Chapter 7

Mary, Melissa and Worel found themselves standing on an ice ball 100 meters above the ground with boulders falling around them. The Asteroid was unstable and ice and water rained down along with the boulders to the planet's surface. The three explorers reinterred the space elevator and closed the door. Worel ordered the space elevator to rise to 1000 meters. They needed a plan.

Jennifer reported that all was calm above the planet. The three studied the asteroid and noted a path to the ground. The space elevator returned to the surface of the asteroid. Each tethered themselves to the space elevator with a carbon nano tube rope and began the trek to the planet's surface. The explorers remained in their spacesuits because the partial pressure of oxygen was too low to support life.

The humans tested various plants and harvested twenty pounds of the edible varieties. After walking for an hour, they saw three animals that resembled panda bears munching on a plant which appeared to be similar to bamboo. A glint of light reflected off a visor, and spooked the animals. They ran off leaving their meal behind.

Worel killed a few squirrel-like animals and put them in a sack. The three walked on as if they were adventurers on safari. They had been on the planet four hours when they saw five more of the 'Panda Bear' creatures sitting in a circle. The explorers stood still, silently observing. The Panda Bears were drawing symbols in the dirt. Suddenly spotting Worel and the humans, the bears quickly ran off into the jungle.

Mary asked Worel, "Would you classify them as intelligent? They certainly seemed to be communicating with each other."

Worel answered, "Probably not. I see no signs of civilization, no permanent homes, and no tools. I heard no speech. I only saw them scratching something in the dirt."

"Would you be comfortable hunting them," asked Melissa.

"If I were hunting animals, I would be comfortable hunting them," answered Worel.

It was time to return to the ship. Worel, Mary and Melissa hiked back to the asteroid. After they attached the nano ropes to their space suits, they ordered the space elevator to slowly rise. The rising elevator helped pull the explorers to the top of the asteroid. The explorers loaded the plants and animals into the space elevator and returned to the ship. Mary cooked some of the plants and animals into a stew. It was nice to eat fresh meat and vegetables.

Worel addressed the crew. "I am certain that the Jimworl has no knowledge of this planet. All planets with animal life were catalogued. Let's put some monitoring beacons on the planet's moon. Then, if the Jimworl beat the odds and find this planet, we will know. And until they do, we can visit this planet and get food."

Jennifer asked, "Do we lasso an asteroid every time we visit?"

Charlie thought for a minute. He checked his computer screen, did some calculating and said, "Next visit, we will drop another 100 thousand ton rock on the planet; but we will attach a 121 ton rock to this end of the tether. The rock and tether will remain in geosynchronous orbit waiting for us to return."

After their meal Jennifer addressed the crew. "We have been in space over ten weeks. I am heterosexual and I want sex—with Charlie. Charlie has agreed. I do not claim Charlie for myself but tonight, Charlie and I will be together."

"Charlie cheated and fixed the ratio at three to one. He cheated more by picking three heterosexual women. But he isn't bad looking and I want to romp in the sack with him next," laughed Mary.

"Please satisfy my need ASAP, Charlie," begged Melissa.

"It is good to have a satisfied crew," commented Worel. "In the mean time, let's talk about some ideas I have.

We can explore more of this Galaxy or another galaxy. But even at 500c, there is travel time involved. The probability of ship malfunction increases in proportion to the time we spend in warp drive. So, I propose that we acquire another ship. I propose that we steal a Jimworl ship from their outpost in the Verdi solar system.

Let me describe the typical outpost.

There will be docked one cruiser and one short-range reconnaissance vehicle. The docked ships will each have two Jimworl on board.

Fifty live at the outpost. Sensors will detect our heat signature from one million kilometers, our gamma signature from half a million kilometers. The outpost is defended by the cruisers. The cruisers are armed with phasors and xenon weapons."

Worel called up on the ships monitor a picture of a typical cruiser. "Notice that her hull is composed of titanium. She typically is powered by a reactor similar to ours."

Jennifer asked, "Do you propose that we take both ships?"

Worel answered, "Our goal should be to force the Jimworl to accept our right to exist. We cause them embarrassment and pain. We make them believe that we can cause them much damage if they insist on war. And we demonstrate that we can cause extreme damage. If we kill too many Jimworl, they will not make peace with us. I would prefer to kill no one. I know many of their weak spots. Some weaknesses they know they have. But I know of some weaknesses of which they are unaware.

There are other options. We could take a short-range vehicle and destroy the cruiser. We could make it stealthy so that we could take chances and visit Earth and visit my home planet. And we could simply kidnap a female for me, and leave for another galaxy."

Jennifer sighed, "Wow. Am I correct in assuming that you prefer to force the Jimworl to accept us?"

Worel answered, "You, Mary, and Mellissa, are much better tacticians than I am. Let's explore all options and weigh the risks. I can live my life exploring, if we find one female Jimworl for me. So we will decide together."

Charlie and Jennifer bathed—separately. They retired to Charlie's cabin. Jennifer took the aggressor's role, pulling Charlie to her body and kissing him frantically. She caressed his shoulders and back and butt. Soon, her bath towel dropped away and she rubbed her nude body against his. Charlie stepped back and dropped his towel. Jennifer stroked his turgid manhood very slowly and very carefully. She did not want any premature reaction. After a few minutes, Charlie picked Jennifer up and sat her on the bed.