The Sapphire Navigator.

Status
Not open for further replies.
"Sounds great." Said Lance sitting down and grabbing a fork. He felt as if he hadn't eaten a real meal in days, and in truth he hadn't. Sometimes he would go for days and days, only eating what he needed to live. He called it "Going Commando", it was his way of trimming down and bulking up. Lots of protein and fiber, but not much else.

He took the first bite, savoring the way the juicy beefy juices exploded in his mouth (..............). The noddles were perfectly cooked, just a little on the Raw side - al dente - as the ancient Italians used to call it. He took another bite, slurping the noddles up. He devoured the plate and was ready for seconds almost as soon as he was handed his first plate.

" This...is amazing, Terra."
 
Terra had learned to cook almost as soon as she learned to walk, so it wasn't even a big deal to her to experiment with recipes. "That's just a basic pasta, but I'm glad you like it." She took a small bowl herself, letting hers cool off a bit as they ate. She was still sort of thinking about those -creatures- they'd just barely escaped from on that last planet. What had they been? All she was able to guess was that if she'd lingered there any longer she wouldn't have a soul left to even haunt the ship. Life certainly did produce its fair share of freakish things. Both good and bad.
 
Lance had his fill, and was feeling very satisfied. The meal was Delicious. Terra was an outstanding cook. He thanked her for the meal and went to sit in the Captains chair. He looked out the port window and again was lost in his thoughts. Sometimes he would spend hours just staring out into the stars, it was therapeutic as well as rewarding. In a sense, being a deep space explorer for Lance, was about as rewarding as anything. He loved it and would give nothing up to change it. It was his love.

With the course set, and not much to do but wait, Lance leaned back and closed his eyes. For the time being, all worry was forgotten and the recent events of the day seemed like they were years in the past. The only thing Lance could think about was the uncharted Space Station. He wondered if it still was fully functioning and if those.
who inhabited it would be friendly or hostel. Since it was a human built Space Station, as Lance could tell by looking at its distant structure, he was banking on the latter.
 
Terra nodded at his thanks, having one of those moments where she found it hard to say much; she spent the evening making sure they'd arrive at the space station in exactly 3 hours or less, then tiredly managed the steering, trying not to slump over the wheel. She looked and felt exauhsted enough to sleep standing on her feet, which she'd done a few times while onboard the ship. But honestly, she just never had enough time to sleep, so she refreshed during her own shower time, before dressing again and staring out at the field of stars again.
 
As stars and planets alike passed in the port windows, Lance fell asleep, as usual, in his captains chair. He slept, Leaned with his head titled back and with his mouth wide open. It was a comical sight to see him in such a vulnerable state. As his chest rose and fell, marked only by the most slightest of snores, the ship pushed on into space. In the distance the Space station slowly got closer.

At one point, Lance got an itch on his noes, when he wen to scratch it he missed, jamming himself in the eye instead.

"Ouch." He awoke with a start, slowly opening his eyes to find that their destination was almost upon them. He spun around to see if Terra had fallen asleep like him, or if she was on the ball like usual.
 
Tired and draggy, Terra was naturally just ten minutes away from the space station. It was massive, almost as big as that 'Death Star' from Star Wars, but much nicer looking. it was silver, with the interior of a hundred thousand posh hotel lobbies and fancy rooms. What Terra looked forward to was a good stiff drink and a meal she didn't have to prepare for a change. Maybe a nice soft bed to pass out on. She needed a week's worth of sleep, but she'd settle for a few hours. "We're approaching the space station now." She announced, knowing her destination the moment after she parked the ship.-
 
After the ship was landed, Lance got his things ready; a small pack containing various items of importance. He stepped out of the ship and noticed immediately the silence. There was not a sound to be heard, no voices, no machines, no beeps or bloops...nothing. Although the place looked pretty well kept the lack of human, or alien for that matter, activity was quite unnerving. Usually when landing a foreign ship on a space station there were always protocol to follow, at least landing instructions, but here there was nothing. Lance looked to Terra.

"This place looks pretty deserted, what do you think?"

He walked out of the landing dock, through a metal door, and into a reception area. Several empty chairs and a desk sat behind a steel counter, but again, no one was there. A row of computers lined the back wall. Lance was dumbfounded by the complete absence of the place, it was as if the entire population had just vanished.

" Maybe we should check to see if we can find some record files on these computers?" Said Lance tapping the side of one of the the many Computers. Lance was afraid at whatever had happened to this place, but at the same time he was excited at the fact they might be able to come away from this with some supplies, after all there was not a person, at least in this sector, to stop them.
 
Terra had a very bad feeling. Something had obviously happened here, not all that long ago either. "I'll log on to the computer in this room and see what happened." She said, sitting down in front of a monitor after powering it up. It took a few moments before she clicked on an automatic message. The image of the captain of this space station flashed on the screen, he looked desperate and worried before he even spoke. "Somehow, there is an air born virus that is swiftly spreading through the station, killing people within hours. It won't be long before we all end up dead. Instructions for the space station- if anyone left alive are to abandon ship. There are no survivors here. We don't know how the virus started or even if it'll disappear when it destroys all life on the station. Well, now that I've warned everyone- I'm going to hang myself in the captain's office. It's insulting to get sick and die when I'm clearly so healthy." The screen blanked out after the message ended, leaving Terra blinking confused. "Captain Lance....? What should we do now?" She asked, standing up. She began wondering. . .was this the same virus that the crew on their own ship had died from?
 
Lance heard the message and realized what that meant, as he looked at Terra.

"Well" He said taking a deep breath "If there IS an airborn Virus here, we're already contaminated" He said in such a matter of fact tone, that he almost laughed at his own words " What I mean is, I don't see any reason for us to leave without at least checking this place out a little more. The truth was, if they're really was still an active virus infecting the air, they we're going to die a painful death, Lance saw no reason to rush back to the ship. He thought on it a moment longer, taking in the reality that he had gone out of his way to board a potentially virus ridden Station. The only thing he was wondering was, where were all the bodies?

He gave Terra a small squeeze on the shoulder then turned to inspect some more of the station. He walked out of the small reception/entrance area and made his way through another set of Metal doors. What was on the other side took his breath away. It was a huge room, that was completely lined with windows on either side and all the way up, further than his eyes could see. It was shaped like a cylinder, so that the massive windows connected in a tube like shape, the view was absolutely breathtaking to say the least. The room looked like it had at one time been used as a gate way to the rest of the space station, a long stair case (it used to be an escalator, but had long since died) went right up through the center of the room. Every 20 feet or so another set of stairs would lead of the main set, leading to a gateway. The gates were labeled by different sectors, each one leading to a different area of the Space Station. Lance saw that the stair case, that went up into the glass lined room and vanished high above his head, had a sign over it that read.

SECTOR 1, Gateway.

This was obviously where, as Lance had suspected, the entire Station was linked together. As he stared in awe at the huge structure and tried to wrap his mind around how big this place really was, he turned to Terra, whos uncanny talent for navigation was as useful off the ship as on it, and said.

"So, where should we look first?"
 
Terra took a deep breath and decided Lance needed to know some basic facts, that might assure him of a longer life, as well as perfect health in the face of any virus. "Well, we have plenty of time to decide that. You see, I was born with a strange... device. Literally inside my heart, there's a small sapphire compass. It steers me in any direction I need to go, with only a few side effects. My eyes change color whenever there's a landing- and I'm immune to germs. If someone is relatively close to me at all times, then that person gets a trace of the effects. Unfortunately our previous crew weren't close; neither were any people on this station. So, whatever we decide, you should know we don't have to make any rash decisions." That had taken a lot for Terra to confess after years of keeping it secret. . .but truth be told, Lance was quick at picking up anything unusual. He would have suspected something was happening before too much longer, whether she'd told him or not.
 
Lance knew there was something special about Terra, Beyond her beauty and intelligence that is, but he could never quite put his finger on what it was. When she told him about the "Sapphire device" it all clicked, even though he had little idea of what "IT" was. He looked at her for a moment and said

" So, we are protected from whatever virus killed these people?" This was excellent news. Lance was so excited that he almost hugged Terra, ut he caught himself, knowing he had to keep a very professional relationship with her. So he awakwardly extended his hand and offered a Huge, brimming smile.

"Terra, you're just full of wonderful surprises. So any idea where the kitchen is around here? we could load up on supplies as well as have some Lunch?" Just like captain Lance Silver to think about food at a time a like this.
 
Terra smiled at Lance as she turned on the station's full power with a single push of a few buttons and a command code she'd hacked from the original captain of this station. "Well, we are protected from every virus, Captain Lance. Germ, or anything else similar. The downside is- once the compass is removed from my heart, all protection from germs or warfare viruses will be destroyed." She added grimly. She knew exactly who had the ability to carry out such an act- her last former 'master' Warrek. He was of the belief that she should have died ages ago for her first act of defiance. To make things worse, he'd been trying to chase her for a good 3 or 4 years, deciding new threats to scare her with every time they got close enough. But for now, she didn't focus on any of that, she sensed where the kitchen was instead, and led the way.
 
Lance, amazed as always, at his navigators "sixth sense", followed her unquestioningly towards the kitchen. They went up the flight of stairs then came to a door marked "SECTOR 2, Dinning and kitchen". The door opened and they were standing at the far end of a great dinning hall. There were rows and rows of tables lined up along with several counters. Behind the counters were fully stalked bars, not just stocked with alcohol, but also with what appeared to be glass door refrigerators that had milk and other perishable goods inside. There was a soda machine as well as an OJ machine. Among other things, Lance saw something that caught his eye; A Soft serve ice cream/ milkshake machine, perfect. The seasoned Captain made his way to the machine and found it to be cold and running, he fished under the counter for a long glass and began to fill it. Then he found a canister of whipped cream with which he topped it with. Delicious.

"Hey, Tara. You want a MilkShake" he asked holding up his own chocolate one. "They are cold and amazingly good." He took a massive sip then turned and saw two large swinging doors that no doubt led to the kitchen. He could only imagine the food that was in there, with any luck they could take a ton of it back on their little ship.
 
She'd always had a strong sixth sense. She was lucky for this or she'd be lost all the time. She blinked at the milkshakes, then took one, drinking it carefully to avoid brain-freeze. "These are good. The virus couldn't have happened that long ago, or all the food in this kitchen would be rotten or un-edible." she added, thoughtfully foraging through the freezers, refrigerators and cabinets. In this station alone they had enough food to last them 3 years. Why should they leave the station at all for that matter? In fact, she knew the ghosts would be happier with more room, just as both of them would. Plus, the commanding of this station would be so much simpler. "Captain Lance. . .I know we are explorers first and foremost. But why should we explore in that smaller-sized ship, when this station is fully functionable and doesn't require nearly as much fuel inspite of how huge it is designed?" She would go with whatever he said of course, but staying here simply made sense to Terra.
 
Lance was chin deep into his shake and making another when Terra asked about them staying at the Station. He hadn't thought of that. It wasn't a bad idea, after all, the infinite depths of space wasn't going anywhere. He moved into the kitchen and started looking through the freezers. After all, only the refrigerated or frozen food would be editable. He opened one of the big steel doors, and to his amazement, found it packed with nothing but beef. Steaks, ribs, roasts, and cutlets. Perfect. Either he was in heaven, or this infected space station was about as close to it as the Captain had ever been.

He turned to Terra "Look at all this beef." Just then another large freezer caught his eye, it was labeled "pre-made dinners". He rushed over to open the door and found it to be packed with about 300 fully cooked, single serve dinners. There were Italian dishes like Pasta pesto and Ravioli, and Chinese foods, like chicken fried rice and sweet sour pork. On the bottom rack was a few Lamb dinners. Rack of lamb with mint jelly as well as Lamb chops with brown rice. It was a culinary delight. Lance felt his stomach give a small jump as he pulled out a dinner labled Pasta Pesto.

"I'm Starving" he said looking at Terra " Thats a good idea, about staying here. I guess we'll never run out of food at least!."
 
Terra had to laugh. Trust Lance to be thinking with his stomach at a time like this! "Alright, the Station's our new home then. Let's grab some frozen dinners and discuss where we should go next." She heated up a few dinners for both of them, They had a lot to do after supper, but for now at least they had a few hours to relax. She was certainly thinking of a nice comfortable bed in one of the unused rooms.
 
Lance pounded down his food, for as much as he ate he had a nice build. After the massive plate of pesto pasta and some pepsi to wash it down, he began thinking about living here at the Station. They would have to unload a few of there things; personal Computers (Maybe they could pick up some Wifi out here!), books, clothes, personal items, bath items. Things like that. Before that, however they would have to figure out where the living quarters were. Lance wanted to find the nicest of the rooms, one with a great view and even greater commodities. Lance liked living in style, even though he spent most of his life on the small ship, he still had a taste for the finer things.

Lance turned to Terra, seeing as she was finished with her food "So, should we explore and try to find the living area?" He didn't even question the fact they would be sharing a room, hopefully it would be big enough. Although Lance was pretty sure they would never get on each others nerves, thats just the way things were between them.
 
Terra nodded. "Yes, I wonder if there's a big enough room we can share or even if there's two rooms side by side that are equipped with furniture." She didn't mind sharing rooms with Lance, and had before. But sometimes she worried he might need more space in his sleep, since she tended to kick whenever nightmares were involved. She cleaned up the kitchen after dinner was over, then waited for Lance to decide when the exploring should happen. Yep, things were always just fine between them... she liked it that way.
 
Lance watched as Terra cleaned the plates, she was the perfect Navigator/personal assistant he could ever ask for. Sometimes he felt like he might be taking her for granted, after all it was her amazing powers (as Lance had just discovered) that had Navigated them through space time after time. She was one in a million and Lance would do anything to protect her. After she was done, Lance walked back out into the main stairway and looked up. It spiraled way up, left and right, through the vast station. Lance figured that the only way to go was up. As they walked they passed several gates. One was labeled "Landing gate 2" another "Supply depo", they would be going in there later, thought Lance. After what seemed like hours of walking, Lance finally said.

"I wish these stairs were still working, i guess they used to be like an escalator,"

After a bit further, they came to a really big gate marked, "Section 8, Apartments and long term visitors".

" Well, I guess this is it, lets try to find the biggest room we can. Hopefully it will have too beds" Lance said this then felt stupid for even bringing it up. Terra was going to think that he was trying to get in her pants!
 
"I'll try to repair those stairs in the morning." Terra said as they wandered further into the section. Opening the first set of doors, she was relieved to find -two- huge beds on opposite sides of the room, completely well furnished, with adjoining bath area and a small entertainment system. Perfect! "I think we found our room." She said with a small smile. Things couldn't be going better. . .she just hoped it stayed this way. She didn't like dealing with a lot of complications, or trouble. Hopefully their exploring days would go a little more smoothly now that they chose to live in the space station rather than the small ship. They could easily have all their belongings brought in that same evening.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back