Geritt pressed a button and the ships engines powered up and boosted the ship forward, pushing everyone in the ship against their seats, with the exception of Burkly, who had chosen a seat in the wrong direction and got flung out of it. The ship rode over the road at large speeds and Geritt pulled at a lever and the ship started heading up. The next few minutes were a bumpy ride, especially for Burkly who stumbled across the deck to another seat. Once they cleared the atmosphere, the turbulence stopped and Burkly finally got into his seat, only to start floating up.
Geritt: 'We've entered space, we're in zero gravity, and I'm going to activate the artificial gravity'
Geritt pressed a few buttons to create a gravity field through out the ship, although he wasn't in time to stop Burkly from bumping into the sealing. The gravity field was activated and the sudden gravity pull was a surprise for everyone, especially Burkly who slammed into the ground next to his seat.
Burkly: 'Are we there yet?'
Geritt: 'No, of course not. It will take us two weeks to get there.'
Burkly: 'Two weeks?!? Tuffle ships go way faster.'
Geritt: 'That's life for you.'
Burkly: 'Ow'
By now Koa had left his seat and entered the training room. He looked around and then decided to start training. He yelled Gannet Gun several times but nothing happened. Now he tried flying and stayed in the air for a couple of seconds and then lost balance. As he stood back he by accidentally pressed a button. Suddenly the gravity increased and Koa fell to the ground, not being able to get up. He looked at the panel and saw a ten standing there and figured that he was in a room with ten times the gravity of Earth. Koa came to relief as Burkly walked in.
Koa: 'Huh? How can you even stand in here?'
Burkly: 'What do you mean, this is quite normal isn't it? Yeah, you're right, it could go up a bit.'
Koa: 'What!'
Burkly moved to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, now the panel read that it was 11 times the gravity of Earth. Koa was pressed even more to the ground and Burkly walked around a bit.
Burkly: 'I think I'm going to take a shower, see you.'
Koa: 'No, wait!'
Koa was too late and Burkly had left the room, Koa still lying on the ground.
After taking a shower Burkly went to the flight deck and looked around a bit. Then he went to the navigator and looked for his home planet. Geritt and Amber had already started eating sausages and potatoes.
Amber: 'These are great!'
Geritt: 'Yeah, I bought them at E-Mart.'
The day went by and Koa remained in the training room. Geritt said he would check some things and then go to sleep. Amber and Burkly stayed up a bit, as Amber was playing poker with Burkly, who understood nothing of the game but still won. After a while Amber got fed up and went to sleep. Burkly had nothing to do so he walked around, ate some food and then finally went to sleep. The next day Amber ran into the main deck over to Burkly's bed, at around noon and tried to wake up Burkly up. Burkly responded with soft noises and then fell back to sleep.
Amber: 'This is hopeless.'
After she said that she ran back onto the flight deck and took a seat.
Geritt: 'Hang on tight, these asteroids are big ones.'
Amber: 'Right.'
Geritt tapped the control counsel and grabbed hold of the steering wheel. Amber stared at the window as she saw the asteroids coming right at them. As they entered the field Geritt turned the ship sharply, as the gravity field compensated, everyone was hurled to the left side of the ship. Burkly fell out of his bed, yet managed to remain asleep. Geritt manoeuvred the ship around several asteroids until coming to a large one.
Geritt: 'I can't avoid it, hang on'
Geritt pulled as hard as he could and the ship started heading upwards. The asteroid loomed over the ship as the ship did everything to avoid it. The asteroid came within a few metres of the ship as it was close to escape. As the asteroid touched the hull, Geritt fired the engines at full capacity. The hull scraped the surface of the asteroid as it escaped. Some smaller asteroids started battering the hull and the ship started shaking.
Geritt: 'Don't worry, the ship will hold'
As Geritt said this, Amber heard a large cracking sound. She looked up and saw a large bent in the roof.
Amber: 'Euhm, Geritt'
Geritt: 'That's nothing, I said don't worry, once I had a dent the size of a car'
Amber: 'Like that one?'
Amber pointed at a dent on the aft wall of the flight deck.
Geritt: 'That's about it'
Geritt got out of his chair, walked towards the dent and pushed the wall into place. He took a large tool and ran it over the side of the dent.
Geritt: 'There, that will hold'
Amber: 'Geritt, we've got a large asteroid heading towards us'
Geritt ran back to his chair and turned the wheel. The ship avoided the asteroid and flew out of the field.
Amber: 'Thank God, that's over'
Geritt: 'I think we'll encounter much more troubles on this journey'
Now Burkly stumbled onto the flight deck, still half asleep. He walked a bit forward and fell down into a chair.
Burkly: 'Ok, what did I miss?'
Amber: 'Nothing much'
The rest of the day went easier as Geritt had engaged autopilot. He joined Amber and Burkly in a poker game.