Chapter No.28.

When the men came back from checking out the battle cruisers, they found Ryan, Myra, and the six women in the lab working on repairing damaged androids.

Ryan looked back at Evan. "What'd you find?"

"We recovered lots of weapons and supplies. There were no surprises, but there's something in orbit around this planet that's much more valuable."

Both of Ryan's eyebrows rose. "Really? How did you detect it?"

"We used the latest scan technology on one of the ships. Evidently, Space Command has come up with a really effective cloaking system."

"So, is this . . . whatever it is, a threat?"

"I don't think so. It's a rumored interstellar vessel that Space Command has been working on."

"Interstellar?"

"Yes. It has the new meta plasma engines that are supposedly able to accelerate the vessel to near light speed."

Ryan squinted. "Why would they bring something like that here?"

Evan smiled. "Think about it. Who would be able to man such a vessel for the extended time that it would take to reach exoplanets in distant solar systems?"

Ryan smiled. "Androids."

Evan pointed at him. "Exactly."

Ryan shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. If they came here to assemble an android army to take over Earth, why would they be contemplating an interstellar voyage to an exoplanet?"

"Maybe they assumed that Earth would soon be uninhabitable, and ships like that were needed to find a new Earth," Myra suggested.

"This planet is a New Earth," Martha said.

"Yes, but it's not exactly habitable," Ryan said. "There isn't enough land mass to support a large human population, and there's the lack of life problem."

"Maybe they were not considering having a normal human population here," Myra said. "Maybe they were thinking about injecting those they wanted here with the nanobots to preserve their lives. Maybe they assumed that they could rely on food synthesizers to maintain them here."

Ryan rubbed his jaw. "Yeah, that could be a possibility, although it would not involve reestablishing the human race. I suppose we'll never know for sure."

"So, what are we going to do?" Evan asked.

"Chara and I will investigate the interstellar vessel. She's essentially a top scientist. Maybe we can uncover what the hell is going on."

"Good luck there," Evan said. "This latest attempt to take over the androids seems to me to be an ill-conceived plot. They weren't thinking about the possibilities of the androids becoming a defending force. Maybe they brought the interstellar vessel because it can hold many thousands of androids."

"That's a possibility. Chara and I will figure it out."

As if she could read minds, Chara entered the lab. "I am ready, Ryan."

Ryan stood up. "Good."

Ryan and Chara went to the small shuttle vessel that they came here in. It sat among much larger battle cruisers on the tarmac. He allowed her to do the honors of being the pilot. He sat in the copilot's/engineers chair next to her.

Chara activated the engines and got the shuttle airborne before setting in a course that would allow them to intercept the mystery ship orbiting the planet.

"So, Chara, do you think we'll be able to get in this big spacecraft?"

"I will scan it, Ryan," she replied. "If there is a way to enter it, I will discover it. It should have a portal that we can lock onto."

"Yes, you're right."

As they caught up to the large vessel in orbit, they began to realize how large it truly was.

"Holy . . . that's one huge vessel," Ryan exclaimed.

Chara didn't reply. She was concentrating on the maneuvers she had to make to link up to a portal on the side of the vessel. After several maneuvering rocket blasts, she slowly approached the portal of a craft that literally dwarfed their shuttle as if it were a gnat approaching an elephant. She transmitted a signal that allowed her to link to the large vessel's computer system. It replied by projecting a round flashing ridge from the portal. Chara slowly connected to it and then converted the shuttle's systems to standby.

Ryan stood up. "Okay, let's see what's in there."

After opening the shuttle's hatch, Chara and Ryan entered the large vessel. They were standing in an airlock but there was no need to adjust the pressure. The hatch to the large vessel opened, allowing them entrance to a large corridor.

Ryan looked at the corridor's walls. "Look at all the charging stations. There must be thousands of them. Obviously, this is where they intended to store all the androids to transport them back to Earth."

"I agree, Ryan."

They made their way to the command center, which required a turbo lift ride.

"This vessel is much larger than I had expected. Apparently, they were serious about taking over Earth."

"You're right, Ryan, but we stopped them."

"Yes, we did."

They exited the turbo lift and entered the command center.

"This center is larger than the vessel we came here in. Look at all the chairs. It has room for a dozen people."

Chara didn't reply. She went over to a terminal and typed some commands on a transparent screen that was displaying the planet. "I have our system linked to this. We will be able to move it if needed from the tower system."

"Good. I doubt that will be necessary anytime soon."

After exploring the command center, Chara and Ryan checked out the crew quarters. When Ryan saw the captain's quarters, he laughed. "This is better than a five-star class hotel room. Look at all of this room."

Chara remained quiet. She was more interested in the technology, which she was able to tap into in the engineering section. Ryan didn't say anything to her because he realized hat she was absorbing as much as she could, and it would be valuable if they were faced with another attack.

What they found in one of the engineering areas was a game changer.

"Look at this!" Ryan exclaimed. "They have an android repair lab, but it's even larger than ours." He went over to a wall that had a lock system. "I'll bet this is full of android parts."

Chara used her computer skills to open the locks. When the door slid open, it revealed a massive stash of android parts. "You were right, Ryan."

"There is no doubt that this was intended to accommodate an army of androids."

They investigated other lab areas and it confirmed their suspicions.

"This vessel is designed to support an extended mission to interstellar space," Ryan said. "The amount of energy storage and power is off the charts."

Chara didn't seem to be all that impressed, which was unusual. Obviously, she was not concerned about any aspect of it.

After returning to the shuttle, Chara disengaged from the large vessel's portal and began a return to the planet.

"So, do you androids like standing in charging stations?"

Chara didn't look over at him. "Not really. It's a necessary part of our maintenance, sort of like you humans sleeping."

Ryan suppressed a smile. Her comment sounded like a simple answer to a complex technical question. He decided to tap her for her astrophysics knowledge. "What do you believe is the reason this planet is devoid of animal life?"

"It's the curse of being an ocean planet," she replied. "Obviously, the planet's tectonic activity was isolated, and the planet went through several snowball events that lasted thousands of years. Animal life requires shore eddies to create the chemistry for biological life. This planet's shores appeared late in its planetary evolution."

"If that was the case, how did it develop plant life?"

"The seeds were deposited from asteroid and comet bombardments. Some of these occurred after tectonic activity created the land masses on the planet."

"So, you adhere to the panspermia theory of life?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that this planet will develop animal life?"

"It already has. You humans brought it here."

Ryan rubbed his jaw. "Yes, you're probably right. We infected it."

Chara didn't reply to his admission. She was busy making sure that they got back to the tower facility in one piece.