章 173: The Architect
"Right…" was the reply from Shuttle Deuterium, or more accurately, Lodos IV. "We will be on approach right away. Make sure there are no delays."
My bluff had worked. Of course it would – it was apparent how desperate they were about this Terry Myo situation. Lodos IV turned towards Delta Rubycon and engaged its engines at full power for a docking approach. This was the sort of dangerous and reckless maneuver I would only expect from someone like Mei.
"Sir?" said the pilot in command of Delta Rubycon, expecting instructions from me.
"Let them." I said in return. "Number two!"
The copilot took a few seconds to notice I was referring to him.
"Yes, sir?"
"Who might this Terry Myo be? Can we find anything about that guy in some database?"
"I can try." he said, turning to his console and typing in some stuff to the general purpose computer. "It seems like the most popular Terry Myo is a space architect. The second most popular Terry Myo seems to be an oil-wrestler."
"Tell me more about the former."
"Terry Myo is a space architect of Martian origin, who has pioneered the so-called Space Fortress architecture style and the All-Layers-Multi-Redundance a.k.a. ALMUR movement." the copilot said, reading an article on his computer screen. "He is widely considered to be the most influential architect of the Solar Republic era, being directly involved in designing the original three space fortresses and influencing the architectural style of the rest of the human habitats that make up the Solar Republic."
"Okay, enough, thank you." I said.
"The shuttle is decelerating in preparation for final approach." said the pilot in command. "They will be docked within a few minutes."
"Alright." I said. "I will be down there, but I need a favor. I need you two to promise that you will follow instructions only from me until I say otherwise."
"Hold on for a moment." said the copilot. "Why in the hell are we supposed to do that?"
I turned to the pilot in command, who seemed to have less questions to ask about my behavior.
"Because the pilot in command says so." I said. The commanding pilot hesitated for a little bit, and nodded in agreement with me.
"This is quite peculiar." the copilot said. "Why would your word be prioritized above the instructions of the rescue coordinators? Your former title and our gratitude for your past service to the Solar Republic may have granted you access to our bridge, but that's about as far as it gets."
"I'm challenging the authority of those rescue coordinators." I said. "I have been in charge of entire humanity's fate before, I know a thing or two about disasters and leadership by now."
The copilot went silent.
"Am I making myself clear? If you are with me, do not follow anyone else's instructions. I promise that everything will be made clear in an hour… or two."
"You are going to make this difficult." the copilot argued. "This is unlawful. You are going against the Republic you helped people build."
"Governments make mistakes." I said. "When they make big mistakes, people vote for some other government the next time. But if that is not an option, they may have to be removed and replaced by other means. This happened many times in history, and in some cases, it was indeed the best option."
"You believe the government is not handling the crisis well, and you have to take care of it right away?"
"Yes." I said. "Now, are you with me, or is my idea a lost cause?"
"I might regret this, but I guess I will just see how things unfold. I'm not with you ideologically just yet, but I will comply with your instructions for the time being." the copilot said.
"The same applies to me." said the pilot in command.
"Oh, well, I guess that's good enough for my purposes." I said. "I will be leaving the bridge."
I rushed to meet the crowd of passengers who were rescued from the ruins of Tau Rubycon. Those people surely had some more faith in me than the pilots did; after all, they had accepted me as the leader for coordinating their survival efforts back in the city. Now that my plan had somehow saved their lives, I thought that at least some of them would be willing to follow me into another adventure for the good of people.
"Folks, listen up." I said, asking for attention among the dispersed crowd. Some people left whatever they were doing and encircled me in anticipation. I continued after a brief moment. "It seems like the government has stolen my private shuttlecraft and is on the lookout for the architect of Fort Unity. Those are the people you saw flying overhead next to a skyscraper while we were busy extracting cabins from Tau Rubycon."
"That shuttle was the government?" asked a woman among the crowd encircling me.
"Indeed." I said. "For whatever reason, they have picked to rescue the VIP only and just direct everyone else to the spaceport in the meanwhile. Not only-"
I then saw some disturbance in the crowd. A man was yelling at people, trying to move them out of his way and getting angry when people did not comply.
"What seems to be the problem over there?"
"ME!" yelled the man, who indeed seemed to be the source of the problems. I signaled the crowd to let him pass. The man quickly came towards me. "I'm the architect. You need to listen."
"You are Terry Myo?" I asked, in a bit of disbelief.
"I am Terry Myo, and the large-scale design of Fort Unity is primarily my work of art." he said. "You seem to have proven your leadership, and it feels like you have some opposition to the Unity government. I need someone like that, because I have important things to tell you."
Just then, the sound of Lodos IV gently touching the docking port of Delta Rubycon resonated through the room.
"My god, they are here already!" said the architect. "Well, I would love to chat, but we don't have much time right now. Don't let them find me. Do whatever you have to, just don't let them know I'm here!"
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