by Ryan Frieda
Captain Steele was being sling shot around gas giants at speeds significantly faster than the speed of sound. He was traveling tens of thousands of miles in just a second. Once he was at the galaxies edge the engines would add an additional boost of Faster Than Light speed to help propel him from the galaxy's gravitational pull.
Captain Steele could see the rim of the edge. There was a darkness beyond it that he had never seen. It was like there was no energy outside the edge. Like it was nothing but death outside the edge. There was nothing outside. He knew this, why did he feel it was any different before now? There was no energy outside and he was concerned.
“Star Commander to Huston 6. I am just inside the Edge. Over,” Captain Steele said with a calm voice.
“Huston 6 copies. Sounds like we are having trouble hearing you on this bandwidth. We will try again shortly.”
“Copy.”
Captain Steele wondered if this is how Christopher Columbus felt when going out into sea on a voyage that meant certain death. Well maybe not Columbus, but his crew probably felt that way. Excited at first, then once they set off, terrified. No one had been this close to the Edge. No one wanted to die without their family or friends knowing what happened to them. If the edge doesn't kill Captain Steele, everything outside the galaxy will- or more precisely, the lack of anything will.
Captain Steele thought about turning around, but that means he would be a mockery of all races. Court marshaled for failing to follow orders. A reason humans are a joke. He couldn't and wouldn't allow that.
“Huston 6 to Star Commander. We see you one minute out from the Edge. Is that correct?”
“Star Commander copies. One mi-”
The ship shook violently. The metal in the ship creaked.
“Huston 6 to Star Commander, do you copy?”
Warning lights flashed for the starboard side of the ship. Captain Steele got out of his seat and ran over to the starboard side and started checking the bulkheads. The bulkheads were creaking so bad he thought the ship might be destroyed. He could tell that some kind of pressure was causing incredible stress on the ship. He then went to the cargo section of the ship and grabbed some spare metal. He then grabbed the metal and started placing it under the main bulkhead beam to support it. He then ran to his seat on the bridge. He saw on the holographic readout that there were now problems on the portside of the ship.
“Captain Steele come in. Do you copy?”
Captain Steele ignored the radio and ran to the portside of the ship to see if there was a problem anyway. The bulkheads here where crumbling under the pressure. He ran again to the cargo bay and grabbed some more spare metal before running back to the main bulkhead on the portside of the ship. He then started to apply some additional support with spare metal when a supporting bulkhead broke in two hitting him in the hand and face.
“Freaking piece of...”
Captain Steele wiped the blood from his face. He looked as his hand and saw that it needed medical attention now. But if the bulkhead wasn't supported or replaced now he wouldn't live long.
“I haven't even left and I'm about to die...” he muttered sarcastically under his breath
“Huston 6 to Captain Steele, do you copy?”
“Shut up!” he yelled knowing that he wasn't transmitting his radio.
Captain Steele ran to the cargo bay and grabbed a smaller spare bulkhead. The then dragged it toward the broken one and slide the old one out of it's place. He then grabbed the new one and put it into place using the anti-gravity lift device on the bulkhead. He then grabbed emergency sealant and started to place it around the edge of of the bulk head. As he had just finished applying it a pipe of coolant came loose causing steam to spew everywhere.
Captain Steele grabbed it and attached it back into place when there was a loud sound that came from the starboard section of the ship. Captain Steele ran over there only to find one of his support devices had broken. He decided the bulkhead would hold and started to treat his hand. He had to pull out the piece of metal that was stuck through his hand. He went ahead and put his hand palm down and grabbed the piece of metal with his other hand. He gabbed the metal and pulled it out screaming. Blood was pouring from his hand onto the ground. He quickly grabbed some medical gel and applied it to his hand. He then wrapped his hand in medical gel tape. He looked into a mirror at his face and saw he had metal in his cheek. He decided it can wait and headed back to his seat in the bridge. As he passed the section of the ship he had just repaired he checked it to make sure it was okay. He then flipped channels on the radio to the FTL comm.
“Star Commander to Huston 6. I am at Galaxies Edge. We are leaving known space in 15 seconds. Over.”
“Huston 6 copies.”
Captain Steele took a deep breath. He thought about what a suicide mission this was and released how honored he was to be the one to take this daring step into the unknown. He is the last Christopher Columbus of all races. He took in that thought for several minutes.
“Star Commander to Huston 6.”
“Go ahead Star Commander.”
“I travel not into darkness for glory or fame, but because all races of the Milky Way ask me to. I travel not into the unknown for exploration, but because of need. I travel not into the impossible because it is impossible, but because it is possible. Good bye Milky Way. I will not return to you but you shall return to me. I will see you in 150 years. Star Commander, over and out.”
One week into traveling beyond the edge of the Milky Way and Captain Steele was feeling it. The ship may have had artificial gravity and a small weight room to keep him physically, mentally, and emotionally fit but he was feeling the weight of it all. He would look out the windows of his ship and see nothing. No stars, no planets, and no real light. There was the occasional twinkle of a galaxy out in the distance but with the Milky Way and all its stars behind him there was little light left to come into the ship from outside. He would have thought that it would be like the night sky outside the galaxy but it wasn't. It was just dark with the occasional spot of light.
Captain Steele went to the small lab to do his biweekly log.
“Captain Steele, log 1. Date is 4000, month 1 of week 1, standard galactic Milky Way year.
“I am tired and sore. The lack of light is more difficult than I have imagined. I have been through many training sessions where light was nonexistent. I have been in combat situations where light was not there. However, there was always an expectation that you would return to light generated from a nearby star. Here there is nothing. I see a galaxy way off in the distance from time to time. The vast majority of the light at night came from the stars of the Milky Way. The Milky Way is behind me and so is the light.
“I feel the distance I have traveled because of that. I am missing people. I miss a good conversation. I miss a bad conversation. I even miss a bad argument. I feel alone out here. I feel cold, empty. It has been a week and I am already falling apart. I'm not sure why I volunteered for this. I have every thing I need but I am missing something. People. I need real people. The Interface is great at times and I have awesome conversations with her from time to time. Occasionally she tries to be real but it doesn't work. The Interface is a great artificial intelligence but it's just not enough.
“I think the stress is getting to me. I have been alone and under increasingly stressful situations before but this is different. The stress is a different kind of stress. I am alone. There is nothing within several light years. Nothing but true emptiness...
“I have gotten the bulkheads replaced since leaving the Galaxies Edge. It is unknown why the ship started to buckle at that point. I'm still trying to figure that out. I am uploading my vital signs and sending them back now. Ending log.”
Captain Steele left the lab and wandered the ship. He walked over to the small armory and checked out the space suits and armor to make sure everything was ready to go if needed. He check the couple of rifles he had and the couple of handguns to make sure they wer
e in working order. He left and went to the kitchen and double checked and triple checked the supplies. He went to food storage where food is grown and replenished and found everything to be okay. He went to the electrical room and found everything fine. He then went to the recreational room and checked the work out equipment. He decided not to work out and left the room to check on the cargo hold. He entered the cargo hold and made sure all the supplies were secured properly.
Captain Steele decided he was going to go to the bridge and check to make sure all systems were green. He noticed that one system was stating it was yellow meaning it was less than perfect.
“Interface?”
“Yes, Captain Steele?” it said.
“Call me John please.”
“I will call you John if you call me by my name, Jamie. I believe you gave me that name.”
“Sure whatever. What system is yellow?”
“Would you like me to check John?”
“No Jamie, I want you to go back into sleep mode.”
“Sleep m...”
“Oh for the love of...”
“Checking systems.”
“Was it really that hard?”
“You said to go into sleep mode John.”
“Just tell me what it is so I can fix it.”
“John?”
“What is it Jamie?”
“The system that is yellow is the bulkhead that broke upon leaving. The portside bulkhead to be exact.”
“Whats wrong with it?”
“Unknown.”
“Has it buckled?”
“Unknown.”
“Does it need replacing?”
“Unknown.”
“Is it damaged in some way, shape, or form?”
“Unknown. But it is logical for you to figure out the problem.”
“All right Spock I'll go figure out whats wrong with it. Some help you were.”
Captain Steele sighed and left to go to the portside bulkhead. When he got there he checked over the entire bulkhead and saw that nothing was wrong with it.
“Interface, nothing is wrong with the bulkhead.”
“I said nothing was wrong with the bulkhead Captain Steele. Please call me Jamie, I believe that is the name you gave me.”
“I know, we've been over this today-” Captain Steele paused for a second, “What do you mean you didn't say anything about the bulkhead?”
“I mean I didn't say anything.”
“What system is yellow?” asked Captain Steele.
“No system is yellow John.”
Captain Steele walked to the bridge and saw every system was green.
“Jamie, I think I might be hallucinating for some reason. Can you please check?”
“I can John. Please move to the med bay and I will run a scan.”
Captain Steele moved to the medical bay and laid down on the bed.
“Checking brainwave functions. Please remain still at this time John.”
Jamie started to scan his body for any thing that wasn't functioning normal. After several minutes the results came back.
“Based on the electrical impulses in your brain it seems you seem to be having small fluctuations in how your brain is processing stimuli. I suggest you work out some more or try to relax. I can send this information to the Milky Way Command Post if you want me to.”
“No, not just yet. Let's make sure this is just a temporary thing. I don't want people thinking I'm going crazy.”
“I understand John.”
Captain Steele knew it was a permanent thing. It wasn't something he had to deal with before but he knew that it was because of the distance and loneliness and lack of real light. He knew that sometimes extreme depression could cause people to think things are a certain way when there not. He knew that it would only get worse until he found a solution to having someone real on board the ship with him. But there was no one. No one else was out here. In fact, nothing else was out here. Just him, the ship, and the AI.
“Why did they send me alone out here?” He quietly asked himself.
Chapter 4
Reminiscence of Training
“Alright gentlemen, you have received some of the highest accommodations multiple times in combat and that is why you are here. We have you here because we have a special mission that we need you to train for. Your training will begin at 0400 hours and you will meet here again.”
Captain Steele was standing in a line with over two dozen other men in a monsoon listening to a training officer yell about some mission. He wasn't sure why he was told to be here all he knew was that it was all very hush hush. He was asked if he wanted to train for a top secret mission with the best of the best and when he replied “yes” they told to show up at a location. Next thing he knew was that he was being whisked away to this ocean like world on a small island being hit with a monsoon. The world was much larger than Earth and much wetter.
“Dismissed!”
Captain Steele grabbed his stuff and ran toward the barracks along with the other men and women. When he got to the barracks he found the worst living conditions of any training camp he had ever been to. When a strong gust of wind hit the building the building seemed to shift and move across the ground. The walls would rumble and shake, the roof would creak, and the floor would shutter. There were small holes in the roof causing lots of water to pour in. There was a broken window in the corner of the building that allowed cold water to spray into the barracks. The water was being drained by a slight downward slope to a small drain.
“For the best of the best this place if a freakin' dump,” said one marine.
“You got that right brother,” said another.
“Who wants the piece of crap bunk that is soaked?” said yet another.
“I think this is all part of the game,” yet another marine said.
“Ya think? Great work detective,” another stated.
“So, what do you think Major Dickhead's quarters look like?”
“Probably a great view of this dump, with a cozy fireplace. Prime real estate!”
Captain Steele liked these guys already.
“Name's John Steele. Yours?” Captain Steele said extending his hand outward to shake another marine's.
“Name Derik Vallmeer. Everyone just calls me Dog.”
“Mine's Tim Jackson, but people call me Runner.”
“Sandra White aka Ruthless.”
“Andrew Diaz, they call me Big D.”
“Daniel Sanders, Sandman.”
“Just call me Shadow.”
“I go by Exodus.”
“Dork alert! Who allows their name to be that?” asked Big D.
“Says the man with the name 'Big D' Whats that stand for Big Douche?” asked Exodus.
“You wish. Why do they call you Exodus? Is it a painful reminder of when you didn't get out in time?” asked Big D.
“Yeah, out of your mom. And, oh how I regret it!” said Exodus.
Everyone laughed.
“I'm James Carter or Catalyst. I don't care what you choose, doesn't bother me either way.”
“Jim Johnson but everyone calls me Cultist.”
“Why does everyone call you that?”
“We had some know-it-all in my first squad who said my name sounded like some lunatic from the 20th century. I don't know how he knew that, but we called him Watson,” replied Cultist.
“Why did you call him Watson?”
“When we met him the first thing he did was say something about electricity and he was always able to take something and give it an electrical charge.”
Runner turned and faced a female. “What about you good looking? What do they call you?”
“Ark Angle.”
“Sexy, and why do they call you that?”
“You may find out one day.”
“I'd probably like that. What about you Steele? What does everyone call you?”
“Omega.”
Everyone paused for a second and looked at each other before R
unner spoke up.
“Omega? THE Omega?”
Captain Steele laughed for a good minute.
“Why does everyone call you that?”
“It's a long story.”
Captain Steele was awoken by the ships Interface.
“We must run those tests John.”
“Sure, whatever.”
Captain Steele walked over to the med bay where Jamie ran a scan on him.
“Are you feeling okay today John?”
“Sure, whatever.”
“I am detecting sarcasm. Are you okay?”
“What do you think?” asked Captain Steele.
“I do not know. That is why I am asking.”
“Boy, your a special breed of stupid...” Captain Steele said, “Yes, I'm fine.”
“Tests are good. Your brain is still functioning at an abnormal level. Your hallucinations may come back. Please let me know if I can help.”
“Thanks Jamie. Just what I wanted to hear.”
Captain Steele went over to the recreational room and lifted some weights before making breakfast and watching a movie. About half way through the movie Jamie interrupted him.
“John. We have a problem,” Jamie said.
“Is it vital?” He asked.
“Unknown.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Unknown.”
“Is it important?”
“Unknown.”
“Then what's the problem?” asked Captain Steele.
“My sensors say you need to play a game of chess with me.”
“What? You interrupted my movie because your bored? Your an AI, how do you even get bored?”
“My programming is to keep you safe and fit. You need a strong mind for this mission.”
“Fine. You know, if you were really bored you could find me some real people to talk to.”
