| The year is 2183. a lumbering shape briefly blocks out the light of a bright, nearby star and the hard lines of a starship are caught in the glaring rays. Huge engines at one end of the three hundred metre cargo vessel flare blue for a moment, in silence, before falling once again into darkness. USCSS Montero, on Route from Anchorpoint, GJ2066 to Sutter's World. ETA: 1 year, 9 months, 8 days, 16 hrs. Crew Hypersleep Mandatory. Cargo: 72 Canisters, 200,000 metric tons Tritium. approx. 37% controlled decay to Helium 3. The darkness and silence of deep space is echoed by the interior of the cluttered and aging vessel. The bridge lit only by dull orange emergency lighting indicating the ship is in a standby state. The vast hold, the corridors, the cabins, all dark and quiet as the grave. Abruptly, a screen flares into life on one of the consoles, green lettering rapidly appearing across it: "Destination Threshold Reached". Lights begin to raggedly flicker on in one section after another, displays and controls leap into life across the bridge showing complex readouts and telemetry accompanied by the chittering sounds of technologies and systems awakening. In one cabin, bright white lights suddenly illuminate five coffin-like pods arranged in a circular formation and holographic projected information dances across their glass like, frost-rimed surfaces showing bio-readouts; pulse, temperature, breathing, the vital signs of life. Beside each readout appears the names of the inhabitants; Wilson, Rye, Miller, Davis, Cham. One by one the cowls slowly open, the occupants taking ragged breaths and painfully opening their eyes. Fleeting fragments of dreams escape you as you awaken from the cryo-chambers, blinking in the harsh light, the all too familiar sensations of hibernation sickness are quickly followed by a hard coldness on your near naked forms as the ships life support begins to struggle into full operation. Your mouths are dry, but your stomachs churn and vomiting follows as you eject the fluids that have built up during the hypersleep. The ship has dropped out of FTL, and Mu\TH\R, the ships computer core, awaits your commands | |
