| abstract
| - Sam Gideon is lying on the couch, snoozing. Marina enters, hands full of white cases with red cross-wise hashes slashed on them stacked almost over her head. Can she see anyone? Probably not... Sam Gideon awakes with a small start and glances in the direction of the moving stack of cases, there's that confusion someone has when waking to a strange sight, but quickly replaced by amusement. Surgeons, particularly field trauma surgeons, are also excellent acrobats. Ask the guys from M.A.S.H.. Marina manages to wiggle around the doorway and down the cneter of the room, hangs a right into the kitchen, and, before her luck runs out, she sets the stack of cases on the table. "Whew...let's see...one, two, five...mmm. I hope that will be enough." She angles her head and continues her conversation with herself, unaware of Sam's presence. "If it isn't, we'd probably need more than a field medic anyway," offers Sam from the couch. Tharsis has arrived. Eeep. Marina spins around and manages only to blush a /little/...except on pale red-heads, that's a lot. "Yessir, well, you might be surprised. Marine platoons train one right up, wot? Um...I didn't disturb your nap did I?" Marina is standing beside the table and a large stack of medkits, and Gideon was napping on the couch across the way. "Not at all," says Sam with a small smile pulling himself and smoothing out the wrinkles in that uniform. In the 41st century, that leaves him looking freshly ironed. Same can't be said for his face though. "I know enough about marine platoons to last me a few lifetimes," he chuckles. Marina grins. "Yessir, very good. I'll just stash these then..." and she goes right to stacking them atop the two or three already stowed away in the space. She leaves one on the table though. Tharsis shimmers into view near the forward hatchway. "Afternoon folks." "Afternoon Mr Tharsis," says Sam. "We're fully supplied I imagine? I understood our engineer wanted a good number of things before takeoff." "I would imagine that if he's got the requests along then they're in the hold by this time." Tharsis replies. "Good," nods Sam glancing at his PDA. "I have a final mission review with the Admiralty in 2 standard hours and then we're good to go." He grins, "I ran into Tom last night, he was surprised you're going along with this." Marina concurs from her position, cross-legged on the floor, as she stacks the last case in place. "Aye, sir, all is square on my end I think. It would be nice to know just how many crew members there'll /be/ of course..." Tharsis chuckles a bit. "I can imagine he would be, but like I said, I've inherited my father's innate sense of curiousity. He couldn't resist a good mystery and I have the same failing." Marina sniffs and stands, dusting her hands on her jacket. "Curiosity is about the nicest way to phrase it, with all due pardons, Mister Tharsis." "I think Mr Tharsis can fill you in on the crew," says Sam with a small frown. "I have the feeling this whole mission is ad hoc after the first two failures." He grins, "Let's surprise them with making it succeed." Gideon grins at Tharsis, "Well, we're probably all going to have that curiousity sated over the next few days, just remember the watchword of this mission is caution." Tharsis nods. "Not to worry Mr. Gideon, I am the soul of caution." he says as his projection pulls up a seat at the table. "I haven't lived long on this mortal coil and I'd like to reach at least 10000 before I shuffle off it." "Good to know," nods Sam standing. "I'm going to make a final rundown of my checklist before the meeting. Mr Tharsis, I'd ask you to make sure we're ready for lift-off. Our back-up pilot has been assigned, see to it he's fully briefed on your systems in case we need him." Tharsis nods. "I'll get him up to speed." "If there's nothing else," asks the Commander with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing else for the moment. All cargo has been secured and all systems are ready for takeoff as soon as possible." Tharsis replies. Marina smiles at Tharsis and the Captain, and then walks over to her bunk, fishing through her locker for something "I imagine you've been ready for take-off ten minutes after we came aboard," chuckles Sam. "It's the supplies for us and the banality of naval beaurocracy that's taking the time." And the Commander heads forward to the bridge to take back his PDA and any other last minute preparations. Bridge - ===< Area Level: 1 >============================================< Indoors >=== The bridge is arranged to permit operation by a single person, but additional stations are available to delegate ship's functions if needed. A main operations console is situated underneath the forward window, with a single seat. On either side of the primary console are two secondary consoles, each with a universal design so that they can accept operations transferred to them from the primary console. Each is equipped with a single seat. Behind the forward section, the bridge is arranged to be comfortable for those who are not involved with flying the ship. A pair of comfortably padded couches line the walls, and the floor has a rectangular area that can raise up to provide a small table if needed. The aft hatchway is situated on the rear wall, between a pair of light fixtures that provide soft lighting for the sitting area. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is also a Navcomp, some Viewscreen - Tharsis, some Engineering - Tharsis and some Helm - Tharsis here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Obvious Exits: Out ============================================================< ISS Tharsis >=== Tharsis has arrived. Sam Gideon walks towards the command chair, PDA in hand. Taking his seat he addresses the thin air around him, "Mr Tharsis?" Tharsis' voice comes out over the console speakers. "Hello Commander." "All present and accounted for?" asks Sam. He looks a little nervous. "I do not believe some of the crew has reported yet." Tharsis replies. "Well, they'd better soon," says Gideon grimly. "Our orders are to head out towards the Rift near Sol System, spend two days gathering data if the risk is within acceptable parameters and report directly to HQ. We're to monitor the rift at every possible frequency, your event horizon idea was suggested by some of the brass as well as monitoring if there's any shift, growth or diminishing of the rift even down to the quantum string level." "I've calibrated all of my detector grids for maximum sensitivity so I should be able to pick up flucutations as miniscule as a few angstroms." Tharsis says. "Once everyone is aboard we can blast off." "Very good," says Gideon. "You know there's going to be a lot of waiting on this mission." "I expected as much. For the benefit of the crew I've downloaded several current entertainment holos and I also have a selection of board games in the back." Tharsis offers. "I'm a decent chess player, but not as good as my brother Berseus. He can stomp me every time." "I'll be sure to test your skills," chuckles Gideon. "And probably be thankful it's you and not Berseus we have with us." "I would. He's not the personable type... and definitely lacks a sense of humor." Tharsis says with a chuckle. "Alaria's a bit better, but she's more of the type who helps everybody. She studied to become a medical expert for that reason, and insisted that when her body was converted for her matrix it include a well equipped med bay. Me, I took after dad. Curious, and with a desire to explore." "Well... we have the right member of the family in the right time, at the right place," says Gideon raising an eyebrow. "Where I come from, that's considered a very good sign." Sam Gideon gives a grim look at his console as the last of the crew confirms their position, "Mr Tharsis?" "Yes Commander?" Tharsis voice replies. "It's time," says Sam. "Ask for lift-off clearance and take us out when you're ready." "Understood." Tharsis replies. With a click, his transmitter flips on. "New Luna Control, this is ISS Tharsis. Requesting clearance to depart." "Roger Tharsis." respons the control tower. "Clearance granted. Good luck and godspeed." "Thank you control." Tharsis replies as his transmitter clicks off. With a dull roar, his engines come to life. "Thrust generation in progress. Reactor stable, all systems go." The ship rumbles a bit as the ascent thursters fire. /-----< Viewscreen >-----------------------------------------------------------\ | | | Visitor's Cavern: Welcome Rock | | | | Fairly cheery for what amounts to a gigantic cavern on an asteroid, the | | sky blue walls are textured with an expanding, entangling branch-like | | pattern, with bright lights embedded in the stone every twenty feet, and | | approximately a dozen omnidirectional cameras scattered evenly over the | | ceiling. The two mile radius pad itself is arranged in concentric circles, | | with a shuttle pad and small refreshment booth in the center, larger ship | | spaces towards the middle, and smaller ones towards the cavern edge. The | | edges of the cavern on all sides have a three foot metal fence with a thirty | | foot drop immediately afterwards, down to some sort of moat filled with | | floating bits of what appear to be greenish whipped cream. Surprisingly, it | | smells strongly of gingerbread. A bright blue crackling atmosphere field | | covers the apex of the cavern, allowing ships in and out. | \---------------------------------------------------------< GalSpace 1.0 >-----/ /-----< Viewscreen >-----------------------------------------------------------\ | | | New Luna Orbit - Local New Luna Space - Freedom System | | | | A room that represents some portion of not-deep space, such as a solar | | system. In a solar system room, for example, objects representing bodies of | | interest would be placed in here. Ships would then be able to +fly towards | | the bodies to enter orbit around it, which would be a separate room. | | | | When a ship enters this room, it is marked either as outside or inside. | | Outside means the ship has just entered from deep space or another part of | | the system, so travel time to any bodies would take full time, and travel to | | FTL a fraction of it. Inside means the ship has arrived from orbit around a | | body; travel time between bodies is half the normal time, while travel to | | FTL full time. | \---------------------------------------------------------< GalSpace 1.0 >-----/ -> Outside: ISS Tharsis breaks atmosphere and enters into orbit. -> Outside: ISS Tharsis fires its thrusters to climb out of orbit. -> Outside: ISS Tharsis breaks from orbit. /-----< Viewscreen >-----------------------------------------------------------\ | | | Local New Luna Space - Freedom System | | | | This sector of the Freedom System is monitored by the Union Fleet, with | | traffic control leading a constant swarm of traffic amidst the hundreds of | | satellites that orbit New Luna. Traffic heads to two main destinations here, | | with offworlder-designated traffic heading to Welcome Rock and New Luna | | designated ships given the green light to land on the landing pad. | \---------------------------------------------------------< GalSpace 1.0 >-----/ -> Outside: ISS Tharsis breaks out of orbit from Deorbit. "Take us to the jump point," says the Commander from his chair. "Setting course now." Tharsis replies. "Set Condition Three throughout the ship," says Gideon. "Probably best we let the crew know we're under way." /-----< Viewscreen >-----------------------------------------------------------\ | | | Freedom System | | | | A room that represents some portion of not-deep space, such as a solar | | system. In a solar system room, for example, objects representing bodies of | | interest would be placed in here. Ships would then be able to +fly towards | | the bodies to enter orbit around it, which would be a separate room. | | | | When a ship enters this room, it is marked either as outside or inside. | | Outside means the ship has just entered from deep space or another part of | | the system, so travel time to any bodies would take full time, and travel to | | FTL a fraction of it. Inside means the ship has arrived from orbit around a | | body; travel time between bodies is half the normal time, while travel to | | FTL full time. | \---------------------------------------------------------< GalSpace 1.0 >-----/ "Condition set." Tharsis replies. "Jump point reached. Coordinates locked, initiating Spindrive." -> Outside: ISS Tharsis adjusts course to jump into FTL travel. -> Outside: ISS Tharsis jumps into FTL travel. "Very Good Mr Tharsis," says Gideon with a small smile. "Thank you." Gideon seems to sag a little in his chair, some of the tension leaving him. "I hated the just sitting around waiting to leave part." And his easy grin, "Feels good to be under way." Loken comes into the bridge a little bit after the condition is set, tugging a touch uncomfortingly at his sleeve as he enters. That stops though, "Erik Loken reporting, sir," he states to Sam, "I assumed you'd want me on the bridge, sir," he adds. "Indeed Mr Loken," says Gideon. "And I have some news for you." "Feels good to be spaceborne again." Tharsis replies. "We should be there very shortly." "Yes, sir?" ever the talkative one Erik is. He's standing towards the back, feet at shoulder width, hands behind his back. /-----< Viewscreen >-----------------------------------------------------------\ | | | Local Earth Space - Sol System | | | | In this sector of the Sol System, incoming space traffic monitored by | | the Union Fleet and the Alliance Trade Cooperative has access to Earth, | | Luna, and the Unity Point diplomatic/trade outpost. | \---------------------------------------------------------< GalSpace 1.0 >-----/ A slight lurch is felt as the ship decelerates from FTL speed. "You're not the oldest on my crew, nor the one with the most experience.... however, you're the only one qualified for certain positions, your role as pilot is only as a backup in an emergency. So I think you and I would both be best served with you as my Exec. Keep you busy for the duration." Loken blinks at that, "I'd...umm, thank you, sir," he replies after a moment, taken by surprise it would seem, "I've got to admit that I've never been in such a position before...what would my duties be, sir?" Tharsis activates his viewscreen to bring the outskirts of the Sol system into view. "Sensors on full. I'm proceding very cautiously until we know what we're up against." "Day to day management Mr Loken," smiles the Commander. "Basically just keep everyone and everything off my back so I can handle sitting in the chair without worrying about Dr Brentworth's issue with your snoring. Make sure the supplies are in order and deal with any problems you don't think would best be left for me to sort out." He nods towards Tharsis, "Very good Mr Tharsis, two failed missions is two too many, third time lucky. Be as cautious as you feel you need to be, but I want you close enough to get some readings that will give us more data as soon as possible." Loken nods, "Yes sir," he replies, a bit sharper now, he's got himself back under control it appears. He falls silent after that though. Tharsis engages his primary thrusters as he inches forward. "Initiating UV, infrared, gamma, and visual scans. Picking up some fluctuations from the rift but so far we're well out of what I would consider to be the danger zone. As soon as I determine the rift's event horizon I'll take us as close as possible." "Very good Mr Tharsis," says Sam, he can't help but lean forward on his chair. "You have some kind of screen I can see this on?" Loken remains where he is for the moment, quiet and looking on, but not saying much of anything. Tharsis activates several console screens to display the results of the scans as the keeps the main viewscreen set to a visual range. "It's fuzzy, but I'm picking up a distinct transition zone from normal space to the rift itself. I think I can get us within 100 kilometers give or take." "Do so," nods Sam. "ETA?" Loken still doesn't do much of anything for the time being. "Approximately 10 minutes" Tharsis replies. "Hold tight... this is going to get bumpy. I'm picking up gravity distortions the closer we get to the rift." "Scan those distortions with everything you have Mr Tharsis," says Sam firmly. "This close to a rift in space-time I don't want any surprises." The mention of the gravity distortions seem to pique Erik's interest, but still not a word from the man, he's just looking on a bit closer now. The ship begins to shudder as Tharsis approaches the rift. "Damn... that's setting up one hell of a buzzing in my diodes." he notes. "Scan indicate tachyon particles also emanating from the rift... what the hell... not to mention chronitons. I'm adjusting my shields to compensate as best I can." "Any danger to the crew Mr Tharsis?" Sam has one hand gripping the chair the other, elbow on his thigh, he leans forward so his chin is resting on his fist. "How large are the distortions, and are the distortions high or low gravity?" Erik finally asks, "And what are the levels of particles on the outsides of the distortions, tolerable?" "No danger at present. I'm diverting auxilliary power to my structure integrity field, with luck it'll help me last longer." Tharsis replies. "Readings indicate the distortions are low gravity, but the closer to the rift itself they increase almost exponentially. The coordinates I've picked should allow us to get close without suffering too many effects. Particle density at that point is still tolerable." "Very good," Sam leans back on his chair. "Do we have a comms channel to the Admiralty?" "Comm channel ready, but with all these distortions the signal may be intermittent." Tharsis replies, as he lurches from a particularly heavy distortion wave. Loken nods slightly, "If we need to get out fast, I'd recommend slingshoting our way between the largest of the high gravity points. If there's one near your coordinates, establishing an orbit around it might not be a bad idea." he seems to manage to keep his feet under him at the lurch, still standing. "Start transmitting our sensor readings," nods Sam. He nods at Mr Loken, "Very Good." "Telemetry link established. I'll transmit as long as conditions permit." Tharsis replies. "Throttling back engines... settling into observation coordinates." Loken just nods a little bit again, falling back into silence yet again. "Let me know the moment it goes down," nods Sam. Tharsis fires his maneuvering thrusters as his indicators wind down to a full stop. "Settling into position now, thrusters at stationkeeping." He lurches side to side and up and down now and then as the waves slide past. "Shoulda bought my boogie board.." he laments. Loken still manages to keep his feet on the deck, still quiet for the moment, just watching and waiting. Sam motions to the pilot's console, "Probably best if you sat down Lieutenant." And then to Tharsis, "Start mapping the boundaries of the rift in this region, pin point a location and start intensive scans." "Scan initiated. The distortions and varying gravity waves are causing quantum level distortions... I am compensating but it will slow down the scans. Full scan should completed within about three hours at present settings" Tharsis reports. "Yes sir," Erik replies, moving to take a seat at the console. He doesn't do much, but seems to be getting himself adjusted to the controls. "Very good," says Sam. "Let me know if anything changes." He appears to relax considerably now that the mission is under way. And then something changes, less than 10 kilometers from the position of Tharsis one of the gravimetric/tachyon rifts begins to glow brighter. A soft beep alerts a fluctuation in the sensor readings. "What the hell.." Tharsis says as his scan focuses on the nearby region. "One of the micro-rifts flanking the main rift is fluctuating.... particle density and emissions have increased by a factor of ten.." Erik doesn't say a word, but he starts strapping himself into the seat, still checking over controls as he does so. "Keep monitoring," says the Commander leaning forward towards the control. "Probably having the boys bac....." He cuts off. As a VERY large object ejects from the rift and comes hurtling towards the Tharsis. "EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" yells the Captain. Tharsis' collision warnings fire off and red klaxons begin to flash as the object hurtles towards him. "HOLY SHIT!!!" he exclaims as he pours emergency power into his engines, causing his inertial dampeners to be unable to fully compensate for the acceleration. "It's a friggin' comet!" he shouts as he fires his emergency thrusters to steer out of its way. The comet streaks closer in the viewscreen as it nears, until it completely fills the screen. A crash and a sharp lurch accompanied by the shriek of grinding metal emanate from Tharsis as the comet just comes into contact with his underbelly. "DAMN, that hurts!" Loken maintains his position, fortunately having strapped himself in. He doesn't say a word as of yet, but does begin to look over readouts, his hands over the controls. He's standing by, it seems, but ready to take action at a moment's notice. "Status report!" yells Sam from his chair. Tharsis's voice is strained as he gets himself righted. "Hull integrity down by six percent... nothing major out of whack.. but damn that stings." he mutters. "Reversing thrusters... that maneuver pushed us closer, I've got to pull back." "Inform engineering," says the Commander. "And please bring us back to our former position. I suggest you re-evaluate the safe distance Mr Tharsis." "Where'd that come from?" Erik asks as he continues going over the readouts. "I think 'safe' anywhere near this thing is a relative term." Tharsis replies as he returns to the previous coordinates. "No telling what else that thing is going to throw at us." "Yes sir," Erik replies as he keeps looking at the controls, "Just wondering where that came from, and if there'll be more," Tharsis manages to settle into his original position, but the buffeting from the rift is a bit more intense due to slight damage to the shields. "Ventral shielding is down by 8 percent.. I am attempting to compensate." he reports. "Please," nods Gideon. "Any of those distortions start doing that again I want to be as far away as possible." At his words much further away another rift is doing just that. Erik remains at the controls, the Lt. watching the rifts closely, "Another one, Tharsis," he states. "What in the hell!?" Tharsis blurts as he switches his viewscreen over to another nearby rift, out of which is a fully manned Viking longboat, complete with sail. The crew looks to be in complete agony as each has grabbed his throat in the airless void of space. "Just how many eras does this rift encompass?" "Any chance we could get to them in time?" asks Sam as the images pass over the screen. Loken just outright stares at the people exposed to the vacuum of space, "Can we?" he asks in conjucntion with Sam's question, concern showing in his voice. "Not likely... they'll probably be dead and frozen solid by the time I get close enough to get them into the hold." Tharsis says sadly. "If I try to get there too quickly we might slip to close to the rift and only endanger ourselves even further." Sam sighs and shakes his head at the screen, "Hold position." He frowns, "And to think I thought this was going to be a boring few days Mr Tharsis." Loken bites his lower lip a moment, looking back to the controls as Tharsis explains that the men can't be saved. He doesn't add anything, but keeps about his duties, going over whatever readouts there are. "If this is boring, then I'd hate to see a wild party." Tharsis says as he resumes his scans. "Next thing you know we'll see the island of Manhattan floating by or something..." "Ten minutes ago I'd have taken that as a bad joke," says Gideon watching the ship 'sail' past his screen. "Now... I think we'd best be on our toes." Loken nods a bit, still keeping quiet and his thoughts to himself.
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