Chariot 3: Conception
Chapter 42 – “Call me Shon”

In the meanwhile the crew onboard Chariot 3 tried to do their best to save Shoffer from hitting the ground as the ship accelerated towards the falling Captain.

“Chariot 3, prepare to activate the Extractor.” V-Nus ordered.

“Sir, I am afraid we do not have enough power to keep us flying and at the same time attract a body falling at 195 kilometers per hour.” Sissy`s lack of excitement provided V-Nus with the reply he would choose not to accept.

“Then stop flying!” He shouted back at her while staring at Shoffer`s body a few meters underneath.

Chariot 3`s propulsion system immediately turned off, and the ship started to fall at the same speed as its Captain.

The magnetic passage opened, bringing its radiant white light back to life.

“I am going down to help.” Flumen quickly jumped off his seat and moved down while feeling a strange excitement boiling on his chest.

Shoffer felt the exact moment the light hit his body. He could taste it somehow.

Besides the obviousity of the intense light that involved his body, Shoffer could also sense the slightest decrease on his speed. He could sense his body being attracted to the light.

“Sir, I am afraid the Extractor is about to fail due to insufficient power. If we do not shut it down now, we will fall along with Captain Shoffer.” Sissy`s voice broke the moment that preceded the immediate shut down of the tractor beam.

Shoffer listened to Sissy`s unpleasant words accompanied by the terrifying feeling of his speed, that in the absence of the light, increased once again.

Seeing that just a few hundreds of meters separated him from the ground, left Shoffer with no doubt other than that his life was about to end.

Accepting his destiny, Shoffer closed his eyes and prepared for a ‘new path’ as the Nibirians used to believe.

“Noooo!” Flumen shouted.

“Sissy, you must save him now! No matter what it takes!” V-Nus transmitted his orders well aware that it would place all their lives in risk.

“Sir, I am afraid we may not survive. Permission to place the ship and crew in dangerous in order to try saving Captain Shon Shoffer.” Sissy hesitated.

“Permission granted. Do it now!” V-Nus allowed her to conceive the inconceivable.

On her last attempt, Chariot 3 accelerated the ship, almost immediately overcoming the last couple of meters that separated the magnetic passage from the falling Captain.

Flumen lost the notion of time as he felt the seconds elapsing slower than ever whilst watching the Captain`s falling body slowly entering the Flight Deck through the opened passage as the ship continued to accelerate towards the ground.

Flumen stepped on the magnetic passage as soon as it closed and watched the Captain`s body still floating in the air with his eyes closed just over a foot above the deck, still falling at high speed.

“Sissy, you must decelerate very slowly, otherwise Shoffer will still die with the impact on the deck.”

Captain Shoffer finally felt the cold deck of Chariot 3 against his chest and then his legs while the spacedisc slowly decelerated.

“Captain, prepare for impact.” Sissy`s distinctive voice was followed by a rough deceleration and a sudden strong pressure on his chest.

Captain Shoffer`s chin finally hit the deck concluding the falling sensation that seemed to have no end.

Just a few meters from the ground, Chariot 3 performed a rough stop before she moved sideways, and then ascended back to the skies once again.

Shoffer watched a few drops of his blood that hit the deck being rapidly absorbed by the ship`s beyond the edge technology, which just like any other dirt or wiped substance, was sent to the ship`s lab for processing and discharge.

Flumen carefully helped his Captain to stand on his feet. Shoffer slowly tried to crack his aching body and clean his cut chin with the back of his hand.

“Sissy…” The Captain paused.

“Sir?” She enquired.

“…Thank you… From now onwards you may simply call me Shon.” With an unusually compassionate look on his face, Shon found his way to demonstrate the ship`s entity some gratitude for saving his life.

An unexpected silence took place. For a rare instance, Sissy seemed to have no words…

…Until she finally broke the silence once again “You are welcome…Shon.” She replied on a strangely, almost truly sincere Nibirian tone.