Chapter No. 58 Ideas

Invention is the mother of change.

After we destroyed all traces of the Scath on the moon, we returned to our solar system. We already knew that the other two vessels had prevailed and had prevented the Scath from destroying our human colonists.

The first order of business was to check out everything to make sure we were ready for another attack, which we were. Then it was time to make some serious plans. I decided to introduce these plans when we retired to my living area after supper.

"We have lots of work to do," I said, starting the discussion. "First on the list is to find out how the Scath is spying on us. Then, I want to design and build a new, larger, more powerful vessel. We need to have more vessels so that we can deal with attacks in more than one location. And high on the list is the need to find a way to have our memory and personality data duplicated and stored in various places so that if we get severely damaged, we could be resurrected."

"What about the memories we acquire after our data storage is recorded?" Alexa asked.

I turned to Alice, and she provided the answer. "Everything we see, hear, feel, speak, say, and think are continuously recorded and added to the data."

"Jeez, I had better watch what I say," Marie quipped.

"I could be arrested for what I think," Alexa said while grinning.

We laughed.

"Okay, we should store the data in all four ships . . . once we build the new one," I said.

"How could all that data be stored?" Alexa asked. "That would require a humongous data bank."

"We use quantum computing systems," I said. "The capacity is nearly unlimited, or at least larger than any number we could think of."

"Not to change the subject, but where are we going to get the materials to build a new, larger vessel?" Molly asked.

"I suppose we'll need to mine asteroids," I said. "Engineering can create construction material from metals and other elements contained in them. Some asteroids are rich in all sorts of metals and other elements."

"That's going to require a lot of effort," Molly said.

"Yes, but we have plenty of workers to help us," I reminded her.

"How can we build something as complicated as a space vessel?" Alexa asked. "There has to be trillions of parts, many of which are extremely complicated."

"We have the original and updated plans for this vessel. Besides, I'm the engineer. I know every nut and bolt in this beast." I waved my hand around to emphasize my statement. "I will begin, with the help of Queen and her friends in Engineering, to create the new drawings for Explorer-2."

"We need to determine where the Scath are coming from," Molly said. "I don't understand how they keep attacking us. We must have destroyed a thousand of their ships by now. I can't imagine how they keep coming back with more."

"Perhaps our reptilian associate, Fist, could enlighten us on that," I said. I turned to Judy. "See if you could establish a link to the Coalition headquarters."

After a few moments, an image of Fist appeared on a large screen.

"We just fought off two large Scath armadas, one here near Earth and the other in a system a thousand light years from here. They tricked us into thinking a large moon orbiting a gas giant had a human population. I figure that we've destroyed several thousand Scath vessels by now. How is it possible that they have so many of them?"

"They are as numerous as Tettrods!" Fist said, his usually squinty eyes ballooning. "The Tettrod is an insect that is prolific in reproduction."

"If they are that prolific, it shouldn't be that difficult to find their home world."

"That has puzzled us for a long time. However, your discovery of a portal to another universe might be the answer."

"We still don't understand how the portal's opening and closing works. We'll have to work on that problem."

"We will do the same," Fist said before he dropped the communication link.

"We're the ones doing all of the work," Molly said. "This so-called coalition of theirs is just sitting on their asses in an underground bunker."

"That's what we get for becoming involved," I said. "Arnold Giver, a kid I went to school with, always told me to avoid raising my hand when the teacher asks for volunteers. He told me to keep a low profile."

Molly gave me an amused smirk. "It seems that we're keeping a high profile these days."

I sighed. "Well, after we construct the new vessel, we will have four ships and be a force to contend with."

That seemed to bolster their hope for a chance at survival in this uncompromising universe.