Star Fields

Chapter No.67 Unexpected

As the Explorer-1 and two Scath vessels moved away, the remaining Scath ship blasted the stasis chamber vessel to bits. We turned away and went to warp.

Ten minutes later, we came out of warp in a G5 dwarf star system. It was immediately obvious that this star was in its final death spiral. It had already begun to grow into a red giant, placing its planets in peril.

"We are in safe orbit, Jason," Judy said.

"I'm not seeing any evidence of life on the surface of this planet," Molly said. "There is, however, evidence that a civilization did occupy this planet."

I looked at her screen and sighed. "Yes, you're right. Those cities look abandoned. Maybe all of the people left or died."

"Wait!" she said. "I'm detecting life forms in a nearby mountain complex."

"Are they human?"

"I believe so, but the mountain's rich iron deposits are distorting my scans."

"We'll have to find an entrance, assuming there is one."

After several minutes, Molly had an answer. "I've discovered what appears to be an entrance at the base of the mountain near a large ravine." She pointed to a small black object recessed into a rocky cliff.

"That's where we'll go," I said. "Inform the Scath vessel of our plans. Tell them to patrol in a higher orbit just incase we get unwelcomed visitors."

"Yes, Jason."

The trip down was bumpy. The G5 star's entry into a red giant phase was heating the atmosphere of the planet and causing high winds, mostly because the planet's rotational velocity had declined, allowing an unbalance to form between the light and dark side of the planet.

"The radiation is above safety levels," Molly said. "Good thing we're androids."

"We wouldn't be doing this if weren't."

Alice managed to open the entrance and we began a long trek through a tunnel to the main complex. What we found was astounding. The remaining humans had created a city underground to survive their star's death-throw rages.

Unaccustomed to visitors, the humans remained at a distance. As before, I tried the ceremonious approach to the contact. "Greetings! We are here to help you escape the death of your star."

A lone older male approached. "How did you survive the outside? No one from here has come back once they left."

"We are impervious to the ravages of nasty stars. We have come here because we intercepted a large vessel with individuals from here. We have transported them to Earth, the planet of human origin, where they will be revived from stasis and placed on the planet to live and prosper."

"Are you from God?"

"No," I said with a smile. "We are patrolling the galaxy to find humans to repopulate Earth after all life on it was destroyed by a large asteroid collision."

"We know nothing of this Earth you speak of. The individuals you found on a vessel could be the ones who founded this colony. We are descendants of those who were left because there wasn't enough room for them."

I raised my right hand, palm out. "That is irrelevant now. We are here to take all of you back to Earth where you will be able to live under a calm sun."

"Are you forcing us to go?" a woman, who had just approached, asked.

Absolutely not," I said. "We don't use force. We offer our assistance without any demands."

By this time, many people had come forward. We saw children among them, a sign that they were still viable.

"How did your ancestors arrive on this planet?" Molly asked.

"We are not certain," a younger man said. "It had been said that a lizard-like species brought them here."

Molly and I exchanged smiles.

"We cannot remain here for long," I said loudly. "Your star will soon expand to engulf this planet, consuming it in fire. We can accommodate all of you."

After a lot of discussion, the older male stepped forward. "We will go with you to heaven. You are obviously the angels of mercy that our religion describes in the Book of Mastic."

I assumed that the Book of Mastic was like a bible. Thank God for it.

The people gathered for transport to our vessel. This was accomplished by constructing a shielded tunnel from the entrance to their complex to our larger shuttles. We soon had all 540 of them put away in stasis chambers for a safe trip back to Earth.