Chapter 1 - Rendezvous (The Ari Chapter)

 Rendezvous

<< Prologue

"Magnetic Shields up !!" Captain Viz commanded sharply.

Starship 191 had come under fire in the planetary system of star AM-241 near its habitable zone.

Inbound radiation was detected by its super detector and identified dangerous by the Security Intelligence System. Adam, his deputy, had informed him of the looming danger.

"Captain, the incoming radiation is a high-density particle spray. It’s coming from a spaceship, about eleven thousand miles away." continued Adam with his analysis.

“Take Positions. Security procedures underway!!” boomed Captain viz on the ship’s Public Address system as per the Standard Operating Procedures undertaken for any threats to the spaceship. Red lights started flashing on the deck. The crew across the spaceship took their designated positions. Security procedures started. The energy bank of the ship was activated to power the response beams to strike back, if needed.

"Adam, send out our introductory message stream." instructed the Captain. No fire without warnings was the policy. The calm confidence in his voice was something the crew was used to.  The shine in his eyes was evident of the eagerness he had on taking up challenges. These qualities along with operational excellence had catapulted him in the league of top explorers.

The large central screen on the deck started showing the message being transmitted. It was a series of 0s and 1s followed by patterns and pictographs - a message stream that was a result of deep research and analysis of the various extraterrestrial encounters in the previous centuries. This initial message had held the explorers in good stead in the past. The message explained who they were, and that they had peaceful purposes of exploration. Captain Viz was hoping that this message would be received well this time too.

The deck had three large screens in front. The Captain, Adam and three flight engineers sat in front of them in a semi-circular panel, taking informed decisions basis the data and their experience. The left screen continued to display the relative position of the aggressor ship wrt the 191. The right screen showed the dashboard of the 191 - its speed, energy levels and other vital parameters.

A few seconds had passed after the message transmission. The Captain and crew were anxious for a response.

Over the next couple of seconds, the incoming radiation started to diminish sharply in intensity and finally stopped - perhaps the message had been received and more importantly, understood!

Starship 191 was part of the Earth's Interstellar Command, which was tasked to explore remote planets in other planetary systems of the Milky Way.  The Command's mission was to establish mutual beneficial relationships with any Intelligent life that they may find. It had carried out many missions over the last eight centuries and had established many great relationships across the Galaxy. 191 was part of its fleet and was a very advanced spaceship. It was powered by harnessing the anti-matter energy with backup nuclear engines. It was highly secure because of the onboard Intelligence System, which was an advanced form of its nascent Artificial Intelligence origins back in the times. It could recognize all types of threats to the starship in an instant. 191 was currently on a mission to explore the planetary system of star AM-241, about twenty light years away. Captain Viz, a smart well-built man in his early thirties, was at the helm. Adam, a humanoid in his late forties having well combed black hair, high cheek bones and a fit athletic body, was his deputy.

The silence on the deck was broken by an incoming video transmission. It was coming from the other spaceship. A woman appeared on the center screen. She wore a white robe with a headgear that had a shining blue “A” on it. The woman appeared to be in her late twenties and had a round face with blue eyes. Some streaks of her silver hair could be seen from the side of the headgear. She appeared jaded.   

"I am Ari from Arnon. I understand your message. Apologies, we took you to be part of Arthe's fleet. Arthe is attacking us and trying to take over our planet " blurted the woman. The calmness in her voice betrayed the situation she was in.

"Please explain" exhorted Captain Viz.

"Our planet is Arnon and we have a neighboring twin planet Arthe – as you may know, these are the only two planets where life exists in our planetary system. Over time, as both advanced in terms of technological prowess, the needs of energy kept increasing. Artheians started using the natural occurring fuels unabashed. Their environment started to get affected. Their greed also increased. Their sole purpose was to develop faster and faster. On the other hand, we at Arnon, looked to harness the resources which were being replenished by the environment. We tapped into alternate energy forms and saved our natural resources. In the last few years, Artheian ships started appearing in our skies. They wanted to take over our planet - to use its abundant resources was the sole reason.”

 “Then…?”

“Skirmishes started taking place and soon it took the shape of a full-fledged war. It has been devastating for our planet. Our people have been wiped out. The complete planet has been taken over by these tyrants.”

“I and my infant daughter managed to escape. I was able to take off in this ship. I am on my way to Xeno – our space settlement in the deeps of our planetary system.”

“Xeno ? …why don’t people from there come to protect their planet and its people?”

“Xeno is a space settlement established recently – the purpose was to establish an outpost to launch our exploratory voyages.  It has only a handful people and we were in the process of planning to send more people there, when the Artheians attacked. We had to divert all our attention to the defense of our planet.”

Adam ran checks on the 191’s supercomputer checking on various data available about this system but found no information on Xeno. However, he did the geo analysis of Arthe – which clearly showed no presence of natural resources on the planet. He also checked on the status of Arnon and could see multiple spaceships in its skies. The absence of any trace of Xeno made him suspicious of the whole story that Ari was telling them. He indicated the same to Captain Viz thru a telepathic sensor.

“Our scan of your planetary system does not show any signs of Xeno. Where is it?” Captain Viz confronted Ari.

“Xeno is a shielded settlement and thus, it appears invisible on the scans.”

“Captain – I do not believe her. It could be a trap.” Adam was basing his deduction on the data he had scanned.

“Adam, while you may be right – but I believe that we should help her” Captain Viz was basing his deduction from all the previous life encounters he had.

Once again, Human feelings prevailed over a machine’s pure data analysis.

“Ok Ari. We shall help you reach the safety of Xeno. Our motto is life first, and we believe you are in distress.”

“Thank you for this gesture. You are a savior”. Ari replied.

“Adam here will guide you to chart a course which will keep your ship within our protective shield. This will keep you safe. We shall escort you all the way to Xeno.”

Ari’s ship came within the magnetic shield range of the 191 – protected from the tyrants of Arthe.

Captain Viz watched Ari leaning back on the headrest of her seat and closing her eyes... possibly in relief.

Chapter 2 >>