Seamless Handoff

"Hanton... Hanton?"

Dr. Lina's voice grew closer.

Yang Ming was like a drowning man suddenly jolting awake. He opened his mouth and gasped for breath as the red blotches on his skin rapidly faded, and light gradually returned to his eyes.

Hadn't the landing craft been destroyed in the explosion?

Before him was a low cabin hatch, and Dr. Lina's beautiful face, full of shock.

"Hanton, your injuries? Did you undergo Gene Modification, Hanton?"

Yang Ming shook his head slightly. He felt much stronger now, and hurriedly sat up to survey his surroundings. The microgravity made him feel a little uncomfortable.

The cramped cabin was about the size of the interior of a midsized car on Earth, as he remembered it.

Yang Ming remembered it clearly...

The battle with the Valkyrie, Geglov, the Cellular Collective, his chance to escape...

He had passed out from the violent impact.

Yang Ming had no time to check his injuries. His first concern was the condition of the ship.

It was the last thing he and Dr. Lina could rely on to stay alive.

Yang Ming had a simple way to judge the ship's condition: check how many red lights were lit on the displays.

"Oh, Hanton, can we talk?"

Dr. Lina leaned against the seat cushion, looking at Yang Ming with concern.

"What happened? Why were you the only one who made it inside at the end? It seems we left the First Mate behind... We murdered him, didn't we?"

"You're wrong, Lina," Yang Ming said firmly. "When it's already so hard just to survive, all we can do is apologize to those who didn't make it out. But there's only so much we can change."

Dr. Lina covered her cheeks with both hands and said in a trembling voice, "So many people died. What are we even doing?"

Yang Ming sighed, his thoughts in disarray.

He slowly took the pilot's seat, images flashing through his mind.

He checked the timer.

He had been unconscious for about six minutes.

The Research Ship had exploded seven minutes ago.

Where was that pair of repair Goggles?

Yang Ming searched carefully, but was disappointed to find that the Goggles that had helped him regain his "feel for operating" the ship had gone missing at some point.

What Yang Ming was grateful for was that the remarkable physical strength he'd gained from the Valkyrie Gene Fluid had given him a chance to fight the Valkyrie head-on.

All he could say about that was, I'm damn lucky.

Lucky to be alive.

"Hanton, what happened before?"

Dr. Lina had steadied herself somewhat. She asked gently, "I think I need to know the truth."

Yang Ming gazed out the front window into the pitch-blackness of space, then at the orange-red star in the upper left. "I'll tell you what I can. I'll keep it brief, of course."

"Thank you, Hanton."

"No need. We have to help each other."

Yang Ming closed his eyes and exhaled. "It was like a nightmare. How much do you know about the War God Program, Doctor?"

Dr. Lina sighed. "I'm just the ship's doctor. According to the rules, I'm not supposed to know anything about it. But I've heard them discuss it many times. I've learned nearly everything I should and shouldn't know."

"Did you know about the Valkyrie?"

"I only know that the crew called her a time bomb, a demon, a god imprisoned in a cage."

Dr. Lina's eyes held a hint of curiosity.

Yang Ming lowered his voice. "To put it simply, this Research Ship was where the War God Program was carried out. It never entered the Empire's inner territories and kept roaming the frontier because it was holding the Valkyrie prisoner."

Posa.

Her name was Posa.

"The Valkyrie was Geglov's daughter.

"Geglov used her to fuse with the genes of an Ancient God Lifeform. She was gradually transforming into a new Ancient God Lifeform and losing her humanity.

"She'd lived on the Research Ship all along. The Riot this time happened because she wanted to seize control of the ship and escape her prison."

Dr. Lina furrowed her brow. "Were the experiments really conducted on human subjects? Hanton, were you modified too? Your injuries just now healed far too quickly..."

"Yes. Professor Gigrov didn't give me a choice," Yang Ming said, without evading the question. "The mortality rate was thirty-five percent, and the failure rate was ninety-one percent. Good thing I was among the nine percent."

"I see..."

Lina frowned slightly.

Seeing the disappointment on her companion's face, she hurriedly said, "Gene Modification experiments exist throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. I know that much.

"The Sherman Empire, the New Federation, the United States of Freedom, the Guer Alliance... All these major powers that control most of the Milky Way's resources have their own military applications for Gene Modification.

"Many benign Gene Modification technologies are already mature and recognized across the galaxy. Some professional soldiers in elite units undergo appropriate modifications to enhance their physical abilities.

"Hanton, try to stay positive. We survived, and you're still normal."

"Thanks for trying to comfort me, Lina."

Yang Ming gave her a grateful smile and complained ruefully, "I don't know if they'll lock me up and study me next. I hope you can keep this secret for me."

"I will, Hanton. You know I'll help you," Lina replied gently.

Yang Ming felt a little reassured. As he planned his path forward, he couldn't help feeling lost and uncertain.

The two chatted on and off.

"The Valkyrie single-handedly destroyed the Research Ship's weapons."

"Is the Valkyrie really that powerful?"

"If you give her enough time and a steady supply of Nutrient Fluid, she can grow into a new Ancient God Lifeform," Yang Ming said seriously. "If she can maintain a relatively small body instead of growing uncontrollably like the original Ancient God Lifeforms, she'll become the Sherman Empire's nightmare."

Lina asked quietly, "So Professor Geglov ultimately chose to destroy the Research Ship?"

"Yes." Yang Ming turned to look toward the rear of the cabin, still shaken.

He could no longer sense the Valkyrie's presence.

He'd finally survived.

An explosion of that magnitude would have destroyed even her cells.

"Geglov murdered those crew members," Yang Ming said. "He had plenty of chances to stop the Valkyrie, but she exploited his weakness and escaped her prison without restraint. Geglov backed down more than once."

Lina looked a little confused.

Yang Ming left out the details about himself and began recounting the Valkyrie's actions, from the start of the Riot to the battle in the Tail Compartment. But in his mind, he kept replaying the minute before the ship exploded.

Every living thing that had witnessed his battle with the Valkyrie had died in the final explosion.

He would tell Lina that he'd undergone only an ordinary enhancement experiment.

"Phew," Yang Ming sighed. "That's how it happened. Geglov used an Antimatter Bomb in the end."

Lina reached out and gently patted the back of Yang Ming's hand, offering words of comfort.

She smiled. "There's good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first, Hanton?"

"The bad news."

"Our ship has lost power to its main engine. Only the micro-propellant engines in the wings are still working," Lina said. "We're going to be caught in this star's gravity."

Yang Ming's expression stiffened. "Then what's the good news?"

"Good news number one: I made a rough calculation. It'll take at least a few hundred years for the ship to crash into the star. But we don't have enough fresh water or oxygen, so we'll be trapped in space and dead within two weeks."

Yang Ming: ...

This woman had a hell of a sense of humor.

"What's good news number two?"

"I sent out a distress signal just now." Lina pointed to the pale green screen in front of the copilot's seat. "Someone received it and responded. They've got our location, Hanton!"

Yang Ming covered his forehead and slumped back in his seat, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

He'd finally survived...

Bzzzt.

The control panel emitted a faint crackle of electromagnetic interference. Then a middle-aged woman's voice sounded slowly through the speakers.

"Target vessel, are you sending a distress call? Our ship is about to begin capture procedures. Please keep all shipboard weapons silent. The Interstellar Council for Human Rights and Ethics will ensure your safety."

The smile on Yang Ming's face froze instantly.

His Number One mistress, whose fate was currently unknown, had once mentioned that the Research Ship had been trying to shake off the Humanity Association's Survey Ship. And the Humanity Association's full name seemed to be this... According to Hanton's memories...

They were a group of staunch, pioneering fighters against Gene Modification.

What a seamless handoff.