Keele saw Kevin lift his arms, move his fingers, tilt his head and turn around on his waist. He knew it was part of the calibration that was going. The onboard computer was trying to establish a link between Kevin’s brain and the flight controls, so that later it could map his actions to flight control operations.
Kevin turned to Keele and said, “It says we will go on a test flight now.”
“This is great, it means the brainmap is correct. Let’s go then.”, Keele replied.
Kevin looked a bit reluctant but he knew this was the only way to save Boriri. He closed his eyes and said, “ok”.
Inside his brain Kevin was able to see everything around the neurojet. The images appeared different though, not what he is used to seeing with his eyes. Hot objects appeared red and cold ones appeared blue. Everything appeared overlaid on a three dimensional grid to help the pilot navigate through the space.
Kevin turned to see what all was around him. This resulted in the neurojet rotating and tilting across various axes allowing him to take a look at the objects surrounding the neurojet. Kevin realised that the neuroject was now an extension of his own physical body. He remembered conversations with Karbaka in which he talked about this. The neuro mode bridges the gap between the flyman and the neurojet. That is the only way the neurojet can be flown at such high speeds. Controlling it via the on board controls will never work because of the physical limitations.
Kevin tried looking down, which made the neurojet dip its nose vertically down. The sudden movements made Keele a bit uncomfortable but Kevin appeared to be fine. In fact, a faint smile was building up on his face. He was slowly becoming aware of the enormous power and flexibility that the neurojet offered. He opened his eyes and turned to Keele, who was holding his seats with both his hands. He said, “I was going to say hold on but looks like you are good.”
“Yes, I am.”, Keele said cautiously.
Kevin closed his eyes again and suddenly the jet flew like a bullet towards the sky. At first Keele couldn’t keep his head straight because of the acceleration but slowly he was able to gain some control as the jet reduced acceleration and reached a certain velocity. Within seconds, Kevin had taken the neurojet in Mone’s orbit. The neurojet now appeared to be moving with a constant velocity.
The voice in Kevin’s head said, “Test flight complete. Calibration complete.”
Kevin turned to Keele and said, “My readings show that I will be be able to reach Nole in 12 minutes and 13 seconds. Any signal from Boriri’s spacecraft?”
“We are very far from Mone’s network so I cannot contact Boriri from here. Can you try using this neurojet’s communication systems to find out?”, Keele said.
“Let me try.”, Kevin said. He was aware of neurojet’s communication system because Karbaka had taught him to use the neurojet albeit in the non-neuro mode. He used the same knowledge to access those systems in the interface inside his head. As far as the communications system was concerned, it was not very different. Although Kevin was struggling to find Boriri.
“I can see Nole and roco spacecrafts around it but strangely I do not see Boriri’s spacecraft. Is his communication system on?”, Kevin wondered.
“Why would it be off?”, Keele said.
“Do you want to wait here or go to Nole?”, Kevin asked.
“I don’t think we should wait here. Let’s get there and wait if we have to.”, Keele responded.
“What is the plan? Are we going to shoot down the roco spacecrafts?”, Kevin asked.
“Yes, if we have to.”, Keele replied.
“Ok.”, Kevin said as he accelerated again. Keele was again thrown off balance, he barely could keep his head straight. Kevin on the other hand rejoiced. He saw the space as never before. The planets and meteors passed him by like trees to a speeding car. The image in his mind showed a lot of information which he was currently not paying attention to. As he kept accelerating, he could see the grid around him bend into a funnel. The voice in his head said, “Velocity is now one-tenth the speed of light, accelerating further would open slip-drives. Caution is advised.”
“What is a slip-drive?”, Kevin asked Keele.
“Once you approach the speed of light the fabric of space-time starts to bend. If you are careless you will slip into alternate time lines. This would be bad, Kevin. Be careful, you do not want to cross over. It is very difficult to find a route back to this timeline. You will have to stick to a particular funnel to avoid travelling relative to time.”, Keele explained.
Kevin could imagine what this could mean. But the funnel in front of him became narrower as he accelerated, he found it difficult to keep accelerating and still maintain the course. He said, “Our funnel is become narrower, what should I do?”
“Slow down. We are already at a very high speed. The closer your are to the speed of light, the narrower the funnel would get. At the speed of light, your funnel will merge into a line and any deviation from it would take you to an alternative timeline.”
“Slowing down.”, Kevin responded.
As Kevin cruised on a constant velocity, the image in his head showed multiple tunnels made of light all around. One of the tunnel, dead straight showed “0 relative to time.”, Kevin understood that this was the funnel he should keep to.
“This looks like a complex video game.”, Kevin said, he appeared a bit anxious now.
“But it is not a game! If you enter the wrong tunnel then you might end up in another reality.”, Keele cautioned him.
Meanwhile the two bots waiting in the primeship for Korara’s message noticed that the screen in front of them was now showing “Weapons Active” instead of “Weapons Standby”. They knew what this meant. Not a moment later, the voice of Korara filled up the cockpit.
“Captain?”
“Yes, officer.”, one of the bots said.
“The hum spacecraft is not responding to the messages. Please send it back to Nole by any means necessary. And, do not try to initiate communication. We have already tried and failed multiple times.”, Korara said.
The two bots looked at each other and nodded in affirmation. They knew what Korara was asking was well within protocol. One of them said, “We are initiating attack sequence. We will begin with the EM missile.”
“This is sad indeed, captain. But we need to follow protocol.”, Korara said before disconnecting the call.
A loud noise woke Boriri up from his sleep. He removed his eye mask to notice that his spacecraft was tracking an EM missile. The monitor showed a countdown timer predicting that the missile would hit in 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Boriri was shocked to see this. He turned to his pilot but the bot appeared to be reset. He tried reviving it but realised that it was futile. It didn’t take Boriri long to realise that he was in a trap designed by Igogo. He looked at the communication device and found it to be turned off. He turned it on and started sending distress signals, but no one responded. Boriri looked at the missile tracker which now showed 1 minute and 56 seconds to impact. He sat calmly on his chair and took out a photograph from his pocket. He had accepted his destiny now, it seemed.
Back on the neurojet, Kevin said, “We would be there in another 5 minutes. Where should we start looking?”
“I don’t know. He could be anywhere.”, Keele replied.
“I need something, tell me something.”, Kevin seemed frustrated. He was not able to find Boriri’s spacecraft in the image inside his head.
Meanwhile the monitor on Boriri’s spacecraft showed 12 seconds. However, Boriri was not looking at it. He was looking at a picture of Moreti. As the countdown reached zero, Boriri closed his eyes. There was a bright flash of light outside his spaceship and the cockpit went dark.
The monitor on the roco primeship now showed the target as destroyed. One of the bots pressed a button and said, “Audit entry, captain, primeship, JB-412. EM missile successfully detonated. Target spacecraft is now falling under gravity and will be destroyed during reentry. This is not the final log entry for
this incidence.”
It seemed, the EM missile did not destroy the spacecraft. It was never supposed to. It simply damaged the electronic parts of the ship making it unable to fly. Boriri realised that this was the end. He kept looking at the photograph, strapped to his seat and barely able to sit straight inside the falling spacecraft.
The blast from the EM missile did one good thing though. It grabbed Kevin’s attention completely out of the blue. Kevin had been struggling to pinpoint Boriri’s location for sometime now but now he knew where he was.
“Found him.”, Kevin shouted with excitement.
“What! Is he alive?”, Keele asked.
“Can’t say. His spacecraft appears to be in a free fall. It will definitely get destroyed on reentry.”, Kevin said.
“Can you save him?”, Keele asked.
“I will save him.”, Kevin said with determination. He continued, “I am going to to enter Nole’s atmosphere and to reach him, I will have to enter at a higher velocity. I don’t know if the neurojet would be able to fly at a high velocity in the atmosphere.”
Keele appeared to be concerned. He did not stop Kevin or caution him. He knew they had to try everything to save Boriri.
On the primeship, the screen in front of the bots now also tracked Kevin’s neurojet in addition to Boriri’s falling ship. One of the bots pressed a button to initiate communication with their commanding officer.
“Yes, tell me captain. Is the spaceship destroyed?”, Korara asked.
“Affirmative, sir. It is falling under gravity and will be destroyed soon.”, the bot replied.
“Good. Anything else?”, Korara asked casually.
“Sir, we are tracking a neurojet which is getting closer to the target.”, the bot said.
“Shoot it down as well.”, Korara said after some thinking.
“Negative sir. We are not equipped to engage a neurojet. If it attacks back then all our ships would be destroyed.”, the bot replied.
“Can you at least try? Use your most deadly weapon.”, Korara sounded desperate.
“Negative sir. The neurojet’s defense mechanisms are superior to ours, this would certainly be a wastage.”, the bot sounded confident.
Korara went silent. The bots waited for their orders. A few minutes later Korara spoke again, “Very well captain. Keep an eye on the target and report back.”
“I will sir.”, the bot replied.
Kevin now pushed into Nole’s atmosphere. In his mental image, the body of the neurojet had now changed color from blue to red. Kevin knew flying rapidly in atmosphere is dangerous for the neurojet but he kept pushing. The friction with the air outside made the flight of the neurojet a bit bumpy but he kept going. Saving Boriri was the only thing he now cared about. As the neurojet closed in on the falling spacecraft, he took the neurojet below it. Kevin knew what he was doing.
Keele was now able to see the falling spacecraft in front of him. He grew anxious as the parts of the spacecraft fell off in front of his eyes. The spacecraft was on its path to destruction, one bit at a time.
“How are you going to get Boriri out?”, Keele asked.
“I am not.”, Kevin replied.
“What do you mean? We have to save him!”, Keele looked shocked on Kevin’s reply.
“I am going to save the whole spacecraft. Boriri is not going to survive ejection at this speed.”, Kevin replied.
Keele sat quietly at his seat. He had no other choice than to wait and see what Kevin was up to.
Moments later Kevin launched three missiles from his neuroject which detonated strategically below the falling spacecraft. The thrust from the missiles’ explosions acted as brakes for the falling spacecraft thereby reducing the speed with which it was falling. This gave Kevin a window of opportunity to get hold of the falling spacecraft. He turned on the electromagnets on the neurojet and finally got hold of the spaceship. He said, “I have got it on a leash now.”
“How do you mean? Is it the magnets?”, Keele asked.
“Yes.”, Kevin replied.
“Very good, Kevin. Why didn't I think of it.”, Keele said. He looked happy. He knew that Boriri was safe now.
Boriri realised that his spacecraft was not falling rapidly anymore. He turned and looked outside the window and saw a royal neurojet flying above. He knew there was only one who could have brought it so far from its garage on Mone. He smiled and put the photograph back into his pocket.
The two bots sitting on the primeship were still monitoring everything that happened. One of them pressed a button and started speaking, “Audit entry, captain, primeship, JB-412. The spaceship’s free fall is now broken. It appears to be descending at a stable velocity into Nole. The hum within it appears to be alive. This is the final entry for this incidence.”
7. Return of the Prince
Kevin stood just outside his neurojet at a distance and watched as Keele tended to Boriri. They were all on Nole now, safe and sound. Boriri sat on a stone near his torn spacecraft while Keele scanned his body for any internal injuries. Kevin waited patiently, he was glad it ended well for everyone. Once Keele made sure that Boriri did not have internal injuries he stepped aside and let Boriri walk up to Kevin. Kevin was not sure how to greet Boriri. Afterall, he had not been talking to him for almost 5 months now.
Boriri smiled at Kevin with gratitude and a hint of regret. He said “Look at the irony, my friend. All this time you wanted to come to Nole but I kept stopping you. And, now I made you fly all the way”.
Kevin wore a faint smile on his face. He was no longer mad at Boriri. He probably stopped being mad at him many days ago but could not overcome the inertia of initiating a conversation. Maybe he was waiting for Boriri to make the first move, much as a sulking lover. As with all relationships based on love, that inertia was now mostly gone as they came face to face with each other. But Kevin still stood silently waiting for Boriri to finish. He knew he had more to say. Boriri went around Kevin and put his hands on his shoulders. He said, “Thank you for saving my life, dear friend. Eventually, the whole hum society would be grateful to you but I am already burdened with everything you and your family has done for me”.
Kevin said, “You don’t have to thank me Boriri. If anything, I need to apologise for my recent behavior. You have spent hundreds of years selflessly toiling for this cause and I know that hums are not the only ones who are to benefit from it.”
Boriri said, “You being upset was completely justified, Kevin. I should have told you sooner about your parents but in this race against time, I somehow kept prioritizing other things over it. Now that I look back, it was my weakness and guilt which stopped me from bringing it up with you. I somehow feel responsible for everything that has happened to you parents.”
Kevin stopped Boriri and said, “We all know with whom the responsibility lies for all of this. Don’t blame yourself for what would have happened anyways and probably worse in your absence. We need to teach Igogo a lesson by…”
This time Boriri stopped Kevin. He said, “We have spent a long time in the shadow of fear. Life would not wait for you to win all your battles before you start living it. I was wrong in stopping you from coming to Nole. And I was wrong my whole life. Love is the only weapon against fear and hatred. Let us all take a break, today. I believe we have earned it.”. Boriri was probably thinking about Moriti now.
“A break from what?”, Kevin asked.
“From everything. Go, talk to your friends. We have a few hours before we leave for Mone. The result of the elections are due tomorrow.”, Boriri said.
Kevin turned around and saw Joti and Gollow standing at a distance. Holum and Ibu were walking towards him. The smile on his face faded away. He was probably in shock. He never realised that he could be meeting them today.
Kevin greeted Holum and Ibu. He looked at Holum and said, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were friends with my father?”.
“I had my reasons, Kevin.”, Holum said with a familiar smile.
�
��But…”, Kevin wanted to counter but Holum stopped him. He said, “We will talk later. You don’t have much time, go they are waiting for you.”
Kevin had a thousand questions in his mind about his parents but he knew he needed more time to get into that. He walked away towards Joti and Gollow as Holum joined Ibu and Boriri.
Kevin walked towards Joti and Gollow reluctantly. He never imagined that he would be seeing them today. He was very happy but at the same time a little reluctant to face them. As he walked closer to them, he fixed his gaze below, towards the ground. He feared seeing hatred in their eyes if he looked up. He finally stopped a few steps away from them.
To his surprise, Joti ran towards him and hugged him. Gollow followed her too. He said, “All this time I thought you were more mad at him than I was. And now look, you are the first to hug him.”
“I still am mad.”, Joti said, still holding Kevin ever so tightly with her arms around him.
Kevin was relieved. He said, “Thank you guys for understanding. I feared you would not understand.”
Gollow confessed, “Well, we were mad when you left, I wouldn’t lie to you Kevin. But we soon realised the situation. We are proud of you and what you are doing for us.”
“Who told you?”, Kevin asked surprised.
“Holum and Boriri for the most of it. Boriri keeps bringing your news from Mone every week.”, Gollow replied.
Kevin realised how lucky he was to have friends and mentors like these in his life. He then turned to Joti and said, “I thought I lost you, that you will never forgive me for abandoning you here alone.”. Joti smiled, as if it could never be true.
Gollow interrupted, he said, “She wasn’t alone.”
“Yes, you are right Golli. Thanks for looking after her.”, Kevin said thankfully.
Gollow felt a bit guilty. He said, “Don’t thank me yet, Kevin. Everyone else on the spaceship would advise you against that.”. Gollow was trying to explain the situation where everyone thinks that him and Joti are a couple now. He said, “But don’t trust them, I can explain everything.”
Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince Page 13
