Chapter 11: The Planet of Ruins

For the next several weeks the Republic battlecruiser cruised through space with no further incident. After some initial nervousness the crew soon got used to the presence of the alien robot Medron on board the ship. Casey watched Medron carefully but the robot seemed to be well under control and perfectly behaved, never creating any incident. After a couple of weeks Casey relaxed his surveillance of Medron, though he kept a security tracking program running to watch for anything unusual the robot might do.

Anna and Medron were almost constant companions and wherever the human girl went around the ship the robot followed along. Anna found the robot quiet easy to talk to and time went on Medron's conversation became more normal and less machine like. It was actually Medron's first significant opportunity to interact with others and this gave the machine a lot of opportunity to learn. The robot quickly found itself enjoying the conversation with the human girl, who seemed to want to talk almost all the time.

While she was not able to communicate mentally with the High Lords yet Medron was and the human girl found the robot was able to act as a communications interface for her. Using the robot Anna was able to communicate verbally with Medron who then passed her words on to the High Lord she wished to communicate via their telepathic link. This allowed Anna to participate in the interactions between the High Lords much more than before, she found herself learning about them much faster than she had before Medron's arrival.

When everyone was in the stateroom Medron added surprisingly little to the crowding. Since the robot usually preferred to be floating at about eye level Medron simply moved itself to the middle of the middle of the stateroom, moving just enough to get out of the way if someone needed to pass by. Anna spent many of her nights with Zira in the narrow bunk but sometimes she was also on the floor or in the other as the High Lords mixed their intimacy frequently.

Medron was very curious to learn more about his new companions and their bodies. It was not possible for him to scan the internal portions of the High Lords' bodies because of their shields but the human girl seemed like she would have a similar internal structure. Medron requested that Mev should allow him to examine and scan Anna in order to learn more about her anatomy and internal structure. Mev granted the robot permission to do this so long as the girl was not altered in any way and as long as Medron also secured Anna's permission as well.

When Medron made his request to Anna she was delighted to allow the robot to do whatever it wanted to do with her. Medron had already been a big help to Anna in the short time it had been with the group and so the girl happily offered her body to it for examination. Anna felt an almost sexual excitement when she stripped off her clothes to make it easier for Medron to see the exterior of her body.

During the course of its examination of Anna's body Medron detected several instances of minor deterioration setting in. This deterioration was due to the normal wear and tear a human body built up over time and even at Anna's young age there was already some. Medron quickly contacted Mev and sought permission to make repairs to those areas he found within the human girl's body. Mev quickly granted this permission, as long as they were only repairs and not enhancements, and Medron quickly carried them out. Anna came out of the experience none the wiser about the changes to her body for she had felt nothing when Medron did it.

The bridge crew spotted a solar system ahead that seemed to offer some possibilities for another break and shore leave period for the ship's crew and passengers. Captain Mason also wanted to see if he could replenish some of the water, oxygen, and perhaps even food, which would be easily done at the Earth type planet they had spotted in the system ahead. Mason ordered a course change for the system as well as careful sweeps with all of the ship's sensors for any hostile or other presence in the system.

As the ship neared the planet, which was the fourth from the star, the bridge crew turned their scanners to the surface of the planet. Several cities were quickly spotted by the scans and more were detected as time went on. In every case however the cities were uninhabited and many of the buildings and public works were falling into ruins. Not only were the cities uninhabited but no sign was found of any intelligent life living outside the cities either.

After spending two days orbiting the planet scanning for intelligent life, with scout over flying the cities and scanning at closer range, Mason decided it was safe to send landing parties down. As a precaution Mason ordered the cities to be avoided for now. After more scouting and scanning Mason would reexamine that decision.

After several more days of exploration by parties on the ground nothing had been discovered about the fate of those who had built the cities. No sign of any living intelligent life could be found anywhere on the planet, except for the abandoned cities and the occasional abandoned dwelling or farm in the countryside. Finally Mason relaxed and ordered shore leave, in rotation, for the crew. At the same time other parties were sent in search of food, water, and other needed resources.

For food the shore parties soon discovered herds of what seemed to be domestic herbivore animals that had returned to the wild as well as stands of grain that seemed to have once been farmers' fields. Since everything had every sign of having abandoned by the former inhabitants of the planet the shore parties started gathering the grain and capturing some of the former farm animals to replenish the Republic battlecruiser's food stores. For Mason it was a big peace of mind to be able to restock the food larder, which was one of the harder things to do when in unexplored space as they were now.

At the end of the first week and the first rotation of the crew on shore leave there was still no sign of the lost inhabitants of the planet. Mason had allowed exploration of the cities which were found to have been abandoned at least several decades in the past. Oddly the only damage found in any city was that due to the decades of abandonment. No sign of any attack could be found anywhere, and no alien corpses were found anywhere on the planet. The fate of the former inhabitants remained a mystery. Despite the mystery Mason decided to extend the stay on the planet to a solar month in duration allowing a complete rotation of the entire crew and passenger list on shore leave.

Mev's group received their week long shore leave during the third week of the stay at the planet and all four of the High Lords, Anna, and the robot packed up for a week long camping trip. Items they might need were in backpacks on their backs and the robot towed its own bag of additional items. Just like everyone else on the ship the High Lords were anxious to spend some time away from the overcrowded battlecruiser.

The group marched down to the hangar deck to board the shuttle, the four High Lords and Anna walking with Medron floating along behind. Mev and Sheila wore their uniforms, Kathleen light pants and blouse; Zira wore her usual short and thin mini-dress which the shuttle pilot seemed almost ready to comment about but he remained silent. Of course as a High Lord woman Zira did not need any clothing for protection in even the harshest environment, she wore clothing only for decoration. Anna wore a pair of shorts and blouse which would work for her in the location where the shore leave party would be let off the shuttle.

Anna and Medron had made significant progress in being able to communicate with each other because while Anna was not able to receive any mental communication from Medron, the robot was able to read Anna's thoughts. This significantly deepened and sped up the communication between Anna and the robot and Anna allowed the same intimacy with her thoughts to the four High Lords. But it was Medron which had recently become the closest to Anna since it was her almost constant companion and protector if needed.

Anna had worked out the details of some interesting tricks that would allow her to keep up with many of the physical activities the High Lords might engage in that would otherwise be too fast for Anna. Since Medron could easily lift Anna to any height or carry her any distance needed by spellcraft levitation she had arranged for the alien robot to assist her if needed. If the others ran very fast then Medron would pick up Anna and carry her along. If the High Lords took to the air or even left the planet, Medron would assure that Anna could follow them safely.

Mev and the other High Lords had discovered that Medron could tap large amounts of energy from the Universe and then make it available for the High Lords to draw upon. In this capacity the robot was a highly useful backup to the four High Lords because drawing upon Medron's power did not seem to sap their life force much. In some ways it was almost as if the alien robot was specifically designed to act as a power source for beings similar to the High Lords.

The shuttle landed in a grassy meadow and it was a warm sunny day at that location, perfect for starting a week of shore leave. Anna, the four High Lords, and the robot Medron exited the shuttle and started moving away as if they were going to camp some distance away from the landing site. They all carried standard Republic communicators (except for Medron) which they could use to call for pickup if needed, though there was no danger of the group being left behind or needing rescue.

The High Lord group moved away from the shuttle at a leisurely pace, just like that of any group of hikers out for a relaxed multi-day hike. Anna was able to keep up during this part of the trip easily since she had been working out in the gym ever since she had joined the High Lord group. It was a welcome change for the whole group to have a chance to walk in the outdoors on a planet again instead of inside the passageways of the battlecruiser.

After walking for about three hours Mev called a stop, though none of the group needed a rest. But now they were well away from the shuttle landing area Mev intended for the group to take to the air. This would be a new experience for Sheila and Anna and in Anna's case Medron would be doing the actual lifting. Because of the rapport the human girl and robot had developed with each other Medron was able to receive Anna's though of where she wanted to go instantly and in great detail. The robot would lift Anna and carry her wherever and as fast as she wished to go as soon as the human girl could think of it.

The destination that Mev had in mind for their flight was an abandoned city which was about a hundred kilometers away. Flying seemed to be the best way to reach that city in a reasonable time though Mev was not in any hurry. By flying at a speed of about thirty kilometers an hour the party could reach the city in a little over three hours, allowing them to enjoy their time in the air. Mev launched himself into the air and the others followed. Medron lifted Anna and carried her along with the rest, levitating her in a way that felt as if she was just floating in the air.

Anna had a great time though she felt a little fearful at first. Once she became comfortable with Medron's ability to carry her wherever she wished to go at her merest thought she started enjoying flying along. Knowing that two members of the group had never experienced flying before Mev led them leisurely along at a relatively low altitude and at a speed low enough they were not windblown much.

Eventually the group began to see the outlying buildings of the city. There was a paved road system that interconnected most of the cities and this road system was still intact enough to be easily seen. The roads were made of some sort of concrete and the effects of time could be seen in places, unrepaired cracks with plants growing from them appeared from time to time along the roads. Nowhere did they see any other living being or any kind of vehicle on the roads, everything looked completely deserted.