Iscehznut - A Wild Escape

Hide it for now

Aldric’s voice fills the void air of Arnar’s lab, leaving everyone in the room alarmed. Aiden deliberately turns to look at the way where Aldric was leaning on the wall, with one eyebrow raised. Seeking answers in each other’s eyes, Zara and Kevin are staring at Aldric without having any explanation for his question. “Why are you looking at me like that?”, out of curiosity, Aldric asks studying everybody. Hitting Aiden’s hand with his elbow, Arnar gazes at him to say something. “Well, old man, it’s a surprise…”, Aiden tries to cover up but Aldric doesn’t seem to buy it. “Aiden, what happened to Ora?”, questioning Aiden, he waits for some sort of reply from him. “Umm..”, Aiden attempts to think of something instantly to escape from Aldric’s definite questions. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come up with an idea as Aiden didn’t expect Aldric here at all but “Just… ah just planning… a surprise...you know its a surprise…”,  Kevin babbles something to fetch Aiden a few more seconds to think of something that works with Aldric but he couldn’t hold it for that long. “Shut it, Kevin! I know something is up, Aiden just spit it”, Aldric snaps at Kevin harshly as he was obviously running out of patience. “Sir, Ora has some internal fuel leakage and that has rotted the light metal areas. It can be taken care of by common recovery processes. Nothing to worry about, Sir, Aid just wanted to inform you later so you don’t worry about this”, Arnar somehow managed to give an answer omitting particular details while Aiden heaved a deep sigh in relief. “Aid, you could have just told this, I was worried when I saw Ora’s disastrous condition.”, Aldric explained in a worried tone and Aiden instantly felt bad. “Old man, I told you there is no major issue in the phone call, right?”, he asked with a guilty smile on his face. Aldric sighed, “Yea, you did but I got different news from the Space Parking team…”, Aldric said, rolling his eyes at Aiden who nodded dramatically.

“Alright, dad. There is nothing big now we’ll need some metals from Ora Metal’s Treasure for this issue”, Kevin explained Arnar’s need in short without stating the requirement of rare metals to skip the long process of approval. “Get all the materials you need from the Space Inventory and the other treasures. I don’t want Ora’s condition to get worse”, Aldric’s determined voice packs the lab, and Kevin stiffly nodded at him. “Zara, you have my access card right? Use it affirming it’s my order, I’ll notify the heads of the inventories”, Aldric turned to Zara and verified the status of his high-value access card. “Yes, President. I’ll take care of it”, Zara professionally assured him with absolute confidence without exposing any sign of the serious issue. “Alright, Dr. Arnar, don’t listen to this boy here, call my P1 number if you need anything, got it?”, pointing at Aiden, Aldric guaranteed Dr. Arnar regarding his requirements. He nodded with a satisfied smile. “Don’t worry, old man. Your favorite speedy 127 will be good as new, I’ll take care of this, you have nothing to worry about, okay?”, Aiden ensured him for the quick recovery of his spacecraft and Aldric nodded at him, patting his shoulder. “Zara, if you need anything else, gimme a call as this man standing here won’t do that”, Aldric playfully tapped on his shoulder for which Aiden, “Ouchh!”, sounded dramatic as Kevin and Zara chuckled at his playful reaction. “Ah! I also wanna ask when you want me to postpone your Check-in pass for Almonda Planet?”, Aldric paused for an astrosecond, “Aiden, if you’re postponing because of speedy’s condition, it’ll be perfect as new with 24 astrohours. I can assure that” when Aiden was about to reply, Dr. Arnar explained the possibility to repair the craft in 24 astrohours.

Quickly, Kevin and Zara’s face radiates with happiness. “Dad, then we’re leaving the day after tomorrow. Delaying this plan won’t be fun and Aid definitely needs a peaceful break out of all this chaos”, Kevin spoke out his opinion as Zara nodded, agreeing to Kevin’s thoughts. “Alright then, I’ll speak to their external entry bots. I’m leaving, kids”, Aidric said as he turned and walked out of the lab.

BUUUUUUUURPPPPPPPPPP!!!

“That was so f**** close”, Aiden crumpled on the couch nearby, sighing in relief. “Oh god! Dad scared the crap out of me…”, Kevin screamed in stress as he sat on the other couch. But Zara seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. “What’s bothering you, Zara?”, Kevin asked, finding her silence strange. “This is a serious issue, we can’t let it go just like that… Are you getting me, Aid?”, Zara sounded so concerned as she seemed worried. “Zara, whatever it is let’s take care no matter what, now we have to repair speedy and get flying to Almonda. For once in our life, let’s live it, guys!”, Kevin’s words hit Aiden who looked at him energetically. “Kevin is right, we have to have fun. Let’s get this repaired and enjoy our dam* vacation!”, Aiden said confidently, standing up from the couch with his hands dug in his jean pocket. He raised his eyebrows at Kevin and Zara who looked at him surprised. “Damn! That was one hell of a change in you!”, Kevin mocked, giggling at him. “Shut it, Kevin! So Ar, what’s next?”, turning to face Arnar, Aiden waits for his reply on further steps. “We have to check the inventory for the alloys and ores to get the patches ready”, Arnar said as he led the way out of the door gesturing others to follow him.

In a few minutes, everyone is standing outside the glass entrance of Orana’s Space and Metal Inventory - Astro North. Zara dug her hand in her black jacket and took the President’s access card. 

“HELLO! ONLY A+ OFFICIALS ARE ALLOWED INSIDE THE METAL INVENTORY”

“PLEASE VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY!

The robotic voice of the Inventory’s Security AI bot, notified. Zara stepped close to the scanner and waved the access card for authorization. 

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

“AUTHORIZATION VERIFIED!”

“WELCOME HONORABLE PRESIDENT!!”

“PLEASURE HAVING YOU AROUND!”

The Matte finished metal door slid on either side as the robotic voice welcomed. “Oh, bot! The old man isn’t here for your kind information”, Aiden said sarcastically walking inside through the grey metal corridors. Following the vault map in Aiden’s tab, everyone paused before the VAULT E and gazed at each other. “Are you sure, Aid? You don’t wanna inform President about this? This is a crime…”, Zara warned in a soft concerned tone, with a worried look on her face as she is not happy with this idea. “We can’t tell him about this because it won’t be a secret if he gets to know. At this moment, we don’t even know what is the opposite matter, so we need more information before we can conclude anything…”, Aiden made his point clear and stepped forward, accessing the vault with his duplicate card. 

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!