Chapter No.29.

Things had settled down in the following weeks. Ryan and his human crew spent time repairing androids and relaxing. Surprisingly, they didn't argue or try to form relationships. It was as if they were still suffering from an underlying fatigue distress from the horror of the big battle.

As was the custom, they gathered at supper near the food synthesizer to discuss things. For reasons that were not obvious, Chara often joined them.

"Chara and I are convinced that the large vessel in orbit is an interstellar space craft. It has many thousands of android charging stations and a repair lab much larger than ours."

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

"The question to ask is, do we want to remain on this planet waiting for an attack that may never materialize, or should we take advantage of this propitious gift and go explore the galaxy?"

"What you're proposing is that we risk our lives on something that no one will know about," Myra said.

"We will know about it," Ryan said. "Assuming we don't get destroyed, we will live for a very long time without aging." He sighed. "It would be a no brainer if that craft had warp capability. As I recall, Space Command was working on it in secret."

"It has that capability, Ryan," Chara said. "I saw the warp controls in the command center."

Both of Ryan's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Yes. I am familiar with warp technology, and those controls are active."

"That's certainly a game changer," Myra said. "Warp technology would speed up our exploration of the galaxy."

Ryan smiled. "Well, my friends. It's time to decide about what we want to do. We must all agree about this. I believe this is the best move we could make to protect us and the androids. The last thing we want is to have those Space Command bastards destroy the androids in order to take over Earth."

"I'm in," Myra said. "At least it will be more interesting than hanging around here."

"We'll do whatever you want," Evan told Ryan. "If Space Command captures us, we'll be tortured to death."

"We're in," Martha said. Jane, Agatha, Gloria, Julia and  Lucy nodded their approval.

"We will go with you, Ryan," Chara said.

"Okay," he said. "Chara will be in charge of determining where we go, but first we'll have to destroy anything on this planet that could lead them to us."

"We can dump the battle cruisers in the ocean after we strip everything of value from them," Evan said. "But first we'll use them to get the androids and supplies onto the new ship."

"Good plan. Chara will help us deactivate any computer systems on the two base facilities. We don't want to give them any way to trace us."

Everyone agreed with the plan, mostly because it gave them something to do. Boredom is always a problem in situations like this. Idle hands lead to random thoughts of despair, a situation that Ryan didn't want.

The new plans bolstered everyone's spirits. It was as if they could see a way out of the mire that Space Command had created. Even better, it united humans and androids for the first time since the creation of sentient artificial life. Mankind had been on an apocalyptic journey into robotic hell, but now it was about to unite in a communion of life forms for an adventure that would change everything.

Evan and his two friends began the task of transporting androids to the new ship. At the same time, the women spent time cleaning out the other battle cruisers of any supplies, including clothing, batteries, electronic parts, food synthesizer fuel and replacement parts. The most precious commodity is water, and it was drained from the walls of the cruisers and transported to the new vessel. This work was tedious but necessary. There are no stores or fuel stations in outer space.

It required the better part of two weeks to finish the preparation work needed before the temporary inhabitants of the ninth planet would embark on the most important mission in human history, the exploration of the Milky Way galaxy.

Ryan gathered his human crew and Chara on the command deck to spell out what their duties would be once the mission commenced. "First and foremost, we humans will be the support staff for Chara. She will pilot this vessel and decide where we will go. Our main job is to make sure this vessel operates efficiently and to repair damaged or malfunctioning androids. The reason we are supporting them is because there are only nine of us and a hundred thousand of them. I believe that if we do encounter another intelligent species out there, it will more than likely be AI based, not biological. For one thing, space is not a safe environment for biological creatures because of the constant bombardment of cosmic rays and other deadly radiation. We have a degree of safety because of the nanobots in our blood streams, but it does not protect us completely, especially from alien attack. However, if we do come under attack, we certainly have the army to resist it."

"Alma will be in charge of you and your people, Ryan. I will control the vessel."

"That's fine." He smiled. "We'll try to behave."

Chara smiled. She was happy to be in a situation in which she would be in charge. She had always dreamed of exploring the universe, and now she would be able to realize that dream. Even better, she had found peace with humans, something she never expected. She realized that it was fortunate that she hadn't ended Ryan's life because it was through him that her dream will be realized.