Got off shift and wandered over to the pub. Ran in to Mercy and Bunny from engineering. I grabbed a pint from the bar and wandered over. “My two favorite folks that are smarter than me!” i said ” Mind if I join you?”
Mercy slid a chair out with her foot. “Whats the word Murray?”
” Well, I didn’t have to clean up any barf today, so it’s a good day!” I hoisted my pint and we clinked glasses.
“That was really weird,” bunny said leaning back and putting her feet up on the extra chair. “Everyone on the ship launching their lunch like that. I sure don’t envy your sections job”
“Yep” I said ” Pretty brutal couple of days” I took a sip. “So, any word of what’s coming up? I hear tell that the captain wants to turn tail and head back to Sol”
Mercy snorted. “Yeah, he would if he could move the ship.”
“What? We’re dead in the water?”
“Nope” she said ” the Spoop drive is fully operational. We just can’t go anywhere. The gate is doing the same thing as it did on the other side. It’s like we’re being told to wait.”
“So we just get to sit here drinking pints and wondering what it’s all about?” I took a sip and pondered ” I’m surprisingly okay with that”
“Shit no!” Bunny said ” You should see some of the traffic going in and out of the gate! Stuff that we’ve never even imagined!” She took her feet off the chair, leaned forward and tapped the back of her hand. “This one flew by yesterday”
A Three dimensional image appeared on the table surface.
” Holy shite! ” I said “How big is this thing?”
“They measured it at 100 by 100 klicks. Man, I would love to get in and have a look around!” She flexed her hand and the display turned off. “That is a thing of beauty”
“Astro section is having a field day” Mercy said” They are so excited they are barely holding their fudge, all these new stars to drool over”
“Have they had contact with any of these ships?”
“Not that we’re aware of” mercy said “It feels like we are being shunned like the new kid at school”
” I hate being shunned” I said
Just then Kirby came in. Another of the engineering squad. He literally ran over to the table.
” Guys! You are not going to believe this!” He sat down. “I was doing some cabling on the bridge when they got a message from someone out there. It said ‘Stand by. Escort has been dispatched’. ” Juliette arrived and dropped a whiskey neat in front of him. He slammed it back and handed her the glass. ” More please”
“Astro managed to find something out there moving towards us and got it on screen.” He tapped the back of his hand and an image appeared again on the table surface. “Sorry about the quality, but I actually took the picture off the reflection on another monitor”
“Whale Oil Beef Hooked!” I said
” Do we have an ETA on this thing?” Mercy asked
“I overheard them say 72 hours if it maintains it’s present burn”
Mercy finished her beer and stood up. ” I’m going to see if I can get more info.”
” I’ll come with you.” Bunny said, grabbing her coat.
Juliette arrived holding another whiskey, but Kirby was already headed out the door with the other two.
” What the hell is up with them?” She asked
” Engineering” I said ” they are easily excitable” I picked up my glass ” Cheers!”
Juliette shrugged her shoulders, clinked my glass and downed the double whiskey. She made a ‘Whiskey Face’. ” I really wish someone would let me know whats going on, I feel like I’m living in a vacuum”
“Well, technically you are, but sit down and I’ll fill you in”
