Mankind's Last Hope (closed)

The year was 2251.

Global Warming, despite all the activism and laws passed, had finally taken its toll on the Earth. By the time the United Earth Government had exhaused all 'green' measures, the Earth's average temperature was still increasing at an alarming rate. Mankind knew its time was limited, and they had to find a new home for its 9 billion people.

Humans had colonized the solar system, and set up small, scientific outposts on the other planets, but very little research had been done outside the solar system. With the planet in crisis, they knew the their hopes of quickly relocating relied on finding a planet very similar to Earth.

Fifty ships were built, specially designed to hold two people for a very long length of time. Crews were selected at random from the large astronaut corps. One pilot, one navigator. Some of the crews had met, some hadn't. Some were from the military branch of the space agency, some were civilians. They were mankind's last chance.

~~~~

Lt. Commander Brad Henderson
Age 28 / 6'3" / 190 lbs.
Brad is tall, with an athletic military body. He has messy blond hair with deep blue eyes.

~~~~

"I love you too, baby," said Melissa over the small video screen. Brad smiled and touched his hand to the screen, and saw Melissa do the same. She had a small engagement ring on her finger.

"I'll be back," he said softly. The two stared at each other for several long beats until a firm voice of the Marine filled his ears.

"Lt. Commander, you need to go," the grunt said.

"Good bye, honey," Brad said, wishing he could see his future wife one last time. She smiled and started to say something, until, the video cut to the logo of the United Earth Government. Brad sighed and nodded to the Marine, who immediately saluted the commissioned officer.

Brad strutted down the narrow steel corridor of the Space Station Omega, and through the airlock into his scout ship, the Liberty. He made his way through the hatches and ladders until he reached the cockpit, where he sat down and began flipping switched for the preflight.

A lieutenant from the control center paged him. "Lt. Commander, your navigator is on her way."

Brad paused a moment. "Her... way?" he said.

"Yes, sir. You've been paired up with a female, sir. I guess you got the lucky draw," the young male voice said with envy from the speaker. Brad, a mature fighter pilot veteran who was committed to his finance, sighed.

"Yep, pretty lucky," he said. He glanced at his watch. They were due to launch in 18 minutes, and no sign of his crewmate.

ooc:
Cpl. Sloan McGuire
age:26/5'9"/130lbs
She is long and lean, with some good muscle, but not too much. She has dark brown pixie cut hair and hazel eyes.


IC:
Sloan stood there with her arms around her man before she needed to run to her flight. She kissed him one last time.
"I love you..."
"I love you too" He said back and kissed her again and she turned and started to jog towards where she needed to be and was pointed to her assigned craft and she jogged over and up into the ship with her bag.

"Hello?"
And she walked towards the cockpit and saw a male figure and sighed. She played with the small silver necklace her soon to be husband had given her and smiled.
"Sorry i'm running late, there were things that held me up. I'm usually not like this."

She then decided it would be best to introduce herself too the man she'd be spending lots of time with.
"I'm Corpral Sloan McGuire, your navigator."
And she put her hand out to shake his.

Brad turned in the flight seat and spotted the younger woman. He gave her a professional smile and strong military handshake. "Welcome aboard, Corporal. I'm running through preflight right now," he said, and he gestured to the seat next to his.

"We're supposed to make sure the crew relaxation area is set up before launch, but since we're behind, I suggest we postpone that until post-launch, and focus on getting the navigation and engines online," Brad suggested. His voice had a slightly annoyed hint to it, and he punched the switches with just a bit too excessive force. He was angry at being stuck in here with a woman, and she just happened to be late, too.

She nodded her head at what he had to say and she sat down in the seat next to him and started to look around getting used to the set up of everything and looked through things making sure things were in order.
"That sounds good to me and once again i'm really sorry about being late. And sorry, but i never actually got your name..."

She felt bad for being late and looked over at him, and he looked irritated about something. But she shrugged it off and hoped that he wasnt like this all the time or she was gonna go nuts. She was a rather laid back person for the most part, but still took things pretty seriously especially when it came to the military.

She took a deep breath and kept looking through things and trying to not think of her man Scott and miss him even more than she already did.

"I'm Lt. Commander Henderson... Brad," he offered. "Your name?" he asked.

When she told him, he nodded politely, and then, the two of them worked together, getting the ship ready for their adventure. When they were finished, he opened the channel to the launch control. "Earth-1, this is the Liberty. We are ready for departure,"

"Very good, Liberty. All systems are go on our head. Go on your command," the voice instructed. Brad turned to Sloan and gave her a very honest grin. He was much more excited now being on the brink and he could feel his heart beating in his muscular chest.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked off mic, breaking his military composure for the first time.

She nodded at hearing his name and flipped a few switches and smiled back at him, he seemed to be better now that they could finally leave and get away and start their mission.
"I'm deffinately ready for this. Are you?"

She turned in her seat and looked at a few more things, and everything was in order and she turned back to the front and strapped herself in. She didnt have much to do at the moment since the flying was all him. Which was fine with her since she personally didnt like to do it, but navigation was totally her thing.

"Everything seems to be looking good, when we get some co-ordinates i can start to plot the course a bit better."
She looked over at him and then back at the screens and such.

Brad felt a rush while the large boosters on the back of the ship fired, firing them away from the space station, and Earth orbit. With in seconds, the Earth was the size of a blue tennis ball and getting smaller. Although they were traveling fast for inside the solar system, it would still take them a long time to reach their target.

"Alright, we're on the way," he said, and gave his navigator a smile. Perhaps he had been kinda harsh on her. She seemed proficient during preflight.

He handed her a clipboard with a set of coordinates and star charts. "Here you go. We're on autopilot setting number one. The ship will automatically make micro adjustments after you confirm our position and triangulate our heading," he said, "But I'm sure you already know that," he said with a playful smirk.

She loved the feeling of leaving earth and being in space, it was so quiet and almost tranquil. She smiled back at him and took the clipboard flipping through some of the sheets of paper attached to it. Nodding her head as she kept reading.

When he said something she lifted her head and chuckled slightly.
"yeah, i know. Dont worry this isnt my first time."
She looked through the charts and sighed, this was going to be one hell of a long flight but she could handle it. Like she had told him, it wasnt her first time.

She pushed a few buttones and typed in a few things putting in the exact heading and some more co-ordinates in and unfastened the straps that had her buckled in and she ran her fingers through her short hair and she turned to Brad.
"So, since we are going to spend a lot of time together i guess we should get to know each other a bit?"

He smiled at her. "Sure," he said. "Lets go down to the crew deck and see where we'll have to live for God knows how long."

He unstrapped himself and climbed through the narrow doorway into the steel corridor of the ship, and then led Sloan down to the crew deck.

First, there was their quarters. They were modest, with a sizable bed, some dressers, and a computer terminal and desk. Next was the rec room, which had a treadmill, along with a rather small sofa and a medium-sized video screen for watching movies.

Following that, was the kitchen/dining area. The kitchen was small, yet well equipped. The dining area was simply two chairs and a table. It was kinda close and intimate.

They then came to the bathroom. Brad his head in first, and let out a "Oh..." He then stepped inside and allowed her to follow.

The bathroom was little more than a big locker room. Obviously designed for a crew of the same sex, there was two shower stalls, with nothing between them other than a short and thin cubical wall. The large bathtub in the corner was completely unshielded. Two bathroom stalls stood in the far side with some sinks.

Brad's face turned red, but he decided to make a joke out of it. "Is this what you had in mind when you wanted to get to know each other better?"

She followed him to the crew deck and took her bag with her and put it in their quarters and then kept following him to the rec room and she was glad there was a treadmill and then the kitchen area wasnt bad, and she was a rather good cook so they would be able to eat well.

But as they approached the bathroom they seemed to have the same reaction. It didnt bother her too much, but she didnt need or really want to see another man naked that wasnt her lover but it was something they both had to live with. She looked around and saw how red is face got.
"Not really what I had in mind...but i guess we'll get over it..."

She smiled at him.
"Well i'm gonna go unpack my things and get it all organized."
She then turned and walked back into their quarters and got her bag out and put her things away in her dresser and then took out the picture of her and Scott and just smiled and she put it on top. She had a few other pictures with her of friends, family, and Scott.

She stared at her picture a little longer and then made sure all of the things were in order. She stretched her back and hoped things would go smoothly and they would both return home safely.

Brad sighed and watched her go. She seemed to be less bothered by the whole situation than he did. He was slightly disappointed, though he didn't know why. He stood in the bathroom a few moments before setting off and walking into his quarters.

He opened his bag, and quickly threw his various clothes and uniforms in the dresser. His only other personal effects was his journal, and his small collection of movies on video disk. He suddenly remembered he had no picture of his Melissa, and soon he felt homesick for her.

He closed the door of his quarters, and changed from his formal dress uniform to a casual t-shirt and some flight pants. He then climbed back up to the cockpit for a quick status check, then headed back down to the kitchen and he started rummaging through their supplies, looking for a snack.

Sloan then changed from her uniform to something more comfortable. She pulled on some cargo pants and a tank top. She then took some of her things and put it in the bathroom in one of the little compartments by the sink and then headed back down to the kitchen for something to drink.

She smiled at Brad and got a cup of juice and kinda stood there wanting to make small talk but nothing really came to mind. She didnt really know what to say.
"sooo..umm..how long have you been in the military?"
She blushed and was at a totaly lack for words.

"10 years, right after my graduation from secondary school," Brad explained, grabbing bottle water. "How about you? Are you a career navigator or just the best they could find for me?" he said with a slight grin, while he moved the conversation to the set of table and chairs.

She nodded her head and then sat down at the table in one of the chairs with her juice and thought for a moment.
"Well I joined the Marines when I was 18 right out of high school and so yeah it's my career, and i've been in the Marines for about 8 years, one of the few women that made it."

She laughed slightly and was rather proud of the fact she was a very good navigator and did well over all in the military.
"umm..."
She looked away and tryed to think of something clever to say, nothing came to mind.
"Well, what were you doing before you got called to do this?"
She hoped she wasnt getting to personal but she hated the awkward silences.

Brad nodded and sipped his water. "I was apart of the elite 14th Fighter Wing, stationed in South America. My finance is a teacher there. We were six months from getting married when the President gave that speech and announced these little scouting trips," Brad said, motioning with his hand.

"What about you? What were you doing before all this?" he asked. His eyes harmlessly looked over her tank top, she was pretty physically fit, he commented to himself.

She smiled at what he said about having a fiance and such and then nodded about hearing the speech and then pretended she didnt have to go. But then he asked her what she was doing.
"Well I was working on map routes for differnt flight routes for many different things, most of it i cant really talk about. But I um was stationed in Japan with my Fiance who is also in the Marines and is doing intel work there. Fortunately he was able to come with me to drop me off since he had work to do there."

She then played with her left ring finger and sighed.
"We were planning on getting married in about a year, and he promised me a ring when he said he could afford it."
She then giggled slightly and finnished her drink.

"So what else should we discuss..."
And she laughed nervously.

Brad joined in with her nervous laughter. "Heh, yeah." Brad felt tension between them. Hopefully it wouldn't last. He decided to discuss business.

"So, this should be interesting when we arrive at Proxima Centauri. We have little orders other than 'see if suitable for colonization - send message to earth - wait further instruction'," he explained.

"The journey should be easy enough. You check on our position with the star charts every couple of days, and I'll check and make sure somethings not wrong every few days, and we'll have the rest of the trip to ourselves," he commented with a smirk and a wink.

She was so glad that he changed the subject. And right onto business and what they had to do. She nodded her head along with what he was saying and new the routine pretty well. Star charts and sometimes she had to draw some courses out with a compas and such if the course got interupted. And it sometimes did.

"Well that sounds good. Things should go well as for navigation it's pretty straightforward and direct. "
With his smirk and wink she smiled back and ran her fingers through her hair again and got up cleaning her cup and dryed it putting it back in the cubbard.

She then sat back down at the table with him and looked around.
"I think i'm gonna go get some exercise in before i get tired."
She stood up and walked back to her room changing into a sports bra and running shorts and sneakers and walked to the rec room and stretched then doing her push-ups and sit-ups. She then got on the treadmill and started her run. Running always cleared her mind and helped her think more clearly and logically with less emotion involved.

Brad quickly finished his bottle of water and headed back to his quarters. He grabbed one of his video disks from his dresser, and headed back to the rec room, and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Sloan was wearing a rather tight sports bra with some shorter running shorts that really caught Brad's eyes. He pretended not to notice her athletic body, instead, popped his vid disk in the video screen, and sat down, and watched the movie began. Even though the movie was playing in front of him, he kept his mind on her, imaging her on the treadmill, her body getting all sweaty....

Suddenly, he reminded himself of Melissa, and tried to focus on the movie.

Sloan continued her run and focussed herself on that. Although her doctor told her to take it easy since she had hurt her knee pretty badly and had had surgery on it., which left a rather annoying scar. She never really listened and did things anyways. She kept going and noticed Brad coming in and she did see the way he gave her the once over rather quickly and then didnt look again.

She noted that next time she should wear a shirt. She kept going until her knee started to hurt and she came down to a walk and then got off the treadmill stretching and looking up at the movie he had put in and then walked towards the door.
"I'm gonna hit the shower and then i might come back to join ya for the other part of the movie"

She left and then showered and put her cargo pants and tank top back on. Afterwards she went to the kitchen and got a plastic bag and filled it with ice and then walked to the rec room and sat next to Brad rolling her pant leg up and putting the bag of ice on her knee. She then smiled at him and brought her attention to the movie.

Brad managed to keep his attention off of Sloan until she declared she was taking a shower. The entire time she was in there, he just kept imaging her slender athletic body, covered in water....

The cramped layout of the crew deck didn't help. He could hear the shower running, and only aided in his fantasies. He convinced himself that he was just an average male attitude, stuck alone with a woman, and these thoughts were natural and he still loved Melissa.

She joined him on the couch and he nodded to her before they continued to watch the movie. She had put more clothes back on, much to his visceral disappointment. She was putting ice on a pretty wild looking scar that he didn't notice before when he was looking over her legs.

"Whats that scar from, if you don't mind me asking?" he said, smiling at her.

When he asked about her knee and what happened she just smiled.
"I dont mind you asking. I was running this course and it was really long and towards the end i got tired and tripped dislocating my knee cap and tearing my ACL. So i had to have surgery, and they had to repair a lot of it. But it's better now, i'm just not supposed to run that much and i do anyways. Basically i'm supposed to just be really careful with it."

She shrugged. It was something she had to live with and she really hated it since it was the reason she couldnt do a lot of things. She then went back to the movie even though it was getting towards the end. She yawned and played with the silver chain necklace scott had given her idly and kept watching.

Brad smiled and nodded. He grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt a yanked it off, and pointed to a long scar on his bare chest. "I got this," he said. "From a training ship. I was flying over Europe in a simulated firefight with some other cadets. We were using fake laser weapons to simulate hits and misses, when two other ships collided in front of me," he said, slowly putting his shirt back on. "I got caught up in the fireball, and had a pretty rough crash in the Italian alps," he said.

The movie was in its final scene, and Brad turned back to Sloan. "Pretty nice necklace. Did Mr. Marine fiance give that to you?" he asked in a half sarcastic, half jealous tone.

As he took off his shirt the first thing she noticed was not his scar but his rather nice muscles. She then looked at the scar and nodded and grimaced as he told the story.
"Wow, thats intense"

He put his shirt back on and she was kinda glad now that she didnt have the temptation of looking at his muscles and then he asked about her necklace and it brough her right back to Scott. She giggled at what he called him and nodded her head.
"Yes, he gave this to me for our 5 year anniversary last year."
She smiled and then blushed slightly. She missed him so much, but she was pretty sure that Brad was feeling the same way about his fiance.

The credits were rolling on the film screen. Brad looked at the ceiling and sighed. "Wow, five years," he commented before popping his vid disk out of the screen. "Well, I'm off to shower, then I'm going to hit the bunk. See you in the morning," he said, walked off to his quarters, he tossed the disk in the piles of the others.

He grabbed a towel, some spare shorts and a t-shirt before headed to the bathroom. He got in one of the shower stalls, and fired up the hot water. He let the water run over his body and soaped up. His male brain started imagining Sloan, but instead, he tried to think about Melissa, and their last vacation together, to Hawaii.