.
Victor Huggins and Josephine Fournier
Josephine Fournier was young and ambitious. The year she graduated high school, she started up a shipping business with her father. She'd thrown heart and soul into it and for a while it had been doing good, but then her father had a stroke and well, things started suffering. Badly. It limped on for a couple of years, but soon it had gone to the edge of bankruptcy. Connections lost, ships malfunctioning, not enough money to keep things going on top of dad's medical bills… Despondent, she'd spoken to her father about how hard it was to let go of something she'd worked so hard at. That was when he'd dropped a name. James Hollister of the starship Borealis. She hadn't had much choice, so the next huge shipment she got, she went straight to him. Expressed to him how important it was for this delivery to succeed after such a rush of bad luck. Confessed that her company's future hinged on it because if she couldn't make this one work, that was it. He'd cut her a deal. A cheap one. She'd offered more for her own pride's sake, but it had still worked out pretty cheap. She'd travelled with them to make sure things went well, and to be frank, they'd never gone smoother. Ever. Not even in her company's heyday.
She returned home with glowing reviews and informed her family of another voyage she'd take with Hollister soon for another shipping job. Immediately her reviews caught the attention of her younger cousin. She wasn't surprised. Victor's mother and father had been horrified though. "I want t' go with Jo and see what it's like!" Huggins furiously said to his parents, livid at them for forbidding him from leaving.
"You're not goin' inta the vacuum of space with your cousin!" his mother furiously said.
"I'm not about t' miss out on the opportunity either! Not for you, not for anyone! I need the experience, I need the extra money, college isn't payin' for itself, and what if nothin' but good comes of it besides? I can handle this! Jo'll be right there!"
Fournier was a little surprised at that. She hadn't actually intended to bring Victor with her anywhere, but now that she was thinking about it, what harm could it do? Her cousin wasn't wrong. It would be one heck of an experience for him, and Hollister had seemed to know what he was doing so odds were the journey would be pretty safe. Her cousin had always wanted to explore the vastness of space. Now was his chance. Who was she to deprive him of it? The Captain would be welcoming, the food was to die for, Hollister's crew was easy on the eyes—there was no reason not to give her cousin the same experience she'd had. She knew Victor would love it. The problem would be convincing his parents. Her own father had been fine with letting her go. He'd known and trusted Hollister. As far as Victor's parents knew, though, Hollister was just another Captain in a long lineup of many who would eventually die up in space. She'd have to be tactful about this.
"I can watch over Vic just fine, Aunty. He'll be okay. Dad says Captain Hollister is just about the best there is."
"So was Captain Diana of the Mercury II, and where's that ship gone, huh?" Huggins' father asked.
"The Mercury II went missing years ago!" Fournier replied. It isn't as if losing a ship that size is common. This next shipping expedition won't take us out of the system. We'll be fine. I'll make sure of it. You know I'd die to keep Victor safe if I had to. There's not a chance I'd bring him with me anywhere I thought was dangerous."
"Please!" Huggins begged.
Her aunt looked nervous, fingers to her mouth and eyes filled with concern. Her uncle looked torn between being livid and distraught. "I'll keep him safe," Fournier promised again.
Victor's father let out a shaking breath. "Fine. But only if it's alright with his mother." He looked to his wife for an answer.
"You promise you'll keep him safe, Josephine?" the woman asked.
"I promise," she said, mildly annoyed at the use of her full first name.
"Don't bother coming back if you don't," her aunt warned darkly.
Fournier frowned a little, but didn't protest. Just nodded in agreement. She got her aunt's reasons for the warning, so the harshness of the woman's words just sort of washed off her back. After all, if anything happened to Victor under her watch, she didn't plan on returning anyway. Victor cheered in excitement.
Subnautica
Victor Huggins borderline idolized his cousin. She'd been his heroine since childhood. A pillar during tough times—brilliant, protective, comforting, brave, explorative… She'd brought him on all sorts of adventures when they were kids. Traipsing through the woods, climbing up hills, exploring caves and beaches and swamps… Sometimes it felt like she was the only one who really understood him. Even more than his parents did. She taught him everything he knew. Needless to say, when she brought up her next shipment and told them it would be with the same Captain she'd just been talking up like mad, he leapt on it like nobody's business.
The captain looked as if he'd stepped out of a storybook, the first mate—excuse him, second officer—looked like a privateer, the chef looked like the last person you wanted to get on the wrong side of but was a teddy bear, and to say Huggins had been impressed by it all would be an understatement. He fell in love with that ship. That life in fact! From that day on, nothing could keep him from outer space.
His parents were dismayed when he returned and promptly declared he wanted a life among the stars exploring system after system. His cousin, for the first time Victor could recall, looked equally as concerned about the career choice, but this time he didn't care because his heart was set on it. All of it. He ran away that night. Left cousin, mother, father, aunt, and uncle all behind. Reached the docks just before Hollister was about to put out again and begged the man to bring him along. Quizzed him and Keen for hours on end, quizzed the chef and every crew member he possibly could about every aspect he could think of. He was pretty sure he'd dazed the captain with his dizzying array of questions and driven the Second Officer—not even much older than him—batty. Not that it seemed to take much to rile Keen up. Ozzy was about the only one who seemed unaffected, letting the hundreds of questions roll off his back like water and answering what he could while telling him who to ask when a question popped up that he didn't have an answer to. Honestly, the cook seemed to like his company. Ozzy even introduced him to the mechanic's trade when he'd been on the Borealis and had been more than happy to give him a head start. Even suggested a pretty good school he could look into to advance his skills or even advance to technician. He'd determined to take the chef's advice.
Jo wasn't with him when the ship left port again, and for the first time in his life, he was completely alone. No family anywhere to be seen. It had been terrifying, but Ozzy and Hollister made it bearable. Helped him through rough nights, helped him when he felt overwhelmed or afraid, and soon he settled right into it, but he didn't relish going home and facing his folks and Jo. He knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
Sure enough, his parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin were there waiting the day the ship returned to port. Hollister must have contacted them, or Jo contacted him in a panic. Mom was in tears, dad looked a cross between furious and relieved, his aunt and uncle looked purely relieved, and Jo looked terrified, afraid he wouldn't step off that ship. For the first time, he felt an inkling of guilt as he realized what he must have put them through. He walked off the Borealis guiltily and was immediately swarmed by his family. There was sobbing, screaming, shouting, arguing, and honestly it all sort of passed by in a blur. Jo was the only quiet one, looking more tired than anything, and in that moment, he'd never regretted hurting anyone more.
"I'm sorry Jo," he guiltily said, head hung ashamedly as he spoke with his cousin in private that night after his parents had gone to bed and hers, upon being assured all was well, went to their own separate homes.
"Never do something that stupid again," she replied more harshly than he was used to from her. He flinched a bit. He couldn't promise that, but part of him almost wished he could. "Not without me," she suddenly added. He looked at her in surprise and she smiled at him. He grinned wider than he ever had before, and from that day on he was on board with his cousin's company taking to space regularly with whatever shipment she needed him to join.
He threw himself into learning the mechanic's trade. Technician's. Whatever you wanted to call it. He was a brilliant student. Went in for service technician just to cover as many bases as possible. Murdered it, by the way. Top of his class. His family had been so proud. Meanwhile, Jo's company began booming again. In a pinch she'd go to Hollister, and he loved it every time she did, but for the most part, she got by without. He went with her on every voyage she took off on, refusing to miss a single one. No way was she doing it without him. Too risky. She kept assuring him she'd be fine, but he didn't buy it. She never begrudged his company though. A few years in, Alterra contacted them.
Subnautica
When Alterra had offered her the contract of a lifetime, she'd been stunned. She'd never even seen that amount of money before! She could barely form a coherent sentence when she responded in the affirmative before immediately regretting it. She had no idea if she was ready for a contract this massive. She could only think of one man to go to for the job. When they'd asked her to recommend a Captain, she'd spewed Hollister's name without a second thought. Alterra contacted him personally and brought her and Huggins in on the holographic call.
Hollister, Keen, and Ozzy had been there, all three sitting around a meeting table. In the center of that table, clear for everyone to see, was a holographic model of the largest most impressive ship anyone present had ever witnessed. They pitched the job to the Captain, getting right to the point, but were purposely vague. In lieu of that, his response wasn't a surprise.
"As flattered as I am, I'd like to know more about this mission and this ship before I commit to anything," Hollister said to the panel.
"The Aurora is a brand-new Alterra Long-Range Capital Ship. The first of its class. It's mission is to travel to the Ariadne Arm and build a phasegate. I'll read straight from the docket," a man said. He pulled out said docket. "The furthest reaches of inhabited space are due to expand as Alterra Corp launches a newly constructed capital ship carrying a phasegate, bound for the Ariadne Arm. The Aurora will travel from a spacedock on the edge of Alterra space, making hundreds of consecutive phasegate jumps through nine different trans-gov authorities, and arrive on the far side of the Ariadne Arm in three months' time. From there the command crew will pilot the ship beyond the final phasegate, arriving in the next solar system approximately eighteen months later. There the elite team of engineers will begin a six-month construction project on the new phasegate, a multi-trillion credit investment. In the absence of existing infrastructure in the region, the vessel is equipped with advanced thermal and nuclear power facilities. Alterra Corp currently operates nine percent of all phasegates in the galaxy. If the Aurora's mission is successful, Alterra will have outmaneuvered a cabal of Mongolian corporations operating a range of outposts and mines in the region." The man lowered the paper. "Is this clear so far, Captain?"
"It is. We're looking at a multi-year operation, from the sounds of it," Hollister grimly replied. He'd never done anything like this before, Jo knew, and he clearly wasn't sure how he felt about it either.
"Good. Further details will be provided to you closer to the launch date. Here is a quick schematic of the Aurora herself," a second woman said. She clicked a button and the information about the holographic ship popped up under it. "Your command team will be twenty-three in size, your engineering team eighty-five, and your support crew forty. You will have a hand in the selection process. In addition, there will be nine passengers aboard, among them a Mongolian Emissary. High priority."
"An Emissary? What for?" Hollister asked, sounding vaguely annoyed. He didn't take passengers, much less high-priority ones."
"It's a matter of business, Captain," a woman said.
"I'm afraid you may be looking at the wrong man for the job," Hollister said.
"On the contrary. Alterra has researched the best of the best. You're the best," the first man said.
Hollister pursed his lips and Jo held her breath. The man obviously didn't like the sound of this, so was probably considering the matter carefully. "On one condition," he at last said.
"And that is…?" a second man asked.
"That my permanent crew on the Borealis join the roster," Hollister said. The Alterra panel—they were currently meeting with two men and two women higher up in the company—exchanged looks then began to quietly discuss the matter amongst themselves. In a few moments, they were pulling up profiles on each crew member. Hollister frowned. Jo didn't blame him. It was unsettling how easy Alterra could obtain information on people.
"This will be fine. Add as you see fit. On occasion you'll be choosing from a pool of candidates we supply you. For instance, when it comes to medical staff. Of course, you'll have the opportunity to meet with each one in that pool to decide which suits you best. Closer to the day we'll review your selections one last time and go from there," the first woman said. Just like that, the contract and adventure were in motion. Jo had never been more excited yet worried about something in her life, say for Huggins.
Subnautica
She and Victor were the first ones Hollister picked up on his mission to collect the required staff. The goodbyes had been hard, their family had been devastated and disturbed, but they'd gotten through it with promises of constant updates and maybe even some souvenirs. "Thank you, Captain," Jo said to Hollister as she joined him on board.
"Don't thank me until we've gotten through this," Hollister replied.
"Three years is a long time to wait on a thanks, so I'll thank you in advance," she said.
"We'll make it, sir. Under your guide, what could go wrong?" Victor enthusiastically asked. Jo winced hard. So did Hollister. "I mean what could go right?" Victor tried to cover.
"Vic, stop talking," Jo said bluntly. Victor clammed up.
"I hope none of us come to regret this, but there's just something about this whole expedition that doesn't feel right. Oh well. What's done is done, I suppose. Welcome aboard. Both of you. It'll be some months of collecting crew and the like, so I hope you're strapped in and ready for it."
"Of course, sir. We'll get the phasegate pieces on board Aurora then head out to gather up the crew," Jo said. "However long it takes, we'll be right there with you."
"Thank you, Josephine. Victor," Hollister said. "Now let's get this over with."