"Colony vessel Charon, you are almost clear for launch. Please hold - we appear to have some trouble on the outer perimeter."
"New York Control, this is Charon. Surely if there is trouble, we should launch? I presume we're talking about toothy trouble?"
"Charon, shut your trap. You'll be cleared when we ascertain the problem." The voice abruptly became fainter, as though controller had turned away from the comms panel. "What the hell is kkkrrrrhhhh on?" Pause. "Oh, kkrrhhh! Keep them away from the tower!"
The faint 'kreeeo' of pulse rifle fire echoed across the comms channel, with even fainter screams and inhuman screeches in the background. Both noises grew in volume as the sources came closer.
"Evacuate kkkkrrrhhhhhh tower! Bugs incoming!" A loud crash. "Look out!" Weapons fire screamed over the channel.
"I've heard enough," snarled Hector, all business now. "There's probably no-one left to clear us. Helm: take off and set course for FLK-797."
A long grinding noise echoed through the ship as the outdated docking clamps strained to hold the ship on the ground, and then failed completely. Looking through the windows of the ship, Jake spotted other ships taking off all over the space port, and little black shapes swarming over the outer perimeter. So much for the last city.
"How did they break through so fast?" murmured Artemis Gearing. Despite only being fifteen, both she and her twin sister were mature beyond their years.
Holly snorted. "Damned pen-pushers. They must have put all the troops on the New York perimeter to try and keep the city safe. The bugs just swarmed a section and the whole thing must have collapsed. Nothing left to hold them back." She shook her head. "What a waste."
The Charon's engines screamed as the ship strained against Earth's gravity. The ship looked nice from the outside, but the interior components looked like they had been constructed from second-hand spare parts. In other words, very poorly.
Jake looked at the hypersleep chamber dubiously. From what he had seen of the rest of the Charon's components, the little stasis capsules did not fill him with confidence. "Are you sure we need to use those things? I'm happy to stay awake, personally."
Hector sighed. "I've told you already. If you're awake while in E-Space, it does weird things to your mind. I've used these things loads of times. They're perfectly safe. We've even got spares if things go wrong. Just relax and enjoy the ride."
A siren wailed briefly.
"That was the five-minute warning. The capsules are fully programmed - get in."
With a sigh, the fifty-strong crew of the colony ship got into the hypersleep capsules. The covers slid over, and quiet engulfed the ship.
Silence.
There was a small beep as the computer did a final check of its instructions. A message appeared on the main screen reading: "Final confirmation activated. Countdown to E-space: 0:04:00. Confirm?" The computer was programmed to automatically confirm this after those four minutes ended.
"0:03:45"
"0:03:30"
The computer detected input on the control panel. "0:03:15. Unable to deactivate countdown. Enter replacement instructions prior to countdown completion."
"0:03:00. New course input: Confirm?"
"0:02:45. Confirmed: Enter new course."
"0:02:15. Course entered. Activating new course."
The Charon groaned slightly, and the stellar vista changed as the ship changed direction.
"0:02:00. New Hypersleep capsule instructions. Confirm?"
"0:01:45. Confirmed. Enter new instructions."
"0:01:00. Failsafe mechanisms deactivated. Occupants will not be roused in event of capsule malfunction."
"0:00:45. New time perameters for hypersleep. Confirm?"
"0:00:30. Confirmed. Further instructions?"
Nothing more occurred. At '0:00:15', the computer detected the opening of a new hypersleep capsule, with different time perameters.
At '0:00:05', the computer detected the activation of the capsule.
And then, as it was programmed to do, the computer stimulated the jump to E-space. The Charon flickered, and then entered into the void of deep space.