Codename Alpha

Chapter 8

"Quite so," Max said, before informing her on what we were taking with us. We all quickly suited up. After that, we had to crawl through the maintenance lines once again, to the very stern of the ship, where the shuttlebay was located. The airlock leading to the shuttlebay currently had no power flowing through it, and as such, somebody had propped the doors open with what looked like plywood.

The shuttlebay was one of the other locations on the ship that I hadn't gotten a chance to explore. Similarly to the bridge, it was not because it was a restricted area or anything, but simply due to the fact that I hadn't gotten a chance. Of course, I had seen pictures, but there's nothing better than seeing the real thing. It was certainly impressive, though, as tall as two decks, and taking up the rear quarter of the ship. Four shuttlecraft were arranged on opposite sides of the bay, with a large overlooking control area above us. Main lighting in the bay had gone out, and it was now being illuminated by bright overhead spotlights. There weren't many other words to describe it with, other than 'pretty freaking cool,' as Max put it.

One of the shuttles was currently being lifted with a magnetic crane, slowly but surely being moved to the main launch area.

An engineer walked up to Max and began to speak. "Lieutenant Kovalev, right?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. Lieutenant Kovalev, reporting for duty."

"Alright, we're getting the shuttle prepped right now. You want us to hook up a UAV so you don't have to go down on the surface?"

"You can just... do that?" I muttered to myself.

"We don't need one, but thank you for offering."

"Understood. Listen, I've got a message specifically from Ibrahimov. He wants this mission done with as quickly as possible, and wants you to cut as many corners during preflight checks. We've already made sure everything's all good on the shuttle, though, so you've got nothing to worry about. He's also making it your choice as to where you want to land. And, one last thing, he wanted me to remind you that you have a week to either try and make it off the planet or wait for another shuttle, if things go AWOL. Got that?"

"Understood," Max said. The engineer nodded and walked off.

"Attention, away team! Your shuttlecraft is prepped for launch!" was suddenly blared from the overhead speakers.

"Alrighty, let's do this!" Max excitedly said, as we all ran for the shuttlecraft, which I noticed was named Veselka. He pulled the entry hatch open, and we all filed in. Max took the pilot seat, Vance manned the scientific consoles, hanging the medkit on her chair, and I was left with the communications console.

Max ran through the abridged preflight checks as the computer systems booted and the ion engines warmed up. It didn't take long, and before we knew it, he requested clearance to depart from the shuttlebay control room.

"Roger that, Veselka. We're preparing to depressurize the shuttlebay. Ensure that shuttle cabin is hermetically sealed." Off to the side, but still audible, was "Someone get down and take the doorstops out."

I leaned back in my chair to see if the indicator light above the hatch was showing if there was an airtight seal. As expected, there was. "Shuttle is airtight, we are prepared for depressurization."

"Understood. Prepare for depressurization."

Outside, yellow lights began to flash, and an automated voice warned of the danger, counting down from five. An alarm began to blare as well. The countdown reached zero, and a loud hissing was heard from outside as the atmosphere was sucked from the shuttlebay. After a few seconds, there was another message from the command center.

"Be advised, Veselka, artificial gravity will be disengaged in five seconds."

"Everyone, make sure that you're buckled up," I said, after fastening my seatbelt. Once again, the countdown came and went, and the feeling of weightlessness crashed upon me.

"We're opening the shuttlebay doors now." As they said, the large door slowly began to rise up into the deckhead. "Veselka, you are clear for launch. You may proceed. Good luck on the planet."

"Thank you. We'll be back in time for dinner," I said, closing the com line. Max lifted the shuttle up and maneuvered us out over the moon and into space. From this perspective, the blue planet looked a whole lot smaller than it did on camera.