Mwene's eyes lit up when he ran a system's check in the dim cockpit. A blueprint of the ship popped up on the monitors for the first time since he discovered it. The ship was a slender parallelogram with two cubic forward slanting frames, a larger one near the front with the smaller one near the end outside it. The frames were the exhausts for the EM engine with two pillars attaching them to the main ship on the top and bottom. It had an engineering deck, the engine room, kitchen, agricultural deck, a server room, armoury, observation deck, a storage room, a hangar and dormitories. With its length being 300m long and 35m tall with 3 decks at its thickest it wasn't compact by any stretch of the imagination.
"Energy capacity is at 20%, a minimum of 25% is necessary for a successful take off." announced the ship's A.I. The exhausts glowed red. Her voice was less distorted, although just as monotone, from the last time he was in the ship. Things were looking up and Mwene grinned foolishly at himself from ear to ear until he heard someone call his name, which brought him back to reality.
He turned around and Anan grabbed his face and inspected him. Her hands reeked of glue. Her eyes vigorously scrutinized every inch of him. Her velvety skin belied just how capable she was of being able to rough house most people. Ayla walked in a moment later and poorly tried to hide her laughter as she leaned against the wall next to the door. Her hands were dirty as if she had been running her hands through mud.
"A little help here." Pleaded Mwene.
"Not my problem." Replied an amused Ayla.
Anan let go and sat in the captain's chair. She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she savoured the headrush before expelling the grey fumes out. She opened her eyes and fixed them on Mwene and his still raw cheeks.
"Explain, from the beginning. What happened?"
Mwene did the best he could to retell everything that had happened since they last met at the tavern. Nike entered in halfway through his explanation with a bottle of water. Inyanga, with wires in his hand, joined in at the end. When he was done Anan nodded to herself and put out her cigarette with the sole of her heeled shoe. She sat in her hands; her face completely obscured by her hair. They all sat in silence for a couple of moments.
"These past few days have been nothing but hell. I'm sorry about your mother". Anan broke the silence. "Me too." added Ayla as she sat up and looked around the room at everyone.
"Thank you".
"We ain't got time. Set a trap outside but they're comin' and they're gonna hit hard." Inyanga chimed in. "How much time is needed?" Ayla quizzed. "Maybe six hours." Inyanga guessed. "I'll need more. The A.I is helping me in the computer room but it's a jungle in there." Remarked Anan. "I'll help." Nike volunteered. "I'll go with E to the engineering deck. There's no point being in the agricultural deck" Anan stood away from the wall ready to move. "I'll head to the engine room and finish up. Remember don't hesitate to call for help. Right now, we're all we have." Mwene's words of encouragement bounced around everyone's heads and hearts as they headed into the belly of the ship.
They all left the room, focused on the task at hand. Mwene grabbed a welding torch and got to work. He lost himself in his work as he got absorbed into connecting every wiring, driving every screw and tightening every bolt. The walls of his anxieties melted away. Nothing else mattered except for him and the engine at that moment until Nike caught his attention. He was standing in the doorway waving a bottle of water. Mwene quickly wiped his hands with the hem of shirt and loudly guzzled the water.
"Forgot to give you this back in the cockpit."
"Thanks. How long has it been?" Mwene wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
"5 and a half hours." Answered Anan as she walked in with Ayla who was in her shadow.
"We've done all that we could. E is heading now to the cock pit now to reboot the system." explained Ayla.
"It's just a matter of time now." smiled Mwene who looked at the engine.
"Your dad's one hell of a man to have built this."
"He didn't build this but came up with theory that made it possible." Corrected Mwene.
"How do you know that?"
"Just a feeling"
The lights went off and everyone lit their flashlights. They all sat down on the floor except for Nike who was on his back staring at the ceiling and just soaked the comfortable silence in. Nike quickly sat and looked at Ayla who was observing a freshly lit cigarette in Anan's hand. "Ayla, what happened between you and Gio that night?" Nike had a cheeky smile on her face. All eyes were on Ayla. "Oh…yeah that. Um…. did you know the ground is made out of floor? Anan laughed nervously.
"Now, now. Let's hear it."
Inyanga walked through the room and sat next to Anan who gave her the cigarette. "Wait, when was this? Where was I?" Mwene asked. "This was his party last year when like 3000 people showed up and the boys in blue rocked up and shut it down. You and E were doing the beer runs all night." explained Nike. "Beer which you never brought back." Anan's eyes bored right into Mwene who could only laugh at his embarrassment. "Ahh." Inyanga realized as he took a drag and handed the cigarette back to Anan.
"Well. We're waiting"
"Fine." sighed Ayla. "I was sitting by the lake waiting for Anan when Gio came out of the bushes, smelling like alcohol. We spoke for the first time ever and it was fun until…."
"You kissed?" interrupted Anan.
"Proposed?" asked Nike.
"I wonder what I'll wear to the wedding." Wondered Mwene.
"Hopefully I'll get a bunch of nephews and teach them a thing or two 'bout self-defence." Inyanga punched the air with his right while his left shielded his face.
"…. well, he puked and fell in the puddle. Luckily his friends came over and apologized and whisked him away."
"Even the most handsome man on Terra is nothing compared to a bottle of liquor."
Shrugged Anan who handed the cigarette back to Inyanga. "At least I'm a heavyweight" declared Mwene as he flexed his arms. Nike and Inyanga rolled their eyes. "Why are you asking? How did you even know?" Mwene quizzed Nike. "He came to the clinic asking for you. He wanted to say sorry in person." Nike answered "We're definitely getting a wedding now." Anan flatly said. "He did sing for me, and it was the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. The type of voice that caresses your ears. "Noted Ayla. "Nephews with the voices of angels and a mean left hook would be somethin."
"I could even cook for them." Mwene announced. "No!" The rest of them shouting before all erupting in laughter. Then all lights came on and the engine began to hum louder than it had ever done to Mwene. All the computer consoles came alive.
"Reboot complete. Energy capacity is at 26%. Take off is now possible." Announced the A.I. They all looked at each other with stars in their eyes. They all hugged each other and laughed together in celebration. They were one step closer to touching the stars. However, a dull thud brought their jubilee to a premature end. "They're here." Inyanga declared. They all nodded in agreement. It was time.
A handful of dead soldiers littered the destroyed tank. Its flames produced a toxic pillar of fumes that reached high up to the sky. Helicopters circled the butte while men with dogs approached cautiously on foot from all sides. A sea of tanks and rocket artillery were closely behind the soldiers and beyond them. Chase walked to the tank and knelt and looked directly into the listless eyes of a burning corpse. A red scar circled around his neck. He was searching for something in their lifelessness. After a moment a soldier quickly approached and showed him a map on his tablet.
"It's confirmed. They're in the Baikonur." said the soldier.
"Good. Good." Smiled Chase as his men moved in position to spring the trap and end this once and for all. He raised his arm up with his fist closed. All the men stopped. The tanks aimed their barrels. The rocket artillery positioned themselves. Then they waited.