By KatiKat
The five doctors were sitting at
a large table in the dark briefing room, watching silently as the army of
Romafeller destroyed their space station, their actions all displayed on the
big screen in front of the room. It wouldn’t take long till the soldiers
arrived there, in the heart of the station.
Doctor J sighed heavily and
pushed a small button on his console. All of them knew what they have to do.
They didn’t like it at all, but there was no acceptable alternative.
"Relena," J called
silently.
Suddenly a bright hologram appeared in front of the screen. It was a
young girl, looking no older than sixteen with long light hair, dressed in a
simply white space suit, calm expression on her face.
"You called, Doctor J?"
Her voice was gentle and relaxed.
"Yes. I’m giving you the
strict order to take the Peacecraft out to space. To leave the docks and head
to your planned destination." He was saying it with a heavy heart. Their
hopes and expectations they had put in this project destroyed.
"And the colonists?"
Her asking this question
surprised nobody. She was an AI, but the best they have ever created. The best
program for the best ship. The Peacecraft 1 was the biggest and fastest ship
ever, filled with technology that cost them millions of credits. And for
nothing.
"There won’t be any
colonists coming, Relena," Doctor G, who was sitting opposite J, whispered
and pushed a small disc into the console in front of him transferring the data
into the Peacecrafts main computer.
Relena cocked her head to one
side while reading the informations as they kept flowing into her brain. Death,
so many dead people. All just because the Romafeller organization couldn’t take
it, that they had been excluded from this project. The Oz project started as an
idea for peace and not for the war plans the Romafeller had with their ship and
AIs.
"So all the colonists are
dead..." It was a statement delivered in a quiet and sad voice.
"Yes, Relena. And we can’t
allow for the Romafeller to get hold of you, the ship or the pilots with their
dirty hands," J explained. The other only nodded in agreement. "We
can’t destroy you - you are our child. So the only way to rescue you all is for
you to escape. The pilots and the captain are on the ship, aren’t they?"
She nodded. "Yes, they
haven’t woken up from their cryogenic sleep yet. Shall I speed the process of
their recovering?"
G shook his head. "No, quiet
the opposite. We want you to freeze them deeper again. The flight to your
destination, the Sanq 1, will be very long. There shouldn’t be any problems.
You should be able to manage the navigation and everything by yourself."
She nodded again seeing the logic
in it. The pilots had become a part of the program because of the thousands of
colonists who should have been on the ship in this very moment. The six pilots
should have been responsible for the humans on board. Relena was a very capable
being but still, as an AI her abilities were limited.
"I understand. But what
should their mission be? Seven of them on a ship that had been built for almost
five thousand people? It’s obvious that this station will be destroyed
soon," pointing at the screen behind her, "and along with it all your
knowledge, data, everything. The goal of this mission was to build a new colony
in deep space. A new colony that should have represented a clear start for all
the people who wanted to leave this war stricken galaxy... But without colonists
- why bother with building a colony?&quoot;
"I understand your
arguments, Relena... but we don’t know if there won’t be another ship built and
another group of colonists sent out in a matter of years. Or maybe it won’t
even be colonists, but soldiers...And the planet has to be ready for them - for
the colonists to welcome them and for the soldiers... the planet has to be able
to defend itself. The pilots have been trained in these things and it will
easily become their new mission."
She nodded but it was obvious she
didn’t like the prospect of fighting and killing. She has been created as a
tool of peace therefore she despised violence.
"As you wish, Sirs,"
she bowed slightly. But before disappearing back into her ship she looked
around at all of them. Had she been a human, they would’ve guessed that she had
tears in her eyes. "It was a privilege to know you."
J smiled slightly. "It was
our pleasure, Miss Peacecraft," answering with a bow of his own.
She then disappeared, leaving the
room dark again.
Using a remote control J switched
the channel on the screen. They could see the magnificent ship leaving the
docks slowly. Almost immediately all the fighters outside turned their fire on
it and the doctors had to hold their breath. They relaxed once they saw that
the shields were able to withstand all of the damage being caused by the
soldiers. In seconds the Peacecraft 1 vanished with a light speed jump into the
cold space.
There was a hammering on their
doors before they slid open; thanks to a short-circuit one of the soldier
created on the panel next to the door. A group of men rushed immediately into
the room and surrounded the scientists. One of the men - obviously the
commander - stepped forward and with a cold smirk ordered them to come with
them.
The doctors smiled to each other.
It was over now.
"It was nice to meet you
all," J said to his fellow doctors with a salute and a smirk of his own.
The other answered in the same way. And then J pulled out a small black box
from under the table and with a silent click he pressed the red button on the
top.
No one in the room had a chance
to scream before the station exploded.
TBC