They had arrived at the hangar before Jacobi knew it. The only way he could rationalize it was that he had passed out while walking, but that didn’t matter, they had made it and that’s what was important.
He walked into the Outrunner and went straight to the pilot’s seat and sat. The world spun and all he felt was pain.
“Jay! Are you alright? What on Earth happened to you?” Charlie jumped up and down on the console to get his attention, but his body had started to go numb. “Hey!”
Jacobi clenched his fists. “We’re almost safe. All you need to do now is get this ship out of the atmosphere and let the auto-pilot take care of the rest! We’ve somehow made it this far, I’ll be damned if I can’t take us the rest of the way!” He told himself.
He managed to flood adrenaline into his system and his body became his to control once again. “I’m… okay.”
“You scared me there for a second, Jay. We’re all set for launch. All you need to do is take the helm.”
Lawrence stormed into the cockpit holding a small red bag and a can of Nanogel. “I’ve patched the two of them up as best I can. Here,” He grabbed Jacobi’s shoulder and stuck the nozzle of the can to Jacobi’s neck, then his stomach. “It’s not much, but it should hold you for a while.”
“Thank you, Lawrence.” Jacobi murmured. “How do they look, Sara and Charles?”
“They’re alive.” He paused, then continued aloud: “Once you’re free from Titan head to Mars, I’ve already helped Charlie with the coordinates. The UPSC has a base in orbit, they should take you in.” Jacobi had almost forgotten about the large man’s speech impediment, after all, it wasn’t there when he spoke with his mind. He reached into the bag and pulled out the orb that Sara and Charles had stolen from Gillian’s.
He passed the orb to Jacobi and he absentmindedly accepted it. “Don’t you mean we? When we are free from Titan?”
Lawrence shook his head. “I’m staying behind. Don’t even try to argue, I’ve already discussed everything with your friend.” He motioned to Charlie.
Jacobi started to protest, but Lawrence beat him to it: “No. My place is here, on Titan, helping people like you escape. You’re a good man and I believe that once the four of you recover from this you’ll come back to help right all the wrongs on Titan. And when you do, I’ll be here waiting for your commands.” He smiled. “But right now Sara and Charles are in trouble. You’re in trouble. Now go.”
With that Lawrence exited the ship and was gone.
“Air-lock confirmed, Captain.” Charlie shouted from behind him.
Jacobi spun in his chair and faced the controls of the Outrunner. They were strikingly similar to those of the Sharpfin, and - even after all that had happened - he smiled. This was it. This was his ship and now it was finally going to fly.
“Or explode and take us all to the Underworld in a fiery blast.” The voice of reason added.
Jacobi coughed a chuckle. “Shut it, you.”
He grabbed the controls and double-checked the confirmation lights for all of the ship’s essential systems. “Here goes everything.”
The Outrunner purred to life. The engine had been designed to run quietly, it was a costly decision, but at the time he had planned to be escaping without notice.
The Outrunner started forward smoothly and with the flip of a switch and a pull of the cyclic, the Outrunner was air-borne.
They quickly and smoothly gained altitude. Jacobi couldn’t help but he was proud of the job that he and Charlie had done.
Clouds flew past as they continued to climb. Charlie sat on the console and monitored the various meters and dials. “I’ll take care of the atmospheric thrusters, all you need to do is keep us steady, Captain.” The monkey turned a smile to Jacobi.
“Thanks, Charlie.” Jacobi sighed as he pushed the throttle into the orange zone.
“Here we go, Captain!” Charlie exclaimed as they reached the boundary of Titan’s artificial atmosphere. “Thrusters on!”
The Outrunner shook as the extra boosters kicked in, but the ship held together. Jacobi was so happy he could cry.
The sky slowly turned black as they reached the edge of space.
Charlie began to speak when a bright blue light enveloped the Outrunner.