"At least we will be alive", screamed lieutenant Anesu. "Captain we are out of time".
"Pilot set course correction", ordered captain Maguire.
"Captain, I 'm afraid that will not help, the astroids seem to accelerating in relation to every change in velocity we make".
"Captain!!", captain Lucinda screamed as the one one astroid suddenly filled the starships's main screen. "It's going to hit us!!"
Eyes fixed on to the screen a mixture of shock and horror painted on their faces, the bridge crew waited as one with bated breath. The moment they had long anticipated was upon them. They had always known, it was going to happen . After many battles, after sharing numerous adventures in deep space. That has taken them to several worlds and one dimension, the end was suddenly upon them.
Life flashed before their eyes. It was almost like a celebration of an illustrious life of service. Of moments they would foreever be etched in the memories of them all. It was with fondness they reminisced one last time on the classic memory of the enormous starship swooping out of the sky. Navigation lights flashing, laser cannons blazing during operations on alien worlds.
Just as they braced for the devastating blow, the astroid filling the screen suddenly blew up into several fragments. The Sandawana shuddered with the impact as the force of the explosion blew the fragments against the starship. A powerful beam hit a second astroid blowing it up in similar fashion. Again the force of the blast caused shudders throughout the superstructure of the starship.
Recovering from the initial shock, captain Maguire remarked, "it seems we have a guardian angel, looking out for us".
"Not an angel", said captain Lucinda almost whispering beneath her breath.
"Then what is it, you know what is going, don't you?", captain Maguire exclaimed putting two and two together in his mind with the deck shuddering beneath his feet. The image on the screen showed astroids being picked out systematically one at a time.
"You are right captain, I know what is going. That beam that is destroying the astroids, is the solar ray. Unless if there is some other beam powerful enough to blow up an astroid, I would say that we are seeing the solar in action", remarked captain Lucinda.
"You mean we have found the Zwilink connector?", asked captain Maguire with a not of excitement in his voice.
"Or rather it found us", said captain Lucinda. "It is in its programming to protect human life. It is only doing what comes naturally, you understand what I mean".
"Judging by the power of the solar ray, how far from out position would you say the Zwilink connector is from our position?", asked captain Maguire.
"Honestly?", said captain Lucinda. "The solar is the ultimate weapon, an instrument that harnesses the power of the sun. It can be discharged from any from any distance and still be highly effective".
"So it could be close to us or quite far?"asked captain Maguire.
"That's right captain", confirmed captain Lucinda.
"A case of so near yet so far", remarked captain Maguire. "I vote we go home before something else untoward happens. This region is dangerous".
"Wait, captain! ", captain Lucinda challenged. "You seem to forget that the Zwilink connector is the only reason why we are her?"
"That was true only for as long as it we were not being we were not being pursued by astroids that that seem to have minds of their own. I am not prepared to wait to see what other nasty surprises this region contains", said captain Maguire.
"We are perfectly safe, captain", said captain Lucinda. "The Zwilink connector won't let anything happen to us".
"How can you be so sure, you talk about the Zwilink connector as though it is some kind of super computer. Do you know something about it, that I don't", captain Maguire asked staring captain Lucinda directly in the face. "Of course you do, why am I even bothering to ask?"
"You are right", said captain Lucinda. The Zwilink connector is actually a super computer. It sent us our first pictures from beyond the Oblivion zone. It has showed us things we did not understand about the wider universe which no human eye had ever seen.
"Then it went rogue?", captain Maguire inquired.
"Again we do not know that. That is the main reason we are in this region, to very for ourselves the information that we have received".
"There is a possibility then that this super computer has not gone rogue at all?", quizzed captain Maguire.
"It's looking that way, the fact that it intervened to protect us from those astroid things says that it recognised the Sandawana as a starship belonging to Space command.
Captain Lucinda temporarily paused before proceeding, "it is a feature of its core operational mandate. It was just following protocol", said captain Lucinda.
"What if it had failed to recognise us, are you saying we could have ended up the same way as those astroids?", suggested captain Maguire.
"Yes", confirmed captain Lucinda.
"By attacking the astroids it chose a side".
"Again we can only know that once we communicate with it. It's possible it may have just been reacting and decided that we posed no immediate threat", said captain Lucinda.
"A position which may change if we attempt to get close to it", suggested captain Maguire.
"Yes, but at the same time there is no other way we can make contact without getting close", insisted captain Lucinda. "We must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that it is still operating according as per given protocol".
"You mean you need to make sure that is still under Space command's control", suggested captain Maguire.
"You saw what it is capable of", captain Lucinda pointed out. We can't take chances with it possibly launching a surprise attack on our deep space posts or starships".
"Or even Earth itself", suggested captain Maguire. "That's your real fear isn't it?", he was looking into her face as he posed the question. She had a blank expression suggesting that he had hit the nail on the head.
"Captain", lieutenant "ship's sensors are picking up an object approaching", reported lieutenant Tanaka at communications.
"On screen, ordered captain Maguire.
Initially nothing could be seen, "object coming into visual range shortly", announced lieutenant Tanaka.
Then a pin prick of light appeared rapidly growing until they could see that it was come sort of man-made satellite illuminated in a soft white light. It was shaped like a sphere with
"It's the Zwilink connector", announced captain Lucinda.
"The object has docked beside the Sandawana reported lieutenant Tanaka.