Page 101 of Pandion

“Looks like this one is mine, and the one above it is yours, unless you want to switch? Do you need something or should we turn in for the night?” Satoru popped his shoes into the shoe box at the foot of the bed.

“No, I’m fine. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so it’ll be good to go to bed early.” Kagesawa removed his shoes and peeked into the pod above. It looked just about spacious enough for him. How rare. He climbed in and indeed, while his feetdangled off the mattress, the space left for a nightstand meant he had room to stretch himself fully. This was perfectly acceptable.

Is it all right? Should I have picked a cabin?Harumine was arranging his bedding somewhere below.

This is good. It’s quiet. I don’t think anyone would go as far as to try to harass us here. There are only a handful of other people on board. I’m looking forward to an uneventful cruise.

Kagesawa didn’t bother with the TV in the pod. With the curtain closed he felt safely tucked in his own little cocoon. Perhaps he’d finally get a good night’s sleep.

Kagesawa was fast asleep when Harumine woke up. Now that Ayase was capable of communicating, there were no more unscheduled wakeups, and Kagesawa was taking full advantage of the chance to sleep in. Harumine decided not to disturb him and went to find breakfast on his own.

There were only two other people in the restaurant when it opened at 7:30. Since it was so quiet and empty, Harumine took his time with the breakfast and left only when a few more people started to show up after nine.

Harumine decided to get some fresh air on the observation deck at the back of the ship. The weather was chilly, but the sky was clear, and the ocean was as calm as oceans came. It was still fairly windy, but, with the warmth of the knitted sweater, notunpleasant. Harumine watched the swells and made a point to enjoy the moment.

As the clock neared eleven, he realised it would only be another two and a half hours to port and a pair more until he was home. The sense of intense relief almost made him tear up, and he chuckled at himself before heading back inside. Kagesawa would be up soon, and he’d probably like something to drink and maybe a sandwich or an onigiri for a quick breakfast.

As Harumine approached the vending machines, he felt the deck beneath him start to rumble and shake. The initial explosive boom was followed by a series of snaps and distressed metal creaking and churning—all of them the kind of sounds one did not wish to hear on a ferry.

Ever so slowly, the ferry started to lean to one side. Harumine looked out the window to be sure he wasn’t imagining the tilt.

Kagesawa!The comfort class bed pods were at the other end of the ship. The noise had come from that direction, but was it all the way from the aft or closer by, midship?

I’m investigating. It came from down below. There’s a lean.

Harumine headed down the stairs. Deck five appeared normal. The lower decks were off limits, doors locked accordingly. People around him were showing signs of distress, rushing around or voicing their concerns in hushed but alarmed tones.

I can’t see anything wrong at the rear. I’m on deck five, but I can’t go lower. How’s it at your end?The rumbles that had died off for a moment resumed again, and the lean was starting to feel severe.

There’s a gaping hole to the car deck.

Kagesawa was looking at a hole in the wall where a door had been ripped off along with some of its surrounding structures. A good chunk of deck four was missing. Vehicles that were supposed to be secured to where they’d been parked had either fallen through or slid across to one side.

Kagesawa could have sworn he could hear the sound of a truck engine from down below. There was an announcement, but it was difficult to hear from all the noise.

I think I can climb down some ways to take a look. You head for the muster station, just in case.Kagesawa made his way down using what was left of the staircase.

You skipped the safety video, didn’t you? I’m pretty sure it didn’t advise you to go down a hole in case of an emergency.A valid point and this probably wasn’t wise, but something seemed very off about this.I know what you’re thinking, but let them investigate it after we’ve evacuated. It’s not your job, and this is not the time.Satoru sounded patient but very stern. Ah damn, he was probably going to be mad.

Just a quick look. Go ahead, I’ll be right there.

The ferry was leaning quite heavily now.

I think we might be fucked,Satoru reported only a few minutes later.They’re launching the life rafts, but some of them are impossible to get to because of the lean. Some of them arenot launching properly. Thankfully, there’s not that many of us here. There may still be enough for everyone.

If they were committed to launching the rafts, they’d deemed the situation bad enough that the ferry might actually sink. By the looks of the utter carnage on the car decks, it was no wonder: heavy industrial vehicles had rolled over along with a fair number of the trucks. It made no sense that they had moved that much with all of the security measures to prevent it. The air was heavy with the scent of fuel, exhaust and smoke.

Can you calculate something for me, Ayase?In his head, Kagesawa made a detailed list of all the vehicles he could spot, their placings, approximately how much they’d moved and whatever else he could tell instinctively but was unable to make sense of.

I see what you mean,Ayase responded.There are a couple of possible scenarios, but my best guess is that there was space between the T-8000 docking robot and the adjacent row of trucks. The T-8000 has pre-programmable work modes and remote activation capabilities. Ramming it against the trucks, which seem to have been overloaded, has compromised the floor braking system. When it malfunctioned, it released a whole column and the rest of the chain-reaction. Moreover, the loading pattern for these vehicles is incorrect. This was intentional.

While Ayase was relaying their conclusions, Kagesawa made his way one deck lower to confirm similar simultaneous events. He could go no lower because of a rising water level in this compartment, so he turned around and headed back up. Something must have breached the hull, but on a ship this size, something like that wasn’t going to cause major issues.

What’s taking you so long?Satoru sounded calm, but his tone was unmistakably threatening. Kagesawa couldn’t afford to dallyany longer or he’d have hell to pay once they saw each other again.

How’s it going with the life rafts?With the lean this bad, Kagesawa could not imagine it going any better, but he was asking to distract Satoru.

Some have managed to escape into the ones that were launched successfully. The crew is busy rounding up the rest of the passengers. A lot of them are stuck because of the lean. It was bearable a while ago, but it’s getting impossible now.

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