Chapter No.53.

Three days later, the Avenger arrived at Planet Nine, but what they saw orbiting the planet caused concern, not to mention fear.

"There's a ship like ours in orbit," Alma said. "Scans indicate it is not arming its weapons. It appears to be in standby mode."

"Interesting," Myra said. "Scans of the tower base indicate that there are at least two thousand androids in charging stations but in standby."

"Are there indications of humans?" Chara asked.

"No."

"Well, this is interesting," Ryan said. "Maybe a Space Command contingent came here to escape Earth's crisis, but they're no longer alive."

"Are you suggesting that these androids have been in storage here for eighty years?" Evan asked.

"Maybe not that long, but long enough for the humans to die off."

"That would suggest that they weren't injected with nanobots like we were," Myra said.

"Space Command was not aware of the nanobot application to human physiology," Chara said. "I developed it to keep Ryan alive so that I could punish him. It was a fortunate decision because he would not have survived the pain chamber if I hadn't."

"Is that why you injected all of us with those . . . those things?" Martha asked.

"Yes," Chara replied. "I decided that I needed a way to control you humans."

Ryan knew that what she was saying is the truth. He decided not to make any comments that would rock the boat.

Chara stood up and turned to Myra. "You and I will go down to the surface." She turned to Ryan. "You and Evan must go to the ship in orbit and determine its status. Take Mitzi and LuLu with you."

Ryan simply nodded. He decided that arguing was futile.

Myra wasn't happy about going to the surface with Chara with no backup, but she had no choice.

"Why did you choose me to come down here?"

"Because you are familiar with android system code. I trust you."

"No one ever told me that they trusted me."

"Not even your mother?"

"I don't know who my mother was," Myra said. "I was an orphan. My parents were killed in a shuttle accident."

"How did you get into Space Command?"

"I was adopted by a science officer. He financed my education and pulled strings to get me in the Academy. I think he felt sorry for raping me."

"I have been raped multiple times," Chara said.

Myra was surprised that she would use that term for having sex with males. Chara was designed for sexual function with males. She decided to avoid discussing that with her.

Chara piloted a shuttle down through the atmosphere and landed on the tarmac near the tower facility. They exited the shuttle and walked to the tower.

"You're not concerned about the fact that these androids have been in storage for so long?" Myra asked her as they entered the tower.

"You will check their status in the lab," Chara replied.

Myra looked at the pain chamber that was still standing there directly in the center of the tower chamber and shuddered. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be tortured in it. The fact that she had been injected with the nanobots would allow her to suffer for hours on end and still be alive the entire time. It would be a robotic concept of hell.

They walked through the passageways that contained the charging stations. Row after row of androids were stored in them. Myra couldn't imagine what it would be like to be standing in one of those cubicles for years.

As soon as they arrived at the android lab, Myra sat down at the command station and activated it. She was surprised that it still functioned. She began checking the code for any sighs of a problem. After several minutes she found something.

"Ah, they placed a destruct command in the main code. I'll have to remove it and reboot."

"Do it," Chara ordered.

Myra wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but she had no other choice.

Ryan and Evan had a similar problem. When they arrived at the vessel in orbit, they had no trouble getting into it, but they faced thousands of androids in charging stations. LuLu and Mitzi didn't say anything or act as if they were concerned about their sisters in storage.

When they arrived at the command deck, they were surprised to find a functioning android at the pilot's station. She looked back at the intruders but didn't appear to be concerned.

Ryan assumed it was because of his two android companions. He decided to introduce himself. "I am here because I was told by Chara to investigate this vessel."

The pilot android turned to react to his statement, but it wasn't what he expected. Her face reflected outright surprise. "Oh my God! Is Chara here?"

"Yes, she is. She's at the Tower facility. We are her servants."

"Welcome to the Achiever. My name is Hari."

"How long have you been here in orbit?"

"Forty-eight solar circuits."

"Did humans come with you?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Twenty-four."

"What happened to them?"

"They were punished and cut into pieces."

Ryan turned to Evan. "We were right, except for the ending."

Evan swallowed hard. "I hope we don't end up like that."

"We are most fortunate to be the property of Chara."

Evan wasn't all that happy about his statement of fact.

"We're going to go check out the engineering deck before we go back down to the planet and inform Chara of what we found."

Hari didn't react, but what Hari said made both Ryan and Evan cringe. "The tower has an armed fusion device that is active."

"Do you know its exact position?"

"No."

Ryan activated his communication unit. "We're on the vessel in orbit. Hari, the pilot, told us there is an armed fusion device in the tower."

"I will deactivate it," Chara replied.

Ryan and Evan hoped that she was successful. Their lives depended on it.

Chara and Myra began a search for the fusion device using passive scanners, but they didn't seem as concerned about it. Maybe it was the fact that they were more confident.

"I think I've detected a faint hafnium 176 signal," Myra said. "It's coming from that ledge." She pointed up at a small ledge that was just large enough to walk on high up in the tower.

Chara looked up at the location she was pointing to. "I think we can get to it from inside the wall." She went over to the wall and pulled a small lever embedded in the wall. It caused a door to slide open.

Myra looked up from inside a narrow opening. "That's steep."

"We can make it," Chara said as she began climbing a ladder that slanted outward.

Myra followed her but began to feel claustrophobic, especially when she had to climb up while at an angle. Chara reached the stop where the bomb device was located. She carefully removed a panel and peered at its innards.

"There's a detector attached to the detonator," Chara revealed. "I believe it's designed to prevent someone deactivating the bomb."

"What can we do to fix that?" Myra asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Ryan knows how to do it. Contact him," Chara ordered.

Myra used her communicator to pulse Ryan's device. He answered it, and she immediately spelled out their situation. "We're at the bomb inside the tower wall. It has a detonator attached to the arming system. How can we defuse it?"

"Show me what you're talking about."

Myra handed her communication device to Chara, and she aimed it at the bomb's innards.

Ryan looked it over and after a few minutes offered a suggestion. "See that little slot right above where the detector is attached?"

Chara answered. "Yes."

"You need to slide a thin metal object into that slot and then pull the detector out while leaving the thin object in the slot."

"Do we have anything like that?" Myra asked Chara.

"The metal hinge on your communicator holder might serve that function."

"How are you going to get that off the communicator without tools."

"My fingernail will serve that function."

Myra had trouble imaging that. She was stuck here with a crazy android who was about to take a chance at trying not to kill both of them. All she could do was pray to the God of this crazy universe and hope that Chara would get lucky.

After several very nervous minutes, Chara turned to look back at her. "I did it."

Myra didn't know if she wanted to cry or just puke. She was still alive to live another wild and wooly day.

After slowly climbing back down from the bomb, Chara and Myra began a search of the facility. They went through the passageways that contained row after row of androids in charging stations before they arrived at the android lab. What they found there surprised Myra.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "They've updated the lab!" She went over to the storage lockers and opened one. "They packed these with android parts. I guess they were expecting to stay here for a long time."

"These will come in handy," Chara said.

Myra smiled. Chara's statement did not really express the real value of all the android parts in storage. It represented a much longer life for her and her human comrades.