Chapter 21 – Into the ocean
V-Nus grabbed his seat as he watched Shoffer and the others running towards Chariot 3.
Captain Shoffer`s eyes quickly browsed over the blue butterfly that he silently watched leaving the ship as he landed on the boarding ramp after a long jump.
Cai Yiu and Ezekiel landed right after their Captain as they jumped down from the same rocks that pilled next to their ship. Chariot 3`s bulkhead closed immediately after them while Shon tried to catch up his breath.
Orifices surrounding the bottom of Chariot 3 that were never present before, suddenly became part of its design, freshly carved on the metagraphene body. From the orifices, inflaming blue jets fired up lifting a cloud of thick smoke.
The second after, Chariot 3 was no longer touching the ground. Another second, and no one down on the ground could see the ship any longer. The people of Nazca could only see the vast cloud of smoke left by the nitrate and hear the deafening roaring sound of the flying chariot as it gained distance.
At that same instant, another Grey scouter emerged just above its sister craft.
Chariot 3 stopped once she reached certain altitude. Her directional lights then lid up red and started to rotate. The lights momentarily turned into amber and then purple thereafter.
As the final adjustments were made to her new propulsion systems, new holes surrounded the sides of her fuselage and fuel filters were added to her mechanics. Once she started burning the fuel with total efficiency, Chariot 3 vanished beyond the horizon, leaving absolutely no traces of any smoke.
The Grey craft started to lift from the ground and as its ramp started to retract, with difficulty and a hand protecting his wound, the Grey leader rolled back onto it giving his crew the most angered of the orders. “After them!”
By the time the ramp was sealed, both the Grey scouter crafts had already tracked the course of the Nibirian vessel. The Grey spacecraft`s bottom lights glowed red and with a unique blast, disappeared from the eyes of the people of Nazca leaving behind a couple of alien bodies and a terrorizing remembrance that would last until the end of their days.
“Captain, permission to brief you with the ship status.” Chariot 3 seemed to be trying to sound optimistic.
“Sissy, does it need to be while we are in hyper speed pursuit?” Captain Shoffer had not spoken with her in a while, but that in no way would mean that his patience was somewhat restored.
“The processing of a new fuel was enough to provide us with flying and maneuvering capabilities, but yet, we cannot guarantee the contention of the antimatter.”
“Ok Sissy, how long until its detonation.” Besides preoccupied, Shoffer sounded annoyed.
“The ship`s magnetic pole is still preserving the antimatter stable in its essential tube, however, it is uncertain for how long it will be effective or whether it will detonate or not. Intermittent destabilizations may occur without a detonation.” Chariot 3 did not wish to omit any detail from her Captain but at that occasion, she could most certainly have tried to be more optimistic.
“Sissy, h-h-how much time we have until the possible destabilization?” It was Flumen`s turn to exhibit stress in his voice.
“Approximately thirty seconds.” More than ever, Chariot 3 sounded rather robotic when stating that in less than a minute the entire crew could possibly be incinerated.
Captain Shoffer suddenly decelerated the space disc.
The others felt their back almost disconnecting from their seats.
After almost falling, Captain Shoffer noted that he was the only one who was not yet seated, and if it was not for the magnetic field created by his boots, he would not be standing either.
After finally locking himself on his seat, Captain Shoffer closed his eyes and focused on what he could do best, piloting.
Chariot 3 commenced to decline with its bow pointing down. The others started feel the uncomfortable pressure on their chests until the ship finally reached a fully vertical position.
At that moment, things got worse.
“What, what are you doing Captain?” While Flumen, who preferred to close his eyes, had no idea of what was taking place, V-Nus knew exactly what Shoffer was about to do.
When they reached the fully vertical position, the crew could see the crystalline blue ocean ahead of them, the one that one day would be called the Ocean of Bermuda.
Not that they needed, but unconsciously and at the pace Chariot 3 accelerated towards the water, they all held their breath.
“Here we go Sissy, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.” Regardless of how dangerous every mission was, Captain Shon Shoffer enjoyed being who he was and doing what he did, hence his hopes for the machine to, somehow, feel the same way.
Unstoppable, Chariot 3 penetrated into the ocean water, as if she had been built for it.