CHAPTER 4
BLACK RESULT
JUNE 2, 2048
68 Axwell-class cruiser CJ-3455-WV emerged from the flip side of the wormhole.
69 The space in this sector of the galaxy was completely different. In front of them a different star burned - Sirius, that was. They seemed to be lost in the field of planets, comets, and asteroids amongst them. Captain Turner engaged the obstacle-evasive system. Immediately the ship started rocking back and forth - on two planes. Simply put, it moved left, right, up, and down. Soon enough, they were past the asteroid field. In front of them was their destination planet.
70 Turner tested the connection of his ship's radio to Mission Control. It was dark. Just a hint of crackling could be heard. He let go of the PTT button. "A black result", he sighed. "I guess we're on our own this time, comrades."
71 Captain Turner glanced at the planet. And then twice. Then thrice. He then stared for a longer time. He blinked after a few seconds. This could not be happening. Before he could gasp, his first officer spoke up.
72 "Captain, shall we initiate entry?"
73 "We shall. Activate the heat shields. We don't know the proper approach angle for this planet so we'll use Earth's."
74 "Yes, sir!" The flipping of a few switches could be heard, and that same drone of a voice: Heat shields activated.
75 As if in reply, Turner then ordered, "Computer, initiate entry sequence."
76 Everyone in the cockpit gaped in awe as a blue bubble enclosed the ship and flames started surrounding its entirety. "Check attachment locks. Close the airlocks. We don't wanna make Julius and Venus the galaxy's new orphans." The officers heard Turner, and started tapping furiously at touch screens positioned around 25º from horizontal. Soon enough on the monitor appeared a diagram of the ship, showing the status of the locks that held the cockpit, Julius, and Venus together.
77 All the locks had a green circle next to them, indicating that they were securely armed. Everything was going as planned for the group of 128. The group watched as the altitude indicator's integer fell in value - 300,000 feet. 250,000 feet. 200,000 feet. 150,000 feet…
78 Turner pressed a combination of buttons on his control panel as the flames and blue aura around the ship subsided. "Main engine start for final entry approach. What's our altitude?"
79 The third officer spoke up. "100,000 feet above sea level, sir."
80 Turner then pressed another sequence of buttons, tapped a few times on his touch screen panel, and pulled a lever. The ship started to transition from being perpendicular to the ground to being parallel to the ground. A few minutes later, they were flying horizontally.
81 The captain then brought the condenser microphone up to his mouth and announced. "All crew, prepare for descent and landing." They were losing altitude a smidgen faster than a commercial jet plane would do. Finally, after an hour of descent, the altitude meter hit 0 feet and everyone prepared to disembark.
82 "Turner to Control. If you can hear me, we've touched down."
83 Turner held his microphone. On the other end, there wasn't only white noise; there was a faint trace of cheering and euphoric celebration…