It’s been seven hours since I holed up inside the cockpit. Krishna finally exited from the psychedelic space-time corridor and arrived safely on the Brad star system.
The light from the G-type star Brad, which was adjusted to tolerable levels by Krishna’s HUD, brightened up the cockpit considerably. I guess some of you don’t really get what I mean when I call their sun a G-type star huh. To be honest, I don’t either. To put it simply, they are stars that are very similar to the Solar system’s sun.
“The main shipyard is based on Brad Prime, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes. Secundus and Tertius are both mining colonies. Our target destination is the Prime colony.”
“Okay then. Let’s head to Brad Prime–”
As I started pointing the bow toward the direction of Brad Prime, an alert rang out. It wasn’t an alert signifying an emergency or that we’ve been locked-on to by enemy ships. It alerted us to the fact that we were being scanned. I operated the pilot console and put up the radar display. I discovered one ship a little distance away from Krishna. It was most likely the one checking us out.
“We’re being scanned huh.”
“Well, it’s fine. Being treated as someone suspicious is a bit upsetting, but it’s nothing to be hung up over. Mimi, set a course for Brad Prime and–”
Another alert rang out. And again, we weren’t being targeted by weapons or anything. We were still being scanned. The ships that were scanning us just multiplied. Before we noticed it, the number rose to three.
“……”
“Um…… I’ve set the course.”
“Everyone, brace yourselves. We’re flooring it and shaking them off.”
After declaring so, I accelerated Krishna all at once. I ignited the afterburners and left the suspicious scan-happy ships behind. The radar display indicated that they were actually trying to chase after us, but it’s no use.
“Elma, start charging the FTL Drive.”
“Okay. I’ll begin charging then. Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… FTL Drive, activate.”
Krishna cruised away at lightspeed.
“Man, that was kinda creepy–”
This was the third time an alert rang out.
When I checked the subspace sensor, I saw lots of ships scanning ours. There were seven in total. Dang, it just multiplied to eight. And it looks like that wasn’t the end of it. The sight of us speeding away with lots of ships following us was akin to a meteor swarm.
“What the hell!? What’s their problem!?”
I can almost hear the crew of those ships shouting things like ‘Don’t let em get away! Chase after em, fellas!’. Just what the heck? It was beyond my understanding and was honestly a bit scary.
“Master, it may be because this is a ship model that they are seeing for the first time.”
After saying so, May put up the radar display on the HUD. They were actually all ships affiliated with Space Dwerg. They were split into various departments like weapons development, hull design, propulsion mechanics and such, but there was no doubt they were all from Space Dwerg Co. Ltd.
“I kinda don’t feel like coming to the colony now.”
I had a strong hunch we were gonna encounter something troublesome again. Well, with a unique ship like Krishna, I’m almost a hundred percent sure. But even so, I also feel that it’s gonna be the same no matter which ship-making company we visit, so there’s no point to running away now and trying again later.
While thinking about these troublesome matters, we finally arrived at the Brad Prime colony. I promptly deactivated the FTL Drive.
We went back to normal space. The ships who were chasing after us also deactivated their drives and popped up one after another. As for how many there were… It kinda feels silly to even count them now.
“Send out a docking request, Mimi.”
“Yes.”
The alerts ringing continuously are seriously getting on my nerves man. There’s the option of threatening them to stop, but that might invite even more trouble, so I’ll just have to put up with this right now.
“Should we release chaff or something?”
It looks like Elma was getting irritated as well. Well, of course, she was. Anyone would. It’s a different matter if you get scanned by ships belonging to the authorities like the imperial garrison, but being scrutinized by civilian ships like this with no restraint feels really off-putting.
It’s not like they were violating any laws, but scanning ships arbitrarily usually has the negative connotation of being suspected for carrying illegal goods or having a bounty. It’s like they were accusing us of being criminals or something. It’s very rude. It’s like being subjected to a full-body check and rummaging through all of your luggage in an airport without prior notice or consent.
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