Chapter 10: A Relic in the Sky
"Don't you think you're being a little immature about this whole thing?"
"Royce, I swear to god if you say one more word about that pink haired freak - I will throw you out the damn airlock!"
"Alright, alright." He crossed his arms underneath his brown pressure suit. Above them, a ceiling of broken puffy clouds concealed the sun.
"Valor Crane you are cleared for takeoff runway three six left winds two six knots at forty, contact Federation launch control center prior to atmospheric egress Six Seven point Two Eight."
"Copy." Ria released the button and shoved him. "Advance the throttle, jerk-"
He raised a one finger salute then eased the throttle forward.
They climbed forward and upward through waves of turbulent air, aiming for a crack in the broken clouds. Mountains of gray tumbled over their heads. Soon they spotted a small crack in the billowing layer and pulled up through it. The Crane's long wings bent deeply under the load and the plane pitched into a climbing helix.
They emerged into blue sky and they continued their lazy corkscrew upwards.
"So what- you hate me now?" he asked.
"Yup," she quipped, nodding her helmet up and down repeatedly.
"You know, I got a pretty shit deal too. Something happened to my head last night. I don't even remember parts of it. And I felt funny this morning."
"Oh and I suppose any of that's my fault?"
"You make me sound like a total pervert. Am I so terrible- for wanting to see someone from fifteen years ago? For wanting to meet someone I clearly knew but I can't remember anything about?"
"You're a total pervert. And a cheater."
"I texted you after you didn't come home. I swear I've never seen her before last night. I didn't expect anything to happen." He lied, "I've never flown with her. She kills her co-pilots! For goodness sakes- why would I?"
"Oh, you didn't want to fly with her! Clearly you thought sleeping with her was so much safer."
He thought hard for a moment.
She growled in frustration, "UGHHH! I can't believe Ishigami sent me up with you instead of Morisato. You know he likes me, right? You know he confessed to me?"
"What?"
"After we made it back from that shit-storm of a mission where you almost fried your brain, Morisato and I almost made out. How's that make you feel?"
"Oh, is that where you spent the night?"
"That's none of your business."
"OHHHH! Look at that- the pot calling the kettle a cheater? I knew it! That's why you didn't respond!"
She was silent now.
"Well now, I guess we're even."
"No it doesn't!" she screamed in the mic and the plane shuttered back and forth as he struggled to hold the stick steady. "I had a one night stand and you messed around with your childhood friend dream-girl. Totally different."
"I don't remember much. But if I recall anything about that point in my life, the time we spent together wasn't exactly dreamy. More like a nightmare." He grew quiet. He noticed the numbers lining up on his display and turned serious, "looks like we're nearly out of atmosphere."
He peered over his shoulder and directly behind he saw a three pointed star rising above the afternoon horizon. The shape was distinct and appeared almost as large as the moon. He looked ahead at the black sky above the curvature of the Earth below.
"Okay Ria we're T-minus thirty." A green wireframe tunnel appeared square in the center of his vision, stretching upwards.
"Throttle is you," she said hesitantly.
He glanced at her, wishing he could see her face, and replied, "You know, I just- had to see her. It's why I came here."
"I know. Just- give me some time -"
"T-minus five." The computer interrupted them, "four", "three", "two..."
He clicked a button and felt a surge of acceleration push him backward.
This time he held the craft steady at a shallow angle upward. The sound of air rushing past the canopy stopped. Only the roar of the engine remained.
"RCS wheels are active, thruster pack is operational, monopropellant temperature is on the line."
He looked above him. The massive white object was gaining on them, advancing like a tanker ship on the surface of a black ocean. As it grew wider, he saw three spear-like points extend from a central hemisphere the size of a small city. It was miles wide. Something about the station seemed unnatural, it defied logic. There was no way humans could have built such a thing.
On its bottom were a number of black painted numbers the size of city blocks, and white vertical shafts that looked like docking ports.
The engine continued to roar behind them as they slowly caught up to the floating city. Finally it came to a stop and parked itself overhead.
"Shutdown in two… one…"
He pulled the throttle and the roaring noise sputtered out. His arms lifted up, almost involuntarily. His legs and boots lifted off the Crane's pedals. Only the belts restrained him.
"Holy shit. We did it."
He unbuckled and Ria followed him. Every movement was slow. The air inside the Crane was thin, but their movements were relaxed. He took off his helmet and looked into her bright green eyes gleaming in the sunlight from a shining pinprick in the sky. He pushed off from his seat. "We did it." He smiled.
"Yeah, we did." She smiled back.
Hanging below the gargantuan white bulk of the superstructure, gigantic humanoid figures loomed between white arms and metal trusses. They gave off an unearthly lavender glow from their sinewy spider-like arms. Long shadows revolved around the dozen or so giant figures like they were sundials. He turned to Ria. "Are those?"
"Tracers," she said.
Then the sun disappeared and they were engulfed by the blackness of planetary night.