Save the Space Whale 3

Shin nosuke cautiously advances the inner-fire vessel.

Even when approaching closely, the young whale, disguised as an asteroid, remains utterly still, and the parent whale observing from a distance shows no sign of moving closer, maintaining a constant distance.

"Does it understand that we're trying to help?"

Yan answers Shin nosuke's murmured question.

That's the natural way to think. The parent whale that sought our help must know the spaceship is not a living being, but an object controlled by a separate intelligent species. I believe it also understands that firing a missile at the calf is no different from that act.

If that's the case, then why did we go to Fuuki for help...?

"Though it's merely a speculation, the cosmic whale likely possesses highly advanced intelligence and knows that among the spacecraft traveling through space, some are friendly while others are not. I believe it may have learned this from its own experiences—driven by curiosity, it has approached spacecraft voluntarily and even swum alongside them."

It was hit by a missile from an imperial warship, fled all the way to this region, hid its young in a safe place, then sought help from a passing vessel. Could this be the true reason behind the increasing sightings of space whales in this area?

"That makes perfect sense when you think about it."

"Indeed, if humans are the ones controlling the spacecraft, then humans are also the ones capable of handling the missiles... which means the whale was accidentally contacted while it was off course, conducting its investigation. That's pretty clever, actually. If anything goes wrong, though, you'll be in trouble with your mom whale, Markus."

Shinonsuke glanced at Markus in the seat beside him.

"Leave it to me. As long as I'm in control, there won't be even the slightest chance of failure."

"Then don't say things like that. It's just laying the groundwork for failure!"

"It's fine. If there's a one-in-ten-thousand chance of failure, by then this internal combustion vessel will be scattered among the dust of space—so Mother Whale won't even have a reason to be angry."

"True, I suppose that's reasonable..."

Yan watched in stunned silence as Shinosuke and Markus exchanged light banter despite the danger of the task ahead.

The operation was about to begin.

First, we need to neutralize the two anti-ship missiles that are still live.

"Master, keep missile A at six degrees to the right and approach to within 2.5 meters."

"Understood."

Shinosuke carefully controlled the internal combustion craft's orientation while gradually advancing using the thrusters.

"Maintain that position... 5, 4, 3—here. Hold this position."

Understood. We'll keep our relative position like this... Wow, we're being pushed around quite a bit. It'd be easier if we could drop an anchor.

Please stop. You'll really make the mother whale angry.

I get it! Just get it over with already.

Understood. I'll have it done in 15 seconds.

Markus extended the arm designed for precision work toward the rear of the missile and instantly grasped the target switch.

Then, rotate the arm to switch the switch.

"Missile A, neutralization complete. Proceeding to Missile B. Position Missile B at eight degrees below, two meters away."

"Eight degrees below, two meters away, understood."

"...Four, three, keep."

"Maintain this position."

Marks successfully disabled the second switch with a single shot.

"Missile B, neutralization complete. Retreat temporarily."

"Understood. Retreating."

Shinonsuke slowly backed the internal craft away, increasing the distance from the young whale.

With this, the first phase of the operation is complete.

Next, we'll move on to removing the missile embedded in the young whale's body.

"We'll attach a wire to the missile and pull it out—hopefully it comes out smoothly."

Shinonsuke approached the internal craft once more, and Marks secured the wire to one of the missiles.

"This missile shows no distortion in its body. It hit straight and cleanly. I believe we can pull it out as is."

Yang voiced concern in response to Marks' judgment.

"If there's an issue, it's with the calf's body. There's no doubt that the space whale is a living creature, so given how deeply the missile is embedded, its bodily tissues must have sustained some damage. If that's the case, there's a strong possibility that blood or something similar would gush out the moment we pull the missile free."

Shin nosuke nodded in agreement with Yan's concern.

"Indeed, we'll have to proceed with both removing the missile and treating the injury simultaneously, just as originally planned. Marks, I'll handle the wire retraction. Marks, please time your treatment accordingly."

"Understood."

"Yan, monitor the calf's condition closely and report even the slightest change."

"Got it."

Shin nosuke aligned the internal combustion boat directly with the missile and began reeling in the wire.

It was extremely difficult to maintain position by firing the thrusters to prevent the internal combustion boat from being pulled in by the wire's retraction, but Shin nosuke firmly fixed the boat's orientation and position while steadily winding in the wire.

Slowly, pulled by the wire, the missile was extracted.

"Kashimura, stop!"

Yang shouted when the missile had been pulled out about 50 centimeters, and Shin Nosuke halted the winding.

"What's wrong?"

"There's an anomaly in the gap between the missile and its outer casing. Something is leaking out from the gap."

Shin Nosuke enlarged the monitor image.

"Can't tell from the exterior? It doesn't seem to be a liquid like blood."

"Yes, probably a gas or some kind of vapor."

Yan transmitted the thermal imaging footage to Shinosuke's monitor.

Indeed, something hot was leaking from the gap between the missile and its casing.

Given that it disperses immediately upon release into space and rapidly cools down, it was clearly some kind of gas.

"Markus, proceed as planned."

"Understood."

Markus extended the nozzle toward the area where the gas was leaking.

The material being sprayed from the nozzle is primarily a repair compound used in the first stage of spacecraft hull repair.

It is highly viscous and sets quickly, designed to prevent seepage into the interior of the damaged area. During hull repairs, this compound is applied to seal the damaged section, after which the exterior surface is further repaired.

Marks adjusted the nozzle in sync with Shinosuke winding up the wire, feeding the repair compound into the gap between the missile and the hull.

After carefully working for about an hour, he successfully removed the first missile from the calf's body.

"Good, first missile removed."

"Successfully covered the wound with a repair compound membrane."

"Gas leakage has stopped."

After hearing Mark's and Yan's report, Shinosuke temporarily leaves the young whale.

After maintaining a sufficient distance from the calf whale, severed the wire connected to the missile and released it into space.

We'll handle the detonation later, but for now, removing the second missile takes priority.

The inner fire vessel approaches the cosmic whale once more.