“I don’t believe you, you’re lying to calm me down.”
“We’ll see each other soon. I promise.”
The robot gave one final hug to the boy, who retreated once more towards his corner, so as not to witness anything. C0-UN1 returned to sit in front of the fire, raised his right arm, and a plate to one side of his chest moved out and down, uncovering his reactor. Denn walked up to him and crouched down by his side.
“Are you ready, friend?” asked Denn.
“I suppose I am... Stop Neil.”
“I will.”
“Is this my death?” asked the robot.
Denn took the reactor with his left hand, and with his right hand took the robot’s head. Before removing his friend’s energy source from its place, he paused, and looked at him with affection.
“You made a lot of friends, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, nobody is truly dead if they have at least one friend who remembers them.”
In one rapid movement he removed the reactor from his body. It was a small cylinder that emitted a radiant blue light. Denn remained by the robot’s side for a moment, contemplating his immobile body, thinking about his sacrifice. He dried his tears and stood up, going in the direction of the ship, leaving him seated by the campfire in absolute silence.
Without wasting time, he entered the ship and opened a compartment near to the navigation controls, where he introduced the cylinder he had taken from the robot. He sat down in the pilot’s seat, and, without getting his hopes up, he pressed the ignition. To his surprise, all of the systems sprang to life immediately. It was if the heart of his friend was now powering the old machine.
The subtle sound of the engines caught young Qein’s attention, who turned his gaze towards the space ship. A little smile appeared on his face at ascertaining that the robot’s sacrifice had not been in vain. He walked in surprise towards the ship’s entry ramp.
“Denn!” called the boy, excited. A few seconds later, Bornew silently poked his head out.
“Can I come in?” asked Qein.
“You have to. I checked the radars. The station will pass over us in less than twenty minutes. We’re leaving right now.”
“You’re going to take me?”
“I’m not going to leave you alone in here. When we take off, Neil could see the ship and try to find this place. Come in, I’m going to bring C0,” he said, and went out of the ship to collect his friend’s body.
The boy could not hide his admiration as he entered the ship. In spite of it being so old, it was beautiful. In another era, it had served galactic soldiers; one of the many ships that were travelling aboard the enormous battle ship that the robots used to escape from the Solar System all that time ago.
For Qein, the mere fact of being close to a battle ship was fascinating. The only ships that he had ever travelled on were ugly passenger vehicles, and large stations that seemed rather more like cities.
The first thing he noticed were the small rooms for the crew; five in total. He stopped for a moment to nose around, but he was interrupted by Denn, who was returning, carrying on his shoulder the inanimate robot.
“Go up through there,” said Denn, and with his head he pointed out a ladder that led to a second level.
The boy climbed up, excited, whilst Denn left the robot in one of the small bedrooms. The ladder went up to the centre of a small circular room that led to three short passageways. Two of them went to the sides of the ship where there were the controls to the manual turrets that stood out beneath the ship’s wings. The other passageway led to the flight cabin, a spacious compartment that housed all of the controls for the main systems.
Qein entered the cabin and sat down in the pilot’s seat, looking in astonishment at all of the buttons and panels, trying to imagine how each one of them would function. He wanted to touch one, but Denn came in asking him to move to another seat.
“How are we going to get out of here?” asked the boy.
“That thing you see there is not just part of this hangar’s ceiling, it’s also a large door,” he said, pointing to a place on the other side of the windscreen as he sat down in the seat that Qein had just vacated. “In order to get out, we have to open it, but that is only possible if there is energy. There’s nothing else for it than to leave by force.”
“By force?”
“I’m going to destroy that door.”
“Will you let me do it?”
“Fasten your seatbelt,” he said, ignoring the boy’s request, and buckled his own.
Denn looked for a few seconds at the panels to familiarise himself with the controls, pressed a few buttons that caused a strange sound, and took the flight control.
“Here we go,” he said, and pulled on it, causing the ship to lift up.
The ship rose from the ground instantly: everything was functioning as it should. The boy smiled with excitement, gripping tightly to his seat. Denn tilted the ship backwards, leaving it in vertical position, aiming at the hangar ceiling with the side weapons. He pressed a button, initiating the charge of the electrical barrel, and a few seconds later, the ship fired.
A sphere of energy, of a beautiful blue colour trapped in a magnetic field glowing white, left the canon at a speed that exceeded that of any other projectile; it caused a small explosion upon making contact with the enormous hatch that covered the hangar, shaking the ship with force. A hole opened up in the metal that was large enough for them to pass through. Denn straightened the vehicle, accelerated at full speed, and they shot out at a surprising velocity towards the sky.
“It’s very fast,” the boy noted enthusiastically, as he watched intently through the windscreen.
Denn did not say anything, he looked at the radars to adjust their direction and velocity; he wanted to enter the station as soon as possible in order to return to the planet’s surface whilst it was still night. A few seconds after, the ship left the planet, allowing them to contemplate the darkness of space.
“I feel very light,” said Qein.
“It seems the artificial gravity systems are only working at fifty percent of their power; we’ll correct it later.”
Denn set course for the station in order to reach it sooner than planned. A few moments later, they met with it. A brief glance from outside seemed to indicate that the station was just as they had left it. There was no reason to think it would not be safe to continue with the plans.
They got into position just in front of the hangar door to the station, which remained closed since they had abandoned it. Denn sent a request to the station’s automatic systems and input the access code that he still remembered perfectly. Captain Val had made sure that everyone memorised it before leaving.
The door to the hangar opened, and Denn brought the ship gently into the station, where he landed it, to begin the search for everything he needed.
“The majority of the things are right here in the hangar. We had left them ready for when we had to come back for them. We need this from here,” he said to the boy, pointing to a few boxes, “in addition, we have to take that old medical capsule from over there. With this fork-lift,” he said, pointing to a machine, “you’ll be able to go along putting the small boxes in the ship. I’ll go and look for the reactor.”
“Go ahead. You can trust me.”
Denn left the boy with easy tasks and went into the station which, with the exception of the hangar and a series of corridors, remained in total darkness; before leaving, they had deactivated the secondary processes in order to assign all of the energy to the navigation systems. Just in case any of the reactors failed, another would take charge of keeping the station in orbit.
Denn walked through corridors that were barely lit and virtually without oxygen. He went around the whole plaza and arrived at the station’s control room, in which the valuable reactors could be found.
Once there, he hurried to a corner; there was the very well-sealed box of reactors, protecting that which he had co
me in search of.
The lock opened via a numerical panel fixed to one side of the box, whose combination Denn did not know. He tried a few codes without luck, until he decided to search for something that would help him to open it by force. But he could not find anything.
Denn was beginning to get desperate; he pulled hard on the little door, without it yielding even a little bit. Rage began to take over as he remembered the state of urgency he was in. He began to punch in despair, and to his surprise, one of them managed to break the lock.
Something so important ought not to be so easy to open, he thought, without giving credit to his strength, just before giving thanks for it.
In its interior, there were several reactors that generated energy for the different systems of the enormous station. He read the indications from inside the box in order to find out which ones it was the safest to take out, and decided. He would take two reactors, which so far were being used for the creation and purification of water. There was nobody on the station, so it would not be needed for a good while.
He quickly began his way back; he wanted to hurry to load the heaviest things on to the ship. When he finally arrived at the hangar, he was amazed. Almost everything had been loaded by Qein.
“It wasn’t necessary for you to load everything, boy.”
“We need to hurry, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, it’s just that I didn’t think you’d be able to load such heavy machines.”
“The fork-lift did all the work... steering it was the most difficult thing,” said the boy, smiling. “There’s only that box there left.”
“I’ll bring it,” said Denn, smiling, “you’ve done really well.”
Denn carried the final box to the ship and quickly checked everything that the boy had loaded, just to assure himself that they were not missing anything.
“Don’t you trust me?” asked the boy, a little offended.
“I do. You don’t cease to surprise me. You’re brave, kind-hearted, and very strong, Qein... Your sister would be very proud,” he said as he approached him. Denn knelt down in front of the boy and took him affectionately by the shoulders, and continued: “A child should not be going through all of this. This experience will change us forever... it already has done. I’ve made many mistakes, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to redeem myself, but at least I’ll do everything possible to stop Neil. I only want you to know that I’m so sorry.”
Denn stood up, leaving the boy somewhat taken aback. He finished inspecting the boxes and reassured himself that they had everything they needed.
“Let’s go,” he said. They went into the ship and closed the loading hatch. A few moments later, they were already going out into space.
The ship began its descent on to the planet without any issue. Meanwhile, the boy watched attentively, without missing a single detail of the red flames that danced in front of the glass, product of the ship’s entry to the planet.
When they left the heat behind, the beautiful image of a vast ocean delighted them. The boy had not thought about it until that moment; they had lived confined to a small area for a long time, but this planet was enormous. There was an incredible amount to discover. He fantasised about the idea of finding islands full of beautiful animals; perhaps a few continents on the other side of the ocean, full of wonderful places. In that moment, an idea jerked him out of his state of admiration.
“It’s daytime!” said the boy. “We won’t manage to be back in time.”
“Don’t worry. It might be day in this part, but near the fort it is still night.”
“Then are we landing in the wrong place?
“We could have waited on the station for nearly an hour until it completed an orbit, in order to land near to where we were, or leave instead, like we did, and then fly to the fort from here. I thought I’d make the most of us having this ship to explore a bit,” he said with a smile.
“Will we get there on time?”
“Although inside the planet we must travel more slowly, this ship is very fast; it will take us almost an hour to get close to the fort, the same time we would have had to wait on the station. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to fly for this hour and look around. What do you say? Do you want to pilot the ship?”
Qein’s smile illuminated his entire face.
“You mean it?” he asked, incredulous. Denn nodded with an expression of happiness, getting up from the pilot seat so that the boy could sit down.
“It won’t be dangerous?”
“Perhaps... Don’t worry, you only have to bring it gently through the sky. I will be right here beside you, if you need me.”
The boy took the controls and moved them timidly.
“Go slowly. Turn gently to the right... Now go down a little,” Denn indicated to him. When the ship was close to the water, some enormous animals, like dolphins, jumped out of it trying to follow them. Qein enjoyed every second of the experience. For a moment he forgot about everything that had happened in the previous days. Perhaps that was what Denn was intending, to allow the boy to feel joy again amidst so much sorrow, or maybe he only wanted to feel normal again, even if it were just for a moment.
An hour later, everything was back to being night time. They were very close to their final destination. Denn, who went back to piloting, considerably slowed the speed in order to approach stealthily. He got as close as he could to the forest of gigantic trees that protected the fort, and landed in a small clearing. He was ready to face Neil.
“Let’s put C0’s reactor back in its place, Denn.”
“Maybe we ought to leave that for after.”
“No. Do it now. C0 must come with us. It’ll be easier if he helps us.”
Denn knew that he had to try it. The robot could be of great help, and although he was afraid of discovering that the robot would not wake up, he had no other option than to try it. He took the reactor from the ship, and got ready to return it to its original owner.
They both went to the room in which Denn had left C0-UN1’s body lying on a bed, as if he were asleep.
"He'll wake up, Denn. I know he will,” he said, but Denn was not so sure of that.
Denn lifted the robot’s arm, and got ready to introduce the reactor to its place. When the cylinder was back in its place, they checked it. The robot did not move.
"What's wrong?” asked Qein, at seeing that the robot was showing no signs of life. "Do you have to press something, perhaps?"
The silence filled the room as both of them looked at the robot as inert as before the reactor was returned to its place. Denn’s fears had become reality; the robot had not woken up.
"There's nothing to do," answered Denn, devastated. "That's it."
"It can't be, Denn, there has to be a way. Maybe there's something else you need to do.”
"I'm sorry, Qein... We already knew that this could happen."
"Can't you do anything?" asked the boy, as large tears ran down his cheeks.
Denn took the boy and moved him away from the place.
"We don't have time for this boy," he said, closing the door to the room. “It's time! I'm going to search for Neil, what happens, happens."
"I'm going with you!" said the boy, drying his tears.
"No way. You must stay here... You still have that knife, right? Hold on to it."
"If you're worried about me, then let's go in the ship. We can attack the fort with it."
"Nobody else must end up hurt. Only Neil. I've already told you before; if we go with it, there will be many casualties. The ship stays here, the same as you. If I've not returned by the end of the day, take it and get far away from here. To the other side of the gigantic ocean. You can survive, you are strong."
"No, Denn. I won't stay here doing nothing."
“Out there you would only be getting in my way. Listen to me carefully, boy, I need you to do it. There's a reason I hijacked the station. That thing we found in the robots’ shelter is highly important proof of s
omething very bad that is about to happen. I need you to survive, and to wait. Someone will come looking for the station, and when that happens, you need to take that cube to The Union authorities. I left it in a rucksack with C0. In addition to that, I also put in all the information I have managed to get."
"What are you talking about?"
"Promise me, Qein. You must live. If you don't take that information to someone, all the people who have died will have done so for nothing. That information is their legacy. If I don't return, take the ship and get out of here. Far away from Neil. You can do it; I've seen how strong you are."
"But..."
"Give me your word! I'm not leaving here until you do."
The boy looked at Denn in silence. He had no other option than to yield to his requests.
“I promise!”
Denn walked to the loading area, where he took everything he needed: a few knives, the electro-magnetic shock grenades, and some magnetic handcuffs, which he put away in a carrycase. He opened the ship’s ramp and went down it whilst the young Qein followed him in silence.
“Be careful, Denn,” he said, uneasy.
Denn took a moment to look at Qein before he left. In his eyes he could see a goodbye.
“I’m sorry you’ve lost the opportunity to go to that prestigious academy on Earth, boy.”
“The academy...? I was looking forward to going... But it’s not important anymore, Dani told me something that made me really happy. She said that our effort would not be wasted, that they would give my place to someone else. Some child that needs it will benefit from the place that I left... I feel happy for them.”
“That child is very lucky. Perhaps they’ll become somebody important.”
“I hope so... I would like to meet them one day.”
“You can do, boy.”
“I don’t want to lose you too, Denn.”
“I was afraid of losing myself, of dying here without having changed anything, but now you will be able to finish what I started. None of this was in vain.”
Denn turned around and began on his way to the fort. The moment had arrived. At last he would face the man who had caused so much suffering. All sorts of feelings passed through his mind: rage, sadness, and guilt. Also fear. The memory of that dream he had been having, night after night, was weighing down on him. That would have been enough to stop many. But within him now resonated something more, something that overpowered his fear: A formidable and renewed valour.
Convergence: Genesis Page 29
