Silent silence, calm, harmony. Only the light of billions of distant worlds. Space is an endless ocean, the last refuge of long-gone heroes. Their shelter, their peace. But peace is not for everyone. Sometimes it happens that heroes return…
The search module approached the accumulation of space debris – the remains of the captain’s bridge of the legendary corvette "Desperado".
“Unit #23 is in place, I’m searching,” he handed the module to the base.
The spherical body opened, manipulator arms extended. The module began to gracefully sort out garbage. From time to time he had to cut the thick-walled armor plating with a laser. But most of the time he just threw large debris to the side. Finally, Unit #23 penetrated the heart of the wreckage – the Desperado’s control room. All that was left of it were twisted melted walls, broken appliances, and burnt furniture. All this was covered with a “cobweb” – wires sticking out from all sides with a layer of dust and ash on them. It was a real crypt: silent, gloomy, sad. The module flew up to the “coffin” – the remains of a charred destroyed spacesuit – the upper part of the body, the right arm without a hand, and the mutilated head preserved in a crushed helmet. Everything else turned to ashes when an enemy salvo hit the control room.
“The target was detected with a probability of 89.7%,” the module transmitted.
Professor Verkhovsky entered the laboratory.
— Hello, Alexander. How is our patient doing?? — approaching the two-meter glass chamber, the professor asked his assistant Dr. Gromov.
– Perfect! The process proceeds at an exponential rate. At this rate it will be ready tomorrow.
– Amazing! — the professor put his hand to the camera. At that very moment, the man inside opened his eyes. Verkhovsky jerked back in surprise.
– Attention! A sharp surge in vital signs has been recorded,” was heard in the laboratory. It was Vanadis – the virtual intelligence of the Commonwealth.
– He came to life! – Gromov exclaimed.
The patient shook his head, his face was dissatisfied, fierce, but at the same time sad and perplexed. His entire body was covered with needles through which nutrient fluid circulated, and although they did not cause pain, they made the patient nervous: he began to twitch in all directions, trying to escape.
– Administer a sedative? – asked Gromov.
“The effectiveness of the sedative is less than 0.063%,” Vanadis said.
“Dear patient,” Verkhovsky came as close to the glass as possible. – Calm down, you are in no danger, you are in good hands. I am professor of medicine Sergius Verkhovsky. You are at the Commonwealth Clinic.
The man looked at the professor in surprise.
– You received a serious physical injury, remember? We are trying to cure you. You are not in danger, please calm down!
The man nodded his head.
— Severe physical injury? Professor, are you serious?? – Gromov remarked sarcastically.
“Quiet, Alexander, now is not the time,” the professor reined in.
— Vanadis, what is the patient’s condition?? – asked Gromov.
— The patient is healthy, but there is a weight deficit of 8.314 kg.
— You woke up 15 hours ahead of schedule! You never cease to amaze me! – the professor addressed the patient.
The patient smiled and made a malicious face, saying, yes, I am like that.
— All readings returned to normal. The procedure for extracting the patient can begin,” Vanadis stated.
“Get started,” the professor confirmed.
At the same second, https://luckytreasurecasino.co.uk/bonus/ the machine pulled out the needles, then the medicinal liquid began to drain. The patient fell to his knees. A powerful heat flow washed over his body, eliminating residual moisture, at the same time fluffing and lifting his hair up. And only after that the camera opened.
– Welcome to the world of the living! – Gromov said pathetically.
– And you won’t get sick! – the patient answered cheerfully, clearing his throat and getting up from the floor.
– How do you feel?? – asked Verkhovsky.
– Great, I just want to eat. Very! Oh yes, I remembered! Does anyone have a mirror?? – cheerfully and impudently, the patient drilled in one breath.
“One moment,” Gromov answered.
A holodisplay appeared in mirror mode. The patient awkwardly but quickly approached him.
– Hmm, you don’t have scissors and a razor? – the patient looked around the body. He was overgrown, very overgrown: thick two-meter hair and beard hung down to the floor. It looked like he was wearing a fluffy fur coat.
— And a nail file wouldn’t hurt either. Although, no. Circulator, please, better than two! — The nails on the fingers and toes did not lag behind the hair, they were very long and tangled, the kind that people have who have not cut their hair for decades. Because of this, the patient had to walk on his heels.
– Yes, guys. And let’s keep up the pace! I’m late for a date! “Oh, Jane doesn’t like being late,” the patient said sadly and at the same time a little scared.
— Jane? – asked Gromov.
“Jane Scarlet, aka Scarlet Jane, is the admiral of the Corsair Union of the fifth era,” explained Vanadis.
—Admiral of the Corsair Union? I haven’t heard of this. Although it looks like her. And guys, it’s cold here. I could use some pants!
– Sir, it’s hard to say this, but… “Gromov didn’t have time to finish speaking when the patient interrupted him.”.
– Let me guess, you don’t have pants? Of course you don’t have pants!? I always don’t have enough pants…
– What? – Gromov asked in surprise.
– Pants are things that you put on your legs. Just like you.
– Are you kidding?? – Gromov was surprised.
– Just a little. It’s just that pants are a sore subject for me. I would tell you, but it’s too personal. Oh, it’s still a shame…
– Maybe these are consequences of damage? – Gromov turned to Verkhovsky.
“I would like to say so, but it seems not,” the professor concluded.
– What are you talking about?? About pants? Never mind, it’s a long story… Well, they’ll give me pants? Otherwise, it’s somehow rude to go on a first date without pants, even by my standards. Especially to Jane, who will most likely beat me up for being late. Brrr. Yes, you can’t get away with this with just pants, you need an armored suit, and a nuclear-resistant one at that!
– Sir, calm down. “We have pants, now we’ll give them out,” Gromov answered a little irritably.
– Great! Listen, why are you so sad??
“Sir, this will be difficult to comprehend, but you had a very serious injury,” the professor said carefully.
— Severe injury? Ugh, I’m not used to them.
“It’s noticeable,” Gromov quipped.
Verkhovsky looked unkindly at Gromov, who cowered in shame. And then the professor said sadly, “The injury was incompatible with life.”. you were dead.
“This too,” the patient waved him off.
This stunned Gromov, he asked in surprise:
The patient simply nodded his head and grinned sarcastically.
“You were dead for a long, very long time,” Verkhovsky began to lose patience, but he did not want to injure the patient, so he spoke calmly and politely, as they say with small children.
– For a long time? a week? Two?
The scientists had sad faces and downcast glances.
– Is it really three?? “Oh, Jane will definitely kill me,” the patient said in an even more sad and frightened voice.
“One hundred thousand years,” Gromov finally couldn’t stand it.
“One hundred thousand two hundred thirty-seven years and ten months,” Vanadis counted.
The patient was silent for a few seconds, then said:
– The Guinness Book still exists?
— Call. I set a new record for being late for dates.
– So what do we have?? The ship is overcrowded with refugees from Exalium. The entire triumvirate fleet is on its tail, including the mother dreadnought. At the helm, of course, we have a pregnant woman who is about to give birth. I didn’t miss anything? – he raised his eyebrow ironically.
— Also the asteroid belt and a whiny captain who is about to become a space cake if he doesn’t shut up! — the pilot answered irritably, trying to endure the contractions and, at the same time, dodge the next asteroid.
– Captain, are you sure it’s a good idea to give control to Ann?? – asked First Mate Derian, “She’s in pain.”!
The captain wanted to answer, but Anne interrupted him:
– Pain is better than death! And now, my crooked hands, shut up, I’ll show you how to fly!
"Desperado" went into acceleration – Ann pressed the trigger all the way, the ship flew deep into the asteroid ring of the gas giant Rubrum Mar. Hundreds of asteroids were heading towards them, one miscalculation – death. But Anne couldn’t do that, not now, not ever. Life or death, all or nothing, that’s what was at stake. Desperately maneuvering, the corvette passed through the ring. It was statistically impossible, but Ann did it. After all, no statistics in the world will ever be able to take into account the strength of the maternal instinct. A power that is beyond the control of circumstances, a power that gives superhuman strength, allowing one to perform real miracles, and all for the sake of saving the life of a child.
– Anne, you are incredible! – the captain admired.
– Be silent! It’s not over yet! – the captain’s girlfriend reined in. This amazed those present even more, because Anne is usually a quiet, calm, shy girl. She never screamed, endured insults, obeyed orders. But now Ann was like a stormy mountain stream, a landslide, an avalanche, an element sweeping away everything in its path.
The Triumvirate fleet did not lag behind, as if there was no asteroid ring for it: everything evaporated under the rays of a thousand blaster salvos.
"Desperado" rushed at maximum speed towards the gas giant. Circling its surface tangentially, Anne masterfully performed gravitational acceleration. The corvette took off on the other side of the planet, rushing again towards the ring. But this time the path was not dangerous: many centuries ago, smugglers and pirates in this place cleared the ring of asteroids. The small crack in the ring has been the path of life for many centuries, sleeping with many gentlemen of fortune. Now she has become the last hope for the crew of the Desperado.
But the flotilla knew about this cunning move. The ships performed the same gravity maneuver, and exactly hit the crack.
– Everyone will get ready! – the captain commanded, taking out a box with a big red button – a launch device. By the way, the launch devices didn’t have to look like a big red button, but the captain had an irresistible craving for such things.
– On the count of three, I press! One, two, three! – the captain clenched his hand into a fist and hit the button, at the very moment when the corvette passed through the crack, and the Flotilla was still halfway there.
At the same moment, the engines attached to thousands of asteroids located on the sides of the crack began to fire. The asteroids flew straight towards the flotilla, destroying everything in their path. Having reached the target, the engines detonated. A huge fleet, the pride and power of the Triumvirate overnight became cosmic dust. The lye has disappeared. A mass grave appeared in its place.