ONE THING THAT OLIVIA HOWARD COULD never get used to regarding the marvel of space travel was the silence of the actual act. She kind of already knew there was no sound in space, but decades of watching bad television and movies often caused her to forget that space was indeed quite silent. Even when inside a vessel that was traveling faster than the speed of light. Despite the invention of interstellar space travel, countless people still clung to the cannon of their favorite shows like scripture, refusing to accept things as they truly were. That denial still never changed how quiet things became after she left the Earth’s atmosphere, as it took a while for Olivia to deprogram herself from the lies she was raised with throughout her childhood. Even though space battles were far more enjoyable with lasers that went swoosh and explosions that cracked like thunder, but that was all crap. Despite its total inaccuracy, those shows and movies were still so damn entertaining.
There was a part of Olivia that couldn’t believe she was in space to begin with, as she sat in her quarters looking out the window as her vessel traveled to another solar system faster than the speed of light. This wasn’t the most glamorous job in the United Space Confederacy, the U.S.C., but Olivia Francesca Howard loved it just the same. Any opportunity for her to get out into space was always a good one in her books. While many people wanted to serve on battle cruisers and see some interstellar action, that was just another lie told by their favorite shows. Olivia preferred the job she had which was intergalactic map making. Their mission for the USC was to not only travel to other systems to confirm what was assumed to be out there, but to investigate the systems and its planets to see if there was anything of value to mine or collect for use back home. Their job was also to look for planets that could sustain life and thus be potential candidates for off world human colonies. Many people considered “map marauding” to be boring, but to Olivia they were the true modern-day explorers. Sure, they were being sent out to systems that were charted by telescopes and what not, but there’s a big difference between discovering something with a big ass telescope and actually orbiting the planet and maybe sending a team down to the surface. Yet the ability to actually visit these planets was quite rare, as they had to seek authorization from mission control to even be allowed to take a shuttle out of dock. Mission Control was run by a bunch of worry warts, so that permission was seldom given. They would lecture about observing rather than interfering in natural evolution, blah blah blah!
Olivia understood what their reasons were but that didn’t mean she had to like nor agree with them. All she was required to do was respect their authority and follow the orders that they had given her. She knew the crew was growing uneasy as of late because they had yet to discover something worth while in months. Nothing boosted morale greater than discovering a mineral or a new territory that could in time aid the people back home on Earth. Overpopulation and pollution was still out of control, and humanity needed to expand to the stars soon before disasters on their home world significantly culled those numbers down. This was why Olivia took her duty as an explorer so seriously, as the fate of humanity was depending on her crew to find something that could give them hope, and maybe even a second chance.
Despite her best attempts, Olivia was still having trouble sleeping. For whatever reason she just couldn’t rest while the ship was in motion as they jumped from one system to the next on their pre-charted list. The fact that she was in command of the vessel and all seventy-eight crew onboard might also be contributing to her insomnia. They were always traveling to parts unknown, and virtually rolling the dice that this wasn’t the system where her ship would lose contact with mission control and never be heard from again. The USC have never lost an exploratory ship at space, and Olivia wasn’t eager to be the first Captain to break that streak and that stress also might have been the cause of her lack of shut eye. This was why she never argued with mission control whenever they gave orders that were not popular with the crew. Olivia understood their caution and was happy to use them as her excuse not to take any unnecessary risks. She wanted to get her crew and the ship back home pretty much in the same shape it was given to her, so if the young Captain wasn’t comfy with something she was eager to comply and carry on.
While Olivia was certain there were some explorers who were never impressed with her by the book attitude, she didn’t give a crap what they thought as there were a lot of men, women and even a few children whose welfare was solely her responsibility. They were out there to do a job, and Olivia made sure they never strayed too far from what their primary objective was: to observe, chart, and catalogue.
If there was a planet discovered that was worth looking into, the USC would often send a different ship to handle that specific task. Specialized ships known as “Recon Raiders” carried soldiers that specialized in investigating the surface of possible new planets to inhabit. So, if Olivia and her people discovered such a planet, Olivia’s ship would be ordered to keep orbit and in essence babysit while the recon ships made way to their location. Recon was a very dangerous job, one that the Confederacy never took lightly. There was a pain staking process to visiting a planet for the first time, and it included sending several probes down to measure the air, pressure, gravity, anything that could endanger a human if they tried to set foot on the surface. This was why explorers were rarely given permission to visit anything, as the USC would always deem it too risky. They would usually order Olivia and her people to stand down and wait for the Recon ships to get out there.
Olivia was thinking about the last system they had visited and was even starting to nod off when a loud beeping sound brought that to an abrupt end. She popped up in her bed and took a deep breath before hitting a button that was on the wall beside her bed in order to answer the call that was being made to her quarters.
“This is Howard,” She answered, “What’s going on?”
“Captain,” the voice the other side of the transmission replied, “We will be reaching the next system in less than twenty minutes.”
“Understood, Lieutenant Carter,” Olivia replied, standing up. “Thank you for the reminder and the wake-up call.”
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Olivia changed back into her uniform and left her quarters to head up to the bridge. Her barracks were not located too far from the bridge, but that was done on purpose so it would be easier for the Captain to return to it in the event of any emergencies. She emerged from the elevator that took her straight to the bridge and was greet by the crew members that were present. Once back on the bridge, she strolled over to the stations where Carter was working.
“Anything from long range scanners?” she inquired.
“Nothing, I’m afraid.” Carter replied, “As usual we can’t get any readings until we actually enter the system in question which will be very soon.”
“Not surprising,” Olivia said, walking away from the science station and into the center of the bridge. There were a few seats located in the middle, and Olivia took a seat in the one she found most comfortable and decided to wait for the new system to appear before them as they were almost there.
They had been in space for several months, which was standard as ships that explored were often out for one or two years at a time. Their particular spacecraft, known as the Conestoga, had been in service and exploring the galaxy for well over ten years. Olivia could feel the hum of the ship's engines as it reverberated through the metal floor as she gazed out into the void of space. Her crew members, a diverse group of specialists from various fields, were scattered around the control panels, focused on their tasks as they waited for the ship to drop out of their space jump and arrive to the next unexplored system. Olivia tapped a button on her chair, which turned on the intercom for the entire ship she could address the entire crew.
“Crew of the Conestoga, this is your captain.” Olivia started, “We are mere minutes away from coming out of space jump, so please brace for the motion that we all know is coming but never really get used to.”
“Give me a countdown once we’re within twenty seconds,” Olivia ordered the person who was at the helm of the vessel, a pilot named Sandy Ramirez.
"Roger that, Captain.” Ramirez responded.
Moments later, Ramirez started to make the countdown from twenty, and when she reached seven, Olivia hit the intercom again.
“Brace, brace, brace!” Olivia called out to her crew, giving one last warning.
Mere seconds later, the Conestoga dropped out of its light speed as the ship had finished it’s jump to the new system. There was a rough jolt as it did so, but everyone on the bridge managed to hold on and not fall from their stations. Olivia had turned her chair which allowed her to absorb the jolt without any issues. The Conestoga was on a relentless mission, traveling through uncharted regions of space, seeking to unveil the secrets of the universe. Now that they were in the new system, their objective was to identify what they found, catalog it, and map the various star systems, planets, and anomalies they encountered. It was a task that required patience and a willingness to embrace the unknown.
Captain Howard got up from her chair and paced around the bridge to make sure everyone was alright. She knew that if there were any serious injuries on the ship from sudden exit from space jump, she’d be notified of it from the ship’s medical specialist. So far there was no calls or notifications, so she was trying to take that as a good sign. As she walked up to Carter’s science station, she was just as excited as the young lieutenant was.
“Getting anything now?” Olivia asked Carter, as she approached his station.
“I’m getting some readings, Captain,” Carter admitted, “But I’d recommend sending a few probes out there to make our job a bit easier.”
“Agreed,” Olivia concurred, “But just send just one out for now. We need to see what we’re dealing with before sending anything else out to look around.”
As Carter fired a single probe into the new system, it was done so with the hope that getting better scans from it would help them stumble upon a habitable planet, rich with life and resources. This was always their goal, but Olivia knew too well that the majority of the systems they were going to investigate where uninhabitable. Despite what Scientists on Earth had already charted with their big honking telescopes, the S.C. was still picky about sending people out there to confirm it. The Conestoga and her crew were out there to confirm what was already suspected so the odds of them actually finding anything new delivering was less than they could expect when actually checking out a new system that had never been seen yet. What little excitement was present would soon be replaced by a stark realization. The newly arrived system was empty, devoid of any celestial bodies beyond a few lifeless asteroids and rocky debris. They still had to do scans, see if any of them were rich in possible resources but that was never guaranteed either.
As they were waiting for the scans to likely confirm what was expected the doors opened and Doctor Michael Chen, the ship’s head medical officer, walked out and onto the bridge. Olivia knew exactly why he was there.
“Doctor,” Olivia called out to his. “Anything to report?”
“Nothing this time,” Chen said, feeling good about it. “Sick Bay has been rather slow today. No injuries to report from our arrival to she system.”
“That’s good to hear,” Olivia replied, relieved to hear that everyone onboard managed to brace the arrival well the effort paid off as there were no serious enough to avoid injury. If someone wasn’t ready whenever the vessel jumped into and out of interstellar travel, sometimes they might end up getting a broken bone or even a head trauma to deal with. Neither were quite appealing.
“How is the new system looking, Captain?” Chen inquired.
“You heard the man,” Olivia called out to Carter. “How is it looking?”
“Not well, Ma’am.” Carter replied, his disappointment evident.
“Another barren system?” Chen asked as he walked up behind Carter to look at his screens over his shoulder.
"It appears so," Carter reported, "The probe isn’t finding any signs of any habitable planets or even gas giants in this system."
Olivia nodded, trying to suppress her disappointment. It was not the first time they had come across a system like this, and for the crew of the Conestoga it was becoming the norm rather than the exception.
"Keep scanning the area,” Olivia ordered, “Let's make sure we properly catalog everything we can prior to departing for the next system."
The crew dutifully went about their tasks, cataloging the lifeless rocks that floated through the emptiness of space. Despite their efforts, the system was not giving anyone the results they were hoping for. As the Conestoga continued to explore another lifeless system, the crew couldn't help but feel a growing sense of futility. Olivia watched her crew's spirits waver with each discovery of an unremarkable system. The monotony of finding nothing was slowly taking its toll on morale of Olivia’s crew. Many of them were just doing the bare minimum and he was up to her to crack the whip when necessary. Yet even she could tell that her people were growing impatient and were dying to find something new to bring excitement into their rather dreary lives. That discovery was waiting for them in the next sector, and none of her crew was going to like it when they made the jump towards the encounter that would bring their mission to an unwanted close.