Chapter 21
"What's going on First Class?" Akshay was surprised to hear back from Mandora so soon. He hadn't heard back from the expert yet and command was trying to figure out what they wanted to do with the ship, given the leaking radiation.
"Well, no one can figure out how a mythical creature showed up on Third Earth. I know the manifest didn't mention any live creatures but…" she started.
"No one has any idea where this mythical creature came from, if it didn't come from the ship," her friend said.
"Bingo. We've got our magical friends here trying to figure out what is going on, but aside from an extinct race of people, who were more than likely gone way before the ship landed, we've got bupkis. This thing is wrecking the ecosystem and seemingly it has disappeared. I think it could be hiding on the ship. We haven't been able to gain entry but there's this weird door…" Mandora told him and quickly went on to explain the whole door situation. She could see Akshay frown.
"Defiant was an advanced ship but this door thing sounds odd," he admitted.
"Right? The more I've been thinking about it, the more I can't figure out why the ship would have that kind of thing," the blonde said.
"Well given how early of a ship it is, it's possible that that was an early version of transport to planet surface, since the ship was too large to land on the planet. It might have been a prototype. Maybe it malfunctioned and that's why the ship is in a spot that no one would have expected but admittedly, that doesn't explain how the creature would have used the door," Akshay shook his head.
"Exactly but yet we cannot find this thing anywhere. It's like it has vanished. Of course, somehow this door turned the ship's generators on. The engines are mostly buried so they can't really function. We need to get inside to shut it down but I'm not even attempting to send someone in to try and use it," Mandora said.
"Let me do some more digging into the Defiant's construction. Regrettably, given the age of the ship, we don't have anyone who built it or did maintenance on it left. I have a feeling that there is more dust and cobwebs in my future," he said.
"I'm afraid so my friend. Keep me posted. We're about to go the old-fashioned way ourselves over here," the blonde told him.
"Oh?" Akshay asked.
"Snowmeow and Ma-Mutt's noses. We're going to track down this critter," Mandora explained.
"Good luck. Stay safe," he told her.
"Same to you," with that the video call ended. She headed back into the hallway from the Control Room and was met by Snowman, Lion-O, and Slythe.
"Everybody ready?" The former Evil Chaser wanted to know.
"As we'll ever be. Musa has Snowmeow and Ma-Mutt out at the unicorn paddock waiting for us," Lion-O told her.
"You guys bringing some weapons? I mean I don't want to be all insensitive, but this creature is better off not being able to harm anyone ever again," Mandora gave him a look.
"I don't disagree but we're bringing tranquilizer darts," Snowman's eyes were subtly giving Lion-O a sideways glance, while showing off the weapon in his hands.
"All righty. Well forgive me for bringing my Boomerang," the former Evil Chaser said.
"They let you keep it?" Slythe was surprised.
"Retirement present," she gave him a wink. The group headed out the front door toward the unicorn paddock.
To Be Continued…