Prologue (II)

Darnel awakened to the all pervading dark. The residual warmth of her restored body conjured a sense of security which lasted but a moment before her brain registered the fact that she was floating.

With that realisation she panicked, thrashing around; desperate to feel something. Her Cryo chamber's release mechanism activated and she was dumped unceremoniously onto the decking. She coughed, spluttered and hacked up cryo fluid as her body struggled to suddenly deal with an oxygen environment again.

Her shuddering slowed, as it stopped the fog cleared from her mind, her bewilderment turning into one of caution as her training reasserted itself. Something was wrong, very goddam wrong.

(AN: Text enclosed in -- denotes internal dialogue)

--Where is Denning and Deras?--

-- Why isn't at least one of them helping me, or spitting up this shit too?--

She looked around, but the cabin was barely illuminated, she couldn't see any further then the light the reactivated cryo tube provided. After a moment or two, she felt steady enough to try standing, so hesitantly she got her feet under her and with a little bit of a wobble managed to stand up.

She smoothed her hair into place, the small act helping her to regain a sense of normalcy as she swallowed her anxiety down.

--Right, assess and take stock. First things first.--

"Computer, report status and readiness."

Only silence answered her.

"Fuck me" she cursed, as a measure of fear crept in, chilling the warm lump of anxiety she was keeping locked down in the pit of her stomach.

-- If the computer is offline, main power will also be down. Can't use the secondary grid, it powers the tube system.--

Now more able to function, she relocated the cryopod and then turned around and slowly, haltingly followed the drill that she had practiced almost every day before launch. First retrieving a basic jumpsuit then she started opened her emergency supplies locker that was beside her pod and pulled out a void suit.

Her hands were shaking, still slightly affected by the cryo but her mind was racing as she imagined one devastating scenario after another.

-- STOP THAT--

--You are the Captain of this ship. You will get through this, restore whoever is able to be restored and work the mother fucking problem. You WILL NOT hesitate. Get it done Captain.--

After dressing herself, she activated the low light vision in her suit, and the darkness tinged green as the light was amplified. Now that she could see the rest of the cabin, she looked over to where the other three pods were in the room. She immediately ran a diagnostic sensor scan of the pods, afraid of what the results would be.

-- Ohh thank goodness, they're intact and still functioning.-- the relief palpable. The fear and anxiety that she was keeping a tight lid on took one step back as she went over to each of the pods and entered a command to activate each pod's emergency revival sequence.

The doors recessed into the decking and it's occupants, now free of the cryo fluid fell forth. she ignored the doctor and her XO and immediately focused on the Chief Engineer, catching Joran and easing him down to the floor as he fell.

It took a minute or two of coughing and spluttering, following by great gulps of air as their bodies transitioned back to normal. It didn't take long before they noticed something was off as Darnel patiently waited for Joran's mind to clear and him to focus on her hard set face.

"Captain, what's happening?" Joran asked in a confused tone, "And why do I feel so sluggish, a five year cryo journey doesn't cause this much synaptic lag?". Darnel hesitated a moment, he had just vocalized what she'd been afraid to think.

"I don't know, but whatever has happened, both Main and Reserve power are out. The ship isn't responding, so he's not just in sleep mode, but completely powered down. Get dressed, and while you're doing that I'll grab some of the reserve stores."

Darnel got up and left her senior staff to square themselves away. She gritted her teeth as she she went and took out several of the disaster packs, which contained portable lighting devices, some food and water to help restore synaptic cohesion. She also unlocked the small arms locker and retrieved a energy rifle for each of them. She couldn't dismiss the possibility of a boarding action or outright sabotage.

After a quick meal, they each set out to the station where they could be most efficient. Darnel to the bridge, her XO to damage control, the Doctor to Life Support, and Deras to Engineering.

Two hours later, Darnel had managed to restore AI control after Deras had activated reserve power, several of the crew had been resuscitated to aid in that endeavour. Now that the computer control had been mostly restored things seemed like they were getting back to normal until her Senior Staff met her on the bridge.

She was almost finished breaking through the software encryption that was preventing the AI from accessing the deep space sensor array. By utilizing a power distribution algorithm she managed to selectively short out the security control panel and then the console next to her that controlled the array lit up.

Darnel turned sharply, bringing the beam rifle to bear on the hatchway. Since awakening to this dark and cold ship she had developed a jumpiness to her movements.

Any noise now was enough to set it off, and it wasn't until she heard regular footfalls, and then the voices of her officers that she re-slung her weapon and watched them walk through the hatch.

By the looks on their faces, the situation was dire indeed. They moved to her office to conduct the initial briefing which was short, and painted a bleak outlook. Most of the primary systems were either offline or had suffered unexplainable damage, as the outer hull was still intact.

Darnel stared out the window, and let the petty bickering of her officers wash over her. Amidst their clamoring there was a simple solution that in their haste to deny the painfully obvious. The way back was denied to them, for even if they managed to correctly plot a course that was at best a navigational nightmare. The Empire, if it still stood by this time would have changed beyond all recognition.

They would be regarded as outsiders, and even if they were accepted; would have to re-certify for the basic competencies for their professions. Meaning this crew's long years of dedication and sacrifice to achieve this assignment would have been wasted.

This thought more then anything decided her course of action. "Computer," she stated in her even voice. At this her officers broke off their contentious discussion and turned to look at Soren. "Yes, Captain Soren?" the AI responded.

"Have you achieved a precise determination of our current position?" She asked, still looking out the window as her Officers waited with barely any restraint as they awaited the Captain's judgement on what their course of action should be.