Project: Cayro

Chapter 4: Unwanted Answers

Cayro Bracton:

August 18, 2025

15:54 EST

The Autumn

30 miles off the coast of VA.

After getting dressed and ready, I left the infirmary and found my grandfather waiting for me in the hall. Together, we followed the signs posted along the corridor walls, guiding us to the flight deck. As we walked, I couldn't help but be utterly amazed by the sheer size of the Autumn. The inside of the ship was massive—far beyond anything I had imagined. The pictures in Sky Magazine did no justice to its true scale. I knew it was big, but this was something else entirely! The corridors were wide enough to easily fit a medium-sized car with plenty of room to spare. Unfortunately, all the doors in the corridor were closed, so we didn't have time to explore other parts of the ship. But my mind raced with possibilities—what did the bridge look like? How enormous was the hangar? I couldn't believe airships could be this colossal.

At the end of the final corridor, we reached an elevator and stepped inside. I watched as my grandfather quickly scanned the control panel before pressing the button labeled "Sky-deck." I assumed it was the flight deck located at the top of the Autumn. The elevator door slid shut, and the car began to ascend smoothly.

"Pretty impressive ship, isn't it?" my grandfather asked, glancing over at me with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, it is, Grandpa," I replied, unable to hide my excitement. "For years, I've imagined what this ship looked like on the inside, but seeing it in person—it's just amazing!"

"I remember a couple of years before I retired, the Autumn's schematics and concept came across my desk as a potential project the Air Force was considering," he replied casually, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"WHAT!" I exclaimed, snapping my head up to look at him. "I knew it! I absolutely knew it!" I couldn't contain my excitement at the revelation he just shared.

Before he could respond, the elevator doors slid open, revealing the sky-deck and two very peculiar-looking vehicles. They looked like someone had taken a hovercraft, a plane, and an old Volkswagen bus, then smashed them together to create this odd, boxy vehicle with wings and two jets protruding from the back. I could see that the cockpits were designed to fit five people—two pilots up front and three passengers in the back. The cockpit window was slanted back, leading seamlessly into the cockpit roof. The wings were mounted on top of the roof and appeared to be foldable, likely for storage.

As I continued to take in the vehicle's profile, I noticed that the cockpit slanted downwards toward a large air scoop, which most likely fed into the engine intake. Behind the scoop, two large jets were housed in shrouds. I couldn't believe these things could even fly. One of the vehicles was painted dark blue with silver trim streaking down the side, while the other sported a striking crimson red and emerald green color scheme with black trim—matching the Autumn's exterior paint job.

"So, what do you think?" came a voice from behind me. I turned to see the Captain walking up with a slight smirk.

I stood there on the sky-deck, utterly speechless. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd find myself on board the infamous Autumn, let alone interacting with Team SAF. The reality of it all was overwhelming.

"I hear that you're an avid skyboarder?" the Captain asked, breaking through my stunned silence.

His question caught me off guard. I was still trying to process everything around me. "Uh... Um... Yeah, I guess so," I stammered, still at a loss for words.