Chapter 179 – USS Enterprise
[We found the signal source of the presumed alien.]
Artemis said.
A confident voice rings out from beyond the speakers.
Her small body was returned to the incubator.
Thanks to this, her appearance and voice on the screen in the central control room have returned to that of an adult woman.
“It’s a strange feeling to turn back to an adult after listening to a young voice for a while.”
[Then shall I speak in a young voice?]
Her voice wavered and changed to that of a girl in her early to mid-teens.
[It is very easy to modify the face and voice in the flat world.]
Even her body shape changed, but the clothes she was wearing only became smaller, but the shape remained the same.
Black stockings, miniskirt, gorgeous shirt and accessories.
She maintained her usual adult-like attire, but as her body became younger, she gave off an appearance that was difficult to describe.
“Would you just go back to the way it was?”
[There is nothing to decline. If this is your preference, I will keep it that way for as long as I want.]
“Don’t say anything that will misunderstand if anyone hears it. “Please show me the sending location.”
The screen changed with a chuckle.
Her appearance disappeared and the blue sea and the adjacent port appeared.
“Where is it?”
[Near Hakata Port, Fukuoka City.]
The location appeared along with a map of the entire Japan in a pop-up format.
The southwestern region of the Japanese archipelago classified as Kyushu. Among them, Fukuoka is located directly across from Korea.
“If it’s this far away, I guess I can get there by helicopter.”
[Based on when assisted by an auxiliary fuel tank.]
The maximum range of the Black Hawk helicopters we operate is approximately 2,200 km. On the other hand, the distance from the shelter to the destination is about 1000 km round trip.
If you look at it this way, it may seem leisurely, but it is not.
It will be difficult to find a safe place for a helicopter to land locally, and you must be fully prepared as there may be some danger lurking in the area. The loading weight has no choice but to increase to its limit.
If you have to travel solely by helicopter in a situation where you cannot receive support from an air force base or a naval ship, it is not something to take lightly.
The first place I expected was Tokyo or Okinawa, where the US military base in Japan is located. If that was the source, I would have given up halfway.
“Did it happen here too?”
At a glance, there was a distorted shape a little away from the port.
Needless to say, it is a walker. Although the number was not large.
“What traces are there of presumed survivors?”
[Nowhere nearby. I’m expanding my search, but I haven’t found it yet.]
Several pop-up photos appeared.
Traces of fierce battles, traces of sit-in protests, traces of seeking help, all just traces.
The Kyushu region, which includes Fukuoka Prefecture, is located away from mainland Japan and is physically separated except for a few bridges and undersea tunnels.
So, I thought it would be somewhat safe from infection like the southern part of Korea, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
“There is no need to bother looking for it. Because our only goal is to be a signal source. “As long as there are no threatening forces capable of shooting down a helicopter.”
[As you wish.]
Pop-ups and other information disappear, leaving only the original port screen.
A huge ship located in the center of the screen attracts attention.
“It’s an aircraft carrier.”
[Yes, the communication was sent from there.]
The massive body alone radiated an intimidating presence.
* * *
USS Enterprise.
Glory be to that brilliant name.
The Enterprise, which had been in service since the Revolutionary War, passed her name on to her successors as each new ship came out.
In the 7th generation, she became a ship of distinction for her historical achievements during the Pacific War, and her name has become a symbol of her guardian ever since.
However, that immortal history ended in her 9th generation.
“We managed to survive without sinking.”
What on earth were we fighting?
The hull was covered in scars and there were more than one or two gaping holes on the side. The runway where her aircraft had to run was broken in several places, showing the hangar underneath.
“Where did they sell all the escort fleets?”
An aircraft carrier never travels alone. The escort fleet’s assistance contributed greatly to the fact that the Enterprise ship achieved tremendous achievements and became the most decorated ship in human history.
[Not everything, but I found it.]
Several photos appeared in pop-up format.
An Aegis cruiser with one part split in half lying on the sandy beach.
A submarine with its entire body crushed in a port facility far above.
Destroyers and transport ships that failed to reach the port and sank in the shallow bay.
Shattered figures can be seen reflected here and there beneath the dark blue water. Among them, there were shapes of helicopters and fighter jets that were thought to have been thrown out of an aircraft carrier.
The corresponding objects are displayed as red dots on the minimap in the lower right corner.
“Were you attacked while trying to dock?”
[Probably.]
The red dots were scattered close to a cone shape with the aircraft carrier approaching the port as the apex.
“What is the reaction from the aircraft carrier?”
[There is no response to the signal sent from our side.]
“But are they still sending encrypted signals over there?”
[That’s right.]
A record of communications sent at regular intervals appeared in the corner of the screen. The most recent one was 3 hours ago.
[It’s probably one of the two. Either the entire crew, including the alien, is dead, and the signal is being sent alone through an automatic transmitter, or someone is alive but unable to communicate directly.]
“Either way, I guess I have no choice but to go and check in person.”
[You’re not planning on going in person, are you?]
Artemis said with a straight face.
“Why?”
No matter how much I tend to be a field commander, I’m not energetic enough to go across the ocean where I don’t know what’s going on.
“The position of Commander of the Republic of Korea Reserve Forces is of no use there. “You’d have to use force, whether it’s swinging a hammer or hacking, so there’s no need for me to go.”
If you have to overcome security risks anyway, just send an exploration team made up of robots.
[Thank god. I was wondering what would happen if I were stubborn and decided to go in person.]
Artemis said as if she was truly relieved.
So the conversation moved on to actual operational design. It’s a question of balance on how to allocate troops to how many helicopters and how much fuel to load.
These details are Artemis’ specialty.
She made various calculations and occasionally explained her data to me, and while I waited, I rested my chin on her and looked at the screen.
Even though the Enterprise was damaged in several places, it still displays great majesty.
When I was a soldier, I experienced almost everything in the military, but there was one thing I couldn’t do.
It is boarding an aircraft carrier.
A huge ship and escort fleet cut through the ocean currents, and thousands of veteran sailors sail in unity. A sight that is the culmination of humanity’s spirit of challenge.
Just thinking about it makes my heart pound.
[Why? Do you want it?]
Artemis asked in a voice filled with laughter.
Did you analyze my facial expressions? Artemis knows like a ghost if I want something.
“If you want it, I’ll make it for you?”
[Well, guess what.]
She has never once passed up on what I wanted.
When I asked for something difficult, he grumbled or got angry, but in the end, he tried to grant my wishes even if it meant making a similar replacement.
But even for Artemis, this is too much.
“Thank you, but what I want is not the aircraft carrier itself.”
[Then?]
“Should I say everything? Sailors performing their respective duties, engineers maintaining aircraft with the smell of oil in the air, pilots communicating with them, cooks grilling meat and cutting bread regardless of what is happening outside, traces they left throughout the ship as they lived their lives. Field. “I wanted to experience this closed world called an aircraft carrier with my own skin, right next to each and every cell that moves.”
Even if we were to force it and say that Artemis builds a real aircraft carrier in the distant future, you wouldn’t be able to find the smell of sweat on it.
[That will continue to be an impossible dream.]
“Well, I guess so.”
In the war against infectious agents, humanity wins a victory, restores the country, and destroys the giant monsters that roam the ocean. Afterward, restore food, economy, technology, and population to a sufficient level to launch and operate the aircraft carrier.
It’s like a dream. I can’t even imagine how long it will take.
Well, maybe when this fight is over, a world will come where aircraft carriers are no longer needed.
In this way, the direction of future external activities was decided.
The cause of all this is an alien ship in Mars orbit. A message believed to have been left behind by the only alien survivor recovered from there.
We will go to Japan to find its roots. It will take more time to prepare, though.
‘Fight until the last one.’
This is a message left by an alien in hieroglyphs.
Indeed we will.
Infected entities neither surrender nor are surrendered. Our shelter, the group of survivors out there, and the military units protecting them, no one will fight until the end.
But how to fight? Each one of them with bullets and bombs?
Among the infectious agents deep inland, there are insect-like entities that multiply faster than the bullets and bombs we shoot.
We needed a more fundamental solution.
‘Hope is alive.’
They would have gone through much more desperate situations than us, and would have built an unparalleled history of science.
Those people tried to preserve our planetary system by running away.
What exactly is that hope?
I want to walk on it.
