Chapter 9

Worel slowly looked at each Human and answered, "Yes, we ran simulations. Most simulations assumed that humans became a space faring species and became a threat to the Jimworl. I think we should go back to the penal colony."

Phoe immediately stood and shouted, "Do not return me to the penal colony. I want to be a crewmember of this ship. You cannot trust Worel, but you can trust this 'Jimworl'. You are amazing human females and I want to be a part of your crew. I will be an asset. I can help you."

Captain Jennifer spoke to Phoe, "Calm down, Phoe. You are not going to the penal colony unless you want to."

"It would be standard procedure for the captain of the cruiser to leave a captain's log at the penal colony. I want to see that log," said Worel as he looked out into space.

"Let's fill our hydrogen tanks and gather some CO2. We should begin replacing our carbon nano tube rope and blankets as we travel. Mellissa, take us through the gas planet. And let's dip into the atmosphere of the third planet. It has a CO2 atmosphere. Mellissa, you have the helm," ordered Jennifer.

Mellissa plotted a course to the third planet. Mary increased reactor output to five megawatts and started production of carbon nano tubes.

"Worel, why would the Jimworl use nuclear weapons; why not use chemical or biological weapons? Why destroy all life? Why destroy the infrastructure," asked Jennifer.

Worel answered, "I agree with you, it makes no sense to torch the Earth. The Jimworl could kill humans with chemicals and save the infrastructure."

Phoe fidgeted in her seat but said nothing.

Charlie rubbed his face. "We are missing something. The prime directive says to leave humans alone. Now the Jimworl are going to torch Earth, destroy human civilization."

"There may be a clue at the penal colony," replied Worel.

Phoe could no longer remain silent. "I am going to tell you what Worel will not. The Jimworl have been divided about Earth's future. A large minority wants to populate Earth with Jimworl. Most Jimworl want to spare humans because humans are intelligent. However, all Jimworl agree that if we kill something, we eat it.

My educated guess is that the minority has won the argument. The Jimworl have decided to destroy all human military capability. If I am correct, the Jimworl will reduce the human population to perhaps five hundred million. Humans will be bred for slave labor and slaughtered for food."

Everyone turned to Worel. Jennifer asked, "Is this true?"

Worel stared out into space, then turned to the humans and answered, "The prime directive is real. The minority that wants to populate Earth is real. I have no reason to believe that the minority has won the debate. There may be some other reason for the nuclear weapons. Let's go to the penal colony and find the answer."

"Do the Jimworl consider human flesh a delicacy?" snarled Jennifer.

Worel did not want to answer. After a considerable pause, he relented. "Phoe is telling the truth. The Jimworl consider human flesh a delicacy."

"Phoe, did the Jimworl systematically kidnap and eat humans," asked Jennifer?

"I believe there was nothing regular about it. A Jimworl had to get permission to harvest humans for food and this permission was never given. But permission could be had to run experiments on humans. When the experiments were complete, the humans were always killed and eaten. The prime directive prohibited retuning the humans to Earth," replied Phoe.

"Worel, have you been lying to us about the six humans kidnapped from the Halloween party," asked Charlie?

Worel considered killing the five humans rather than answer the question. He could eat them and mate with phoe. The problem was that he had to catch them unaware. They easily defeated a large cruiser, and now everyone carried a hand phasor. He would kill them later.

Worel answered, "I lied. The six students were part of an experiment that resulted in their death. I was not part of the experiment. I could not expect you to go to space with me if you knew the truth. We, Jimworl, may seem inconsistent. The prime directive was the law of the land when I left Worlco. Its purpose was to allow humans to develop naturally without outside interference. We felt that if we experimented on a few humans, we would not alter human development. There are three billion humans and the Jimworl have taken about ten thousand. Those ten thousand were eventually killed and eaten. For the record, I have never eaten human flesh.

If the Jimworl are planning the destruction of human civilization, we may not be able to stop it. But we should act now and go to the penal colony."

"Phoe, any comments," asked Jenifer?

"I hate Worel, but I believe he is finally telling the truth. But you should not trust him", warned Phoe.

"Worel, how do we find the captain's log after we get to the penal colony," asked Jennifer?

"The captain will have left a beacon near the Jimworl space elevator. We will retrieve it and read it. It will not be encoded," replied a nervous Worel.

Captain Jennifer turned to Mary. "How long before we can leave?"

Mary answered, "We will have full tanks in four hours."

Jennifer looked at Mary and gave a slight blink of her left eye.

Mary entered some code in her control consol. One minute later she turned to Worel. "Worel, what is the maximum warp speed we can safely do?"

Worel faced her to answer. Jennifer and Mellissa raised their phasors and shot Worel repeatedly. Mary also raised her phasor and fired at Worel. Worel reached into his clothes for his weapon. The ship's bridge was filled with sparks and lighting and thunder. Worel's body shook uncontrollably. There was an odor of ozone. The three women continued firing for a full two minutes. Charlie and Phoe covered their heads. Worel crumpled slowly to the floor while the three women continued to shoot him.

Charlie was aghast. "Are you all insane?"

Phoe, who had remained seated throughout the attack, looked at Jennifer. "I was certain that you understood the situation. We better check his vitals. Your phasors were barely enough to overcome him. He must be carrying a reactive force field generator."