by N. Heller
'Why not use a fingerprint lock or an iris scanner? Wouldn't that have been more secure?'
With his brain in a shambolic state, he couldn't think of anything right now. He had no idea how many bones were broken, but he was surprised that he could still move and remained conscious. Nevertheless, when Silas was asking for his destination, he was already losing his cohesion.
"Go… Go..." He pried his mouth open and his voice came out as a whisper when a thought flashed into his mind, "Go to the open-air garden… Lin—Lin Sanjiu might be…"
Before he could finish his sentence, he passed out.
Chapter 805 - Giving You A Starship
Darkness wrapped around Woyu like a thick blanket. He could feel himself drowning in an impenetrable umbra. There was no pain and fear in there. If there was something that irked him, it was the rapid and unceasing blinking of something ahead of him.
Slowly, ever slowly, Woyu's eyelids fluttered open. A blast of dazzling light instantly seized its chance and flooded into his eyes, causing him to close his eyes once more as tears began running out. Then, he gradually returned to full consciousness.
By the time he opened his eyes again, the light was gone. What laid ahead of him was a starless dark sky. Woyu blinked his eyes a few times, and his memory slowly returned to him. He remembered that before he passed out, he'd ordered Silas to bring him to the open-air garden and then...
Ignoring the pain ripping down his body, Woyu raised his head. Then, he saw the light.
From the dusky sky, he could vaguely discern a strangely shaped pure black shadow that was hovering right above Exodus. The light that woke him up should be coming from that thing.
'If Lin Sanjiu hasn't given up yet, why doesn't she call me?'
Woyu opened his mouth, wanting to say something but he suddenly remembered that Lin Sanjiu could not hear him right now, so he closed his mouth again.
He was certain that Lin Sanjiu was able to see that the communication device was not with him, and so she knew she couldn't call in through the device right now.
'What should I do? If she doesn't come in, nobody can stop the man...' Woyu thought inwardly.
Just when he was in a quandary of what to do, the jet-black aircraft suddenly closed in. It hovered very close above the dome of the open-air garden, reminding Woyu of the Remora Fish that swam along with the shark. In such close proximity, Woyu finally saw the two sharp, scythe-like wings of the aircraft. The light flickered again. However, this time, each flash had a different duration and rhythm. Some of them were long, like dashes, while others were short, like dots.
"Really? Morse Code?" Woyu sighed. "Do they think everybody is familiar with Morse Code? This is real rocket science, you know? They really have too much confidence in me."
The flickering light went off, and the aircraft blended into the same monotony of the night sky.
"Well, consider yourself lucky," he sighed again. Then he shuffled his feet and sat on the floor. Ignoring the aching scream of his muscles, Woyu lowered and raised his head several times.
The fund for the committee was always stretched to the limit, and the price for Special Items that could be used for secret communication was often off the charts. Since they couldn't afford any of those, the committee forced their members to learn Morse Code. Woyu had never expected that he would need to use Morse Code again so quickly after the demise of his comrades. A pang of sadness and grief jabbed his heart when he thought of his fallen comrades. Woyu cast those feelings away and stopped.
Another light blasted from the aircraft when they saw Woyu nodded. Even though he had been squinting his eyes, the light still worked its way into his eyes and caused his eyes to become watery.
There were only two messages Lin Sanjiu wanted to relay. One was they could not communicate through the communication device anymore, and the second was that she wanted him to locate the hangar bay.
'Hangar bay?'
If he could open up the hangar bay from inside, then Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan could land inside Exodus. The only thing was that they needed to circle around Exodus to locate the hangar bay.
With that thought in mind, Woyu called out, "Silas."
His voice had become weaker, so he was afraid that Silas couldn't hear him. However, it seemed that his concern was totally uncalled for. After a few seconds of silence, Silas's ever-soothing voice rang out. "Yes? How may I help you?"
'It's really good to have such a spaceship,' Woyu thought.
"That man, your former commander, where is he now?"
"The unregistered personnel is now moving towards the bridge on deck one."
Woyu blinked his eyes blankly as confusion ran amok in his mind.
'Where is deck one? And what the hell is a bridge?'
Be that as it may, Woyu decided to put those questions aside and gave out his order. "No matter where he is heading to, don't let him pass."
He paused midway through his sentence and went into a coughing fit. It took him quite a while to regain his breath, and he continued his sentence, "Do whatever you can, Silas. Lock him down."
No sooner had he finished his sentence than Silas's voice rang out again. She said, "Target has arrived at the bridge."
Woyu's heart somersaulted. Before he could respond, Silas continued, "Initiating lockdown sequence."
"Ho—Hold on—"
"Lockdown sequence initiated. Target is now trapped in the bridge."
Woyu sighed. Silas was not a human being, so she wouldn't understand why it was wrong to trap the man at a location where he wanted to be. Besides, she was just following his order, so he couldn't blame her either. It was just that Woyu couldn't understand why the man wanted to go to the bridge.
'Did he give up on me already? And also, what is the use of the bridge?'
Woyu bit his lower lip and fell into deep thought. After a few seconds, he shooed away the bad feeling that was swelling in his heart. Then, he raised his head and looked into the sky. Since he had seen the aircraft twice, he was able to pinpoint its location amidst the dusky sky. Right now, the aircraft had pulled away from Exodus and was now flying above it.
"Silas, can you tell me the location of the hangar bay?" Woyu asked. He could feel that one or two of his ribs were broken, for whenever he spoke, the vibration in his c.h.e.s.t would cause him to experience a violent fit of pain.
"It is located on the right side of deck 1."
'Not again,' Woyu cussed inwardly.
"How far is it from the bridge?"
"For your information, the hangar bay is about seven to eight hundred meters away from the bridge."
Seven to eight hundred meters was nothing for a posthuman. Woyu was confident that the man would appear in front of him in no time when the door to the bridge was unlocked. He gulped down and he could sense a metallic taste in his mouth.
"Can the door be opened by anyone other than me?" He asked again.
He crossed his finger and hoped to receive a negative answer from Silas, but the system just replied, "It depends on whether or not the operator has the emergency recovery passcode. All mechanical instruments can be operated manually without the permission of the commander after the emergency recovery passcode is entered."
"Can you tell me the emergency recovery passcode?" Woyu swallowed again as his c.h.e.s.t tightened.
"Permission denied."
Woyu was stunned for a second, as he did not expect that answer. He asked, "Why?"
"According to the Starfleet Federation's Starship General Rules Chapter 10, article 171(A), the commander is not entitled to be informed of the emergency recovery passcode."
Woyu heard every single word in that sentence, but he couldn't understand it at all. With a blank mind, he asked, "Starfleet Federation? What is that?"
"It seems to me that you are ill-informed." Even though Silas was not a human being, she was sharp. She continued, "Exodus, serial number 07, is a mothership-class vessel under the jurisdiction of Dongwon Colonial Corporation, a subs
idiary of the Starfleet Federation. Year built: 2388. Period of service: 8. Number of decks: 10. Allotted crews: 800…"
Silas continued to introduce the history of Exodus, but Woyu's brain was occupied by a thought.
Exodus was not an ordinary starship. Not only was it built by an unknown world before the apocalypse arrived, but it was also a vessel responsible for interstellar colonization. It was now clear to him that the man was either the captain hired by the company, or he stole this ship from the real captain. It was also now clear to him that the reason he could erase the man's authority by changing the passcode was that the real owner of Exodus belonged to the Starfleet Federation from an unknown world, which might have already been destroyed by the apocalypse.
The man was only a commander. Just like how Silas wouldn't tell him the emergency recovery passcode, she wouldn't tell the man either. In other words, he was the only one who could control Exodus right now.
Woyu blinked his eyes and wiped his forehead.
The aircraft was no longer in sight. Without him, Lin Sanjiu wouldn't be able to land on Exodus. Also, following Exodus was a no-go as well, as this starship was capable of entering space at any time.
If he did not give the order, the man would be forever stuck in the bridge and starved to death.
Woyu could feel a tickling sensation as sweat trickled down his forehead. He and his comrades had been getting by for so many years by feeding on the leftover of those higher echelons in the Twelve World. When they first came across Lin Sanjiu, they didn't even expect to get their hands on her house.
"Bring me to the bridge," Woyu ordered after he made up his mind. "I want to take a look outside."
'If possible, I want to have a talk with the man as well.'
"Alright."
Exodus had seven levels in total. Before Woyu became the commander, it only opened up the top level for Lin Sanjiu. As Silas opened up one door after another, the pod went all the way down through the starship and came to the seventh floor.
After he went through a massive grey door, he suddenly put the brakes on the pod. Woyu stared at the words "hangar bay", which was written on the door in white marker.
'As soon as I get behind the door, I can open up the hangar bay and Lin Sanjiu could come in.'
Sitting inside the pod, Woyu was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. Cold sweat was budding from his back, and soon his shirt was thoroughly wet. Nobody could tell if it was because of his injury or the struggle in his heart.
The bridge was just ahead of him. He raised his head and rubbernecked between the corridor and the hangar bay. After a short while that seemed like an eternity, he gnashed his teeth and his face contorted.
"Silas!" Woyu called out. "Silas!"
But there was no reply from the system. His blood turned cold.
Chapter 806 - Open The Door Like Your Life Depends On It
Woyu stopped yelling.
It was quiet. The air was filled with nothing but the imperceptible whirring of Exodus's engine. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and looked at the control panel. He pressed several times on the "system control" button; however, the maglev pod remained silent.
Silas was gone. That thought rammed into Woyu's head like a stone that dropped into a pond. It caused a ripple in his brain, and more and more thoughts began to appear.
He cast all the thoughts away, as he did not want to know why Silas suddenly went offline. His muscles pulled taut, he continued to slowly move forward towards the direction of the bridge. As his eyes traced the warm white lamps on the wall that shed a uniform glow into the surroundings, he spotted the door to the bridge at the end of the corridor. It looked thick and heavy, and effectively cut off all the sound, so Woyu did not know what the man was doing on the other side.
He stared at the door and thought for a long while. Even though it might be quiet right now, he knew it wouldn't be so when the door opened up. After ascertaining that the creaking of the door opening would serve as an alarm for him, Woyu turned the pod around and went for the hangar bay.
He remembered that there was a remote operating station next to the door, so he figured that he had to try to open the hangar bay even though Silas was not with him right now. Be that as it may, he only realized how difficult it was when he found the operating station. He couldn't recognize most of the buttons. As his eyes ran across the panel, he caught sight of a black lever that leaned towards the word "CLOSED".
Woyu's eyes glowed. He went closer to the lever and pushed it up.
He waited with bated breath for a while, hoping the door would open up; however, it remained unmoving. Dumbfounded, Woyu craned his neck and looked at the corridor towards the bridge. Nothing stirred in the corridor. It remained quiet like a beast in slumber. He retracted his gaze and moved back to the panel. As he studied the panel, he chided under his breath, "How come they don't put any marks on these buttons? How am I supposed to know which is which?" Then, he went closer to the nicely polished metal panel and began to meticulously examine each button.
He cast a long shadow on the metal panel; his eyes hopped from one button to the next. As he was trying to figure out what each of the buttons could do, the warning bell in his head went off and prompted him to move out of danger's way. No sooner had the maglev pod glided away than the remote operating station let out a brassy metallic scream as a chain of fire sparks jumped into the air. The lever, the buttons, and the other settings on the panel that he couldn't understand were destroyed by a streak of silvery light.
"Yo," the man chuckled, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, "I have to say that given your current body condition, it really surprises me that you were able to dodge that hit. Perhaps I didn't punish you well enough?"
Woyu gulped again, and he could hear his saliva glissade down his throat and drop into his stomach with a plop. In the distance, the symphony of the engine of Exodus and the whirling of the air-conditioning system continued to ring through the air. He was certain that he did not hear the opening of the door behind him, so how did the man get out of the bridge?
As if he saw the confusion on Woyu's face, the man pulled the axe out from the remote operating station. He swung the axe half round and then it disappeared, leaving only his b.a.r.e hand behind.
"Thanks to you, my bridge will not have a door anymore," said the man as he took a deep breath. He was trying to keep his calm, but it seemed like he was failing.
Woyu stared fixedly at the man. Through the corner of his eyes, he could see electric sparks spilling out from the wasted operating station. It was apparent that he could not use the station to open the hangar bay anymore.
"How… How did you get out of there?" he asked through a trembling voice.
"Don't worry. You will know soon," the man replied as he offered Woyu a toothy grin. If it weren't for the situation, it would have actually been quite an assuring smile.
"What did you do to Silas?" Woyu asked again, trying to buy himself some time. "Why won't she respond to my call? Where did you get the emergency recovery code from?"
"Hoh?" The man stretched his neck and answered, "So you know about it."
He swung his hand, and Woyu's eyes blurred for a moment. By the time his vision returned, the man had already put on a glove. Woyu stared fixedly at the glove, attempting to figure out its material but to no avail. The glove looked like water with a shape; whatever was reflecting on it would then become its texture. Sometimes it would become metal while other times it was light. When the man lifted his hand and pointed at Woyu, it slowly became the color of his skin.
"When the doomsday arrived in my world, I accepted it faster than anybody else," the man said as he began to approach Woyu. Woyu looked to his left and right, and he realized that he was trapped by the man in this corridor. If he wanted to escape, the only way was the bridge behind him.
"It was total chaos in the Starfleet Federation. Everybody was thrown for a loop. Luckily, my employee pass was still valid, so I wa
s able to work myself into the colonel's… Oh, silly me, you don't have to know about the details." He chuckled again. "Anyway, I got everything I needed in the end. When I got to the dock, there were a dozen starsh.i.p.s there. Each of them was larger, sturdier, and more secure than the last one. Funny right, as a ground staff, I couldn't imagine that I was the first one to realize the value of these starsh.i.p.s."
'Very good… If I can make him talk more, then...' Woyu thought inwardly as he gripped tighter at the steering wheel. It occurred to him that the man was not really worried about him running towards the bridge. 'Perhaps he has laid a trap in there? In that case, I'd better not run there.'
Woyu continued to shoot more questions at the man, "How did you survive with Exodus?"
It would be another long story, but the man seemed to have seen through Woyu's plan. He ran his fingers across his chin as a sardonic smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "You want to hear about it? It will be the most fantastic, riveting, and touching story you'll have ever heard in your life. I promise I will tell everything to your corpse… Oh, silly me again. How can I forget that?" Then he paused. He raised his head and looked into Woyu's eyes, his gaze so intense, Woyu's heart went pit-a-pat. "There won't be any corpse left behind."
With those words, the man suddenly lunged forward. He was so fast that when Woyu recoiled along with the pod, the man's hand had already touched the nose of the pod.
If he was slowed for a second, the hand would fall on his shoulder.
However, before Woyu could take a breather, the pod suddenly tilted to one side as a burst of creaking noise rang out. He turned around, and then he froze.
The spot that the man touched was gone. The pod now looked like a piece of meat with one of its sides chipped by a beast. The pod was tilting even further. There was a maelstrom of what should be metal and whatnots lying haphazardly in front of the pod.
"What… what…" Woyu was stunned as he stammered.