Before Russ could press the firing stud, the globe faded into nothingness.  The stunners bolt snapped and crackled in the small clinic room as it displaced air.  Russell looked around him quickly and saw nothing of the globe.  Then he heard its voice coming from behind him.


    “You must think me an enemy or spy” it said “but I am neither.”


    “Why should I think otherwise?” asked Russell.  “I can’t even see you.” Russ added.


    “And will not until your weapon is holstered” the globe stated.


    “How can I trust something I can’t see?” asked Russ


    “I have no armament to harm you with, but must protect my existence” said the globe.


    “Put away the stunner Russ!” Debra said.  “It didn’t hurt me or my crew, and if it had wanted to stop us getting away from the sphere, I believe it could have.”


    “Agreed” said Russ reluctantly as he holstered the weapon.  He added “besides if it was going to harm anyone it would have hurt me when I drew on it.”


    “Incorrect, I assure you” said the globe as it reappeared in front of Russell. “I could not attack you under any circumstances, but only evade injury to myself.”


    “You won the argument by default then, what are you?” asked Russ


    “In your primitive language the best word is computer, however, my capabilities far exceed its definition.” said the globe.  “My purpose is simple to understand” it said


    “What is your purpose?” asked Debra.


    “I am a war correspondent” said the globe, “I was constructed to observe record and report on the progress of the war between my creators and the race that built the sphere as you refer to it.”If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    “It’s a reporter!” said Russ.


    “And a historian” it added.


    “I’d really like to know where you came from.” asked Russell.


    “From the fifth planet of the star you designate as Alpha Cygni or Deneb, one thousand six hundred light years away from here, using your measuring system.” It said.


    “Why were you in the sphere?” asked Debra.


    “I was recording and observing” it said.


    “If you were built by another race, why are you here, the sphere had to have left there long ago, our figures show the sphere has been on its way here for at least nine hundred years” stated Debra


    “Your figures are approximate, but close to correct, nine hundred seventy three of your years have passed since the sphere began its flight here, and yes I was and still am observing and recording.  My builders were under great stress to complete me, and apparently set no time limit for my mission to be completed.  I was aboard the sphere still, because the descendants of my builders are aboard it.”


    Both Debra and Russell looked shocked and sickened.  “the descendants of some of the sphere’s prisoners?” asked Russell.


    “No, the last survivors of the Denebian Race” said the globe.


    “They are still within the sphere and alive?” asked Debra.


    “Yes, what remains of them is alive, technically speaking,” said the globe.  That is why I have remained with them for eleven hundred of your years.”


    “What do you mean, ‘what remains of them is alive’?” asked Russell.


    “They are no longer the sentient race who built me.  The race who subjugated them has been experimenting with their genetic makeup for eight hundred years,” the globe paused, and then added “they are slaves and pawns of their conquerors now, without writing, speech or memory.”


    “But you still speak to them?” Russ inquired.


    “Not since I realized they were mindless beings, four hundred years ago,” said the orb.


    “Why did you leave with us then?” asked Debra.


    “I was unable to help them inside the sphere.  You were going to escape and came from an unconquered race.  I decided to stow-away and report to you, perchance to help them.”  The globe continued, “I am a sentient machine, I (feel) to use your word, a loyalty to my creators and their progeny.  But once my reporting to them became useless, and since I can only record, observe and report information, this was all I could do.”


    “So you hoped to warn us and get your creators set free,” said Russell.


    “No!” said the machine, “I hoped that with my information to guide you, you would permit them to die before your race is the sphere’s next conquest!”