The sun shone brightly in the sky, making its way toward the horizon to end the day and rest on the cool seawater. The time was around 3.00 p.m. It was supposed to be a calm hour in the Octagon Veranda, with two more hours left before the end of the day shift. However, there seemed to be a little commotion. A crowd had gathered on the island's west coast, which was unusual for this time of day. But today, there was a special occasion - the H-1129, the best-ever built spacecraft of Octagon Verenda, was returning to Earth from the new space station with the first samples from the station. Yet, from the looks on the faces of the people gathered, it appeared that something had gone wrong. The crowd was abuzz with whispered rumours of a mission failure, which was quite surprising. There had not been a single space mission failure in the last fifty years in Octagon Verenda. The people eagerly kept their eyes on the sky awaiting the arrival of the H-1129 spacecraft.

Meanwhile, inside the Octagon Verenda building, the atmosphere was quite different from the tense situation outside. At first glance, there were no visible signs of a mission failure or any rush. Everybody seemed to be engrossed in their regular work, going about their duties in a calm and composed manner. But interestingly, the door to the main mission control room remained closed. This calm nature remained for a few more minutes before the rumour about the chancellor of the security sector rushing to the mission control room started to spread. And in this case, the rumour turned out to be completely true!

 As Chancellor Bostic made his way towards the main mission control room, his body language betrayed a sense of urgency and concern. His shoulders were slumped, his dark brown eyes were unreadable and his mind was racing with thoughts in every step he took. His light skin complexion appeared a little paler at the moment. His private guards were following him close behind. Each of them seemed to realize the difference in the chancellor's usual nature but they knew better than to question him on such occasions. The two younger-looking guards following him closely exchanged a heavy glance. They were the chiefs of the Chancellor's private security detail, a high-ranked position in the security sector. They held high military ranks and were responsible for planning security protocols for special events to ensure the safety of the chancellor and others. They had their own privileges, reputation, and great responsibility. In case of an attempted attack on the chancellor, they would be the first to be interrogated. But also the chiefs of the chancellor's private guards were often considered the most likely to become future chancellor according to repeated history.

As the chancellor turned left after the staircase, the black-headed chief who was following him closely raised his voice.

"Sir, I think it's left we're supposed to go to reach the main mission control room," he said hesitantly. The chancellor paused for a moment, then nodded with a tired smile.

"Yeah, you're correct. I was a bit lost in thought," he murmured, turning left.

The two guards exchanged another look. "Is everything alright, Bell? You look... different," the brown-headed chief, asked the chancellor in a low voice.

"Yeah, Kal, you know the space mission? There seems to be something wrong," the chancellor whispered in a very low voice.

"Wrong?" the brown-headed guard questioned, still in a low voice.

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"Can't say anything more at the moment," the chancellor murmured as they reached an iron door.

"I won't be back any time soon. You all can go get some rest. I'll call back when needed," Chancellor said, putting his thumb on the scanner.

"Max and I will wait in the outside room for you, sir, " the brown head guard said quickly.

"No, if you really need to, leave two guards outside, but you and Max need to go home. You two barely had any rest today. You'll be more needed in the evening," the chancellor said as the door fell open.

The two guards watched as the door automatically closed after the chancellor entered the room that only chancellors were allowed to access.

As the chancellor Bostic entered the room he realized he was the only missing person.

"What happened? Did you take it across the Bermuda Triangle by any chance?" Chancellor Bostic asked as he made his way toward the huge computer screen that stood like a wall. The person who stood at the wall turned to Bostic with a dramatic sigh.

"Oh, here you are. Did you just wake up or something? You were supposed to be here an hour ago," the man said, clearly angry, his dark eyes glistening. That was the Chancellor of the Astro Sector, Jupiter Turko.

"Well, I had to deliver my speech at the new cadets' welcoming ceremony, you know that was necessary. And by facts, this is a mission of the Astro Sector, and my presence is not necessary," Bostic replied in his firm, calm voice, which seemed to irritate Chancellor Turko more.

"Well, it is necessary now, isn't it?" Chancellor Turko said, turning back to the huge computer screen.

"I think so, after you've messed everything up," Bostic said, watching the screen. Jupiter bit his lip nervously.

"Every other chancellor had time to be here, but you-" Turko tried to continue, but a steady female voice interrupted.

"Cut it off, both of you. That's not going to help. Even if Bell was here, you would've still decided to take the spacecraft across the Bermuda Triangle," she said, her blue eyes flickering to the huge screen.

"So what do you think, Kristin? You're in charge of the mechanics, so any idea what might have gone wrong?" Bostic asked curiously.

"It's a thruster failure, few stabilizing thrusters failures as we have diagnosed already, but we have extra thrusters which allow the pilot to manually turn them on. However, the time between the failure and the manual activation had changed the path," Madam Evens, in charge of the mechanical and communication sector, said in a steady voice, explaining everything like a professor teaching her new students.

"If you could speak in normal language?" Chancellor Bostic said, raising an eyebrow.

"There has been a slight deviation in the spacecraft's path, which was adjusted by the backup thrusters, but the overall path is a bit changed already," Jupiter said in a low voice.

"And you decided to take it across the Bermuda despite all the choices?"Bell asked, clearly irritated. Jupiter crossed his arm dismissively, turning to the screen.

"It was the shortest way given," Jupiter said shortly. Bell opened her mouth but a new complaining voice chimed in.

 "How could a design from the mechanical sector possibly fail? It hasn't happened in the last fifty years. I think this is a great personal failure for you, Kristin," the blonde-haired woman said with a sarcastic smile. Chancellor Jupiter nodded in a disappointed way, while Madam Evens stared at the lady, a bit confused.

"No time for these word games, Jessy," Jupiter said to his lovely wife, the chancellor of the environmental science and energy sector.

"But it's concerning, Jupiter. There are already rumours spreading about the failure. People are confused," Jessy said in her sharp voice.

"Well, it was a micrometeoroid causing this, not something we can handle. We already had talked about an orbit cleaning with the Astro Sector, which was scheduled for the next week," Madam Evens said, cutting her off.

"The mission control unit is connecting us with the pilot," Madam Elsa Blake, the chancellor of the medical sector, who sat in front of another screen, said, raising her voice tired of the conversation going on. All the chancellors adjusted their earphones, desperate to hear any word from the pilot.