Chapter No.71 Direction

Finding direction is important to success.

We informed Fist that we would be patrolling the Orion arm of the galaxy to see if we could intercept Myst vessels. He didn't object. In fact, he seemed pleased. While we were out there, we decided to hunt for possible habitable planet systems.

We explored a K2 class dwarf star with a M-4 class red dwarf companion. The system had three gas giants and five rocky planets. Two of the rocky planets were habitable, but only one seemed adequate for human life. It was 1.3 times the size of Earth with a heavier atmosphere.

"There are several strong storms down there," Molly said. "They are in the category 4 hurricane class."

"Why would there be so many storms?" I asked.

"Planets with larger atmospheres tend to form strong storms. The buildup of moisture and winds are responsible for that."

"There is life down there," Margaret said. "But I don't see any indication of intelligent life. What I'm seeing is lots of forests and savannahs."

"The question is: would this planet be a candidate for human life?" I asked.

"It's possible, but there would be challenges," Margaret said. "The gravity is a bit higher and the air pressure is at least two times that on Earth."

"Oxygen is around 12 percent, but that would be breathable at the higher pressure," Molly said.

"I am detecting a Myst signal from a system six light years from here," Judy said.

"Take us there and prepare to go to Red Alert. Inform the three Scath vessels to prepare for combat."

"They are prepared," Judy said.

We came out of warp and immediately saw that several Myst ships were in combat with other vessels.

"Those are coalition vessels," Molly said. "This planet is a member in the Galactic Coalition."

"Let's help them," I said.

Our vessel and three Scath ships joined the battle. We had to juke several strong energy beams and plasma balls, but we began beating back the Myst vessels with help from the Scath vessels. The coalition vessels took hits and one of them was destroyed. We only suffered damage to one of the Scath vessels before the Myst ships disappeared.

"I have a video communication request," Judy said.

"Accept it," I said.

The face that appeared on our main screen was reptilian, but not as refined as Fist's species. It had more of a turtle look. In fact, it reminded me of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In any event we had to employ our universal translator.

"We appreciate the help," the creature said. "Why are you out here?"

"We are on patrol to locate the Myst home base. We just happened to be close enough to pick up their signal when they come out of empty space."

"We also observed the signal and it gave us time to prepare."

"We will hang around here for a while to make sure they don't come back."

"That is acceptable," the creature said before the signal was dropped.

"You're welcome," I said with a sarcastic tone of voice, but I doubt the creature heard me.

"We made contact with the Myst system before they left," Judy informed us. "Their programming is sophisticated but has a flaw."

"What sort of flaw?" I asked.

"They employ a strategic game system."

"What? They consider trying to destroy living species a game?"

"I am unable to determine motive. I believe that they are using heuristic algorithms."

I rubbed my chin. "Yeah, I think I see what you're inferring. Heuristics involves a set of rules that fit specific situations. If we could determine those rules, we might be able to adjust them to render them vulnerable."

"We are working on it," Judy said.

"Well, maybe we might find a way to assimilate them after all," I said to the others.

"If we assimilate any more enemies, we will be overwhelmed with them," Molly said.

"You may be right. In a way, we are a reformed version of the Borg, the fictional enemy in the Star Trek New Generation series. They assimilated other species to obtain technology. In our case, we are composed of technology. We are assimilating other robotic species to stop them from destroying bilogical life. However, we wouldn't mind obtaining their cloaking technology or any other useful technology they may have created."

"You and your references to ancient stories!" She blurted. "We're dealing with possible destruction here!"

"Yes, I realize that. But there is always a connection to the past in what we do. We are now a depository for most of the intellectual property that humans produced, and I feel we have a duty to preserve it. I also believe that we have the ability to handle any foe, no matter what level of technical development they have risen to. We have a collective army of many thousands of androids that are not only strong and durable, they have the mental capacity to take on any computing system out there . . . in my opinion."

They stared at me as if I had gone mad, but their attention was diverted by Judy's next announcement.

"We have detected a possible collision of two neutron stars two hundred light years from this location."

"Oh my God!" Molly cried. "That means that this planet could be blasted with a very powerful gamma ray burst that would destroy any life on it."

"Is your virtual mirror capable of deflecting it?" I asked her.

"I don't know. It's about five times the size and capability of the one on the Explorer-1."

"I suppose we have no other choice. Let's go ahead and deploy it."  I turned to Judy. "Raise a video communication with the planet."

A minute later, the same creature appeared.

"We believe that your planet is about to be blasted with a very powerful gamma ray blast from a neutron star collision. We have the means to defect it, but we are not certain that it will deflect all of the blast. I believe it would be wise for you and your people to take cover just in case."

"We understand and will comply," he replied before the link dropped.

"You're welcome, again," I said sarcastically.

Molly was already busy deploying her virtual mirror and increasing its power to maximum. Judy moved our vessel into position to shield the planet form impending doom.

We just got everything ready when the gamma ray burst hit. The sound it produced was almost deafening. It sounded like a billion crickets had invaded our ship.

But it held and protected the planet.

Not long after, we received another video feed request.

"We appreciate what you have done," the creature said without any signs of emotion.

"You're welcome," I said without the sarcastic tone.

And, that was it. We had saved their butts two times and that was the only thanks we got. Oh well, it doesn't matter. We had no other choice but to save them from doom. It was our duty now that we have evolved into a superpower in our galaxy.