Space Wizards

22. Green Star

An intimate week into their cramped journey, they ran out of food. The musky smell of an unwashed Gastraddar confined in close quarters became the new normal and everyone was at each other's throats. 

"It's not my fault there's nothing left to eat! Do I look like I ate all the food!" said Murphy.

"Oh, you may be small, but you eat plenty! And you too Mr. Grumble!" 

"I'm hardly the size of your thumb. Please, leave me out of this."

The last fight over food had come to blows and the space-restricted ogre still had a black eye. Melock left his study on the bridge to deal with his travel companions. With a wave of his arm, an old wooden trunk appeared in the corner of the hold. 

"I call this my Trunk of Necessity. Think about what you need and open it." He did so and the others nearly knocked him over grabbing for the banquet of piping hot food within. 

"Can it make complicated objects? Like a 3-millimeter auto-spanner with laser guidance?" asked Grimble nibbling on a fine roasted pheasant. 

"Yes, but do keep in mind we're on an extremely small craft," said Melock and he left them to it. 

Murphy, Øregård, and especially Mr. Grimble abused the box of plenty so much that the hold was soon filled with garbage. A decadent week later, Melock took the trunk away. On the morning they finally approached their destination he found all three of them sleeping together like a pack of mixed dogs. Øregård snored gently wedged into the corner, Murphy curled up in his lap soundly unconscious, and Grimble tucked in the nook of her arm softly talked of a dream in his complex native tongue. They were rather cute when they slept. Melock whispered something with a slither. 

Grimble stirred with a grumble, Murphy kicked her legs, and Øregård opened his eye and yelled, "Snake!" 

All three woke with a start and decoupled themselves. 

"Combined dreaming, that must be fun," said Melock. "The green sun is in sight." 

Murphy carried Grimble and followed him to the bridge while Øregård crawled across the hold and stuck his head and shoulders through the doorway. Out the front window, a sea of stars filled the blackness of space. It was impossible to tell just how fast the ship was moving as it fell into the long angled cone of an artificial gravity well, but directly ahead, one of the points of light was clearly green. 

By the next morning, the green sun was the largest star on the horizon. Watching on the approach, it wasn't nearly as bright as other stars much further away. Its color was that of intense forest green. How a sun could scream plant life in color made little sense until they got closer. 

"The legendary Green Star of Uz," explained Integer. "Before we shed the mortal coil of organic bodies it was considered our greatest achievement. There are, as you may or may not know, no naturally occurring green stars—"

"All stars are yellow up close, because they're suns, right?" asked Murphy. 

"Stars are yellow, white, red, and blue; at least to most organic eyes. A green star is considered a technosignature by species looking for intelligent life. It wasn't long after we enclosed the star with the galaxy's only hydroponic hanging garden that Uz began to attract visitors. Today it's a hub for food production, tourism, carbon waste disposal, and trade among many spacefaring species." 

"So you're saying that you hung plants around the sun?" asked Murphy.

"That is a simple but accurate way of putting it, affirmative." 

As they approached the core system of Uz, the massiveness of the green sun took on a whole new light. They slingshot past the one remaining outer planet; a gas giant with heavily populated moons whose signs of industrialization were visible from space. The communication systems of the Meteoroid lit up with activity as they merged into clearly marked arrival and departure lanes. The outer surface of the sun appeared to be an enormous continuous jungle canopy illuminated from within. A thin translucent atmosphere ringed the green ball and clouds gathered like humungous hurricanes at opposite ends. From space, the poles looked like giant whirlpools pulling down the water from the constantly created atmosphere. Thin bands around the equator were spotted with spaceports, cities, and solar reflecting stations. 

Integer beeped and whizzed, processing countless bytes of data. 

"Uz central records show a property in sector 9732 NW registered to a Tykö Arvuti Rekenaar Computatrum. He is not currently in residence. The site contains a single archaic structure signified as the Palace of Versailles. It's a stone structure of some twenty-three hundred rooms with a surrounding garden. I'm acquiring landing permission now." 

"Excellent. But maybe we should drop Øregård off with some of his people first?" suggested Melock. 

"I've already made arrangements." 

Integer left the arrival lanes jammed with ships of countless makes, sizes, and colors and headed to the northern section of the forested orbital sphere. As they sped over treetops the scanning equipment alarmed with countless animal sightings. 

"It's a bird watcher's paradise," said Melock noting the unusual varieties.

"The rainforest that covers most of the surface is home to over eighty billion species from various animal kingdoms. The great menagerie of Uz on the seventh moon of the defensive outer planet has a far superior collection with its varied environments and habitats but the mono-forest of the Green Star still boasts an impressive diversity." 

For a robot, Integer took a great deal of pride in the Uz species' accomplishments. 

The Meteoroid slowed and approached a clearing in the woods that was filled with an opulent geometrically designed garden, cross-shaped water elements, and an excessively windowed limestone building. On the tiered garden at the back of the palace was parked a heavily armored gunship. As Integer landed next to the much larger craft, three ferocious Gastraddars in full plate battle armor walked down the ramp.