I awoke with a shudder, lights were flashing and the air had taken on a frigid chill. "Computer, report," I said, swinging my long legs off the side of my rack.
There was a pause then the computer responded, with far more static than usual. "Yes Captain. Apollo Drive is offline. Life Support is at minimum required levels and falling. External Sensor malfunctioning. Artificial gravity has failed in some areas. Lighting is fluctuating. All crew life pods have ejected. Only two members of the crew remain aboard. Captain Helena Coltrane. Chief Engineer Nathan Simmons. End of report," the computer responded.
I felt the usual hot thrill go through my body at the mention of the ChEng, or Chief Engineer. "Computer, are we under attack?" I asked. Again there was a pause before the response, apparently the computer had also been effected. "Sensor data from before the incident would suggest that there were no other star ships in range of Gaia's Wrath.
However, sensors will need to be brought online to provide more information. Permission to extrapolate from available data Captain?" the computer asked.
"Granted," I replied. "Self-diagnostics appear to be offline. My core was accessed just before the Apollo Drive went offline. This would suggest that my systems were sabotaged by someone aboard then they escaped with the rest of the crew.
My system requires a hard reset before normal ship functionality can be restored. The ChEng appears to be attempting this as we speak," finished the computer.
I felt an irrational flush of jealousy that Nathan was fiddling with the computers sensitive systems, when my sensitive systems hadn't been fiddled with... for far too long.
I started to pull on my bridge uniform then stopped, reg's be damned.
I pulled on the off-duty ship suit, a tight one-piece that fit very snugly in all the right places. I ran my hand over my suit where it curved around my 'curvier than regulation permitted' ass and smiled contentedly.
With or without the ChEng I'd be taking the edge of some of my needs after this drama was resolved.
Exiting my cabin, I was pleased to notice that gravity seemed just slightly less than Earth norm, which was where the compute kept it aboard Gaia's Wrath. Making my way down the long corridor that ran through Officer cabin territory, then joined the main trunk line that could take you anywhere in the large ship. Gaia's Wrath is set up like a small village. If you imagine an arrowhead with the point facing forwards you will get an approximation of what she looks like.
Across a relatively flat stern you have the huge engines and the engineering section which took up a third of this ship due to the massive Apollo drive. This included machine shops and repair bays.
Running through the centre or spine of the ship is the 'nerve cluster', a large central corridor full of computer bays, sensor rooms, everything that kept the ship functioning, at the very centre was a large open area which housed the computer itself. Running forwards from this to the tapered tip of the arrowhead you will come to the bridge, or Command and Control.
Angling back from the bridge on either side were weapons bays and hangers for the various scout, transport and attack ships. This left two areas on either side of the spine, on the port side of Gaia's Wrath you would find the crew quarters, with officer country in bow and enlisted in the stern.
On the starboard side of the spine were the officer and enlisted mess halls and lounge sections and the common areas for unwinding. Variously corridors ran through the ship, with the green lines running from the stern to the bow all culminating at the CnC, there were four of these, bisecting the ship.
The yellow lines cut through these from port too starboard, passing through the spine in secured areas.
I took Green Two from my cabin which was just behind the bridge, towards the stern, then took Yellow 4 into the central computing area to check on the ChEng. I found him shirtless at a terminal typing furiously with sweat dropping from every exposed surface of his body.
The spine usually ran quite a bit cooler than the rest of the ship but today it was the opposite, the ship was very cold and the spine was scorching.
"Report ChEng," I said, angry that a slight flush had sprung from the back of my neck to my cheeks and it wasn't due to the heat.
Chief Engineer Simon's swivelled his large frame in the chair and eyed me cooly. "Captain," he said without the usual level of respect, "the computer was sabotaged, it appears one of your bridge crew decided to get off early and input a command directly into the core.
The Apollo drive was meant to disable itself and... well, your cabin was meant to lock down. However, the AD went offline a power surge went through the spine. Have you been to the bridge?" he asked.
I shook my head, looking above his head so I wouldn't follow the various sweat paths down his muscular frame. He grunted, one of those overly masculine noises that can convey almost any emotion conceivable, "It's a mess, the surge tore up the spine and into the bridge systems. Everyone on duty... well, I'll be sealing it off as soon as I can reset Gaia," he said.
He flexed his hands and I shuddered and the muscles across his shoulders reacted. My flush was back and I squeezed my thighs together and hoped he wouldn't notice.
He tilted his head to the side and gave me an unreadable look then grunted again before turning and going back to typing furiously. I took a step forwards thinking to run my hands over his back and shoulders and stopped myself before my outstretched hands could make contact with that broad expanse of muscle.
I rested my hands on the back of his chair and leaned forwards to watch what he was doing, he flinched slightly and I made sure not to push into him.
"Captain," both Gaia as the ChEng called the computer and the man himself said at the same time. The ChEng nodded to no one at all and the computer continued, "I am ready to begin the reset, I will be completely offline until my systems can repair themselves, I suggest getting some rest as it could take some time. The ChEng has activated some of the secondary sensor systems and I can confirm that there are no other ships within jump distance. Also, I would suggest that the ChEng showers as his body is exceptionally sweaty and liquids are not conducive to the computer core when it is online," Gaia finished.
