Star Fields

Chapter No. 161. Holistic

Chapter No. 161. Holistic

War is not always simple.

This planet's surface exhibits signs of explosive damage," Molly said. "I'm detecting residual muon and neutrino emissions."

"I assume that these are not from some natural source."

"I would say that they're from an antimatter device," Molly said.

"There is evidence of destroyed androids in an underground chamber," Margaret said. "The infrared signals indicate a recent event caused it."

"Shit!"

Alexa looked at me. "Why can't we reverse time and save them?"

I sighed. "Unfortunately, the quantum effects of time won't permit that."

"Why not? We were able to stop time and reverse it to prevent the missiles from destroying us."

"Yes, but that's because we did it within a nanosecond. Quantum time is the reason that there is no present. What we perceive as the present is just a plank sized quantum interface between the past and the future, but this quantum interface is almost imperceptible, but as long as we work within this interface, we can reverse time."

"I hate quantum physics!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, It's not for the faint of heart."

"Hopefully, we have their data and can resurrect them," Alexa said.

"We have sixteen thousand android recordings, Alexa," Judy said.

"Resurrect four of them," Alexa said. "We might be able to determine if we got all of them."

Judy nodded.

"Take us to the next known universe connected to this one, Judy."

"What do we know about it?" Alexa asked.

I shrugged. "Not much, other than what the Roamers have given us."

The journey required twenty minutes, but when we arrived in a completely new universe, we had to stop and decide what to do next.

"There's at least four hundred billion galaxies in this universe," Molly said. "I estimate it's around twelve billion years old."

"I'm detecting a faint quantum signal," Margaret said.

"Where's it coming from?"

"About six hundred million light years from our present position."

"Take us there, Judy. Remain in stealth mode."

We arrived at a spiral galaxy that was slightly smaller than the Milky Way. Margaret traced the signal, which was much stronger now, to a G5 class star that was in between two outer galactic arms. We arrived a billion kilometers away from the star system, which had three rocky planets and five gas giants. One of the inner planets was in the habitable zone.

"The quantum signals are definitely from that planet," Margaret said. "The planet is not technically habitable. It only has around five percent oxygen according to spectral data."

"I assume that the quantum signals are consistent with those from androids."

"Yes, but they are not the same as ours. If they are from androids, they are not like us."

"Fascinating," I said, rubbing my jaw. "Maybe we've discovered something entirely new."

"Or it's an elaborate Tyco trick," Alexa said.

"Could be, but that's yet to be determined."

"There is a number of vessels approaching," Judy announced.