Location: Solar System; Above Venus; PAS Andala

A Worldender Ship?

No!

That's impossible. Conor wouldn't. And even if, for what?

I almost fall out of my chair when Clara says this, and she must have told Maja too, as she also looks completely shocked.

To trigger Clara's trauma that hard, there must be something… But a real Worldender Ship? No, I can't believe it. There's also no chance in hell that whoever visited the Solar System before us students would have left that ship here if it really was one.

Still, it looks like one, according to Clara. So there must be a reason!

Maja finds her voice first and speaks out loud for my benefit. "Are you sure, Clara? I find that hard to believe."

"No, I'm not… And now that I can think more clearly again, I really doubt it. For once, it doesn't fit into the timeline at all. I also can't think of a reason why they would build their own Worldender Ship. But still, the shape and size of the starship down there in Bay V is almost a spitting image of the one Worldender Ship I have seen."

Wow, no wonder she lost it. "I'm so sorry, Clara!"

"It's okay, you couldn't have known. The bay could've been very well empty too. Now we have something to explore at least. I only have one request for you. Please make it our top priority to confirm that it's really just a Worldender resemblance and not more."

"Oh, absolutely! I wouldn't think of anything else. Just tell me whenever you're ready to go back there. And don't feel pressured, we've got all the time you'll need."

I lean back in my chair and take a few deep breaths. Things are getting crazier by the minute. Maja also shakes her head in silent disbelief. Just imagining that there could be a Worldender Ship is just insane. I really hope we're right and it isn't one.

Clara informs me that she'd love another thirty minutes to calm down fully, and I happily spend the next hour idly talking with both Maja and Clara. After that, I say goodbye to my past and future AI companion, and Clara locks in the coordinates for Bay V. With one last wave at Maja and a final silent confirmation from Clara over the AI Call spell, I trigger my Teleportation, and we vanish from the Andala.

Location: Solar System; Above Venus; Valterion Shipyard

When I arrive back inside Bay V, the others are spread out a little and seem to be looking around. Nick and Tim are rather close to the gigantic starship, while the girls are currently investigating something at the very edge of the bay.

They must have noticed my magic, as they all turn around and look at me as soon as I'm back. The girls start rushing over and wave excitedly. Tim, on the other hand, looks at Nick and shrugs. Then he teleports them both close to me. "Hey there," he lazily says after arriving.

I just shake my head at his antics and wait for the girls. As soon as our group is back together, they start pestering me with questions, and I start explaining. Surprisingly, it's Clara who tells them about the Worldender resemblance and how deeply it affected her. Her voice is still a bit weak, but I feel like actually talking about it is a big help for her.

Obviously, the others are quite shocked after that revelation, and nobody can believe that the starship before us is a genuine Worldender Ship. But just believing it doesn't make it true! And I promised Clara to confirm things. And there is only one way to make sure.

Well, there are probably at least two, but that doesn't sound that nice. Anyway, we have to look for a way inside that behemoth, or check out the command room for Bay V, assuming there is one.

As we've already seen a good share of command rooms here inside the shipyard, it's obvious that we all prefer to look inside the ship first. But that's easier said than done! Compared to the Almora, this ship looks like it could fly outside any moment now. There are no missing panels, no exposed beams, just a smooth hull that makes it very hard to get inside without damaging the starship.

"We should split up," I say while we approach the ship. "That way we can cover a larger area faster and look for airlocks or hangar doors."

Lucy agrees. "Good idea! I've already checked for traps earlier and didn't find any nearby, so I guess the bay here is safe. But I wouldn't count on it… Those Earth people seem to have loved their traps, considering the Song Medical compound. So I'd suggest an A&D Mage for each group. Hm, maybe you and Tim can go on your own… You Space Mages can teleport away if you trigger a trap."

I give her an approving nod. "Let's do that. Four groups, it is then. Lucy and Nick, Alina and Lydia, Tim, and finally, me. First one to find something gets a can of Star Juice!"

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Everyone is happy with that decision, and we discuss who gets to look where. A little later, both Tim and I teleport closer to the bow that's multiple kilometers away from our position at the stern of the vessel. My destination is right around the middle point, while Tim gets to go all the way to the front of the ship. The other two groups stay at the back and try their luck there.

Now I'm standing here, right below the starship. I feel so tiny, everything I can see is just the silver grey hull made out of tristanium and whatever else. The problem is that it's all completely smooth. No entrances or hatches. Just nothing. With a shrug, I start walking toward the bow of the ship while continuing to look for a way inside. I have to walk in zigzags to see everything, as the ship is just so big.

Just when I'm about to give up my search below the ship and start at one of the sides, Tim's Group Call spell comes knocking. Did he find something? Excited, I accept the call.

"I think I found something! It's close to the bridge and looks like a door to a small shuttle bay. At least the hatch looks big enough to fit a shuttle. Only problem is that it's closed off, but we've got a solution for that, right?"

I can't keep the grin out of my voice. An entrance right next to the bridge is perfect. That saves us from finding a way through the whole ship. "Nice work, Tim! We'll be right with you, one moment."

I leave the Group Call and quickly teleport to Lucy and Nick, and then to Alina and Lydia. With one final Teleportation spell, the six of us are back together near the bow of the ship.

"It looks even bigger from here," Lucy says while looking up.

"That's what she said," Nick jokes and immediately earns a slap at the back of his head from both Lucy and Alina. Tim hides his chuckles by pointing at the hatch he has discovered.

"Can a variation of your Telekinetic bench get us up there, Sara?"

Eyeing the distance, I suppress a shudder. Getting up there with my Telekinesis is basically flying. But I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work. "I think so, but you are welcome to help out, Mr. Master Utility Mage."

This time, he laughs out loud, and having missed our short conversation, both Lucy and Alina shoot him furious glares.

Anyway, I quickly cast my spell and ask everyone to hop on. Tim's magic joins mine – which is totally unnecessary but I've got that one secret to keep – and we start ascending beside the hull of the starship.

After almost a full minute of flight, I stop right before the hatch and take a closer look. I think Tim's guess was right… It really looks like the entrance to a shuttle bay. So how do we get in?

"Clara, can you help us here?"

My AI still sounds a bit hesitant, but she does reply this time. "Maybe… Can you get us a bit closer? I'm trying to pick up a wireless signal… Otherwise, you want to look for a panel either to directly access the door's locking mechanism or for a manual override."

I quickly comply and move our invisible platform closer to the starship. We're now in touching range, and that's exactly what I do. The ship feels cold to the touch, not that I expected anything else… Anyway, Clara has some unfortunate news for me.

"Looks like the ship is dead in the water… I can't get a single signal, I'm sorry, Sara."

"Hey, don't be, you're a great help!" I cheer her up and continue to instruct my friends. "We have to do it the hard way, guys. The ship is not sending or receiving any signals, so the manual override it is. Another Star Juice for the one to find it, let's go!"

It doesn't take long until Lydia flips open a panel right next to the hatch and grins. "I won!"

She pulls down the lever behind the panel, and the sound of moving metal overtones everything else. A minute later, the sound cuts off and the door tilts slightly inward. There's now a 20-centimeter gap at the bottom. We all look at each other and then collectively cast a bunch of Telekinesis spells that reach into the gap and start pulling upward.

It moves surprisingly easily, and we quickly stare into the dark abyss of a dark shuttle bay that's not quite finished yet. Now I know why the ship is still here in the shipyard. Work in progress is probably the best word to describe it.

The floor of the shuttle bay is the only thing in here that deserves the title halfway finished. Everything else is just barebones sheets and beams of metal and plastics. Even the door at the back is missing, and we can easily look further in.

The thing is that nothing changes as far as I can see. The whole interior of the ship is basically missing. At least now I can be pretty sure that we're not looking at a functional Worldender Ship, yay!

"Is it safe to get inside?" Alina asks, which shakes me out of my thoughts. I silently ask Clara over the AI-Call spell, and she responds for everyone to hear.

"Should be. What you see on the floor is the base structure of the starship… It's basically where the actual floor gets added on top later, so it's more than enough to hold your weight. Other than that, we have to see as we go, though I don't believe that there will be any traps inside. It wouldn't make sense."

Alina nods in thanks, and both she and Luca almost simultaneously cast their respective Shield spells. Then it's Lucy – as always – who takes point and enters the shuttle bay. We quickly follow behind her, and as soon as everyone is inside, I dismiss the telekinetic platform that brought us up here.

As soon as we're past the shuttle bay and enter what was probably intended to be a hallway, the incompleteness of the starship basically burns itself into our eyes. Everything to our right is empty space! There are no decks, no cabins or rooms, just the outer hull, a few structural beams, and a barebones walkway that leads along the outer hull pretty much halfway up from the bottom. That's where we're currently standing. But that's really it!

No wonder the ship stayed here in the shipyard. But that also brings up a queasy feeling… Is that empty space a preparation for a Worldender core? Hell, I don't even know how those ships work, but that's a possibility, right?

My gaze drifts to our left, where things look a little different. It's almost like the bow part of the ship was assembled somewhere else and then added to the rest of the hull when it was finished. Because the open space suddenly cuts off and makes way for a myriad of decks that go from the bottom to the top of the starship. Most of them are blocked off by solid walls and doors, but a few hallways simply start in midair and lead into the depths of the ship's bow.

One of the blocked off passages is labeled with the words "Bridge," and I immediately point at it when I read it. "Found our next destination!"

"Makes sense," Lucy agrees, and walks down the walkway toward the bow module. Luckily, the bridge door is at our height, and so we don't even have to ascend or descend to get to it. Quite convenient…

Anyway, we stop at the door and find it unlocked. Lucy shrugs and steps through. The inside was clearly intended to be a bridge someday, but work must have stopped before they made any progress.

Instead of starting at their designated positions, all the consoles are stacked in one of the corners of the room and still wrapped in plastic foil. That stuff really doesn't degrade… But for once, this is an advantage because I notice something written on the foil.

I step closer and start reading. It's a delivery note. Sender is a joint venture of Magicon and Valterion. The consoles before me are supposed to be cutting-edge with every feature one can imagine. But the most important part is the recipient!

It's written in bold black letters: "Project V"

What the hell is Project V?

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