“In the name of the Earth, and all colonies represented under the Earth Core United flag, I, President Joanna Rose Jermienko, do proudly launch the first intergalactic explorer ship, Deep Contact, on its maiden voyage.”
Across Earth, Mars and the outer colonies near Saturn and Jupiter, a holographic image floated over all the major capital cities. Dozens of citizens watched with awe and excitement as the current president of the ECU stood at a podium with the view of a large vessel behind her.
Deep Contact looked majestic as it hung in orbit of Earth’s moon, the ringed construction scaffolding slowly retracting away as the reveal continued to play out behind the president. She was on the observatory pier of the newly commissioned orbital shipyard. The long robotic arms retrieved the scaffolding and placed each section into the designated storage area. The crowds roared with exuberance and applause as they witnessed the dawn of humanity’s journey into intergalactic space travel.
The president took a moment to wait before speaking, giving time enough for the masses to calm down as she continued her speech.
“This is a symbol of achievement for all humankind, not just for Earth, or Mars for that matter, but for all citizens of this solar system. Earth Core United, that all were born into, and claim their heritage from, now can go out amongst the stars and continue to grow that community as one untied people. It took us a long time to reach this point. A long and terrible history of violence, oppression and war. But we made it. We made it together and prevailed. Now we send off this bold crew, along with it’s captain, Christopher Riley, into that vast star-filled blackness, to find new worlds and search for life wherever or whatever it may be. The next adventure begins today, my fellow citizens, the adventure into our density and our future.”
She paused again, allowing the crowds in every capital to proudly cheer from her statement. She was being fed live visuals from each gathering, floating holographic screens beyond the cameras allowed her to know when to start, as she could see and hear them all during her moment. She smiled, waved in response. Again, when the crowds subsided in their jubilation, she added her final words.
“I herby officially launch this new beginning… Go, Deep Contact, go with our blessing, and lead the way for us all to follow after.”
As she waved to the cheering masses again, Captain Christopher Riley, joined her on the podium and shook hands with the president. They allowed the media to take pictures as their holographic image continued to hover over the cities, on Earth, Mars and the various inner solar system colony bases. Riley gave one last wave and stepped away. Once he was gone, The visual then shifted to his shuttle he was boarding, as it took him and the senior staff to their awaiting ship.
* * *
“That was something…” Doctor Nyjiumu stated as he sat in the back row of the small shuttle pod.
The craft took it’s time heading over to the massive black vessel, that looked more like an over-elaborate space submarine than a typical interstellar vessel. The others chuckled at his comments as they all glanced back at him.
“They could have at least given us a few drinks before getting underway.” First Lieutenant Sarah Brigham smirked. “Maybe a gift basket or two…”
“I doubt that was in the budget.” Science officer Jen Sakura stated.
“Budget-smudgit!” Sarah scoffed. “Drinks and gifts… Earth could have found the means, they’re just cheapskates.”
“Mars might have gone all out,” Commander Yang conceded. “They have more wealth at their disposal to make it happen.”
Captain Riley remained quiet in his front seat. He was sitting adjacent to the shuttle pilot, a young female officer with short black hair. Rather than converse with the others behind him, he gave a nod to the woman pilot and struck up a conversation with her.
“Looking forward to the journey, ensign?”
“I’m not staying on board, sir.”
“Oh?” He glared in surprise. “Didn’t you sign up for this?”
“No offence, Captain, sir,” She glanced at him. “I requested to be reassigned rather than be on this ship with…” She paused for a moment and glanced at him again. “Um, sorry… I should keep it to myself.”
“No-no, go on, what were you going to say…” Riley motioned his hand. “I gave you permission to speak your mind, ensign.”
He had a feeling he knew what she was about to say, and had little reaction once she did.
“I didn’t want to be serving on a ship that had you as its captain.”
“I beg your pardon, Ensign?”
She glanced over at him briefly, tapping the console controls, and repeated her statement.
“I didn’t want to be on a ship that had you as the captain.”
“Oh? I see.” He stated, then casually looked out the front window as they drew closer to the ship. “Well, that… uh, that’s your right, I suppose.” He was frazzled by her directness. It seemed so hostile towards him, personally. He had to pry. “Is there a specific reason?”
“Do I still have permission to speak freely, sir?” She glanced over to him. “It might seem insubordinate.”
That made him cock a brow with interest. He pursed his lips in thought, then nodded while looking at her.
“You were aboard the Titan, sir.” She grimaced. “My brother was serving on it, William Grarbon.”
That name struck his brain immediately. His eyes flared slightly, as a wave of shame soon replaced it. He turned to look back out of the window, as if to hide them from her. His voice quivered in response.
“That was… uh… a mistake. He was a good officer, who didn’t deserve that. It’s no excuse, but, I wasn’t in my right mind when that happened.”
“I’ll say,” she sneered. “You caused a near collision, my brother almost died from injuries he sustained while in the engine room.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Riley remembered that horrible moment. The Titan, a military transport ship, almost hit a passing civilian cruiser while he was in temporary command of the bridge. He was stone-dead drunk. He argued with the pilot to maintain his course, ignoring the sensors and warning collision alarms as he increase speed while coming into orbit of Earth. It was too late when it finally sunk into his inebriated head.
Riley snapped out of his stupor and took to the controls immediately. He shoved the pilot aside, as he manoeuvred the ship into a steep angle. The Titan narrowly missed the other ship’s hull by only a few feet. The force of the turn was so abrupt that it caused chaos, sending many crew hurling to walls, smashing through corridor glass partisans, and tumbling through sections full of cargo that snapped away from their secure positions.
Her brother, William, in the engineering room, was flung against the main engine core and nearly fried to death as he made contact. Hours later, he had read the report on his condition; the man lost two limbs, suffered severe burns, and was close to death from all of his injuries. Riley felt shame knowing it was his fault, and started to doubt his right to even be made captain of this new, untested, vessel. He couldn’t look at the young ensign as she continued to pilot the shuttle. Instead, he kept his gaze on Deep Contact as they entered its landing bay underneath.
“I’m… uh… sorry…” He stated, the quiver in his voice breaking his words.
Even though Brigham was embroiled in conversation with Jen and the Doctor, she could overhear the conversation the captain and the pilot were having. She waited to see what the young woman would say back in that moment, but was distracted by Jen as she asked her a question.
“Do you feel you can steer a ship like this on your own? There’s only a single pilot station for a massive ship like this, highly unusual, don’ you think?”
“Uh…” Sarah said, trying to catch up. “Yeah, that’s no problem, I’ve got a steady hand, or so I’m told… from other pilots and women I’ve dated.”
She gave a playful wink and Jen cocked an eyebrow in response.
“I don’t understand the comparison.”
“Really?” Yang glared at her.
“I did…” The Doctor snickered. He waggled a finger at Sarah. “Shame on you, Brigham. That’s most unbecoming of an officer…”
Jen was left puzzled by the trio giggling at each other. The other officers behind them were also chortling about it, and that only made Jen even more puzzled. Brigham tried listen to the conversation of the captain and the pilot again, but there wasn’t much being said. The pilot never did respond back to Riley. She continued to bring the craft in, landed down once the outer door had fully closed and the bay had re-pressurized. She turned in her chair and nodded to him.
“We’ve arrived, sir.”
The others behind were busying chatting and getting to know each other. But once they saw the shuttle was in and the side exit opened, they disembarked. Riley was still trying to keep himself composed, trying not to shed a tear from the memory, and nodded back to the young female pilot without looking at her. As he got up to leave, the woman grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her.
“Sir, don’t you dare do the same thing to these people.” She sternly warned. “I don’t know why or how you managed to get this command, but you don’t deserve it.”
She leg go of his arm, realizing she might be assaulting a superior officer. She quickly apologized and turned around in her seat again. Riley didn’t fault her anger. He was sure there were many others that felt the same way, each having a friend or loved one, who had a grudge to bear with him. Riley took a step out of the shuttle, but then, hesitated for a second. He glanced over to shuttle pilot, and slowly exhaled in disappointment.
“Perhaps I don’t, Ensign.” He solemnly stared at her. “But, I give my word… a promise, I won’t let it happen again,”
The pilot gave him only silence, not bothering to turn to face him, she just tapped on a few buttons on the console, in a vain attempt to look busy. Riley looked away as he turned to look out of the door.
“Never again…” He stated. “Never…”
He stepped out of the shuttle and saluted the awaiting officers as they welcomed him on board. The young female pilot, remained stoic, peered out the side window next to her, and watched Riley and the others walk away. She shook her head in disappointment and let out a bitter sigh.
“Aye-aye, Captain… sir!”
* * *
Yang led the senior officer group to the main hanger, one floor down from where they were, and guided the Captain across the massive bay to where all the crew were standing at attention and awaiting his arrival. Like any military run ship, the crew were commanded to salute Riley as he came on board, and shouted in unison, “Deep Contact, ready for mission, sir!”
Riley gazed out at full crowd before him. One hundred and fifty souls were now in his hands, give or take a few non-attendants that had other important duties at this time, but the sight of so many made him slightly anxious. It had been sometime since he commanded a ship, especially one of this size and complement. He ended their torture of saluting by giving it back to them, he then instructed them to remain at ease, they complied by relaxing their bodies from such a tight posture.
Yang handed Riley a small tablet, and tapped the button for him as it connected wirelessly to the over head bay speakers. The sound of the mic going live reverberated throughout the large room, full of shuttles, supplies and the entire crew. He was about to speak, but then he hesitated for a moment. Yang looked at him with concern and leaned over to whisper.
“Is something wrong, Captain?”
“I… uh…” He glanced at him and shook his head. “No-no-no, just… uh…”
The crew patiently waited. Riley cleared his throat and tried again. This time, his voice boomed across the bay, and began his speech.
“I want to welcome you all to the greatest day of your lives. Not only are we the first ship to make ECU history, but we are going to be the first humans to venture out beyond our own solar system, to begin the greatest exploration of our very lives.” He took a moment to see if they were all paying attention to him. He nodded and continued on. “I know you all signed up for this mission willingly, but, I will give you the chance to reconsider before we depart. This is a ten year mission, or more, I want that to sink for a minute. We will be totally and ultimately on our own out there. There will be no coming back until that time, not until the mission is complete, and we’ve secured enough planets for further colonization.”
The crew whispered amongst themselves, Riley allowed it for a brief moment, but then held out hand for silence. The crew obeyed and he continued on.
“I know about your concerns, about the regs on desertion, but if you still want to reconsider, I won’t hold it against anyone if they choose to leave. I will allow it. But make no mistake, the moment we set off into the cosmos, you are now a permanent member of this crew, and I expect all of you to do your job and keep this ship running smoothly. This isn’t just some run across the system, like a training mission, no… you’re doing a job to keep all of us alive.”
Riley paused in his speech to glare at them. He wanted to see the seriousness in his eyes.
“That is interstellar space we’re heading out into, where there will be nothing but empty black for many, many years. We need each other to stay safe, to keep our sanity, to make sure Deep Contact doesn’t get lost out there forever.”
Yang wasn’t sure where this motivational speech was going, but it wasn’t the most uplifting one he’d ever heard. He furrowed his brow in concern, and then leaned in to tell the captain that, perhaps, he should wrap this up as not to keep the ECU delegation waiting. They were, after all, still anticipating Deep Contact’s maiden flight to happen. Riley nodded in acknowledgment. He turned his attention to the crew once more.
“I, ah, just wanted to make that perfectly clear, to you all. Last chance for any to step off this boat before we’re off. If there isn’t any one gone in the next five minutes, consider yourself drafted. That is all. To your stations everyone!”
Riley tapped the pad off and handed it back to Yang. The crew seemed confused by his strange pep-talk, some were laughing about the oddity of it, while the rest confounded by it. Yang took note of the crew’s behaviour and felt an unease about it. This could potentially hurt the morale, something that he would have to rectify himself, or bring to the captain’s attention later. As Riley motioned to the others to leave the landing bay, the Doctor snickered and looked over at Jen Sakura.
“Truly riveting… to see history being made.”
“I think that is going to be the worst speech in the history books.” She glared at him.
“Geez,” Sarah Brigham sneered. “Talk about first impressions, huh?”
“Oh, yes,” The doctor agreed, as he continued to snicker. “Can’t say that it won’t be memorable.”