Chapter 1: Starship Alaska

The Entertainment Deck of the Interstellar Starship Alaska was vaguely similar to the vessel her father used to command, the Starship Hammersmith, when she was a child. The room she was currently in, the main entertainment hall, had been set up and was raring to go, ready for the celebrations which were due to commence in a week's time. Their first group of passengers were waiting on a planet in another system a few days away so until then all they could do was wait.

She couldn't deny it, she was really excited. All her life she had dreamt of seeing the stars, that was the reason she had joined the Alaska in the first place. 'Junior Entertainment Manager'… if she was honest she would have preferred to actually be a member of the crew but as she had dropped out of the Space Academy the year before, she hadn't actually gained her qualifications. However, 'Junior Entertainment Manager' had a nice ring to it so she really wasn't that bothered. Space had always been her one true love so to be able to have a job where she got to travel amongst it made her ultimately content.

"All hands, this is Captain Jefferson." the voice of the ship's Captain hailed over the inter-ship communication system, "We are breaking orbit. Please make sure your sections are secure. Jefferson out."

Another member of the Entertainment staff and her close friend Louise Pettigrew quickly did as the Captain ordered.

During that time, she turned to look out of the window on her left. Her lips curled into a small smile as she gazed down at the planet below. Although the majority of it was covered by large weather systems, her home country of England being beaten with a severe tropical storm, she smiled at the sight. Seeing the Earth from orbit had always been her favourite sight… 'The green and blue marble of the Solar System', that's what her father used to call it.

The Alaska shuddered as it broke away from the Earth's gravity, causing the coffee in the cup she was holding to ripple. Subconsciously, she placed her other hand over the rim until the shuddering ceased and the ship began its journey out of the Solar System. She kept her eyes locked on her beloved planet and took a sip of her coffee.

It was her first journey away from home… she was allowed to have mixed feelings about leaving, wasn't she?

Louise soon noticed her gaze and smiled slightly as she watched the Earth slowly decrease in size.

"Oswin?" she queried.

Jumping slightly, Oswin turned to face her friend and smiled softly as she brushed her hand through her hair.

"Sorry." she whispered, "It is my first time after all."

Louise nodded in agreement and smiled slightly. Ever since meeting Oswin when they both attended the Space Academy the year before, she knew how much a life in space meant to her.

Oswin turned back to look out the window which only increased Louise's smile. She loved seeing her friend happy, especially after all the problems she had experienced over the last year. Not only had she lost her place in the Academy after missing her exams when she returned home to London when her mother took ill, she had also lost her father through a Dalek attack in Massachusetts a few months beforehand. Despite the fact that she had been there at the time, she luckily survived along with a group of seven young children as the US Airforce managed to send the brutal creatures on their way. Louise knew for a fact that that incident had really affected her but if anything, it had only increased her determined to venture out into space and follow in her father's footsteps.

Louise casually stood next to her friend and the pair of them began looking out at the Earth as they passed the little red planet, more commonly known as Mars, and approached Jupiter.

"Beautiful sight ain't it?" Louise attempted to confirm.

Oswin nodded a little. "Absolutely." she replied, "This is what I've always wanted to see…"

Louise smiled and turned her attention to Mars which currently had four satellite stations orbiting it.

"It's hard to believe that's been colonised for five years now." she stated, referring to Mars.

Oswin shrugged her shoulders once she had turned to look at it.

"Well, ever since the Bowie Base One disaster a few centuries ago, I'm surprised they colonised it at all." she said.

Louise rolled her eyes. "They don't use the water from the Ice Field, Oz." she reminded her.

"Yeah, but it's still there." Oswin pointed out, "All it would take is one contaminant… then with the amount of transport to Earth from Mars, who knows what could happen."

"Oz, you're looking too deep into it." Louise warned, "Scientists have confirmed that the microbes are dormant, nothings gonna happen. Besides, there's much worse out there than flipping Martian Water Alien microbes."

Oswin immediately turned to face her friend. At 5ft 2in, she wasn't the tallest person around yet she was noticeably taller than Louise who was lucky to reach the 5ft marker.

"Like what exactly?" Oswin quizzed.

Louise kept her gazed fixed on the planets outside, trying not to turn and face her friend's stare.

"Aliens…" she answered.

She could feel Oswin's eyes burning at her skin. She knew that she knew she was thinking about the Daleks. For years she had constantly made the mistake of mentioning things she knew she shouldn't at the wrong times and unfortunately for her, Oswin certainly knew that.

"Which aliens?" she interrogated, "The Daleks? Are they what you're thinking of?!"

Louise sighed. "Oswin…" she trailed off.

Oswin sighed and swiftly looked away. Although she was usually a rather easy person to get along with, she had an awful temper when it came to the Daleks. Although she'd never admitted it to anyone, much more happened to her the day her father was killed and part of her would never forget it…

"No, I'm sorry." she whispered, "I always take it out on you, don't I?"

Louise smiled softly and placed her hand on Oswin's shoulder. Oswin smiled back at her before blinking several times in order to prevent herself from crying. It still hurt to think about her Dad and she was so thankful that Louise didn't take it personally, if she did, she would have lost her a long time ago…

"Maybe we should go to our quarters." suggested Louise, breaking the silence which had fallen upon them, "Get dressed up and then head down to the Mess Hall for dinner. Most of the crew will be there by now."

Oswin nodded before smiled down at her friend. "Good idea." she agreed, "I know for a fact Harvey still owes me that drink, and I'm sure I can talk him into getting you one too."

Louise giggled slightly and rolled her eyes. "And how you gonna do that?" she questioned.

Oswin's smile expanded and her eyebrow rose.

"Do you really need me to answer that one?" she queried with a hint of cheekiness leaking into her voice.

Louise laughed as they began to head out of the Entertainment Hall.

"What would I do without you?" she queried, "Getting me free drinks off the poor, unsuspecting crew members?"

Oswin winked as the left the hall and began walking down the corridor.

"Ain't that what friends are for?" she asked.

"Another one when you're ready, Harvey!" Oswin called over the collective gossip of her fellow shipmates.

They were all gathered around three tables at the edge of the Mess Hall, closest to the galley – and the bar. Harvey, one of the senior technicians onboard the ship, was easily the flirtiest man in their 'level' but even he was no match for Oswin when it came to teasing. However, that didn't stop him trying and giving the others a good show in the process.

"I've already got ya two." he pointed out while leaning back on the bar.

Oswin, who was sat next to Louise around one of the tables along with three other women, Carla, Jessie and Kaz, smiled playfully and shrugged her shoulders a little.

"Well, you can make it three." she told him, "Actually four, I promised Louise you'd get her one too… and I'm sure these three wouldn't object to one either."

Harvey rolled his eyes and turned to order the drinks before looking back over at her. The other women were all smiling and now looking over at Harvey as Oswin had clearly won that battle.

He shook his head and grinned over at them before retrieving the drinks and bringing them over on a silver tray.

"You, Miss Oswald," he began as he made his way over, "Will be the death of me."

Oswin shrugged her shoulders. "I'd be willing to take that chance as long as it gets me a free drink or two." she told him.

"Drinks or rounds?" he attempted to clarify as he took a seat opposite to her.

Oswin grinned as she retrieved her wine glass off the table and held it up.

"Cheers." she toasted.

"Cheers." the rest of them agreed before taking a sip of their drinks.

Harvey just rolled his eyes before joining in with the toast. Oswin's rosé wine glistened in the light as she held it in her hand and the colour intensified when she held it in front of her vibrant red dress.

Oswin put her glass back on the table a moment later and was about to continue with her conversation when she noticed her wine begin to ripple. She wasn't the only one who suddenly grew concerned and seconds later, the entire room began to shudder. The utensils in the galley began to rattle and the entire ship began to shake.

"What the hell?" asked Louise.

Oswin soon looked over at the bartender.

"Whatcha put in the wine Tommy?" she queried, making everyone smile momentarily.

However, it didn't last long as the shaking began to increase in intensity, making everybody begin to feel slightly dizzy as the ship violently began to toss them into each other.

Oswin's attention soon turned to the window as not that far from the ship's hull, she could see something forming. She couldn't explain exactly what it was but it looked vaguely similar to a tornado, only it was in space.

"What the hell is that?!" she cried.

Every person in that room turned and looked towards the anomaly which was rapidly growing in size. Their eyes all widened and they slowly began to clamber to their feet and away from the window, as if that would actually help.

"All hands, this is the Captain." Jefferson hailed over the comm. system, "Condition Red. Report to your duty stations immediately."

Everyone soon deserted the galley and began to do at the Captain ordered.

"What do we do?" Louise asked Oswin as the rest of the crew headed for their stations, "We're the Entertainment crew, we're not officers."

Oswin nodded in agreement. "We head to out quarters." she reminded her, "All civilian personnel must return to quarters in a Condition Red situation… It's for our own safety."

Louise nodded before the violence of the shuddering sent her into the wall. Oswin immediately helped her regain her balance, amazed she was actually managing to stay on her feet herself.

"You alright?" she asked Louise.

Louise nodded and continued along with her towards the crew quarters.

"I'm fine." she confirmed, "Come on!"

Hi all,

I know some of you have read this before (Being the first chapter of the first story arc from a discontinued story) but I felt it a shame to leave it alone. Also, I have had a couple of PM's asking for me to put it back up so I thought I should do it while I have the chance.

If any of you are readers of '5 Times...' I assure you its not a lost hope. I have had a lot of work on and won't be able to put anymore on until at least March. However, it will be finished

Hope you're all well and enjoy reading

G. G. x