Icy starlight crossed an endless distance from the depths of the cosmos, reaching this place at last. Its clear radiance fell upon the battered hull of the Tarlonnd, seeming to coat the ancient spacecraft in a layer of silver.
At the massive ship's stern, the severely damaged reactor compartment had been torn open by a huge breach. The damage control system had activated and cut off the corresponding energy conduits, leaving part of the extinguished reactor core exposed to space. Some of the leaking fluids boiled into vapor in the vacuum, refracting the glow of the giant sun beyond the horizon and taking on rainbow-like colors.
The faint light in the engines flickered a few times before going out completely—the spacecraft, built 1.87 million years ago, used technology entirely different from that of the present age. It possessed not only anti-gravity systems, but also working-fluid engines that provided additional thrust during ascent. This was a technique learned from the Voyagers, and now the creations born of those technologies were "dying," one after another.
"Our main engines have shut down. The attitude control engine cluster still has a little power left, so I'll do my best to slow the ship down and keep it in high orbit. Though we'll still drift away before long, we can at least enjoy the scenery until then," Barrogel said, forcefully patting the control seat before him. "Sigh, this thing's completely broken too... I can't get any readings from Reactor Three, but I doubt it's in much better shape."
"You said the main engines could hold out for thirty minutes under your hands," Heragol said, glancing at the chief mechanic. "It hasn't even been twenty."
"That was rhetoric, something to boost morale," Barrogel said carelessly. "Making the engines hold on long enough to complete that final