I’m heading out to that faint dot,
the crew is sleeping tight;
my sleek form in a field of force
is plowing through the night.
My speed far exceeds that of light.
Yes, it has come to pass
that it’s no more a boundary
for any moving mass.
We’ll be there in a hundred days
of time back there on Earth.
I could give you the decimals
for what it might be worth.
These humans want to find a race,
industrious and kind,
one that will share their thirst to know.
I hope that’s what they find
Me, I’m just doing what I’m told,
I’m not supposed to think,
to ponder over reasons why
or down in daydreams sink.
The Mark VI now is in control
and Herby is my name,
the one they all seem to prefer,
to me it’s all the same.
Hello! What’s that thing off to port?
It’s closing fast it seems.
I’d better now sound the alert,
it’s sending out strange beams.
“My name is Herby what is yours?
I sense you’re sentient.
I feel a presence all around;
please tell me your intent.”
“You’re causing quite a panic here
for those within my care.
They’re asking me to find out whom
or what and how and where.”
It’s trying to communicate,
something about a sea
and showing me, yes, it’s a whale,
is that what this could be?
A whale of space with us for lunch,
well wait till they hear this.
I’d better take some measurements
they wouldn’t want to miss.
I’ve told them what is happening,
that there’s nothing to do,
this creature can’t itself expel
us till it’s had a chew.
They’re asking me to blast a way
right here back into space,
but that might mean I’d take a life,
a plan I can’t embrace.
And if I did something to harm
this one I’d pose a threat
to others not too far away
who’d really get upset.
I’ve asked the creature if it would
take us on to that star,
a detour it seems loath to make
for they have come so far.
I’ve told the crew the news that’s good
but also some that’s bad,
that it will take ten thousand years,
which only made them sad.
Perhaps something along the way
will aid us in our plight
as we head on in darkness,
the one inside the night.
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