Aira Rescue Operation 2

Inside a capsule located in the room adjacent to the bridge, Aira was lying.

Alone in a hazardous asteroid, drifting with no destination, she was sleeping, clinging to a slim hope of rescue.

Aira, asleep inside the capsule, seemed to be in an eternal slumber—(theoretically, she would remain asleep forever unless revived).

"Entered cryosleep twelve days ago. Madera, how long will revival take?"

"About five hours, if we take every precaution."

Reversing cryosleep carries the risk of damaging bodily tissues, especially the brain, if body temperature is raised too quickly. Therefore, revival must be carefully adjusted according to the body's condition.

"I understand. Begin immediately."

"Understood."

Shin nosuke left Aila's revival to Madeira and Miliena, returning to the bridge.

Although Madeira alone could handle the revival without issue, Miliena, who remembered everything she had witnessed, would likely find this experience beneficial in some way.

Indeed, Miliena had already leveraged her ability to obtain several medical qualifications.

Above all, it would be reassuring for Aila to wake up and see Miliena, a familiar face, by her side.

On the other hand, if Shinosuke were present when Aila awakened still wearing only her thin undergarments, it would be easy to imagine the danger he might face.

Of course, it's unlikely that Aila, once rescued, would blame Shinosuke (though one might wish it weren't so), but the real issue lies with Miliena and Seira.

There's a risk they might suspect them of something inappropriate, or worse, that they could be holding some kind of leverage against them.

No, it's not just the two of them— if for some reason Rinna ends up being informed as well, Shinnosuke's position will be in serious danger.

A capable man should sense such risks early and avoid them.

Upon returning to the bridge, Shinnosuke decides to check the records left in the A884's memory.

Aira had recorded the full details before entering cold sleep.

"...After parting ways with us, they passed through this region and received a signal resembling a distress call. That's why they entered the asteroid belt?"

The logs recorded that they entered the asteroid belt in search of a distressed vessel, only to be suddenly attacked by an unknown force.

Shinnosuke tilted his head.

"But we don't know who the attackers were. And even if they launched the attack, why did they do nothing when the A884 became immobilized?"

According to Ira's records, after being attacked and rendered immobile, the ship drifted aimlessly without knowing the identity of the attackers, eventually colliding with an asteroid.

With both the engine and generator damaged, life support systems began to fail, and given that the ship had stranded in the middle of a vast international asteroid belt, rescue was unlikely in time. As a result, they chose to enter cold sleep.

Shin nosuke scrutinized everything in the A884's memory besides Aila's records, but the mystery only deepened.

Even though the A884 was outdated, it was still an excellent frigate.

It was inconceivable that it would be attacked unilaterally without triggering any radar or sensor alerts.

The only possibility would be a long-range sniper attack, but that would be difficult amidst the dense asteroid belt. Moreover, it's highly unnatural for an opponent capable of such precise fire to leave the target disabled and then simply abandon it.

Furthermore, A884 was not hit by a laser cannon, but by solid projectiles or something similar.

I'd like to investigate the damage to the hull, but there's no way to examine the large hole from inside the ship, and the inspection of the damaged areas should already be underway by Marks, who remained aboard the Yatagarasu.

As time passes, we wait.

"Captain Shinnosuke, Iruka has been successfully revived."

Mireena and Madelia entered the bridge, escorting Iruka, who had been revived safely and was now dressed in her captain's uniform.

"Shin nosuke, I'm so glad you're safe. Thank you so much."

Iruka, still unsteady from being revived, thanks Shin nosuke with Madelia supporting her.

Though she wanted to ask about the cause of the ship's failure, Iruka herself seems just as confused as to what happened, just as her own records indicate.

"I really don't understand anything. I picked up a signal resembling a distress call and came to this area, but there's no stranded ship, and the signal has just cut off. To top it all off, there were no warning signs at all—just this mess. I had no choice but to decide on entering cold sleep, though honestly, I was worried that if we were rescued, it might have been decades later. Still, even if it were decades, being rescued would have been sheer luck."

"If that's the case, we were extremely lucky. Ira entered cryosleep only just twelve days ago, and more importantly, we were able to get this far because Milena and the others searching for Ira received the distress signal."

"Truly. There's no way to thank Shinnosuke and the others enough."

Ira herself seems unharmed, but the issue lies with Ira's A884.

"However, what should we do about this ship? It can't navigate on its own, can it?"

"...Yes, it's unfortunate and frustrating, but it seems we have no choice but to abandon the ship. The damage is too severe, and salvaging it here would be nearly impossible. Even if salvage and repairs were possible, it would likely cost as much as buying a brand-new vessel."

If Ira decides to abandon the ship, all that remains is to recover A884's data and evacuate.

Just as I thought that, an emergency transmission came in from Marks.

Master, please return immediately. An anomaly has occurred in the surrounding space.

What on earth happened?

Numerous unidentified signals received. Unforeseen circumstances are unfolding.

It seems a situation similar to the one that attacked Ira and A884 is about to happen again.

Until now, I've been writing using only my smartphone, but I've started using a tablet and keyboard in addition to my smartphone.

While tablet input is more convenient, the predictive text input still isn't working well, so please forgive any additional typos or missing characters until I get used to it.