“Good, then it’s settled.” Nori’s lips twisted into an excited smile. “Please make sure your seatbelt’s on and the folding trays are in the upright position. Lift off in three … two … one ...”

And then they were off.

6 - New Faction

There was no sudden pressure, no momentum gluing them to the walls. One moment they were docked inside the ship and a moment later they were flying above the Earth.

“Inertial dampeners,” Bulco grunted. “What the hell do we need these harnesses for then?”

The monitors on the central dais flared into life, showing the land below. Lana’s face sobered as she saw the signs of devastation. Many buildings were burned, some collapsed. Many streets were clogged with crashed cars and only a few parks survived the Calamity, looking like small specks of green in the scorched background. “It’s worse than I’d thought,” she said grimly.

“Let’s head to the Old Stadium,” Bulco said. “It’s the closest shelter, and I’m fairly well known there.”

“Alright,” Nori said. “Give me a second to figure out how to fly this thing.”

While the woman was busy working her light console, Nathan's head turned sharply toward the central dais. He felt a signal that escaped the notice of the inexperienced Navigator. He concentrated briefly and rotated his wrist.

“Hey, what’s that red dot?” Lana pointed at one of the monitors.

“Can’t talk right now.” Nori’s fingers blurred over the console. “Too busy making sure we don’t crash.”

Lana blanched. “Good idea.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting,” Bulco looked intently at one of the screens and tapped a few keys on his own light console. “The shuttle’s floor can open up so you can bring in large items. The carrying capacity is also impressive: over five tons. Now let’s see what makes it tick …” His thick fingers tapped a few keys. Compared to Nori’s graceful fingers, Bulco’s looked like he was banging thick sausages on a keyboard. “Here we go,” he said. “Interesting … very interesting.”

“What is?” Lana asked.

“The power source. Says here it uses Tec-Void power cells. It’s currently at ninety percent. That should be enough for several days. Looks like it usually recharges when it’s docked, but the ship is running on emergency cells itself. We don’t want to exhaust those.”

“So, when the shuttle runs out of power we can’t fly anymore?” Lana frowned.

“Looks like it,” Bulco said grimly. “I’m guessing the ship’s cells are larger and can probably recharge the shuttle once or twice, but then it’ll dry out, and we won’t be able to access its systems.”

“We’re nearing the Old Stadium,” Nori interrupted them. She sounded strained. “There’s something going on down there. Switching to the main display.”