Author's Note: I told myself I wouldn't write a Sunshine story...and look what happens *sigh* I do hope that you enjoy the first installment, reviews are always welcome, oh and if you haven't guessed, this is a Capa/Oc * dear lord* fanfic. Enjoy!
Launch...
She tried to quell her rapid breath as the ship rattled in a slight hum around her; she knew that her grip on the arms of her chair must have been turning her knuckles white with anxiety. She swallowed thickly and clamped her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip.
"Breath." she heard Searle chuckle softly at her from his position in the seat next to hers.
"I'm trying." she said through gritted teeth, somewhat annoyed that he found her tenseness amusing.
"We're almost out of the atmosphere." he said.
"Good..." was all she could muster, still attempting to slow her breathing to a somewhat normal pace.
Dammit she hated launches, she hated how the ship felt as though it would break apart and send her spiraling out into the void of space.
Slowly the rattling of the ship died down and the feeling of weightlessness began to filter into the small cockpit.
"Ah, don't you just love anti-gravity." Searle laughed as she slowly began to open her eyes and released a heavy sigh of relief.
"It tends to make things more complicated." she replied curtly, noticing that her arms were shaking slightly from the force of her grip on the chair arms.
"Come on Gwyn, without gravity man can do the one thing he's always wanted." he said facing her
"And what might that be?" she asked, turning to him
"Fly..., well at least without the aid of machinery." he said with a playful laugh.
"I suppose you're right." she replied with a small laugh of her own.
Searle slowly looked back out the window and his smile grew.
"There she is." he said softly, voice slightly misted with wonder.
Gwendolyn turned to gaze out the window as aswell and found that her breath had caught in her throat; Icarus II.
"Gods, she is gorgeous..." she whispered as she marveled at the sight before her.
"She really is, isn't she..." Searle replied just as mystified as his companion, before glancing down to the control panel before him. "T-minus five minutes until docking." he told her and she nodded slowly.
A loud hiss and clanking thud echoed throughout the small shuttle as it docked onboard the Icarus II and the two shuttle companions quickly gathered their gear and exited the craft.
"Kaneda!" Searle said warmly as they were greeted by the ships captain as they exited the airlock
"Searle, Monroe." Kaneda replied, shaking the doctors' hand firmly, and then the young woman's. "I assume that your launch went well." he continued as he motioned for them to follow and proceed deeper into the spacecraft.
"As smooth, as smooth can be." Searle replied, grinning over to Gwyn, who replied with a wrinkle of her nose.
"That is good." the captain replied, chuckling softly.
As the trio continued to walk through the ship, Searle and Kaneda continued to make small talk, with the young woman occasionally answering a question or putting in a remark to certain comments Searle made.
As they made their way down one of the hallways, Gwyn looked out the large window that spanned the length of the corridor; Earth... She thought of her parents and her older, sister and younger brother. She would be missing her sisters wedding in the fall; her younger brothers track practices; Christmas with the family; she felt her heart drop at the thought. Though she quickly chided herself, you're being selfish...she told herself sternly and pushed the thoughts of home to the back of her mind.
The small group entered the mess hall to find the rest of the crew sitting around the table chatting with one another about various subjects, though the noise quickly died down when they spotted the captain and their fellow crew mates.
"I believe that you know the rest of the crew already." Kaneda said to the two newcomers and motioned towards the rest of the crew.
"We've worked together a little." Searle replied, knowing that he and his companion had not really got down to any formal introductions with their crew mates.
"Take a little while to introduce yourselves again, we will be taking off in a few hours." the captain said with a slightly smile before ushering off to the ships control room to make the final preparations.
"Don't be shy now." Searle whispered to Gwyn with a teasing smirk.
"Cute..." she replied trying her best to sound annoyed, before taking a step towards the table.
The young woman sitting just ahead of her stood up from her chair and gave the newcomer a friendly smile and offered her hand.
"Cassie." she said and the other woman quickly took the invitation and shook her hand firmly.
"Gwyn Monroe." she replied; she had met the woman some time ago, during one of their training exercises, however that didn't give her much time to introduce herself. While she and Searle had received the training for this mission, having very different occupations from the rest of their crew mates didn't let them have as much time to meet each other.
Searle had insisted that she accompany him as did the Icarus program directors; while Searle was the lead doctor on the Icarus II, he had specialized in Psychology while Ms Monroe had specialized in medication and surgery. If the Icarus was left without a doctor specializing in surgical procedures and something happened while out in the vast reaches of space it could lead to disaster and thus she had signed on.
She made her her way down the line of crew members, reintroducing herself to each one, engaging in small talk if they so pleased.
"So this thing is yours." she said as she went to shake Robert Capa's hand.
"Not the ship, but the payload." he replied in a business like tone, yet at the same time appeared to be slightly on edge.
"Ah..." she said and then paused for a moment. "Last hope for mankind..." she said with a sad smile.
The Physicist nodded somewhat solemnly.
"Somehow I don't feel safe being strapped to the back of a bomb out in outer-space." she said with a nervous laugh.
"I can assure you that you don't have to worry about that." he replied, giving her a small smile.
It was only then that she realized she was still shaking his hand and she quickly retracted it, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her little foible.
"Sorry, about that." she said with another nervous laugh.
"Don't worry about it." he replied softly.
"Attention crew, we will be launching in half an hour, I repeat we will be launching in half an hour." Icarus' voice rang out and Gwyn felt herself stiffen.
There was no turning back...