Chapter 9

Deus vocatus atque invocatus aderit.
God, whether summoned or not, will be there.
- Epitaph on tomb of Carl Jung -

The command deck snapped back to normal like a rubber band. Most of the crew took this in stride, but these were difficult times and many ended up with upset stomachs.

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us to the third planet as quickly as possible, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Karl was the first to report. "Uh, oh!"

"That didn't sound good," Marty said.

"The star has already begun to shrink. Its temperature has declined at least 850 K and its radius is 15% less. If I didn't know better I would say that this is not the correct star."

"How much time do we have?" Angie asked.

"I don't really know. Nobody has observed this transformation. I'll have to measure the rate of change in order to estimate a timetable. My guess is that we're talking hours here."

"Shit!" She turned to Marty. "How in the hell are we going to evacuate all those aliens before this star craps out?"

"I don't know, but I'll start preparations. I don't want to leave anybody, no matter what."
Angie sighed. "Go."

"I need volunteers," Marty said.

Ninja was the first to stand up. Uma, Lia, Jean-Michel, Tyler, Tiana, Moto and Andy followed. Marty led his band of heroes off to the equipment deck to suit up for their journey into Hades.

On the command deck, Angie was on pins and needles waiting for Karl's prognostication.

"I estimate that we have twelve hours," he finally said. "Give or take a few."

"How soon to orbit, Delphi?"

"Six hours at present velocity, Angie."

"That doesn't give us much of a safety margin," Angie said. "We'll never get all those aliens out of there in time."

Marty's image appeared on Angie's screen. "Hey, Angie, what about if we launch a fighter? Maybe we could get there quicker."

"That will work," Honey said. "The fighters have a lower effective mass. Using our velocity as a boost will reduce the ETA of the fighter by almost two hours."

"Honey thinks that it'll work, but you're on your own."

"Its a risk worth taking," Marty said.

"Okay," Angie said. "But just you and Ninja."

"Copy that. I'll have the others get the Landers ready to go."

"Good."

Marty and Ninja readied the X-402 to launch. No one had ever attempted to launch a fighter from a star cruiser while moving at slightly more than a tenth the speed of light. Oh well, there always has to be a first time for everything.

When the hangar door opened, Marty and Ninja looked into a star field blurred by motion. Their ship slowly slid into a slipstream of space that was moving by at over thirty thousand kilometers per second. A collision with anything at this speed would temporarily outshine the sun.

Marty dropped the X-402 away from the X-4001 before he fired the engines. The image of the X-4001 slowly shrunk until it was just a speck in the vastness of space. The four hours that it took to get to the third planet were quiet, but both occupants of the X-402 took note of a sun that was darkening by the hour.

"I think that this star is going out," Ninja said. "I have never seen anything like that."

"You and me both, my friend," Marty said. "I just hope that we can get there before it goes out completely."

"What is the status of the planet?" Ninja asked.

"There are many storms on the surface. The oceans look like they're boiling, but the temperature has actually dropped considerably. It's very difficult to see through the clouds."

"The people left behind may not be alive," Ninja said.

"I hope they are, but we'll soon know for sure. We should be in orbit within the hour."

The breaking engines screamed in an attempt to slow the X-402. Ninja stayed alert for enemy craft while Marty strained to make out details on the surface of a planet undergoing a major disaster.

"We are in orbit, Martin, but the planet is beginning to destabilize."

"Maintain orbit, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"I'm having trouble seeing the surface, Ninja. We may have no choice but to land."

"We should do so soon. The sun is dimming at a higher rate."

"Open a COM to the X-4001, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin, but a message will require twenty minutes to reach them."

"I understand, Delphi."

"COM open, Martin."

"Hey, Angie, we're in orbit around the planet, but we can't make out the surface. The planet is being racked with storms. We're going down to check it out. We'll report back as soon as we can."

"Take us down, Delphi. Land near the camp."

"Yes, Martin."

When the X-402 penetrated the planet's atmosphere, it was buffeted and rocked by winds that were supersonic all the way down to 2 kilometers. That, plus a driving rain storm, made the landing rough.

When Marty and Ninja exited the X-402, they were blasted by winds, rain and lightening. They ran to the camp in the dimming light of a sun gone bad, but when they got there they found the camp abandoned.

"What the hell?" Marty yelled over the din of wind and rain. "There's nobody here."

"The enemy must have returned and removed those left behind."

"Damn them!" He looked around at a rapidly deteriorating situation. The winds were picking up to near hurricane force and trees were being uprooted and debris was flying around. "We had better get the hell off this planet pronto."

"Yes, Martin."

On the X-4001, Angie had just heard Marty's message. She cursed under her breath. "How soon until we orbit the planet, Delphi."

"Thirty minutes, Angie."

"I don't think it wise to go near that planet," George said. "It's being pulled out of orbit."

"We can't just leave them there," Angie said. "What can I do?"

"The star is near ignition of the helium in its core," Karl said. "We could be faced with a rapidly expanding wall of hot gas as well as material being blasted off the star."

"Increase shielding, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie. Oh, I'm getting request for COM from the X-402."

Angie smiled. "Please open COM, Delphi."

"Hey, Angie, we're coming in, but you're going too fast."

Angie blew out a relieved breath. "Slow us, Delphi. Turn us around.'

"Yes, Angie."

"Okay, you guys, we're slowing up and turning. Time your approach to the apex of our turn."

"Copy that."

"Prepare to grab the X-402 when it approaches, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Everybody on the command deck kept his or her eyes on the main screen. A small speck grew in size until it was easily recognized. As the X-4001 turned, the X-402 approached and was drawn into the hangar.

"The X-402 is secured, Angie."

"Get us the hell out of here, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"The star has just ignited," Karl said.

A blinding bright flash of light filled the main screen. The star began to expand while pushing a wave of hot gas particles and radiation outward at a hundred kilometers per second, and it soon crashed into the shields of the X-4001, causing the entire ship to vibrate and scream in agony.

Karl glanced at George and Lucia. "I never dreamed that I would see anything like this."

"Look," Lucia said, pointing at the screen.
The star grew rapidly, taking on an angry red glow that increased in luminosity as it expanded. The planet could no longer be seen in the maelstrom.

"That's what's going to happen to our sun and Earth in another 4 to 5 billion years," Karl said.

"The good news is that humans are now out in the universe," George said.

Marty and Ninja came onto the deck.

"We missed the big show," Marty said.

"Don't worry," Karl said. "We made plenty of recordings of it."

"What about the aliens?" Angie asked.

"They were gone," Marty said. "The bastards came back and took them."

Angie's eyes shot fire. "Damn it! We'll find those bastards and when we do, we'll blast them to hell."

"Hey, Ninja and I are ready," Marty said. He turned to Ninja. "Right, Ninja?"

"Right, Martin."

###

Marty's eyes switched between Moto and Masai. He, Karl and Rosie were trying to determine where to next look for the aliens that had been on the planet that was swallowed by a dying star.

"There is a star near here with a life planet," Moto said. "My people's records say that it was last visited seven cycles ago."

Marty looked at Karl. "What's that in years?"

"Almost ten. That star she's referring to is a G0 class dwarf that's approximately seven billion years old."

"We have detected transmissions from a planet in that system," Masai said. "The transmissions have not stopped."

"The star system is 23 light years away from your system," Karl said. "It could have stopped already. You would not have noticed it yet."

"I think that we should go and check it out," Marty said. He looked at each of them. "Unless any of you have a better choice."

"There are many choices, but this one is the closest," Moto said.

Marty stood up. "Well then, that's where we'll go."

On the way back to the command deck, Marty found himself alone with Rosie, and he just had to know something that had been bugging him for a long time.

"I have a question: the admiral and I found these pods on a planet and they contained infants with a mix of our DNA. In fact, they were all identical. Was that something that your people did?"

"No, Martin. We believe it the work of the Old Ones. They raided one of our research stations and removed DNA material. Yours and the Commander's DNA were among those samples that were stolen."

"I don't like the implications of that, but I thank you for your honesty."

"You are welcome, Martin."

When he arrived on the command deck, he found that Angie had already set course for the star.

"Jump will commence in five minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

As the X-4001 accelerated to jump speed, everyone took a last look at a red giant that had once been a yellow-white dwarf.

After a short jump, Delphi reported. "We are now in normal space, Angie."

"Bring us down to 1000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"This is a typical main sequence dwarf," Karl said. "It appears to be stable."

"This system has three giants and two inner rocks," George said. "There is a sizable asteroid belt at 0.8 AU, right where a habitable planet would normally be found."

"We're detecting no organized signals," Brigit said.

"There are no enemy vessels," Ninja said. "But, I am detecting residual radiation that fits known Dragon weapon discharges."

"So, what we're saying here is that the Dragon aliens destroyed the planet?" Marty said.

"We can't be certain, but it sure looks that way," George said.

"I wonder how long ago that this happened." Angie said.

"The isotope ratios suggest 1.7 cycles of the planet around the star," Ninja said.

"Well, that takes care of this star," Marty said. "On to the next."

"We'll never find it by jumping from star to star," Angie said. "Maybe we can get some clues by examining the debris."

Nobody had a better suggestion.

###

Marty glanced over at George and smiled. His drinking buddy had fallen asleep. The late shift had a way of doing that. Ninja was still wide-awake. He was absorbed in searching for enemy ships.

"Hey, George, have you found anything out there?"

George woke up with sputtering. He rubbed his face. "Sorry about that. I guess I'm tired. I haven't slept in 24 hours."

"Go and get sleep," Angie said from behind them.

Both George and Marty turned around.

"You're up early, Admiral," Marty said.

"That was an order," Angie said to George.

George didn't need any more urging. He got up and shuffled off to the elevators.

"Find anything yet?"

"Nothing of value," Marty said. "Finding something in a debris field could take a long time."

"Well, I don't know what else to do. We have nothing to go on."

"I asked Rosie about those pods we found with babies that had our DNA. She said that they had nothing to do with it, that it was the Dragons who attacked one of their research stations and stole our DNA."

"I don't like the sound of that," Angie said.

"I hear you."

"I have detected an object that is not natural," Ninja said.

"Put it on the main screen, Ninja," Angie said.

"What the hell?" Marty said. "That looks like an old NASA type deep space probe. I realize that we're a long way from Earth, but . . ."

"Maybe the aliens who lived on the destroyed planet launched it," Angie proposed.

"Could be. We may be able to snag it," Marty said. "If you think it's okay, that is."

"By all means. Maybe we can download data from it."

"Move us up near the object, Delphi, but keep us out of the path of any asteroids."

"Yes, Martin."

"We can pull it into the Lander hangar," Marty said. "Scan it for weapons, Ninja."

"Yes, Martin."

"We'll need Lia to interpret any writings on it," Marty said.

"Okay," Angie said. "I'll go get her."

"The object has no weapons or explosive devices," Ninja said.

"Pull the object into the Lander hangar, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

After the Lander hangar pressurized, Marty, Angie and Lia entered to examine the object.

"It's some sort of planetary probe," Marty said. "See the landing struts and breaking rockets."

"It has a disk antenna," Lia said. "We may be able to determine its range by examining the transmission equipment."

"This has to be some sort of video equipment," Marty said, pointing at a lens.

"This symbolism on the side here is reminiscent of Drak," Lia said. "It may be a more primitive form of Drak."

"Maybe it is a Drak device," Marty said. "We'll have to disassemble it to determine that."

"Get the tools and let's get started," Angie said.

Marty saluted and then rushed off to get a tool kit. When he returned, Angie had already found some bolts holding a panel in place. Marty went to work on it and soon had it off. Many strange circuit panels populated the inner workings of the alien probe.

"Wow! This thing has a lot of electronic and optical circuitry." He pointed at a panel with writing. "Look at this. Maybe this is the instructions."

Lia examined the panel while Marty began removing additional panels.

"This is definitely a Drak unit," Lia finally said. "This probe is designed to land on a planet with an atmosphere."

"The question is: what planet?" Marty said.

"It may have been the planet that is no more," Angie said. "This could have been launched from a Drak star system."

"That would have taken a long time to get here without using jump technology," Marty said.

"That could explain why the writing is ancient Drak," Lia said. "There's a star diagram in here. I believe we need Honey and Karl to determine where this thing came from."

"I'll get Honey," Angie said. "You go wake up Karl."

Marty saluted. "Yes, Admiral."

###

Angie pressed the request button to Honey's quarters and the door immediately opened. Angie entered to find a naked Honey lounging on her couch reading a book on her viewer.

"Good evening, Admiral. What brings you to my humble abode?"

"You've been reading too many Earth novels," Angie said.

"I find them quite interesting. It gives me an insight into your culture."

"I hope that they aren't those romance novels that were popular in the last century."

"I enjoy the interactions of males and females. We have nothing like it on our planet."

"Well, I hate to bother you, but we need you in the Lander hangar."

"Am I going on a landing party?"

"No. We've recovered an alien probe that has a star chart. We want you to see if you can find the star from which the probe was launched."

Honey got up. "I will try."

"Ah, how about putting something on."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I find clothing to be bothersome. As you know, my people don't wear clothing as a rule."

"Yes, I know, but I prefer my crew to wear clothes while on duty. If you like being unclothed, you should join us women when we go swimming."

"I would be honored."

"Good."

When Angie and Honey arrived at the Lander hangar, they found Karl already there studying the star chart.

Karl looked up at her. "I think that this is from a nearby star system, but the stars have shifted because of proper motion."

Honey looked at the chart and asked a question. "Can you estimate how long ago that this object was launched?"

"My guess, and it is a rough guess, is that it's over 10,000 years old."

"If you are right, the star is 33.1 light years away and it's a G5 class dwarf at least six billion years old."

"That's our next destination," Angie said. "We'll leave as soon as we can get everybody up."

Getting everyone up was no easy task, but it was necessary. Angie didn't want to waste any more time than she had to.