The major portion of rearranging the wing had been planned and scheduled repairs were underway. Badger walked down a security corridor looking for the officer on duty. He didn’t really need to be here personally but he had wanted to get away from the flight offices for a little while. He found a young security NCO who steered him in the right direction. Badger followed a few more turns and found the door he was looking for. He entered the barracks room. It was long and narrow and held eight beds.

A young crewman noticed Badger and yelled “Officer on deck!”
Four enlisted men jumped to attention.

“As you were men.” Said Badger.

They all relaxed and looked at Badger.

“Where can I find Ensign Abernathy?”

As a group they all smiled and pointed to the door at the other end of the room marked lavatory.

Badger walked to the door and pushed it open; inside was a pair of sinks, a pair of showers and a pair of toilets. One of the toilets was in the process of being surgically scrubbed by Ensign Abernathy.

“I thought I might find you in here.” said Badger. ”What did you do now?”

Abernathy jumped to his feet with a toilet brush in one hand and a rag in the other. He looked surprised and alarmed but then he smiled.

“Sir?”

“How’s it going Nasty?”

“Pretty good uh major. Sir.”

Badger reached up and pointed at his own collar.

Abernathy looked at the rank and said”Sorry sir. I didn’t realize. I heard you were running the wing but id didn’t know about the promotion….Sir.”

“That’s ok Nasty but you can call me Badger.”

“Uh, Badger, Sir?”

“Yep. All of my pilots call me Badger.”

Ensign Abernathy stared at Badger but couldn’t say anything.

“You are a pilot. Right, Ensign?”

Abernathy began to smile. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. You’ll be replacing one of the pilots we lost. We’ll have to ask Neno to release you but I don’t think he’ll mind.”

Badger held up the toilet brush and sponge smiling. “I think he’ll be glad to get rid of me. I never really fit in here.”

“Well, if you don’t fit in on the air wing I’ll get a big hammer and make you fit. Ok?”

“Rodger that.” said Abernathy smiling from ear to ear.

“We’ll get the paperwork started tomorrow. See you later.” said Badger as he turned to go.

“Sir, uh, Badger?” said Abernathy.

Badger turned around. “Yes?”

“Thanks.”

Badger nodded and left.




He stopped by the wing one last time and headed to his quarters.

A half hour later he was showered and standing in the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He’d intended to get a meal but was just too tired.


He stood in the washroom looking at the mirror.

‘What are we going to do with this mess?’ he thought.

‘The wing is one third gone.’

‘The ship can’t go a day without a major disaster.’

‘Your ex wife thinks you killed off her fiancé.’

‘She was right.’ he thought. ‘I’m going to hell.’

He looked at the mirror and asked aloud, “What now Einstein?”

The man in the mirror didn’t have a clue.

The reflection looked as crappy as Badger felt.
He was exhausted. He hoped a few hours sleep would take the edge off.
He hoped he actually could sleep.
Badger heard a knock at the door. He hung his head

‘What now?’ he thought.

He walked into the main room of his quarters pulling on some pants and a t-shirt as he went.

He opened the door. It was stilts.

“Nora.”

She stood in the hallway looking miserable.

“You need something?” he asked.

She looked up at him and back down at the floor. She glanced up and down the corridor as if she weren’t sure what to do.

“You want to come in?” he said.

“No.” she shook her head.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yes.” she said. ”No.” she shrugged.

Her eyes were red. She sniffled and wiped her nose.

“Come on in.” he said.

Badger stepped back from the door and she walked past him into the room. He shut the door and turned back around. Stilts stood in the middle of the room. She looked around avoiding looking at Badger.

“You ok?” asked Badger.

“No.” she said in a small voice.

Her eyes filled with tears. She stood with her arms at her sides, fists clenched. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and put them back to her sides. Badger could see her bottom lip start to quiver.

“I’m sorry” she began, “for what I said earlier.”

“It’s ok.” said Badger.

She shook her head. “No.” she said. “No it’s not ok. I need to tell you this.”

“All right.” Badger said.

“I should have told you this earlier, but I ‘m, I was….. engaged.”

“I know, Wally told this evening.”

“Oh.” she said.

Badger waited. Stilts chewed her lip and stared at the wall.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Harrison?” Badger asked.

Stilts shrugged. “I don’t know. You show up out of the blue after all of these years and you are running the wing. It was awkward. I didn’t know how you would treat James.”

“You think I would have treated him differently?”

Stilts crossed her arms and shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. After the way things went with us, I thought that maybe you’d have a grudge and I didn’t want you to take it out on him because of me.”

“Why do you think I’d do something like that?”

She shrugged again. “After what I did to you, I’d have held a grudge.”

Badger sighed. He shook his head.

“That was a long time ago Nora. Things change. We’ve changed too.
If you weren’t comfortable telling me that you were engaged then that’s your business but you don’t need to worry about some sort of grudge. I’m not like that. You know I’ve never treated you badly, even after the divorce. That’s all in the past. Ok?”

She nodded and sniffled again. “Ok.

“I’m really sorry about James. I didn’t know him personally but he was a good pilot.”

“Thanks.” she said. ”I miss him.”

Badger gestured to a chair. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.” she said looking back at the floor and wrapping her arms around herself.

She continued to stand in the middle of the room. She sniffled again and a tear ran down her face.

Badger asked “You need anything else?”

She nodded.

“What?” he said.

She looked up at him, finally meeting his eyes. Her voice quavered, “Can I cry now?”

Badger stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
She put her face against his chest and cried.



[edit on 9-7-2009 by badgerprints]

Wiping his hands on a oily rag the Chief was nervous about moving such a large beam into place. With a loud metallic thud the beam dropped into place.

OK That's it, weld it!

Here you go Chief.

The Chief was handed a data pad with a list of repairs done so far. He still hadn't solved the Bucky skin armor issue yet but so far many of the major repair issues could and would be addressed.

He told the Captain they needed 4 or 5 days, However the more his crews worked the more they found that needed to be fixed. He was determined to stick to his initial estimate. Hopefully even come in a few hours early maybe even a day.

The Data looked better than he expected. The main computer for some reason in certain locations seemed to have repaired itself which couldn't possibly be the case. But he was glad that it appeared to have straightened itself out. The main engines were being overhauled and worn parts replaced.

The repairs for damage done by the torpedo was slowly coming together. He had thought about how to reconstitute the Bucky skin. He wanted to run some ideas past ensigns Kim and Horn about how they might modify some nano probes to repair the Buckminster fuller skin matrix but that would have to wait.

That was item 256 on a long list of things to do.

The escape pod hurtled through space flying farther and farther away from the damaged but still majestic Penelope.

He hadn’t really ever been able to take a look at her before. He was always too focused, and missed the goodness around him only seeing the darkness. But even as he finally got a chance to look at the splendor of the universe around him, he was pulled back by the sight of the debris.

Though all that he could see was twisted metal and wreckage, he knew thousands of people were among that detritus. Most completely vaporized and the rest probably too burned or disfigured to be recognizable.

U appeared behind him and asked “Looks like the Syntiro, doesn’t it?”

Studious remembered the burning ship its bridge destroyed floating through space.

U: “I wonder if their families will feel the same as you did.”

Studious looked at him with anger.

Studious: “How could they not, if they’d lost so much?”

U: “Ah yes, you lost everything because of Norfolk didn’t you?"

Studious slumped back in his chair staring blankly at the destroyed ships.

U continued “You career, your assignment, your friends, your….wife.”

One tear began to fall down his worn face. That lone tear landed on his cane and traveled slowly to the floor.

Studious: “Why ask a question if you already know the answer?”

U: “Well, you must realize how similar this all is. It’s all repeating. A crazy Captain, friendly fire, your confrontation on the bridge. The difference is last time you killed the Captain.”

Studious: “I had to.”

U: “I know, because I know everything about you. If you’d only been a little faster maybe you could have stopped him from killing your wif…”

Studious grabbed U by the collar and banged him against the hull of the escape pod.

U: “Good…..good, Studious.”

Studious drew his arm back to strike U when his wife appeared.

Wife: “No!”

Studious: “It seems that’s all you say to me these days.”

Wife: “Well you’ve been about to do a lot of stupid things these days.”

Studious unclenched his fist and let U go.

U said indignantly while straightening his shirt “How dare you treat me that way.”

Studious: “How dare you....U”

U: “You what? You monster, you sadist, you ogre.”

Studious: “It’s your name isn’t it?”

U: “Why ask a question if you already know the answer?”

Studious: “I’ve had enough of your games U.”

U: “Oh Really?”

Studious: “Yes, now leave me be.”

U: “You want to be left alone?”

Studious: “Yes U.”

U: “Oh you’ll be alone like you were after Norfolk. Like you’ve been ever since.”

U continues “I’m going to make this just like it was so long ago. But I’ll have to take her with me…” U points at Studious’ wife. “…Since she’s an illusion of mine.”

Wife angrily “What?”

Studious: “What are you talking about?”

U: “She’s not real. I’ve been torturing you. Making you believe she was still alive. It gave you false hope.”

Wife: “No! Don’t listen to him Studious.”

U: “Even now I’m torturing you. Making her speak, pulling your strings. History is repeating itself. At Norfolk you lost your wife…..and now you’re going to lose her again.”

U moved closer to Studious’ wife and put an arm on her shoulder.

U: “I’m going to leave you exactly as you were after Norfolk. Alone……so alone. Goodbye Studious.” He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light they disappeared.

Studious sat for a long time unable to do anything more than blame himself for believing she could be real.

The escape pod was now among the debris of the destroyed ships. Studious looked back toward where the majestic Penelope had been but even she had moved away. He was now totally alone among the darkness and debris.

[edit on 10-7-2009 by Studious]

My feet settled under me, my head quit spinning from the sense of travel in motion, my eyes became accustomed to focusing on stationary objects... I was home.

Back on the Yydryl and most obviously alone, my first thought was to look for Cim but I put it behind me.
She’d directed my arrival on Ship, my location just outside the huge door to Ships Center, but the only evidence of Cim? The backpack she’d used on our trip for the tagging supplies I had clutched tightly in my hand along side my own sack of supplies, now empty.

With a heavy sigh and not a small rend in my emotions I figured she’d talk to me when or if, she wanted.
That I had so many questions left unanswered from our last moments on Earth, would have to wait. I was back aboard the Yydryl, I had a job to do, and the best thing for now was to forget the past few moments I’d spent on Earth.

Forget the fun we’d had at her cabin, forget Nando and Milli. Chocolate cake.
Forget the portal I’d stumbled upon while looking for Cim.
Forget the anger in her eyes when she found me after she’d taken a tumble into the waters of the Amazon.
Forget, she’d found me just after I’d been enveloped in the embrace of the Man, only moments after he’d kissed me.
The memory of the human was going to be much harder to put aside, more so than all the other questions I had combined, but, forget him I would. At least for now.

Rummaging through my backpack I found my headband and slipped it on wincing at the tenderness in my antenna when pulling the circlet into place. I‘d probably need a trip to the medical bay I grimaced more from the pain in my antenna than anything.

Stuffing Cim’s backpack into mine I flagged down one of Ships droids giving it directions to the sacks back to my quarters. As the droid made it’s way down the corridor I wondered where Carpet was but since my headband was known for restricting communication between us and I wasn't about to take it off now I’d have to wait until later. I’d look forward to communicating with my friend once I returned to my personal quarters where I hoped Carpet would be waiting.

Craning my neck back as far as I could I followed the curve of the door guarding Ships Center until I couldn’t see any farther.
I couldn't’ help but smile.
It never ceased to amaze me how gargantuan the port was and no matter how I tried I couldn’t see where the height of the door met Ship’s ceiling far overhead.

Walking forward through the doors and into her warm misty atmosphere was like stepping into another world.

All thoughts of Earth and Cim were forgotten as the doors pulled closed behind me.



[edit on 11-7-2009 by silo13]

Badger woke to the sound of the alarm. He reached over and picked up the clock from his bedside table and looked at the time. He’d slept for 4 hours. He tossed it onto the bed next to him and growled. He got up and stumbled to the shower. As he passed the mirror in the bathroom he gave his own reflection the middle finger in retaliation for setting the alarm so early. After a hot shower he dragged on his flight suit and grabbed his thermos. He stopped by the nearest chow hall and one of the mess orderlies filled his thermos for him while he drank a large mug of steaming hot coffee and ate a piece of toast with butter on it. The mess hall was quiet and only one or two others were there.

Badger pulled a small electronic writing pad out of his pocket and began to go through checklists and paperwork. He had a return correspondence from the security office. He’d thought he would need to get an ok from Neno on Abernathy, but one of Nenos’ officers had already processed the paperwork and cleared him for transfer. Badger electronically signed the completion papers and put his thumb on the small screen to authenticate the signature. The screen flashed blue and a fine yellow outline of his thumbprint appeared on the screen and faded. A few seconds later a confirmation came back. Abernathy was now a member of the wing. Badger selected a few documents and went through the authentication again. Within a few seconds Abernathy was a Warrant Officer, level 1. After evaluations they would see if he needed a bump in pay but this would do to start.

Badger took his full thermos of coffee and made his way to the security section and Abernathy’s’ quarters. He propped open the door and in the light from the corridor walked down the narrow room looking at each bunk until he found Abernathy asleep in the bed nearest the bathroom.


Badger took a half step back and kicked the foot of the bed.

“Wakey, wakey.” He said to the startled Abernathy. “Let’s go flying.”

Two hours later, Abernathy was sitting in the cockpit of a two seater 337 fighter that the wing used for evaluations and special delivery of important people. The wing had two such training/transport birds. They also worked well for long range recons and patrols. Other than the spare seat and twin sets of controls they were identical in capability and performance to the other 337 series fighters. From the rear seat Badger went over the preflight checklist and performance parameters on the bird.

The two hours since Badger woke him up had been the longest of Abernathy’s’ life. He’d had to get a flight suit and gear as well as ensure it was all fitted and worked properly. He’d had to sign documents and get briefed on numerous things that were not only required but necessary before flying. It helped that the wing commander had streamlined the process and signed off on everything but it seemed to take forever. Now Abernathy was actually sitting in a fighter cockpit wearing the bars of a Warrant Officer and he couldn’t wait to fly. He’d been waiting for this his whole life and had thought he’d never see it. Now he was so excited he was practically hopping up and down in his seat. In the back seat, Badger completed his checklist.

“Any questions Nasty?” asked Badger.

“Just one.” said Nasty. “Are you gonna talk all day or are we gonna fly?”

Badger laughed. He keyed the outer door. The blue door marker lights ringed a field of stars that got bigger as the doors opened wider.

“Ok, we’re in a low profile situation so no burns over 30%, no fancy stuff and no launch rail flash. It’s a standard recon patrol on a stealth protocol. Got it?”

“Rodger, I’ve got it.”

Nasty put his hands and feet on the controls and checked the status light on his console it was red. The controls were still set for rear seat controls.

“Uh, Sir, Badger?”

“Yes Nasty?”

“Are you going to let me fly this thing today?”

Badger waited a few seconds before answering. “Maybe. It depends I guess.”

“Depends on?”

“What happened at the academy that got you grounded ?”

Nasty hesitated. “I really can’t say sir.”

“That’s Badger, not Sir, and yes you can.”

“No Badger I really can’t.”

Badger pulled out his thermos and unscrewed the cap.

“I checked your academy records Nasty. They were first rate. No problems with flying, grades, fitness, capability, leadership skills, discipline, nothing at all out of the ordinary. One might say that your record was exceptional, even exemplary.”

Nasty didn’t respond.

Badger continued after a few seconds. ”What I don’t get is why an officer candidate with such a fantastic record, has a letter in the same file from the Commandant of the school that basically destroys a promising career. The Colonel actually wrote that it would be detrimental to the future of any officer who signed off on a promotion for you or allowed you flight status, ever. That’s quite a letter.”

Nasty stayed quiet.

“Colonel Kloss wasn’t it?” asked Badger. “He’s a real piece of work .Never forgets. Never forgives. Maybe I’ll give him a call. ”

Nasty could see his chance at flying beginning to slip away.

Badger continued to speak as if lecturing a wayward child. “The Colonel didn’t bother specifying the offense that you committed in his letter. This is highly unusual wouldn’t you say. I actually know Albert Kloss and can tell you that he is one of the most anal retentive, meticulously detailed control freaks I’ve ever met. If he didn’t cite the actual infraction in the letter then there was a damn good reason for it wasn’t there?”

Nasty kept his mouth shut. He was looking at the front controls indicator. It was still red. He looked out through the bay doors and stared at the stars. He looked back down at the red light on his console.

“I can wait all day buddy. I’ve got coffee and a sandwich. That’ll keep me happy for a while. We can sit here or you can answer my questions. I’ve got to know who I’m flying with.” Badger said as he poured a cup of coffee.

Nasty smelled the coffee and realized that Badger was prepared to sit there and wait it out.

Nasty finally said. “Yes, there was a good reason.”

Badger took a sip of his coffee. He unwrapped his sandwich.

“I know you are staring at that red light there on your console Nasty. I promise you this; it will never be green until you tell me what happened. Why has Albert Kloss made it his personal mission to make your life miserable?”

“I’d really rather not say. He said he’d make me regret it if I ever told anybody.”

Badger took a bite of his sandwich.

Badger said “Not good enough Nasty. No green light for you. Want half of my tuna fish?”

Badger toggled a switch and the outer bay doors began to close.

“Wait, wait. Don’t close the doors.” said Nasty. I’ll tell you but you have to promise not to tell anybody. If it gets back to the Colonel he’ll try to get me back somehow”

“Ok.” said Badger. “I will know as will one or two others who I can trust if necessary. Beyond that it will be kept secret. Now, spill it.”

Nasty hesitated.

Badger began to close the doors again.

Nasty, seeing the doors begin to close, blurted out “I went out with the Colonels wife.”

Badger stopped the doors. “Wait. What? You went out with his wife?”

“Yes.”

“Sharon Kloss?”

Nasty sighed. “Yes, Sharon Kloss.”

Badger gave out a low whistle. “She’s got to be 25 years older than you. What, did you do, take her to the school formal or something?’

Nasty began to grin. “No. We were dating.”

“Dating, or rutting like rabid weasels?” said Badger.

Nasty shrugged. “More like the weasel thing.”

Badger tried not to laugh as he asked “For how long?”

Nasty answered. “Six months.”

Badger wasn’t really surprised but he still had to struggle not to laugh. Sharon Kloss was the Colonels uppity trophy wife and Kloss was an uptight Martinet who was more worried about his career than his home life. It was all wrong and Nasty shouldn’t have done it but the situation was absurd.
What Nasty probably didn’t know was that Sharon was a well known cheat from way back. He hadn’t been the first and he wouldn’t be the last to have a game of ‘poke and tickle’ with Sharon Kloss.

Badger got himself under control and asked “How did he find out?”

Nasty said “She told him.”

“Why?” asked Badger.

“Because I broke up with her to date a younger woman.”

Badger laughed so hard he snorted coffee onto the console. Nasty couldn’t help it, he started laughing too. They both continued to laugh until Badger got a call from the flight control Chief.

“Commander Badger, is everything all right?” he asked.

Badger called back, still chuckling and trying to clean up the coffee, “Yeah chief. We’re fine. We’ll be taking off now.”

In the front seat Nasty saw the red light turn green.

Up in the flight center the chief watched the ship launch. He shut the outer bay door. On the wing communications channel he could still hear the two pilots laughing as they started their patrol.

He turned around and smiled at a red faced Wally and bleary eyed Nora who had been there the whole time listening in as well.

They looked at each other grinning.

“Well,” said Wally”another high quality misfit for Team Psycho.”

“Can you believe that kid dated Sharon Kloss?” said Nora.

“Why not?” said Wally. “You dated Al Kloss.”

“He wasn’t married then!” said Nora.

“You were.” returned Wally.

The flight chief looked over his glasses at Nora. “Ah ha. So the sordid truth comes out!”

Nora blushed and punched Wally in the arm. “Big mouth.”

Wally put his hand to his ear and cocked his head to the side, “Hear that.”

“What?” said Nora.

“Banjo music.”

With the image displayed on the overhead Kim explained. Well if we reprogram them they should be able to replicate the skin atom by atom Chief he walked over and poured himself another hot cup of coffee.

He continued...

We have finished all the structural repairs. We can jump now, according to my calculations once we reach our destination we can deploy them and they should take less than a day to fabricate a new skin.

The Chief leaned back in his chair, Stroked the whiskers of his returning goatee. Thought for a few minutes.

Alright then. We are ready. He thumbed the comm.

Captain the ship is ready to jump at your leisure. We have made all the critical repairs... the rest can be done on route. Out.

OK...
I'm going down to medical and use their medical nanobot replicator.

Dismissed.

The chief then turned and made his way to the ships sickbay. He was a bit apprehensive to return to sickbay since the fiasco of a few weeks back. As he rode the lift he thought of different ways of reprogramming the bots to accomplish the task. He was greeted by the very same Nurse who he had embarrassed himself horribly in front of. Her name was Carla

Back again Chief?

Their eyes met his heart stopped beating.
Yeah. I'm going to need the use of one of your replicators. She showed him where it was. He placed in the tray the bot to be replicated and then he began the long programming process. He first had the computer make the modifications to the bot then reprogrammed it for the task of re sheathing the newly replaced armor on the outer hull.

As he worked he could smell her very pleasant perfume. He turned to her and smiled. She didn't seem to notice. Rather she appeared very interested in the prosses and never took her eyes off of the monitor. The Chief just shrugged and went back to work.

She looked down at him and was impressed by his build. He wasn't a bad looking man... a little rough around the edges she thought to herself. The thought of running her fingers through his thick dark hair was almost irresistible. She bit her lip.

The procedure took several hours.

When it was finished the chief brought it up on the main screen.
Not bad she said as she turned and walked away.

The Chief followed her with his eyes.

He stuttered his next sentence almost choking.
Hey... Iii was wondering if ... you would like ... you know to gett something to eat? He could feel the heat building up in his ears a sure sign he was blushing.

She looked at him over the frame of her glasses like a school teacher would at a misbehaving student then smiled she said sure let me wash up.

The Chiefs heart started beating again and fell out of his throat back into his chest.

Passerby's could hear the laughter as they slowly strolled towards the mess hall. The Chief described all the repairs that had been done thus far and what needed to be finished. She slid her arm in his as they walked. they intertwined their fingers.

The conversation went easily...


[edit on 11-7-2009 by SLAYER69]

Luder heard the report from Slayer and felt a weight lift from his shoulders. The fact they could jump again would be a boon to ship's morale, especially in light of everything that had taken place over the past few days. Luder felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Theresa there, smiling. She pulled him into a hug and sat herself down on the console housing next to him.

"Where to now?" she asked with a pleasant smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we can't go back to Earth without Studious on board. He's listed in all the personnel logs and all the Admirals there know he was on board. If we ditch him, there are going to be a multitude of questions asked."

"I'd considered that. Helm, bring our primary scanners online and locate Studious' escape pod." Luder walked over to one of the still-functioning tactical displays.

"Sir, we got him. He's floating with the debris from our encounter with the NI ships. From what we can tell, his escape pod is about half-power right now. Shall we move into range?"

Luder chewed the inside of his cheek for a bit and nodded.

"Go ahead."

Security and Engineering, I am bringing Studious and his escape pod on board into a cargo bay. I want him to remain inside that thing until we get back to Earth. Make your preparations.

Badger, we are moving the Penelope to high orbit of the nearby planet. Whenever you guys are back on board, give me a thumbs up so we can jump out of here.

The Penelope's external lighting kicked back on, as well as the fore and aft illuminator beams, showing the craggy rocks silently holding vigil over the ship's position. Luder silently said a prayer to them and thanked them for their sanctuary. The ship slowly came about and moved out toward the debris field.

Badger and Nasty were flying a standard patrol. Other than a few fighters out on patrol all others were on the Penelope.

Badger got the call from the Captain.

Badger, we are moving the Penelope to high orbit of the nearby planet. Whenever you guys are back on board, give me a thumbs up so we can jump out of here.

“Home James” he said to Nasty.

“Rodger that.” said Nasty. He was disappointed that the patrol was cut short but it was also the conclusion of his first successful patrol so he was happy.

Soon they were nearing the Penelope. Two other fighters were already docking and a few minutes later Nasty landed without incident.

“Well Badger, how did I do?”

“Pretty good for the new kid. You’ll do.” said Badger.

He commed the Captain. “All fighters on board Sir. Badger out.


[edit on 12-7-2009 by badgerprints]

As Studious sat in the pod alone his thoughts drifted back to the Saratoga…

The Penelope had long been out of sight. He was alone. Only the debris gave him company as sat and thought.

He heard a noise that sounded like static but checked the systems and realized it was a transmission of the Penelope's data tapes. He became worried about what might happen to his Marines for sending that transmission

He thought "This isn't what I meant by send a copy by 'make copies of the ships records and hide them.'”

He sat in a fog waiting until he heard a loud jubilant noise. It was supposed to alert those stuck in an escape pod that a friendly ship was scanning for them. This told those in the pod to fire flares and try and make themselves seen. However this noise struck terror into Studious. He knew that the Penelope had destroyed hundreds of escape pods just a few minutes ago.

He thought that he might be the next target.

The “Colonel” quickly looked around at the debris. His only company before might be his only chance now.

He saw an unexploded munition, a piece of what looked like a gun barrel and scattered metal debris.

U appeared again and a towline fired at the munition. It glanced off.

Studious nervously asked “What you doing U?”

U replied “These bombs don’t go off unless you hit them just right.”

U fired another towline and it glanced off again.

Studious had an epiphany and said calmly “Hey mac let me take a whack at it.”

He aimed the thrusters very carefully and fired.

The towline impacted the bomb and set a timer off as the “Colonel” began to have second thoughts about his plan and yelled “WHAT AM I DOING!”

Studious: “Why you little oooh you…you…you,” Studious realized U was gone. “U?”

The timer had run out and the unexploded became the exploded. Using the thrusters Studious was able to just get clear of the worst of the blast. But was not wearing a harness and flew up hitting the top of the escape pod and was knocked unconscious. He was so badly injured even sensors would have thought he was dead. Though the pod survived nearly all its systems were fried.

Without these critical systems the pod began to drift toward the planet...


Later...

Later Lt. Jones sat in his quarters after transmitting the data tapes to the escape pod.

Suddenly the door was "blasted" open and several Security guards entered.

One particularly menacing Security guard entered and grabbed Lt. Jones by the throat lifting him up.

One of the security guards finds the small device Lt. Jones used to transmit the data tapes.

He checks it but tells the menacing Security guard “The data tapes are not in this device.”

The intimidating Security guard grabs Lt. Jones by the throat and lifts him off the ground.

Menacing Security Guard: “Where are those transmissions you sent? What have you done with those tapes?”

Lt. Jones struggling to speak says “I sent no transmissions. I’m trying to get some rest.”

MSG: “If you’re a trying to get some rest… why aren’t you lying down?”

The threatening Security guard throws the Lieutenant against a wall and he falls down.

MSG: “Sergeant, tear this room apart until you’ve found those tapes!”

Two other security guards help Lt. Jones up and help him stand as they haul him out. They begin to walk down the hall to Nenothtu.

Lt. Jones: “Holding me is dangerous. If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the mutiny among the crew.”

MSG: “I have traced the transmission to you. Now you are my only link to finding those data tapes.”

Lt. Jones: “I’ll die before I’ll tell you anything.”

MSG: “Leave that to Neno.” He turns and talks to another guard “Send a signal to the Security chief inform him we have captured the Lt. sending a transmission.”

The Sgt. approaches “Sir, the data tapes are not in his room and no other transmissions were made. An escape pod was damaged in an explosion and now there are no life forms aboard.”

MSG: “Good, they’ll be no one to stop us next time!”

[edit on 12-7-2009 by Studious]

"Sir! The pod was just destroyed by an unknown explosion. There doesn't seem to be any remnants...."

Luder felt the corner of his mouth involuntarily twitch... slightly upward.

"Spin up the jump drives and make for Sol, best possible speed." He turned and headed over to the command station.

Slayer, we are getting ready to jump, hope everything holds down there!

A few seconds later, the command center was filled with a low rumble as the FTL drives kicked on. The power distribution faltered for a brief moment, causing lights to flicker on and off, finally stabilizing. At approximately T+5 seconds, the ship jumped.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Hours Later....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone on the command center stared intently out of the massive, reinforced viewports set into the front of the command center. The swirl of the wormhole dissipated, giving way to the normal light of the stars in the distance. The moon, Earth's moon, grew large fast, and the Penelope settled down just on the far side of the moon. Without warning, the proximity alarms kicked on.

"Sir! We're on a collision course for.... something!"

The Penelope's nose finally came to rest in her final direction and Luder screamed, "Nose down! Nose down!"

Outside, in space, the massive hulk of the Penelope's sister ship, the USS Ticonderoga hung lifeless, massive gashes and carbon scoring visible along her sides. The Penelope slowly but surely nosed down and Luder gritted his teeth. The two beasts passed within mere inches of one another and for a time, there was a loud, low, wailing scrape as metal ground against metal. Theresa stood nearby, clinging to the navigation console, her mouth agape.

Bodies were bouncing off of the forward viewports. Thousands of them.

"What the hell happened?"

"Sir, our communications are still down, but we're picking up a lot of activity on our forward scopes out near LaGrange 1."

As the Penelope cleared the moon and the wreckage of the Ticonderoga the scene coming into view was sobering. There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of lifeless hulks of vessels, thousands of fighters and bodies and over near the day/night terminator line of Earth, Luder could see flashes of light around LaGrange 1.

Battle Stations! Full Alert Code 1!

"Helm, move us into firing range of LaGrange 1 and let's see what we can do to help." Luder took his station and punched up a few commands on the console. Whatever was out there had taken out another Ventura Class carrier and her crew with what looked like no problem and that fact alone concerned him greatly.

As they moved deftly through the wreckage, the Earth grew larger in the viewports. Luder heard some crewmen gasp and a couple even stood up and pointed.

"Oh......"

The Earth was dotted with tiny points of light, the flashes clearly evident on the screen.

Nuclear detonations.

Thousands of them.

The command center suddenly kicked into extreme high gear, people were shouting to one another and a new shift of people appeared amidst the shock of the scene playing out on the viewports.

Luder watched as the ship drew closer to LaGrange 1.

"Those aren't Alpha Centauri ships.... what the hell are they?" he asked no one in particular.

The UEF ships remaining around LaGrange 1 were putting up a hell of a fight against... something. The ships they were fighting were akin to the half-torn claws of some ancient demi-god. They looked to be more of a combination of organics and machinery than they did anything else. They were making quick work of everything the UEF was throwing at them. The skies were lit with the quick flare-ups of fighters as they were destroyed, the massive capital ships holding position near the station, trying to protect it and the high command were listing and filled with gaping holes of fiery destruction, the LaGrange station itself was listing and massive streamers of flame were pouring forth from the stabilization drives located on the underside of the craft.

"Stop, stop, stop! Bring us to a halt." Luder nearly shouted.

Stand down from battle stations, do NOT launch fighters. I repeat, do NOT launch fighters.

The response among the bridge crew was less than amicable.

"Shut the hell up. All of you. I'm the damned Captain. You see what's going on out there? What the hell are we going to do with a third of our fighters and less than half of our munitions? Ram something? I think not. Let's sit here for a bit and try to see what we can do, if anything. I'm not rushing headlong into the chaos pudding over there so we can all die. Now get back to your stations before I have you all removed from the bridge."

Luder turned to Theresa.

"Get down to engineering and see if there is anything we can do to help Slayer and Badger. You stay with them." She nodded and headed off the bridge.

He moved to the front of the command center and put his boot on the edge of one of the viewports, leaning his arm upon it and rubbing his mouth. He watched.

The gargantuan claw-like ships continued raining hell upon the beleaguered station. Luder felt a knot welling up in his chest as thousands of escape pods began to jettison from the station into the debris field. There was one single flash of light and the station exploded, sending fiery shards of molten slag in every direction. The claw-like ships turned and headed toward the final group of capital ships. Luder was about to order the Penelope forward when he saw them activate their jump drives and vanish into points of light.

The claw-ships hung there for a short time, then moved back to low-Earth orbit. They were crapping out nuclear missile after nuclear missile. Within a few minutes, the Earth's atmosphere was a milky-greyish swirl of destruction. The claw-ships finished their activities and jumped out of system.

People on the bridge were in tears. Luder felt his own eyes growing wet, but he gritted his teeth. Not here. Not in front of the crew.

"Move the Penelope to the LaGrange point and see if we can collect survivors."

Prepare for emergency rescue operations. Badger, I need your squads out there collecting escape pods. We will take as many as we can.

Maintain standby alert. Run full sensor sweeps of everything and anything on five minute intervals and as soon as anything changes let me know.

The Penelope resumed her slow trek through the massive debris field, smaller bits of rubbish and bodies bouncing off of her hull as she pushed her way forward. The death toll was catastrophic.

Nenothtu was sitting at his desk in the makeshift Security HQ while engineering was effecting repairs on the regular security section - and brig. His purpose for being there was to go over the data records of the encounter, preparatory to briefing the Marines on the facts of the matter. He wanted to have all his ducks in a row so that he could immediately begin the briefing if Cpt Luder authorized the release of the information to the Marines.

Neno was interrupted by a transmission from security. "Chief, we've caught Lieutenant Jones sending out a transmission."

Nenothtu replied "how'd that happen? didn't I give orders for nothing in or out of his quarte... er, cell? How did he get anything to transmit with? Transmission to who? What was he transmitting? Am I gonna have to fire every one of you, and run security all by myself? Bring him here. Nenothtu out."

Troubles and more troubles.

When they arrived with Lt. Jones in tow, the prisoner was in a sorry state of repair. Neno told him to sit, then turned to the security contingent. "Who roughed this man up?" he demanded.

The lead sergeant of the squad stepped forward, beaming. "I did, chief."

Neno chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, looking the man up and down. "I don't see no marks on you. What did he attack you with? How did he get a weapon in there?"

"He didn't atta..." the man began, but never finished. Before the sentence was out of his mouth, nenothtu had swept his legs right out from under him, causing him to land heavily on the deck, and flop backwards.

"Clumsy oaf! Learn how to stand! How DARE you rough up one of MY prisoners, without cause?"

The man started to get back up, saying "Chief, he was hiding data..."

Neno cut him off again. "You wanna live to see tomorrow, you best stay down there. You appear to be a threat to harmless folk to me. I DEAL with threats, I don't beat innocuous prisoners. I don't give a damn WHAT he was hiding. In the absence of personal danger, you NEVER assault prisoners. They're in my CARE, not my DUNGEON. How the hell did he get any data to hide in the first place? YOU are on report for this... no, scratch that, YOU'RE FIRED! I don't have goons working for me. That would be MY job. Furthermore, you are now, at this very point, under arrest on charges of prisoner abuse.

The next man that steps out of the guidelines will have his drawers flying from the foc'sle like a Jolly Roger flag, and he'll be wearing them. You probably better pass that along, as I fully intend to get this sorry rabble into fightin' shape, or kill 'em all in the attempt.

Gentlemen, do the honors please. Get this filth out of my sight. NOW!"

Lietenant commander nenothtu sighed as the newly minted prisoner was led away. Neno would probably be up on charges. Again. Assaulting a subordinate this time. No matter. He'd do it again if he caught any of his boys needlessly beating prisoners.

Neno turned to Lt Jones. "What were you doing worth taking a beating for?" he asked.

He was met with stony silence, so tried a slightly different line of questioning. "What kind of data was it? how'd you get it? And for the love of Thor, who could you possibly be sending it to out here? You may not have noticed, but we're pretty beat up, and in the armpit of the universe. No one to talk to here. What was so all-fired important that you'd take a beating for it?"

Lt Jones levelled his gaze at neno, and said "I'll tell you same as I did your goon. I'd die before talking."

Nenothtu's eyebrows shot up. "That important, huh? You fancy yourself some kind of 'secret squirrel, PI'? You'd DIE for it? I hardly think THAT will be necessary. Ain't NOTHING that important out here in the Black. Besides, I aim to see that you have a LONG life, in military prison, for Mutiny. Your untimely death would mess all that up." And just like that, neno dismissed the issue. He had more important things to fret over, like getting the Marines and Security staff in order and on track.

Turning to the remaining security guards, neno spoke. "Get him out of here, too. Strip his cell, nothing but a bunk and a blanket. Strip search his person for contraband. I'd say a cavity search is in order as well, given that there is some ship's property missing, and he appears to be sort of recalcitrant in giving out it's whereabouts. Make sure a doctor sees him, to fix up his boo-boos. I don't want so much as a book in that cell. Seems to me he reads too many spy novels, so I repeat for YOUR clarity: NOTHING BUT A BUNK AND A BLANKET. I've got a meeting with the Captain coming up about a briefing to the Marines concerning the events leading to the recent action, and don't have time for these piddlin' games. Seems the Marines are under some sort of misapprehension about what war involves, what keeps THEM alive, and their precise function on this ship. Now git!"

Nenothtu then turned back to poring over the ships records, without another thought. Almost immediately, the power blinked, and Penelope went into FTL drive.

***************************************************************

Two hours later, Penelope dropped out of the wormhole. Nearly immediately after that, she lurched, and the Captain broadcast all-ship:

Originally posted by mf_luder

Battle Stations! Full Alert Code 1!

Neno looked up and said "Uh oh..." as he scrambled for the bridge at a dead run.

Upon his breathless arrival at the bridge, he was greeted by an apalling sight. Death and destruction everywhere.

Especially Earth. An armada of huge, claw-shaped ships were giving the Earth the pounding of millennia. The missiles raining down on her were actually leaving holes in her atmosphere at points when they detonated. The bridge was silent, and several crew members unashamedly wept at the destruction visited upon the Earth.

"Unholy Mother of Marduk!" was all neno could gasp out.

By the time the alien ships left, the atmosphere of Earth was a swirling mass of clouds and destruction, with swirling brownish blotches in it here and there. Brownish blotches that had been cities this morning, now blasted up and swirling in the hellish atmosphere as nothing more than ashes and dust.

Captain Luder gave orders to locate and assist survivors in the mass of wreckage orbiting the planet.

Originally posted by mf_luder


Prepare for emergency rescue operations. Badger, I need your squads out there collecting escape pods. We will take as many as we can.

Maintain standby alert. Run full sensor sweeps of everything and anything on five minute intervals and as soon as anything changes let me know.

Neno Approached the captain and spoke. "I've seen those kinda ships before , Cap'n. They were Ophiuchi Dragon Claw dreadnoughts. Badger's probably seen 'em too, at the Black Rock Colonial Archepelago. They were... bothersome thereabouts. Never seen that many at one time, or this far in, though. Can't imagine what they found so important it'd provide an excuse for THIS..." he said, indicating the surrounding mayhem and destruction.

"Looks like we're at war for real, now, cap. And I don't think even Slayer can fix that..." he indicated the mess that was Earth with his chin, before his voice cracked and he couldn't speak any more.





[edit on 2009/7/13 by nenothtu]

“Ship?” I called, my voice fell flat without the echo I’d grown so used to in Ship’s Center.
Standing in a huge cavern filled with the raw loam and silts it felt much more like I was back on Earth than in the middle of the Yydryl.

Looking out from a high terrace above what was once a great empty void my eyes widened in awe seeing for the first time the results of Cim and my scavenging trip to what Ship called the ‘nursery of the galaxy.’

Ship's Center was no longer a bare immeasurable stretch of emptiness surrounded by the sterile ribs of Ships core but filled now with the very ingredients of Earth, and all in a process of evolution.
And the smells! How incredible for Ship to be infused with the perfume of deep rich black loam and peaty top soils, the salty tang of sand and sulfur smell of the coarse gritty lava ash.

“Welcome home Silo.” Ship’s voice came from beside me prompting me to jump and look around to see where the sound was coming from.
”Ship?”
A soft mist rising up from the hard pack floor and mounds of dirt condensed to my left. Her voice, no longer confined to cerebral communication seemed to come from the mist like she was standing just to the other side, a step farther than I could see.

“Thank you Silo for a job well done. Your trip to Earth was a glowing success.” Her voice held a smile and not a little satisfaction. The mist around me grew thick, the condensed blanket of air collecting to lay across my shoulders like an arm behind my neck and I felt at once comforted and welcomed.
“Yes, it was a success, I can see that now.” I mumbled sorry Cim wasn’t with us to see the results of our labor but so amazed was I by the changes in Ship I couldn’t regret much for long.

“Can you believe it Silo?“ Ship went on, “We’re inside our first mountain and it’s as real as any mountain on Earth right down to the little bugs and worms.” Her voice rang with thankfulness and pride.



“All this,” She indicated the great cavern carved out of the mountainside, “is material copied from the original samples you sent and then expanded through the same biotechnology I originated from, using the same repair and growth process that healed me after the men from the Penelope came aboard for their, er, ‘visit’.”

“So you’re ok now, you‘re healed? I asked, feeling the question inadequate and coming far too late.

“Fine, better than ever really. I extracted some unique cell material from what the new crew member Keeper used to help aid my recovery. It allows me to interact on a more physical level, not much mind you, but even this little bit is liberating.” Ship’s voice let out a self satisfied sigh.

“Come Silo, take a look at the beginnings...“ Ship gave me a small push forward to the lip of the cave, her voice giving the impression of arms opening wide conducting my eyes to the panorama before us.

“What perfect duplicity.“ She said in satisfaction. “Using my cloaking hologram the Yydryl core still looks hollow from the outside and not a Starship out there will be aware of the life and growth taking place inside this Center. As you can see the droids are progressing well with the groundwork but it’s your living touch I’m waiting for Silo.” She explained with a great sigh of fulfillment.

In every direction loam, rock and sand by the millions of tons was being worked and smoothed, formed and shaped by droids. At the rate they were progressing it wouldn't be long until this ocean of earth was ready for planting.

“Enough of this, you‘ve seen all there is to see today.” Ship moved us back from the ledge towards the huge door separating the Center from the rest of the Ship. “You‘re bruised, tired and have need of the Recovery Bay and Healer Antar‘s. I hope to the Creator your antenna are not damaged beyond repair.”

At the mention of my antenna the bitterness of my encounter with the man and his reaction to my appendages rolled over me anew.

With a misty finger under my chin Ship raised my face, I could barely make out a pair of large green eyes in the shadows before me.
“Silo. I haven't asked you how you’re feeling because you reek of sorrow." Ship said baldly. "Grieve, and then let it go.“ Ship commanded.
I didn’t need to ask Ship how she knew of my heartbreak, my hand went to the Green Man necklace at my chest and I knew the answer lay there. A large tear rolled down my cheek yet didn’t fall to the dirt floor but disappeared into thin air wiped away by a hand of mist.

“Now, go to Antar and give yourself over to her care. And Silo, thank you again for a job well done. Very well done.” Ship enveloped me in her warmth, held me there for a handful of heartbeats then slowly withdrew and she was gone.

I could see it now, my future lay before me... The Center of Ship would also become my Center.
But however long I’d have to wait, and whatever it took, I’d see the Earth Man again.
And when I did?
He would pay.

[edit on 13-7-2009 by silo13]

Just as the unusual energy signature was about to present itself in full image, the atmosphere of the RB began to swirl in an almost fog like way causing antar to loose her footing and fall back bracing herself along the railing of the entry wall.

Shaking her head and opening eyes wide as if to clear the sensation , she attempted to focus on the being attached to the celieng. Just as the image was starting to come in clear she felt a stark blow from behind and instantly collapsed to the floor.

Waking sometime later in a huge empty hallway comprised of slick dark metal with no apparent windows or doors, she cautiously stood up all the while reaching back to the knot on the back of her head and rubbing fingers through the now dried blood.

"Where am I?" she said outloud to noone in particular. "Ship?" No answer. Just a faint echo of her own voice trailing off into the distance.

Reaching into her pocket and taking out a small red stone, she placed it under her tounge and began walking.

The tunnel seemed to go on endlessly and there were no defining signs of having been used by others, no energy signatures that could be sensed or even detected by her wrist band.

No negative or positive Ion. Nothing.

Leaving Ship’s Center I headed right for the crews quarters, specifically Cim's apartment.
I figured my antenna had been damaged this long, a little longer wouldn’t matter.
What mattered was I was about to disobey a direct command from Ship but I’d come a long way since my trip with Cim to Earth and what I had to do couldn’t wait.

For whatever reason Cim had teleported me to Ship’s Center, leaving me there without a word.
That I trusted her went without saying, but something about her leaving me so abruptly kept nagging at me.

Since I didn’t know what the problem was, or even if there was one, I had to try and not worry... But all I could see was Whispers bare room, and Chumley moaning for her return.

What if something had happened to Cim?

Brushing my hands across my eyes I picked up my pace and tried to calm myself.

Maybe Cim had headed right to the Recovery Bay?
She’d nearly drown and teleportation seemed to tax her resources even on a good day it made sense she might have gone right to see Antar. Yes, that had to be it, she’d gone right to Recovery.

Stepping into a run I pulled off my headband.

“Carpet? Hey Buddy...” Carpet didn’t answer.

I called again while I continuing to run in the direction of Ships medical facilities. The RB was on the way to Cim’s quarters anyway, I could check there first and then move on.

When Carpet didn’t reply my fear began to blossom.

Taking the emergency stairs instead of wasting time to work the lift I bust out onto the next floor calling again for Carpet who still either refused to reply, wasn’t able to, or worse.

No guards outside the Recovery Bay was something I took as a good sign, but that the doors were open, was not.
The air inside the RB was purified, the atmosphere precisely controlled the doors hermetically sealed and shut at all times.

“Cim?“ “Antar?“ I stuck my head in the opening and called, but no one answered me.

My first reaction should have been was relief, if Cim wasn’t there, she was fine, but my dread increased a hundred fold. And where was Antar?

My limbs felt weak, my knees threatened to give way under me.

This was just too much.

Carpet wasn't answering me, I had no idea where Cim was or why she’d just up and left me, and now Antar was away from the Recovery Bay.

Turning to leave with a silent prayer to the Creator I’d find Cim in her quarters my eye caught a flash of something black and shiny pooling on the floor.

Stepping towards the liquid time slowed, the room began to tilt.

Before I took another step it was obvious the liquid was what I most feared.



Blood.

I turned and ran screaming for Cim from a horror creeping through me with each step.

[edit on 13-7-2009 by silo13]

Cim was standing in her quarters, steam was practically coming off her body, she was so
very angry with her friend Silo. “Why did she have my map, in her backpack? Had she been some agent undercover this whole excursion? Did she just want the portal? Had this plant gathering just been a front for more nefarious reasons?”

She was beginning to think it was time to leave this vessel, it wasn’t serving and good purpose to her personally and she was not adhering to the divine blueprint at the moment.

Still wet and human, Cim start gathering her belongings, “I just want to go to the cabin and take a shower or better yet, the hot tub.” She says aloud talking to herself.

The little red pebble was beginning to take affect but she would have to use them sparingly as the small crystals would be the only source of hydration while stuck in here, where ever here is.

It almost seemed as if there was light coming from the end of the tunnel but the closer she got the darker the surrounding became. Attempting to sense her surroundings was met with a sharp pain in her right temple.

"OK, so I am being blocked from using my psy/empathic abilities here, not a good sign."

Once again a slight echo of her words bounced lightly off the walls in an almost circular pattern and trailed off into the silence. Continuing onwards and taking note visibly of the now narrowing channel a deep sense of caution came rising to the surface yet she continued onward.

Up until now the ground underfoot had a hard metallic feel to it yet with the last couple of steps it began to have the sensation of stepping onto a wet carpet pad. The tunnel was most certainly getting smaller and darker as she sidestepped to get more towards the middle of the narrowing walkthrough.

Although the walls still held the appearance of cold hard metal, they seemed to now start seeping an almost liquid substance from them, and at one point in between steps she thought she heard a distinct drop hit the soggy floor up ahead.

Wondering now if going towards the light at the end of the tunnel was the right choice and realizing how important her sensing ability was to her gut instincts. For the first time in her life she was faced with uncertainty of right from wrong. Should she turn back to test the other direction or continue on with this course?

All at once a most deafening sound had her grasping the sides of her head to cover her ears, it was the sound of a heartbeat much like the sounds of a fetus in utero, but with a harsh and rasping edge to it as it it was being made with wind and a large metal trash can lid. Scratching and warbled it had an intensity which forced her eyes shut to accompany the exit of its horrid sound from her head.

The grisly sound ended as quickly as it began and in its wake was a stunning effect, she could no longer see. Either the passageway had lost all light or she had gone blind, completely blind.

Now making her way without the ability to see, and her ears still stinging from the earsplitting chorus just seconds before antar became more intent on reaching the end and what ever that may be. Without her ability to sense from any perspective it was as if she had been thrown into an instant samadhi state, one where during her training with the Zonya's she would spend endless days lying in a body temperature vat of liquid and without any light or sound. This taught her the ability to trust her own inner strengths and to forge past the outside world to develop the inner strengths without distraction.

How she could trade the comfort of that time with this one, although the advanced Zzonyas technique could drive a sane man mad, it was still in the environment of complete trust of the Zzonyas Elders and therefore the opposite to this situation.

Still something deep within made her want to continue forward towards where in the beginning she had seen a fusion of light within the distance.

Suddenly a vibration began at her feet and rose towards the area just above her head now, the slight vibration soon turned into a full blow shaking which threatened to throw her off her feet and to the now spongy yet tangible surface beneath her. As the shaking subsided so did her ability to 'feel' the ground beneath her feet. As is floating in space, she tapped the ground beneath her and felt nothing but the place where her foot stopped at the ground, but there was no sense of anything, reaching her left hand to her right and clasping it, it was as if she could feel something grabbing and holding, but it was not her hands doing either.


Nothing was any longer concrete, nothing. As if walking through someone else's legs she continued forward.

“Cim! Is that you in there? Are you OK? Open up, Please!" Pounding on the door to her quarters I could only hope the voice I was hearing on the other side of the door was her.

The door opened, Cim standing there still wet, still mad, but alive was a beautiful sight to see!
“Oh I’m sooo glad you’re ok!” I almost threw myself into her arms but she kept them straight at her side, her bearing cool and unmoving, the look on her face keeping me from taking a step past the entrance to her cabin much less any closer to her.
Confused at her reaction I began to pour out my fears my arms and hands making circles in the air.

“Cim, oh I was so worried! You weren’t in Ship Center with me when I got teleported back, and I couldn’t find you and I was so worried and then there was the blood all over the floor of the Recovery Bay where I looked for you first and then...”

I stopped my flow of words when I realized Cim hadn’t moved, hadn’t said a word, and worse, hadn’t taken the angry look from her face...

Not having any idea why her anger was now not only directed at me, but, near ready to unleash, I did the only thing I could do and asked in all innocence:

“Cim? What’s wrong?

[edit on 13-7-2009 by silo13]

With a snap and a hum, Asher's image appeared on the bridge beside the Captain's post before his voice emanated from the bridge's communication system.

"Captain... Scanners are still trying to compute the number of casualties in the immediate vicinity. Earth's biosphere appears to be utterly devastated, however, there will be survivors in the secure shelters scattered across the globe.

"Hostile craft have exited the system. Remaining Friendly craft have also exited the system. Both bearings were recorded by the onboard computer.

"Armaments are..."

The image of Asher flickered heavily for a moment before stabilizing.

"Apologies. Armaments are at 37% readiness. One Luminal torpedo, 211 Iron Shot and three Quantum Buster warheads remain."

The holographic image glanced at the forward view screen portals. Earth was burning. Western Siberia was a glassy radioactive wasteland. The woodlands and valleys of Asher's childhood were gone forever.

"Let me know if there is anything I can do, Sir."

The image flickered heavily before vanishing.

Tucking his shirt in as he entered Engineering Slayer walked over to his station. Although they had made most of the critical repairs they were in no shape for a fight.

Report?

We are at red alert and securing stations!
Ensign Callan said as she brought up the ships limited scanning abilities results at her station.

The captain had started a large scale rescue. Thank the gods the Alien crafts vanished. The Chief thought to himself as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

The space outside the ship was literally littered with debris and bodies. The view was of total destruction. Kim walked over to the Chief and spoke almost in a whisper.

Chief I know this may not be the right time and I mean no disrespect but we can sure use some spare parts. Those damaged crafts are no longer any use to those dead crews. But we have a fighting chance if we can salvage what we can. That way maybe those crews wouldn't have died in vain!

The Chief grabbed Kim by his elbow and lead him to the far corner of the control room looked him right in the eye and said...

Right now Our purpose is to look for survivors!
Got ME?
Spittle flew as the Chief tried to control his anger when he spoke those words

Dismissed!


[edit on 13-7-2009 by SLAYER69]

The escape pod began to plummet down to the planet's surface.

The unconscious Studious could do nothing to prevent this.

The pod began to heat considerably, but luckily the heat shielding held.

Studious awoke due to the heat and immediately reached for his head.

As he pulled his hand away it there was blood on it. The "Colonel" thought "Bleeding again?...Great."

He was in a daze but snapped out of it when an alarm begin to blare.

"Warning. Warning. Velocity is increasing. Danger, impact at these speeds will result in death. Warning. Warning..."

The message began to repeat.

Studious realized that it was going to be impossible to slow the pod down enough to make a landing survivable.

Nearly all the systems had been fried except for the emergency systems and the data tapes which were recorded on the shielded black-box of the pod.

Thinking quickly Studious decided his best bet was a HALO jump and he immediately put on an oxygen mask. He quickly strapped on the necessary gear from one of the compartments. Thinking "Well this is how the Soviets landed."

The “Colonel” put on his HALO jump gear and grabbed the data tapes and his cane and had just enough time to pack them into his gear.

The computer interrupted him saying "Warning impact imminent. Suggest bail out." The message began to repeat.

Seeing the ground fast approaching he moved toward the door.

Pulling the manual emergency door latch a small explosive blew it open.

Studious was sucked out of the pressurized pod and pulled far from the craft.

He had bailed out at 26,000 feet and fell rapidly.

Using his altimeter he opened the cute at around 6,000 feet.

He watched as the pod impacted far away in a fireball. Apparently the winds had taken it some distance away.

Landing safely on the ground Studious knew he was in more danger than he was before. Because he had jumped before purging his body of nitrogen, he knew he would certainly suffer the bends.

The "Colonel" tried the radio only to find it broken. His heart sank. His only chance was to get hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

The sooner the better…

Studious began to replace the damaged parts to the radio but soon realized that he didn’t have enough to repair it fully.

Studious eyed the data tapes but quickly put that thought out of his mind.

His head began to ache and he began to feel dizzy and he fell passing out.

Awaking to the sound of thunder he reached to itch his ear and saw that his arm was mottled and marbled.

The effects of the bends were becoming far worse.
He began replacing the radio parts again but it soon became apparent that he did not have enough.

Studious felt devastated, he was so close. He sat in the rain for several minutes thinking. A flash of lightning gave him an idea. The flash of light was like the message. The reply, thunder, came later. The light did not need the thunder to exist. Reorganizing the pieces he turned a broken transceiver into a working transmitter. He wouldn’t be able to hear a reply but that didn’t matter.

With his constructed transmitter he was able to send a message.

With his joints and head aching and his arms discolored he began to pass out and fell over.

When he opened his eyes several Marines were loading him onto an Albatross Dropship. He tried to speak but couldn’t with an oxygen mask on. He passed out again and they took him aboard the Altair placing him in a high pressure 100% oxygen chamber just in time.




[edit on 14-7-2009 by Studious]