Auroris: Crew Expendable, Pt. III (END)

Zac coughed, coming back to consciousness as he struggled to refill his winded lungs. Taking a few more deep breaths, he looked around the shuttle flight deck.  Everything else was fine; it was just the high g-forces in the launch that had winded him. All in all, no more than thirty seconds had passed.

“Isaac, Chell, you two alright?” he asked.

Yeah… we’re good, Isaac said. Both Pokémon were in the first officer’s seat, and they were shaking themselves off. You were the only one to black out.

“Well… alright. Glad you guys are alright.” He glanced to the flight displays. According to the computer, the shuttle had set its engines to idle after they had escaped Auroris’ sphere of influence- also known as the minimum safe distance if the arkship’s reactor ever went critical.

Right now, the Mt. Chimney was coasting amongst the stars.

Hey Zac, Isaac piped up, and motioned to the ladar display with a paw. That thing started pinging a few seconds before you woke up. What is all that?

Zac looked down at the display. “It’s… the other transponders. Let’s see, gunships, maintenance shuttles, and lifeboats… there’s eight in all. And, it’s trying to find out where we are…”

The display flickered, and beeped again, changing its display. Alongside the cluster of pinging transponders, several large objects floated. Some statistics appeared.

“Speak of the devil. Let’s see… we’re…” he frowned slightly, in surprise. “We’re at about 52 AU from the Sun. Not far past Pluto.” He watched the other transponders quickly head for the bottom of the screen. “And those guys… they’re really hauling.” He selected one; after a moment, the display estimated the craft’s speed at almost .44c. “The mechanics must have overhauled them.”

How about us? Chell asked.

“Um… those smaller ships are taking a slingshot route. They’re obviously heading for Earth, and I’ll get the computer to find a fuel efficient route.” He entered the destination into the primary flight computer: Low Earth Orbit. It flickered, and the screen was replaced by a spinning loading symbol.

“While it thinks, I’m gonna go check out how the cargo made it. You guys hear anything?”

There was a crash, but that was probably the loader, Isaac shrugged. I’ll stay here.
I’ll stay with him, Chell seconded.

“Sounds like a plan. You two rest a little, I’ll check it out.” And with that he descended the stairs into the cargo hold.

As he walked down the cabin, he glanced at the cryo pods along the side. Some of them had broken free, and shifted down to the rear of the shuttle, but most of them were still neatly locked in place. At the end of the cabin sat a pile of yellow metal that used to be the automated loader. Its limbs were mostly intact, but the joints had fractured-

Oi, the thing’s going off, Isaac interrupted Zac. The Guardian hurried back to the flight deck. Indeed, as Isaac had said, the flight computer was beeping frantically. Bringing it up, it displayed a calculated flight path that would take the Mt. Chimney slingshotting past Jupiter, and then catching up to Earth. Looking at the estimated time of travel, Zac found it was…

“4,171 days,” he murmured, calculating in his head.

11 years, Isaac finished.

All three of them were quiet for a moment, before Zac spoke.

“You know what? That’s not bad. We just need to get the shuttle ready for long spaceflight, and we go into the pods. They’re actually stasis tubes, no cryogenics involved.”

… If it works, I guess, Isaac muttered.

As long as we get home, it will work, Chell agreed.

“Well, in that case…” Zac keyed the command to execute the flight. The engines gave a muted roar as the shuttle adjusted its trajectory. After a moment of redirection and burning, the shuttle again went quiet.

“Let’s go home. Come on, let’s get everything set up.”
--
The trio spent around 48 hours getting the Mt. Chimney ready for its long voyage home. Radiators were extended outside to cool the electronics; the intakes were set to scoop any hydrogen they could to add to the fuel tank. The cargo hold was cleaned up slightly, the shifted cargo relocked into place and the loader remains stored.  After that, little by little, all but the most essential components were shut down. The life support was to be shifted to standby after a timer finished, the temperature was lowered, and finally, the artificial gravity was disabled.

After their work, Zac guided his Pokémon to individual stasis pods. He helped Chell into the first one, and gently restrained her.

She looked back at her trainer and her friend, floating above her.

Will we dream, Zachary? She asked.

Zac turned a simple switch on. “Yes, we will. We’ll dream together, alright? I’ll see you soon.”

And with that he set the time for 4200 days. The pod slid closed with barely a hiss, and within a few minutes, the Ninetale’s breathing was almost nonexistent, her body slowed to minimum function.
Isaac was next. The Espeon was easier to assist into it, and he settled into the pod.

See you in a little bit, Zac, was all he said, a faint grin on his feline muzzle. Zac grinned in return and petted the Espeon’s head, before also setting the timer.

Zac glanced over to the last opened pod; the one that would be his shelter and life support for the next decade. Before he climbed in, though, he thought of something. Pushing away from the pods, he glided over to the stairs and guided himself onto the flight deck.

The cockpit was dim and chilled, with just a bare amount of lighting from electronics. Zac floated over to the pilot’s seat, and found a communication headset. He put it on, and turned on the communication laser, aiming it to Earth. After a pause, he spoke.

“To anyone who hears this, this is Guardian Zachary Bowman of the IPLA 202 … RESEARCH VESSEL Auroris. That’s right, you bastards. We know the truth. And unfortunately, your plan failed. If you’re still out there, there are several groups of survivors heading your way. The first should arrive shortly, if they haven’t already. If you want to salvage the ship, feel free to come pick me up, I’d love to talk. Until then, this is Zachary Bowman on the ExoCorp shuttle Mt. Chimney, survivor of the Auroris, signing off.”
And with that, he turned off the radio.  Ten minutes later, he was strapped into his stasis pod as the lid closed above him.

--

Zachary stirred, feeling the cool breeze against his fur. He opened his eyes and got to his feet, rings glowing gold as he stretched and looked around. He was in a meadow, grasses and flowers swaying gently from the breeze, coming from the distant purple mountains.

Underneath a lone tree sat an Espeon and a Ninetales. The fox wagged all nine of her tails in sight of Zachary, and the Espeon beckoned him over. Zachary laughed and bounded over to his friends.

The terror of the last days on the ship had faded. There would be new challenges to face later. Until then, there was a brave new world to go explore.