Henry had never seen such a beautiful sight in his life--a sight 10,000 years in the making. For that number of earth-years had the Plunger been cruising through sp ace at a speed just a fraction less that that of light. On board the immense spiraling torus of the Plunger, due to the general theory of relativity, a mere eighty years had elapsed, and over half of the crew members could recall the d ay when the great ark had broken earth-orbit on a course for their new sun. Yet even though many held the memory fresh in their minds, deep down everyone on the Plunger knew that 10,000 years separated them from the loved ones they had left on earth. Still, that didn’t stop Henry’s or anyone else’s optimism. And looking through the porthole at the planet Shebang below them, it seemed that their optimism had been justified. The advance-probes had not done justice to the beautiful sphere hovering before him, filling almost the entire field of view.
“Pretty, isn’t it, Soufflé?”
The mutant squid gurgled its agreement. The nefarious Colonel Bunnykins had engineered the space-squid half a century before, in an attempt to take over the Plunger and claim the new world of Shebang as his own. The computer chips implanted in the squid’s nervous system, however, inclined it more toward abstract mathematics than bloody mutiny--the scheme was an utter failure. Nevertheless, the Colonel ha d gotten his wish...to an extent. The Committee on Punishing Wicked Dictator Wannabes had placed Colonel Bunnykins in an escape pod with a trajectory toward the ice world of Knuma planet well beyond the orbit of Shebang--which Colonel Bunnykins coul d rule all by himself.
At a gurgle from Soufflé, Henry turned to see the Big Boss herself enter the previously empty sightseeing deck. He was flabbergasted at seeing her so soon. Hi s job was to carry out diplomatic exchanges between the colonists of the Plunger and the primitive humanoids of Shebang, a task that would certainly not be of importance until landing. Yet the urgency with which the Big Boss approached him ma de Henry sure that something had come up that required his skills. It had.
“It’s Bunnykins!” the Big Boss explained quickly. “Our probes have learned that he somehow managed to redirect his escape pod to not only reach Shebang, but get here befor e us as well! He then proceeded to incite the Light Theocracy of Shebang to civil war! The planet is being made virtually uninhabitable!!”
The Big Boss didn’t need to say another word. Henry’s knowledge of Shebangi culture quickly allowed him to guess the rest. Earlier probes had painted a picture of a peaceful Shebang where one faction of Shebangis worshipped light as a particle; the other, light as a wave. It was simple to see how a wicked dictator wannabe such as Colonel Bunnykins could have upset the delicate balance.
“A compromise between the two warring factions is the only way we will be able to land and start our new home,” continued the Big Boss.
Henry...
- ...nodded, agreeing to head to the Particularian headquarters at once (where they worship light as a particle).
- ...nodded, agreeing to head to the Wavoni headquarters at once (where they worship light as a wave, duh...)
- ...shook his head and pointed out the obvious fact that the Big Boss was a nut to think he was going down into a war zone.
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