A Sunny Day in Space

                    A Sunny Day in Space


     The Dallen stops in front of a large sun. A few seconds
later ten very long flat metal things slowly start lifting
themselves into an upward position toward the end of this
huge oblong spaceship. Between those things, something that
looks like a thin cloth appears to connect them.

     Co-Commander Vultim, Co-Commander Navia, and the rest
of those in Command Control can see what is happening to The
Dallen on the large viewing monitor in front of them. At
least they are doing that until that view is replaced by the
image of Co-Collector Tikko. “We are almost ready to start
collecting the energy from this sun.”

     “We can see that,” replies Vultim. “Start collecting
that energy as soon as you can.”

     The view of The Dallen returns to the viewing monitor.
Only now the solid metal thing starts to slowly spin around
that spaceship. As it begins doing that thin long spears of
energy from the sun start heading toward them. But those
spears skim over the top of The Dallen to disappear into the
slightly spinning metal thing toward the end of it.

     Suddenly, Vultim leans forward in his chair. “Stop the
Collecting right now.”

     “What’s wrong,” asks Navia? “Is there something wrong
with The Collector again?”

     Vultim points at the viewing monitor in front of him.
“Do you see what I see?”

     Navia leans forward too and squints her eyes for a
better look at that monitor. “ It looks like one of the
nearby planets are using this sun to get rid of their dead.”

     “Look a lot closer. Those bodies aren’t dead. They are
SpaceAliens,” says Vultim.

     “SpaceAliens,” replies Navia. “Are you sure that’s who
they are?”

     Vultim looks over at Navia. Then back at the viewing
monitor. “Most planets don’t use suns to get rid of their
dead. But the ones who do, don’t send them there like this.”

     “The few that I have seen have been in containers of
some kind,” continues Vultim. “These bodies aren’t in any
containers. In fact, most of them don’t appear to have any
covering on their bodies at all.”

     Now, everyone, there is leaning forward trying to get a
better look at the SpaceAliens. All except for Navia. She
steps forward to stand behind her two Co-Controllers. “I
think that you are right about them being SpaceAliens.”

     “They may be SpaceAliens,” continues Navia. “But they
still look dead to me. If they aren’t dead, then what are
they doing out there?”

     “I’m not sure about that,” replies Vultim. “But it
looks like they are collecting energy from this sun too.
They are just using their bodies to do it.”

     Navia returns to her chair and looks at Vultim. “What
are we going to do now? We are getting low on power. And we
need the energy to get it back. But we can’t do that without
endangering or killing the SpaceAliens.”

                              #

     After leaving Command Control, Vultim and Navia are in
a corridor that leads to the back half of their spaceship.
They pull down some squares connected to the wall next to
that entrance. Then they sit on them. After they do that,
Vultim pushes some buttons on a small square box next to
him. That starts them sliding down that corridor wall. They
stop at an entrance almost at the end of that corridor.

     Tikko runs up to meet Vultim and Navia as they enter
Collection Control. “What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly stop
our collection of energy from this sun?”

     “It’s because of the SpaceAliens that are between us
and it,” answers Navia. “If we continue collecting energy
from it, we may end up collecting some of them too.”

     “Our power is very low,” replies Tikko. “But I think
that we have enough to get above this sun to get the energy
we need.”

     Vultim sighs. “Unfortunately, we can’t do that. Most of
the SpaceAliens here are laying in rows around it. But there
is a lot on top and on the bottom too. In fact, they have it
surrounded. Even if we can get up there, we still can’t get
the energy we need.”

     “There are that many SpaceAliens!” Tikko walks over to
a small viewing monitor behind a large control panel. After
hitting several buttons, the image of that sun and the
SpaceAliens in that part of Space appear on it. “How many of
them are there here.”

     “We don’t know for sure without going around it,” says
Vultim. “And we can’t do that with the power that we have
left. But we think that there are about a hundred thousand
of them collecting the energy from this sun too.”

     Tikko steps up to the viewing monitor. “I can believe
that number after seeing the ones on this side of that sun.”

     “They also look like they are human like us,” continues
Tikko. “But that can’t be true. How can they be both human
and SpaceAlien?”

     “SpaceAlien is just a title that is given to all races
that are born and live in Space,” answers Vultim. “Most of
the SpaceAliens are humans. But there are a lot of other
races out there too.”

     Tikko looks confused. Vultim and Navia can see it on
her face. “How can they be human,” asks Tikko? “There is
no air in space.”

     “That’s something else most of us believe about Space
that isn’t true,” answers Navia. “There is air in Space.
Just because we can't breathe it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

     “I still don’t understand,” says Tikko. “But that
doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that you are
right We can’t take the chance of killing them. So, what
can we do? We need the energy from this sun.”

     Navia looks at Vultim. Then she looks at Tikko. “That’s
why we are here. We heard that you have come up with several
ways to get around this problem. Is that true?”

                              #

     Tikko walks down a row of large clear tubes that start
at the bottom and end at the top of Collection Control.
Almost all the tubes are empty. But there are a few that
still have a yellowish pulsating light within them. Vultim
and Navia are walking slightly behind Tikko. “Is this all
the energy that we have left,” asks Vultim?

     “I knew we were low on energy,” says Navia. “But I
didn’t know we were this low.”

     “What are you trying to tell us Tikko,” asks Navia? “Is
it because this is the only way to collect it?”

     Tikko suddenly stops. Then she turns to face Vultim and
Navia. “No, that’s not why I’m showing you the energy that
we still have.”

     “I’m showing it to you to say that this is one way to
get it,” continues Tikko. “But it’s not the only way.”

     “I have come up with a few other ways to collect it,”
says Tikko. “But one of them we can’t try because of the
SpaceAliens who are here.”

     Now it’s Vultim and Navia who look confused as they
look at Tikko. “Why can’t we use it,” asks Vultim?

     “Because it’s what I call a Small Collector. I can use
it anywhere we aren’t,” answers Tikko. “All I need to do is
send it to where I want it to go. This time it will have
been on the top of it. But I can’t do that because the
SpaceAliens are there too.”

     “If we can’t use this way, then how can we do it?”
Vultim continues, “You did say that you have several ways to
do it.”

     Tikko returns to looking at what little energy that
they do have. “Most of my ways I’m still thinking about. But
I do have one that may help us.”

     “It hasn’t been tried either,” continues Tikko. “But I
think it will help us.”

     “The Small Collector collects the energy,” says Tikko.
“Then it sends that energy back to us.”

     Tikko turns her head toward Vultim and Navia. “The way
I think will help us is what I call a Collection Tube.”

     “This tube can either be launched at a sun or it can be
teleported there,” continues Tikko. “Once there, it collects
the energy. Then it returns it to us. I think the best way
to do it is to use teleport since the SpaceAliens are here.”

     “How long will it take us to collect it this way,” asks
Vultim? “Are the SpaceAliens in any danger if we do it?”

     Tikko looks at the energy that they have. “It won’t
take too long to do. But I will need to send in a Collection
Tube about ten times to collect it all.”

     “As for the SpaceAliens, I don’t think they will be in
any danger because of it. They probably won’t even know we
are doing it.”

                              #

     Vultim and Navia have returned to Command Control. They
are looking at the sun and the SpaceAliens in front of them.
Along with everyone else there. Suddenly, that view gets
replaced with Tikko. “I’m ready to start collecting again.”

     “The fastest way to collect this energy is to use my
Collection Tubes,” continues Tikko. “Launching them may
scare the SpaceAliens. They may think we are attacking them
or that we are trying to destroy their sun. Either way, I
think teleportation is the best way to collect this energy.”

     “Do whichever way is the fastest,” says Navia. “The
sooner we get this energy the faster we can leave here.”

     The view of that sun and the SpaceAliens there suddenly
reappears. Vultim and Navia look over at Faom, their Viewing
Controller. “Will we be able to see the collection as it is
being done,” asks Vultim?

     “Sort of,” answers Faom. “But all that we really will
be seeing is what is within the sun itself.”

     “What about the SpaceAliens,” asks Navia. “Have they
reacted to us being here?”

     Faom swivels in his hovering chair toward Vultim and
Navia. “They are reacting the same way as they have been.
Except there are a lot more of them that are looking at us
every so often.”

     “Almost all of them have looked in our direction,”
continues Faom. “But it doesn’t appear they care that we are
here too. All they care about is collecting the energy for
themselves. If we don’t try to stop them from doing that, I
am sure we will also be okay here.”

     Vultim and Navia return to looking at the sun and the
SpaceAliens on the viewing monitor in front of them. “Give
us full power on our eye protection,” says Navia. “Then I
want to see what the Collection Tube is doing.”

     The viewing monitor suddenly becomes almost white. Both
the sun and the SpaceAliens can barely be seen. Vultim and
Navia lean forward and squint their eyes into narrow slits.
Then they get up to stand behind their Co-Controllers. Navia
points at the sun. “There it is.”

     After standing next to Navia, Vultim follows her finger
pointing into that sun. “Yes, I can see it now too.”

     Just then that Collection Tube disappears. And a few
seconds later another one appears. Only this one is clear
within it. That quickly changes as sun lines start wiggling
their way into it. Suddenly, the voice of Tikko can be heard
all over Command Control. “Number five has been teleported.
That only leaves us about five more Collection Tubes left
before we are at full power again.”

     Vultim turns toward Faom. “What about the SpaceAliens?
How are they reacting to what’s going on?”

     “They are the same as before. Some have been getting up
to walk away from us and that sun. But overall, they are
reacting as they have been.”

     Navia smiles. “That’s good to hear. We will be leaving
here soon. And we can continue our quest to destroy all the
non-human races in the universe.”


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