EDITED BY:
Miriam Belle
CREATIVE CONSULTANT:
Simply_Cyn
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
-"For those who have been following this story, you'll notice some subtle changes to the plot, especially in this chapter. I realized halfway through the story that certain elements were not going to work that I had established here in the first chapter. I've pulled an executive decision and made the necessary changes to make a better story.
The long stretches of time between chapters are because I am taking longer to write and then edit the installments with Miriam. Also, as many of you know, I've been going through a divorce, learning how to be a single dad of two children (one 2 Β½ years old and the other 9 months old) and attending school to get my teaching credentials. SO, with that in mind, it may take a little longer to get each chapter out there but I swear I haven't forgotten the stories or the people who read them. You guys are awesome, and I can't thank you enough for your generous support and comments.
With that in mind, enjoy!" βbluefox07
*
ARRIVAL
TERRAN EARTH DATE
01. 15. 2179
***
Sixty-nine people slept peacefully in their cryo-tubes as the sleeper ship Haven dropped out of hyperspace and sped through the infinite expanse of the stars. Its mottled gray hull was shadowed and dark, scored from meteorites that had collided with its heavy armor plating. Long, black streaks indicating heat burns from past re-entries feathered the forward prongs of the large starship. The Haven was shaped like a large horseshoe, tapered at the forward hull to ease her travel through atmosphere. The Haven was the only interstellar craft of her kind to return from 15 consecutive missions in one piece and without a man or woman lost. Her crew felt the design of their ship was symbolic of their luck.
The hull was smooth for the most part, only a few protrusions here and there to house sensor equipment and auto-navigation receivers. Several spires, each two meters tall spiked near the engineering hull at the base of the "U." Three broad engines lined two thirds of her stern, deeply embedded in the design of the vessel to keep the integrity of her curve. They glowed a bright blue, both powerful and intimidating as they propelled Haven to her destination.
While it was mute in the cold void of space, it was even quieter within the ship. A powerful central computer powered by an A.I. brain ran the ship silently and efficiently as the crew and passengers slept. The bridge was quiet, the passageways empty and the lights powered down to conserve energy. Only the life-support machines in the cryo-tube holds were active in their daily routines, governed by the A.I.. The Haven was a masterpiece of technology, a perfect machine for the dangerous business of colonizing new worlds.
The bridge of the vessel was centrally forward to the engineering section, nestled in the bottom curve of the "U", allowing its crew an amazing view of her unique design and the open space beyond. In the twin cargo sections, one in each pylon that helped form the "U" shape of the ship was the passenger tubes. Thirty identical cryogenic tubes were equipped in each hold, all lined perfectly with one another.
The holds were cold and sterile, devoid of any human dΓ©cor or sense of home and hearth. It was strictly business, the only hints of individual personality pulsing from the many collections of computer terminals and readouts adorning each tube. They blinked and monitored each human, maintaining the delicate balances needed for sustained cryo-hibernation. With out this technology, man would never have been able to reach deep space.
According to the A.I. computer network that helped design the ship, the only potential flaw in its perfect equation of symmetry and function was the human element. Even in stasis, with the functions of the body reduced to a state of suspended animation the mind was allowed to dream. The computer monitored and adjusted the bio-readouts accordingly to keep its precious cargo safe and undamaged, but it could not control the occasional nightmare or dream. All it could do was compensate by administering a pre-determined amount of sedative to lull the sleeping passenger back to a blank sleep.
The ship viewed their dreams with all the understanding of a child to calculus. While the formal definitions of a dream were known to it and the psychological implications understood to the furthest extent, it could not identify a reason for the dreams. They were an odd byproduct of the inefficient human psyche, sometimes pleasurable but mostly uncomfortable. More often than not, sleepers on long journeys like this would be plagued by nightmares.
But there was always the exception.
The A.I. translated imagery it received from the neural link into one of the men. He was the captain of the ship, and his sleep was filled with imagery both erotic and emotional. The A.I. was not allowed to record the data, but it could observe. Its curiosity was innocent and unbiased as the visual feeds revealed the dream inside Captain John Ashton's mind. On video display above his tube, static sounded off and a glowing picture lit the shadowy bay.
The A.I. observed.
The sun was setting, the entire sky hot as though on fire with brilliant reds, oranges and yellows.
"This all seems so surreal," a dark haired, beautiful woman told him as she sipped her ice tea. In the hot light of the setting star, her body glowed with an avaricious luminescence. The computer, watching through Ashton's' eyes still could not take its gaze off her. The woman was recognized as Tishara Lee, the First Officer of the ship. The machine contemplated the consequences of the two commanding officers in a romantic relationship and the adverse effects that might have on their mission as it followed Ashton's eyes in the dream.
Tishara was beautiful by human and even alien standards. Each of her breasts were evenly tanned and revealed no hint that she had ever worn a bikini in her life. A shade darker than her soft skin, her areolas spread out in perfect dollar-sized circles. Tishara's nipples were long and beautifully erect, her sensitive nubs casting thin shadows across the smooth terrain of her bosom.
"Yes it does," Ashton propped himself up on one arm and momentarily took his eyes off her. He looked out at the ocean and smiled. In a way he felt somewhat like the ocean itself. His potential vast and hidden, only a small fraction of who he was could be seen from afar. The waves on the beach were perfect representations of his understanding. He could only go so far up the beach and then loose his momentum, slipping back. But that didn't stop him from trying again.
The computer processed this concept. How odd that the human could find comfort in something so abstract?
"There's something I need to tell you," Tishara said softly.
Ashton looked to her as a cool breeze whispered over his naked body. He asked, "What is it?"
"Don't freak out on me, okay?" she looked at him, her eyes filled with bold courage and subtle uncertainty at the same time. The breeze caused some of her thick hair to blow in front of her face as she said, "I think I'm-"
Ashton waited for her to finish as she struggled with her words.
"It's okay," he said and touched her face gently.
She smiled and kissed his fingers, "I'm in love with you."
A sudden exhilarating sensation swarmed through his body as he replayed the words over and over in his mind. The waves were beginning to touch their feet as the tide gradually came in. Ashton didn't shiver as another wave snaked up to their feet, this time cresting at his calves. His nipples hardened and he smiled at Tishara. He said, "I love you too."
The computer analyzed this interaction. As sophisticated as it was, the A.I. could not comprehend the feeling it monitored in Ashton. His heart was pounding in the dream and so it was now in his tube. His body was reacting to the words he had heard. The power this woman held over him was immeasurable. The A.I. began to consider the possibility of sedating Ashton further, to keep him in the green.
Yet it waited.