Planet Nine Affair

Chapter 1 Arrival

Janice turned to him and offered a hint of a smile. "If it formed in the solar system and was expelled out here by Jupiter, it wouldn't, but the theory is that it was captured by our Sun from a close approaching star that's no longer nearby."

"In other words, it was a grand-theft-planet," Leonard replied with a smirk.

She replied with a rebuking smirk "Ha, ha!"

"It's not an acceptable excuse for a dangerous mission like this," James said staring at her with a rebuking expression. "We don't really know all the dangers of this region of the solar system."

"Yes, but the perihelion only occurs every 9000 years. Trying to track it down any other time would be impractical."

"Well, we should be there in another few days," James said. "Hopefully, we'll find something to warrant risking our lives."

Janice smiled. "If we find evidence of life, it'll go down in history as the most important discovery ever. It would be a game changer."

They realized that her statement was spot on. If there had been life on it, that would be irrefutable proof that life is everywhere in the universe.

James and Leonard retreated to James' quarters, basically a bed and bath with a small lounge.

"I'm not up on the reasons NASA launched this mission," Leonard said after plopping down in an easy chair. "Even if it does have evidence of prior life, we already have evidence of life in the oceans of Enceladus."

"True," James replied. "I think that it's because this discovery would be more important and would suggest that intelligent life formed on Earth-like exoplanets."

Leonard smiled. "In other words, we're not alone."

"Right. If she's right about this, we'll go down as space pioneers."

"If she's not, we'll be relegated to the space heap of fools."

James smiled. "She's the best of the best. I think the fact that this so-called Planet Nine has an Earth sized moon is incredible." He frowned. "Although, I'm not sure how easy it'll be to explore it."

"Yeah, that could be a serious problem. That moon must be extremely cold. Any water, as well as the surface, will be frozen solid. Digging into it won't be easy."

"I think they included a powered digger to take care of that possibility."

A screen hanging from the ceiling activated with Janice's image. "Hey, you guys! Supper is served."

James looked up at it and smiled. "Yeah, we're coming."

The micro sized mess hall was only a short walk down a narrow corridor to a wall indent. Tip and Tap acted as cooks and waiters to serve them at a small table and chairs setting.

The crew assembled there and began to enjoy a meal consisting of pasta and biosynthetic chicken fried in a mixed spicey sauce. A fruit juice topped off the efficient dinner.

"So, how's the observation of the moon coming?" James asked Janice.

"I'm having a problem with that," she said, her expression suggesting concern.

James stared at her for a few seconds before reacting. "Why?"

"I can't get any indication of a solid surface. I've tried laser beam scans, but it doesn't return a reflection. It's as if it has a negative reflectivity. The only way we know it's there is because it's occluding the planet."

"What could account for that?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's not a moon after all."

That caused both James and Leonard to stare at her with confused expression.

"What else could it be?" James asked.

"There's only three possibilities I can think of," she replied. "A black hole, a worm hole, or a portal."

James hesitated before replying. "If it were a black hole, it would have eaten the planet. A worm hole wouldn't survive being near to a planet with the gravity of something Neptune-sized. That leaves the portal, but I don't think that a time portal would be way out here in the far reaches of the solar system."

"A time portal?" Leonard reacted. "A portal to where?"

"Good question," Janice declared. "Portals are theoretical. Some scientists believe they represent a way to time travel. Unfortunately, no one has explained how they form."

"Which means that we have no way of determining what they would look like or how they worked," Leonard said.

"I think we should reserve our conclusions until we get closer." Janice said, her eyes scanning back and forth. "But I would suggest not getting too close to it."

Both James and Leonard agreed.

Getting closer required another day, but what they discovered changed everything.