e-Ghosts of Rogue Planet

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The spacecraft was oval-shaped, a gray uninteresting sliver object peacefully moving through space.

“That has to be the species from the habitable planet,” I said. “They’re probably here to see why this planet suddenly appeared in their solar system.”

“They’ll definitely see us,” Marie said.

“Hopefully, they’re not hostile,” James said.

“If they are, we’re defenseless,” I said. “We were not designed for combat.”

“Maybe we should try to warn them about the rogue planet,” Alisha said.

“That’s a good idea, but we have no idea what sort of communications device they use.”

“Try broadcasting on all frequencies,” Marie said.

“COMA, send a COM signal out on as many frequencies as you can.”

“Yes, Ryan.”

“The question is: are they listening?” James said.

“We’re at a disadvantage here,” I said. “We were not trained in how to deal with aliens.”

“They are evidently technologically advanced,” Marie said. “They may be able to help us.”

“That’s only if we can find a way to communicate with them,” I said.

“Maybe it’s the only shot we have to get back home,” James said.

“Could be,” I said.

“Ryan, I have a COM signal established with the spacecraft. I am attempting to process it and convert it to our signal protocols.”

“That’s good, COMA.”

“Do you realize how crazy this is?” James said. “We’re tying to make contact with a species from a different star system.”

“Just like we did with species on the rogue planet.”

“Yeah, but we had help from the e-ghosts.”

“Hopefully, we can overcome the language difference, if that’s how they communicate.”

The main screen flickered to life with a truly strange creature. The creature had a paper-white face with red eyes, two slits for a nose and a non-lipped mouth. The face was oval-shaped with no hair. It also appeared to have two arms. We couldn’t see below its torso, which appeared to be oval-shaped. It was hidden behind a light-blue garment that covered everything up to the creature’s neck.

“Greetings,” I said, trying to maintain decorum. “We are from a planet that orbits a star five hundred light years from your system. “

“There not going to know that that means,” James said. “A light year is relative to the Earth’s period around our sun.”

“Convert it to parsecs,” Alisha said.

“Again, that’s relative to our solar system,” James said. “It’s the distance that one astronomical unit subtends the angle of one arcsecond.”

“Even arcsecond would be a questionable reference,” I said.

The creature’s mouth moved but the words sounded almost human. “We understand. Why are you here?”

I decided to take the initiative and answer. “We were forced here by the civilization that built the structures on the surface of the rogue planet. They are able to move their planet around by creating what we call a wormhole in space.”

That seemed to stymie the alien.

“We will send you what we have discovered about them. COMA, send the data that Alisha and Marie have discovered.”

“Yes, Ryan.”

We waited for fifteen minutes before we got a reply.

“Why are the creatures in the underground caverns?”

“They are captives of the artificial intelligence system,” I replied. “The system is capable of disrupting electronic systems. We were forced to use manual control to get back to our vessel.”

“How does the artificial intelligent system create a space anomaly?”

“It is based on quantum effect,” I replied.

There was a delay for several minutes before the alien said anything. “We will contact you.”

The COM dropped.

“What does that mean?” James said.

“I think they’re trying to ascertain our sincerity,” I said.

“And, if they think we’re lying?” James said.

“Let’s not go there,” I said. “We need their help if we ever hope to return home.”

“That’s crazy,” James said. “We don’t even know that they can help us.”

“Let’s just hope for the best.”

I could sense the hope in Marie’s eyes, but I wasn’t sure of Alisha. She seemed concerned and possibly depressed. We desperately needed to hang on to hope. It was all we had left.