Suha burst out of hyperspace. Veronica Soledad Ortegoza Diaz tried to gain control. She sighed.
"Whew. We made it, everyone!"she said to her pets.
As she was an intergalactic wonderer, a space explorer, it was her job to explore new planets. Her only companions for weeks, months at a time were her pets, some of them coming from Earth, others from different planets she had visited.
"112 parsecs from Earth in the direction of…the constellation…Stella. I always did wonder who gave it that name. Really! Naming a constellation Stella! Oh, well. Let's see what we have here."
She looked at the monitor. The outside sky was pinpointed with distant stars.
"Nothing close enough, everyone."she said. "However,"she typed something into her computer. "We're on the verge of discovering something new. Maybe. You never know."
She put the controls so that she could classify a few of the closest stars.
"Here's one. No, that one's just too small, too weak to have any planets. Unless it's right next to it, and it just might work out. Just might, you know, but chances are, no."
She typed this information into her computer.
"Not even worth naming, I guess. Here we have an O type. Three from the looks of it. Must be boiling, duh. We'll leave that one for later, but let's see…a double star! Two stars. One a K3 and the other a K6. Not bad. Just a little hotter, I guess, but more or less comfortable. Now, what does everyone think? Name then two different, matching names, as twins? Or both one name meaning perhaps two?"she asked her pets.
Some looked up, others walked up the controls, while some just ignored altogether, or left, still perhaps a little frightened by the sudden burst out of hyperspace.
"No need to make such a scandal."she told them, comfortably, smiling. "D!"she called.
DaCoP 1228 came in. Apart from her pets, he was the only other companion she had. The robot was also useful and specifically designed for the exploration of new planets. Data Collector and Processor 1228, one of the more advanced in the universe, as she reprogrammed him every time she came up with something new, or found a new program every time they touched a Tech planet, or read something off the Internet.
"Yes, Veronica?"asked the robot.
"A double star, and two useless one. Well, one definitely useless, and an O, probably of use if it has planets far enough from it."she said.
"Very good."said DaCoP 1228.
"We'll check out the other stars later, right now, we should probably concentrate on the planets on these now."she said, as she typed on her computer, becoming more and more enthusiastic by the minute.
Moira woke up happy, as usual. She loved living here, on Isis, in the valley. Uncle Jody asked her what she thought they could do about the Shelter Cave. As Moira had traveled around the Galaxy with her father, Mike Flynn, before coming here, to Isis, Moira knew more about technology than everyone else in the valley.
"Well, what we would need, I think, is perhaps to grease it with something. Maybe oil."
"Where can we find something like that?"Uncle Jody asked her.
"Oh, I'm not sure. It doesn't necessary have to be oil, just maybe something similar, something, slippery."she said.
"Like water?"
"Oh, no! Not water, that would only make it worse!"she said, laughing. "It's a metal, but we'll figure out a way we can get oil here on Isis. I know someone who specializes in things like that. My friend can help us. I'll write her an email from my computer right now, explain the problem and ask if she has any idea what we could use."
"What's an email?"asked David, her husband.
"Just a message. I'll go to my computer right now."
"Can I watch?"asked Uncle Jody, eagerly.
"Sure."said Moira, smiling.
On Denebon 5, Fernanda Inez Escobar Gonzaga, awoke and looked outside. A day like any other perhaps. On Denebon 5. She looked towards the northern sky towards the place where Earth probably was.
"I'll never be able to tell."she said, laughing.
She got up, and showered. Her brother was already up, but he hadn't showered yet. He was playing his video games. She said a little passage from one of his favorite funny movies, laughing. After she ate a small, quick breakfast, it was already kind of late, she turned on her computer, and went on the Internet to see if any messages from her friends, Vero or Moira. They were both travelers. Vero loved it. That was her job, she had studied a lot, and spend her life discovering and exploring different planets, probably learning new languages and customs, as she visited planets already colonized, too. Moira traveled because her father had itchy feet. She obviously didn't enjoy it much. All she wanted was to settle down on a planet and stay there, calling it home. Fernanda thought she didn't know how boring it was to live on the same planet. So boring, she thought. She should know, she had lived here, on Denebon 5 all her life.