Prologue
One hundred and ninety meters, a crew of eighty, and a rather small armament: the ship was one of those that was big enough to warrant it's own name but apparently not quite big enough to have it's standard service number not mentioned like bigger vessels when personnel talked about it. It was my command though, and that was all that concerned me at the moment as I adjusted my dress jacket and fixed up the final button. I cracked a grin to my self in the mirror, breaking from my normal appearance of a cracked face of forty eight years of age that actually made me look in my mid to late fifties...or so they say...and I had to agree. Of course, I didn't berate myself for this seemingly uncharacteristic smile: it was minor compared to what I wanted to which was simply cry out how happy I was to the heavens, much to the shock of the other occupants of the docking shuttle, and possibly jump up and down with absolute joy after having worked for years from the rank of Ensign to the rank of Captain where I now found myself in my second command. My first had been a McCracken-class medium transport that had been just left the dock. It had been small, not even warranting a full thirty men for her crew, but by god it was my command and as a Lieutenant Commander it had been something I had thought would never come. Now I was a Captain and I was in command of ECS-175, Matveyev. I could have done without the ridiculously dangerous mission but if we wanted humanity to not be wiped out we needed to know which side to go with, the Loroi or the Umiak. If that meant that I and the men under my command would have to risk life and limb for the rest of humanity then so-be-it. That was why we joined the Scout Corp, after all. I cleared my head of these various random thoughts and my smile faded as I ran a hand through my dark red hair, complete with distinguished graying at the temples, and grabbed my standard-issue officers' cap. Tucking the cap under my arm I stepped through the automatically sliding door of my quarters: not needing to worry about the luggage. I walked the distance of an incredibly short excuse for hall and turned to my left where a sliding door sat illuminated by a red light.
I stood in the "at ease" position, out of habit rather than necessity, and waited patiently as a few of the lower ranked and one of two civilian passengers all gathered up behind me to wait as I was doing. Though nothing seemed to be happening, in the few seconds we were standing there dozens of computers were scanning the pressure of the shuttle's interior and that of the station to which it was connected: doing math that would take some people minutes and occasionally hours in about the time it took for one man to cough and a young woman to sneeze immediately afterwards. The red light flicked off and was replaced by a green one which had been resting right beside it. The door slid open and I stepped through in to the waiting docking terminal where some men went to the shuttle we had just emerged from and others either disappeared or came through various doorways throughout the waiting area. Anybody else might have been confused by all the hectic traffic but the door I was aiming for was easy to spot. It was the only door that was flanked by Colonial Marines with ready assault rifles held tightly in their hands. I turned on the heels of my dress shoes to the waiting door and it's grizzled marine guards.
Upon seeing my approach, and more importantly my rank, both men snapped to attention with crisp salutes. I returned them promptly and retrieved a simple ID card from under my coat, handing it to the higher ranked of the two so I could watch him go over it with artificial scrutiny. He knew who I was, it would have been very hard to mistake me for another Captain in the Scout Corp...mainly because I had a minority of gray hairs compared to most others. The soldier returned my ID to me and I tucked it away inside it's original pocket once more. With another bout of salutes the Marines unlocked the door for me and I stepped through in to a long hallway that turned to the left with a mirror in the right corner. Said mirror was to let somebody see any traffic coming from the other end of the tunnel but with that mirror I was able to watch the Marines radioing the bridge for my arrival. I then drew my attention away from the mirror and simply kept my eyes straight ahead as I walked through the hall and towards my new command. I couldn't see it, of course, because there were no windows but as I reached the end of the tunnel I could see my executive officer and various members of an away-party that was waiting for my arrival in a docking shuttle not too dissimilar from the one I had just arrived in. The Commander, who's name-tag informed me her last name was ironically 'Brunette', snapped to attention so quick that a few tiny strands of blond hair fell in front of her face. The rest of the away-team did the same and I now found myself being greeted by four men and a young woman who were all standing at rigid attention just because they saw me. Being a Captain was good...really good. I shot off a salute in return.
"At ease." I ordered.
All five of them did so.
"The name is Commander Grace Brunette, pleasure to meet you sir." She said.
"The pleasure is all mine commander." I said, nodding to the ship in which they were standing "Permission to come aboard commander?" I asked.
She paused for a moment, almost as if she hadn't been expecting that rather simple, but all too real tradition.
"Permission granted, Captain." She said, giving me another salute.
I stepped aboard and the members of the crew went about to their stations aboard the ship while Commander Brunette led me to the 'bridge' of the shuttle where we soon found ourselves standing behind the pilot and co-pilot as they went through their pre-flight check-list and started doing various things from flipping switches to pushing buttons of various kinds. I glanced to a section of the dash which was currently set on the cameras and saw that the two Marines had now joined us and where heading for one of the cramped rooms aboard the ship for the duration of the extremely short flight. I kept watching the security screens as the ship's own door slid shut and locked in to position The sound of hissing could be heard as the atmosphere that had been trapped between the tunnel's door and the ship's door was released in to the eternal blackness of space while our vessel slowly began to turn away. I looked away from the computer screens now, looking up to the window where Esperanza rested off in the distance from the space station which we had just left. Then it slowly disappeared from my sight as our shuttle turned to the left...and I was greeted by my new command. She had a beautifully done standard red and white paintjob with all the official markings painted across her, some easy to spot and others so tiny that they were almost invisible from this distance. I could see the engine trails of supply shuttles leaving the ship after having dropped off other members of the crew or needed supplies. I watched it grow ever larger as the pilot and the co-pilot exchanged information with both each other and an officer on the bridge of the Matveyev. As soon as all we could effectively see through the windows was the ship, I dawned my officers' cap and did one last look-over of my uniform to make sure everything was in order. My first impression on the crew would be a good one.
"By the way..." I looked to Commander Brunette as she spoke, not looking at me while doing so "...the Bellarmine and the other vessels will be jumping to our location soon."
I then looked back to the ship as we approached.
"When will we be meeting with the Prabhu?" I asked.
"They're already at the final departure point and are simply waiting for us to get there." Captain Brunette replied.
"Good." I said curtly, ending our 'conversation' there.
By this time we were already turning and moving towards an airlock. The pilot and co-pilot both got extremely focused and were practically bent over their controls as they began guiding us in to dock with the comparatively massive giant. Of course the docking seemed to go without a hitch and the pilot and co-pilot both turned partially in their seats to salute me. I once more returned it, even though their salutes hadn't been necessary, and headed for the door on the opposite side of the one we had originally used. I stopped at the door with Commander Brunette on my right-hand side and the other members of the crew that Commander Brunette had picked to welcome me waiting behind us while we waited for the same process that had gone on at the original's shuttle's door with waiting for the lights to change...I couldn't help but think I was at an intersection at rush-hour when I worded the situation like that. Soon the green light came on and the door opened to greet us with a rather bland airlock: containing only a locker of suits and two control panels, one for each door. We stepped inside and I watched as the outside door shut behind us and soon the same sound of atmosphere escaping in to vacuum could be heard as the Commander headed for the second door and punched in two buttons. A vaporous spray that smelled somewhat like mints filled the room and left a disgustingly strong taste on the back of my tongue that made me think of thin-mint cookies like the ones I was secretly addicted to except horribly wrong. I avoided a cringe at the taste and I could see that the other sailors were trying to do the same. It was detoxification for any possible germs that might impair our productivity on the long journey: we didn't want to go and possibly kill entire races with some messed up strain of the chicken pox, now did we? As funny as that may have been; no, we didn't. My train of though stopped as the door slid open and I was grateful to be done with the cleansing process. Stepping out in to a hallway, Commander Brunette dismissed the other sailors and looked to me.
"I you would follow me, I'll take you to the bridge now, Captain." She was already leading my through the halls before she had even finished.
I stood on the bridge and looked to the bridge officers that had rose to attention once the Commander had made the traditional call of 'Captain on the deck'. They all stood at rigid attention and watched me like hawks. With a single salute they were back to their stations and I was able to move relatively unobserved save for by Commander Brunette who followed my to the captain's chair where an inset camera was angled up to watch me while I stood beside the commander's chair and the array of display panels it had. With the press of a button on the chair's arm, I saw a light on the miniscule camera light up and heard a chime that moved through the ship, causing all activity to cease and for the crew to look to the nearest television screens or simply listen to the man whom the Terran admiralty, in all their infinite wisdom, had entrusted their lives to. I didn't look at the camera, rather looking down as I reached in to my coat and retrieved an official-looking letter that was sealed with a mark of the TCA on it. I unfolded the letter and cleared my throat as my eyes went to the print set out before me in deep black ink.
"To Captain Tyler Bouchard, Terran Control Authority." I readjusted how I was holding the paper "As of the fourteenth day of the fifth month, several key officials of the Terran Colonial Authority Command have decided that it is necessary for you to proceed post-haste to the military docking station in orbit around Esperanza, Eridani to assume your new command of the vessel ECS-175: formerly identified as Matveyev. You are to use the resources provided to you in a manner intended to make diplomatic contact with two warring alien nations in order to provide information to the human race on the factions. Your mission will aid in the determination of both the alliance which human kind assumes and the fate of humanity as an entire civilization." I finally looked up at the camera as I recited the last part "Courtesy, Vice Admiral Harold Leak on behalf of Terran Colonial Authority Command." I returned the letter in to my jacket.
I had, as with the times of old, just done the equivalent of placing the crew under my command at pain of death. By legal right I was allowed to shoot any one of them should they disobey a direct, assuming it was deemed 'reasonable' by a proper board, order. No officer had in over three hundred years but it was still mentioned near the back of the standard Naval handbook that all new recruits received when still in boot-camp.
"I hereby transfer command of the vessel to you, Captain." Commander Brunette said.
I turned to her and nodded my thanks before returning to look at the camera.
"As you all where." I said as I heard my own voice echoing through the speakers.
I pressed the same button and the camera turned off with a second chime as I turned to Commander Brunette.
"I assume all my luggage was delivered?" She nodded "Good, I'll be in my quarters unpacking: contact me if and when the first of our fellow vessels arrives." I ordered.
Receiving a second nod and a salute, I dismissed her with a salute of my own.
"Commander, you have the bridge." I ordered.
"Yes sir." She said.
I walked out of the bridge and towards the living quarters where I would be staying.
Disclaimer: Before I move on to the first chapter I would like to state that I created nothing save for the specifically named characters. All ship classes/names, planets, races, and the universe in general are property of Arioch/Jim Francis at . However, I have been given permission by the author to produce this fan fiction on this site. Also, if you want to see the work this is based off of then go to the 'Outsider' full color web-comic. Thank you.
Author's Notes: This is a fan fiction I have made for the web comic 'Outsider' by Jim Francis. This follows one of the other ships sent out to make contact with the Loroi and Umiak besides the Bellarmine and it's commanding officer, Captain Tyler Bouchard. That's it for this incredibly short prologue and I promise you that the first chapter will be much longer...and better written.