The Space Between Us

'It was hard enough getting the work order reevaluated for the modifications, but now…it's going to be a long way to Luna. Hmm, maybe I will use this chance to request a transfer, just before they can start scolding me. Dammit!' He almost let out the last of his thoughts out loud when he came down the stairs into the cargo hold.

"EJ!"

"Yes, Captain Gage. How may I be of assistance?"

"Please begin the pre-flight checks and system diagnostics"

"Yes, Captain. We will be cleared to take off in seven minutes. Please take the time to get settled."

Overhearing Pierce already issuing orders to the ship's A.I, Ridge's footsteps felt heavier, the closer he got. 

However, his mind was preoccupied with another discovery as the ship's biometric scans indicated that there was an additional unregistered person along with the three that accompanied the Captain.

'It might be…no I'm sure that Thella said something about fetching a prisoner, that must be it…' Only partially convinced, he moved through the stacks of crates and under the overhead pulleys before leaping over some rails and meeting the group.

As he met with them, the bay doors began to close, with the cargo bay illuminating with a vivid bright light. With some sleep still in his eyes, it took a moment to adjust, as he spoke with familiarity.

"Well Captain, glad to have you back…" His vision corrected, and Ridge finally noticed the guests.

"Eh…Captain…"

Only for the Major to take the initiative and introduce herself, causing Ridge to tense up as he stood at attention to salute, only annoying Rayce further who eventually stormed off. With Rayce stomping off, his eyes followed before returning to Pierce who put him at ease.

"That's enough. At ease Ridge, I have called for you to aid me with other matters. Major Illyanova, I would ask that you not cause any disruptions or distractions during your time onboard"

"What's wrong with following protocol?" She asked, expecting no real answer.

"I second it, really it's less protocol and more general politeness. While I cannot say it's a pleasure to meet any of you, I am… "

"A criminal and will be dealt with accordingly" the Major interrupted with sudden viciousness, as Ozrickt teased, still entombed within his restraints. 

"Do you want to waste time on formalities? He is needed by his duties" Vronica spoke while standing firmly beside the Suspension Grid that was holding Ozrickt, keeping him floating and away from the walls of the container, he can do nothing except speak while suspended in the fields generated by the container.

"Oh, I didn't take you for someone with a bleeding heart. Not especially since you're…well you know what you are." The prisoner answered Vronica, barely bothered enough to look at her as he did.

"You are mistaken, Ozrickt, I have tasked him with ensuring that you cannot escape. Beyond that, he is responsible for the operation of this ship's most crucial systems." This time he walked away from the group before handing his data slate to Ridge, whose throat quickly dried after witnessing Pierce talk down a superior officer and criminal with a single breath.

"If our engineer is not focused, it endangers all the passengers on the ship. So, can I again ask you not to distract my squadmates?"

Answering him with a salute of her own, while never losing her smirk:

"Understood. Who knew that a Captain could be so frank with their Superior in such a casual manner" Her question was one meant more to tease than earn a response and was met with silence as he walked away. 

Vronica followed after, still quiet but with a gaze that spoke loudly Leaving Ridge with the Major and Ozrickt.

"Well that is not what I expected, but what else has gone according to plan since we got here…" He tried to laugh off the awkwardness they shared only to suddenly lead with an introduction offering his hand to the Major, who walked after the pair, ignoring him.

"I'm confused. How come she gets to be so rude?" Ozrickt spoke up again, still spinning in the air when a frustrated Ridge entered a command in the data slate. The command was received by the Suspension grid, immediately separating his limbs as they were drawn to the walls of the container.

His smooth and flighty glide around the container had turned him into a stationary star locked in place.

"I hope you're okay with catheters because EJ has enough juice to power the Suspension Locks on your restraints for the entire trip, no moving for you and–"

"You should be lucky I don't know your name, Blade, because I would–".

"No talking…" Pushing another button on the data slate caused the entire container to be wrapped in a wave of silence as Ozrickt lost consciousness.

"Sigh. Now it's my turn to babysit." Watching the silent prisoner held in place, he moved over to an old and worn crate holding bolts and pieces of metal slicked with a strange fluid.

"Might as well get started on the chores. The longer I'm away from the Bridge, the longer I get to go without being asked any questions." Lifting the crate with some difficulty, he waddled over to the container imprisoning Ozrickt and dropped it, before pulling out a rag and a bottle of clear solution from the crate and got to work.

Once all the pre-flight checks were completed and an updated assessment of the ship's Reactor and Propulsion system was available, Ridge left his post beside the still-sleeping prisoner and made his way back to the Bridge. 

"EJ, please notify everyone that we are ready to launch."

"Yes, Sergeant Essern"

Arriving at his workstation, Ridge used the cloth to clean away the splotches of grease and fluid coating his gloves, before inputting a string of commands in the console nearby.

With his dexterous and fluid motions, the vessel began to roar to life, shaking and snowfall from its hull as the humming force exhausted by the engines pushed against the deck lifting it into the air.

 "Sergeant Essern, the rest of the Sword Company has arrived" The A.I notified him before the doors slid open welcoming their Captain who moved into his seat.

Following behind him was Veronica who quietly sat at her console before connecting to the ship, while Rayce had already had enough of the group. His comments annoyed Thella enough to give him a fierce glare as they got settled into their consoles.

"Captain, all systems are in working order. On your command"

And with the confirmation of the route correctly inputted by Vronica, Pierce gave the order.

The Ensuring Hope launched from the spaceport and breached the amber-coloured skies of Titan as the voyage to the Inner Rim began.

With sublight engines aglow, the stream of diagnostic data filled the main view of the Bridge. Unlike the vessels from beyond the 21st century, after the First Expansion, most star-crossing vessels possessed windows to grant the pilots a view of their surroundings.

While the vantage they offered was ever essential for docking manoeuvres, they posed a structural weak point that would suffer under the stresses of interstellar flight.

To deal with this, all future spacecraft were fitted with imaging sensors that filled the display screens in the armoured core of the Bridge with a clear and uninterrupted view, also known as the Main View of the Bridge.

The Main View produced a real-time render of the outside that could be overlayed with telemetry data to assist in navigation and operating manoeuvres. Upon the matte grey finish of the Main View, a sudden rainbow of lights flutters outward from the centre before the digital recreation of the outside takes shape.

The sprinkle of ice and dust shimmered with diamond-like brilliance, with the sun's rays glinting off Saturn's Rings, a spectacle that while awestruck inducing, EJ was quick to reduce the brightness and fill the Bridge with a blue tone. 

As the ship began to cruise forward past the crystalline belts, the data on the Main View refreshed.

IMS-EHJ Diagnostics: Complete

Sublight Engines: Operational.

Superluminal Engines: Offline -Interplanetary Restriction.

Black Body Reactor: 89% Efficiency.

Advanced Maneuverability Thrusters: Operational.

Relativistic Matter Displacer: Operational.

Advanced Diagnostics Report: Available. 

Travel Log: #0349

Titan - City of Menrva to Luna - Copernicus Crater.

Estimated Time of Arrival: 31 hours.

Delta V: 0.1 c.

The first few hours of the trip are always directly helped by the officers present with the occasional course update. About eight hours into the trip, the only one left that kept a vigilant eye on the ship's course was Vronica. 

Being connected to the ship allowed her nigh total access to its overall performance and capabilities, so even if she wasn't helping the console on the Bridge she was in total control.

Still, for what this journey had turned into, she would rather remain on the Bridge by herself, if not to avoid their wayward passenger than for the periodic check-ins by the Captain every two hours.

Each time he would enter, freshly worn from a task he had been tended to or already on his way to the next one. Their prisoner took most of his attention, with what was left at the mercy of the Major, who seemed to have a boundless curiosity.

For her, the idea of receiving an escort to see Silver Command without a summons and with the escort being a Blank, she was not lacking in all that could catch her attention onboard the ship. Moving from the different sections of the ship after waking up from a short rest, she came into one of the common areas near the cafeteria.

Met by sweet and smoky scent before she even entered the room, once the doors slid open, she was left trying to make sense of the scene. 

Ridge was almost pushed to tears trying his best to compel Rayce to let him go so he could get back to his duties, only for the Lieutenant to pay him no mind as he ordered him to continue with the task until he was satisfied.

Stepping inside, the door closed abruptly, catching their attention. Giving them as warm a welcome as she could, Ridge immediately stood at attention, saluting the Major, who could only awkwardly ask that he lower his hand. Stiffly setting arms to his side, before Rayce's frustration got the better of him:

"Ignore the witch and continue with your Terran science and produce that caffeinated solution"

"Okay, but I'm Herr Deh'shari, not Terran. And why not ask the Captain to do it, since he was the one that made it for you in the first place?"

"Because he does not consider it an immediate concern at the moment. Now, enough with your wails and make me that most blessed of drinks"

"But…but you can literally do it yourself, it's just coffee–"

Rayce seemed to spit out a series of nonsensical words before he was once again using a shared vocabulary:

"It's not just COFFEE, ESSERN…its more than that"

"You're quite spirited over a cup of coffee…"

"The necessary knowledge of how to manipulate the chemistry of these most basic organic compounds is probably beyond you, witch"

"Harsh words considering how you need to whip your subordinate into making you a cup. Tell me, could it be that it's simply beyond your capabilities?''

"Off with you, Essern. This woman has soured me desire for my blessed drink" Rayce set Ridge aside and made his way towards the door, almost knocking into her shoulder before the momentary reminder of their last encounter had him shifting her footing, slipping past her.

Left in the presence of the Major, Ridge was unsure of what to do with himself, opting to start cleaning he had made under Rayce's orders. While she would have tried to press their interaction, her attempt was cut off by Thella's sudden appearance in the cafeteria.

"Hello there. If you're looking for the Captain, you aren't going to find him here"

"Oh Sergeant, was it? And what makes you think that I was looking for him?" Thella waited for a moment before calling out to EJ requesting the Captain's whereabouts and confirming her statement.

"There you have it, he's in the Bridge. If you don't need anything from Ridge, he can return to his duties, Right?"

"My duties…"

"The prisoner?"

"Yes, those duties. As Thella…I mean as Sergeant Oswin has said. I must get going" Leaving in a nervous huff while knocking over and spilling milk, syrups and coffee grains around.

With the mess left behind, Thella asked the Major to follow her to the Bridge before asking EJ to clean the mess.

The A.I responded with ports in the nearby cabinets opening up allowing for a series of mechanical arms and tubes to take to the mess with impressive efficiency.

The Major followed Thella to the Bridge, finding the Captain addressing some points of interest on the data slate Vronica was presenting him. 

"Captain Gage, you seem to have your hands full."

"When I am hard at work, my squadmates are permitted their rest. And as a guest, that is extended to you"

"Oh, I am a guest now? I thought you were simply escorting before?"

"Perhaps I was far too incredulous upon our meeting. The urgency of the Silver Council's request supersedes the momentary need for formalities. However the fact remains, you are my superior officer, and your rank affords you certain privileges"

"Ah, I see. That explains why your Lieutenant was so passive when compared to our initial meeting. Not to mention your other subordinates." Her eyes hovered between Vronica and Thella, who kept their gaze away from her.

"If that is the case, then I am satisfied. There will be another Solar-day before we arrive. You are free to enjoy the ship." His words carried no hostility, answering her while continuing with his work. 

With the walls all around them, the only one she could exchange more than a few words with also happened to be the Blank, a thoughtful one, even considerate…

She admits that she hadn't had much experience with their kind but what she was receiving was nothing in the same vein as what they had taught her about the Machines of Living Flesh.

"Then I shall take you at your word, Captain." With a noticeably thankful tone in words, she left the Bridge, and now, Vronica and Thella bearing raised eyebrows at their Captain.

"Well, that worked better than I expected" Thella finally spoke up after she arrived.

"Sergeant Oswin. Please refrain from antagonizing her. I would like for Major Illyanova to have the least amount of impact on the functioning of this ship"

"So, do you want me to keep Ridge and Rayce out of trouble?"

"That and limiting your teasing, she is your superior after all"

Expecting Vronica to be next in the line scolding, only for Pierce to hand the data slate before getting up from his seat and leaving the room.

"Well, you seem pleased with yourself" Sharing a disguised smirk with the Pygmy as they both returned to their consoles and began to work. While Vronica turned her attention to the data slate with her violet eyes skimming over the reported data, picked up a note:

'V, I want you to come see me just before we arrive on Luna.'

Captain Pierce Gage