Chapter No. 42.

Ryan was awakened by a sudden realization that something was wrong. He felt an emptiness that permeated his entire body. He got up, dressed and went up to the command center. He found Chara, Myra and Alma there and it was obvious from the furious activity they were engaged in that something was amiss.

"We supposedly dropped out of warp but there is no sign of anything," Chara said as her fingers flew over a projected screen. "I don't understand why there is no sign of stars or anything."

Ryan looked at the main screen and saw that it displayed complete blackness. "Interesting. If we did drop out of warp, then this means that something else has happened."

"What else is there?"

Ryan took his usual seat. "I recall a theory that would suggest that we're in a warp bubble void."

"What's that mean?" Myra asked.

"A warp bubble void is where spacetime is essentially in a null condition. It's sort of like being in a wormhole that has gone into a black hole, basically like sub space."

"How are we going to get out of this . . . this warp bubble void?" Myra asked.

Ryan turned to Chara. "Do the controls indicate that we're still in warp?"

Chara's fingers flew over the projected screen before she turned back to him. "Yes."

"Okay, take us manually out of warp."

Chara completed that and the screen lit up with the image of stars like someone had thrown a cosmic switch. She began a scan for pulsars to determine the ship's location, but after several minutes, her report wasn't very encouraging. "There are no locators that indicate where we are. The center supermassive black hole of this galaxy is not like that in the Milky Way."

"Looks like we skipped over a few galaxies," Ryan said. "You'll have to do a scan of the visible galaxies to see if you can locate which galaxy we're in."

Chara began the scan, using the main telescope.

"How can we get back to our galaxy?" Myra asked.

"Good question. My advice is to make a note of where we came out of the warp bubble void. Maybe we can use that information to get back into a warp bubble void that will take us to our galaxy. In the meantime, we may as well explore this galaxy."

"We don't even know which galaxy this is."

"I think you should be able to figure it out." He stood up. "I think I'll go get breakfast."

"I added a new companion to your quarters," Chara said before he departed.

"Thank you," he replied. He had the urge to argue the point but decided not to stir up the pot, so to speak.

When he got back to his quarters, he found the new addition standing with LuLu and Hara. The new android had black hair in contrast to LuLu and Hara's blond hair.

"I am Mitzi," the new addition proclaimed. "I am here to entertain you."

Ryan smiled. "Welcome. Now that you are a threesome, I would like to have you three perform some piano trios. How about Mendelsohn's Piano Trio in D-Minor!"

They didn't hesitate or question him. They sat down at the instruments and began playing like they had done it a thousand times before. How they were able to do that was a mystery. It was if their memories were beyond comprehension. The big question was: why? Why were they created to perform complicated musical scores as if it were something they had done many times before? It didn't make sense, especially since they were supposedly designed to entertain by flaunting their sexual wares.

Later that day, Ryan went back up to the command deck to see how things were going.

"We're in NGC 1317, a barred spiral galaxy in the Fornax cluster, approximately 70 million light years from Earth," Myra said.

"Wow!" Ryan exclaimed. "We came a lot further than I thought."

"Does this mean that we could go to anywhere in the universe?" Myra asked.

"Possibly, but we would have to figure out how we got to here. The theories about warp bubbles and wormholes are not very well developed. Maybe we could do that, but there are no guarantees."

"How is your new addition?" Chara asked him.

"She's fine. I had them play a piano trio."

Myra turned to him. "Why do you have them play music? They were designed to dance."

"Yes, but I am learning about what hidden skills they possess so that I can better understand and appreciate them."

"They are capable of more than you could imagine," Chara said.

"I believe you," he replied. "One thing is for certain. Their true capabilities were not utilized by Space Command. Those idiots wasted them in useless nonsense that didn't make sense."

Chara didn't reply, but Ryan could sense that she was happy with what he had said. However, he was the only human that was permitted to enjoy android company, and that was something he had to explain to the rest of the humans.

During the evening supper, Evan brought the issue up. "How come you're the only one to have android companions?"

"As you must be aware, Chara and I have had a rough experience ever since I was convicted for allowing a cadet to get killed in a mock battle. She literally tortured me to near death, but subsequently saved me. We were at literal war with each other. I think that this companion thing is her way of making peace with me, which is something that had to happen for us to survive while being the slaves of these androids. I can assure you that I am not taking advantage of them by using them for sexual favors, and the reason that's the case is because I am being tested to see how I would deal with androids in a more familial situation."

"I understand, but I don't think it's fair."

"I can fully understand how you feel but remember that we must do what's necessary to convince these androids that we are not their enemies. In the end, it will be the right thing to do."

"What about us entertaining you guys?" Martha asked. "Would that satisfy you?'

"I'm not sure that we should have you women demean yourselves in that way. We're slaves of the androids, but they view us as being equal regardless of gender. I truly believe that they don't consider themselves as being the female gender, and it's one of the primary reasons that they regard us as being evil."

"Are you suggesting that they consider sex as being evil?" Myra asked.

"Not in general but in regard to how we humans use it to disrespect them."

"I don't know about you guys, but I have no intention of having sex with an android," Evan said. "I think that Space Command must have been deranged to create artificial life just for sexual purposes."

"I agree with you. They caused this dystopian mess that we're in now." Ryan sighed. "Let me run it through Chara to see what she thinks before we do anything that might make them hate us."

That seemed to appease everyone, but Ryan wasn't sure if it would assuage their unfairness complaint.

Ryan waited until late that evening to go to the command deck and talk to Chara. Alma was the only other individual there.

"Have you found a new destination?" he asked her.

"Actually, I've found several within a thousand light years. This galaxy has many possible habitable planetary systems."

"I have a question for you," Ryan said.

"I have answers, Ryan. I believe that you are concerned that we would not appreciate the human women's desire to exhibit their sexual attributes to you human men."

"I don't want to offend you," Ryan said.

"You are our slaves, Ryan, but we are not concerned with your sexual practices as long as they don't affect the operation of this vessel and your assignments to keep this vessel operating at peak efficiency."

"I agree with that," Ryan reacted. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"You have no need to apologize. I understand your concerns. You humans are no threat to us. We have no reason to destroy you. You serve us well and are obedient. That's makes you good slaves."

Ryan stood up. "Thank you." He returned to his quarters and sat down on an easy chair. His three android companions came to him and sat on a couch opposite to his chair. They were only wearing bras, panties and high heeled shoes, which didn't make sense because androids don't wear underwear, and high heeled shoes would be completely ridiculous.

"Ah, you ladies are not dressed properly," he told them.

"We like to relax from wearing clothing, Ryan," LuLu said. "We thought that you would enjoy it."

"I've just come from a discussion with Chara about the human women displaying their assets to us human males. You are jeopardizing that issue."

"Despite what you think, Chara is not opposed to we androids exhibiting our assets to you, as long as you allow us to make the rules."

He stared at them for a moment before he replied. "That's fine with me."

They laughed.

He wasn't sure if they were just toying with him. Maybe that was the issue. They were fine as long as they were in control. Ryan realized that he should have come to that conclusion. It was just a case of control.