Chapter 5

The crew of the X-4001 stood at attention as Angie inspected them. They were each arrayed in a new white uniform with the Space Command insignia, which had an iconic planet Earth with an old style rocket blasting off of it, next to his or her respective national flag. They were all well groomed and trim. It was a welcomed change.

"I am impressed, people. Congratulations. You no longer look like a bunch of pirates. I am honored to lead you on the most important mission of all time." She looked around at the other two crews. "More importantly, you look as professional as the other two crews. That makes me happy, and when I'm happy, you will be happy."

"Yes, ma'am," they answered in unison.

Arthur stayed in the background. This was Admiral Sarasota's show, and he was satisfied in her leadership abilities. He was especially impressed in how she had shaped up her flagship's rough crew so quickly. But, like sausage making, he just didn't want to know what went into accomplishing it.

"Go to your assigned shuttle, people," Angie ordered, pointing at the entrance to the shuttle hangar.

Angie rode to the X-4001 with Marty, Honey, Ninja, Birdie and Rosie. The spectacular view of the new star cruiser even impressed the aliens.

"That is the largest saucer I've ever seen," Rosie said, her black eyes reflecting images of the ship. "Is it too large for our compliment?"

"I don't build them," Angie said. "I just fly them."

Ninja had an explanation. "Much of the space in this vessel is devoted to weapons, right Martin?"

"No doubt," Marty said. "We also carry four 400-class fighters."

"We are well prepared for battle then."

"Yes, we are." Marty said.

"We were informed of your brilliant destruction of the enemy fleet at M-1," Ninja said. "Congratulations."

"That was all Admiral Sarasota's idea," Marty said. "I just helped."

"We just got lucky," Angie said.

"I am honored to serve you, Admiral," Ninja said, puffing his chest.

"Thank you," Angie replied. "We are fortunate to have you aboard."

Ninja nodded, a human gesture.

Angie turned to Honey. "Do you understand how the Dragon jump drive works?"

"Yes, I do, ma'am."

Angie smiled at her. "God bless you."

After the shuttle docked, Angie led her group to the command deck. The rest of the crew soon followed.

"Space Command has cleared us for departure, Angie. The X-3001 and the X-3002 are already out."

"Take us out at 0.5 mps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

All members of the crew riveted his or her eyes on the main screen as the X-4001 slipped out of its dock. The expanded Space Port glistened in the light of an insignificant yellow-white, main sequence dwarf star like a giant stainless steel erector set suspended above a huge blue pearl. Each considered the odds of ever seeing it again.

"Take us to jump speed, Delphi. Execute on synchronous count with the other two ships."
"Yes, Angie."

"How long is this jump going to take?" Uma asked.

"Three hours and forty-five minutes," Marty said. "I would advise getting some shuteye. It'll make it go quicker."

Uma frowned. "I am too excited to sleep."

Most agreed with that sentiment.

###

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Maintain stealth mode, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty looked over at her. "You don't look so good, Admiral."

Brigit, Anna, and Lia made a beeline for the bathroom. Angie struggled with an urge to retch.

"Excuse me," she mumbled before dashing off.

Onuki looked at Marty. "It appears that I should have increased the dosage."

Angie and the three other women straggled back. The admiral plopped in the command chair while holding her head.

"Are you okay, Admiral?"

"I'll live, but I'm not going to like it."

Marty looked over at George and Karl. "See anything out there?"

"Look at the screen," George said, pointing.

The main screen was packed solid with stars in every variety and luminosity: white, blue, yellow, orange, and red with several nebula and gaseous filaments thrown in for good measure.

"Looks just like our side of the galaxy," Marty said.

They ignored him. Honey was occupied with studying the stars and comparing them to the Dragon alien's star charts. Karl searched for the G-class star that the Dragon alien had last visited when it was on this side of the galaxy. George and Lucia searched for other possible life-containing candidate star systems. Anna scanned for life-supporting chemicals, while Brigit and Lia scanned for intelligent signals. Uma kept a watch for stray asteroids and comets. Ninja hunted for enemy ships. Rosie and Birdie helped look for special anomalies. Onuki retired to the medical station with Tyler and Ferris. They had volunteered to be test subjects for her quest to understand the effects of prolonged jumps.

Angie held her head. "I hope nothing happens. I doubt that I could think straight just now."

"I'll think for you," Marty told her.

"Thanks," she mumbled without looking up.

"We've located the last star that the Dragon alien visited," George said. "It's approximately two billion kilometers away."

"Adjust our course for the star, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

Karl reported first. "That star has a 0.83 luminosity, a 0.87 mass, and based on its spectra is approximately three billion years old."

"We're detecting a weak RF signal," Lia said, "But, we're still running it through analysis."

"This is just a normal main sequence dwarf," Marty said. "What was that Dragon alien doing there?"

"Maybe this is his home world," Karl said.

"Nah," Marty said. "That would be too easy. Besides, we would be facing a humongous enemy fleet if it was."

"The X-3001 has requested COM, Martin."

"Open, Delphi."

"Hey, Brian, what's up?"

"We have a few sick people over here."

"Are they female?"

"Yes."

"That's a normal result of jumping. I'll let the doctor know."

"Thanks, old buddy. I'll pass that along to Andriy, although, I don't think he has any females."

"Thanks, Brian," Marty said, signing off.

The lucky bastard.

Angie stood up, but she was unsteady. "I'm going to go and lie down. I'll handle the late shift."

Marty gave her a concerned look. "Okay, Admiral."

###

Both Angie and Marty turned to watch Lia and Brigit reveal their latest attempt to demodulate the signal from the star system up ahead.

"This is it, people," Lia said before she switched the result to the main screen.

Marty jumped up to get a better look. "They look human. What the hell? We've traveled all over our part of the galaxy and never saw human looking aliens like this."

"Believe me," George said. "We've only visited a tiny portion of our part of the galaxy."

Marty turned to Rosie. "Have you ever seen this species?"

"No, Martin. We only have one other humanoid species in our collection, but nothing like this."

All eyes were on the images.

"There are some obvious differences," Ferris said. "Their eyes are round with large pupils. They have a very narrow nasal line and their mouths are small and nearly lipless."

"They look a lot like those aliens we saw on that planet in the M-36 cluster." Angie said.

"Yeah," Marty said. "But, these aliens don't have slanted foreheads and they wear clothes."

"Actually, their clothing is quite fashionable," Angie said. "Especially what the women are wearing."

"What are they doing here?" Marty asked Lia.

"I have no idea," she said. "It looks like they're having a discussion."

"Any sound to that?"

"We're still working on that."

"We're approaching the outer edges of the system," George said. "We'll soon be encountering proto comets and planetoids."

"Slow us to 3000 kps, Delphi. Sync with the other two ships."

"Yes, Angie."

"Stay alert, people," Angie said. "This may not be the home world of the Dragons, but their ships could be lurking around. We have to be ready to engage them as quickly as possible."

That perked up Ninja.

Angie turned to Marty. "Take a break. You've been up for twenty-four hours."

He got up and saluted. "Yes, Admiral."

###

Angie approached the door to Marty's quarters and pressed the request button, but she received no reply even after three more attempts.

"Override Commander Sinclair's entrance, Delphi."

The door swished open and she entered the main room, which contained no Marty. She carefully entered his bedroom. Seeing no one, a sudden flush of concern came over her until she heard splashing water.

The bathroom had no door and the shower chamber was open. Evidently, the designers had figured that eliminating doors saved weight, especially when there were quarters for over three hundred on the X-4001.

She considered yelling but elected to employ stealth instead. Her presence was immediately detected, and her effect was instantaneous. Marty's muscles stiffened and his hand was immediately pressed into shielding duty.

"What are you doing here, Admiral?"

"I rang but you didn't answer."

"I didn't hear it."

"Sorry about that," she said, apologizing with her eyes. "I thought that when you didn't answer . . ."

"I'm okay."

"I apologize for the intrusion. I'll go."

"You don't have to go, Admiral."

"Are you sure? You look on edge."

He relaxed his muscles, but he couldn't make himself stop from shielding his genitals from her view. "I'm okay. May I continue?"

She smiled. "Of course."

He turned his back and began to lather up. She stood there and enjoyed watching him energetically apply soap to his body. However, when he turned around, he still managed to protect his modesty with one hand while applying soap with the other. She had this crazy urge to help him, but she shook it off.

"Let me ask you something: did you get an eyeful when I had the women running."

He stopped and his muscles tightened again. "Oh shit! You saw me, didn't you? Now, I suppose you're here to punish me."

"No, I'm not."

He reacted with several seconds of silence and staring. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I just wanted to talk to you."

"What about? Is it something else I did?"

She sighed. "Relax, Marty. Please." She gave him an ornery grin. "I'm really here to enjoy the show. Would you mind moving your hand?"

He gave her a scolding frown. "Give me a break, Angie. I'm completely naked."

She laughed. "Yes, you certainly are."

She noted his frown. "Am I embarrassing you?"

"Not embarrass so much as disturb."

Her own frown appeared. "How so?"

"I suppose the proper term is frighten."

Her eyes widened. "You're frightened of me?"

"Yes."

"Please, I implore you, don't fear me."

"How can I not fear you, Angie? You have absolute authority over me. You can do anything to me anytime you wish. Hell, you could execute me if you wanted to."

Her face exploded with shock. "How?"

"It would be easy. Just put me in the brig and turn the ice water on until I succumb to hypothermia."

She cried. "Oh, Jesus, Marty. I would never harm you. Please believe me. I love you."

"Lovers often do grave injury to those they love."

She cried even more.

###

"We have audio now," Lia reported as she switched an alien transmission to the main screen. "We're still working on the translation."

"What are they doing here?" Marty asked. "Is this one of their houses?"

"I believe that this is a fictional display."

"You mean like an old time television sitcom?"

"Yes."

Marty smiled. "Too bad we can't understand what they're saying."

"Soon," Lia said. "Very soon."

"How about the planet, George?"

"That transmission is coming from the second planet, which is at 0.94 AU. This planet has a mass 1.7 times Earth. Its equatorial radius is 7685 kilometers."

"The planet has a mean temperature of 280 K," Anna said. "The oxygen is slightly lower than on Earth, but it's breathable at 18%. Water makes up 62% of the surface with some of it frozen at the poles. The atmosphere appears thicker than that of Earth, but the carbon dioxide is much lower."

"The video images in the other transmissions from this planet that we've seen so far show a pleasant surface environment," Lia said. "There are no signs of overpopulation or pollution. We also haven't seen any violence."

"That could be the result of censorship," Marty said.

"Possibly."

"Any signs of the enemy, Ninja?"

"Not yet, Martin."

"They probably didn't expect to see us this far out," Marty said.

"Or, they're hiding," Angie said.

"I have detected a space craft, Martin," Ninja said. "It does not have a Dragon energy profile. I believe that it is a craft that employs chemical propulsion."

"Where is it?" Marty asked.

"It is orbiting the fifth planet."

"The fifth planet is a gas giant similar to Jupiter," George said. "There are at least sixteen moons orbiting it. The craft that Ninja found looks like an unmanned probe."

"Could it be from the second planet?" Angie asked.

"That a distinct possibility," George said.
"The fifth planet is about to be the site of a spectacular event," Lucia said. "There is a sizeable asteroid approaching at 100 kilometers per second on a collision course. The event should occur within the hour."

"Divert our course to approach the fifth planet, Delphi. Slow us so that we can witness the collision but not be part of it."

"Yes, Angie."

"Perhaps, that's why the second planet sent a probe to the fifth planet," Karl said.

"Yes, that is a possibility," Lucia said.

"Okay, people, we'll have to assume that these aliens have space capability," Angie said. "Stay alert." She turned to Marty. "May I speak to you?"

He gave her a weary look. "Now, what did I do?"

"Stop that. I just want to talk to you. We have time before the asteroid hits the fifth planet."

"Yes, Admiral."

"Take over, Honey."

"Yes, ma'am."

Angie led a worried Marty to her quarters. She gestured for him to sit on her couch.

"I have a request," she said, swallowing hard. "I want you to forgive me."

"For what?"

"For causing you to fear me."

"I forgive you, but I don't know that I can quit fearing you."

"What do I have to do to make you quit?"

"Look, Angie, I'm trying to adjust to a difficult situation here. I never liked being under the control of a woman, and this is even more disturbing. You seem to think that I'm just some object that you can amuse yourself with."

"Please, don't say that. I want you to respect me again. I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Onuki said that you think that I despise you, but I don't. You're the kindest, bravest man I've ever had the privilege to know." She smiled. "Plus, you're definitely the sexiest."

"You're just saying that," he said, smiling weakly.

"No, I'm not. You are. I confess that I really enjoy seeing you naked."

"You're going to make me blush, Angie."

She chuckled, but her face soon relaxed. "What can I do to make you love me again?"

"Oh, I love you, Angie. It's just that I don't trust you."

"Okay," she said. "We'll have to work out something to help you regain your trust in me."

"I don't know what that would be," Marty said.

Angie got up. "Okay, let's think about it, and we'll get together again."

Marty got up. "Okay."

By the time that they got back to the command deck, the asteroid was minutes away from a collision.

"This is something that I have prayed for," Lucia said. "I never dreamed that I would be on the other side of the galaxy when I saw it."

The asteroid crashed into the atmosphere of the gas giant and created an explosion hundreds of times the force of a hydrogen bomb. After a bright flash of light, the atmosphere sported a humungous black spot, a thousand times the size of Earth.

"Wow!" Marty said. "That was one hell of an explosion."

"What's really great is that we have fantastic scans of this," Lucia said.

"I've been observing for years, and I've never seen anything like this," George said.

"If I recall," Karl said. "There was a similar collision with Jupiter. I think that it was a comet, but it split up into pieces before it collided."

"That was Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994," Lucia said.

"Continue our course to the second planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

After several minutes of silence, Marty leaned over to Angie and whispered. "Do you really like to see me naked?"

Angie nervously looked around. "Keep it down." She smiled. "Yes. You're delicious."

"What if I was to tell you that you're delicious?" Marty said.

"Me?"

"Yes. You're the sexiest babe I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen plenty."

"Thank you," she said, smiling profusely.

"Are you two having fun over there?" George said.

Marty looked back at him and smiled. "We're undergoing therapy, George."

"It is good see you two happy," Uma said. "We were concerned."

"We have offered prayers to Allah," Ferris said. "We want you to be in harmony."

Angie's eyes glistened. "Thank you. We appreciate that, but do not be concerned. We will serve you with honor. It is the only thing that we know."

Angie and Marty were rewarded with smiling faces. When they stood up and kissed, they were rewarded with energetic clapping and cheers.

###

"We have achieved orbit, Angie."

"Good, Delphi. Maintain stealth mode."

"Yes, Angie."

"Launch atmospheric and oceanic probes, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Anna took control of the atmospheric probe and Ferris took the oceanic probe.

"My probe is in the middle of a storm," Anna said. "There are many lightening strikes. Water vapor is quite high at 11 kilometers altitude. This is not quite like Earth."

"The oceans have salinity close to that of the oceans on Earth, about 30 parts per thousand," Ferris said. "The temperature is 12 degrees at 30 degrees latitude."

"There's a strong hurricane about sixty kilometers north of the equator," George said. "It's equivalent to a class-five on Earth."

"Is it near inhabited land?" Marty asked.

"I don't think so," George said.

"I am detecting many diverse sea creatures," Ferris said. "They appear to be well evolved, which would suggest that this planet has had an uneventful development."

"Check this out, people," Anna said before switching her screen to the main screen.

Marty reacted first. "Wow! That's some bird. How big is that thing?"

"It has a wingspan of three meters," Anna said. "The profile appears to be more reptilian."

"We had birds of that type on our planet," Birdie said. "But, they are extinct."

"Open COM to the X-3002, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"Commander Leonenko, I would like you to move your ship into orbit around the primary moon. I don't want us to be entirely committed to this planet in case of attack."

"Yes, Admiral."

Marty turned to her. "Playing it safe?"

"Yes. You never know what can happen."

"Biological scans do not indicate any pathogen that we can't handle," Ferris said. "We should be able to immunize the landing party with prophylactic antigens."

Angie turned to Onuki. "Do you concur, doctor?"

"I will have to study the scans in detail, but it appears that Dr. Sani's assessment is correct."

"Launch a biometric Mother probe, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Angie turned to Lia. "Let us know if there is any up tick in activity on their video transmission."

"Yes, ma'am."

The biometric probe launched and entered the atmosphere. At an altitude of 2000 meters, it automatically dispersed a dozen insect probes, and after several minutes, images soon began streaming back.

"Well, at least these aliens believe in moving about in machines," Marty said. "They ride around in vehicles that are levitated."

"Does that mean that they have Antigrav?" George said.

"It could be magnetic," Marty said.

"We have a working translation now," Lia reported. "Brigit is in the process of programming the Universal Translator."

"Has anyone found evidence of Dragon visitation here?" Angie asked.

"I have detected residual radiation near the planet," Ninja said. "It has the proper mix to be Dragon."

"Look at this," Marty said, switching an insect probe image to the main screen.

"That definitely looks like the print of a Dragon ship," Rosie said. "I have seen several of these on planets near our home world."

"Okay, that convinces me," Angie said. "The Dragon aliens have visited this planet. We have to investigate these occurrences."

"Are you suggesting that we make contact with these aliens?" Marty asked.

"We have no other choice," she said. "This is the only system that we know that the Dragon visited on this side of the galaxy. We have to find clues as to their home world, and the only clues we are aware of are here."

"Perhaps the navigational records on the captured Dragon craft were incomplete," Rosie suggested.

"Our technicians said as much," Marty said. "I'm sure that the Dragon alien didn't come all the way over to this part of the galaxy just to visit this planet."

"Agreed," Angie said. "But, we have to verify that."

"Okay, who is going down?" Marty said.

"You and whomever you think is appropriate."

"Well, I'll take Lia and Tyler for sure. We also need security, so I'll take Ninja and Uma. They will be the only members armed. I probably should take Rosie. She is familiar with Dragon alien customs."

"We haven't seen any evidence that this species is militant," George said. "They appear to be very cultured. I'm watching an outdoor concert. The music is weird, but there's no evidence of unruly behavior."

Angie was concerned. "The big question is: where to land without causing panic? It's difficult to tell what will happen when these people see aliens."

"We have to assume that they know nothing about other intelligent life," Marty said. "We could cause cultural shock."

"We don't have the luxury of worrying about their feelings," Angie said. "If we don't find these Dragon aliens and stop them from destroying entire species, our side of the galaxy will become a graveyard." She turned to Onuki. "Are you satisfied that you can protect the landing crew and those aliens?"

"Yes," Onuki said. "The viral and bacterial pathogens of this planet are not compatible with our biological tissues."

"Good," Angie said. She turned to Marty. "Start making your preparations. I'll inform you when it's safe to go."

"Yes, Admiral."

###

Marty waited until the Lander was clear of the main ship before lighting the engines. He plunged into the planet's thick atmosphere and leveled off at three thousand meters. The sky over the chosen landing spot was clear and crisp. One advantage that he had was that this planet was not overpopulated. In fact, the population was not all that large for a planet that seemed quite hospitable to life.

When he sat the Lander down on a flat stretch of grass near a large domed building, Marty kept an eye on aliens nearby. These people had aircraft and space rockets, but the sight of the Lander had to grab their attention. Despite that, aliens did not run up, as he had expected.

"Keep alert, people," he said to his crew as they exited the Lander. "Do nothing aggressive unless I order it."

Lia activated the Universal Translator while Ninja and Uma took up flanking positions. A small group of aliens carefully approached.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"We are travelers from the other side of the galaxy," Marty said. "We come in peace."

"How do you know our speak?" One of the aliens asked.

Marty gestured to Lia. "We have a device that can translate your speak to ours and our speak to yours."

"You say that you are from the other side of the galaxy. How is that possible?"

"We would like to speak with your leaders," Marty said. "We will explain everything."

Another group of aliens approached. They were mixed in gender and dressed in tunics over trousers. The first group was male only, and they were dressed in what looked like one piece suits. All wore what appeared to be plastic boots. The only exposed skin was their faces and hands, and it appeared pale.

"I am the reagent of this location," a female stated. "Why did you come here?"

Marty gestured to Tyler. Tyler moved forward. "We come from the other side of the galaxy in pursuit of a species of intelligent life that is a threat to all." He held up a large photo of a Dragon alien. "Have you seen this species?"

The female's eyes widened. "We did not know that there were other intelligent species. This creature looks like a Cragon."

Marty turned to Lia. "What did she say?"

"The translator inserted a reference word for an unknown. I think that she's referring to some species of animal on this planet."

"Oh."

"We wish to negotiate with your authorities," Tyler said. "We need your assistance in our quest."

"I have sent for the Superior Reagent," the female said. "Come. We will go to a place where we can speak."

Marty spoke into his mic. "Delphi, secure the Lander."

"Yes, Martin."

The female and her group led Marty and his crew to the large domed building. Inside the windowed atrium was a circular garden with benches. The atrium's plants were completely alien. Some had flowers with vivid orange coloring. The atmosphere inside was pleasant, not unlike something similar on Earth. People stopped and looked, but they remained in control. Obviously, they were curious about Birdie and Ninja, but they didn't seem to be overly excited about their presence.

The Superior Reagent arrived without fanfare. She was dressed in tunic over trousers like the Local Reagent. All of the aliens had short hair, mostly white. The only way that Marty could tell that they were female is by the fact that they had breasts. In fact, all of the females had rather large breasts, assuming that was what was causing the large chest bulges under their tunics.

"Welcome to our world," she said.

"We come in peace," Tyler said. "As you can see from the diversity of our crew members, we are a mixture of many species. We represent a union of planets united for the purpose of cultural exchange and mutual defense. We have evidence that indicates that your planet has been visited by a dangerous species of marauders that have decimated many other intelligent species and has waged conflict against us. We are here for two purposes: one is to investigate the evidence of their visits and determine where they came from. The other is to see to your defense. We have three star ships in orbit around your planet."

"We have not detected their presence," the Reagent said.

"That is because they are cloaked so that they can not be seen," Tyler said. "We will temporarily make them visible so that you can see them."

"Hey, Angie," Marty said into his long-range mic. "They want to verify that our ships are in orbit."

"Okay," she said. "I'll drop stealth for a brief period."

"Have your people check again," Marty said.
After a few minutes, an alien approached and handed something to the Reagent.

"We see them," the Reagent said. "One of your ships is orbiting our moon."

"Yes," Marty said. "It is a cautionary procedure."

"You say that these evil aliens have visited our world, but we have no record of it."

"Let me ask you this," Marty said. "Have you had unexplained disappearances?"

The Reagent exchanged looks with several of her party. "Our spirit guardians have attributed that to spontaneous assumption. I have always questioned that belief."

Marty turned to Lia. "What's she saying: that they think it's a religious event?"

"I believe so."

"It's possible that they were abducted by the evil aliens," Marty said. "How many disappearances do you experience?"

"We record approximately a hundred thousand such occurrences every cycle of our planet around our star," the Reagent said.

Marty and Tyler exchanged glances.

"Are these individuals young or old?" Marty asked.

"Most are of a early age," the Reagent said. "The loss has been a great burden to our people."

"I can appreciate that," Tyler said. "We propose a mutual defense of your planet. We will station one of our ships here to defend you from further loss. In the mean time, we will go out and attempt to locate your abducted people." He handed her a small box. "This contains images of our world and the worlds of some of our intelligent union members. There is a device in this that will allow you to view these images on your video systems. We have also included details on how we are able to travel across vast distances as well as other interesting technologies. All we ask in exchange is you cooperation in our quest."

She accepted the box. "What do you want us to do?"

"We would like you to allow our scientists to examine physical evidence of the evil alien's visits. We would also appreciate it if you could give us one of your people as a crewmember. This individual should be a scientist, preferably a scientist familiar with the study of stars and planets."

"We will study your proposal," the Reagent said.

"Good," Tyler said. "We will leave now and await your decision. If you do not wish to cooperate with us, we will leave your system and be on our way."

The Reagent reacted to that statement with surprise.