"Uh...sir?" Chuck turned quickly, snapping into place. The shorter man saluted him and Chuck relaxed. No need to worry about people who you are in charge of catching you goofing off..
"At ease, you are?" asked Chuck, saluting him back almost as an afterthought.
"Barry Parker, I've been appointed as cultural ambassador for Earth but I'm really an electronics technician." Said Barry nervously, tapping his fingers against his legs. Boring name, nervous. Chuck groaned inwardly, this guy wasn't going to be easy to deal with in a confined space. Chuck gave his best smile and shook Barry's hand.
"Nice to meet you, do you know when the other men will be here?" "We aren't all men, Mr. Baker." Chuck turned to where the voice was coming from. She walked to him at a steady pace and was about a head shorter, she had the appearance of being sharp. Chuck momentarily thought that is he touched her his hands would come back bloody. "Of course, it takes a man to think like that." "Hello, I'm Ch-"
"Chuck Baker, you discovered the civilization on Planet 51 and will be the captain of this vessel for the duration of our stay on Planet 51 and the trip to and from." "Er, yes...and you are?" Chuck already didn't like her.
"Rebecca Cooper, I am the professor of extraterrestrial xenomorph studies." She explained quickly, even her voice was sharp. Chuck debated with himself weather to ask her what that was or not. She noticed his obvious confusion and rolled her eyes "Aliens, Mr. Smith. My field of study is aliens."
"Oh...I'm an astronaut, you can call me Chuck." Said Chuck nicely with a wide smile. He offered his hand but she didn't take it. The day really couldn't get much worse.
"BAKER!" bellowed a loud voice. Chuck cringed then straightened up. Please god no. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
"Scotty!" Chuck returned with exuberance. He could have been a great actor. Scotty nearly engulfed Chuck in a bear hug.
"I haven't seen you since Uni! Now you're famous, can you still party?" chuckled Scotty good heartedly. He spotted Rebecca over Chucks shoulder "Woah, tight assed feminist." Rebecca gave him a distasteful look when he offered his hand "Is there a wife I should be worried about?"
"Shovinest pig!" snapped Rebecca, crossing her arms and glaring at him pointedly.
"Scotty this is Rebecca Cooper and Barry Parker, guys this is Scott Thompson."
"You can call me Scotty, I'm the rocket technician the higher ups ordered to keep this tin can running." Laughed Scotty, shaking Barry's hand enthusiastically. Barry looked mortified.
"This is a heavy lift carried with a soyuz 7x-T design!" exclaimed Barry "That's what I just said, tin can." Laughed Scotty, clapping Barry on the shoulder playfully. Chuck pulled Scotty away.
"Please stop aggravating them." Said Chuck carefully "It's a four month trip to Planet 51."
"Lighten up Baker, I bet your ass is getting just as tight as hers." Chuckled Scotty. He slapped Chuck's ass as he walked away to aggravate his teammates further. How in the hell did the supervisors manage to put together a team like this! The trip was going to be hell, not to mention they would probably end up living together once they got to planet 51. Two hours later and they were loaded and ready to lift off. Though his team was horrible Chuck didn't think once about turning back, he wouldn't give up this opportunity for the world.
.
.
Lem groaned, flopping over onto his stomach and covering his head with a pillow.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG "LEM!"
Lem got up, dragging the covers on his bed with him as he went to answer the door, who the hell would be up this early on a Sunday. Lem jerked the door open. Stupid question.
"Skiff what the hell do you want this early on a Sunday!" snapped Lem. He was having a really good dream too. A comic was shoved I his face, way too close for him to actually see what it was but he already knew.
"Humaniacs issue 632 just came in!" exclaimed Skiff excitedly. Lem pushed him and the comic back and slammed the door.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG "Go away." Groaned Lem, he rested his forehead against the cool metal of the wall.
"You can't stay in there forever." Called Skiff, still knocking on the door. "It's Sunday, I want to sleep." Snapped Lem, he locked the door and sauntered into his kitchen.
"We never get to hang out anymore." Complained Skiff, raising his voice as Lem's footsteps got further away.
"Some of us have real jobs." Answered Lem, he switched on a square machine that came alive with a mechanical hum. "Just take the comic, it's free." Skiff slipped the comic under Lem's door and left. Lem sighed and picked it up. Humaniacs. He really hated the series now, they had started "basing" issues on Chuck landing here, and by basing them really meant that in the very loosest form of the word. The square machine beeped and Lem dropped the comic in the trash. The red liquid it produced was thick and better but Lem drank it anyway, it helped keep him awake. He didn't ant to have to go back to sleep, have that dream again. It was a good dream, oh was it ever a good dream but Lem didn't want to have it. He wouldn't admit to missing someone he had only known for a couple days. A male someone at that. Lem's heart throbbed and he downed another cup of the red goop. This wasn't happening to him, he wouldn't accept it. He would go out, get a girlfriend. Forget Chuck for good.
