Chariot 3: Conception
Chapter 54 – A shattered faith

The morning sun was rising in the horizon. Unlike the others, Captain Shon Shoffer had not slept neither rested his mind. All he did was to ponder all night long.

Without an answer for his questions and an unavoidable blend of sadness and concern on his face, Captain Shoffer re-entered Chariot 3 through the badly cracked hull. He jumped from the unrecognizable Flight Deck until his hands firmly grabbed the edge of the hatch above.

His body followed the listing of the ship as he climbed his way up to the shades of the Inter Deck.

There, he moved quietly, trying not to wake up the others who an explanation for what he was about to do, he would not ever wish to give.

His stealthy hands touched the walls replaceing their way to what he was looking for. Shoffer then felt a fissure on the wall, between the sliding doors.

“The micro lab…is opened.” His fingers went through it as he tried to force the doors opened, wondering if there was anything they could use in there. “Still stuck. What a surprise!” He concluded, giving up on the door.

His hands continued to replace their way over the wall with certain reluctance. Even though Captain Shoffer had taken a lot into consideration before taking that decision, yet, he could not avoid trying to think of a different tool other than the one he disagreed the most.

“Here.” Too late. He had found what he was looking for.

His fingers felt a slight texture over the smooth wall. That was the button he looked for.

His fingers pressed it, still unsure whether the compartment would open or not, having in mind the complete lack of power among the ship.

It swiftly popped open.

The top part of the square shaped piece of the wall descended, creating a shelf-like surface. A cube slid from the inside of the wall, making a silenced mechanic noise.

A transparent sphere then emerged from the inside of the cube and stood right in front of his eyes.

“The Aryayek. Uhm…” Shoffer whispered to himself while looking at the reflection of his stressed face over the glass-looking globe. Despite how guilt he felt about going against his own beliefs by using the device he had, for long, sworn to never use again, Shoffer had run out of ideas and predicting their chances, no matter how farfetched it sounded, seemed to be the only remaining thing to do.

The Captain slowly lifted his hands at the height of his waist, took the deepest of his breaths, and then with both his hands, he touched the prediction device.

“Aryayek. What are our chances of completing this mission?” He asked the machine. His concerned voice trembled.

Shoffer waited a few seconds for his answer.

“High. As you know, your mission is almost complete.” A cold, robotic voice, completely absent of life spoke inside his mind.

“What…” He asked loudly before pausing, discouraged to ask his next question.

Shoffer then looked to the sides, ensuring he was the only one in that room and continued.

“What are the chances of my crew returning home?” Shoffer used a thought rather than his words to finish his sentence.

Even his thoughts could not hide the tension that overwhelmed his mind when asking the hardest question he would ever make.

A long silence took over the room until the device finally brought answers to his mind.

“The chances of success cannot be computed. There are multiple variables in this equation that cannot be quantified.” That was the Nibirian way in which the device had been designed to provide a “truth” that would not demoralizes its user whenever the odds were far from being on their side.

Shoffer punched the wall and then harshly pushed the device back into the compartment it had come from, promising to never touch it again.

“I knew I should have never tempted to use it. Useless machine!” Enraged, Shoffer stared at the now imperceptible space where the device had returned to while he pushed his closed fists against the wall.

There, he continued to stare at the wall with the angry look still on his face while walking backwards towards the descending hatch.

His calf felt the edge of the hole. The Captain then gave a last look at it while biting his lips and closing his fists as tight as he could, tempted to smash the concealed box against the deck.

Infuriated, he took a step back and purposely fell on the lower deck lifting a small cloud of dust as he landed.

The excruciating anger was then released as he stepped of the ship kicking the first rock he found on his way.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” He felt the pain of his broken ego and whatever had been left of his faith being shattered into pieces, the Nibirian Captain shouted continuously until he finally had to catch up his panting breath.