Computer: Speech

Thoughts: Speech

Author: Speech

Cryogenic Stasis: Status: Release

I slowly opened my eyes and then started blinking rapidly to let my eyes adjust to the bright lights. I heard a hiss as the latch to my CryoPod released, allowing me to exit the pod. I grasped the side of the pod to gain my balance, then walked over to my designated locker.

I should probably introduce myself before I start. My name is Rei Taiki and I'm probably your average nerdy looking guy. Being a blonde haired, blue eyed, lighter-skinned 23 year old, I stand at about 5'7", with half-rimmed, gun-metal-gray glasses. I know, I know, a white guy with a foreign name. Explanation: My parents had moved to Japan before I was born, and they found the name fitting.

To most people, I don't look like much. My attire is a gray v-neck, jeans and regular tennis shoes. When I opened the locker, a brown long coat rests on a hanger. I pull it out and whip it around and pull my arms through so it rests on my shoulders. A necklace made of tightly woven black fabric can be seen hanging in the back of the locker, a small hook holding it in place. I reach in and unclip, then reclip it around my neck. I grasp it and look at the quartz, tear-drop shaped pendent. Burnt into it, is a Zuni Bear. The Bear symbolizes courage, physical strength, and leadership. The Heartline symbolizes life force.

When I was around 7, I had expressed interest in the uses of weapons in Martial Arts. When I turned 10, and after a LOT of convincing, my parents signed me up in a martial arts school, one that specializes in Japanese weaponry. I eventually saved up enough money to get a native smith to forge a custom made Katana...once I was old enough, of course. It's a bit shorter than the standard Katana to compensate for my "lack of height" according to my instructors. I leave that leaning in the back of the locker, not needing it on the ship.

Oh, that's right, you have no idea where I am. Sorry, I got sidetracked! I'm on a special task force assigned to navigate, map, and identify a new solar system. It has only two possibly habitable planets, and it was my team's job to see if it was truly worth the trip for humanity. We were approximately 150 light-years away from the edge our Solar system, let alone Earth itself. I approached the cock pit and entered my ID into the slot above keypad. The doubly reinforced Tungsten door slid open with a hiss. I walked through and headed straight to the main cockpit seat. I stopped right beside it and looked out into the impossibly black void we call space. The ship we were on was the trusty Starlight. We were traveling approximately 5,000 miles a minute, or 300,000 miles an hour, and were slowly decreasing the speed. Old girl's capable of speeds 7x what we were going. And that's on a slow day.

"Oh, you're up. Thought I heard the door."

"Morning Jefferson, how we doing." Jefferson and I had both been on this crew from the start, and had gone through five other team members. Whenever they quite, for some reason they always put a "Crazy complaint" as we fondly dubbed it. Apparently we were too insane to be safe traveling with.

Honestly though, we'd freak them out until they couldn't handle it. Especially if they were jerks. A few times the complaints were so bad the Top Dog himself had to come down and ask what happened, just to clear things up.

And for a laugh. We were all great pals, and Jefferson and I never went out of line...well...We kind of blurred the lines a bit one time. But hey, that guy was actually a thief, so we stole some of his useless stuff and jettisoned it into a gas giant we had been passing.

"About as well as you'd expect. Man, I'm glad my Girlfriend couldn't come, I'd have to force her into a CryoPod just so she'd shut up."

"Didn't you tell me you were gonna break up with her three months ago?"

"Yeah, but then she went and got us an all expense paid trip to the Moon, no idea how though." I chuckled.

"You know she's using you right? She knows about the insurance pay out for any Space Militia." I sat down in the chair next to me and sighed. "She's just wanting to get the insurance money if something were to happen to you." Jefferson and I looked at each other and he sighed as well.

"Oh sure, I'll just say, "Oh hey Monica, I don't think you love me, and only want the money you get when I die." 'Cause that won't get me shot." I snorted.

"Nah, if it were me I'd just say I don't like long distance relationships."

"Yeah, but you're smoother than I am when I comes to these things man!" I gave a short "Hah!" then smiled.

"Hardly dude, my first break up was a disaster! I had to break up over text, other wise I would have gotten shot!" He stared at me.

"How are you alive...?" I shrugged.

"All I know is if it wasn't for this team, I'd still be flying by the seat of my pants with my last girlfriend. I had no idea how or when to make the next move, so I kept buying her gifts."

"Ouch..."

"Anyways, enough about my sappy life, the others awake?" We had two other crew members on board the Starlight, the ship we had been assigned to.

"Zeke is, Jargon's still in stasis."

Jargon and Ezekiel, or Zeke, were the other two, and they had decided that they like our style of working with team members. Jargon was more of a no-nonsense guy, but could relax with a beer in his hand. Zeke was more of the "let's get 'er done" kind of guy. Jefferson and I both could relax without needed alcohol, which I didn't drink in the first place, and were the practical jokers of the group.

Jefferson was had a head of crew cut brown hair, keeping it short because of his status as captain of the ship. He had a generally fit build.

Zeke was from the southern part of the States, giving him an obvious accent. He had a bit of a belly, but only because he was the main mechanic on the ship. He didn't have a lot to do other than stare at a screen.

Jargon was a very athletic person. At times he had a bit of an ego, but was all around a nice guy. He would often be in the workout room, trying to always look his best.

I myself was security detail. I had to make sure no one got hurt in some stupid way, or killed in an invasion. Neither of those ever happened before, so I took up the computers as well, making it my secondary job to monitor the entire ship's status.

*Hissss*

"Alright, we're officially set to land." Zeke walked in, rubbing his hands with a cloth. I turned and walked over to him, we clapped hands.

"Nice to see you after a long sleep."

"Good to see you're awake and well. Jargon still in Cryo?" Jefferson took his turn to shake Zeke's hand.

"Yeah, brat's probably set it to wake him up when we land." We shared a small chuckle. The entire monitor right in front of Jefferson's chair blinked red for a moment.

"Hey, you guys see that?" I walked over and looked at the panel, trying to see what happened. Zeke was confused. He had been staring out the window right above it when I'd said something, and he didn't see anything.

"What're you talking 'bout? I didn't see anything." The other two walked over and Jefferson sat down. He started rapidly shifting through the various files, documents, and alerts, most false alarms, to see nothing. Until he reached the desktop. The whole thing was a blindingly red color, pulsing in and out.

"When'd you change that?" I leaned over his shoulder

"I didn't." I jerked back slightly. He wasn't joking, I could tell. He looked up at me.

"Wake Jargon."

I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter. Now, before I get your expectations up, I will be leaving for a mission for my church soon. I have no idea exactly when, but this story is going to be on a definite two year Hiatus while I'm gone. Also, I have a HTTYD story up. I've written chapter 1-25 as of 4/8/17, and I'm going to have to upload chapters 8-25 in mass. I have no idea how many chapters of this I will get out before I leave, but I hope at least ten!

~Silverleone