Chapter 15

"What is that sound?"

Mellissa traced it, "The sound is coming from the device we found on Worel."

The device was thin like a credit card and about half the size.

"It is displaying some numbers."

The five crewmen each handled the device and studied its display.

Charlie started a timer on his console.

"Worel's device is functioning like a countdown timer. The numbers are not in English."

Jennifer asked Charlie to determine when it would reach zero.

He again checked his timer, "It will reach zero in 60 hours."

Jennifer shouted, "Those damn bugs have set a self destruct mechanism somewhere! My guess is the cruiser is set to self destruct."

Jennifer's first impulse was to hail Shan and threaten him. First impulses can get you killed.

She thought, "They do not want their human prisoners to leave with us. The Jimworl may find other ways of killing all of us. They tried to blow Mars1 with explosives planted up Dick's ass. They may have set both the cruiser and the transport vehicle to self destruct."

Everyone was quiet while they pondered the situation. Then Jennifer spoke to Harold, "I am going to order everybody off both ships. I want you to nominate ten people. We will have five people board each ship with a Jimworl that knows how to fly the ship. We will order the Jimworl to teach the people to fly the two ships. They leave one at a time. When the mined ship leaves, Worel's device should become quiet. We accomplish two things. Our people learn to fly the ships and we learn which ship is safe."

Jennifer hailed Shan, "I want everyone off both ships."

Shan replied, "It will be so. I request permission to leave two crewmen on each ship."

"Permission denied."

The Jimworl were unhappy. Instead of going home, they were leaving the ship to join another outpost. Should we take our belongings? Why are we getting off the ship? The Jimworl scientists and doctors had questions but no one had answers.

The humans had no expectations. Nothing good had happened to them since they were kidnapped.

After two hours Shan announced that everyone had disembarked.

"Harold, pick ten humans."

"Charlie, do a scan of each ship and verify that there is no one on either ship."

Charlie's scan found that there were no humans or Jimworl on either ship.

Jennifer hailed Shan, "Shan, I am going to give you the names of ten humans. I want you to provide them with radios. Five humans will board each ship accompanied by a Jimworl who is competent to fly the ship. The Jimworl and the humans will leave on short flights. The Jimworl will teach the humans to fly the ships. And Shan, provide the humans with phasors, set on stun."

Shan asked himself, "Does she suspect that we set the cruiser to self destruct? I should have set both ships to blow?"

Shan answered Jennifer, "Jennifer, do you plan on taking both ships and leaving us stranded? If the traitors come looking for us, we will not have a chance."

Jennifer hailed Shan, "You mined Dick's ass and tried to kill me. Don't question anything. Do as I say or I will start killing Jimworl."

Shan murmured, "Ugly female human has me by the balls. We should not have depended on Dick to blow himself."

"Why would Worel have a device that detects self destruct mechanisms? Jennifer, it may be that the warbling sound is something else, like high carbon monoxide." Mellissa was thinking, "But it does sound like a warning."

"They sent Richard Dick to us with explosives up his ass. They would have no qualms about mining the cruiser," replied a tired Jennifer.

"But why would Worel carry a device to detect self destruct devices?"

"I have no idea. But we will assume that the cruiser is going to self destruct in sixty hours. We are going to leave the cruiser with them and take the personnel carrier." Captain Jennifer had made a command decision.

Charlie added this thought, "On Earth, Worel was involved in a kidnap attempt. His group attempted to kidnap six humans including me. The police killed two of the Jimworl. When the Jimworl were killed, a self destruct code was sent to Worel's cell phone. Worel carried a device that detected that code. He threw his cell phone in the lake. His cell phone blew up in the lake. I believe that Worel carried the detector because self destruct devices were common among the Jimworl."

Jennifer ordered Harold to verify that the ten humans, whom he had selected, had radios and phasors.

"Order them to test their phasors. Tell them to verify that their phasors are set on stun. Choose one human and tell him to stun a Jimworl."

"Damn, I like your style," and Mary laughed.

"Jennifer, his phasor did not work, the Jimworl was not stunned. All ten humans report that none of the phasors worked. What do you want to do," asked Harold?

"Shan, would you like me to fire my big phasors at you?"

Shan replaced all the phasors.

"Harold, tell all ten humans to each stun ten Jimworl."

Charlie shouted, "You cannot shoot one hundred Jimworl. That would be terrible. We must be civilized."

Jennifer considered ordering two hundred Jimworl to be stunned. But her quarrel was not with Charlie.

Harold reported that the phasors now worked. One human accidently stunned twelve Jimworl.

The Jimworl now feared the humans who had been their captives to study. Jimworl guards considered killing all of the humans. Two guards raised their phasors, but they did not fire.

Five Humans and a Jimworl boarded the cruiser. Another five humans and a Jimworl boarded the transport ship.

Harold spoke to the ten humans. "Take the ships out for a learning flight. Do not allow your instructor to touch anything. Set your phasor on maximum stun and shoot your instructor if he attempts to touch anything. You are the only beings who will operate the ship. Learn how to engage impulse power and how to fly in warp drive. Stay gone for days if necessary. The cruiser will leave first. The transport ship will leave ten minutes later. You will go in opposite directions."

Jennifer hailed Shan, "Shan, I saved your ass. But I do not trust you. You will teach humans to pilot your ships; and when they feel competent to fly, they will return. I expect they will be gone all day, but it may take several days.

You treat the humans on the outpost with respect. If you drug them or mine them, I will kill everyone on the base. Do you have any questions?"

Shan responded, "I did not know that Dick was mined. I appreciate your help with the traitors. And I guarantee the well being of the humans under my command. You and I have the same goals."

Jennifer was positive that the Jimworl and Mars1 did not have the same goals.

When the cruiser engaged warp drive, the warbling sound from Worel's device ceased. Jennifer's decision to abandon the cruiser seemed to be correct. The transport vehicle was not mined, but the cruiser was.

"The Jimworl are dangerous beings. Eventually they will decide to destroy human civilization. If we do not destroy them, they will destroy us." Mary then left the bridge to being cooking.

"Mellissa and Charlie, in the near future we will be leaving this outpost. One hundred forty two humans will leave on the Jimworl transport. It is important that we tell those people what Mars1 has discovered."

Mellissa, Charlie, Mary and Jennifer created a digital record. The record detailed all that Mars1 had done since its launch.

...

On Worlco

The government had agreed to a 48 hour cease fire and was meeting with the opposition.

"We are fighting a civil war to determine the fate of humans on Earth.

But let's consider the life forms we protect. Humans are warlike. They love to kill each other. Humans use nuclear bombs on humans. They have nuclear bombs that will kill humans but leave the infrastructure intact. Humans have manufactured aerosol gasses that will kill humans. They have bioengineered bacteria to cause disease. Humans are dangerous to themselves; and in a short while, humans will be a danger to us.

In the next one hundred years, humans will become space faring. Humans will not need a reason to make war on the Jimworl because they like war. It is in their nature. But they do have a reason. We have been kidnapping them and studying them and eating them for five hundred years.

We will eventually fight humans and I would rather fight them now, when we can easily defeat them. Humans are not stupid and they love war. If we allow them to become space faring, they will make war on us.

I am a loyalist. I will not join the opposition. If the vote is to maintain the 'prime directive', I will support it. But I believe that the prime directive does not apply to humans. They have become space faring. Mars1 has warp drive." The president of the Jimworl sat down.

Discussion of the prime directive went on for hours. Everyone knew that the civil war was over and that the vote would go against humans.

But politicians must make their speeches.

An agreement was reached. Human civilization on earth would be destroyed. The Jimworl civil war was over.

One million humans would be transplanted to ten planets scattered around the universe, and left alone. They would be given no modern tools. But they would be given seeds, animals, and basic iron tools. The human genome would be allowed to replicate without interference.

Human civilization would be destroyed, but most Jimworl would feel good about themselves.

A committee was appointed to work out the details of the transplant operation.

Another committee was formed to plan the takeover of Earth. This committee was composed of scientists, politicians and engineers. The committee would decide how to dispose of the human population. They had the means to reduce human mentality to that of cattle. Some humans would be used as food. Zoos would be created. Some humans would be used as slaves. The committee had much work to do before the takeover of Earth.

...

"Jennifer, our people feel like they can fly the transport. The Jimworl was a good teacher. They worked all twenty hours they were gone. They continue to work with him now, even though they are docked."

Charlie announced that the cruiser was returning. She was exiting warp drive.

Worel's device warbled.

Harold called the five humans on the cruiser. The humans reported that they could now pilot the cruiser. They docked the ship at the outpost.

"Shan, assemble everyone. We will board humans first. Provide phasors for all humans. We are taking them to an uninhabited planet. Provide them with clothes and food and radios. Humans will board the transport vehicle; we will leave the cruiser for your use." Jennifer waited for Shan's response.

"The cruiser is too small for the Jimworl. Why do you want to take the transport," asked Shan?

Jennifer answered, "Shan, do what I demand!"

One hundred forty two humans boarded the transport ship. This was accomplished in one hour.

Shan asked, "Are you going to destroy our cruiser?"

"No, you may board her after we leave."

Jennifer ordered, "I want the five who took lessons on the transport to choose a captain and a first mate."

Jennifer hailed the new captain Brian, "Captain Brian, go to the coordinates I am sending to you and wait for us. Cruise at warp 5."

"Shan, I suppose that you will send the cruiser to Worlco. Tell the Jimworl that I am fair. We, on Mars1, wish you a good trip."

Mary laughed at Shan's predicament, "He cannot tell us that he is stuck on the outpost. He would have to admit that he mined the cruiser. Maybe we should shoot him."

One hour after leaving Omega3, Mars1 and the transport ship dropped out of warp drive.

Jennifer hailed Captain Brian, "I am sending a file record that you must read. It explains all that we on Mars1 have learned about the Jimworl. We believe that the Jimworl were taking you to a planet. They were going to test nerve gas on you.

We left the cruiser because they mined it. It is set to self destruct in less than ten hours. We are taking you to a planet with food and water and creatures that look like panda bears. Follow us, you have the coordinates.

Note that we must keep a safe distance from each other. If you study the warp drive theory, you will find that warp drives in close proximity can cause each other to fail."

Captain Brian thanked Jennifer for rescuing them, "We had given up hope of living as healthy people. We trust your judgment. Lead on."

Mars1 and the transport began their flight. Total travel time was expected to be six days. Maximum warp was limited by the personnel transport.