Tales From the Black -- Stardust

Ship log - Entry 3986

Cpt. Jenna Pritchert

Earth date, January 9th 2760 3:28 GST

47.6275 LY, 257.99684o Traveling spinward towards the Relythe system

This is ship log 3986, we have been traveling for 17 days and are holding the expected arrival time at Relythe 3b in 8 days and 6 hours. I feel it necessary to note that 3 days ago on the 6th of January, me and the ship's resident engineer, Zion K. had a falling out over many issues that had been building up over the past weeks. Namely, those regarding our quickly moving romantic relationship, as well as his duties to the ship. Zion feels that it is necessary to point out that the ship needs parts that he is well aware we cannot afford, which had put a strain on our relationship. The 6thproved to be the breaking point, and words left both our lips that I do believe we would take back if we could. I was especially cruel, and fear that our working relationship may be forever damaged which could prove to be problematic. This ship is like a living body, arguments and tension can leave it in ruin, especially ones between the commanding officer and her engineer. I hope the issues can be resolved quickly, lest I must leave him in Relythe and search for a suitable replacement. Perhaps a feline engineer? One that actually knows how the split drive works? Who am I kidding... we all know I couldn't afford to hire a feline if I sold the damn ship! I will have to sort out our problems soon, we cannot afford a delay in this delivery.

My first officer has also been giving me trouble recently, though I'm not entirely sure why? Takut and I have always had a stable friendship. One based on trust and years of experience together, but the husky has seemed distant recently, as if something troubling is on his mind, I hope he feels able to open up to me soon, as that could also prove problematic.

Then comes my final issue... Despite constant hails and contact between me and the moon, I have not managed to find a contract that will take us away from it, the business agreement between I and Stellar Security Services fell through about a week ago when they were sued by some noble family on mars. Something about a break in and a robbery if I recall correctly. All contact with the company went dark a few hours after the lawsuit was made public. I will keep trying to find a job I suppose... and who knows? Something may pop up when we reach the moon?

Cpt. Jenna Pritchert, Signing off.

Chapter 1 -- Zion

Midnight Repairs

Musings on ship workers

Apologies

Zion awoke to a rhythmic taping echoing down the dark metal hallways of the Stardust. Eyes snapping open, slowly adjusting to the darkness surrounding him, the dragon slowly took his bearings, his bedcoverings lay on the ground, clearly having been discarded during his sleep, as was usual during the long trips through the black that he often found himself in. He briefly considered reaching for the breaker at the foot of his bed that controlled the lights, but quickly remembered that the light had been shattered in a fight with Jenna 3 nights prior. Jenna, he had to talk to her, set things right, she had been avoiding the young dragon since the night of the spat, and he resolved to go find her after discovering the nature of that gods damned tapping.

The door to the dragon's room slid open with a hiss as he approached, red scales glinting in the soft light of the corridor, slinging a rough-hewn bag over his shoulder while hastily wrestling on a pair of his overalls on top of his sleepwear. He made his way to the stern of the vessel, still searching for the source of the tapping before finally coming across the door to the drive room. Grumbling as he punched in his security code the dragon swung his bag off his shoulder, throwing it against a wall after passing through the doorway.

The drive room was the Stardust's heart and soul, possibly the largest of its chambers second to only the two large cargo bays on sides of its body, it was bathed in a warm red glow, emanating from the old plasma conduits carrying energy from the reactors to the 8 thrusters jutting from the ship's stern, and it was hot. A truly sweltering heat filled the room, constantly being spat from the ship's two mammoth reactors flanking the room. To most, the heat would be nigh unbearable, one of the drawbacks of the old ship model, but to Zion, the cavernous room reminded him of the fires and volcanic tunnels of home. He sighed as the heat washed over him, warming his blood and cold skin, his violet eyes narrowing as he flicked his ears to the source of the sound.

Now that he was closer to the source, the echoing tap had become more of a rattle, the sound of heavy plastic thumping against a sheet of metal. The rattle was emanating from a small gap between the left power generator and the wall, still growing louder as he approached, reaching a thundering crescendo as he leaned his head against the wall to get a view into the crevasse. "Aye, there you are" the dragon whispered to himself, letting out a chuckle. His eyes had settled on a power cable, a thick braided copper cable, sheathed in rubber, which was slamming against the power generator, most likely being effected by the fluctuations of the magnetic field within the core of the generator. It's a wonder how the ancient felines created the split drives_he thought to himself while reaching back to grab at the wire, realizing that it was possibly as thick as his bicep, making it quite a puzzle to get a hold of. _Still keep that secret close to their chests don't they? He mused I'd kill to learn how one of these things work- "Gotcha!" he exclaimed claws taking purchase in the large rubber wrapping.

Noticing the sweat pouring off his brow the dragon made a mental note to check the operation stats on the generator, "It shouldn't be running this hot..." he grumbled, pulling the cable towards him, before his arm brushed against the casing of the reactor. The dragon's reaction was slow, not used to the feeling of being burnt, as even the heat of fire would not truly harm him, but soon the pain grew quite great, and with a grimace, he yanked his arm away, pulling the cable with him and looked down at his arm, mentally screaming in pain. The fine ruby scutes on his forearm had cracked due to the heat, leaving his muscle, now burned black in the worst spots and an angry red in others, open to the air. "Dear gods" Zion gasped, "that fucking hurts." Hooking the cable beneath his arm, the dragon searched his pockets for a frayed rag, it was usually used to clean oil and grime off machinery in his small workshop on the upper decks of the ship, but it would have to do. With a grimace, he wrapped it tightly around his wound, growling in pain when he tied a small length of string tightly around his arm to keep it snug.

The dragon gave a glance at the power cord, identifying the socket before searching his vicinity for where the cord could have come loose from. His eyes eventually fell upon a port on the side of the reactor, seemingly damaged by something that the engineer could not puzzle out at the time, his mind mostly focused on the waves of pain crawling up his arm. Roughly shoving the cord into its socket, and crudely securing it in place had to do for the time being, he could figure out what had went wrong later, and do a proper repair then. Having secured the cable, he made his way over to the room's computer console, giving a cursory glance at heat readings and hoping to figure out what the cord's purpose was.

It turned out the problems were related. The cord that had come detached sent all kinds of data from the reactor to the computer, including temperature. The computer should have powered the reactor down as soon as it had lost the vital datastream, but again, he could investigate that later. With the connection restored, the system was beginning to regulate the temperature, dumping some fuel, and increasing the flow of coolant into the generator.

With that finished (somewhat) Zion made his way to the door, picking up his bag on the way, grumbling about the work on his way before stepping out into the cool air of the corridor, leaving the heat and gaudy red glow behind. The corridors of the Stardust smelt of ozone, a biproduct of the oxygen scrubbers, and were bathed in a cool blue light, giving it a very sterile feel despite the scuffing and gouging on the old wall panels. The stardust was a small freighter and had been flying now for upwards of 50 years. Currently, they were bringing a shipment of iron girders to a small colony on some nameless moon in the Relythe system a few weeks spinward. The crew planned to pick up work on the moon, and travel to wherever they were sent, repeating the process ad nauseum for the foreseeable future.

Of course, Zion appreciated the situation, relishing the opportunity to see the galaxy, unlike those who were on trading ships that followed the same journey time and time again. The dragon felt pity for the workers on those ships, the repetitive nature of his job was only bearable because of the sense of adventure brought on by seeing the worlds of the frontier. He couldn't imagine the grind of flying back and forth from star system to star system only to be met with old views.

He stopped at his room, dropping off his bag, and sitting down on his cot, pulling out his first aid kit, as the ship's doctor wouldn't be up at this hour, and dressing his wound with a real bandage and an antiseptic to keep down infection. Once it was cleanly wrapped, he called out to the ship AI, "Computer? Where is Captain Pritchert?" he was met with a few seconds of silence before a smooth artificial female voice responded, "The captain's location data is currently private, would you like me to request permission to disclose the information?" Zion grimaced, he had hoped to catch her off guard for the conversation, but this would have to do, he had to talk to her tonight to finally put everything behind them. With a sigh, he responded "Yes, please request permission. Thank you." The pause following the request dragged on quite a lot longer this time around, the captain clearly taking her time to respond to the request, but eventually the voice of the computer finally chirped. "Thank you for waiting Zion, the captain is waiting for you on the bridge."

Zion stood at the door to the bridge, cautiously optimistic regarding the coming conversation, he gave a rap on the door, and reached over to the intercom, "Permission to board the bridge?" he called into the com.

"Permission granted" responded a rough voice, sounding slightly constricted and far less slightly troubled. With that, the door slid open revealing the Stardust's bridge. It was quite simple, all things considered. The captain's chair sat in the middle of the room, on a small raised plinth overlooking 3 other seats, one for the ships first officer, which sat at a console built into the portside wall, and another on the opposite side of the room, reserved for the communications bridgemen, lastly, lying in front of the command plinth was an intricate flight seat and it's accompanying console, designed for a skilled pilot to have control over every aspect of the ship's movement suite. At the front of the room was a massive window, which dominated the wall, only leaving space for a few monitors around it, which displayed views from live camera feeds placed in strategic locations around the ship.

And then there was Jenna Pritchert, the captain of the vessel Zion had called home for many years. The panther sat on the edge of the command plinth, black fur glistening in the harsh light of the bridge, beautiful as the day he met her. To the right of her seat, next to her lay a bottle of some sort, amber liquid glistening inside, as well as two short glasses. She turned as the door opened, a pained look in her emerald green eyes. After a moment of silence, her voice finally came, a deep baritone with some lighter notes above mixing to create a presence of command, but also one of care and compassion.

"Hello Zion" she said, rising from her position. She was wearing sleepwear, just as the dragon was, but unlike his, it was cleanly pressed and presentable, giving off an aura of calmness and preparedness.

Zion shyly raised his hand, giving a wave as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Hey cap, I wa-"

"Jenna"

"Hmm?"

"By the stars Zion, you don't need to be so formal, Just... call me Jenna, we're just two friends coming to terms with some relationship strain aren't we? I mean... it's not as if you've come to tell me you're leaving once we reach Relythe!" A short pause and a flustered look followed from the panther "Are you?"

"No! no! of course not!" Exclaimed the dragon, caught off guard by the question, but quickly returning to his wits. "I just wanted to... I don't know... move past this argument of ours. Probably best for everyone on the ship y'know?"

"agreed... oh! Would you have a drink with me?" she gave a gesture to the bottle "Its an earth whisky, rye, a good year too." She said as she poured, offering a glass to Zion, who accepted it gracefully, despite his aversion to the stuff. Alcohol and he had never mixed very well, an embarrassing admission for a dragon, who as a rule were heavy, raucous drinkers. Yet, being the polite thing to do, he brought the tumbler to his muzzle, allowing the stringent liquid to flow across his tongue and down his throat, burning as it went, sending him into a coughing fit.

"Dear gods Jen, that stuff is awful! How do ya drink it?"

She replied with a laugh, a smirk playing across her short muzzle "It must be an acquired taste! Makes sense really, you do have awful taste in just about everything"

"Just about" he joked, joining in with the panther in her laugh.

Before long, the pair found themselves sitting next to one another on the edge of the command plinth in a comfortable silence, drinks abandoned next to them.

"Who would you like to go first?" asked the panther, her voice somewhat subdued, but the strength behind it had not faded.

"I wouldn't mind saying what I need to say" replied the dragon looking out at the stars bending past the viewscreen, clearing his voice before continuing. "I... care deeply about you Jen, and these last few months have been a very pleasant experience, but I do believe that the romantic relationship we have been pursuing has interfered with our work. And our working relationship with our romance. We are... or were... quite bad at separating the two" he said with a wistful chuckle.

"In that, I believe, we can agree" replied the panther

"In what?"

"In just about everything you said" came the panther, her voice mirthful "So then... friends?" she asked extending a hand, which the dragon gratefully took, a smile spreading across his face.

"Sure" he said "friends"

The panther finally took on a look of puzzlement "What are you doing up at this hour anyway?" she asked, before looking down at his hastily bandaged arm, "and what in the stars happened to your arm?"

The dragon's response came quick, with a playful tone filling his voice "Heh, had some engine trouble I had to deal with, but I could ask you the very same question!" he said, looking at the panther expectantly.

"I come up here often at night" she replied, "it's nice. Peaceful. And you cant deny the view" she chuckled, gesturing to the giant window at the front of the bridge, stars bending and stretching across the glass as the ship hurtled through the black.

"Aye, no, no you can't"