Day 00014 Mission Nilex
Gareth entered the break room on the Bridge level, his emotions a churning ball of chaos. Seeing the Oak tree standing again had caused deep-down emotions to stir. Not daring to disturb them, he left them alone. Besides, the past was best left in the past—he had too many important matters to be concerned with right now. Self-indulgence could wait. But leaving that chaos alone did not block his awareness of it.
In deliberate thought silence, he tossed a few small fruits into a bowl, covered them with a small hand towel, and carried them to his cabin. There he showered and dressed before sitting at his desk where the bowl waited. Not until he'd spread the towel, chosen a fruit, and started peeling did he allow himself to think.
«How are we doing, Canaisis?»
«Nothing of importance to report, Captain. Repairs continue as expected. Thanks to an area of rich material, we'll soon have stockpiled all we need for the Long Years.»
«That's good news. Estimated time needed?»
«One or two days, most likely.»
«And the hull?»
«Reinforcement of secondary hull is complete. Primary hull has almost been patched over, but it will be some time before full structural integrity can be restored, Captain.»
"Time we don't have," he spoke aloud, his voice tainted with anger. "I don't feel safe here if we stay too long."
Their lightwave was already washing over the solar system. Anyone looking hard enough in the right direction might detect them. The chance was probably extremely slim, but it wasn't zero.
Gareth still didn't know what to make of the attack. There was no way to know the Citizens' true intentions or goal, but a nuclear device was pretty bold of them. He'd played several scenarios out in his mind, but none of them panned out by themselves.
First scenario: stop Nilex. It made little sense. If their concern was the Nilex leaving, then why let them come aboard and break Luna's orbit in the first place? Why the charade?
The laser message from Yonshue implied the Citizens feared Nilex had taken control. But the lack of response to Gareth's reply implied the matter was settled.
But fear was never a measure of common sense, either. The nuclear device in the seed pod spoke of premeditated motives, a fear of something.
Of Canaisis? Or were we just an incidental inconvenience with an easy solution?
Scenario two: destroy Canaisis completely. He could understand if Earth desired to take his ship for the technology. But then, why wait so long to detonate? Salvaging a wreck located as far out as they'd been increased the cost of recovery logistics. It didn't make sense, either—too inefficient.
So was the target Nilex or Canaisis, both or something else? What if Nilex and Canaisis hadn't been the original goal? What if the nuclear device had been repurposed?
«Canaisis,» thought Gareth, «analyze that radio transmission that triggered the seed pod. Were there any extra instructions besides just a trigger code?»
«No need, Captain. It was the secondary instructions that allowed me to deduce the purpose of the code when it came in.»
«Meaning?»
«A trigger code could be for anything—I would have no way of knowing for what. It was the secondary instructions bringing the nuclear power plant out of hibernation in disregard of safety protocols that allowed me to predict the event.»
YOU ARE READING
CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 3: A Shard Of Code
Science FictionBook 3 of CANAISIS ∞ The Last Living Ship trilogy (Chronicles of Canaisis 1) ∞ ∞ ∞ This is a DIRECT CONTINUATION from #Canaisis ∞ The Last Living Ship: Chronicle One ∞ 1: A New Mission and Chronicle One ∞ 2: A Captain's Journey
