Scene 09-1 – Rescue
Location: Interior of the starship, command chamber
Time: 01.08.28 – 05:33
Setting: Security alarm and rescue operation of crew under attack on the Panamericana
Security alert: Hostile forces at 25 km from the starship site. ECSS team arrival not guaranteed. Survival systems not guaranteed. Bioengineering system without operators. The starship cannot guarantee communication with survival systems.
Security alert: Hostile forces at 25 km from the starship site. ECSS team arrival not guaranteed. Survival systems not guaranteed. Bioengineering system without operators. The starship cannot guarantee communication with survival systems.
symbion.status: init
neural.interface: synchronization_started
host.identity: verified
vessel.combat_system: active
vessel.operational_protocol: combat_mode
sensory.link: calibration
neural.connection: stabilization
symbion.status: sync
neural.integration: partial
symbion.status: merge
failsafe.monitoring: active
Niajin suddenly found herself without visual obstacles before her; the command chamber rotated slightly, focusing on the point where the battle was unfolding along the Panamericana highway.
The situation appeared desperate. Fire from armored vehicles struck the gravitational shield, which struggled to absorb every impact.
The SAI calculations estimated no more than ten minutes before the collapse of any effective defense against the assault commando. The starship was engaged in pre-launch procedures and could not intervene directly, but the auxiliary fleet could.
Niajin’s hologram materialized before Eugene.
Suddenly I saw her in front of me, a three-dimensional, faintly luminous image smiling at me. She spoke.
“Intervention is required in support of a departing crew unit. They are the final crew members en route, but it appears someone has decided they should not reach their destination.”
“Someone who?”
“We do not have sufficient information. Within the WO there are competing factions, and control of intelligence and security services is not entirely in the hands of the government. This leads to internal power struggles and contradictory orders. We know nothing more. However, the SAI signals security risks if the crew is not completed. In particular, a girl is on her way, secretly trained for years to fulfill the role assigned to her. The Ark of the starship absolutely requires her for internal control and vital recovery functions. I can replace her only partially. My operational load is already high.”
“And what can we do?”
“The starship is equipped with an internal combat fleet. You must board an auxiliary vessel. My hologram will guide you and provide the necessary instructions. The weapon systems available to a single combat unit are sufficient to destroy or disable the entire hostile squad.”
“Good. Let’s go. But I don’t know how to pilot an alien spacecraft.”
“You will learn quickly. That is why I am here. It will serve as training. You will have to do this more and more often.”
“I used to be a good pilot. A champion, in fact. But this is all so different.”
“Different, yes. Easier in some respects, more difficult in others. The mind must adapt. It may seem strange, but a clear mind is required to operate this system.”
“And if mine isn’t? I don’t believe I have a clear mind. My thoughts have been confused lately. I feel anger and contradiction within me.”
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“That does not help. But you will see that near me you will know how to use the mind of the starship.”
“Near you, I don’t doubt it. But in the end you are not truly near.”
I looked at her. She was beside me, yet only an image. I could not touch her, could not feel the warmth of her skin. A burning memory. So close to me and yet so far away.
She looked at me, noticing my unease.
“Do not fear. You must simply feel the flight flowing through you, and you will become the flight. That alone is required to guide a vessel like this. I myself do not know how to do it. But I know that when the moment comes, it will be enough to think.”
We were already moving toward the internal transport system. The crystal tunnel leading from the command chamber connected to other corridors running through the interior of the starship toward the various sectors. After a couple of transfers, we reached the internal bay at the level of the tail.
I will return later to the spectacle of the various auxiliary craft of different shapes and sizes. For now, I was led to one of the smallest. It had two pilot seats and a fuselage capable of carrying six to eight additional passengers, judging by dimensions comparable to my own height and not unlike Niajin’s.
I sat in one of the pilot seats and Niajin’s hologram seated itself beside me. There was nothing before me but a screen. Yet as soon as I sat down, I felt something connecting to me. Hair-thin optical fibers inserted themselves into my temples.
Everything changed. The displays filled with information. Text scrolled in my own language, presenting all flight conditions.
symbion.status: init
host.identity: eugene_hsp328_verified
interface.neural: engaged
neural.sync: completed
symbion.status: merge
vessel.class: auxiliary_combat
vessel.primary_systems: operational
vessel.weapon_systems: ready
vessel.shields: active
vessel.propulsion: standby
hangar.gate: opening
hangar.pressure: equalized
hangar.status: open
docking.clamps: released
docking.power_link: disconnected
vessel.status: undocked
vessel.propulsion: active
vessel.attitude: stabilized
vessel.velocity: 72_m_s
vessel.acceleration: 3.2_m_s2
navigation.destination: mirador
navigation.operational_theater: panamericana_highway
navigation.course: locked
navigation.eta_target: 00_04_12
I saw the combat zone approaching rapidly. The military detachment noticed us. I saw them preparing defensive positions, while a figure in combat gear with a black helmet appeared to be issuing urgent orders. But my craft could not be scratched by the weapons available to the WO forces.
sensory.thermal_contacts: 27
sensory.units_armored: 6
sensory.units_infantry: 21
sensory.allied_shield_integrity: 32_percent
navigation.time_to_engagement: 41_s
navigation.distance_to_target: 5_km
vessel.velocity: 140_m_s
vessel.altitude_agl: 600_m
vessel.attitude_vector: nominal
vessel.gravity_weapon_state: armed
vessel.gravity_field_mode: localized
vessel.gravity_vector: vertical_positive
vessel.gravity_field_intensity: 4_g
target.lock_metal_vehicles: confirmed
target.lock_metal_weapons: confirmed
target.total_mass_engaged: 48000_kg
target.vertical_displacement: 32_m
target.lateral_displacement: 18_m
target.release_time: 00_00_02
target.impact_force_estimate: 3.6e6_N
target.operational_vehicles: 0
target.functional_weapons: 0
hostile_units.combat_capability: 0_percent
operational_theater.threat: neutralized
The starship had a clear field. The only thing left to the garrison was their lives, and from what could be seen they were trying to preserve them at the maximum speed permitted by their legs—the only intact means of movement remaining.
The auxiliary vessel settled into suspension a few meters above the ground. The ventral tail bay opened, and after a brief moment of astonishment the crew understood they had to board.
The bay sealed behind them and the auxiliary craft began its return.
The operation had lasted less than ten minutes. It was 05:55. The return had been slower. We were re-entering the hangar of the mother starship. Two hours and sixteen minutes remained before launch. Launch toward where? I thought. Where were we going?
The hangar doors were closing behind us. The light of dawn was growing stronger. On the display I saw the sun rising behind the Andes, and it seemed to me that, as the great hangar gate sealed behind us, a ray of sunlight entered the heart of the starship. The first ray of sunlight.
The light of the new day flowed along the feathers of the starship. The operating system was approaching the pre-ignition phase of controlled nuclear fusion.
For a brief moment I felt a variation in gravitational acceleration, but shortly everything returned to normal. The artificial gravity systems re-established a value slightly below Earth standard, precisely 9.00 m/s2. Meanwhile, external sensor readings showed 3.1 m/s2, rapidly decreasing.
Exactly 2 hours 04 minutes 08 seconds remained before the condition of zero gravity—that is, launch.
The process could no longer be stopped.
