'Take them all to the brig.' Phil motioned to the Agent. 'If any of them are out of line feel free to shoot them.'
'Yes Captain.' Smith replied with grim certainty that wasn't lost upon the dozen men he pushed down the corridors of the Bravery.
The cockpit doors shut automatically behind him, leaving a faintly charred smell but nothing else to indicate Darwin's failed attempts at wresting the ship from him.
'It looks like it's just you and me now, Ensign Hawkins.' Phil said, landing back down in his Captain's chair with a thud. 'Hail the Human Genome Station and tell them that...'
Except the familiar star field of the view screen wasn't there any more. The walls of the cockpit had faded out, replaced with the grey polygon and white light of a simulator, he could hear cheering over the intercom.
The hatch of the holodeck (as Phil thought of it) opened and fluorescent light streamed in. The cheers grew much louder as men in white coats bustled around him, unstrapping him from restraints and testing his vital signs.
His eyes flicked down to his hand, and the glove sparkled back at him cheerfully.
Had this been the test all this time?
'Careful man.' a distinctly calm Professor Hanniman said. 'You're going to be somewhat disorientated after that.'
Phil blinked repeatedly and nodded his head. This iteration of the Professor didn't seem crazed or evil at all.
He heard the sound of other hatches opening then, he hadn't been alone in this.
As he groggily made his way out of the hatch the cheers erupted once more. Hundreds of men and women in white lab coats with what looked to be Captain Darwin and Grand Admiral Burroughs all applauding him.
He stared to his left and saw the other pods, identical to his own simulator and also containing the equally groggy members of his crew.
'Silence please, silence!' called the Grand Admiral, and a hush fell upon the subservient scientists and Engineers in attendance.
'As I'm sure you're all wondering at this time, I figured that an explanation was due.' he stood upon some sort of podium overlooking them all now. 'You have all taken part in an elaborate screening process designed to find the most capable command structure for our newest vessel, the SC Bravery. As you may have noticed the simulation was reliant most upon the mind of your would-be Captain, Mr. Jones.'
Phil looked over at the swaying members of his crew and they only had eyes for him.
'It made for a most entertaining viewing initially, but as the glove and its wearer began to work in tandem the simulation soon shed its comedic tone.'
He was right. At the beginning it had all seemed so light-hearted and manic, but the longer it had gone on the more serious the nature of their dilemma seemed.
Darwin smiled at him then and gave him a wink and the pieces began to fit. The man had intimated as much in a conversation with him while he was held hostage. He had told him that Phil had no idea what was going on, that he hadn't figured it out.
Now he had.
'In conclusion I have the utmost confidence that this simulation has prepared you for the task ahead, each of you shall receive a debriefing from your equivalent aboard the Scavanger before being taken to the docks and assigned to the Bravery. Carry on.'
With that the Grand Admiral departed and the crowd began applauding again.
Phil didn't remember much of the rest of it, there were so many faces and people and none of them that he recognised. Next thing he knew he was in a nicely-furnished room and finally alone.
It was disorientating, but the various lab coats had explained to him in no small detail that he was likely to feel detached and even paranoid about proceedings, given that he had essentially been ripped from one reality and planted into another. To be taken from his command chair and told that everything he had faced had been a test in order to determine whether he was worthy of the same command chair in reality was mind-boggling. What if this universe he now inhabited was just another part of the same test? How could he tell?
He stopped himself. Would he have had these thoughts before entering the test chamber?
Staring down at the glove, he started to believe that something fundamental had been changed within him, something that this not-so-simple garment was responsible for.
A chime came at his door.
'Come in.' he said to it, not even wondering if the doors worked differently in this place.
Annika stepped through the door and stood there, the picture of awkwardness. 'Hello.'
'Hi.' Phil responded, and his heart in turn began to unhelpfully beat faster. 'Come and sit.'
She did as asked and they sat. The silence grew increasingly uncomfortable.
'How much do you remember?' he finally asked.
'Of before?'
Phil nodded.
'The last time I really remember being myself was on board a cargo ship. The whole Star Command thing felt suspiciously... silly.'
Phil realised what that implied and voiced it. 'So we... we've never really...'
'Met? No, this is the first time outside of that simulation.'
He cracked a nervous grin. 'My name is Phil Jones, nice to meet you. And yours?'
She smiled back at his offered hand and shook it. 'I'm Annika, the pleasure is all mine.'
The shiver running up his spine informed him that the pleasure most certainly wasn't all hers.
Again the chime sounded.
'Come in.'
RJ stood at the door. 'Oh sorry Captain, I didn't mean to interrupt...'
'You're not interrupting anything.' Phil said firmly, withdrawing his hand from Annika's. 'So what's your story?'
RJ walked over to the replicator and ordered three rounds of neat scotch before responding. 'I guess things got a bit odd just before I was told to pick you up. I figure they had someone else transport you over to Star Command and that the whole testing thing was part of the simulation.'
This surprised Phil, as he was certain that the simulation would have happened during the shuttle ride over to Star Command. Apparently it had been before then and he hadn't even noticed it. He took the scotch from RJ's hand and sipped at it thoughtfully. 'It looks like this is the first time we've met too.' he said.
RJ tipped his hat. 'As far as I'm concerned sir everything we shared together in that simulator thing is real to us.'
Nods of agreement were followed by the door chiming again.
'Annika, the computer systems must be malfunctioning because they informed me that your room was... oh.'
'Come on in, Agent Smith.' Phil said. 'The more the merrier!'
Smith's face curled somewhat in distaste but he acquiesced, clearly not a man comfortable with being caught off-guard. 'It would appear that we are gathered.' he stated.
'Do you recall when reality ended and the simulation began?' Phil asked. 'We're all swapping stories here.'
Smith shook his head. 'I have no knowledge of when this... unsettling change occurred.'
It was odd to Phil, the longer they talked to more it felt like they hadn't just met for the first time and had indeed shared all these adventures together. The next chime on the door wasn't one any of them had been expecting.
'Don't shoot! Don't shoot!' Darwin cried, arms raised in submission. 'I was ordered to play the bad guy by the Grand Admiral1'
'And say if we don't believe you?' RJ snarled.
'Then you're going to miss out on the unveiling of your new ship.'
The Bravery. Darwin was going to take them to the Bravery.
'Stand down RJ.'
'But Captain...it could be a tr...'
'I said stand down, all of you!'
To his surprise, they all complied, lowering their assorted weapons. Darwin smiled at them in reponse. 'A Captain indeed... Now if you'll all follow me.'
They made their way down the futuristic corridor that indeed matched some that they had seen in the simulation. Apparently reality wasn't that much different than the fantasy they had all taken part in.
/> 'You're all going on board a shuttle, it will ship you from the Human Genome station back to Star Command's dock.'
'How do we know we can trust you?' RJ muttered, clearly upset about how Darwin had treated him throughout the simulation.
'You will be doing the flying.' the Captain assured him. 'If you decide you don't like what you see you can just pilot out of there with me as hostage.'
This mollified RJ somewhat, though the language the man was muttering under his breath was anything but complimentary with regards to what he thought of Darwin in general.
It still felt like a dream to Phil as they made their way to the shuttle, could what Darwin be telling them be true? Could such a horrific man in the simulation prove to be this genial and commanding presence in person?
'What about Trigger, Terry and Semaj?' he asked him.
'You'll see soon enough.' the Captain replied, giving him that same confident smile.
He wasn't wrong either, they stared out of the window of the shuttle and the docks of Star Command were clearly accompanied by a rather large and majestic-looking ship.
'A little larger than the conglomerate ship that your Doctor Semaj so ingeniously proposed in the simulation. She's a beauty though.'
They stared wide-eyed as it grew closer, the huge white hull gleaming through the darkness of space thanks to various lights. This was the Bravery, this was their ship.
'I don't believe it.' Annika said breathlessly. 'It's beautiful.'
Darwin's smile hadn't left his face the whole journey. 'It's all yours.'
Smith grunted in the corner, souring the moment somewhat. 'You can stop pretending to be so magnanimous Darwin, I know you enjoyed hamming up your role in there.'
'Oh Agent Smith.' the man sighed with a wicked twinkle in his eye. 'Can't you let a Captain live a little every so often?'
'No, no I cannot.' Smith replied, his dead-pan face betraying no hint of humour.
A glimmer of frustration passed over the man's features, but was replaced almost as quickly as it had arrived. 'As you wish, I will take my leave as soon as you have docked with the ship.'
Darwin was true to his word in the end, and as they followed the helpful arrows toward the bridge he bid them adieu.
The turboshaft was silent as they all pondered what the future held. Everything had changed since the simulation had begun, now what had felt like a dream was slowly becoming real to Phil.
'You are now at the Bridge. Have a nice day.' the sweet voice of the computer told them as the shaft doors slid open.
And there it was, all futuristic lights and bright textures. A wall of computer panels occupied by any number of uniformed crew and a layout that seemed oddly similar to their old cock pit in the centre.
'Captain on the bridge!' cried on of the officers, and the Captain's chair spun around to greet him.
'Hello there Captain!' Semaj cried, still bedecked in his lab coat and clown shoes. 'I trust you had a super dooper shuttle ride over?'
'Yes...' Phil said, realising that this was the first time he had met the man. 'Nice to meet you, Doctor Semaj.'
'The bridge is all yours Captain, I'm off to sick bay faster than a pack of hungry dogs! Woof!'
With that, he shot off into the turbo shaft and was gone, none of the other crew batted an eyelid at the behaviour.
Phil took his time surveying the scene before him, and then with some hesitation walked over to the command chair, running his gloved hand over it. It felt right somehow.
'Assume your positions!' he called out to anyone who would listen. 'We're about to depart on our first mission... Where is it we're going Ensign?'
Trigger Hawkins spun around and offered a toothy grin at the Captain. 'That's Lieutenant now sir, I just like this chair. We're headed into the Astreos Nebula, apparently they've been having some difficulties with traders.'
Phil nodded and grinned back at him. 'Good to see you Trigger. Any Voravian presence in the area?'
'Not a Voravian in sight, sir.'
'Perfect, set course.' he stared up at the speaker above him. 'Engineering? Terry, are you down there?'
A purring sound came from the speakers. 'Get off there Mr. Tibbums, that is for talking, not for sitting! Er... yes Captain, I'm down here. Engines are primed and ready at your signal.'
'Star Command says we are clear to go.' Annika signalled from communications.
'Weapons are primed and aimed at Darwin's shuttle sir.' Smith intoned from tactical, causing the room to fall silent.
'It was... a joke sir. Aha..ha.. ha.'
Nervously, a few of the crew members laughed along.
'I don't think that will be necessary yet, Agent Smith. Smart thinking though.' Phil acknowledged. 'RJ? Trigger? Are we ready to take her out?'
'Aye sir, ready when you are.' they replied in unison.
Phil leaned forward in his chair. 'Let's see what's out there then.' he raised his gloved hand and stuck two fingers out. 'Engage!'
The SC Bravery flew out into the depths of space, and though it was the ending of this particular adventure, for the crew it was just the beginning.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Skittering! Amorphous! Steam!
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
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