Space Chronicles - The Gathering

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Strange fits of passion have I known;
And I will dare to tell,
But in the Lover's ear alone,
What once to me befell.
- Wordsworth -

Angie took her seat at the command station. "Take us out of orbit, Delphi. Align us with the star and go to jump speed."

"Yes, Angie."

"What's so special about this star?" Marty asked.

"Lia found some star charts in the alien station's data. This is one of the closer G-class stars that could harbor life."

"Oh."

"It's a G3 star," Karl said. "Lia has already picked up a signal from it."

"I'm still working on it," Lia said.

Marty tuned to Angie. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little stressed, but I'll be fine. What about you?"

"I can't sleep. I went to Onuki, but she says that I need to relax. That's kind of hard on this mission."

"Yeah, and I haven't been much help either. Onuki said that your heart rate and blood pressure increase when they mention my name."

Marty smiled. "That may be a good thing."

"I hope that you're not afraid of me anymore."

"I can't help it. I've never been afraid of anyone in my entire life, but you scare the hell out of me. I wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and I'm having trouble concentrating."

"Shit." She sighed. "I never wanted it to come to this. I feel awful for what I've done to you."

"Jump will commence in five minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"Look," Angie said to him. "I'll make it up to you. Please believe me."

"I do, Angie, but it's going to take some time to get over this."

"I know."

The jump engines screeched to life ending the discussion.

After a short period of madness, Delphi had a report. "We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us down to 5000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Karl was the first to report. "The star has a 1.08 mass, 1.02 diameter, 1.7 luminosity and 1.8 metallicity. I don't see any instability other than a few sunspots. The solar wind is normal for this far out."

"There are four gas giants," George said. "And, I can make out three inner planets. There's one at 1.5 AU that may be habitable."

"The third planet shows a water peak," Anna said.

"Temperature is in the habitable range," Lucia said. "We're a little too far out for a good reading."

"The signal is strong," Brigit said. "I'm running it through analysis. We should have something shortly."

"I am not detecting any enemy vessels in this system," Ninja said.

"Take us to the third planet, Delphi. Maintain present speed."

"Yes, Angie."

"Honey, take over."

"Yes, ma'am."

Angie stood up and placed her hand on Marty's shoulder. "Come with me."

Marty followed her to the elevators, waiting for the door to close before speaking. "What are you going to do to me?"