Chapter 430 - Titania.
Yang Dao and a crew of six more people sat inside the Fluid Vessel. After detaching from the space station, the young man turned on the engines and the craft moved. There was no friction in the space so the people only felt a slight centripetal impact before they returned to normal. Lin asked, “What will be our ETA?”
Yang Dao said, “According to the system trajectory, six hours.”
His voice was calm and the people nodded. He moved the controls and the spacecraft moved forward. He maintained the trajectory manually. He did not want to disclose RALF to the world and thus he did not install the hyperlink in the ship. The reason was that the nations of the other astronauts were checking the craft for safety.
Yang Dao did not trust them, although he could have fooled the scanning systems it was not his style to do such things. He kept monitoring the trajectory and the sea of stars. He asked, “What do you all think? Is this place too good of a spacescape?”
The botanist in the crew was gazing from the side porthole. She could see the home they had left behind. She said, “Indeed, the home looks so well from here?”
Yang Dao nodded to her and said, “Tanya, you have a daughter I remember, no?”
Tanya nodded with a smile and said, “Why do you ask?”
The young man shook his head and said, “No, I just thought, you named her Titania, was it always your dream to get to the moon?”
Tanya was surprised, the name was not something she came up with and they have never even noticed it being in the same place as the moon’s name. The people in the crew were all surprised by the observation made by this young man. They knew that he was the biggest businessman and this whole expedition was funded by his company.
During the training period, they have found that this boy was not normal. He was a genius at everything he did. He had learned a lot of things from them during the training and he was a special soldier too. This resume had shocked the world when they found it. Yang Dao was a low-key person but when his achievements were listed, the people were lost for words.
Tanya woke up from her surprise and said, “You would not believe it, but until today, I have never taken notice of the fact that my daughter and the moon share the same name. See, back at home, the moon is a name used for a cosmic body and we call it the moon as well. Nothing else.”
Yang Dao nodded and said, “Well it is okay. Nothing out of the usual, I guess. None of us do notice such things.”
The people nodded and Tanya asked back, “Why did you want to go to the moon?”
“Haha, I am twenty years old, the youngest ever to set for on a planetary body outside Liro. Sounds cool no?” said the young man. His witty reply made the people smile. They did not expect him to have such a goofy side to him.
Lin smiled and said, “How about we add the first person to that title as well?”
The rest of the people looked at each other. Yang Dao shook his head and said, “How about we all jump at the same time and land down at the same time?”
The people laughed, suddenly a sound echoed from the radio, “Fluid three, this is command. Do you copy? Over?”
Yang Dao pressed the button and said, “Go for Fluid three. Over.”
“You are about to reach, please reduce the speed to intercept the surface.” spoke the person from Liro.
Yang Dao nodded and said, “Acknowledged, initiating landing procedure.”
He fiddled with the few buttons on the console and the spacecraft began to slow down. They could see the Titania getting bigger and bigger on the window. The probes sent by Yang Dao earlier had told them that there was no atmosphere on the moon. The spacecraft slowly began to descend on the surface as a vertical landing jet could.
Three clamps detached from the lower body of the spacecraft as the distance was closing with the surface and the people were getting more and more anxious. Suddenly, they all sensed an impact coming from the chassis of the spacecraft. Yang Dao pressed the button on the console, “This is Fluid three. We have made contact with Titania on Zero Four Hundred Hours.” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
…
Back on Liro, the people heard the voice coming from the radio, and they all began to yell in cheers. This scene was witnessed all over the world. The people had no idea why they were so happy but they were happy. Feng Yun announced a sudden bonus for all her employees. The world was a happy paradise at that moment.
…
Yang Dao opened the exit hatch and said, “You guess can decide, who will go out first, but be quick we have a tight schedule to follow.”
The guy did not say anything then. The astronauts decided to play a game of stone paper, scissors. After three rounds it was decided that Tanya will take the first step out. The rest followed and Yang Dao was the last person to go out.
…
Tanya slowly held the railing extended from the spacecraft. She said, “The gravity is half that of Liro. Be careful with your jumps.”
The people nodded and thanked her for the advice as they all walked out of the spacecraft slowly. Yang Dao walked at the back of the crew and this all was being recorded and telecasted to Liro directly with a lag of few seconds.
The boy posed at the cameras and the few people took time to jump around. Then Yang Dao took out five levitating boards and said, “We will first head to the supply station. We need to erect the spacious cottage.”
The rest of the people nodded and they all boarded the levitating boards like they were trained to. Yang Dao rode at the pace with the team and they came to a place one kilometer from their landing site. This was where they had a lot of stuff delivered earlier when they sent probes here.
The cottage was actually a smart bunker the Bay-Mach engineering came up with, obviously, RALF helped from the shadows. Nothing big to be honest. Yang Dao pressed the button on the lapel hanging from the big pile of things.
As soon as he pressed a button, a green light flickered below it, and then it started to unfold. Lin and he both moved together to roll over the airlock system from the space craft they were traveling to while the rest of the team worked with other equipment.
Lin asked, “What is the main motive here?”
Yang Dao smiled and said, “Reaching the peak of the water element and comprehending the laws of space and time.”
Lin had been told about his real identity by Laohu Bai and was entrusted to guard him while he practices. His words shocked Lin. She asked, “Do you not have to visit the special realm of the two laws for that?”
Yang Dao shook his head and said, “Eldest had told me that only those who have touched the premise of the two laws are allowed to get through the seal barrier there. You see these two laws can allow one to change the pattern of the whole world as we know about it. So one must not be ignorant about them or misuse can cause doom.”
Lin nodded to him. She was well aware that the people she was dealing with were not normal and the rules of the world she lived in were not as simple as they seemed to be. She had no rights and powers to intervene with the steps they take in order to accomplish their goals, however, she was aware that the people were not harming the world.
Yang Dao placed the airlock and initiated it. The people all moved inside the bunker carrying a few things from the supply pile. The took four more hours to set up the electronic and computer systems inside the bunker.
Then the boy said, “You guys rest, I am going out to explore. The command is with Major Lin. I will be back in ten hours.”
He had eaten the dry rations they had kept in store for the astronauts. His words did not make anyone curious, after all, he was young and had better stamina and curiosity about the unknown. If they know why he was going out, then they probably would have chained him to the bed. Taking up his lev board, Yang Dao left the bunker.
…
Back on Liro, Atsuji Kurogame smiled as he sat under the shade of a big tree and mumbled, “The test of Titania, now begins.”
Behind him stood the three other familiars.. Feng Yun said, “He will do it.”