by Pete Molina
Chapter 49
As he crossed through the threshold of darkness, Sam entered a well lit, and as indicated by his suit readings, a warm environment. There were several restraint chairs on the floor and a hole that dropped to another section. The design seemed familiar.
“Welcome, Sam,” a voice came over his radio. “I’ve been expecting you for a while now. Tell your companions to come in, so we can be on our way.”
“Who are you?” Sam asked, looking around.
“I’m the ship’s SS system. Now hurry, I’m going to activate my melt and launch sequence in just a minute. You’ll have to stick your head back through the fog barrier to tell your friends to enter. I’m shielding against any internal transmissions,” the SS system replied.
“I guess we haven’t got a choice,” Sam sighed and then pushed his head back through the fog barrier that was holding the air and warmth inside the ship while the door was open. It was a good design, and it saved having to use the space for a physical airlock. “Hey, it’s all right. You can come in,” Sam called.
“Oh good, for a minute there we’d thought we lost you when your transmission cut out,” Terra responded, hopping down into the hole in the ice.
Sam pulled his head back into the ship and moved out of the way so the others could enter.
Terra came through first and looked around at the new surroundings. “Well, it’s definitely a ship.”
“Yes, I am, Ms. Gates,” the SS system replied, startling Terra.
“Don’t worry. It’s just the ships SS system,” Sam explained.
Jeff came through the barrier after her with about the same reaction. The ship greeted Jeff as well, then informed them that it would be activating the ice melt procedure in a few seconds, and asked them to all please have a seat. They each took one of the restraint chairs and sat down.
“So where are we going, Ship?” Sam asked.
“I am not allowed to reveal that,” the ship replied.
“Why am I not surprised?” Terra said with a smile. They had all retracted their suit helmets as soon as they had taken their seats.
“I am activating my lasers to cut out the ice near the surface; it should only take a few moments. I will then be burning for space, so please hold on,” the ship warned, informing them of its intentions.
They heard a sound outside the ship as the ice was vaporized by the lasers. It took four minutes for the ship to declare success.
“Ship, could you please make the walls transparent so we can see out,” Terra asked.
“Certainly,” the ship replied.
Through the windows all around them was ice, but it wasn’t resting against the side of the ship any more. The lasers had done their work and cut away a half meter all around.
“Launching now,” the ship warned.
The antimatter engines kicked in, and they were rising out of their ice hole. The ship accelerated, and they drew away from the surface very quickly. After heading straight up for a few moments, the ship began to turn drastically.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked the ship.
“There are two ships holding above our launch location at geosyncronous altitude. One is a Fleet ship. I am moving to evade,” the ship explained.
“What if they catch us?” Terra asked, wondering what Sam 6.7 would do in such a contingency.
“I will self destruct,” the ship said in a calm manner.
“What?!!” Terra exclaimed.
“Do not worry,” the ship continued. “The probability of our capture is very low.”
“Still not a good enough explanation,” Terra said vehemently.
“It will have to be for now,” the ship said.