EAS_Intrepid
MSFC Staff Paramedic
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2006
- Messages
- 2,615
- Age
- 35
We once had a threat "Our own scifi-show"... however: I wrote this first part of a small story and like to post it here.
It is based on my Corona class background story from the 3d subsection.
T+0
The hallway, or more a corridor made of steel, felt so cold, so far away. The dim blue light made it even more unfriendly, even depressing.
Major Romano Garivano walked it down, slowly, fighting against the air that seemed like gelatin to him. He felt how his movements delayed from his mind. One second he made the step, but only some second later his leg really moved. Voices, silent, yet becoming louder, echoed through his mind.
The soft pressure on his eyeballs made quick eye movements impossible, reinforcing the feeling of a very slow flow of time… and again, he felt like taking a bath in gelatin, too clear to look through and solid enough to decelerate movements.
From one second to another, he awoke from the delirium, feeling something in his mouth, like a snorkel from shallow-water diving. He panicked, hitting with his fists through the gelatin against the glass over him. Just a second later, he realized that the liquid in his lungs also enabled him to breathe. He calmed down, accepting it.
Garivano probed his environment. The semi-fluid liquid around him broke light, so he could not see through it, but schemes gleamed through it. Although these schemes were visible, he could not definitely tell what they where.
A hydraulic sound was heard, the glass over him moved. Hands grabbed him and got him out of the tank. Instead of panicking again, Garivano quickly realized what was going on.
As he was out of the tank and sat down on a rather uncomfortable chair, he bowed down, coughing the oxygen-transporting fluid out of his lungs.
The floor blurred before his eyes, but as soon as a great deal of the liquid was out of his body, he could see his environment more clearly.
“Major.â€
Still coughing, Garivano looked up to the person speaking to him.
“It’s all right. It’s all right.†Garivano replied, shaking his head to bring some literal order into his mind. “I think, the endorphin injection had a malfunction.â€
â€Yes, indeed. We just checked it.†The person gave him a towel. “Sir, the Colonel wants to talk to you in fifteen minutes. You may take a shower if you wish.â€
â€Yes, yes.†Still Garivano seemed a little off. Now he recognized the person as the crew doc, the man that kept everything running.
The Major stumbled to the shower room.
Fifteen minutes later he stood in the Colonel’s office. Everything was very simple, no luxuries, aside a picture of the Brandenburg Gate and a European flag.
“Sit down.†Colonel Makarov said, pointing at the chair in front of the metal desk. “Your first jump, Major?â€
â€No, Sir, the third actually. One to Zeta Reticuli 1 and one back and now this one.â€
â€Hm, you where planet-bound? Or inner-system?â€
Garivano was surprised by the small-talk the Czech Colonel did. “Mostly inner-system. Yet I had many hibernation phases during my service.â€
“Yeah, that’s either the worst or the best part of it. Depends on how good the endorphin injection works.â€
“Yes, Sir. I just had a rough ride. The injection did not work properly. I guess the doses was too low. The more you had, the more the docs need to give you for the next time.â€
Makarov nodded. “Okay, enough of that. We are to meet an Australian deep-range mining ship. They looked for minerals in the asteroid belts, and received something strange. They asked for some assistance, but the Australians or Americans have no ship do dispatch. And since the South-Pac Consortium and the European Alliance play nice recently, we are here.
I tell you this, because you are my first officer. The miners got spooked quite badly. Some echo overstressed their comm relays. Since three month they had no contact to anyone. Last time the Australian deep-space comm relay had contact to them, they were up to getting on each other’s throats. Their last message was something like†Makarov took a pile of papers and looked through the different files. “Something like ‘We can hear them. A wonderful melody from space. Weeping, singing. Get someone here.’â€
Garivano frowned. “Sir, are we talking about a first contact?â€
â€No†Makarov replied quickly. “There was an audio recording with the melody in the back ground. Our guys say that it is Beethoven, but not Mister Chiwa.â€
“Well, then…†Garivano replied, also smirking about Makarov’s joke about the most recent television sensation: a group of surgically altered alien-looking humans living in a desert in Nevada. They did not even now they were humans. The cameras pictured everything, 24 hours on 7 weekdays.
No, future wasn’t that exciting as it seemed in some antique Star Trek movies, Garivano thought.
“Alpha shift to Op-C, Alpha shift to Op-C.â€
T+1
“Commence system check-up.†Makarov ordered, settling down in a chair from where he could overview the command deck.
“Aye, Sir.†Garivano replied the order and began the full restart procedure. “Stations, report. Systems checkup.â€-
“Computer: go! Network: go!â€
â€Electronics: go!â€
â€Engines: go!â€
â€Weapons: go!â€
â€EWS: go!â€
â€J-BOS: go!â€
â€Environment: go!â€
â€Telemetry: go! Comm: Go! Nav: go!â€
Garivano nodded satisfied. “Colonel, all system checked. We are ready.â€
T+19
The Master Chief concentrated harder on the radio frequency analysis he had on the screen in front of him. The 2nd Lieutenant looked at him, waiting for a reply.
“Nope, junior. That’s no background noise†Master Chief DeNeve finally said.
â€Okay…†the Lieutenant mumbled. “Actual, here comm. I am receiving a radio frequency, very fade. But it is there.â€
Captain Sandra Meyer stood up from the chair Makarov had 13 hours before.
“What is it?â€
â€A melody of some kind. If we had a second receiver I could probably triangulate from where it comes.â€
â€Okay†Meyer said. âœMaster Chief, launch a telemetry buoy, I want to know what it is and from where it comes. Lieutenant, get the Colonel here. Set condition four throughout the ship!â€
to be continued...
critics... comments?
It is based on my Corona class background story from the 3d subsection.
T+0
The hallway, or more a corridor made of steel, felt so cold, so far away. The dim blue light made it even more unfriendly, even depressing.
Major Romano Garivano walked it down, slowly, fighting against the air that seemed like gelatin to him. He felt how his movements delayed from his mind. One second he made the step, but only some second later his leg really moved. Voices, silent, yet becoming louder, echoed through his mind.
The soft pressure on his eyeballs made quick eye movements impossible, reinforcing the feeling of a very slow flow of time… and again, he felt like taking a bath in gelatin, too clear to look through and solid enough to decelerate movements.
From one second to another, he awoke from the delirium, feeling something in his mouth, like a snorkel from shallow-water diving. He panicked, hitting with his fists through the gelatin against the glass over him. Just a second later, he realized that the liquid in his lungs also enabled him to breathe. He calmed down, accepting it.
Garivano probed his environment. The semi-fluid liquid around him broke light, so he could not see through it, but schemes gleamed through it. Although these schemes were visible, he could not definitely tell what they where.
A hydraulic sound was heard, the glass over him moved. Hands grabbed him and got him out of the tank. Instead of panicking again, Garivano quickly realized what was going on.
As he was out of the tank and sat down on a rather uncomfortable chair, he bowed down, coughing the oxygen-transporting fluid out of his lungs.
The floor blurred before his eyes, but as soon as a great deal of the liquid was out of his body, he could see his environment more clearly.
“Major.â€
Still coughing, Garivano looked up to the person speaking to him.
“It’s all right. It’s all right.†Garivano replied, shaking his head to bring some literal order into his mind. “I think, the endorphin injection had a malfunction.â€
â€Yes, indeed. We just checked it.†The person gave him a towel. “Sir, the Colonel wants to talk to you in fifteen minutes. You may take a shower if you wish.â€
â€Yes, yes.†Still Garivano seemed a little off. Now he recognized the person as the crew doc, the man that kept everything running.
The Major stumbled to the shower room.
Fifteen minutes later he stood in the Colonel’s office. Everything was very simple, no luxuries, aside a picture of the Brandenburg Gate and a European flag.
“Sit down.†Colonel Makarov said, pointing at the chair in front of the metal desk. “Your first jump, Major?â€
â€No, Sir, the third actually. One to Zeta Reticuli 1 and one back and now this one.â€
â€Hm, you where planet-bound? Or inner-system?â€
Garivano was surprised by the small-talk the Czech Colonel did. “Mostly inner-system. Yet I had many hibernation phases during my service.â€
“Yeah, that’s either the worst or the best part of it. Depends on how good the endorphin injection works.â€
“Yes, Sir. I just had a rough ride. The injection did not work properly. I guess the doses was too low. The more you had, the more the docs need to give you for the next time.â€
Makarov nodded. “Okay, enough of that. We are to meet an Australian deep-range mining ship. They looked for minerals in the asteroid belts, and received something strange. They asked for some assistance, but the Australians or Americans have no ship do dispatch. And since the South-Pac Consortium and the European Alliance play nice recently, we are here.
I tell you this, because you are my first officer. The miners got spooked quite badly. Some echo overstressed their comm relays. Since three month they had no contact to anyone. Last time the Australian deep-space comm relay had contact to them, they were up to getting on each other’s throats. Their last message was something like†Makarov took a pile of papers and looked through the different files. “Something like ‘We can hear them. A wonderful melody from space. Weeping, singing. Get someone here.’â€
Garivano frowned. “Sir, are we talking about a first contact?â€
â€No†Makarov replied quickly. “There was an audio recording with the melody in the back ground. Our guys say that it is Beethoven, but not Mister Chiwa.â€
“Well, then…†Garivano replied, also smirking about Makarov’s joke about the most recent television sensation: a group of surgically altered alien-looking humans living in a desert in Nevada. They did not even now they were humans. The cameras pictured everything, 24 hours on 7 weekdays.
No, future wasn’t that exciting as it seemed in some antique Star Trek movies, Garivano thought.
“Alpha shift to Op-C, Alpha shift to Op-C.â€
T+1
“Commence system check-up.†Makarov ordered, settling down in a chair from where he could overview the command deck.
“Aye, Sir.†Garivano replied the order and began the full restart procedure. “Stations, report. Systems checkup.â€-
“Computer: go! Network: go!â€
â€Electronics: go!â€
â€Engines: go!â€
â€Weapons: go!â€
â€EWS: go!â€
â€J-BOS: go!â€
â€Environment: go!â€
â€Telemetry: go! Comm: Go! Nav: go!â€
Garivano nodded satisfied. “Colonel, all system checked. We are ready.â€
T+19
The Master Chief concentrated harder on the radio frequency analysis he had on the screen in front of him. The 2nd Lieutenant looked at him, waiting for a reply.
“Nope, junior. That’s no background noise†Master Chief DeNeve finally said.
â€Okay…†the Lieutenant mumbled. “Actual, here comm. I am receiving a radio frequency, very fade. But it is there.â€
Captain Sandra Meyer stood up from the chair Makarov had 13 hours before.
“What is it?â€
â€A melody of some kind. If we had a second receiver I could probably triangulate from where it comes.â€
â€Okay†Meyer said. âœMaster Chief, launch a telemetry buoy, I want to know what it is and from where it comes. Lieutenant, get the Colonel here. Set condition four throughout the ship!â€
to be continued...
critics... comments?