Part 7 Epic Visions
Synopsis: Jason and Molly, along with Marie, Margaret and Alexa, have assimilated the Scath, but are faced with a new more dangerous enemy. With the addition of the surviving Scath vessels, they have become a major power in the galaxy, but have no desire to rule over anyone. Their goal of repopulating the Earth has begun in earnest.
Chapter No.67 Unexpected
You never know what's over the next hill.
We arrived near the large vessel travelling at sub-warp speed. The humongous egg-shaped hull seemed strange as ships go. There was no evidence of weapons or a warp shield. It was just a big object moving at 0.75 the speed of light.
"Match velocity at a thousand meters," I told Judy.
It wasn't long before Molly had the results of her scans of the vessel. She shook her head in disbelief. "It's loaded with stasis chambers, at least nine hundred of them."
"Are they active?" I asked.
"Yes, but there are a number of them that have failed."
"Are you detecting any other active species?"
"No," she replied. "Only objects on that ship are stasis chambers.
"I wonder where they're headed?"
"I calculate it out as Earth," Molly said.
I stood up. "Okay, Molly and I will go over and check it out. The rest of you stay vigilant. This could be a trap."
That didn't help calm their anxiety. Molly and I boarded a shuttle with Alice and Ellen and traveled over to the vessel. After circling it several times, Alice spotted an entrance, and with several attempts, she managed to find the electronic key to gain entrance. We slowly moved the shuttle into a large bay. Alice closed the entrance and we were able to disembark after the bay was pressurized. The ship had an atmosphere but it was low in oxygen. We made our way to the main stasis chamber hall and used our lamps to illuminate the contents.
"Holy hell! This is packed with stasis chambers."
"They're human," Molly said after scanning several of them. "There are men and women as well as children."
"Check this vessel for any information that would identify its origin," I said.
Alice and Ellen went to work scanning and exploring everything they could.
"We have everything of value, Jason," Alice told me.
"Okay," I said after rubbing my chin. "We need to get these stasis chambers over into the Explorer-1's bay where the androids can make sure that their power sources are working correctly."
Molly simply gave me a nod. We returned to the Explorer-2 while the androids began a transfer of the stasis chambers.
"Trace out the probable starting point for this vessel," I told Molly. "Once the stasis chamber transfers are made, Explorer-1 will return to Earth. We and two of the Scath vessels will go to the planet they departed from, assuming you can determine where it is."
"Are you expecting to find more humans there?" Molly asked.
"I don't know, but we have to check it out. If nothing more, we might be able to determine how they arrived there."
After several minutes of work with her virtual mirror, Molly had a location. "There's a G5 dwarf star system 10 light years from this location. It has a habitable planet orbiting it."
"That's where we're heading, Judy."
"What about the stasis chamber vessel?" Molly said.
"Have one of the Scath vessels destroy it. No use having a derelict out here."
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.