Chapter 52 - Point Nemo (part 21, final)
- Emergency! The central square has been destroyed. Emergency! The central square has been destroyed. Cabin crew, please assist the passengers in evacuating.
The siren has been set throughout the cruise ship, stealing the chill atmosphere away. I glance out the room window, giving me a fairly clear view of the whole ship. As expected, there is a large hole in the central square. Water starts to pour in like a flood.
- Mirai, have you detected the source of the missile? - I turn to ask Mirai.
- Not yet, but I have circled down the possible locations based on the missile's trajectory. But we will talk about it later. The ship will sink in five minutes.
At this point, the drones should have evacuated, but just in case, I reload my photon pistol with another full round. We pack our luggage into the tablet's storage space and take our leave.
The way to the nearest lifeboat is highlighted by the yellow lights along every nook and cranny of the ship. We use the emergency stairs to descend the accommodation building and after a few hundred metres manoeuvring the lengthy ship's rear, we reach one of the lifeboats. Several crew members have been allocated there to assist us to board the lifeboat.
In the instruction manual that we watched on the first day, there are about fifty lifeboats along the cruise ship, helping to hold a thousand passengers and crew members. The lifeboats can last for at most a day or two before the rescue helicopters arrive. In this place uninhabited by aquatic creatures, the only source of danger is weather events, but the weather forecast says that there will be no storms.
Since we are the only few people residing in the accommodation blocks at the time of emergency, there are very few people occupying the lifeboats around us. Most of them have been deployed to serve the crowd in the partying area (of course excluding the unfortunate ones that suffer from the full blow of the explosion).
- Mirai, can you start checking on the missile?
- Yes. Give me a moment.
Mirai opens the tablet and shows us the footage from the satellite. All of the necessary points have been highlighted on a holographic map.
- This blue cross is the coordinate of the cruise ship. We take it as the origin.
Mirai taps on the blue cross, and the axes shift so that the centre of the explosion becomes the point of origin. Other numbers also start to appear along with the coordinates of the ship.
- This is the first time the missile is detected, roughly a hundred kilometres away from the cruise ship, in the north direction, with an angle of depression of approximately sixty-five to seventy degrees.
The footage starts playing. The missile travels in a direction towards the blue cross. The explosion is three minutes after the missile was first detected.
The trace of the missile is drawn as it flies.
- A guided missile. - I sigh.
- Yea. That is why I cannot. - Mirai also sigh.
The trace is not a parabolic path. So there is a driving force.
- But, I can roughly extrapolate if the Intruders are not trying to outsmart us. Here.
The holographic map zooms out. The possible areas are highlighted with another colour.
- Are there any satellites or fighting units in the possible areas?
- As of now, our satellites do not detect anything in the vicinity. I think we need more information.
The lifeboats near the central area of the cruise ship are filled with a sense of alertness and the noise of the panicking people trying to get on board the lifeboats, unlike this area. We are calm. The crew members are also calm. The few people who board the lifeboats are also calm.
Soon, the cruise ship submerges into the deep water, never to be seen again. The starry night is the only source of illumination that would save everyone from the scary darkness of the ocean.
After some failed attempts, the crew members can finally light up some lamps and hang each at the tip of the lifeboats, making the second source of light.
Fortunately, the crowd seems to have calmed down. The crew members then panel the lifeboats to arrange them in a row to more easily control the passenger numbers. At the same time, they have also contacted the nearest rescue unit, and helicopters are on their way.
- Dear passengers, we will initiate mini-barriers surrounding the lifeboats to protect you from any unprecedented weather events. Please sit still while the connections are being set up. - The captain of the cruise ship loudly announces.
Several antennas grow from each lifeboat. They transmit electrical signals to each other, and after a while, a barrier has been set up.
The next hour is just purely waiting and doing nothing. The only difference is that there is an Internet connection, so I decide to do some work to compensate for the last two days. The customers are chasing me again.
Mirai seems to concentrate on finding the source of the missile. She has been looking at the tablet for some time, and even though she can do everything in her head, the fact that she even uses the tablet means that she is serious.
The crowd is abnormally silent, but I would not complain given a free conducive environment to work.
After an hour, rescue helicopters come in lines. But, I would not want to refer to them as helicopters. The central one rivals the small commercial aircraft. The large aircraft is escorted by a fleet of true helicopters.
The blinding lights of the rescue lamps radiate a large area of the water. Various hooks are launched from the big aircraft towards the lifeboats. The crew members quickly assist the rescue pilots by connecting the hooks with the lifeboats. After proper gearing, the lifeboat is lifted safely into the aircraft. Under the atmosphere of urgency, the lifeboats are lifted after one another, and passengers are quickly arranged into the designated seats. We are among the last people to board the rescue aircraft.
The crew members help to align the lifeboats into a rectangular array and connect all of them to the escorting helicopters. After everything is done, they are also brought into the aircraft.
After the administration kinds of stuff are cleared, the rescue team announces through the system.
- A very good "morning", ladies and gentlemen. The rescue flight will last for two hours, travelling a total of around three thousand kilometres, which will bring you to the Canberra pod station. This flight is sponsored by the Royal Australian Air Force. Now, I will pass on the microphone to the crew members.
After a few seconds of silence, there is the voice of the captain of the cruise ship.
- Thanks. So, first of all, in response to this very unprecedented crisis, we would like to give you a very sincere apology for this inconvenience. Next, since the emergency expenditure is also covered in the cruise package, the tickets to travel using the pod station, as well as the cost of a temporary visa to Australia, will be provided by our company. Once again, thank you for travelling with us. We hope to see you again, but not in this weird situation.
This will be the last time I travel on a cruise ship. My first impression of a cruise is traumatising.
But, this bombing is also our fault. I bear some responsibilities, but it will be either we are arrested, or they would think we are insane.
As the helicopter safely travels back to land, I take a nap. That is enough for now.
__________
- I am a bit curious, but why is your fate tied to explosions? - Issac looks at us with pitiful eyes. He places his hand on my shoulder.
We are at the Canberra pod station, and as soon as the news makes it to the headlines, Issac quickly rushes towards the pod station, despite it being the early morning. I told him about our cruise a week ago but did not expect him to remember it so vividly.
- Who knows... Maybe I use up all of my luck on getting a free deluxe cruise.
The conversation is very abrupt because the pod schedule is allocated right after the rescue aircraft reaches the land, and every passenger and crew member has undergone rigorous checking to obtain a temporary visa. After a few words, we greet him and enter the customs.
- Remember what I mailed you.
Those are the last words that reach my eardrums.
- What is that, Yuusha? - Mirai asks me.
- Just some secrets between men, nothing to worry about. - I try to fake it.
And that is the weird encounter we have had with him. As the pods accelerate, the image of the country flashes in front of my eyes for the last time, before nothing can be seen due to the pods entering the travelling tubes to minimise friction.
___________
- Ah, home sweet home. That goes for our New Year's holiday.
There is a package sent to our address. I approach it and unbox the package with a photon blade.
- Mirai, the diamond trophy thing is here already. Do you want to display it in your room or something?
- Oh, just put it there. I will pick up the trophy later.
Spending the last pinch of energy left in my body, I throw my whole exhausted body on my comfy bed. I have no energy left, and the pain throughout my body due to insufficient sleep starts to kick in.
- Yuusha, at least take a shower. You will make the bed dirty.
Contrary to me, Mirai is going around the house and starts setting up something. The only thing that reaches my senses is the sounds of creaking machines and the electric zaps as something is set up. After a while, Mirai comes back.
- What did you just do?
- Our identity is exposed already, right? I am just trying to save whatever we can. This barrier is just like the one in our room back then, but the effect will spread throughout our home and the vicinity.
Mirai presses a button from a control panel on her left arm. I can feel a slight burst of energy vibrating through my body, but the feeling quickly halts. It likely means that the barrier setup is done.
- Is that another module?
- Yes. But this is just for aesthetic purposes. I can control everything through my central processing unit.
After the flexing performance, Mirai also comes back to her room.
- Guess I should also go and recharge myself. Sweet dreams, Yuusha.
- Yes, have a good sleep.
That day for us just ends in the morning, maybe early noon.