Universe 378
"Is your side still hurting you?" Konif asked Jane. She was rubbing her stomach, her face in a grimace.
"Yeah it is, but I'm pretty sure it'll go away as soon as I actually eat something." Jane made a show of removing her hand and focusing on walking down the long corridor. It was silent without the other crew mates. Their boots clanged against the metal grates that covered the floor. Jane's Simitu suit shifted into a darker color of grey trying to blend in with the walls. Konif noticed and looked over at her.
"You still haven't fixed that thing?" Jane looked down at her suit. It was almost like a second layer of skin really. She swiped her Omnicuff, turning it on and fixed the color.
"I just haven't really gotten around to it. I mean what's the point; we wear clothes over it anyways."
"Speaking of wearing things…" Konif trailed off. She took a right turn, not looking back expecting Jane to follow. Jane let out a huff.
"If you're changing, then I'm going to go back and grab something from my chambers." Jane slowed down starting to turn when a groan was heard from the small woman.
"If you do that we have to head all the way back to Wing A. Can't you wait until we get our food and make sure the medical team is A-OK first?" Jane stood there; slightly uncomfortable with her being in her suit, but the need to eat something won her over. Jane rubbed her face and followed Konif to her room. They made their way down to the personnel area of Wing C. Konif being the pilot had a lager room then most, her status aboard Hapsha well respected. Konif opened the door from her Omnicuff as they got closer to it and walked in, Jane right behind her. Jane had been inside her best friends room before, often times spending nights playing an old Earth game, chess; Jane usually winning. Konif walked over to a cabinet where her clothes were, while Jane plopped herself down on top of a small red couch. She spotted the chess set that sat a little out of reach. Konif's father had carved it for her before he was shipped off to fight in the Olnich War. At the time Konif and Jane were at the academy, Jane perusing military training and Konif going after becoming the best pilot.
"Do you remember when we tried to teach Chess to Shafter and it beat us in a few moves?" Konif laughed at Jane remembering their alien friend.
"Shafter!" Jane spotted the seven foot tall Charkgin from across the room, eager to talk to her friend. At first she didn't really get along with the tall green thing. Not being able to fully understand its humor and references, not to mention the lake of a mouth was nerve racking. It had three blue eyes on its face and that was all. There were slits in its throat allowing it to breathe and speak when necessary. The Charkgin didn't speak like humans did, instead focusing on body motions and hand gestures. But this young Charkgin had traveled to Earth and learned the way's of the Humans, hoping to bridge the gap between the two people.
"Jane." Its voice was low and hummed, going up and down in different pitches. Jane's translator that was surgical placed in her ear helped her get a clearer understanding of what the alien was saying the Charkgin's accent was very thick. The Charkgin were peaceful after they learned that the humans only wanted to explore worlds and space and not destroy everything in their path and Shafter had befriended Jane and Konif. "Olga." Shafter had always refused to call Konif by her last name, going on about how in its coulter it would be deemed rude. After awhile Konif didn't seem to mind.
"Kloonichtenshvesta?! Hey!" Jane noticed the slight squint in Shafter's eyes; humor.
"Closer this time Olga." Shafter said. Konif had always tried to pronounce Shafter's real name, never getting it. Konif smiled. Shafter's eyes noticed something in Konif's arms.
"What do you carry Olga?" Shafter folded its arms behind its back, always the polite one of the three. They were standing in Wing C hallway, heading over to the Shafter's room, wanting to introduce it to chess, just like they said they would if they got stationed on a ship together. Just so happens it was Hapsha under the command of Captain Korsak.
"Oh, this is chess, the game we were telling you about." Konif removed the blanket that was covering the board and smiled. The holes in Shafter's neck vibrated with its hum of glee. It turned to the side, waiting for Jane and Konif to take the lead towards Konifs chambers. The door slid open and Shafter ducked its head to enter right after Jane. That's when Jane noticed it.
"Shafter! You're hurt." On Shafter's wrist was a bandage. Jane reached out and grasped her friends three fingered webbed hand, turning it so she could get a better look at the wound, but a hum from Shafter caught her attention.
"You mistake wound from rite of passage." Konif placed the chess board down and spun around.
"Don't tell me!" Shafter hummed louder removing the bandage, to reveal a port of needles sticking out of its arm. "You're getting an Omnicuff!?" Konif was beside herself, throwing her arms around Shafter's waist, suddenly freezing. "Oh, god I forgot." Shafter stood frozen, not anticipating the contact with a Human. Just as Konif started to pull away, Shafter placed a multi-jointed arm across her back hugging her back.
"I have grown accustomed to such signs of affection Olga, please; do not feel the need to apologies." Konif stepped back allowing Jane to question the alien further.
"They finally figured out how to make it work for the Charkgin?" Shafter closed two of its eyes leaving the third open, pleased.
"Yes they did. Although I volunteered to try it out first to help figure out all the risks before your people send them out to my people." Jane reached out and grabbed one of Shafter's hands.
"You do the Charkgin right by this Shafter." Jane smiled up at it. Shafter opened its eyes letting the blue fill them all the way up, honor.
"I will always protect my people. Now, show me this game of chess you two are always talking about." They led Shafter over to the table that held the board. Jane and Konif sat down and played a match, knowing not to explain anything to Shafter, its keen eyes picking up all the moves and learning. Next Jane and Shafter played; it beat her in less than five moves.
They hadn't played with Shafter since then.
"Do you think its OK? Going back to the Charkgin I mean, after being gone so long?" Jane looked over at Konifs back as she buttoned up a shirt.
"I'm sure Shafter is OK Konif. You shouldn't worry. After all, we are scheduled to meet up with a Charkgin ship here in a few days and I heard that Shafter has requested to be put upon Hapsha." Jane smiled as Konif whipped around, staring at Jane. She had failed to mention this to her because she wanted to surprise her with the promise of seeing one of their oldest friends.
"Jane… You better not be kidding me." Her eyes were wide, showing just the slight fear that Jane might be in fact kidding.
"Konif, it's been ten years, Shafter promised to be back aboard this ship and see us again five years ago. But the Cryosleep affected that. It sent word before we left, Konif, Shafter will be here." Jane added this last part softly. It wasn't lost on her that Konif and Shafter had a deeper connection than Jane and Shafter. It had rescued Konif from being burnt to death when a ship's jets suddenly turned on; Shafter had thrown itself in front of Konif, The Simitu suit that the Charkgin made protecting her from death. Konif stood there frozen a little bit before turning back towards finishing getting dressed. Jane looked back over to the carved wood waiting.
"Let's go get some food then." Konifs voice drew her out of her own thoughts.
They walked down the hallway in silence. They passed some hallway windows that showed the vastness of space, here and there twinkles of light flickered from very distant stars. Konif had changed into a loose button up shirt and pants, her Simitu suit all but hidden underneath, offering its protection. Jane glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye, she seemed deep in thought. They turned into the medbay/cafeteria part of Wing C. Connor noticed them and smiled; he too had the chance to get normal clothes on, Jane felt even more vulnerable in her skin tight suit; no one seemed to take notice of it though.
"Captain Rizzoli, Pilot Konif, no doubt you came down here to get some food?"
"Oh, you know it Doc'," Konif said as her stomach gurgled in need. He quickly stepped away from them heading over to a compartment grabbing tubes that had vitamin paste in it; it tasted like dirt and beans. As Connor went to go get there food, Jane observed his team running around, preparing for the waking of over 2,000 people from Cryosleep. Connor walked back over to them and handed them there tubes.
"You know the drill, eat this for today and you can go back to solid food tomorrow." He offered them a smile and Konif returned it, Jane did not.
"Is your team ready?" She asked, standing there in her suit made her even more uncomfortable, the minded tear in the back of the Simitu suit all to visible; A reminder of her failure with dealing with The Flux. It was OK though to show off her broken suit when she was floating around starting everything up but now that everything was starting to work she desperately wanted to change into her Captains uniform so she felt ready to give her speech in front of her crewmates.
"Yes I think we are actually. Shall we start?" Connor sounded eager. Jane nodded her head already starting to turn away.
"Please do. I'm going to go get dressed, and when you feel them to be ready assemble everyone in the H.C.C as always and call me so I can address them." Connor and Konif saluted her as she left. She clutched the tube in her hand, her body aching slightly from being in Cryosleep to long. Jane made her way back down Wing C passing Konif's room and heading towards the elevator. She pressed the button labeled Wing A, Floor 0. She waited patiently as the elevator took her away.
"Huh…" Jane keeled over, grasping her side painting. Pain like she's never had before suddenly struck her, but just as quickly as it came it was gone. She quickly put the contents of the tube into her mouth, grimaced and swallowed, allowing it to fill up her stomach and hopefully hold off the pain. Jane stepped off on an un-light hallway. Floor lights turned on, making the shine of the walls reflect her. She walked down this hallway, passing her X.O.'s room, co-captain, guest apartments, and headed up a small flight of stairs at the end. She swiped on her Omnicuff and two doors slid open, reveling her bedroom. Jane sighed in content as she stepped in. At first there were so much un-needed things in this room, so she took it all out. Only leaving a small living room, two desks, a large bed, a full bath, her closet and a Kiplit wall, its surface rippling like water. Jane tossed the tube into a garbage shut that went down to the very depths of Hapsha and into a furnace. Her eyes were drawn to the windows that circled the bed on all sides, giving you the feeling of floating in space when you slept there. The perks of being Captain gave you a bedroom on the very top of Hapsha.
Jane walked over to her closet hidden into the wall; she swiped her hand across the wall. Lights came on with menus and different setting's allowing her to select what she wanted to wear without having to dig around for it. She selected her Captain's uniform, hoping she had time to come back and change into casual clothes when she's done addressing everyone. Her Omnicuff blinked as she was adjusting the cuff that went around her upper arm with the Orion constellation stitched into it with five horizontal lines on top of it, yet another reminder of her rank, if the many badges and awards upon her chest, shoulders, and neck weren't enough of a clue. Jane clicked on the button, allowing a Holoscreen of Konifs face to pop up. She seemed to be back in her chair red hair pulled up.
"Jane the Doc and his team are starting to wake everyone up right now, we should be ready for you within an hour or so hopefully." Jane clipped the last button on her neck, making her already tall menacing demeanor harder. Jane had to add more crew onto Hapsha for this mission, she had yet to meet them all and if you didn't already know Jane you would think her hard and un-responsible.
"Oh my, don't you look fancy." Konif winked at her, Jane broke out in a grin in front of the screen. There wasn't a doubt about it; Jane was one of the most decorated soldiers in all of the Orion fleet. She had advanced fast among the ranks, becoming the youngest captain to every be in charge of her own ship. They had offered Jane Admiral status after her heroics when she encountered The Flux on the Ares but she had declined saying she was happy where she was working alongside with the people of Hapsha, her ship.
"I try." Was all she said, slipping her long raven hair into a bun and putting on her cap. She never really did like wearing the cap it just made her look more like a man. Konif smiled and ended the call, leaving Jane to her privacy. Jane walked over to the Kiplit and placed her hand against it, electricity passed through her nerves. She pushed further into the wall until she had fully passed it. A control panel lay inside and she quickly punched in the code that she needed. The walls started to spin and the water like surface behind her hardened and casted her in darkness. She closed her eyes until a loving voice welcomed her.
"Janie?"
"Ma…" Jane smiled at her mother's image standing in their own Holoroom a larger version of Jane's Kiplit room. A tear slid down Angela's face as she finally laid eyes on her daughter after so long. "Oh Ma, come on. I'm OK, Hapsha seems to be working fine and we are just waking up the rest of the crew in order to get everything in order before arriving at our destination." Angela smiled at her daughter and then yelled for her husband, who quickly showed up in the screen.
"Janie… I'm glad to see you safe." He beamed at his daughter, always the proud one. They talked for a few more minutes about how everything was back on Earth; when a thought suddenly struck Jane.
"How is Frankie? Is there any news on where he was stationed?!" She was eager to hear about her younger brother. Angela frowned while Frank answered.
"He called us a few days ago. He has been stationed on the Luna Base." Jane stood there a little frozen. How could Casey not have mentioned this? Angela seemed to know what Jane was thinking.
"He's under Admiral Forsyth, not Casey honey." Jane smiled and nodded, changing the subject. Thirty minutes later Jane stepped out of the Kiplit room, deciding to head back down to the H.C.C.
She fiddled with the edge of her sleeve as the elevator went down and shifted one of the badges on her chest. She stepped off of the Elevator to a hum of activity; there were around twenty people on the first floor, running around getting their bearings again. Men and women ran by her, some saluting others too busy to take notice that the Captain was on deck. Jane stepped over to the railing and looked out over the span of the whole H.C.C. Konif seemed to have her minions at work, while the third floor showed signs of people gathering and talking amongst themselves. There came a clicking sound from behind Jane, than her translator caught up.
"Captain Rizzoli." She turned around to face one of their aligned alien species crewmate, a Jungken. He was around her height and resembled a Human in build, if it wasn't for the bluish skin, pinchers on his face and the long spikes coming out of his crown. He bowed low to her a sign of friendship in the Jungken people, Jane returned the greeting.
"Officer Umlinth. I hope the Cryosleep didn't hinder you too much?" He stood there, pinchers moving slightly as his own translator caught up.
"Not at all, I feel your chambers worked well for my kin and me. I hope the other aligned species fared as well as I did." He clicked his pinchers together in thought.
"I do to." He said that he had to leave to attend to his duties and she said goodbye to him. Turning she walked over to her captain's panel and took a seat in her chair, checking to make sure everything was working. She had several notifications from the ship telling her that the crew was moving quickly to get Hapsha out of her five year slumber.
"Hard at work I see Captain." Jane looked up, her X.O. standing next to her.
"Commander Hailey Jacobs well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Hailey smiled at Jane's playful attitude. Jane updated Hailey on everything that she needed to know while everyone slowly made their way down to floor three of the H.C.C. Jane's Omnicuff blinked.
"Well, I think we got everyone down, here." Konif said. Someone hugged her and there were conversations all around her. Jane looked out over the floor and noticed the 2,000 or so crewmates gathered on the third floor, talking with each other. Jane clicked off the call and turned towards Hailey.
"Well. Shall we?" She nodded and stepped aside, allowing Jane to make her way down to the second floor so she could address everyone. She walked up to the side of the floor, leaning against the railing. She stood there looking out over the crowd, Commander Jacobs standing just behind her right shoulder. People started to notice Jane and stopped talking, shushing others around them. Soon the massive room grew quiet. Jane swiped her hand across her Omnicuff, connecting hers with everyone that was in the room so they could hear her. Everyone stood up at attention, saluting her. She motioned for them to sit down so she could get on with her speech.
"Many of you know why we are this far away from our solar system." Her voice rang out, rough and holding authority. "But a lot of you simply signed up wanting to leave Earth and look for a new start. NGC 7968 is where Hapsha is heading towards, a black hole." There were some murmurs of discomfort that rang out through the crowd. "We aren't going simply because we want to observe this phenomenon. Dr. Charles hired this ship from the Orion fleet for one reason. So he could observe our neighboring parallel Universe 201. He has promised me and our leaders that he has a way of opening a viewing portal safely to observe everything that has gone on in the 201 Earth." There was no reaction from the crowd this time, so Jane decided to move on.
"In a few days we will be docking with a Charkgin ship, adding more to our ranks." There came cheer, the Charkgin being a favored allay. When the crowd died down she went on. "And our polite Konif assures me that we will be reaching our destination within a few weeks. So, please make sure you get enough rest and plenty to eat. I want Hapsha in tip top shape before the Charkgin arrives." She saluted them and clicked off her Omnicuff.
"Never one for speeches huh Captain?" Jane smiled at her.
"Not really. And if you don't mind I'm going to go change before this collar chokes me to death."
Don't worry the next chapter will be Universe 201...
To all the people who are still sticking with me Thank you.
Take Care. -FTP