However, this does not mean I will be abandoning my other story. I plan to start writing more often again, so hopefuly there wont be long waits for the updates.
Anyway, enjoy, and let me know what you think.
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United Earth Chapter 1
July Ninth, 2414, 12:32
Sirius system, spacedock facility 3
UE Controlled space
"This is Control, do you read us, Intrepid? Repeat; this is Control, are you receiving us? Over."
Jason Talin, one of the four communications operators on the bridge of the EUCC Intrepid, spun around on his chair and flicked the switch to patch the comms through to him.
"Control, this is the Intrepid. We are receiving you perfectly. All systems are running fine, awaiting departure clearance. Over."
There was a short pause, then the answer came back from the station.
"Intrepid, this is control. The word is go. Clearance is given. Orders are being transmitted now, security level Theta. We'll see you again in a couple of months, good hunting. Over."
Talin waited for a moment for the orders to download onto a memory chip, and then radioed a short acknowledgment back to the spacedock before closing the comm channel. Taking the memory chip from the console, he stood up, removed his headset, then walked over to the ship's captain.
"Sir." He reported after saluting. "We've just received our orders."
"Thank you, Ensign." Captain David Navarro answered, taking the small rectangular chip from Talin, who then saluted once more and returned to his post. Navarro withdrew a small Miniature Personal Computer from his pocket, and slipped the chip into the slot at the base. Entering a short, four digit code, the ship's deployment orders for the next month were displayed on the small screen.
"Our orders, Captain?" Asked Commander Yjsen, the ship's Executive Officer and an old friend of Navarro's who was standing behind the captain with a clipboard in hand.
"Patrol duty. Along the Cyrvin border. Nothing particularly exciting." He said, skimming through the file and handing it to Yjsen. "How'd the inspection go?"
"Fine, Captain. All systems are running perfectly. All crew and supplies are loaded and inventoried."
"Already?" Asked Navarro in surprise. That was more than two hours ahead of schedule. Yjsen nodded.
"Yes Sir. I told you; all the Navy needs is a bit of Sirian efficiency and we'd have massacred the Laithans and the Solorons during the war." Yjsen said with satisfaction. A native of Sirius Prime, the capital planet of the Sirius system, he took quite a lot of pride in Sirius' reputation as an excellent and highly efficient manufacturing system. Navarro just smiled.
"Does that mean we're ready to depart?" He asked. His XO consulted his clipboard before answering.
"Yes Sir. We can leave the moment we get clearance from Traffic Control."
"We're going now then." Navarro said, gesturing at the MPC in Yjsen's hand. "We just got clearance. Give the data on that file to the navigational operators, I want to leave as soon as possible." Leaving his second in command standing at the side of the bridge where they had been conversing, Navarro strode quickly to the centre of the bridge; a spacious, brightly lit room filled with computers, operators, read outs and display screens. Walking directly over to the communications terminals, he tapped the internal comms operator on the shoulder.
"Sir?"
"Put me through to the ship. All decks." Navarro ordered.
"Yes, Sir." The operator said, then flicked a few switches and handed the microphone to the Captain.
"All hands; this is the Captain speaking." He said, and waited a moment before continuing. "We have just received our departure orders, and departure clearance. We're now heading for a four month long tour around the UE - Cyrvin border, which should prove uneventful if we're lucky. Just watch out for the person next to you, and we'll all make it back home again safely." With that, he handed the mic back to the operator, and walked back to the centre of the bridge, from which he could oversee all operations.
The bridge had just erupted into a flurry of movement: Helm Control was busy bringing the engines on-line. Administration personnel were running around like headless chickens, checking that everything was, indeed, on board and that all crew were accounted for. Flight Control was making sure the hanger bay doors were sealed. Communications was sending messages all over the ship and the system. Navigational operators had hi-jacked several of the large display screens that were mounted on the walls and had begun plotting the quickest course to their first port of call, the screens filled with complex portal charts, time estimates, and node locations. Officers were everywhere, snapping orders at the crew.
"Captain?" Called Yjsen from the Nav station. "We're ready to go. Awaiting your order." Navarro nodded in understanding.
"Take us out." He said simply. Yjsen nodded back, then turned to various senior officers and operators and began a tirade of orders.
"Admin; disengage us from spacedock. Helm; engage engines and take us out to area nine-two-one, one-quarter velocity. Nav, engine room; spin up warp generators one and two for immediate portal entry. Operations; set condition three throughout the ship, inform all crew of imminent subspace entry."
The bridge descended into yet more chaos, as officers and operators scrambled to get the massive kilometre long ship mobile. After a moment, Navarro could feel the faint vibrations through the ship that signalled the primary reactor's activation. He looked up at the banks of display screens along the walls of the windowless bridge buried deep inside the ship, one of which giving the crew a view outside from the external cameras the others filled with all sorts of read outs, status displays, power outputs, course plots, and reactor readouts.
The senior helm lieutenant, Joseph Rodgers, turned to face the Captain.
"Captain, the UECC Intrepid is now underway. Portal generators should be powered up within ten minutes. Our estimated time of arrival to Groombridge 1618 is two hours." He reported. Navarro nodded, then turned to Yjsen.
"Commander, I think I'll take a look around the ship. Would you care to join me?" Yjsen nodded, then turned to the Officer of the Watch, Jack Gass.
"Lieutenant; you have the bridge." Gass nodded in understanding, and Yjsen and Navarro strode of the bridge.
The massive cylindrical bulk of the United Earth Combat Carrier Intrepid flew past Sirius Prime and onwards towards the edge of the system, towards the Cyrvin border. The Intrepid's maiden voyage had begun.
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So, what do you think? Good start? Or a complete waste of my time?
I'll be posting a tech/politics/history/discussion thread later on today, so save questions like that for there, if you don't mind.
