Disclaimer: Please see Prologue
Part Two: What Alarm?
Titania wailed. It was the first sound Catalina heard when she woke up. A screaming Titania was reminiscent of the sound of shearing metal and could wake the dead, not to mention a mildly concussed Catalina.
"Hush, shhh... it's OK" said Catalina, stumbling to her crib. The stars in her vision made her stop for a few seconds, but then they faded.
Cat had been woken up when she was thrown violently out of bed by a sudden gravity shift. She had known something was wrong, so she had strapped Titania down to her crib, having a terrible time maintaining her balance on the thirty-degree slope.
"Grozit, am I glad I strapped you down, kiddo! I didn't even hear an alarm!"
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"Miss Davenport! Are you all right?"
"Yes dear... Although I do believe I may have hurt my arm when I was so unpleasantly thrown out of bed and then thrown back into it!"
"Thank God! I thought you might have been killed!"
Rosie helped TJ Davenport up from next to the bed in Medlab she had, indeed, been thrown out of and back into (right on her arm) in the crash. Rolling Davenport's sleeve up, Rosie noted the forming bruises, but a quick scan said that was all that was wrong with her.
"Do you know what just happened?" asked Rosie, trying to tie a heat-proof bandage around the hand she had cut on a broken beaker. "That gravity change must have been caused by a really big object! Did we get too close to the moon of Derez?"
"I surely do not know," said Davenport, taping the bandage for Rosie. "The door and jumptubes aren't working though..." She frowned deeply as the fading shock allowed visions of death, destruction, and hostile aliens to fill her head. "Do you think we are under attack! And here we are stuck in the Medlab with no way out!"
"It's OK, Miss Davenport, I can melt us out if you really want to. There were no alarms, it was probably a malfunction. I'm sure we'll be all right."
"Please do... I can't stand it in here not knowing what has happened to the rest of the crew."
And Seth, she thought.
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Seth Goddard lay on the floor in his quarters, soundly sleeping. He used to fall out of bed all the time when he was younger, and that surely hadn't woken him up. Neither had rolling across the floor to the far wall, apparently. Or rolling back to his bed when the ship hit the ground.
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"Radu! Radu, wake up! Come on, man!"
Harlan and Bova kneeled on the floor where Radu had fallen after being thrown from helm. Apparently, being the only person standing at the point of impact had made him the new Farthest Thrown Andromedan for the year.
"Oww..."
"Come on, man, wake up, you brought us down great." Well, personal injuries aside. "I can't believe how you flew blind like that."
Radu sat up slowly, blinking as his vision tunneled and then slowly returned to normal. He looked groggily from Bova to Harlan. "Some vomit comet huh" he mumbled.
"What?" asked Bova.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Could you guys help me up?"
"Sure thing," said Harlan, as he and Bova each grabbed an elbow and pulled Radu to his feet. They waited a few seconds before letting him go, but he seemed all right.
"Well, all crashes aside, I guess this could have been worse," said Bova. "We could have all died... instead the lights are still on, the three of us are just bruised... where the hell is the rest of this crew! And where is my shirt!"
Harlan had to smile at Bova. Crisis past, Bova had already reverted to his former grouchy self. A woken-up Bova was a grouchy Bova.
"You're right... I think I am a little more than bruised... Goddard is in his quarters, Rosie and Davenport are headed this way, Catalina and Titania are trying to get out of her room, and you are here, Thelma is offline and standing in the corner.... Your shirt... your shirt is probably on the floor... in our room... yeah that's it...."
They barely managed to catch Radu as he fell again. After all, repeated head traumas can cause brain damage.
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"An hour in the tank and he will be fine," said Rosie. "It's a moderate concussion but not anywhere near fatal."
The collective crew of the Christa stood in the Command Post, with the exception of Radu, who was in Medlab. The viewscreen now showed a vast stretch of desert plain and an expanse of harsh blue sky.
"That's good!" said Harlan. "We though he was fine until he started talking like a drunk."
"Harlan!" said Catalina.
"It was just the way he sounded. Geez!"
"Hush up, you too," said Bova. "Planet-based authorities will be here in about ten minutes to help us out." He was now in full uniform, and grouchier than ever.
"What happened anyway? To the Christa, I mean? I never even heard an alarm," said Davenport from her seat at the Andromedan-less Navigation post.
"Apparently, the extended orbit we were in caused a glitch in the ship's Navigation and visual playback; all of the sensors were on a playback loop which is why they showed normal. The alarm that went off was a fluke, we should all be dead now."
"It's a virus in the main computer," said Catalina. "We have probably been carrying it for ages, since this is the first extended orbit we have been in for such a long time. Suzee says she has seen this type before and it can be cleaned out just by deleting the code when it's found. You can all be happy that it is not a self-perpetuating virus and can be removed so easily."
"Yeah well such a simple virus can still get us all killed."
"Bova... go back to sleep," said Rosie. "We can handle the authorities."
"Gladly."
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Part Two: What Alarm?
Titania wailed. It was the first sound Catalina heard when she woke up. A screaming Titania was reminiscent of the sound of shearing metal and could wake the dead, not to mention a mildly concussed Catalina.
"Hush, shhh... it's OK" said Catalina, stumbling to her crib. The stars in her vision made her stop for a few seconds, but then they faded.
Cat had been woken up when she was thrown violently out of bed by a sudden gravity shift. She had known something was wrong, so she had strapped Titania down to her crib, having a terrible time maintaining her balance on the thirty-degree slope.
"Grozit, am I glad I strapped you down, kiddo! I didn't even hear an alarm!"
[pic]
"Miss Davenport! Are you all right?"
"Yes dear... Although I do believe I may have hurt my arm when I was so unpleasantly thrown out of bed and then thrown back into it!"
"Thank God! I thought you might have been killed!"
Rosie helped TJ Davenport up from next to the bed in Medlab she had, indeed, been thrown out of and back into (right on her arm) in the crash. Rolling Davenport's sleeve up, Rosie noted the forming bruises, but a quick scan said that was all that was wrong with her.
"Do you know what just happened?" asked Rosie, trying to tie a heat-proof bandage around the hand she had cut on a broken beaker. "That gravity change must have been caused by a really big object! Did we get too close to the moon of Derez?"
"I surely do not know," said Davenport, taping the bandage for Rosie. "The door and jumptubes aren't working though..." She frowned deeply as the fading shock allowed visions of death, destruction, and hostile aliens to fill her head. "Do you think we are under attack! And here we are stuck in the Medlab with no way out!"
"It's OK, Miss Davenport, I can melt us out if you really want to. There were no alarms, it was probably a malfunction. I'm sure we'll be all right."
"Please do... I can't stand it in here not knowing what has happened to the rest of the crew."
And Seth, she thought.
[pic]
Seth Goddard lay on the floor in his quarters, soundly sleeping. He used to fall out of bed all the time when he was younger, and that surely hadn't woken him up. Neither had rolling across the floor to the far wall, apparently. Or rolling back to his bed when the ship hit the ground.
[pic]
"Radu! Radu, wake up! Come on, man!"
Harlan and Bova kneeled on the floor where Radu had fallen after being thrown from helm. Apparently, being the only person standing at the point of impact had made him the new Farthest Thrown Andromedan for the year.
"Oww..."
"Come on, man, wake up, you brought us down great." Well, personal injuries aside. "I can't believe how you flew blind like that."
Radu sat up slowly, blinking as his vision tunneled and then slowly returned to normal. He looked groggily from Bova to Harlan. "Some vomit comet huh" he mumbled.
"What?" asked Bova.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Could you guys help me up?"
"Sure thing," said Harlan, as he and Bova each grabbed an elbow and pulled Radu to his feet. They waited a few seconds before letting him go, but he seemed all right.
"Well, all crashes aside, I guess this could have been worse," said Bova. "We could have all died... instead the lights are still on, the three of us are just bruised... where the hell is the rest of this crew! And where is my shirt!"
Harlan had to smile at Bova. Crisis past, Bova had already reverted to his former grouchy self. A woken-up Bova was a grouchy Bova.
"You're right... I think I am a little more than bruised... Goddard is in his quarters, Rosie and Davenport are headed this way, Catalina and Titania are trying to get out of her room, and you are here, Thelma is offline and standing in the corner.... Your shirt... your shirt is probably on the floor... in our room... yeah that's it...."
They barely managed to catch Radu as he fell again. After all, repeated head traumas can cause brain damage.
[pic]
"An hour in the tank and he will be fine," said Rosie. "It's a moderate concussion but not anywhere near fatal."
The collective crew of the Christa stood in the Command Post, with the exception of Radu, who was in Medlab. The viewscreen now showed a vast stretch of desert plain and an expanse of harsh blue sky.
"That's good!" said Harlan. "We though he was fine until he started talking like a drunk."
"Harlan!" said Catalina.
"It was just the way he sounded. Geez!"
"Hush up, you too," said Bova. "Planet-based authorities will be here in about ten minutes to help us out." He was now in full uniform, and grouchier than ever.
"What happened anyway? To the Christa, I mean? I never even heard an alarm," said Davenport from her seat at the Andromedan-less Navigation post.
"Apparently, the extended orbit we were in caused a glitch in the ship's Navigation and visual playback; all of the sensors were on a playback loop which is why they showed normal. The alarm that went off was a fluke, we should all be dead now."
"It's a virus in the main computer," said Catalina. "We have probably been carrying it for ages, since this is the first extended orbit we have been in for such a long time. Suzee says she has seen this type before and it can be cleaned out just by deleting the code when it's found. You can all be happy that it is not a self-perpetuating virus and can be removed so easily."
"Yeah well such a simple virus can still get us all killed."
"Bova... go back to sleep," said Rosie. "We can handle the authorities."
"Gladly."
[pic]