“Holy cow” Sofie whispered.
Jessie unbuckled and drifted past Phyllis, Leland and Jade to the front window where Sofie was already floating. They all stared incredulously into the twilight outside. The ALEC’S DREAM did not exit into space like they thought it would, instead they found themselves hovering inside a hollowed out asteroid... except it wasn’t empty, it was filled with another ship.
What they couldn’t see was that those skyscraper sized towers protruding outside the ship were just the ‘tip of the iceberg’. They extended far below the ships surface, meeting at its center, four miles below. These structures, or spokes, gave support to a central axle spanning the length of the ship, from tip to toe. More than ample support for the 3 massive barrel shaped ship sections rotating with it.
Jessie couldn’t see all that from their vantage point next to the hull, where the large spoke pierced it. In the gloomy space between two of the spinning ship sections, all she could see was one giant spoke fading into the darkness below. It was similar to its skyscraper counterpart except for the eerie lights emanating from its many windows. Jessie wondered why anyone would want a window looking out into the murkiness of the ships insides.
It was fortunate they entered between two of the ship sections, because if they would have entered above one of them, even their shielding and hull would not have kept them from being ground to dust in the narrow space between the rock hull and the giant spinning metal barrel.
Leland slowly turned the ALEC’S DREAM giving them a better look at the side of one of the spinning ship sections. In the dimness the speed of its spin made it look like a hazy and colorless fog.
“I think this isn't good.” Sofie turned from the window. There was a tremor in her voice. “We need to get out of here… we can't get rescued from here!”
“We're too exposed. We need to find a place to hide. Then we'll worry about rescue.” Leland snapped. Jessie saw the shock on Sofie’s face. The grim looks Phyllis and Jade gave him made him soften up. “Sorry Sofie, but we need to fend for ourselves right now and then worry about getting rescued.”
“Why can’t we just go back where we came from?” Sofie asked.
“I didn’t want to say, but I think I saw ships behind us in the cave.” Leland confessed. “It may not be safe to go back.”
“Do you think they’re following us?” Phyllis asked quickly looking back to where they exited the access tube.
“There’s no way I could have navigated that tube with any other ship than the ALEC’S DREAM… and from what we’ve seen of their ships, I doubt that they could either. Now let’s get moving.”
He aimed the ALEC’S DREAM into the darkness below and followed along the dimly lit tower. Minutes passed. “Do you see that?” Sofie broke the silence. Jessie had noticed the blue light, but thought her eyes were playing tricks. Leland grunted and continued forward until the light’s source was exposed.
“It reminds me of a plasma ball.” Jade commented on the blue lightning emanating from a large spherical structure.
“It’s beautiful.” Sofie said.
The sphere was a meeting point of the six enormous spokes extending from the hull. Blue lightning flared from it with some of the bolts fizzling away into the void while others snaked their way up along the towering spokes. The sphere was more than a hub for the spokes as it also acted as a large motor housing; albeit poorly grounded, used to drive the spin of the inner ship.
“Looks like a dead end.” Leland said ignoring the incredible light show. To Jessie’s disappointment, he turned back towards the hull. “We need to find a place where we can hide. They might not be able to follow us through that tube, but that doesn’t mean there’s no other way in here.”
His comment shocked Jessie’s attention away from the mesmerizing light show. “Maybe we should check out some of those other columns.” Leland mumbled to himself as they reached the hull without finding anything even close to a hiding spot.
“What about there?” Jessie pointed at the outer edges of the blurry spinning ship section. “Doesn't that look like a parking garage?”
“Where?” Leland strained to see what she was pointing at.
“Right there!” Jessie tried pointing harder, if there is such a thing as pointing harder. “Right there, near the wall.”
Leland squinted attempting to make out details of the moving wall’s blurred blemishes. Finally, he began making out a small lip just a few dozen yards away from the inside of the ship’s hull. Above it he could see a darker line, which just could be a gap, or Jessie’s garage. “OK, I see it.” He said. Jessie fidgeted at his look of approval.
He turned to the other ship sections spinning wall and found no similar feature. “I’m not sure I’d know what we would do if these kids weren’t here.” He whispered to Phyllis then a little louder he said. “That lip looks like it could be a landing pad, I‘m just not sure how I’m going to land on it.” He pointed the ship in the direction of the moving wall and accelerated, matching the speed of its spin.
“What are you doing?” Phyllis uneasily held on to her chair.
“I just need to match the speed of the spin.” Leland strained at the controls. “Damn!” He said getting dangerously close to the hull.
“Maybe you should try something else.” Jade squeaked.
“Your right, this is impossible.” Leland said after a couple more minutes of trying to match the speed of the spin along with keeping the right distance from the inner curvature of the hull wall. “We need another idea. We’ve spent too much time messing around out here.”
“Instead of starting from the inside, why don't you start from the outside?” Sofie made flying gestures with her hand. “You know, like start near the outside wall and then pick a spot where you want to land. As the spot spins past, you take off at an angle, cutting off the curve to meet it farther down. By the time you meet it, you should be flying at the same speed and you can land on it.”
“Someday, I just might be as good a pilot as you.” Leland gave Jessie a wry glance. Jessie blushed recalling her comment to her mom about him being ‘almost as good a pilot as Sofie’.
Doing just as Sofie suggested, Leland maneuvered the ship to a starting position along the outside wall and picked a landing spot coming towards him. As it sped by, he accelerated away at a slight angle from the wall. All he needed to do was match speed to keep up with his moving landing spot. As it curved back towards them, he slightly angled his descent, landing the ALEC’S DREAM gently on the platform.
“That was easy. Sofie, you're a genius.” Leland grinned.
From their new vantage point, the outer hull now appeared to be the one moving. Leland shut off their gravity controls. The 'gravity' created by the centrifugal force of the spinning ship section pulled them to their seats. By the time Jessie finished unbuckling, Leland was already slipping inside the dark cavernous space leading into the ship section.
“We’re less exposed under here.” Leland answered their worried looks.
Jessie found it awkward walking to the front window in the new gravity. The inside was much like a parking garage, filled with an endless array of support columns marked with hieroglyphic symbols glowing under the dim lights suspended above them. The garage went on forever. It felt as though they had travelled for miles before Phyllis tapped Leland on the shoulder pointing to the right. Jessie strained to see in the darkness at what looked like a dimly lit ramp running to the ceiling. Leland turned toward it. He brought them to a halt at its bottom then turned to the crew. “What do you say?” His voice being the first sound since they entered the garage.
“I’m not sure about this…”
“Aw Sof, don’t be such a worry wart.” Jessie said overriding Sofie’s common sense. “I think we should go in.”
Leland smiled at Jessie. Before Jade or Phyllis could give their opinions, he slid the ALEC’S DREAM up the ramp… it dead ended in a closed off chamber, with their only exit being the r
amp behind.
“It looks like a cave.” Jessie said standing behind Leland.
“You’re right. It does.” Sofie moved to stand next to her.
“Now what?” Phyllis leaned back in her copilot’s chair.
Without warning, the ramp shut sealing them in. Before Sofie’s fingernails could sink too far into Jessie’s arm, a pair of doors in front of them slid apart letting bright white sunlight pour in. Without hesitation, Leland flew through them.
“A jungle… in the middle of space… in the middle of a spaceship” Jade said mostly to herself. An undaunted Leland continued forward until they were safely concealed beneath a canopy of forest growth. He extended the landing gear and set down. Then turning to Sofie he said. “Now it’s time for us to think.”
Chapter 12 ~ The Captain
Alec's Dream Page 26