The artificial celestial body was apparently called Radia.
Kaito, having boarded Queenbee, immediately connected communications with Radia.
Naturally, he had Goro wait outside.
[This is artificial celestial body Radia. Reinforcement from the Federation?]
“This is combat vessel Queenbee, Captain-Kaito.”
[Kaito, Third-rank Citizen, Enek-Ragif! So you’ve come. I’ve heard rumors about you. I’m Radia’s staff, Lacofril Sixth-Rank Citizen Abu-Rug. Please, I’m counting on you.]
Video was displayed, but there was no sight of Lacofril.
Just as he was wondering if they might be invisible, Emotion beside him explained.
“Captain. Lacofril Sixth-Rank Citizen Abu-Rug is a machine intelligence. Since they’re probably responding while connected to Radia, their form isn’t visible.”
[That’s correct, Emotion Sixth-Rank Citizen Abu-Rug. I’m currently operating directly connected to Radia’s exploration functions. It may be rude to Earthlings not to show my form, but please forgive me as it’s an emergency.]
“That’s fine. So it really is an emergency?”
[Yes. Where is Kaito, Third-rank Citizen, Enek-Ragif now? There’s still some time, but I’d like you to join us as quickly as possible.]
“I’m stopping by a Rare Organism Protection corporation ship.”
When he reported his location, Lacofril fell silent for some reason.
Just as he was about to ask if there was some problem, Lacofril’s voice came again. The tone had dropped slightly.
[Can’t you come here?]
“No, I was planning to head there now. An Earthling I met by chance asked me to confirm because our purposes might conflict.”
[I thought so. …Aren’t they trying to detain you with various excuses?]
Lacofril seemed to have some idea. Certainly, the branch manager had said things like why don’t you stay here for a while.
“I did receive such an invitation, but what about it?”
[Currently, a giant silicon life form is approaching the planetary system where Radia is stationed.]
“A silicon life form!?”
A term that stirred the blood of a classic SF fan had appeared.
That said, it seemed like something Radia could handle alone. However.
[The ecology is unknown because research hasn’t progressed. All we know is that it moves between stars at high speed by some means and devours planets.]
“Devours… planets?”
[That’s right. It preferentially devours planetary cores and moves on to the next planet. After eating up all the planets belonging to a planetary system, it flies off to the next planetary system.]
This wasn’t the size scale he had been thinking of. Eating planets?
[Kaito, Third-rank Citizen, Enek-Ragif. The planet that Radia is observing hasn’t yet given birth to life forms intelligent enough to understand the existence of space. In other words, under Federation rules, interference isn’t permitted. We can’t move them to another star system, including the Federation.]
“I understand.”
[In the past, the Federation has failed to communicate with life forms of the same species. Unable to stop their advance, and with them beginning to devour planets with life forms, we concluded that harmonious coexistence was impossible.]
“I see.”
[Excluding this time, we have encountered and destroyed four of them so far.]
From what he was hearing, it seemed more like a disaster than a biological entity.
Having heard this much, Kaito somewhat grasped the situation. Radia was seeking military strength to destroy that organism.
But at the same time, there were things he couldn’t understand.
“So… um. The Rare Organism Protection corporation is trying to protect it?”
[Yes. Of the four times, we’ve encountered them at the same site twice. One of those times, they seemed to have arrived after failing.]
At least, this was the third time.
Even though they had clearly failed, they were still trying to do it despite paying sacrifices.
“Do they think it’s possible?”
[I don’t know. I think they should give up, but their obsession with protecting rare organisms isn’t normal. This time they might have some prospect of success.]
“Understood. Then I’ll join you as quickly as possible.”
Kaijuu monster movie or classic SF.
He felt exactly like he’d become a character from works created by past pioneers, but unfortunately there was no elation. Behind Radia was a planet currently nurturing life. This wasn’t a site to approach with a playful attitude.
However. Even after the communication ended, Kaito remained motionless, staring at the monitor. Perhaps getting impatient, Emotion beside him asked.
“What shall we do, Captain?”
“There’s no ‘what’ about it. I’ll get as much information as possible from Saito-san and then make a judgment.”
The Councilor’s thinking was probably there.
If they wanted him to follow Lacofril’s request, they should have said from the beginning to help destroy the giant organism. Kaito himself had no reason to refuse.
But the Councilor said they didn’t want to create preconceptions. In other words, the space jellyfish still didn’t want to make destroying the giant organism their final conclusion?
“Now then, what might be the space jellies’ objective?”
Goro was probably quite worried by now. Kaito pondered the thoughts of the space jellyfish who weren’t here and temporarily disembarked from Queenbee.
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“I thought so. The Federation is planning to cull the [Planet Eater].”
“Planet Eater?”
“Yes. After I started calling it that, it became the name used within the corporation too. It looks like a snake, you see. So a snake that eats planets—Planet Eater.”
“Like a python?”
“Yes, yes, exactly.”
Goro’s face brightened as he remembered his own culture.
Kaito felt a strange uneasiness at that smile and asked.
“Your side seems to be trying to protect this Planet Eater, but do you have any prospects of success?”
“Nothing definite. So first, the plan is to follow it and study its ecology while observing.”
What a leisurely story. In other words, this fleet wasn’t for the purpose of protecting the Planet Eater itself, but for surrounding and observing the Planet Eater.
Goro had said his career as a biologist on Earth was valued. That meant he was accompanying them as one piece of knowledge for inferring the Planet Eater’s ecology.
“But you knew about the Federation’s artificial celestial body.”
“Of course.”
“Which means you also knew there was a planet with organisms living beyond it?”
“…Yes.”
Goro averted his eyes.
Kaito furrowed his brow and asked further.
“What do you plan to do if the Planet Eater heads for that planet? Should I understand that you’re thinking of somehow changing its course?”
“…I have made such a request to higher ups.”
Which meant it had been rejected.
The planet’s lifeline depended on the Planet Eater’s whim. Did they understand that? Under such circumstances, he couldn’t possibly cooperate.
“What’s the reason for the rejection?”
“Low…”
“Low?”
“…Because its rarity is low.”
“Huh?”
A strong voice involuntarily escaped. They would protect rare organisms at all costs, but if they weren’t rare, they weren’t targets for protection.
It was thorough. It was thorough, but he couldn’t accept it.
“So what? If the ecosystem drastically changes due to the Planet Eater’s predation, or if the planet collapses and they become rare, then you’ll protect them?”
“…That would be the case.”
“Organisms that go extinct in the meantime will appear too. And that—”
“W-wait, Captain-Kaito. Please calm down and listen.”
Goro raised both hands to stop Kaito’s words.
Was his pale complexion due to Kaito’s pressure, or because he thought it was unreasonable himself?
Still, with a trembling voice, he somehow managed to voice an excuse.
“Earth has various disasters, large and small. Space has them too. The Planet Eater is a kind of unavoidable disaster.”
“So you’re saying to overlook it?”
“It’s like locust swarms on Earth. Besides the Planet Eater, mass extinctions occur due to completely unexpected disasters too. Please understand.”
“What nonsense. Not preventing something when there’s a possibility of prevention is the same as abandoning responsibility.”
Kaito himself had thought it was like a disaster.
However, when it was actually spoken aloud, all that welled up was opposition. Here, Kaito cut off the option of cooperating with the corporation.
“However—”
“Enough. I understand that you don’t have any particular method.”
There was no need to talk any further.
He prompted Emotion with just a glance, and she, being experienced, immediately returned inside the ship.
“Sorry, but I can’t cooperate. I’ve been a bother.”
“Wait, Captain-Kaito!”
Goro tried to stop Kaito as he boarded Queenbee, but it was a step too late.
Before even sitting in his chair, Kaito immediately transferred Queenbee outside the ship and decided to head for the Planet Eater’s location ahead of the fleet.
“Nothing particularly useful I guess I’ll just have to see the real thing.”
[Quite an enigmatic mission, isn’t it?]
“You bet.”
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