'Ryan come over and let's discuss the plan you have. I also have something to discuss.' It was Awasthy calling on his iPad. Ryan took the call and answered. Awasthy also dialed Susan.
'Awasthy are you back. What a pleasant surprise. Will be there in a minute,' replied Susan.
'Ms. Susan we need to get going. We have to do something. We just cannot be sitting idle and hope that everything will be alright. I have to search them somewhere somehow anyhow,' asked Mr. Awasthy with one hand in his pocket and other hand pointing towards the sky.
'But do you have a plan?' asked Susan.
'I am sure that the Government is not going to listen to us, Megan was sure after the meeting at CSA headquarters.
After several hours of both numerical and qualitative analysis everyone agreed that there is no other but to arrange financing through crowd-sourcing and fight the Anti-Cursor in its home and in the way it should be.
Ryan decided that he should go to the spaceship where the Anti-Cursor is dwelling and finish it as soon as enough funds were collected.
Awasthy drafted the message for Social media the whole night and uploaded it. Everybody waited for the response of the generation which used GRIID as tool and was aloof of the burning issues around them.
Megan followed up with CSA on the object near the north pole which could have caused the Aurora Anomaly. CSA replied in an email communication. The email read as following-
The SkyMapper project launched in the early 21st century had carefully documented all near-earth objects with precise details. SkyMapper project classified this object as a comet first. SkyMapper gave it the name 'C/2017 U1'. Later SkyMapper revised it to be an asteroid and gave it the name 'A/2017 U1'. SkyMapper project also measured that this object exhibited acceleration not attributable to gravitational forces of nearby masses, the GRIID based analysis of its external properties declared it of natural origin coming from out of the solar system. Based on this information the Committee of Machines software running on the GRIID decided by a vote of 9: 7 that nothing dangerous exists in that region of space. This object is very much like wandering minor planets of the other solar systems rather than an alien spaceship.
******
Audience have gathered in the pavilion of SpaceY launchpad eagerly waiting for the take-off of the Shuttle by CK3 group, an entity owned by Mr Awasthy. SpaceY was a private space agency and if anyone is ready to pay them the right amount they were ready to send him to space at whatever location he wanted. Shuttle was chosen even though it was costlier than one time to use rockets because it would come back after the journey. Finances were arranged through crowd sourcing initiative. A bulk of the donations were from Fairmont School.
Just before the launch of the rocket Mr Awasthy was arrested on the charges of mismanagement of funds of the CK3 group. The countdown had started and everything seemed to be just alright. Ryan was preparing in the space training center of SpaceY.
Megan came inside the training center and kissed Ryan before he wore his spacesuit. Ryan's vehicle started towards the launchpad. On the way he saw his dog Dodji running behind. Dodji came from behind and jumped on his shoulders. Cool breeze blew on Ryan's cheeks. The vehicle by this time reached the base of the rocket stand. Ryan boarded it and Dodji just followed it. Dodgi just was curious and leaped onto the vehicle. Ryan got it up with his hands handed over to the ground staff. Dodgi reluctantly agreed to stay back.
The Shuttle proudly soared through the skies. The smoke melted the worried hearts like the ice in heat. Ryan was sitting on his arm-chair being pushed down like a balloon because of g force. His facial expressions were giving a scary look but there was hope in his heart. The sound of the engines was deafening initially but soon the rocket crossed the sound barrier. Beyond this point there is nothing to hear. Ryan turned his head toward left there were thick clouds, after 10 seconds Shuttle crossed the sound barrier. Loud noise of the exhaust of heated gases just disappeared. Engine's noise was still there. As the rocket soared into the edge of the atmosphere, the bright sky outside the rocket started turning dark then it went completely black. Sun was still shining bright. Ryan could check the exact range, altitude, and the distance traveled on the monitor in front of him. Since he was not a professional astronaut he was least interested in these things. The rocket was just a means to reach the spaceship where Anti-Cursor was dwelling.
SpaceY's shuttle did its fast maneuvers to reach near the orbit of the Anti-Cursor. Its engines have fallen down. Ryan was floating in a space module in the Shuttle which was to be disconnected on reaching the orbit of the spaceship. He saw that there was a giant rock shaped spaceship hovering over him. From the outside it looked exactly like a big rocky meteor. It seems the Committee of Machines was right. Ryan's space module got disconnected from the Shuttle. Ryan adjusted the controls of his space module to align with the spaceship. The space module rotated itself targeting the spaceship. The thrusters kept it at low speed to avoid collision with the spaceship.
Whoa the speed of the space module started increasing. Ryan's eyes widened. Sweat appeared on his forehead which he could not wipe. Once he looked at all the controls- pitch, thrusters' gain, supply of power. All correct. Still the speed of the space module further increased. Ryan thought of contacting the ground control, there was none. For the first time in the history of mankind space travel without elaborate ground control center was taken up. Ryan was the one who made the decision. Megan, Mr Awasthy everyone opposed the idea. Ryan convinced everyone by saying his one-liner- 'everything has been taken care of'. Now Ryan was in need of a support system which may professional space traveler should have. He mistook the space travel with travel by road. No point in repenting his decision Ryan told himself. Now it is only himself who can save him and the Mission. Speed of the space module further increased. Ryan clinched his teeth in panic while adjusting the knobs on the space module's control panel once again. Nothing has changed except the speed. Ryan looked out of the window, distant stars were so clear against the black sky. Ryan held himself on the chair. Seat Belts tightened up. He knew that there was no way to rescue him. Giant disk-shaped spaceship was just above him. Boom the module crashed with the spaceship.
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ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
A Cursor Story
Bilim Kurgu*****One of the Winners of Icey Penguin Awards under Science Fiction category ****** In the era of quantum computing where most of mankind's work is handled by a massive central computer the GRIID, the otherwise ordinary cursors grow into ultra-adva...
