Postby Davidizer13 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:33 pm
Cooper
Flight Engineer Cooper Machale paced the engineering decks of the colony ship* with a subordinate, running through a long list of systems. A warmup session had blown a few couplings in the electronics conduit - nothing a couple aggravating, mind-numbing hours of replacing and retesting them couldn't fix. He glanced down at the tokamak they were walking above, imagining the ring of hydrogen plasma mashing together inside it.
"All right, next system." he said, "Oxygen conduits."
"Check, sir."
"Power status."
"35% of capacity, 94% efficiency. Output is running steady at 600 megawatts - check for takeoff!"
"Spiral amplifiers?"
"Che-hey, wait, what?"
"...Never mind. Keep it running clean; we leave in two hours, 'kay?"
"Yes, sir, but where are you going?"
"To...to, uh, make a report to the captain." With that, he walked up the stairs and up through the more habitable decks of the ship - the oxygen greenhouses, the crew quarters, up to the command deck. "There's no one here," he said, to nobody in particular. "There's no one here." Quietly, he stepped up to the command chair and sat down. "Tarask," he barked, his finger jabbing at invisible officers, "fire all cannons at vector Delta-Gamma 167. Lay down some supporting fire; Wachowski, engines to full - disable the gravity brake, we're gettin' out of here. 'But sir, we'll overload the engines! Are you crazy?' I'm not crazy, I'm getting us home alive! Do it now, I say!" He made the requisite space whooshing sounds as his fantasy ship hit full speed and left their battle behind them.
We are loved even though we suck.
Psalms 37:37 (NHEB)
Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.