“Looks like my Path allows me to use the console. Says here it requires a Navigator score of five and my score is listed as ten. I bet that’s also how Nathan opened the door.” Nori looked at him. “You have a path that allows you to do that, right?”

The man nodded.

“Is it Navigator?”

He shook his head.

Nori nodded. “It makes sense; not everyone in the crew can be a Navigator. There are probably a whole bunch of Paths that can use that console, but I guess your Expert Path isn’t one of them.”

“Oh.” Lana visibly deflated.

“Cheer up.” Nori clapped her shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find a ton of stuff you’ll be able to use that I won’t. Now let’s check out this shuttle.”

They went through the circular door and lights flared into life around them. The shuttle's interior was round, roughly four meters in diameter. Metal harnesses were attached to the wall and a raised dais with screens was situated in the exact center.

Nori moved to one of the harnesses and pressed her back against it. A metal cage descended, surrounding her body, anchoring her in place, but leaving her arms free to move.

“What are you doing?” Lana asked nervously.

“Just checking how this thing works,” Nori said as a light console appeared in the air in front of her. The Navigator put her hands on it and her fingers thrummed over it as if they had a mind of their own. “Wow, that’s intense. I have no idea how I know what I’m doing ... but I know what I’m doing.

A message flashed before her eyes.

Exit chute blocked. Launch aborted.

“Shoot,” the tall woman said. “We can’t launch.”

“What?” Lana's voice raised in pitch. “Why would you even try? This sounds like a huge risk.”

“Odds are this ship is busted,” Nori answered in a businesslike tone. “Otherwise the alien we saw would have taken off with it, but the shuttle might still be working. With all that alien tech, it’s bound to be a better aircraft than our planes, right? Imagine what we can do with it, how many people we can help.”

“Wait, do you know what I just realized,” Lana said slowly. “We can use the technology here. Until now we used to think the Calamity destroyed all of Earth’s tech, but maybe we just didn’t have the level to operate it anymore.” She turned and looked at Nathan wide-eyed. “Was that how you activated the monitors and radio in our hideout?”

The man nodded.

“Did you gain a level before we got here?”

He shook his head.

Lana sighed. “Nathan doesn’t know how he was able to do that.”