Once they were sure that nothing was going to short out or blow up, Nico and the team started working on the plan to clear their way to the core, while Max was assigned the task of getting androids to the bridge so that they could check the condition of the control room.
Even if they didn't clear the zones all the way there, the team was hoping to have someone on the bridge when they reached the core zone and started working on the power relays.
They didn't know what had disabled the ship to begin with, as the only visible damage had been the gouge along the outside, and that shouldn't have been enough to cripple the vessel. So, there must have been hidden damage, and the search for it was all that they could think about.
It was like a murder mystery novel to them, they couldn't stand not knowing the outcome, but just like the best mystery stories, which were digitally locked, they were unable to skip ahead and see the ending first.
The door at the edge of the zone cycled smoothly as Max sent an android with a team of drones out to head straight for the bridge. If the pattern from their zone held true, the doors would be wide open, so they would only have to walk there without getting too lost.
The others had to try to get all the doors working in the zones between them and the core, which would take days or weeks, but getting a team to the bridge should be fairly simple.
The door sealed behind them, and the small team began to walk, following the predictive mapping model that had been generated during their exploration of the first zone around the cargo bay that they had picked.
A small flow of wireless energy transmission was all that it took to get the control panel back online, and a summary of the status inside the airlock up on the display.
It had been purged of atmosphere, but it had been fully sealed from both sides, ready for use.
The only problem was, there was no power to the door, and the Android couldn't transfer enough for it to open automatically. Instead, it used the control panel to unlock the door, and then had the drones pull it open with their mechanical claws.
The airlock slid smoothly once the latch was disengaged, free of any sort of corrosion or obstruction. But what they found inside was the first sign that the ship had really been lost in combat and hastily evacuated. Four preserved bodies lay inside, flash frozen by the drop in pressure as the atmosphere was evacuated from the World Ship, and still in their Command Unit uniforms.
They were similar in appearance to the pictures that the teams had found in the dorms, with golden skin and white hair, but these ones were much more slender, barely two metres tall, and with a slightly enlarged cranium.
If Max had to guess, they had been optimized for intelligence and not strength and agility, as the soldiers had been. They would have the answers to that very soon. The bodies were so well-preserved that once he brought them back to the Cutter, the team and the medical androids would be able to do a full scan and analysis of them, which would answer all the lingering questions about the species.
Carefully, the drones moved them from their resting spots in the airlock into the hallway, and then gathered inside to close the airlock door. Once it was sealed, they could open the final door to the bridge and finally see what sort of condition the Command Centre of the ship might be in.
Hopefully, not completely destroyed, Max prayed.
The doors slid open with a gentle tug from the drones, and Max let out a sigh of relief. The bridge staff hadn't damaged the bridge before they had left. Everything was precisely where it should be, intact and ready for use as soon as the power came on.
Presuming, of course, that everything would turn back on.
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