| Journey to Centauri is a web-based episodic tale that details the splintering of the U.N. Alpha Centauri Mission on its way to the new world. Previous chapters are listed here. |
Journey to Centauri : Episode 3 Captain Garland stepped onto the cold floor of cryobay six and turned to the nearby datalink, entering the Returned to Duty code and requesting an immediate status report. Small micons cycled urgently and he deciphered them, already piecing together a visual of the ship. Collision detected. Moderate to severe structural damage...hydroponics modules two and three unusable, two thirds of their food supply gone. No communication at all from cryobay five, and other bays damaged as well. And as he already knew from the shaking under his feet...the RAM Scoop had shut down. 29 years into their mission, so close to the new world, and now... Accelerating towards Centauri system at tremendous speeds, heading for a target that was no more than a dot of brightness in an infinite void, and they had no way to stop. A sea of blackness. Shadows that hung over him...someone awake? Moving about the ship? The memory eluded him. He turned briskly and lifted a uniform from a metal shelf. Sleek and comfortable, he held it up for a moment to the soft light. The U.N. seal on the breast, captain's bars on the shoulders, and no country-of-origin markings visible on this uniform or any other. He had lobbied strongly for that. He slipped into the uniform and headed for the command bay. On the console, the list of the dead rolled on in amber.
Next episode will be posted June 12th. |
