MAITRI

Time had no meaning for them. The rooms and corridors, hallways, lounges and living quarters stood empty and deserted since he was gone. There had been no organic life in the station since.

Sir Arthur Newkraft had been the last person to leave it, having disbanded the remaining remnant of the MBF organization in 2030.

Their Ish'all had died on Earth a year later at the proud age of 89. MAITRI counted the two hundred and thirty-first orbit of the moon Japetus around its planet Saturn since then.

It had been fifty years almost to the day today that Sir Arthur had left her. The consciousness of the living station had been in stasis ever since, and it dreamed.

It dreamed of the time with the humans. How it all began, back in 2018, when a certain Sigurd Westall was tracking a dinghy of aliens called Mernchen that had abducted his two colleagues Mark Merlin and Selin Wiegand on Earth.

Their destination had been Saturn's moon Japetus. There their damaged spaceship lay hidden in a huge alien station called MAITRI.

The ensuing battle for the station and the intervention of the Venusian station TRISHARANA had been only the beginning of a new era for MAITRI.

As a material hologram she had enough initiative to inspire the people, above all Sir Arthur Newkraft, for herself. She had always pursued only one goal.

She had already existed on Saturn's moon for over 1000 years. She had lost her memories of the time before, of her emergence. Only the loneliness had remained and ate itself into her soul.

Then, all at once the change when the alien race of Mernchen had appeared.

They besieged the station for almost two years and behaved very strangely. They cut their communication possibilities and condemned the station to passivity. Then came their liberator, Ish'all, the guardian of the incomprehensible power.

He called himself Sigurd Westall and with him also came her sister PAURUSHEYA, the organic spaceship.

It was a heroic time full of new impressions and constantly changing situations.

MAITRI was dreaming her dream. The station was newly discovered by the people of Earth, first Sir Arthur Newkraft. He also had the incomprehensible power. The MBF organization was founded. Its main goal at first was to stop the infiltration of Earth by the Mernchen, who pursued their selfish purposes and thus posed a threat to Earth.

Together with the Queen of the Xxiin, a people consisting of organic nanites, and the Venusian fortress TRISHARANA, Sigurd Westall and the MBF also succeeded in the end in driving them off Earth.

In the further course the MBF organization defined itself under the leadership of Sir Arthur.

It was to monitor and control any extraterrestrial activity within the solar system.

MAITRI remembered the last day before Sigurd disappeared. His disappearance without a trace was a great mystery to everyone and caused the downfall of the organization that had just been formed.

MAITRI was sure that an extraterrestr