Page 102 of Pandion

That meant there would surely be casualties. Kagesawa stopped.

Ayase… do you think…What good could one person do? He was no superhero.

Well, there is another docking robot, the T-7500. It is dual operable, but I’m sure we could circumvent that.

The docking robots were massive heavy-duty machinery used to haul and manoeuvre shipping containers, boats and even small ships across a shipyard and in the shallows around the port. They were very versatile but usually required a team of two to four to operate.

If the T-7500 was still operational, it was an older model that Kagesawa had used before when he’d worked with Hashimoto at a shipyard for a little over a year. He knew its limitations and capabilities fairly well. It could be worth a shot.

Can you find a crew member to relay messages to the captain? I’m going to try to correct the lean, but I’ll need some help.Kagesawa was anticipating the incredulous ‘What? You? How?’ from Satoru, but it never came.

I’ll see what I can do,he said instead.

Kagesawa located the dock robot and climbed up into its cockpit. It was probably heading to be repurposed or scrapped, but it was in great condition for its age and started up and ran like a charm.

Kagesawa had rather missed operating these things, although with no one to share the work-load, keeping everything organised was much more of a challenge. Ayase being so independent and capable was like having another person doing the other half of the work. It was such a shame Ayase’s potential was wasted on someone like himself.

To save time Kagesawa performed the quick and dirty version of the initialisation procedures and started clearing aside the smaller cars, even before the engine had reached its normal operational capacity. Moving around a few cars didn’t do much on this large a ship, but once Kagesawa managed to shift some of the trucks to another compartment, there was some noticeable improvement.

What do you need me to relay to the captain?Satoru had been busy at his end.

Kagesawa explained his plan while Ayase calculated which vehicles to move and where. Without being able to secure them back to where they’d been, Kagesawa had to rely on the walls and beams to keep them in place.

We need a little bit more. Is it doable? They’re so close to getting the rest of the people out from the port side cabins.It was a difficult request. Kagesawa was running out of space to store the weight.

The captain says that the ship is taking in water and that some of the bulkheads are damaged, but there should be enough compartments intact to ensure buoyancy so long as the lean doesn’t get worse, and we don’t take in water from the side. I’ve informed him of what you’re doing. They’re still having trouble with the port side cabins.

It was good news that the ferry wasn’t sinking just yet, but it was news to Kagesawa that it might actually still sink if the conditions got any worse.

The lower car deck was starting to get hot and hazy, which meant there was a considerable fire blazing somewhere nearby. The likeliest culprit were the trucks and their cargo.

Is he aware of the fire?Hopefully that had been taken into consideration in their calculations.

Kagesawa wiped some sweat off his forehead, removed the hoodie he was wearing on top of his t-shirt and, out of sheer desperation, packed a kei car into a slot between two trucks.

Where else was left? Since Satoru hadn’t yet said anything regarding the fire, it was becoming clear it had probably not been factored in. Shit.How many people stuck in the cabins?

Twenty… twenty-three? At least. And they’re trying to help some people in the women’s bath area. How bad is the fire?

There was really only one solution to this problem.

Kagesawa located three more trucks. Their estimated combined weight would come close to the maximum the docking robot could handle. Without knowing what was loaded onto the trucks, it was a very rough estimate. If he was wrong, the weight could be enough to crush him.

I’m going to move some very heavy things. Tell people to hold on. Is two minutes enough warning?

Kagesawa loaded the trucks on top of one another and waited until Satoru gave him the go ahead before he pushed the trucks up against the opposing wall.

The noise and the heat were tremendous. The docking robot creaked and struggled under the load, but it was holding the trucks successfully. He’d not meant for it to be a suicide mission, but with this much weight pinning the robot down, he was effectively stuck where he stood. If he tried to move the robot, it would get squashed, and the cockpit hatch was now facing toward the wall, blocked.

This is great! It’s working. They’ve got almost everyone. We’re loading crew members next. Can you hold this steady for another five, maybe ten minutes?

Sure, no problem.Kagesawa sat in the cockpit watching the orange haze through the window. He wondered whether the fire would reach him before the docking robot ran out of fuel.

As the adrenaline faded, he was forced to face the consequences of his rash decisions. This was not a game. He couldn’t press restart for a do-over. It felt oddly anticlimactic now that he’d done what he’d set out to do. He’d saved those people, but he didn’t know their names, and he hadn’t seen their faces. In a matter of minutes, he’d have to say something to Satoru.

Ayase, could you project something normal to him. I don’t want to take any risks.The main thing was to ensure Satoru got on one of the life rafts.

We’re done here. Come up.

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