Читать книгу Adventures of Space Cadets 101: Invasions - Darryl Wright - Страница 9

Captains Derek and Austen were sitting on the bridge of the One-Oh-One when Will notified them that their crews were ready in the lounge for the meeting. Austen asked his brother if he could go into the past or the future, which he would choose.

Derek said, “Definitely the future because I know that there will be bathrooms. They don’t have bathrooms in most of our planet's past.”

Austen told his brother that that was a good call, and then he told Will to stay on the bridge because somebody always had to stay on the bridge for multiple reasons he didn’t want to go into right then. Will was thrilled to be in charge of the evacuated bridge; it felt good. He was smiling ear to ear when Captain Austen put him in charge. Captain Derek said to him, “No parties while we’re gone either.” His demeanor was a façade.

He said, “Yes, Captain,” and saluted Derek.

The two captains got up at the same time and the older one said, “Well, let’s get this over with.” They vacated the bridge.

The ship’s lounge was very elaborate and spacious, but at the moment it was crowded with forty-eight members of both crews. They were all seated in the chairs or on the couches, or at the tables. As the captains entered everybody who was talking slowly came to a hush. Derek looked everywhere for a place to sit down. He only saw one barstool available, so he hurried to snag it before his brother did.

Like most of the crew, he was wearing a silver spacesuit that most astronauts wore. He was looking at his fingernails as his brother approached and gave him a stern glare, probably for taking the last seat in the room. He gave his brother a mischievous grin.

Since Austen was the only captain standing, he realized that he would be addressing the crew on today’s number one problem, which was food. “As you all know, we never intended to stay interstellar as long as we have been, and God knows it’s not like there is a space station out this far. Also, you know we were headed back to Earth when we were quite abruptly turned around by space pirates. Even our own Earth Defense ships thought that we were space pirates and took a shot at us, but here we are now and our food rations have become … ” he looked over at Derek who was eating an apple, and holding up one finger, “down to one week left, according to my esteemed colleague,” Austen finished.

The crew wasn’t shocked to hear that because that was all they had been talking about for days - well that, and water, and oxygen, and maybe Earth. Sometimes destiny just reaches out and chooses you. What are you going to do?

Austen continued, “The good news is that according to Qworn we are only about a day and a half out from a planet that is abundant and rich with food supplies. He is certain that it has food we can eat and enjoy.” Austen turned to locate his nephew who was right next to him and asked, “What did he say the name of the planet was?”

Quorn spoke for himself before Kirk could answer. He said one word, “KSSESSS.”

Derek thought, You've got to love extraterrestrials.

Austen looked to Derek who was shrugging his shoulders, and then he turned back to the crew. “Yes, the planet Kess.” He wasn’t sure if he said it correctly or not, but Qworn was shaking his head yes so he continued, “We’ll have Will launch one of Kirk’s probes at the planet to get some air samples and see what kind of life on this planet we can eat.”

Just then Qworn took Kirk’s laptop and started typing a brief message as Derek said, “I bet you never thought you would ever say those words before today, Captain.”

Kirk said, “Qworn says there is no reason to launch a probe, because he has been to this planet many times before. His father said that we eat the same things they eat, Sir.”

Captain Derek interrupted and said, “Tell Qworn that it is procedure that when we go to a planet, we learn whatever we can about a planet before we set foot on said planet.” He winked at Austen.

As Kirk was explaining all that to Qworn, Austen came closer to Derek and said, “We have procedures?” He turned his head sideways to get an answer. Then he said, “Just bear that in mind for later.”

Derek smiled and said, “No, but I think it is a good time to start. It could come in handy someday.” Austen agreed, and in a whispering voice Derek said to Austen, “No one has ever been out this far, because nobody has ever wanted to.” Then he said in a not so conspiratorial tone, “It might be a good idea also if JR could break out his stash of food and share it with everybody, and not just who he is dating this week.” In humor he said, “It would be nice to have a good meal before going planet side. You know, never go shopping on an empty stomach,” but he knew JR was unreachable. Austen said that he would talk to JR, but he couldn’t promise anything.

So far, JR had proven to be an asset to their mission. He was an excellent fighter. Who knew that talent would have been needed in space? He was also the closest thing to a doctor onboard simply because of the medical supplies he had commandeered. He had a good bedside manner with the ladies, but he humiliated the men that sought medical attention. They feared his zeal.

Austen was just about to dismiss the meeting when Tommy in the back called out, “I want to go home!” This kind of caught everybody by surprise. Tommy was paunchy, balding, and unhappy. No one had ever said they wanted to go home before.

Captain Derek said, “Go, but from what I understand it’s a long cold walk home.”

Tommy stood up and said that he had not signed up to go clear across the universe on some adventure. Then he suggested that they all take a vote. It was great to have some momentous drama on a spaceship.

Captain Derek stood up and said, “First of all, nobody asked you, and secondly there is only one captain on this ship. He held up two fingers. That’s us,” and he pointed at himself and Austen. “Thirdly, there is no voting on this ship … ever. This isn’t a democracy”

Tommy was angry and stormed out of the large room. As he went Derek said, “Don’t go away mad, just go away.” A few people were giggling, and Derek asked if anybody else in the room wanted to go home. He reminded the room that they couldn’t get back if they wanted to without Qworn’s people’s help. The One-Oh-One was hooked up to an alien ship, low on fuel, and didn’t have a star drive that would enable them to cross intergalactic space. They didn’t have food or water and were low on breathable air. Derek was pretty sure that no one else wanted to go home yet. So far they were living a dream, flying through the stars from one adventure to the next one. Sure there were risks, but they had been lucky. They were also the first humans to ever make it out this far.

Tommy was an engineer specialist working under Dale Hawkins. Derek told Austen that he would have Dale talk with him, but Austen said, “No, he’s part of my crew, and he could be a problem, so I’ll have JR have a talk with him.”

Derek felt sorry for Tommy. Derek said, “That’ll do it. Just make sure JR doesn’t kill him; we might need him later on.”

The captains took some time to say hello to their crew members, and sit down and talk awhile. With the ennui and frustration of intergalactic space travel, everybody needed a little camaraderie and laughter. Captain Derek was the latter.