The Astral Spirit

[Vibro repairman]

The Periphery. A vast expanse of space beyond that yet charted by the growing galactic borders of ordered mankind. Lawless territory where only hard and fast rule is the might of right.

Somewhere in this harsh void, the sharp hiss of venting gas is met with the electronic beeps and blips of a console at the foot of a cryogenic capsule. The frosted glass cover slides back, and its occupant takes the first breath of air he has had for over five years of cryosleep.

The Astral Spirit, a terraforming vessel owned by MGC, the MarsGen Corporation, has been in transit for a total of five years, four months, and eleven days, since its launch from the MarsGen shipyard at Perseus Spur. Its destination, a planet was been previously marked as a potential colony site by a MarsGen probe almost sixteen years earlier.

A destination at which the Astral Spirit failed to arrive. Sabotage by one of MGC's rival Corporations has sent the ship and its cryogenically suspended crew off course by over three thousand light years, deep into the Periphery.

Scott brought himself up into a sitting position, unaware that his cryosleep should have ended over two years ago, and stretched. Naked, he got up, and pressed his right thumb against the small scanscreen to open his locker directly opposite the capsule he had spent the last five years plus inhabiting, and removed one of the black one-piece jumpsuits within, along with white short underwear, socks and reinforced boots.

On a rectangular yellow patch over the left breast of the jumpsuit, next to the MGC logo, was his name, S.Deacon. Twenty six years of biological age - though from past deepsleep, he was soon due his thirty-fourth birthday - Scott was a tall, lean-muscled man, who had worked for MGC for all his adult life, as had the previous four generations of his family. Like his grandfather before him, he was a scientist, with doctorates in a number of bio- and xenobio- fields of study.

Dressing as quickly as his warming muscles allowed, he looked up at the time readout on the wall fixed above the exit from the crews cryo chamber.

05:17:38 - 14 05 2176

"5am," Scott muttered. He never did like early mornings. Well, at least he had gotten around a thousand or so good nights sleep in. "I need a coffee."

OOC thread located at these co-ordinates.

 

[Screech]

A second chamber hissed as the hydrulics pulled open the plastiglass covering, letting a small mist of dry cryo-sleep particles drift to the floor. A tired grumble was heard from inside as Hitomi Sato, Lt and engeneer for the Astral Spirit rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she slowly came round to full conciousness.

She grumbled to heself as she sat up and looked around with bleary eyes. Over by the doorway, she saw the form of Dr Deacon staggering out and in search of something. Breathing a sight of releif, she hauled her naked form out of the cryochamber and opened her locker.

Great. Just her one-piece black uniform. Ah well. She started to pull it on, the fact that the female uniforms were nearly skin-tight was not lost on her as she made the material stretch over her frame. At last, she did up the front zip. Time to excersise! Sure, most people would have a stimulant or two after cryo sleep, but Lt Hitomi Sato prefered addrenalin!

 

[MaiusImperium]

The first thing Lieutenant-commander Aleksandr Radik heard for several years was the hiss and whine of hydraulic servos as he wearily opened his eyes. The clouded-glass panel before him lifted and the cold recycled air of the MarsGen terraformer ship hit him. Immediately he suppressed the urge to vomit, even as a young cadet in the infantry he’d never dealt with cryosleep very well. The chemicals that prevented muscle atrophy did not sit well in his stomach, scrunching his face up he tried to close his eyes but his body was having none of it; it had sat motionless for years and was raring to go, pity Alek wasn’t.

With an effort he sat up, his stomach twitched as he slide his legs out and over the sit of the stasis tube. With groggy coordination he managed to open his locker and slide his feet into a pair of white lycra briefs and fish out one of those abominable jumpsuits. He’d never understand why everything had to be tight-fitting in space.

“By the flames of perdition, must my head spin so much?” He drawled in his thick Russian accent. He got to his feet, his legs wobbling unsteadily. Bending down he opened a compartment in the side of his prosthetic leg and pressed several buttons in order to power it up. There was a low hum as the fuel-cells warmed themselves up after years of inactivity. It felt as though he’d just endured a year-long alcohol-fuelled bender and now he was paying for it, a shower was definitely in order and a hot one at that. The ship was unbearably cold as usual and he shivered uncontrollably as he made his way slowly down the walkway, either side of him cryotubes hummed and beeped, some were sliding open and the long room was beginning to full with the mumblings of the crew as they awoke from their slumber.

“Sato.” Mumbled Alek as he passed her, waving his hand vaguely in her direction. Aleksandr was not a morning person, he knew it and they knew it. “Doctor Deacon.” And other short acknowledgements came as Alek proceeded through the cryosleep chamber, his prosthetic leg clunked noticeably on the metal walkway. It was good that way, miscreants could hear him coming from a mile away onboard the Astral Spirit. It was a military-grade prosthetic, not a civilian one. The limb was more reliable but aesthetics hadn’t come into it. It was largely leg-shaped there was no mistake but the usual biosynthetic flesh was missing, instead it was a patchwork of cobalt-titanium alloy armour plating that whirred and clicked quietly to itself as he walked.

It did not take him long to reach the showers. In time he’d get to his quarters, but if he didn’t get the sleep out of his body soon he was going to be violently sick. A long sigh and a cough escaped his lips as he tottered into one of the shower rooms, he was the first in. He removed his underwear and placed it along with his jumpsuit on a bench before slipping into the shower cubicles. The immediately hot water hit his body, at first it felt scolding but slowly his body adjusted to the temperature. The sleep washed away with the water from his drowsy limbs, he felt better already. He took up a rough sponge and dispensed some liquid soap into his palm from the hole in the wall. It was going to be a long mission.

 

[Dragonlady]

Willow Moonstar

She woke up about an hour ago.. Wondering what the hell happen .She was already in the upper deck makeing repairs grumbling that she didn't get paid enough for the job...

She never wore the outfit they gave her.. She had her green outfit that had pants and a short tank top.. with her hair tied back in a pony tail... She already fixed the food generator... If they were going to eat then need something that works and right now not much is working...

Its like someone just cut every damn wire they could screw the place up...

She figured the others would be wakeing up soon.. Someone would find something wrong that needed to be fixed and come looking for her .. It really never failed.

 

[Screech]

Hitomi had smiled to herself as the big security man, who most called Mr Radik, stomped past her, barely managing a grumbled name and a half-assed salute. She'd let it slid. Hell, she always did. Besides, at the exact moment he walked past, her zipper had gotten stuck, and she was hardly going to yell at somewone while displaying way more cleavage than needed. Especially him.

Grabbing her backpack stuffed with all kinds of gedgets and gizmos, Hitomi closed her locker, and hafted the pack onto her back. Time to get her system running properly! Starting off at a jog, she wound her way first through the cryo chambers, bypassing the few crew who were still just waking up, and off down the corridor.

Shortly thereafter, she made her way through the canteen at a steady pace, managing to throw a quick salute to Dr Deacon as she went, who appeared to be on his second cup of coffee.

Hitomi was really feeling her body wake up now, as she jogged her way across the upper deck of the massive ship, slowing to a stop and catching her breath as she saw Willow Moonstar,the ship's resident computer geek, stoney-faced and working on a bunch of cabling. Surely this ship didn't need maintenance already?

She slowly walked up and leant against some railings. "Morning Willow! What's got you up and working so soon? Regular maintenance?"

 

[Dragonlady]

She smiled at the woman who said hi to her and asking what she doing up so early. " Well seems we have alot of malfunctions going on .. Fixed the Coffee and a few other things.. I think I was one of the first people up... "

She Like this woman she worked with.. for some reason she could never remember her name.. maybe if she gave her a nick name.. She could remember it.. " So what you doing today?" Giveing her a strange look .. Shakeing her head she hands her a sweater.. " That should help with that uniform.. If anyone gives you any hassle tell them I have to let in cool air before I fix the oxygen machine" Winking at her..

She leaned up against the railing like she had all the time in the worlds..

 

[Screech]

Hitomi took the sweater from Willow and smiled. "Hey thanks alot. Still don't know why we're issured such form-hugging stuff" Dropping her backpack, she slipped it on and, reaching inside, undid the zip on the top part of her one-piece uniform. "Aah, that feel's better!"

She had mentioned malfunctions. Strange. This ship was practically new, and tech dvision had given it the once over after everyone was in cryosleep just to make sure it all ran smoothly. "Malfunctions? Wierd. I thaught these terraformers wern't supposed to wrong at all" She shrugged. "Well, we're moving, so I guess that means the engines are ok"

She leaned back against the railings, feeling her body cool down from all the excersise she had just been doing. One advantage of these grav-net floor designs was that you never got motion sickness from just moving around, no matter how bad a buffeting the ship was taking.

"Guess I should go check the terraforming tanks. Make sure they're in one piece. That is, unless you want a hand with anything?"

 

[Dragonlady]

She looked at Hitomi " Your very welcome... I don't need any help .. See any Malfunctions in the computer just let me know... I still have to go check the back logs on the chryo ..So my day is full... And I'm up at all hours so no sleep for me till I know everything is ok"

She smiled at Hitomi ..." Have a good day" as she went back to work finnishing up on what she was doing...

 

[Screech]

Hitomi chuckled as she hefted her backpack. "Well, ok then. I'm supposed to be doing routine maintenance, so I'll let you know if anything more springs up"

She started to walk off, then stopped for a second. "If you need extra tools, or a coffe break, or anything, just call for Sato!" She then proceded to leave Willow to her work. Hitomi like her, of course. Probably because Willow was probably about the one person on board who could fix things as well as she could. Of course, there was a whole world of difference between motor systems and electronics, but fixing was fixing!

With a spring in her step, Hitomi made her way from the upper deck, down into the bowls of the starship. That's where all the spacebased terraforming gear was located, including two giant tanks that were fulled with gasses and chemicals designed to kick-start the terraforming process. Of course, there was land-based quipment too for sewing crops, planting beneficial flara, and so on, but those two tanks were the most important.

Hitomi climbed down the main service ladder, and jumped the last couple of rungs. She made a splashing sound as she landed, quite unlike the hard clang she was expecting. Something had leaked down here, and it was her job to find out what, and fix it...

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Hillary Sheldrake, Captain of the Astral Spirit

As she woke, Hillary Sheldrake waited for the comforting whirr that would signal the opening of her chamber. Come on... come on! she urged the sluggish computer that guided its functions. Being enclosed and waiting for release were the two things she'd struggled most with during her training and she could never decide which was worse. Until now.

She could feel the sweat beading on her forehead and upper lip now despite the coolness of the oxygen mixture that was seeping in. "Come on, dammit! Open. Open. OPEN!!"

Something must have gone wrong. Something did go wrong! Hillary began to squirm frantically, struggling to get her arms up, her hands against the doors. Push. Push! "Open. Open. Open. Please!"

She would not die inside this damnable thing. She would not!!

Call for help. Would anyone hear? You'll waste oxygen. How long can I stay here before the supply is exhausted? Open. Open, dammit. Open!

No room. No air. No... Her steadily growing claustrophobia-induced terror made it seem as though the walls were closing in, as if the chamber were shrinking. Choking back a scream, she continued to shove against the doors, her panic growing with each passing second. Please? My fault. I should have gone to church. I should have...

She should have never joined MGC. If she hadn't, she'd be giving a lecture somewhere right now. Maybe sitting by a fire with a brandy, warming her toes. At the cineplex. Doing something live. Something... normal. She'd be safe. She didn't want it to end this way. She wouldn't allow it.

Bracing her back against the rear of the chamber, Hillary dug her feet in and concentrated every shred of energy she could muster to push against the uncooperative doors. "Ohhhhhh... pennnn... upppppp!!" she screamed aloud.

Hillary Sheldrake's answer came in the form of a grinding metallic kerchunk which parted the doors suddenly and sent her tumbling onto the floor. Shaken, she lay there for a moment, gulping in the fresh air. What in the world had happened??

"Good to see you again, Captain Sheldrake. We've encountered a curious phenomenon."

Hillary glanced toward the monitor and bounded to her feet. "I'll say! What the farg is going on? Get Radik! Get him NOW!! And I want everyone on the bridge in five!"

 

[Dragonlady]

Willow Moonstar

She got a Beep from her computer as she check the Chros that haven't open yet...

She was checking to see if everthing was working properly when her alram on her computer went off because of a Malfunction... she checked the location.. Jeez as she saw it was The Captain... Christ...

Running to the other side of the ship ..Before she even gets to the door she gets beeped that the captain wants to see everyone...

She was the first to arrive... Knocking on the door ..".May I come in Captian?"

 

[MaiusImperium]

Aleksandr lost himself in the warm caress of the shower for a time, it was always the same after a long cryosleep, but it hadn’t been so bad the last jump he’d made. It was as if his body had grown so used to being asleep it fought for a time to return him to that state. Mercifully it did not last long and as he lathered the shampoo through his short rust-coloured hair he felt the final vestiges of sleep wear off. As he began to rinse his hair clean in the jet of water he heard a faint hum of power, but thought nothing of it.

“Lieutenant-Commander Radik. Your presence is requested by the Captain.”

Came the familiar and efficient female voice from behind him. Forgetting himself for a moment he gave a start, span around and reached for a sidearm that wasn’t there. Bodily modesty had never been a big issue for Radik, the intergalactic Terran infantry was an equal-rights employer and the females showered with the males, day in, day out. Still, it was a bit of a shock…she looked real enough, and certainly female enough but the giveaway signs were there. The shower steam drifted right through her wraith-like appearance.

“TIF? Lucifer’s teeth…you startled me. You can’t just go…manifesting yourself about the place! Not without some warning!” The cold eyes of the ship’s artificial intelligence, TIF1023, regarded Aleksandr blankly, though he still felt she was admonishing him.

“Five minutes Lieutenant-commander.” And she was gone as quickly as she appeared. The chief of Security sighed with exasperation and finished his shower before drying himself off and quickly donning his jumpsuit. As he finished zipping his suit up be walked over to a radio-panel on the and pressed a button.

“Radik to Lzog. Get your miserable blue arse in gear and meet me in the Captain’s ready-room.” Just as the unbearable blue woman was about to say something he hung up. It didn’t take long for him to reach the bridge, a large room full of glowing computer panels and the soft bleeps and whirrs of the ship’s computers.

He strode purposefully towards the Captain’s ready-room, coffee cup and long-life doughnut in hand. “Moonstar.” He nodded towards her in his typically gruff manner, and buffeted her aside in the gentle manner large intimidating men with metal legs did. It was a wonder he remembered all their names as it was. He punched what counted for the door-bell to her ready room, did not wait for a response and strode through the door as it slid open, it closed behind them promptly. To his chagrin, Lzog was already stood before the captain, he managed to wipe the scowl off his face quickly enough.

Aleksandr was never one to stand on ceremony, and he’d known the Captain long enough to develop an understanding. She tolerated his rather abrasive qualities because he was damn good at what he did.

“Captain.” He saluted quickly, stiffly in the military style, not one of those slack civvie-style salutes most of the crew used. “You wanted to see me? Is there a problem?” He’d known the Captain for the two years he’d served aboard the Astral Spirit. She seemed…pensive and out of breath.

Without waiting for a reply he placed his coffee and pastry on her desk and picked up one of the scattered dat-pads. His eyes scanned it critically for a moment before his eyes widened, which was about as much outward emotion you’d ever get from him.

“Great Gardi. We should have been woken over two years ago and we’re three-thousand light years off course.”

 

[Dragonlady]

Willow Moonstar

She Followed Radik in to the Captains lounge... She never saluted anyone... She was too much busy half the time to pay attention to the people around her....

She was going have to talk to AI about the Chros and find out what going on but she hated talking to that damned annoying voice... And the only time she let her near is when she had a glitch....

She stood in the far cornor and waited for the others...

 

[Cinderella]

Lzog

Lzog didn't wait for approval. The security of the Astral Spirit as evinced by the data Captain Sheldrake had shown her, had been compromised. Someone had sabotaged their vessel and no one was going to get a second chance.

"Moonstar!"

The insubordinate woman barely reacted to hearing her own name before the Izahian fired. She had no business in the ready-room and her refusal to salute was a clear violation. "Subchapter Ten, Section eight hundred eighty nine, Article eighty nine: Disrespect toward Senior Commissioned Officer. Subchapter Ten, Section eight hundred ninety two, Article ninety two: Failure to Obey Order or Regulation. And," she added, "Subchapter Ten, Section nine hundred thirty four, Article one hundred thirty four: General Article."

"Take her to the brig, Colonel Lzog."

After patting her down, Lzog lifted the unconscious woman, slung her over her shoulder like a sack of trabid fruit and did as Captain Sheldrake had directed; depositing her in the Astral Spirit's brig and locking her in. The ship was in Code Red Alert and this was one less thing anyone would have to worry about.

 

[Dragonlady]

(occ Sorry I didn't see that i was shot)

 

[Screech]

Hitomi was getting close to the source of the leak in the dark underbelly of the starship, when she was startled by a voice coming from behind.

"Leiutenant Hitomi Sato. Report to the Captain's office. Five minutes"

Startled, she span around and stumbled backward, landing on her rear in the water, and making an almighty splash. She couldn't help but find humor in the situation, and laughed a little. "We got to get you a warning bell Tif!"

With an almost contemptous glare, the holoimage vanished. Hitomi clambered back to her feet. Probably all seniour personnel been called in too. That includes Lzog. Stickler for regulations. Well, best hurry!

Stipping off the sweater, Himoi zipped her top back up and made a dash for the service ladder, scaling it in no time flat. Dropping the sweater at it's top, she sprinted through the walkways and corridors of the ship, thanking god that she had always been an athletic type.

At length, she arrived at the Captain's cabin. She checked her watch. 7 minutes. Not bad considering the distance she had to cover. Smoothing back her hair and breathing deeply, she hit the door chime and the door opened. Stepping inside she made the regulation military salute. "Leiutenant Sato reporting Captain! Apologies for the delay"

 

[Vibro repairman]

DR. Scott Deacon

Whatever brand of caffeine this is, it certainly does the trick Scott thought, as his mind cleared up the last of the cryo-induced fuzziness.

Still, the ships AI hologram almost managed to make him spill his second cup as it - or she, if you really believed a computer program, however advanced, could possess a 'gender' - suddenly appeared near him in the mess room and instructed that they were all to attend upon the bridge of the Astral Spirit in five minutes time. Then promply disappeared again.

"Looks like the Cap wants to give us a speech," one of the crew said, chewing on some rather bland looking foodstick that came in vacuum-sealed silver-wrapped foil.

"First terraforming project for the Ass," another chuckled. 'Ass' was the 'affectionate' derogative that several of the crew had come up with for the terraforming vessel, before entering their deepsleeps for the journey. "Probably some MarsGen publicity broadcast they're going to hook us into."

Several audible groans followed that insight. "Could be worse," the 'joker' added.

Soon the remainder of the crew were awake and gathered on the wide bridge of the Astral Spirit. Monitors slowly flickered into life and console panels switched on as Tif began to power up the rest of the ship now the crew were up and about, whilst they waited for the Captain to emerge from her readyroom.