PART 1 : BEGINNINGS
The stars twinkled with individual brilliance in the forever night sky a few thousand miles above the sapphire beauty of the Earth. The magnificent scene spread across the large view screen of the Necronomicon as it floated through it and almost brought a tear to Robert's eye. A mug of cold coffee sat on his console and the liquid rippled as he punched random buttons in systematic order. The rest of the bridge was empty, the computers set on various modes of automation as their personnel were still sleeping in their quarters.
This was his time.
One thing he missed about not being back down on the planet were the glorious reds and purples of the sunrises' and sunsets'; the melting canvasses of color that ended the night and day.
He pressed one last button and sighed as he leaned back in his padded chair. The deck plates hummed lightly and a rocket fired. Robert began to smile as a blinding light peeked out from behind it's hiding place.
The light bathed the earth in it's incredible luminescence, eventually seeping away from it to stand alone as point of hope among the cosmos. It brought color to the dark face of the Earth, deep blues and lush greens, frozen whites and the sparkling greys of the cities.
No, it wasn't reds and purples; but it would do.
A few lights flashed on a grid set into his console and he shook his head as he went back to ignoring them, concentrating on the sun's blinding radiance. The door to the bridge opened and he turned to see the person intruding on his time.
It was a man. His long brown hair was disheveled and fell about his broad shoulders as he yawned. He was dressed in a dark robe and was barefoot with a steaming mug in his hand that he was stirring with a small spoon. He sniffed once then winced at how cold the deck plates were. The brightness of the viewing screen made him squint his eyes as he looked up and nodded at Robert.
"You're up early this morning."
Robert shrugged.
"I had a bad dream and had trouble going back to sleep." He looked at the mug in the man's hand and quietly giggled to himself. "Besides, you know I like it when I have this place to myself."
"Yeah, I guess I don't have to ask what you're doing."
"You know me sir. So, Captain, what's on the docket today."
"I think sarcasm is my favorite part of command. That little inflection of the sound of my title gives me what I need to carry on with my day." He began to stir again and Robert smiled. "Nah, nothing extraordinary. Let's make today an easy one."
"I love this job."
The lights on the grid returned for a few seconds and disappeared. The Captain nodded to the blank screen.
"Hmm, is that what I think it is?"
"Oh, it is. The good General called earlier to give us the cheery news." Robert tapped on the grid. "Those are his high-orbital, first-strike, nuclear-equipped, single-manned, attack fighters playing war games and doing battle simulations in the upper atmosphere. They've broken out of the exosphere a total of five times now."
"Congratulations Robert, you're on the most wanted list of your own country's military."
"I'd feel a lot more honored if I knew it was for me personally and not for the ship."
"Well, that's my fault for not sharing my 'privately-owned property' with the 'so-called' public. We may have a Democratic president, but the army will forever belong to the Republicans." He brought his mug to about chin level and paused before bringing it back down again. "At least they switched from 'The Bigger The Better' to 'The Better The Better.'"
"Accidents took out all of their old equipment; they didn't have a choice. You can't wage war with planes from the Gulf War era, while your opponent is buying 42X Plasma Rifles with enough firepower to bring down an old F16 with one microcomputer guided shot."
"And why bother developing a useful weapon when you can steal one from one of your own citizens."
"They give you capitalism until you build something they want and then they rush into the patent office with the key they found under the mat."
"Which is why no one asks the government for research grants anymore," the Captain shrugged. "Corporations are great. And inventing is even better when you have your own funds." He laughed and raised his mug in a lone toast. "Viva la free enterprise." He sipped his coffee while Robert smirked. He brought down his cup and nodded again while smacking his lips. "This coffee is terrible."
"I didn't want to say anything." Robert grabbed his own cup and looked into it laughing.
"And who do we have to thank for this java disaster?"
"I am responsible sir."
A plaque lit up next to the view screen; the brightening symbol identifying the speaker.
"I programmed you better than that, Alyssa."
"You programmed me to help run the ship in an efficient manner, not to be domestic and play 1950's housewife."
"Touche," Robert lifted his own mug in toast.
"Alyssa, part of your duties is maintaining life support and the general health and well being of the crew. That includes the galley along with the replicators and making sure that they are functioning properly." The Captain lifted his coffee to the plaque; an outline of a vaguely feminine face had emerged next to Alyssa's symbol. "This coffee sucks."
"Sue me."
"Thanks." The Captain looked back down at Robert who was fully reclined in his chair as he gently swayed back and forth. "I don't even like coffee. I just wanted to be awake and ready for one day."
"I think that would be too much to ask."
"Apparently so."
"Excuse me sir." The plaque to the left of Alyssa's lit up; a male face forming next to it.
Alyssa's plaque quietly faded out, her program off to regulate other areas of the ship.
"Good morning Psi. What is it?"
"I'm beginning to track an object entering our solar system. It passed Pluto a few moments ago and is already passing through Neptune's orbital circle." Psi's voice had a constant paranoid quality to it; a side effect brought upon by his duties involving ship's security and defense.
The Captain looked at the sensor panel next to his hand and punched a few of the colorful buttons.
"Define 'a few moments.'"
"Sixteen point three seconds sir."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but to cross the distance between the two points indicated, in that time, the object would have to be traveling faster than the speed of light."
"You are correct sir."
"Hello!" Robert straigtened in his seat and started bringing up readings from the Necronomicon's long range sensor array.
"Well, I never believed in Einstein's theory anyway. Display it on the main viewer."
The image of the earth and sun faded away and was replaced by a three-dimensional representation of the solar system. The individual planets spun happily on their fixed axises as they revolved around the distant sun.
A box quickly surrounded a region near Uranus and expanded on it. The starry background swirled and a blinking light appeared as it passed by the planet's thin ring. Numbers raced around the light as they calculated themselves and the object continued on it's merry way.
It flashed.
Robert blinked in amazement.
"What was that?"
"Unknown sir. But the object now appears to be slowing in velocity."
Robert looked up at the Captain.
"Do you think NASA or the US military see this yet?"
"They can't even find the probe they lost on Europa last month; they probably won't see this until it gets past Mars. Psi, can you get a better picture of the object?"
"Short range sensors will be able to gain a fix on the object when it passes the asteroid belt. At current deceleration the object will be in range in approximately one point eight hours."
"Sounds like it will slow down quite a bit. Will it be below 180,000 MPS when it passes the asteroid belt?"
"Affirmative, Captain."
Robert tapped on his console.
"Too bad, it was bookin' there for a minute. Wish I knew what that flash was."
"Psi, that wasn't a malfunction in the sensors or the view screen was it? The object did, in fact, flash?"
"Yes sir, and at that point it began to slow down. I have no explanation."
"Thank you Psi. Alexander?"
The third plaque, set to the right of Alyssa's, lit up. The face that brightened with it had a faint outline of a smile on a face thinner than Psi's.
"What can I do for you Captain?" His voice was cheerful and fairly high-pitched.
"Wake up the rest of the crew and have the department heads meet me and Robert in Operations."
"Oh yes sir; and Captain?"
"Yes?"
"It's 'Robert and me' sir."
"Thank you Alexander. Go do your job." He could have sworn he saw teeth form out of that smile before the plaque faded out.
Robert stood up.
"You know, I love those AI's as much as anyone. But sometimes they can really bug." He looked at his commander and back up at the screen that showed the object making it's way towards Saturn's orbit. "What do you think it is?"
"I haven't got a clue. But it looks like I was lying to you; we are going to be on the clock today."
"That's why you pay us the big bucks"
"You're in this for the fun; you'd do it for free and you know it."
Robert smiled.
"Don't tell Ramirez that. She'd start respecting me."
"We can't have that. I guess I should go get dressed."
"Yeah, I'll get in uniform and meet you down there."
Robert walked away while the Captain kept staring at the screen.
He scratched a small scar on his cheek and licked a drying drop of bad coffee off of his thin goatee, shaking his head as he heard the doors to the bridge slide shut.
"What the hell is that?"
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On to Ch.1 - Introductions and a Meeting
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