The Abyss of Time

Chapter Twenty

     There were four other landers floating beside the Orchid. Another Callista class lander, a large Beagle class lander and two small Finch class vessels. On the other side of the ship, Miller knew, five other landers had just emerged from the other hanger bay. They all fired their manoeuvering thrusters to take them a safe distance away from the Lucina while the outer airlock doors closed again, ready for the next ten landers.

     At the same time, the Lucina launched a constellation of satellites. Dozens of them of various sizes from cubes the size of a man's fist to behemoths the size of a lander. Communications satellites, ground survey satellites, weather satellites and others with various specialised functions. As they drifted away from the mothership their engines fired up, driving each of them into its own particular orbit around the planet. It was something they'd left until the last minute as the cyborgs might have tried to shoot them down. Also, it would have alerted the cyborgs they were coming. Any cyborgs still alive on the planet couldn't have missed the launching of the landers, though, which would have been easily visible to the satellites they'd taken control of and launched before leaving the ship.

     Ten minutes later all twenty nine landers were grouped together a couple of miles away from the mothership. A ragtag, fugitive fleet, Miller thought, remembering another ancient television series he'd liked to watch in his childhood. And like that fictional fleet, they had enemies. Two of the Finch class vessels had been hastily outfitted with weapons in case the cyborgs came to attack them in their stolen lander. They would fly on either side of the main fleet, escorting them down to the surface, their radars and other scanning systems constantly alert for anything that might be a threat.

     "All landers free and clear," said Pangiran over the intercom. "We're now going to send the Lucina to her grave. Giving the command for the Lucina to fire up her main engines for the last time. For those who want to watch, we're televising the event on channel thirty one."

     All around, people produced their tablet computers and struggled to find the video feed with fingers that were clumsy through the thick gauntlets of their surface suits. "He forgot to ask your permission," said Zanele to Miller.

     "The Captain of a vessel, in the air, on sea or in space, is always in charge," Miller replied. "It's a law that's as old as sea travel. I was the boss aboard the Lucina, but we're not aboard the Lucina any more. Pangiran's the boss of this lander, and the whole fleet. I'm just another passenger now."

     "That doesn't seem right," his wife protested. "After all you've done."

     "I don't have the skills to know what to do out here," Miller told her. "Pangiran does, and in an emergency he can't waste time explaining the situation to me. He might have to act fast. Any delay could be fatal."

     Zanele nodded unhappily and looked down at her tablet.

     Miller looked at his own and saw the Lucina hanging with stately grace against the stars. Her running lights were still flashing and some of the windows still had lights glowing in them where people had forgotten, or just hadn't bothered, to turn then off. There was nothing to show that the ship was dead. Nothing but a corpse that was about to trundle itself into the crematorium. As he watched, it began to move. The thrust from the main engines was pushing the ship out of orbit abound the planet and would then drop it into the sun. Nothing would be left that might be of use to the cyborgs.

     "Farewell, Lucina," said Pangiran, his voice being heard by everyone on every shuttle. "Thank you for getting us safely to our new home. May you rest in peace."

     There was a moment of silence as nearly a thousand people watched the great ship slowly move away. Then Pangiran spoke on the intercom again. "Well folks, time for us to get moving. I see that we're all in formation so we'll all enter the planet's atmosphere together. The descent will take about three hours and we'll be landing in time for lunch. Everyone please remain in your seats and keep your seatbelts on."