Earth orbit...

The spy satellite of Yuri, humans in fact could see a celestial object of great dimensions. About several hundred meters.

The solar winds and the distance did not help, the camera was old and suffered from the casimir effect. Time was catching up with the distance between them and the earth.

The cameras being oriented towards the earth, the image towards space was not optimal. The one provided for this purpose having given up the soul much earlier...

"Raven... Raven... quickly!!! we are going to be caught.."

"Don't worry," Monty replied.

The two teenagers who were born on the trip and grew up together during scheduled "awakenings" couldn't stand to stay on the ship any longer. They dreamed together of seeing the land they had dreamed of but now had within reach.

The only thing they could see were films and videos of a vanished world and utopian prospects in computer graphics.

"Here, I have an image..."

Raven approached the small screen stolen and linked on a pirated channel. Indeed, the teens, especially Monty, were the kings of salvage and were experts at avoiding the commander's right-hand man, Captain Bello.

Monty was in the captain's sights and he was waiting for one thing: to catch him in flagrante delicto and punish him by ejecting him into the void.

They had settled in a technical room, behind the heat exchangers where there is always noise and behind a thermocline. So no risk of being caught.

"Raven, have you seen how beautiful the Earth is? Those clouds, the sun...."

"Yes, ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to walk on the ground and breathe clean, unrecycled air."

"Wait, I can move the camera a little bit when they're not using it..."

"But this is a bigger crime! We're going to get killed!!!"

"Don't worry! I've got it under control."

He entered some codes and the camera started to move slowly and...

"What is that?" asked Raven.

"I don't know. I haven't seen anything like it in the archives.... It looks like some kind of saucer like in the science fiction movies. But it's red and has spikes around the circumference."

"I'm afraid, Monty... This does not bode well..."

An arm leaning against the partition, a face with long curly hair stood between them both.

"Yes, it doesn't bode well for us and especially for you!" sneered Bello, who had just cornered them.

"Captain, we "

"I, Captain.."

"SHHHHt. Don't say anything more... I've been tracking you for a long time. And... I'm going to miss this but show me..."

He looked at the image.

"Is this live?"

"Yes, Captain..." cried the two teenagers caught red-handed.

"Zoom in, Monty," ordered the captain.

The teenager hastened to execute the captain's order, hoping for a lenient punishment...

"Goodness gracious!" I've never seen anything like it!

The saucer was pointing at them a kind of monster head, a beast, like a mechanical dragon.

The captain asked if they knew how to hack the commander's screen...

It was considered high treason but the poor boy with Asian features complied and after connecting some wires they overheard a conversation between a computer entity and the captain of the clustered ships.

"Igor, is the connection to Atlantis established?"

"Yes, Captain Yuri (Юрий) in Russian..."

"Are the coordinates good?"

"Yes."

"Then let's not waste time.

Fuel? "

"Transferred."

"Fitres oxygen"

"Transferred".

"Computers"

"Yes, the good ones are on the Russia shuttle, the others spread out on the America.."

"Well....Lives and supplies?"

"Everything is ready."

Bello was speechless...

He looked at the two teenagers... "Not a word...otherwise, it's the airlock..."

Both looked down.

At the end of the tour, Bello returned to the bridge to take his orders as if nothing had happened.

The captain with some Russians was busy making a check list with Russian relatives.

What struck Bello was that everyone on the bridge was Russian and so were the guards.

All the civilians and Americans and other nations were in the cryogenic tanks except for some teenagers and children who had to take a break.

This was the case for our two friends Raven and Monty.

Yuri turned around, slumped comfortably in his seat and looked at his right hand man Bello..

"My dear officer...have you noticed anything unusual?"

"No, my captain..."

"Good... As you know, the re-entry procedure requires the separation of the shuttles into two groups to safeguard our future.

As it has already been explained to you, if the re-entry is compromised, an obstacle or a failure, the role of the other team is to come to the aid or at least not to compromise the mission.

"Is this live?"

"Yes, Captain.." cried the two teenagers caught red-handed.

"Zoom out, Monty," ordered the captain.

The teenager hastened to execute the captain's order, hoping for a lenient punishment...

"Goodness gracious!" I've never seen anything like it!

The saucer was pointing at them a kind of monster head, a beast, like a mechanical dragon.

The captain asked if they knew how to hack the commander's screen...

It was considered high treason but the poor boy with Asian features complied and after connecting some wires they overheard a conversation between a computer entity and the captain of the clustered ships.

"Igor, is the connection to Atlantis established?"

"Yes, Captain Yuri (Юрий) in Russian..."

"Are the coordinates good?"

"Yes."

"Then let's not waste time.

Fuel? "

"Transferred."

"Fitres oxygen"

"Transferred".

"Computers"

"Yes, the good ones are on the Russia shuttle, the others spread out on the America.."

"Well....Lives and supplies?"

"Everything is ready."

Bello was speechless...

He looked at the two teenagers... "Not a word...otherwise, it's the airlock..."

Both looked down.

At the end of the tour, Bello returned to the bridge to take his orders as if nothing had happened.

The captain with some Russians was busy making a check list with Russian relatives.

What struck Bello was that everyone on the bridge was Russian and so were the guards.

All the civilians and Americans and other nations were in the cryogenic tanks except for some teenagers and children who had to take a break.

This was the case for our two friends Raven and Monty.

Yuri turned around, slumped comfortably in his seat and looked at his right hand man Bello..

"My dear officer...have you noticed anything unusual?"

"No, my captain..."

"Good... As you know, the re-entry procedure requires the separation of the shuttles into two groups to safeguard our future.

As it has already been explained to you, if the re-entry is compromised, an obstacle or a failure, the role of the other team is to come to the aid or at least not to compromise the mission.

You are also qualified as second captain and I count on you to guide the shuttle Europa and America. Only Russians are on the shuttle Russia. We want to be the first but also we must set an example and sacrifice ourselves when the time comes."

Bello noticed that the guards were numerous, in fact, all awake and overarmed.

This did not escape Yuri... Bello was far from naive but he played the game. Playing the masquerade card.

"It is an honor Captain to be your second in command..."

Yuri sketched a slightly sarcastic smile but he was playing along too.

"Captain, well... I can call you Captain Bello now too.... You will follow my instructions and attend the maneuvers for reentry. I thank you and you know what you have to do..."

The new Captain Bello gave his military salute and walked off the bridge to join his section in the other shuttle.

The airlocks locked behind him, guarded by overarmed sentries.

He knew he was being watched, so he acted as if nothing had happened.

His first objective was to get to the bridge of his ship and see the extent of the sabotage.

As he passed, he grabbed Monty by the ear, as if he had caught a criminal and did the same with Raven.

"Shut up... not a word... cry, beg!!!! we can hear you" he pointed to his personal tablet, a kind of advanced GSM...

They understood that it was more serious than they thought.

All of a sudden, a terrible jolt and the light turned red.

"ALERT... ALERT..."

They rushed to the bridge and through the window, a kind of geometric porthole, they could see the Russian shuttle clear of the rest of the ship.

They had detached themselves without warning, without precautions and without any distraction for the remaining humans.

"Warning, main tank damaged, proceed to pod ejection...ALERT...critical danger of explosion....

5

4

3

2

1

SYSTEM ERROR

SYSTEM VIOLATION!!

ALERT

The captain saw the shuttle moving away.

They had hit, or launched their thrusters in order to damage the Europa shuttle, linked to the AMERICA one.

Bastards!!!!

On the main screen, yuri could be seen smiling, "Bon voyage, Captain....."

but.. instead of heading to the atmosphere, Bello zoomed and saw another ship, gigantic that had just arrived..

The Atlantis.... a drone ship that was supposed to be lost. It had been used as an experimental mining ship with prisoners sentenced to death, and sent to explore meteorite clusters to extract rare and valuable materials.

The crew had perished but...who knows.

Yuri was behind it all.

Bello shouted to the AI to stop the alerts and view the status of the 2 coupled shuttles.

AI America:

"Heat shield OK"

"Life support OK

"Battery power 80%"

"Power off..."

"Solar panels defective..."

Bello "Zoom in on the panels. They may not be deployed"

"Deployment procedure"

And with horror, the arms deployed panels.... that were no longer there.... The Russians had done a fine job of dismantling... without causing any mistakes. A fine sabotage..

"AI, make a simulation. Wake up the compartments, energy consumption..."

AI: "Captain, if we wake up everyone, the batteries will only be at 20% and it will be insufficient for the re-entry of the 2 shuttles".

After a moment.

"Main reactor?"

AI: "There is still some fuel in the positioning ballast but not enough to consider a flyby. As soon as we enter the atmosphere, we'll bounce and if we're lucky, we'll re-enter to crash"

Bello: "And by combining the resources of the 2 shuttles into one? By waking up the ones from America and transferring to Europa?"

AI: "No, my captain... "

"Any other info?"

"The re-entry computers are in error, old version, impossible to update, the cards must be replaced. They are on the "Russia."

Bello pounded his fist, swearing.

"Bastard... he condemned us to a horrible death..."

AI:" Carbon filters saturated. Reservations on the Russia..."

He clenched his fists and turned his head, his long hair touching the desk. He looked at the two hackers...

"If you have an idea... now is the time..."

Monty: "I...ah.... Cabal???"

Bello stared at him.

"AI: Send a distress message!!!!! If we have to die, let them die in their sleep...it's better this way! "

"You two lovebirds. Are you staying or sleeping? There will be no more alarm clock!!!!"

Against all odds I have: "Transmission being received".

The blue figure appeared and spoke.

"Humans.... this is CABAL. I have analyzed your situation. You are lost... but we can get you into the atmosphere and we can bury your remains. End of transmission"

INTRUSION ALERT!!!

Everything went out, as if dead.

No more lights, nothing. All black!

Bello: "I don't like it!!!"

And, by reflex, they went to sit in the seats.

Immediately afterwards, the belts caught them at the neck, arms and chest, locking them, as if they were prisoners.

A picture appeared on the screen with Professor Hans in it.

"Dear friends... As you can see, this is an image of what awaits you. You are not prisoners, but according to my assistant Cabal, you are supposed to die in any case.

But I am here to remedy that... a true work of art. As a scientist, you have 0 chances of survival left, but let's stay positive. You are still alive and we are trying to get you out of here. This is an encrypted recording. The structure in orbit is watching you and is malevolent. You are supposed to perish by accident and they are going to put in a little push so that you don't survive. They will not help you and by your disappearance, this planet is rightfully theirs in their logic and their empire. No more natives or intelligent life forms, and that's it.

We will first make you return to the earth..."

Bello: "No!! stop... we have no more reserves!!!"

But the message was looping....

Like a pre-recorded code, the booster rockets began to whirr.

The control valves were sabotaged and only the shut-off valves remained.

Then they began to click at low frequency...

Monty: "Yes, they are replacing the proportional openings with a PWM valve, making them oscillate but they will get damaged..."

Raven: "At this point.... "

The two mated shuttles were jolted and the chemical engines or boosters started up,

It was the retrofusés of landing....

Yuri, on his side looked with amusement at the desperate attempts of the Americans (Europeans, Asians and all the others on board the ark).

He quickly made his calculations and started to laugh.

"At least they'll have a grave....they'll crash at full speed into the northwest...."

And he took a glass of Vodka "Here's to you, Yankee..."

In the orbiting structure, a commander was analyzing the trajectory...

"Hidalgo: Commander Minos, no need to use our heat ray, they will crash... What do we do with the other shuttle that's headed for an automated ship?"

Minos: "I've spotted some humans with mana... We could use it..."

Hidalgo: "I'll leave you to deal with the situation, I'll go back and report to our Lord Tyrant."

A circular shuttle came out of the structure and went into the sidereal void, in the direction of "Venus".

During this time, the mixed ship was shaking and the 3 awakened humans were stuck to their seats because of the abnormal acceleration due to the chemical boosters.

Then, everything stopped... There was nothing left to do but watch....

In one day, at most, they would enter the atmosphere to burn up or crash like a bullet.

From their window, they could see the blue planet and the moon getting bigger.

As the computer was no longer responding, everything had been consumed and there was nothing left to do but pray.

The belts were loosened and the doors unlocked, due to the lack of electricity.

Only the cryogenic cabins were powered by battery backup and an emergency wake-up procedure was underway for everyone.

Silence reigned. A dead silence and... the cold was beginning to invade the structure of the ship zone by zone.

The air was also becoming rarefied, well it was the level of CO2 that was rising. The filters being out of order.

The 2 humans started to jog to warm up and to drink the coffee remaining in the thermos.

They were preparing for a feast, the last human feast, but Bello wanted to stop Monty from opening one of the last chocolate bars.

Yuri had left them at least one last farewell meal...

Raven: "This is our last meal..." Then...she broke down in tears against Monty.

"I don't want to die...."

Bello:" Then let's pray that Hans is right...."

Without any control, the shuttle was approaching the earth's atmosphere at a dizzying speed.

On the last lit screen, they could now see the exterminator satellite, pointed towards them.

The whole structure was shaking, the gravitational waves were now impacting on the ship and the end was approaching.

Sitting back in his seat, Bello pulled out a small musical instrument. A harmonica... A rare and even less played piece.

He began to play a sad country tune. He couldn't remember the name, but it was one that the old cowboys used to play at night, when they knew it was their last night to live.

Raven was crying and sobbing, clinging to Monty who was trying to put on a brave face. But he too was holding back tears...

The music was punctuated by the shaking. and... against all odds, the satellite's nuclear missiles were all launched in the direction of the shuttle

The AI woke up and said "Buckle up.... Impact in 30 seconds!"

The missiles, in clusters and all linked together, slowed down

Impact in 10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

... "CLONK"

The missiles had embedded themselves between the 2 shuttles and, of a blow, their engines reignited, thus braking the double shuttle.

Yuri, on his side, got up from his seat...

"COMMENT!!!!????"

Speed was always critical. They were dying a little slower, by the microsecond...

The missiles ejected and scattered into space, emptied...except for their payloads....which had become useless.

But the air came into friction with the shield and immediately everything lit up with a fiery color.

Bello gritted his teeth and saw the clouds and the mountains they were about to crash into.

The shuttle was about to spin out of control when a contact sound was heard and it straightened up.

Something was flying underneath them and leaving a trail of fire. A delta wing???

They could see the mountain rising in front of them. Finally, a mountain range that formed the border between the former Canada and the United States.

and... suddenly, lights on the ground.... A track???

Then. like plates suspended in the air, like glass ...

Then it was the impact.

BANG.

And the fall slowed down with successive BANGS.

What was it?

Nobody knew, but the stone towers were luminous.

They stood like skyscrapers surrounding a huge swamp complex.

BANG

BANG. BANG

and. It was then the impact on the ground, well, not really but a slide on the water.

The ship, started to bounce on the surface but was captured by an invisible spider web, like a huge force field.

And the fall stopped at the end of the swamp, near the banks.

The water should not have been more than a knee deep.

Then there was silence.

Everything faded away and the night regained its dark cover.

They were on the ground, alive and surrounded by a lush jungle.

Raven: "ALIVE.... WE ARE ALIVE!!!"

But, they crashed to the ground, unaccustomed to Earth's gravity after all those years in space.

Bello manually opened an airlock door, to let in some fresh air, and took a huge breath.

"Now... what will become of us???"

What struck him were the cries and sounds of the jungle, populated by unknown animals and creatures...

He turned to the youngsters: "We'll stay here at night. It's too dangerous outside..."

But the kids were excited to go out for the first time.