Chapter 3

"Howdy." Miller grinned over his coffee cup. He is a cheerful guy. He is also several years younger than I, less cynical and world-weary. I think about whether or not I really want to get out of bed in the morning, for him each day is a new potentially a new adventure. I joined Miller at the console he was standing by and poured another cup of coffee.

"Something strange about this, wouldn't you say?" I asked.

"That's for sure. I woke up about an hour ago and couldn't find anyone else up. I found your pod open, figured you were out looking for company, like I was about to do. I've been up what, four times, there were always a half dozen or so others around. How about you?"

"Same here. What do you make of it?"

Miller grinned again. "Obviously you didn't check the alarm clock"

"What do you mean?"

"Come look at this", he said.

I followed him back to the room where his hibernation pod was located. As I looked at the display over the pod, I saw what I had missed by neglecting to look at my own display. Unbelieving, I looked again. I turned and headed back to the chamber with my pod, Miller close behind. My "clock" showed the same thing. We had been asleep for 132 years.

"132 years!" I evidently shouted, as Miller jumped at the sound of my exclamation. "Impossible!"

"Not really", Miller said. "Remember we were advised that, according to the aliens, and confirmed to some degree by tests since the 1960's, the suspension time is almost indefinite. We just didn't want to risk really long periods so we set the system up to give us 18 to 30 month periods."

"That is what I mean", I replied. "That is the way the system was set up. So what are we doing here, the only ones awake, after over 130 years?"

"Good question," he replied. "Let's go back to the bridge and and see what Henry has to say. They've been awake all the time. I hope."

Back on the bridge, we sat down with Henry. Henry VIII (so named because he was the eighth revision of Doctor Henry Hamblin's attempts to merge our own computer technology with what little we understood - and probably some we didn't - of the alien systems) was our interface to the systems that controlled the ship on its journey and managed its systems, which included our hibernation cycles. While our own computer technology (at the time the ship was being built) was about as good as anything the aliens had had, they had made some contributions in the areas of logic pertaining to navigation. And of course, their maps of the parts of the galaxy they had explored were merged in. Dr. Hamblin had confessed to me that our own computer scientists did not completely understand some of it. On occasion I heard him mumble something about their artificial intelligence being as far ahead of ours as was their space travel. I thought about that now as we stared at the ship's log. It contained only the time elapsed since our departure from Earth, and our present position. We had travelled over 20 light years and the ship was orbiting a star we had never heard of, and the computer was advising us to consider inspection of its planets.

Henry had a lot to show. The computers of course recorded all the details of our long journey, but what he wanted now was to show us where we were.

On an enormous screen was displayed a star and some orbiting planets, but unlike anything we would have envisioned. The nearest world was close, somewhat like viewing our own world from a few thousand miles up, blue and green and white against the blackness of space, and far beyond it a star, not so unlike Earth's own sun. But it was the companion planets that caused both Miller and me to momentarily stop breathing and then turn to stare at each other. A platoon of spiders with ice cold feet double-timed down my spine as the motion of the image on the screen was accelerated to reveal a ring of apparently identical planets in the same orbit around their sun. Each one looking much like our own Earth left so far behind, clouds over green land and blue water, turning lazily as they moved past. Miller tapped keys on the console, and one of the smaller screens flanking the main display scrolled down a menu. Miller selected an item and we perused the file.

We were, to begin with, 132 years in time from Earth, and 26 light-years in distance. We were looking at a solar system comprising 33 approximately Earth-sized planets orbiting their star in the same orbits, like marbles rolling around the edge of a plate at equal distances, like a string of pearls. A string of worlds.

Miller and I continued briefly to stare alternately at the screens and each other, then he activated Henry's conversational mode. Henry could converse with us, and the other operators on the ship, in a remarkably normal manner. He could even detect humor to some extent (although Miller alleged mine eluded most humans, to say nothing of a computer).

"Where are we?" he asked Henry.

"We have arrived at (*#&)#@+#4", replied Henry.

"Where?" miller and i asked simultaneously.

"(*#&)#@+#4"

"That doesn't tell us much" I complained. "Are we to make a landing here?"

"Affirmative. Check screen 4 for essential preparations."

"Why are we the only crew awake" I asked. "Standard procedure is to have a minimum of four crew at all times. Your records indicate the ship has been unattended for over 80 years. Have there been problems with the systems?"

"Negative."

"Then why the deviation from procdure?" I asked.

"There has been no deviation. You are to take a landing craft to the surface at the earliest opportunity."

"What do you mean, there has been no deviation," Miller asked. "You weren't supposed to leave us asleep for 120 years, or leave the entire crew asleep at once."

"Everything is under control. Review the information. Printed copies are provided in case of communications disruption while you are away from the ship."

I didn't like that part about disruption. Henry was already acting strange.

"Henry," I said, "this looks artificial. Man-made, or made by some one or something. What do you know about it?"

"That information is not available. All information is in the report" replied Henry. "You should prepare to land at the earliest opportunity."

I didn't like it, but there was not much we could do. We had placed our lives in the hands of Henry and the collection of machines he represented long ago when we volunteered for the trip, and would just have to make the best of it. In any case, in spite or our uneasiness, we were both excited and eager to be on our way to explore the new worlds.

Eyeing the screen suspiciously, Miller picked up the stack of papers and a small databook. We sat down and reviewed the data.

It seemed there were indeed 33 identical planets chasing each other around their star. Not really identical, though. Evidently Henry had parked us here for a while, long enough to acquire information on each planet. Each was about 1.11 times the size of Earth, with gravity averaging .91 earth gravity. (Hollow, or lacking metals and other heavy elements?). Large water areas on almost all of them, ranging from an Earthlike 70% to as little as 40%, but there were two with almost no large bodies of water. Interesting. Rotation was likewise Earthlike, about 28 hours. Atmosphere breathable by humans. Moons varied, some had as few as one, some had more, the maximum was 4. Even more interesting was the apparent atmosphere belt that connected the planets. Although it appeared to thin at the midpoint of the distance between any two worlds, it was continuous. They were inhabited, too. By what, Henry didn't say. He simply stated that plant and animal life existed on the surface.

Miller and I finished reading. "Well" he said, "the sooner we get started the sooner we 'll know what's going on. I think"

"Right", I agreed and we headed back to our quarters to prepare.