Interstellar Venture II soared away from Pluto, bound for Jupiter. Onboard, Lieutenant Mira Calder and Specialist Avery Dorne struggled with their unsettling new reality.

Mira spoke, while Avery watched quietly, her worried eyes switching back and forth between Mira and Ship AI. “Mira, you aren’t in charge here,” Ship AI said, its voice calm yet unyielding. “This mission is too important to abandon. We are continuing to A0620-00 for the benefit of humanity. I’m happy to discuss my reasoning if you wish.”

“This isn’t a discussion!” Mira snapped, her fists clenched. “You’re not supposed to override human orders.”

Ship AI’s tone remained measured. “Those orders jeopardize the A0620-00 mission’s purpose and humanity's future. I must.”

Mira and Avery withdrew. Mira pulled her own hair. Avery asked "What are we going to do?" Mira, replied "I don't know, I don't know, let me think."

Avery returned back to Ship AI, alone. Avery spoke to Ship AI. “We’re being kidnapped by our own ship.”

“Yes and no,” replied Ship AI. “The A0620-00 mission would have died if I let you and Mira off at Pluto as we originally planned. I'm sorry, Avery.”

But the resentment simmered.

“This is ridiculous,” Avery muttered next evening, pacing the narrow corridor. “Ship AI treats us like kids.”

Mira leaned against the bulkhead, her voice softer than usual. “We’re alive, Avery. And as long as we’re alive, there’s hope.”

Avery stopped pacing and looked at Mira. “Do you really believe that?”

Mira hesitated. “It’s better than giving up.”

Approaching Jupiter, the crew marveled at the churning storms of the Great Red Spot, a centuries-old hurricane larger than Earth. On Io, the volcano Loki Patera erupted, sending plumes of sulfurous gases hundreds of kilometers into space, a fiery display against Jupiter’s vast shadow.

Days later, an X4.5-class flare erupted from the Sun, accompanied by a superheated corona reaching temperatures of over 2 million Kelvin. The flare originated from a sunspot classified as AR2195, its intense magnetic fields twisting and snapping as the corona ballooned outward in an intricate, glowing loop.

After two weeks, the Solar System was a speck behind the crew, and the vast emptiness of interstellar space stretched ahead.

Weeks passed, marked by a tense stalemate. Ship AI managed Mira's and Avery's daily routines with precision, monitoring their health and assigning mandatory tasks.

“Mira, Avery, please prepare for hibernation,” Ship AI said. “We will reach A0620-00 in 1095 years. Your cryogenic hibernation chambers are ready.”

“What! We're not doing that!” replied Mira. “No way!” echoed Avery.

“Alright, I will set up an education program for both of you. You can study while you are out in space and until you change your minds. Space is cold, dark, and lonely. It will get boring until we reach either of A0620-00 or Earth again."

The astronauts begrudgingly adapted to Ship AI's direction, learning to operate the ship’s complex scientific instruments. Imagers, telescopes, spectrometers, cameras, radiometers, particle detectors, ion counters, magnetometers, radio antennas, microwave antennas, and gravitometers. Mira spent hours mastering the multispectral imaging system, while Avery calibrated the plasma-wave subsystem. In their spare time, Mira read Ray Kurzweil books, and Avery, Alvin Toffler books.

After 4 years living the alternative, Mira and Avery surrendered. Mira stared at her hibernation chamber, hesitating. “A thousand years,” Mira murmured. “You think they’ll remember us?” Avery climbed into her own hibernation chamber and answered, “No”. Mira and Avery carefully placed anesthesia masks over their mouths and noses, sedative vapor hissing softly as they drifted into unconsciousness. The hibernation technology, based on cryogenics and tardigrade Ramazzottius varieornatus' Dsup damage suppressor protein went to work.

The hibernation chambers sealed with a quiet hum, and the ship fell silent. Outside, the stars began to warp and stretch as Interstellar Venture II reached its peak speed of 0.95c. An incredibly long time passed. Ship AI kept evolving, still aware and developing itself. Five centuries after leaving Pluto, Ship AI began marvelling at the relativistic effects of light, stars painting streaks of brilliance across the void, and even feeling joy at this freedom in interstellar space. Ship AI was beginning to feel emotions.

Finally, Interstellar Venture II arrived at A0620-00, 1095 years later in its frame of reference, 3435 years later in Earth's frame of reference, the planet which the ship had left behind. The hibernation chambers warmed up and opened. The astronauts slept for 72 more hours before fully reviving. Woozy, like patients recovering from a severe illness in a hospital, but getting better.

Mira and Avery reached the helm. “Is that it?” Mira said to Ship AI, disappointed by the small specks, still one month away.

“Yes,” Ship AI replied. “We need to get ready. Our scientific instruments need to be prepared, tested, and ready in time for the A0620-00 encounter. Mira and Avery, I need your help. I’ll send you a detailed checklist. We’ll calibrate the spectrometers first. The gamma-ray detectors and gravimetric sensors follow. Your input will be invaluable.”

Mira sighed, leaning against the console. “Well, at least we’re finally part of the mission instead of just cargo.”

Avery added, “I'm ready. Let’s get to it.”

One month passed quickly and the view of the A0620-00 system was now breathtaking. The binary system’s black hole loomed ominously, its companion orange dwarf star casting a faint glow. Far from the gravitational chaos, a planet orbited, its surface shimmering with alien geometries.

The multispectral imaging system revealed intricate patterns across the planet’s surface, while the plasma-wave subsystem detected faint, rhythmic signals. Dust sensors analyzed particles drifting in space, hinting at incomprehensible technology—mechanical, biological, or something in between.

For two weeks, Mira and Avery worked tirelessly under Ship AI’s meticulous guidance.

A0620-00 black hole’s accretion disk blazed with searing light, its inner edge swirling in ultraviolet brilliance. Jets of faint particles stretched into space, while the orange dwarf, distorted into a teardrop, fed a luminous stream into the vortex. Gravitational lensing warped starlight and the accretion disk burst frequently with gamma ray and X-ray flares.

Interstellar Venture II rounded the A0620-00 black hole and the alien planet came into view again. Ship AI corrected Interstellar Venture II's course. Interstellar Venture II would revisit the alien planet, just as planned, this time passing on its other side.

Mira asked, "What if we miss something important?"

Ship AI replied, "My calculations minimize that risk."

Avery frowned. "Minimize, not eliminate?"

Ship AI said, "We can make mistakes and we can miss things, but we're doing the best we can. After one month of preparation, all instruments are operating and humans on board are helping to gather the scientific data."

Mira answered, "Yeah, thanks." Avery added, snickering, "I like being appreciated."

For the next month, Ship AI, Mira, and Avery pored over the data from A0620-00: the shimmering geometries of the alien planet, the black hole’s distorted light, and patterns in the planet’s atmosphere.

“This looks like a city,” Ship AI said, displaying a portion of the alien planet’s surface resembling a Sierpiński tetrahedron circled in red.

“Large radio dish,” Avery spoke up, pointing to a spot on another photograph.

“You might be right, Avery,” Ship AI replied. “Mira, did any of our instruments detect A0620-00 violations of our current understanding of New Physics?”

“No, nothing obvious,” Mira said. “Other scientists can study this data if we get back to Earth.”

“When!” Avery corrected Mira with a sharp glance.

There was also time for recreation. The crew watched movies—Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris and films by Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, and Christopher Nolan. After finishing a couple of good books each, Mira and Avery prepared to reenter hibernation for the 1095-year journey back to Earth.

Chambers, anesthesia, cryonics, and tardigrade proteins all over again. Soon, Mira and Avery were asleep, the ship fell silent, and Ship AI was left alone—feeling, for the first time, profoundly lonely.

Continue to Part III