Summoning America

Chapter 98: Data Core

"This is Captain Findlay. I'm preparing myself for a spacewalk. Kurtz, Lei, and Richmond will stay behind," he said as he prepared his suit and maneuvered toward the airlock.

Captain Findlay secured a tether to his suit and tested its integrity by pulling on it. Once he was satisfied with the setup, he opened the airlock and kicked away from the walls with minimal force, slowly propelling him toward the satellite. As he drifted away from the shuttle, he prepared a secondary tether, spending the time to identify a spot on the satellite where he could latch onto.

The satellite was similar in size to a large pickup truck, tumbling rapidly through the void. Aware of the danger that the spinning object presented, Findlay came to a stop, expending some of his air supply to slow down. "The satellite has a high rotational velocity. I'm deploying magnetic thrusters to bring it to a full stop."

Findlay fished some cylindrical devices from a bag, holding them in place near the satellite before activating their magnetic clamps. The thrusters quickly fastened themselves to the spinning metal hulk, sticking to its surface. "All thrusters are in place. Activating motion correction sequence now."

The thrusters fired, spewing gas in the opposite direction of the satellite's spin. The solution worked as expected, but sent the satellite drifting off toward the planet below. Taking action, Findlay boosted toward the artifact, catching it with a tether before it could tumble down to the surface of Elysia. "I've secured the satellite. Kurtz, activate the starboard-side thrusters to counter the velocity of the satellite."

Gasses fired from the left side of the shuttle, relative to its front. Once the shuttle-satellite system was stabilized, Findlay began his work. Using a tablet, he conducted a three-dimensional scan of the satellite. Upon completion, he notified his shuttle team and the ground crew at the control center, "I'm relaying the scans to Mission Control for analysis. I noticed a placard on the side, probably for identification. Might be useful to get the linguists on this right away."

"Mission Control reads you, we're getting a team of analysts right now and will notify once they're done with translations."

"Understood. I'm continuing the assignment," Findlay said, searching for a hatch. After he identified what he was looking for, he checked for screws. Feeling grateful, he updated his status, "I believe I've found access to the control panel. It's got screws, so I don't think I'll have to use the cutter."

Carefully picking up the small screwdriver in his bag, he gently slipped the tool into his bulky, gloved hand. Despite the easy nature of his task, Findlay still felt nervous due to how slow he was forced to complete it. He adjusted his grip every time he twisted the screw, resulting in a very tedious, but safe pace. After six grueling minutes of labor, he took a break to go back to the shuttle and replenish his supply of air.

He returned to the satellite and resumed his work, gently taking off the panel and securing it within his bag. Taking a look back at the panel, he cursed at what he found. "Mission Control, there seems to be a screen, and some buttons here. How should I proceed?"

"Hold on, Artemi."

President Lee watched as the managers and directors huddled together, deciding what to do. Before long, they reached an answer and relayed it to the team above. "Artemis, this is Mission Control. You must hold a magic gem to the blue activation rune and then await further instructions."

Captain Findlay grabbed a small magic gem from his bag and held it to the correct rune, causing the screen to turn on and display a set of options. "It looks like there's a list of options here. What next?"

"Prepare to receive live feed from the surface. We will translate as you go along. Please wait thirty seconds for confirmation from our linguists, in case they have made a mistake in translations."