"On March 25, Starcruiser LX666 was attacked by a terrorist group that identified itself as the Children of Sol." A news reporter broadcast the news for the fifth time this month. But this time, things were a bit different, as Lexus and Laurel's fathers sat in attendance with him in the studio.
The first attack on a passenger ship after three decades was hot news. What drew the attention of the nation and its citizens alike was not the attack itself, but the revelation of a hidden flaw in the interstellar gate—an infrastructure that had remained accident-free for over two centuries.
If not for Lifepod Four's sudden disappearance, this would have been an achievement worthy of recognition, if compared to the accident thirty years ago under the same circumstances.
However, Lifepod Four was missing because of a manual release, carrying with it seven children. It was such an irony. The attempt to fix the flaw that had caused over 100 deaths in the previous accident had instead caused seven children to go missing in hyperspace.
"Mr. Howard. As the CEO of Blackdiamond Group, how do you feel about this accident?"
"Yes. I deeply regret that such an accident could occur inside our state-of-the-art spaceship. We shall investigate the matter and improve our spaceship even further."
"Mr. Bernard. As a parliament member, do you feel any party should be responsible for this accident?"
"Yes. I have identified several problems. First of all, it's the captain. He should not have released the automatic lock of the lifepod if he didn't intend to release it. The starcruiser has armor, so it should withstand a missile or two. He blundered by releasing the lock early. Then, the second mistake lies with the M-5 Elementary School staff. How could they leave children inside the lifepod alone? Then, the gate. The handshake should be made small enough so lifepods couldn't enter. Then, the final problem lies with the engineer. The manual release lock was too simple. With just a press of a button, the lifepod could be launched by anyone, and there was no countdown to the release. It could be pressed by accident and we would never know," Mr. Bernard said as he clenched his teeth.
He had lost his only family member. Laurel. His only girl was lost in the middle of hyperspace, stranded in the space between dimensions, never to be found.
"I see. Mr. Howard, how do you assess this matter? Will the Blackdiamond Group do something?"
"All we can say is that we will do our best to improve our spaceship technology. We will gather our best engineers and scientists to not only improve our spaceships but also our gate technology."
"Understood. Mr. Hausen, as a leading scientist in gate technology, do you think the children will survive?"
"Yes. The children will survive the initial transfer. Hyperspace travel is harmless as long as the entire vehicle enters it. However, rescue will be nigh impossible."
"Don't say that! I'm sure we can do something!" Mr. Bernard yelled, his fist slammed into the table.
"... There is enough food for the children to survive for a week, but the human body could sustain life for a month even without food, and the lifepod could gather energy from the sun to sustain its life support system. However, if they were thrown into empty space, they would die of oxygen deprivation in a week. The chance of that is slim, though. Uncontrolled hyperspace jumps tend to end up in places with gravitational pull."
"Can't they end up in a black hole?"
"Even black holes emit radiation through their accretion disk. This radiation could be used by the solar panel. The result would be the same."
"Can't we rescue them? Mr. Bernard has been pushing for us to send relief supplies via the interstellar gate."
"No. Without the gate on the other side, it would take years for even signals to reach us. Since we haven't had any communication about Lifepod Four across all USF star systems, it is safe to say that they arrived outside USF influence."
"I see. Will the supplies be useless then?"
"I am afraid so. Sending supplies via an uncontrolled jump would be similar to shooting a specific grain of sand on a beach with a dart. Even if the supplies could somehow reach them, they would likely die of old age before we could rescue them."
Mr. Bernard clenched his teeth. He knew this. Before the interview, this same scientist had told him the same thing. But if there was hope, he would still try. After all, his only daughter was out there, alone.
***
"Bernard! Are you nuts? Do you know how reckless this mission is? The senate wouldn't approve it. You can't tamper with the gate. Sending a manned probe through an uncontrolled jump is illegal. Besides, how are you going to bring them back once they reach there?" Howard yelled a few hours after the interview.
"The ship will have enough equipment to transfer a small gate. Then, with that gate, they could bring Laurel home," Bernard said.
"That's reckless! We don't even know how to get there!"
"Science is not random. By reproducing the same scenario, the same wavelength, the same power, we could get close to them. You will provide the ship and funds; I will search for the personnel. We will name the project New Frontier to the masses."
"Bernard! Are you suggesting that I throw away 5 billion credits on wasteful endeavors?"
"You will. Otherwise, I will testify that we secretly sponsored that terrorist act."
"It was your idea to begin with! You said that it would be good publicity if our ships could get out there without casualties!"
"And you assured me that the ship would be totally safe."
"It was an unexpected accident, and you knew it! Listen. It wasn't your daughter alone who was involved in this accident, I lost my only son too! And so did Yukino. His nephew, Shingo, was also involved. And not to mention Brendon. If you pull this kind of act, you will lose the trust of the senate. Our company still needs you!"
"You have a week, Howard. The ship must be ready by then. The mission will begin in a month."
"Damn it! How are you going to convince the senate, then, huh?"
"If we promise them that we could expand USF territory and find new human settlements and resources, they would agree. If they don't, we could always bribe or threaten them. That terrorist act has a lot of backing. Not just you and me."
Yes, Children of Sol might sound like a random terrorist act. But a lot of the senate backed that act. It was good publicity for the USF military, and even if the terrorist act succeeded, they could skim money for the damage reparation of the gate. A single missile or two wouldn't do much damage against the gate. At most, it would close the gate for two or three months.
They never thought the terrorists would be so crazy as to wait until the gate activated and launch a missile into hyperspace. Such an act would not only destroy the gate, but the hyperlane itself. The Sol system would be isolated for decades before they could find and rebuild a new hyperlane and interstellar gate. thank goodness the captain knew the implication and defended the hyperlane, even by risking his ship and his life. If they were found to be implicated in such a terrorist act, their careers would be finished.
What was once just a mere publicity stunt had turned into a ticking political time bomb. No one would want to be associated with that terrorist act.
The current situation was not ideal, but it was a lot better than the worst situation. The senate had chosen to stay silent regarding the terrorist act, not intending to further pursue the matter, satisfied by giving the terrorist capital punishment.
But Bernard was different. He had nothing to lose. And a man who had nothing to lose was often the most dangerous kind, and Howard knew it. So, he could only clench his teeth as he prepared to propose this insane solution to the board of directors.
***
Meanwhile, the reverend and Shingo's family held a vigil in their own place, praying deeply for the gods above to protect their little princess. Unlike Howard and Bernard, they were just civilians. All they could do was pray so that the higher power above would always be by Lazarus and Shingo's side.
Even when they had every technology they could ever want, faith was what kept them going. A candle was lit for their passing, hoping God above would always guide them in whatever trial awaited them.