Space Voyage #1

[ronthepon]

:hyper: Anxious? :naughty: I ain't telling yet! :hihi:

A teeny bit...? A teeeny info leak...? It never hurts...

[Jay-qu]

we decide - the story (though directed mainly by BD) can be influenced by anyone, but if you step to far out of line or make a boo-boo we will be here to keep it on track :naughty:

[ronthepon]

No no, the official plans. That's what is to be defined ASAP.

[ronthepon]

Due to my fever, I had been given a break from my work.

“How’r ya doing?” asked Robin.

“Fine, just fine” I answered rubbing my tired eyes.

I was speaking to my close friend, Robin, on AV. In the cabin of my room, I had been graciously granted a mini comp, with (almost) full access to the mainframe of the ship.

“You don’t seem so well”, he said with the mocking hints of worry.

I chuckled. “Yeah… guess a lack of defined day and night gets me hard on sleeping habits. But it’s great here!”

“Great? You’re a friggin sweeper!” He exclaimed in his own serious mocking tone.

“Sweeper?! How many times must I…” I paused, realizing this to be similar to the crew joke “I’m not just a sweeper. I got automated mechs for that here.” I continued, “I’m some sort of a head odd job man.”

“Okay, Okay, sheesh…” He said.

“AND I am also the cleanliness incharge upon this ship.” I cut across.

“Um, right.” He hesitated “I told your mom you were a sweeper…”

“Forget it. Being even a sweeper aboard this ship is excellent.” I said, controlling my bubbling rage.

“Tell me about the people there, man!” He said brightly.

“They are pretty nice, a lot are the studious booky type” I replied. “Hell, nobody even tried to watch one of the DVDs I brought up here.”

He laughed.

“No crap! Seriously, they were so damn busy!” I said “Hell even I am, but I take some time off my schedule for it.”

“No wonder, you punk, that you don’t get sleep” He said, mocking again.

I grinned broadly. I was feeling much better again. The medico had advised me to speak to my friends for my minor fever.

Suddenly, the radio next to my bed crackled up.

“Hey, Ron, you wanna keep the chit-chat to the minimum? There is a leak in the hydraulics up here. Come over and make yourself useful!”

“Right, coming over immediately!” I said, finishing the rest of the diluted beer in a single gulp.

“Always the busybody” Robin said, grinning “Over and Out, Ron, gimme an SMS about when you wanna chat again.”

“Bye” I said, hastily shutting the mini comp.

I stood up, and prepared to go.

[arkain101]

Wow! Ga'dangit! I had the map about %80 done. Everything went to crap! everything. I've never had it do this before... lol..

 

I had it looking so sweet too. I should be able to make pictures but theres all kinds of useless errors going on. AAARG.

[Jay-qu]

dont you back up?

 

I was looking forward to walking round the ship tonight :naughty:

[ronthepon]

What happened? You wanna tell?

[arkain101]

Everything got turned into what is called an entity instead of a brush. This caused every single line and shape to join as one unit. Thus making it impossible to edit any individual section.

 

Then, it randomly decided to stop allowing me to be able to rotate shapes.

 

I have the map backed up, but it has a problem with size or somthing. Plus the program wont allow me to rotate objects anymore, so I cant really remake it either. I can show a picture and at least thats somthing.

 

but dont worry. There will be another one soon.

[GAHD]

With the main part of our first set of burns complete, the spirits onboard were high. Everywhere throughout the ship people were walking with a little extra bounce in their step, weather from the gravity or from mood was anybody's guess. The insertion into lunar orbit had gone smoothly, almost too good to be true.

 

Sleep had been sparse for me these past few weeks. Checking and re-checking the structure for signs of stress, a bad weld, anything. Time had come again to inspect the outer hull. That meant only one thing, extravehicular activity. Outwardly i did my damnedest to remain calm while I walked past a few of the other crew, but inside it felt like a nest of snakes were uncoiling from winter slumber. Still I made my way to three-nine and my appointment with the MEL.

 

Other members had come early and were standing around chatting with their helmets held however they were comfortable. Getting suited up was a simple matter, rehearsed a thousand times all ready, and again I was glad for the new suit designs. I couldn't imagine being stuck in one of those old model suits for the job I was about to go do. We checked and re-checked each other's seals, tanks, one had to switch-out her helmet thanks to a malfunctioning comm. I could almost hear Murphy's little giggles.

 

Finally the time came, and we boarded the MEL which would take us out to the inner rings. I concentrated on keeping myself calm, but those snakes in my gut seemed to be getting more lively with every little jerk and jumble. The comm chatter told the same story for the rest of the team, we were really 'out there' now. If something went wrong, no emergency evac back to Earth.

 

"Woah!" The simple word cut through the small talk like a knife, before being batted away by the awesome sight of the moon just beginning to eclipse the earth. We'd seen the same view from inside the ship, but something about being out here, on the surface of the tin can we now called home, changed it. The sight of all those stars mixed with the double-crescents of Luna and Terra was breathtaking, both beautiful and horrific at the same time. A chuckle came over the comm.

 

"So are you guys gonna go check out the hull, or do I tell our Supreme Commanding Emir and Chancellor that you're all a bunch of slackers?" The comms lit up with the joke while the atmosphere was cycled out of our compartment. The door opened and we each snapped a safety line in place before steeping out into the void. Times like this always set me on edge, and now that I was outside the oversized tin-can I couldn't help but move back to my old mantra.

 

Don't even think about it Murphy! Don't you DARE!

 

-GAHD(T +20 hours)

[ronthepon]

With the main part of our first set of burns complete, the spirits onboard were high. Everywhere throughout the ship people were walking with a little extra bounce in their step, weather from the gravity or from mood was anybody's guess. The insertion into lunar orbit had gone smoothly, almost too good to be true.

 

Sleep had been sparse for me these past few weeks. Checking and re-checking the structure for signs of stress, a bad weld, anything. Time had come again to inspect the outer hull. That meant only one thing, extravehicular activity. Outwardly i did my damnedest to remain calm while I walked past a few of the other crew, but inside it felt like a nest of snakes were uncoiling from winter slumber. Still I made my way to three-nine and my appointment with the MEL.

 

Other members had come early and were standing around chatting with their helmets held however they were comfortable. Getting suited up was a simple matter, rehearsed a thousand times all ready, and again I was glad for the new suit designs. I couldn't imagine being stuck in one of those old model suits for the job I was about to go do. We checked and re-checked each other's seals, tanks, one had to switch-out her helmet thanks to a malfunctioning comm. I could almost hear Murphy's little giggles.

 

Finally the time came, and we boarded the MEL which would take us out to the inner rings. I concentrated on keeping myself calm, but those snakes in my gut seemed to be getting more lively with every little jerk and jumble. The comm chatter told the same story for the rest of the team, we were really 'out there' now. If something went wrong, no emergency evac back to Earth.

 

"Woah!" The simple word cut through the small talk like a knife, before being batted away by the awesome sight of the moon just beginning to eclipse the earth. We'd seen the same view from inside the ship, but something about being out here, on the surface of the tin can we now called home, changed it. The sight of all those stars mixed with the double-crescents of Luna and Terra was breathtaking, both beautiful and horrific at the same time. A chuckle came over the comm.

 

"So are you guys gonna go check out the hull, or do I tell our Supreme Commanding Emir and Chancellor that you're all a bunch of slackers?" The comms lit up with the joke while the atmosphere was cycled out of our compartment. The door opened and we each snapped a safety line in place before steeping out into the void. Times like this always set me on edge, and now that I was outside the oversized tin-can I couldn't help but move back to my old mantra.

 

Don't even think about it Murphy! Don't you DARE!

 

-GAHD(T +20 hours)

Aah, GAHD, finally there you are. Did you know that I answer to you now?

[TheBigDog]

MOON MISSION (part 1)

 

Entering the moon’s orbit had gone without a hitch. Well, almost. The party had lasted a couple hours too long and the whole crew was still awake. Our original time line was in jeopardy for that reason alone. A quick meeting of the minds in the bridge and we resolved to a solution. We would make 6 extra obits of the moon before beginning out extravehicular operations. That would add 12 hours drift time to the schedule and let the crew get onto a normal sleep rotation. Back home it meant that the pomp and circumstance part of our mission would be prime time for the opposite side of the earth from the original plan. But what the hell. Our charter gives us full mission authority as the officers of the ship. Besides, what was going to happen, where they going to NOT cover our excursion to the moon?

 

Once the new plans were announced to the crew the department heads went about insuring people were getting to sleep and acclimating to their mission schedules. The Prophesy, thanks to her crew, was running like a well oiled machine.

 

Once we had established orbit and completed the last burn we went back to our checklist for the space trials. On the list was a complete internal and external check of joints, spars, welds and other areas that experienced stress during our maneuvering. This was one of the areas where people onboard multi tasked. The maintenance crew of 12 was simple not enough to go through all of the checks in the allotted time. So with half of his crew for mandatory sleep, Gahd was taking his half dozen regulars for the external checks while a group of conscripts from the other disciplines went through the internal checklist.

 

Meanwhile TFS and Kayra were busy prepping the modules that would be sent to the lunar surface. While Janus was doing his final checks on the satellites we were readying for lunar orbit. In all six objects would be placed into orbit around the moon.

 

In addition there were two manned shuttles being sent to the lunar surface and a contingent of unmanned probes. There would be a flurry of activity over a 4 hour period. All of it covered live on television.

 

18 hours after entering lunar orbit it began.

 

We were making an orbit every 2 hours from an altitude of 98km. ComSat1 was taken from cargo bay 1 by a MEL (Blanc). The MEL walks it to the nose of the ship where is it transferred to a Wrangler. The Wrangler takes it clear of the ship and lets it drift. ComSat1 is now live. Its operator onboard the Prophesy has all green lights and gives it the command to light its small rocket engine. The engine takes the satellite to a high geosync orbit above the moon. The same operation is repeated 40 minutes later with ComSat2, and 40 minutes after that with ComSat3. Our ComSats are battery powered communication relays that will stay on station for up to a month. They will fire their rockets again later to come back to an orbit where they can be recovered by a Wrangler. They are typically the first items put into an orbit and the last retrieved.

 

With the ComSats all on station successfully in a single orbit we moved next to the GeoSats. GeoSats are used to map geography. They are modular and can be equipped with a wide array of sensors depending upon what you are searching for. For the moon we are launching GeoSat1 and GeoSat2. These are launched in the same fashion as the ComSats. Their job is to map the surface of an object in multiple spectrums to build a detailed map of the surface. Study of these maps directs further investigation into areas of interest. The GeoSats are placed into polar obits that allow them to work as a team to map a maximum area in a short time. As they work they constantly beam their data back to the Prophesy via the ComSat network that was put into place. These satellites will also be recovered by Wranglers before the mission to the moon is closed.

 

The real action this day is the landings. To demonstrate the investigative capabilities of the Prophesy and her toolset she is deploying automated rovers to seven locations on the surface. These autonomous vehicles are similar to the mars rovers. They can work in an automatic mode or they can be under “real time” remote control. For the lunar gravity and atmosphere we are using a lander paired with each rover. By having only one rover with a lander we will be able to have each one explore 2 locations within a 1000km radius before ascending to orbit again. Several smaller hops could also be made instead. The rovers are battery powered and can do from 12 to 24 hours of work on a charge. They have the capacity to have solar chargers, be recharged by the lander, or change batteries at the lander. They are modular in nature so they can be outfitted with a variety of scientific tools and sensors. These are customized for each mission. On these mission they are equipped with soil samplers, and camera’s. All data is sent in real time to the Prophesy over the ComSat network.

 

It took two orbits, or four hours, to put all of the satellites into orbit. The Landers were moved out next. Seven in all, each with a rover onboard were now drifting in orbit near to the Prophesy. On the next orbit each fired its rocket to begin its descent to the surface. All descended within a 30 minute window, and all were successfully on the surface within 45 minutes. On the next orbit the first shuttle would land. The shuttle was a fairly large vehicle. Capable of seating 8 men, this one was going down with every seat filled.

 

Picking the crew for this mission was painstaking. This was going to be one of the most public and memorable moments of the trip. The names would be remembered. And while the camaraderie on the ship is second to none, I know that everyone wants their name to be on the roster for this mission. I will start with the easy name, TheBigDog. If I get to choose, and I do, then I am going. Along with me on the flight are InfiniteNow, Pyrotex and Jay-Qu. Joining us are four of the guests who had been with me on my ascent to the Prophesy two days earlier. We are stuffed into our space suits by the crew in zeroG. These are the bulky backpack suits. In theory it is easier to put them on in here. But it is still a workout.

 

Once suited up we move through zeroG to an airlock door on one of the long walls. We will be passing through here into the shuttle. We only fit into the airlock 4 at a time. InfiniteNow and I are with the first group. We are accompanied by a wealthy individual who bid $5.5 billion dollars for the right to take this trip. Along with him is a woman. She was the winner of a reality show that chose a member of this lunar mission crew. That show ran for five years, culminating with a show of champions. And the winner was sitting with us. It had raised another 5 billion dollars for the missions.

 

Once inside the airlock the atmosphere is removed. A green light lets us know that we can open the hatch into the shuttle. It is actually pretty spacious. The seats are built for the outfits we are wearing. We don’t so much sit as latch to the wall. Once we are latched in we give the all clear for the next group to begin. In another 20 minutes we have been joined by the rest of the crew. Jay-Qu and Pyro take the pilot’s seats after inspecting everyone else. They have ship’s controls available to them, although this is going to be an automated descent. We can all see the mission profile screens. They are currently dark.

 

The best part about the shuttle is the windows. It has portholes all the way around the passenger compartment. We are in a circular room about 5 meters across. There are two doors on opposite walls. On the floor there is a hatch to the lower portion of the ship. On our ship this lower portion is mostly empty. We are not doing anything scientific. This is pure spectacle. Once seated we see the cargo bay doors open and natural light pours into the space. As we rotate with the ship we see the moon in all her glory before us. Then as we continue over the crescent of the earth. It is my first natural view of this, and it is overwhelming. The best high def in the universe is no substitute for being there, and seeing with your own eyes, and knowing that it is real.

 

The trance is broken when a MEL jerks us out of the bay. It only started with a jerk. The rest was smooth. This was a big load for a MEL. The fact was that there were two working in concert to move us out of the bay, but I could not see or hear the one behind me over the chatter of my fellow passengers. Once lifted clear of the bay we were carried to the nose of the ship where we were transferred to the robotic arms of the docking bay. Once there a pair of Wranglers attached to us. They lifted us clear of the Prophesy and set us on a close orbit that had us drifting down and away. Once they had set our orientation they moved away and back to the ship.

 

“Prophesy to Shuttle1. You are clear and on auto pilot to destination. Please acknowledge.” The voice on the headsets cut off all of the chatter among the eight on board.

 

“Roger Prophesy. Acknowledge clear and autopilot engaged,” replied Jay-Qu in his most official voice. Then flipping a couple of switches monitors in a circle at the ceiling, in the center of the area came to life. They were arranged like a scoreboard with a monitor facing each direction. Arranged with the pairs of seats we all had a good view of the mission plan that we were about to execute. They showed the Prophesy and her orbital path. And our Shuttle with her orbital path. We could see the marker for the descent along the line that was our path. It was just a minute away. I suddenly felt like a kid on a roller coaster. Going up the lift with the clacking of the anti-rollbacks beating out a steady rhythm, and anticipating the rush of that first big drop. Here we were approaching a drop of 60 miles to the surface of the moon. When would it happen? There was no countdown clock. Was it when the little graphic of our ship touched the marker? When it was all the way on the marker? It was just a sliver away. How hard would the thrusters be? I had never been through a simulation of this. Would it be like the launch? That fantastic adrenaline rush to orbit? Any second now…

 

“Ten seconds everyone,” spoke Jay-Qu from the pilots chair.

 

Apparently he could see something more from his seat. And everyone was counting down together.

 

“8… 7… 6… 5…” The woman from the TV show was holding my hand. “3… 2… 1…” And we felt the push. Not down, but up? Why would we be going up? It took me a minute to put it together.

 

“Ten seconds into burn. Course is 100%,” spoke Jay-Qu from the pilot seat. Of course! We were already flying tail first. I was so consumed by the monitor that I had stopped looking outside. We were slowing so we would be sucked in by the gravity of the moon. We would then thrust more to control the landing! Of course it didn’t feel like falling.

 

We continued to slow ourselves. An our path to the moon became steeper. There was a horizon of the moon out the window now. We were not spinning. I was looking straight across out a window and we were at forty five degrees to the moon. Still descending. Still slowing. Now at 50 degrees. I was fascinated by the view out the window. The computers had pinpointed our landing spot. On the screen everything was green. Out the window was the gray of the moon, the black of space and a billion glorious stars.

 

As our ship was going vertical, and the horizon was now flat in the distance, the unexpected happened. The view on my monitor changed and I was seeing our ship from the outside. It was just coming into the top of a wide angle frame. Dust began to flare out underneath it as it came fully into the picture. Just before the feet touches a final larger thrust from the engines and she touched down gentle as a kitten. We were clapping our gloved hands inside the shuttle. Back on the Prophesy the crews were all cheering. And all over the earth, as people watched that live shot from the rover that had landed just 2 hours earlier, they were clapping as well. We had come down within 2 meters of our planned position, within 2 seconds of the planned time.

 

We were on a schedule. InfiniteNow was our “MC”. He had been our front man for much of our public relations, and was very smooth with giving us a good public image. He was seated to my right on the other side of the woman who won the TV show. In just a couple of minutes we would begin making our way out of the ship. We really waiting for the dust from the landing to clear so we would get a good shot for TV. We have a perfect view of the TV shot from inside out capsule. The dust is settling slower than we had originally anticipated, and we end up waiting a full 22 minutes before we decide it is clear enough for our exit. We give a four minute warning announcement to over the TV feed so that they can peak everyone’s attention and run some really expensive commercials. We have more corporate sponsors than you can imagine for this excursion. They are different all around the world. Our suits have small baby blue patches on them. In each different country those will be digitally covered by the sponsors from those countries. Additional billions were raised by doing this. Over the past year the advertising revenue from official sponsors and endorsements had exceeded 55 billion dollars. That was five times the total from the entire previous 5 years since the project became public. This two minute commercial break in the world wide coverage of the Prophecy moon landing would generate another billion all by itself. But that was not the point of the exercise. That was the means to being able to do the exercise to begin with. It was our price to pay for the right to live our dreams.

 

There were no live feeds from inside the capsule. It was our safe place from public view. We were unlatched now. Standing in the room in 0.17g was a weird feeling. We all stared bouncing and giggling. And laughing out loud. We ranged in age from 18 to 78, and we were bouncing like kids at a six-year-old’s birthday party. Then a green light came on over the door. Out of commercials. It was time for the descent to the surface, over 12 meters.

 

The door was high above the ground. Below the door was a small platform. Two at a time we stepped out onto the platform. The first two on the platform were InfiniteNow and the rich man. He had paid handsomely for the right to be on the first group to the surface. There was just enough space on the platform for the two to stand and hold the handles. InfiniteNow held the platform the platform controls in his right fist. He turned to us in the capsule, and we could see him wink at us through his mask as he shot us the thumbs up with his left hand. And with a slight jerk he was moving down along the long leg of the lander. I stuck my head out to watch them descend while the others were watching on the monitor.

 

“BD, you are on the TV!” shouted Jay-Qu.

 

Instinctively I looked up and saw the lander and rover both a short distance away. I gave a short wave and a thumbs up to the camera, then looked back down at the platform as it was just reaching the ground.

 

“BD, they just announced on the broadcast that you are the platform operator,” laughed Jay-Qu. “You better pay attention. You don’t want to panic everyone who is watching.”

 

Typical. We had outlined in our press kits that the platform was operated by the person on the platform. Our suits were equipped with control panels on each sleeve that could take control of the platform remotely if needed. There was also a control panel at the base of the leg and by the door. But people on the platform controlled it themselves when riding. Come to think of it, with three control stations on the ship, and two remotes with each crew member it was lucky any news caster could follow what was actually happening.

 

They had reached the bottom. InfiniteNow and the rich guy were sharing a joke. They were both on microphones, so the joke was silent. The both stuck a foot out and pulled it back in. Then again. Then they each gestured for the other to step off. Finally they linked arms and stepped off together. Perfectly symbolic. Our benefactors who had so much respect for us to do the best that could be done with their money; and our crew with the gratitude to those benefactors sharing with them the glory of the moment. The mission relied upon both of them to have happened. It was only appropriate that they share the moment now. They stepped off together and ushered in the first moment of private manned exploration of the moon.

 

Now I was working the controls. This was about the first real task I had performed, other than decision making, as a member of the crew. I was raising the platform up the leg of the ship for the next two voyagers. I guess the guy on TV was correct after all. I was the platform operator!

 

InfiniteNow and the rich guy and shuffle-hopped a few meters away from the leg of the ship. They were pointing all around at the sights and giving a dialogue of what they were seeing.

 

With the platform again at the top it was time for another two guests to step out. This time it was Jay-Qu and the woman who won the reality show. She was hot, even encased in the bulky space suit. A massage therapist from Virginia, she had a compelling southern bell accent, and the greatest physical and mental endurance you could imagine. The tasks she had done, and the competition she had beaten in getting here was second to none. And Jay-Qu was like a proud prom king, in his finest formal space garb, escorting her down from his limo to the surface of the moon. She was holding onto the handle with one hand on onto Jay-Qu with the other. I could feel the excitement from her across the void of space. This would be one of the public’s favorite moments. They had voted her as the winner overwhelmingly.

 

When they reached the bottom they followed the example that had been set for them and stepped off together. Then they hopped over to the others about 20 meters from the ship and began their own dialogue broadcast to the world. When the platform got to the top our other two guests came forward. These men were my personal guests. They did not know it, but is had been my own influence on the project plan that had gotten them in the position they were in now. We had other bidders who would have paid handsomely for the right to be on this historic trip. Another 10.2 billion had been bid between the second and third bidders. Instead we had taken these two gentlemen to give them the opportunity to finish what they had started. They were James Lovell and Fred Haise, the two men who had not landed on the moon when Apollo 13’s mission was aborted in flight back in April of 1970. Now, 36 years later they had landed on the moon and were about to step off onto the surface. As an avid fan of the Apollo missions this seemed the fitting group to represent the hero’s who had come before us, and to complete a dream that had been left unfulfilled.

 

As they stepped past me onto the platform I could see the proud tears in their eyes. Once on the platform they both turned to me and saluted. This brought tears to my own eyes as they stood and held the salute. Out of instinct I saluted back. As our arms dropped they smiled and turned to face the cameras. Then Haise twisted the control and they began the descent to the surface. I didn’t think it was possible to be stoic in a space suit. But it was. These two men had done this at a time when the technology was literally a roll of the dice against your own life. They had rolled craps and beaten the game anyway. Never could there be a pair of figures more dignified and proud than Lovell and Haise descending to the surface. When they reached the bottom they too stepped off in unison. Both then recited words they had been prepared to speak 36 years earlier. First James and then Fred. Then, standing at the foot of the ship they spread their arms and looked up into the deep of space at the crescent earth. And they shouted for sheer joy.

 

The platform was on its way back up. Only Pyro and I remained. The attention of the world was on the six people gathered 20 meters form the ship. Pyro moved to the doorway. He and I had come to this dream together 10 years earlier. It had consumed our lives and bonded our friendship. While neither of us was going to be an explorer on the missions that would follow, we had given ourselves this selfish opportunity to experience the moon. Something we had dreamt of all of our years. With a nod toward my companion he grabbed hold of the door rails and lifted himself up and swung out, deftly placing his wheels squarely on the platform. And even though this was my first experience with the low g of the moon, I remembered that the Prophesy had at times been spun more slowly.

 

“You been practicing for this?”

 

“You bet your *** I have!”

 

We had actually specified the dimensions of the platform for exactly this moment. Pyro was in a chair that was custom built for the moon. Large wheels, a standing position. It was capable of navigating the soft uneven terrain of the moon with relative ease.

 

I took my turn stepping out onto the small platform and grabbed onto the rail. Pyro grabbed the control handle and began our final descent to the surface. The moonscape before us was as beautiful as it was desolate. An amazing paradox of everything and nothing at the same time. Directly in front of us was the other lander. It was about 100 meters in the distance. Closer in was the Rover. It was about 25 meters way, with the gathered crew members just five meters in front of it. At the last meter I could finally see under the ship. Turning to my left I was floored by what I saw. There, not 50 meters away was a thing of absolute beauty. I had known all along that it would be there, but the actual sight of it was still a shock to me. It was the Apollo 11 lander, the small American flag still standing a short distance away from it. We were at the sight of the first moon landing.

 

Taking a deep breath and sharing a final nod, Pyro and I faced forward and moved off of the platform as one.

 

Bill (t+28 hours)

[Jay-qu]

w00t! I can jump 3 times as high here - even with the suit on!

 

we really need this new forum - or at the very least a sub-forum

[ronthepon]

Ahhh, how's the view guys? Having fun? (bitter distaste in voice apparent)

[TheFaithfulStone]

Screw the moon. I'm gettin' off on Europa, and taking a piece of that big diamond home...

 

TFS

[rich I tell you! RICH!]

[Pyrotex]

BigDog and I make our way down from the hatch to the surface of the Moon. I let BD step onto the gray powder first, reserving for myself the distinction of the being the Last member of the first touchdown crew to step onto the surface of the Moon.

 

Everybody is so excited, jumping around in 1/6 G, checking out the fancy widgets in their surface excursion suits (SXS). Posing for the cameras. I'm still feeling a bit woozy from my bronchitis and the medication, but was deemed healthy enough to come along. When the others ask if I feel okay, I give a little cough and tell em I'm doing 90%. They buy into it. If they only knew.

 

Sooner or later, I have to find a way of warning the rest of the crew, but how to do it without getting "caught"? ****, I dunno yet. I have to figure it out before it's too late. They're skipping around like a bunch of kids with new toys, oblivious to the facts that I learned only when I went to my shipboard apartment for the first time and unpacked. Somebody had slipped a "display once and self destruct" message stick in among my silk underwear.

 

Goddam, reading that message made my skin crawl. How could any human beings be so twisted by hate, bigotry, fanaticism or whatever, to threaten the destruction of the Prophecy? The message had come from an agent of Scotland Yard who had been killed only a few hours after secreting that message in my luggage. The gist of the message was that (1) key components of the ship have been bugged so that some or all of our communications are being monitored by a tiny AI program secreted in some computer. The prophecy contains over 11,000 computers, if you count the ones in MERs and Wranglers, etc! (2) If we start talking about sabateurs or fanatics or change our flight plan by more than 10%, the ship will be "terminated". (3) There are not one but TWO agents of TWO different fanatic organizations planted in our crew. And no, the Scotland Yard agent did not say who they were or who they represented or even WHY they would want to blow us up. I shouldn't assume. They may terminate us in some other way. I don't even know what the threat is. Or even whose agenda our deaths would serve.

 

I've decided. I'll wander over to BigDog when he tires of jumping up and down and turn my radio off. I'll touch helmets with him and rely on sound conduction between the polycarbon helmets. I'll tell him. And hope nobody is watching.

 

And hope that neither of two specific someones (whoever they are) is watching.

[TheBigDog]

Aha! Intrigue! Deceit! Mystery! Cloak and Daggar even! The plot twists...

 

Bill

[IDMclean]

(OOC: Stupid Sleeper agents.)

IC:

Back on the ship, In fine gamer fashion. I was playing about with the non-public cameras on the rover, being somewhat of a reclusive. Focusing in on each person as they decended the Platform, I noted somewhat the worry Pyro was hiding, maybe he thought he was going to blow a space luggy on live TV or something, I know it would make me all a flutter. Stupid Anxiety.

 

I had to admit, these people looked like they had rehersed it a thousand times, and perhaps even they had. In their dreams perhaps but they looked natural doing it. I really marveled at their ability to decend the platform without bouncing akwardly or even stumbling.

 

Hopefully nobody minded the fly on the wall, so to speak. I really was enjoying the spectical but didn't feel much like socializing or going up to the Bridge... I had an idea and it caught me as somewhat funny.

 

I switched the Rover over to manual, taking the joystick for my personal computer, I eased the Rover foward. I had been playing with a simulation, but the real thing "felt" more sluggish. I hoped, silently, that no body had noticed the slight movement. I eased it foward and then gave it more go, driving it up to InfiniteNow and the Rich dude. I turned my Microphone on for a moment, and said "Need a lift?", as I eased the rover up besides them, careful not to clip anybody.

 

It was handling pretty well, I would have to adjust the force feedback on my controls, but other than that I could more or less feel exact movement.