remain here. We don't need to risk any more than we have to."

They both nodded. Molly and Margaret went with me to the shuttle bay where we met the three androids before boarding a new larger shuttle, which had the advantages of more powerful weapons and a much more efficient propulsion system.

The ride down through the atmosphere was bumpy at best. A strong jet-stream buffeted us before we dropped low enough to avoid it. The human encampment was crude, consisting mostly of stones piled up and large reddish leaves from the weird looking trees that were common on the planet. The leaves actually appeared to be more like bamboo with flattened sections.

We landed in a small clearing and waited to see what reaction we would get. At first, no one approached, but soon a few brave men moved closer but remained in the tree line.

We opened the shuttle's main door and Molly and I disembarked to stand near the shuttle. Margaret joined us. Alice, Ellen and Ben came out behind us with their BFG's at the ready.

Seeing that we looked human, three men approached. Other people stayed back in the forest.

"Greetings," I said, smiling. "We just happened to be in the area and thought we would check on how you're doing."

"Where did you come from?" one of the men asked. He was muscular but looked a bit on the thin side.

"We're from a star system nearby this one," I said. "We're from a planet we call Earth. It's the planet of origin for the human species."

"Why did you come here?" another man asked. He was shorter and more emaciated.

"We came here looking for humans like you. We know that a lizard-like species had abducted humans from Earth and had used them to breed others for the purpose of food. We also know that another lizard-like species with little horns has removed humans from the other species' food farm planets. We are on a mission to save humans from being used as food and repopulate the planet Earth with them. The planet was struck by a large rock from space, killing off most life."

More men and women joined the three brave men.

"How do we know that you're not in cahoots with the lizard creatures?" a woman asked.

"Do we look like lizards?" I asked her. "We're only interested in repopulating Earth in order to insure the survival of the human species."

"It appears that you're not doing well on this planet," Molly said. "If you come with us to the planet Earth, we'll see that you have the food and water necessary to survive. We'll build you huts to live in and provide you with the tools and seeds to grow crops and the means to catch fish."

"How many of you are there?" I asked.

"There are ninety of us," the woman said. "Twelve are children."

"I see that you have several young men," I said. "We'll establish you on an island where there are women who would welcome men. They already have given birth, but they require men to birth more children."

We could sense that there were some who were skeptical.

"Are you going to force us to go with you?" another older woman asked, her face twisted with disdain.

"Absolutely not!" I exclaimed. "We don't force anyone. If you don't want to come with us to a much better planet, we'll leave and never bother you again."

Nobody said anything. They just stared at us with blank expressions.

I turned to leave, and Molly and Margaret followed me. When Alice, Ellen and Ben turned, someone yelled out.

"Wait!"

I turned back to look at a man who had advanced closer. "Don't come any closer," I warned him. "We will not tolerate any violence against us."

"I'm not threatening you," he insisted. "We just want you to wait and allow us to discuss this before giving you an answer."

I smiled. "Okay, we'll wait, but not for long."

I turned and followed the others into the shuttle.

Back in the shuttle, I relaxed in my chair.

"Do you think they'll come with us?" Molly asked.

"I don't know, but I hope they do. They would make a nice addition to the people we already have on Earth."

"I hope this isn't a Scath trick," Molly said, frowning.

"I don't think it is, but just in case, we'll stay vigilant."

After a half hour, a man and a woman were spotted approaching the shuttle. Molly and I, along with our three androids exited the shuttle to meet them.

"We will go with you," the man said.

I smiled. "Good. Get everyone here. We'll have another shuttle come down to help transport them to our ship."

The woman looked up. "Where is you ship?"

"You won't see it. We keep it in stealth mode to avoid enemy attack."

She stared at me with a confused look.

I waved my hand. "Don't worry about it. You'll be perfectly safe."

Then I spotted a woman carrying an object. I went to her and pointed to the metal statue. "What's that?"

"It is our god Temo," she said.

Molly came over to me. "What's the matter?"

"This stature doesn't look right to me."

Molly scanned it and I could see her face transform from calm concern to abject panic. "I detect . . . antimatter signature . . . Oh my God!"

"Set the statue down very carefully!" I ordered the woman.

She gave me a confused look before setting the statue on the ground.

I turned to the androids. "Get everyone on the shuttles as quickly as possible. Inform Judy that we will be accelerating away as soon as the shuttles are on board the ship."

What happened next was a controlled panic. The people were rushed into the shuttles with children crying and adults wide eyed with fear. I was the last to board. We blasted off the surface and quickly ascended to the ship.

The instant the shuttles were safely on board and the shuttle hanger door closed, the ship accelerated away.

The explosion on the planet's surface punched through the atmosphere and rocked the ship but the shields held. We had just dodged another serious bullet.