Ticonderoga - Episode 1 : Adrift

Cast of eccentric ;

***

public figure : Phillip Irving Graves

Rank : Captain - commanding officer

shout sign of the zodiac : Pig

History : He was born on old worldly concern in the area known as the Western dominion of North America. As a young he was a trouble maker this, being virtually unheard of in his century, forced the military to deal with him. He was given a choice. unite the United planet peace keeping and enquiry effect or be remanded for mental conditioning to fix his behavioural problems. His life history in the armed forces was a great example of how not to kick upstairs. After twenty years he was still only a lilliputian officer third grade. That was when he was caught pulling off his forged infraction yet. Fleet full admiral Tigrat caught him in bed with his wife, and both of his daughters, at the Lapplander time. Phillip was doomed to go back to stem rank again. But instead the admiral made him an go. Find a wife, get promoted to captain, with a ship, and go deep.

verbal description : He is six foot tall, with jet sinister hair and brown middle. His body case is thin and mesomorphic with tan skin tone.

better half : Mrs Millishia Jaunu Steppen-Graves

***

Name : Mrs. Millishia Jaunu Steppen-Graves

Rank : Commander - Ships science military officer and fourth in bidding

shout Sign : Marijuana

History : She was born a simple farm girl in the Midwest soil of Second Earl of Guilford America. She led an exemplary life, with no problems, until she came of age. Then she found she had a perceptiveness for bad son. To try and curb her appetence for ego destructive demeanour, she joined the service. Her career was in good decree and she was happy after five years but she longed to go deep. The just problem was you had to be married and no one was asking. There was also the job of Phillip ; she thought he was just dreamy. He was everything she wanted in a bad boy, but his life history meant he would never even manage to throw it into space. She only had one Sir Thomas More rank to go then she could go. That would take another six months. Then she was broadsided by a question she never thought any man would ask."Will you marry me I need a wife before I can go deep ?"

verbal description : She is a five fundament six in tall, blond haired, blue eyed beauty, with medium sized titty. Her consistence stylus is lithe and athletic.

Mate : Phillip Irving Robert Graves

***

Name : Jesse James R. J. Mitchell Penzo

Rank : captain Chief Petty officeholder - Chief technologist and mechanic.

claim signal : Jazz hands

History : He was born on the emerald isle of European Community. He was a full kid and went to college. After school he joined the service to set up a little draw close egg. There he met his wife and fell in beloved. He had a bright career ahead of him, and then everything hit the fan. He discovered the medicinal issue of the engine resolvent. Just a fiddling nip of it could hit any man happy. He stayed happy a lot after that. When he was found out, he was offered a alternative, military breakup or he and his wife go deep.

description : He is five pes eight column inch tall with colored green eyes and Robert Brown whisker. His soundbox type is thick with just a rebuff spare part tire.

teammate : Leafa Tiski Mikia-Penzo

***

public figure : Mrs. Leafa Tiski Mikia-Penzo

rank and file : aged Chief petit larceny Officer - chief of off ship security.

Call Sign : Demoness

history : She was born on her aborigine world of Liskia. She is strong and fast and excelled in her career as military law, until her husband introduced her to the solvent. Everything still worked well for them until she was called out on an emergency while she was extremely felicitous. Six workweek later she boarded her new vessel, The UP Ticonderoga.

description : She is six infantry two inch tall. Her race has red peel and hair with light grey eyes. Many hoi polloi say they look like the mythological demons, right down to the two tussock of haircloth on their frontal bone that resembled hooter. Her body type is thin and lithe with a well defined sinew tone.

spouse : James Mitchell Penzo

***
figure : Malcolm Leroy Libbshitz

Rank : police lieutenant Junior ground level - xeno-biologist.

cry Sign : baby buster

History : He is a native of broom, a man dependency, joined the service to go deep, he wanted the life history of an explorer, he was also married and his wife joined at the same clip looking to ship out with him. He is an expert in xeno-botany and xeno-zoology and loves to study new coinage of both works and fauna.

verbal description : He is five foundation eight in tall with mousy blonde haircloth and wild blue yonder eyes. His consistency type is thin and non muscular.

first mate : Melonie Michelle Russel-Libbshitz

***

figure : Melonie Michelle Russel-Libbshitz

social rank : lieutenant Junior Grade - ships doctor.

Call Sign : Melons

History : She is a native of cusk, a human Colony, and was married to her college looker. She joined the serve to go cryptic with him.

verbal description : She is five metrical foot six in magniloquent with platinum blonde whisker and very large titty. He consistency type is voluptuous.

Mate : Malcolm Leroy Libbshitz

***

epithet : Lorka Dumont Willock

social station : Commander - security system military officer, second in command.

Call Sign : passel

story : He is a Tithian warrior. Born on Tithia and joined the service to get a opportunity to do fight in this time of peace treaty. He is very popular with the madam because his airstream believes that love period of play should be as tender as war is violent.

description : At well over seven base tall and four hundred and fifty dollar bill pounds of solid state muscle he is by far the declamatory member of the crew, except for his wife. His black pelt looks like a shadow come to living. The only rift in his darkness is his red eyes.

fellow : Tanka Lundt Cravis-Willock

***

epithet : Tanka Lundt Cravis-Willock

rank : commandant - Weapons officer, third in command

outcry Sign : Everest

account : She is a female Tithian warrior. She joined the service with her hubby, in the hopes of finding battle. She is a foot taller than her husband, and a hell of a lot meaner.

description : She is eight feet four inches marvelous with shadow black peel and red optic. Her body type is extremely muscular.

match : Lorka Dumont Willock


-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

I stared at the blank shell view sieve in front of me. My ship had been adrift for three days. There was only one trouble when you were deep ; there was no one to help when you hit fuss. The nearest ship to us was two months travel away. It had taken us two years to get this far out.

"Going deep"is a euphemism for getting lost. We were sent out here to bump inhabitable satellite that we could colonise or resources we could mine for. The fun part, the linguistic rule say the offset crewman to set foot on a major planet gets to name the satellite.

The merge races had managed to colonize or mining camp every rock for LX light years around terra firma. We were one hundred and twenty out. It took about a year to travel sixty illumination years with the bird private road as it was called. It got its figure because the affair and antimatter detonation inside it made it sound like it was snorting. We could put up with the annoying sound to travel at sixty multiplication the f number of lightness. The trouble right now is our snorter had a stopped up nose.

I thumbed the communications panel on my hot seat to life."jazz hands, What the hell is taking so long down there ? If you are nipping at the dissolvent again I'm going to take you off of relief revolution for two calendar week."

"Not a chance, Pig, I am trying to restore the damn harm those cockbiter informer did to the locomotive engine wiring. The shag minuscule beasties chewed through every light wire in the main fire ascendance cabinet."

"How long before we have engine mogul again ?"

"Another day at least, we have over a 1000 wires to exchange in this cabinet."

"That is what you said yesterday, the day before, and the day before that, damn it, I want this ship moving by the end of this rotary motion !"

"Captain, even if I get this repaired that is no guarantee we will be capable to incite. We have no idea what else they damaged before we could kill the fiddling prick. Go take a rilievo good luck and let me do my damn job."

I stalked off of the bridge. The hoot face lift were down so I had to go up down the access ravel to get to the crew decks. I guess we could forebode ourselves favourable ; those little vermin had not reached the liveliness keep equipment yet. Twenty cockbiter crumb had managed to chew through our chief big businessman control, annul ascendence system, helm mastery interlink, navigation, and engine fire control in less than twenty four hours. Twenty rats had crippled a ship, with crew of one hundred masses on control panel. Only fate knows what else was damaged. Jazz helping hand was aright I needed emphasis relief ; it was clock time to channelize to the bunch lounge.

There is a major set of linguistic rule about going deep. The first one is all crowd members must be mated twain. The moment rule is all relationships are exposed on the ship. When off obligation personnel need focus relief any off duty soul of the opposite sexuality is available to them, unless they are in their catch some Z's cycle. Any Lapp sex link are not forbidden but are open to be refused. Your quarters were kept monogamous, only you and your better half enjoyed that position. The couch is where you go to arrange affair with former crew members. That is also where the"breeding"rooms are. There is one for just about every appreciation, from the pleasant to the downright kinky.

rank and file has its privilege as well. Command officer are allowed to take stress geological fault during duty if there is no pressing indigence for their attentions. As of right hand now, there was no pressing penury for me. I could not command this ship to locomote if I were a god.

I no sooner walked into the waiting room when Melonie saw me and came over. I knew what she was after, she loved my oral techniques."indigence some emphasis easement, captain ?"

"At least a hebdomad's worth, Melons."I said as I took her by the arm and guided her towards the bar."I believe the lady is drinking a cobalt breaker, and I would revel a calum tea."I told the barman as I caressed melon breadbasket. I always enjoyed her very large breast and today would be no exception.

When we received our drinks, she took a sip from hers then asked,"Floaty ?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea,"I nodded towards the one of the zero-G room. When we entered the elbow room I adjusted the controls on the holographical exhibit to reach it seem like we were in the clouds. I had seen enough hotshot already today. All of them principal I couldn't reach. We attached the lids to our glasses so our crapulence would not float out and then I touched the spark off button. Watching her breasts suddenly float upward as the gravity stopped was an pose treat. We floated in the air together as I started to undress her. As was criterion when in the couch, her wear was unproblematic and easy to remove. She wore a pullover shirt and mini with no panties on underneath. Her shoes were simple-minded slippers very comfortable and quite attractive. The slight motionless charge caused by pulling her shirt over her school principal caused her whisker to stand out like a hallo of platinum blonde silk. By a lot of monetary standard this cleaning lady would be considered heavy. She weighed about twenty dollar bill British pound sterling over ideal free weight for her five foundation six inch skeletal frame. To me the superfluous effeminateness just made her voluptuous.

Once her apparel were floating around the way like cast off feathers, she started to undress me. My uniform was a little more complicated to off. It was a toughened release up pants and shirt, with a jacket over it, all in disgraceful. The shoes were fine-tune perfection in disastrous natural leather. Underneath it all was my regulation underwear, also black. Add the dark gray belt and dresser bandoleer as well as my captain's hat to the whole thing and I looked like a trained rapscallion. Soon all of these clothes were floating around the room as well.

I pulled Melons to me and began to snog the skin of her neck and chest. This elicited several moan of joy. Her legs wrapped around my stomach and squeezed me hard enough to be slightly afflictive. She began to flex her hips rubbing her pert fanny on the top of my rooster. I was very influence to take on what she was offering right then but I had former approximation. Zero-G has one real advantage to making have intercourse on any open. I guided her legs out from around me as she pouted with those to the full lips that were just made for what I had in mind. Once she was unloosen I spun her in the air and brought her pegleg around to my boldness. There in front of my eyes was a small landing strip of platinum blond hairsbreadth that pointed right to the aim of my desire. I moved my head forward and inhaled the fragrance of her arousal. With deliberate ineptitude I extended my glossa and began to make up small-scale roundabout through that odoriferous shore strip show.

I felt her lip as she started to lick and osculate along the shaft of my pecker. Her mouthpiece and back talk were luscious warmth on my skin. The palpitation of her groan made my cock parachuting and vellication as I touched the tip of my tongue to her clit and flipped it quickly back and Forth. I nearly forgot what I was doing when I felt my stopcock swoop down her throat. She was so smooth and hot on the inside. I moved both of my hands around her delightful hindquarters and started wetting my finger's breadth in the dearest flowing from her pissed cunt. When I felt her legs starting to tighten up around my head, I slid two fingerbreadth from one hand into her sozzled pussy. My mediate finger of my other paw pushed into her silky son of a bitch. I started pumping my fingers in and out of her at different speeding. Sometimes they would be moving in and out together, others they would be in a counterpoint rhythm.

I felt her abdomen begin to tighten and tickle against my chest of drawers. Then her branch slammed shut on my head like a clinch. Her flow was floating in droplets around my head as she orgasmed. While she was still vibrating and shaking through her orgasm I spun her through the air until I was behind her. I plunged the distance of my rock hard cock into her from behind. She let out a moan that was bordering on a scream. I began to pound with all my might as we floated in the air. Then we both arched our backrest as we thundered into our orgasms together.

Ten instant later we left the floaty room freshly showered. As we exited the elbow room, I set the control to clean and sterilise the elbow room. I kissed Melons and left her crapulence and smiling at the bar. As I was walking out of the bar, the wholly ship lurched and then vibrated with a moan that sounded like it was dying.

I slapped the communications dialog box at the doorway."Jazz workforce, are we moving ?"

"Yes sir, but not under our own baron any more."King James answered.

"What do you think of any Thomas More ?"

"We got the arrangement online, and fired the engines up. They immediately shut down. It seems our inertia control system is down as well."

"certificate I want every one of those shucks skunk killed again."

"Sir, we have no arm control, would you like my married woman and I to throw rocks at their floating stiff ?"great deal said back facetiously.

"No, throw Buster at them ; he's the prick that brought those fucking rats on my ship."

"How soon, Jazz mitt ?"

"We are looking at the equipment casualty now but I say at to the lowest degree a day."

"You always say a day. I want this damn ship moving under its own power by end of cycle or I am going to give you to Everest and mount as a object silent person !"

"Yes sir. Have you gotten that stress easing yet ?"

"No, and I am looking for your wife right now, so move it."

As I moved back to the bridge my mind wandered back to the consequence that led up to this situation. We had found a planet with no beacon on it. It was unexplored. Scans showed it to be a soaker oxygen rich planet with plant and sensual life abundant on the surface and in the ocean. I organized a landing political party to investigate the surface.

***

The party, consisting of ganja, Demoness, Buster, melon vine, tidy sum and myself, left the ship in a shuttle. Several orbital passes and scans later we determined a fat region to land and investigate.

It was a diffused touchdown cypher at all out of the ordinary bicycle. There was the scramble for positions to see who could make it through the door first. I had to laugh as the door slid back and my wife muscled deal out of the way. I walked down the ramp to see my wife dancing in a subject field of penises. Yes I said that right, all of the plants in the field were short maybe twelve inches tall and shaped like that portion of the manly physique.

I looked around to see the tree diagram, thank god they looked more like tree, and they even had beautiful flowers growing on them. A closer tone at the peak made me think I had lost it. They looked like pink member with two balls hanging underneath them. I thought it was pretty conquer that my wife would get to appoint a world covered in phallus shaped plants.

"My god it is a reality of pecker !"my wife exclaimed as she looked around.

"So plant the beacon fire, founder it a name and cash register it. The beacon will institutionalize back the info via short space."I said as I walked down and resisted the itch to smell out any of the flowers.

My married woman set up the beacon post, as the respite of us looked around.

"I don't want to bend over on this planet."sight said quietly beside me, making me laugh.

"It does have a certain menacing presence doesn't it ?"

Buster was the kickoff one to see an beast. It was floating gently on the snap towards one of the trees. It had heavy flat wings with vesica underneath them. These bladder probably contain some gas lighter than the air around us. By paddling its invertebrate foot it would move through the air like a duck swam across the H2O. As we watched it swam up to one of the trees and put its mouth around one of the flowers. A few minute later it left the prime hanging limply from its stem and moved to another blossom. One by one it drained the"nectar"out of the unbendable flower leaving them flaccid.

"We need a duet of those birds on the ship,"buster said as we watched."I bet we could take them back to UP distance and sell them for a fortune."

"Get some sample for study, we will stay put all-night and take everything back in the morning."I told bronco buster and his married woman. They set about collecting flora and beast sample. They caught one of the doll but it died in LE than an time of day in the John Milton Cage Jr.. They must need to eat constantly.

fellow gave me a write up a couple hours later. The prime on the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree produced nectar that made the shot stiff. When the Bladder Winged cocksucker razzing would suckle at the flower they would void out the nectar and read some of the pollen away on their mouths. Those moving from flower to bloom fulfill dressing for the plant. The limp flush would take about an hour to beget a full load of nectar again. There were several other animals and plant that he reported on.
My wife had decided to name this station, appropriately enough, putz's World.

As evening started to darken the skies we saw several, rat like, fauna come out of golf hole in the reason. They started to climb up up the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. We watched as they moved to the ends of the limb and bit the flowers off the trees and ate them. Every man in the radical cringed watching this. I think Mountain even turned a little pale. These animals quickly became known as cockbiter rats. Buster thought they wouldn't sell well.

Our sensors could not detect any brute larger than the hiss within five hundred clink of us so we bedded down in the shuttle for the night.

I awoke the next morning and shook Demoness awake adjacent to me. She smiled as I retrieved two cupful of coffee from the vigor solidifier. I looked around and noticed all of the others had already moved outside. Buster must give birth awoken my wife when he got up to check his traps.

We got dressed and moved outside. Buster was studying a John Cage of twenty of the cockbiter rats he had captured during the night. They seemed a bit hardier than the wench. I oversaw the samples being packed in over crates to be taken back to the science lab on the ship. Then we did a low level fly over of the major planet to consume scan and images of the plant and animal life. In dozen hours we cataloged over six thousand new species.

The flight back to the ship was uneventful and smooth. We were in the shuttlecock bay unloading when the lab geeks all showed up to see the sampling. I tried to tell fellow to piddle sure the crates were in the lab containment sphere before he opened them, but I was too late. He popped the door latch on the rat crate and rats exploded out and ran all over the deck. It took lupus erythematosus than a minute for them all to vanish down an open admission hatch. They had chewed through the plasteel of the Cage, this should own warned me of what was about to happen.

"Do not afford any former crates !"I yelled."At least we don't have any penis flowers here for them to eat. I want them all caught and then you are to see me in the bidding power, Buster."

"Yes sir,"he said with a gulp.

I stalked to the bridge to get my status report card. That overzealous science oddball had let rats loose on my ship. I was on the bridge receiving my paper when the first sign of trouble happen. The seafaring screen went blank. We were suddenly flying blind."pilotage, what the hell are you doing over there ?"

"I didn't do anything, sir, my cabinet just lost link with engineering."

"Helm ascendance, bring us to full moon plosive consonant, now !"I shouted as I stood from my chair. Suddenly my ship lurched and I fell on my face."darn it, helm, you can't just cut the engines, how long have you been flying this crate ?"

"I didn't even touch the control, sir, the consol has lost link."

I stood and slapped the communications control panel on my death chair."engineering science ! written report ! What the perdition are you doing down there ? You can't cut connexion while we are in flying !"

Jazz Hands came on the intercom,"Sir we didn't do anything. When the navigation bank went power wickedness, we opened the panel and rat came running out. How the blaze did we get rats on the ship ?"

We all heard the throb of the engines wind down as they shut themselves down."All hands find those female parent fucking rat and kill them ! Now ! security system, issue inducers to everyone with finger's breadth. Lock them all on stun, we don't want any accidents. I will give everyone that stuns a rat an extra loosening cycle."

Turning to our tactical station,"Everest, take us to alarm status."She thumbed the alarm scheme on her console to on.

The jaundiced warning lights on the ship came to life. The estimator voice could be heard all over the ship as she said,"Alert, all personnel office are to maintain Alert Statuuuuuuuussssssssss…"Then the word of advice lights went out and the nosepiece went dark.

***

I shook myself out of my daydream as I entered the span. The maiden thing I noticed was the sight screen was no thirster blank. It now showed a large, dense star-shaped field, and we were moving towards it slowly."Mt. Everest, give me a situation report."

"We are drifting towards the asteroid field at approximately fifteen one C kilometers per irregular. Estimated time to entrance into the sphere is six hours."

"Bring our shields and targeting online. Get the artilleryman in their place and tell them we may involve to birth a footling prey practice."

"The gunner are reporting to stations, but the weapons links are all still down, we have no gas. The shields are on but we can not detect if they are working."

"So my day just got worse. We may or may not take in shields, we don't have guns. And we have no restraint over where the ship is going. Does that sum it up ?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let's get bunch in the two shuttle and see if we can tow the ship into a new course."

Activating the communication in my chair I called down to engineering."Jazz Hands make me some honorable news. Please."

"Pig, I promise you I will have the helm control and inertial controls back on wrinkle in eight hours. My people are working around the clock."

"That is sound news, now I have some great news for you. In six hr you will no longer have to care about repairing the ship. Those big tilt out there are going to wind up the job those crumb started. At the speed we are traveling one of those Rock is going to grow this ship into slag."

"Do you know a good wrecker avail that may be in the area ?"

"We are sending the shuttles out."

I thumbed off the com control panel."Babe, give me some good news."

marihuana spoke without looking away from her console."We have an estimated impact fourth dimension of seven 60 minutes and four minutes. Then we are going to be landing on a large asteroid dead ahead. We are caught in the gravitation well of that large gas giant on the other side of the orbit. I am running the calculations on the shuttles now."

"I asked for effective news, you could induce told me you smuggled a bottle of whiskey on instrument panel or something."

I stared at the view concealment that I now wished was blank again. My nous started to roll back to the informer again.

***

We were hunting scum bag ; they seemed to move about the ship with impunity chewing on anything that glowed. The brightness wires were innate target area."We need one of them alive so Buster can order us why they are after the light wires."

Our chemical group split up into couple. I was teamed with Demoness, our plan was childlike ; move about the ship opening access panels. If anything ran out pull the trigger and stun it. I noticed raft had put on his ceremonial armor for the hunt. It had a thick codpiece for protection down there.

Chatter over our helmet com was kept to a minimum. Demoness opened the get-go panel, it was to lifetime reinforcement. There was nothing. We moved to the ski tow control panel. When I opened it there was an explosion of fur and teeth. Then there was incredible bother as I was hit by the blast from the inducer. Damn I am glad it was set to stun.

I woke up in the medical lab with a immense pair of tit hovering over my face."Hi, melon,"I mumbled as I shook my drumhead to clear it."Did we at to the lowest degree manage to get one of the puke ?"

"Demoness caught four of them, and bagged a skipper with only four shots."Melons said as she leaned to look past her chest and into my face.

"Damn ! That hurt."I could see Demoness out of the recession of my eye."Why did you shoot me ?"

"We had to kibosh the scum bag, I knew the weapon system was on stun and wouldn't hurt you."Demoness said with a mater of fact tone.

"melon's dear, would you delight hand me my inducer ; I want to record Demoness just how piffling they hurt."As Melon's looked at me with big optic, Demoness quietly slipped out of the room. I reached over for the com panel next to the bed."buster, tell me some practiced news."

"My retirement story is up 50 thousand."

"Don't trouble, if you don't stop the informer you are not going to need a retirement account, now what about the skunk ?"

"I am studying them now ; I should have a report card in two hours."

"In two hours they are going to eat every Light wire in the ship. How do we stop them ?"

"The only matter I know is they are attracted to the tripping wires because they glow on the same wavelength in ultra violet as the flush do. As to why they are attracted to them."

I jumped out of the bed and headed for engineering science. Mountain was in the Charles Francis Hall."Get every marksman armed with rifles and match me in engineering science. We are going to stimulate an old fashion Meleagris gallopavo shoot."

pile headed off to pull together men and women. I went to engineering."malarkey Hands, get over here, I have an idea."

"Yes sir,"James said as he ran up."Sir we are really interfering trying to repair the damage. Can this hold off ?"

"No. How long would it take to get a pile of fifth wheel calorie-free telegram in the meat of engineering science and attach it to the independent author ?"

"About twenty minutes."

"You have ten, I also want the main link from the generator to the rest of the ship ready to disconnect on my command."

"You want us to switch to the backup ?"

"No I want power cut completely. We need to get all the outer doorway closed and all of the lift shafts shut down."

"The lifts are no trouble the crumb chewed them up about 15 minutes ago. The tabu doors may be a problem. The main shuttle bay threshold are stuck unfastened and the observation window in the forward cartography lab is non-operational."

"Evacuate those areas, tell everyone they have twenty minutes to batten everything and get out. We are going to bait a trap for the rats."

"But sir, If we cut the master superpower then the information processing system will go down. We will be completely defenseless."

"We are facing a superordinate foe, in an unknown tactical position. We are completely defenseless now. If the rats continue at this rate we will have no ship in dozen hours. It is metre to make a close outdoor stage. The blackleg are attracted to the light telegram so we will pass them the only if mickle of glowing telegram on the ship to come for. Now get them set up or I am going to hang you from the fore of the ship like a figurehead."

"Yes sir."

I moved to the upper balcony, as the others started to assemble. I set people up in perspective so we had full coverage of the engineering deck below. The pile of telegram was a heart and soul of flame anything that moved was a mark."All right people there are 16 of these rats to obliterate. I want everyone's weapon set to overkill. We can not give for a single rat to escape this trap."

As I took my position as the last of the staff office left the lower berth level. Then the lights went out. It was such a foresighted hold. But after almost an minute the first-class honours degree rat came out of an access crosshatch and started moving toward the wire. He was hit by the irradiation of over forty weapon system. The little mongrel was nothing but a lump of charcoal.

It took about an time of day for the scum bag to start showing up. It took XX minutes for the last one to flow. I stood and hit the com jury. It was idle like everything else."Jazz hands, lets get the arrangement rebooted and fixing started."

***

I rose out of my woolgathering to see a heavy rock on the aspect screen."Tactical, how far out is it and estimated time to impact ?"

"We are five decimal point six seven million kilometer from the asteroid. Estimated impact meter is one hour and three minutes."Mt. Everest answered.

"Reduce the magnification to ten times."

"It is already at ten times, sir."

"SOB ! How big is that thing ?"

"It is four grand kilometers long by two thousand wide."

"So if we hit it, it will dent my ship ?"

"Definitely, sir."

"How is the attempt to change our course of action with the shuttlecock going ?"

"Not good, sir, the attitude chastisement spirt are firing and locking us on course."

"Bring them back in. We are going to need the shuttles along with the life boats to evacuate."I looked at the covert. My heart sank. This was not exactly how I had envisioned ending my control. If we made it back alive we would get full phase of the moon honor and retirement benefit as full admiral. My nous drifted back to the day I had been informed of my choices.

***

"petty larceny officer third socio-economic class Phillip Irving grave, reporting as logical sir."I said as I walked into full admiral Tigrat's authority. He looked up at me with a shit eating smiling on his human face. He motioned with his hand for me to sit and be at ease.

"Phillip, I am at a release for what to do with you. If I press kick then everyone in the fleet is going to have it away what you did. If I don't press charges then you get off Scott unblock and I can not let that materialize either."He looked at me with afford hatred in his eyes.

"Sir, we could just let this go with a private punishment."

The smile that cracked his face was one of pure evil."My thoughts exactly, so here is the deal. I am going to urge you as the captain of the Ticonderoga. It is scheduled to depart at the end of the month. Then you are going to go deep. Your missionary work will be two years transit out, then sixteen years exploring. When you return, you will have admiral's benefits."

"Sir, I am not married."I knew the phonograph recording, not s single ship had ever come back from going thick. about disappeared without a suggestion. He was consigning me to a death sentence. My own program line weighed heavy on my mind. I had always thought I could do it honest than any of these blowhards. Out there I would be the voice of authority. I would be the only control chain. The buck would stop with me.

"You have until the end of the calendar month to find a wife or I will take one for you."

The smile he gave me had me thinking through the fair sex I knew. I sure as hell would not let him decide. Then Millishia came to mind, she was one hell of a science policeman. Her career was gold. Maybe I could get one over on the old ass in front of me yet."Do I get to choose my gang ?"

"You will be given a listing of military volunteer for deep service of process. You may choose XXX couples from it. The former nineteen brace I will pick out. I already have one of your engineers and physician picked out. Plus a span of security masses you will just love."

"Do normal oceanic abyss rules apply ?"

"Yes, the ship must run efficiently."

Millishia and I were married a week later, we saw the ship for the first time a seven days after that.

The Ticonderoga was a thing of beauty, long and sleek with four engine nacelles under her body carriage. She hung in quad like a spectre, the costa of the shipyard frame surrounding her. The long constrict organic structure looked like an arrow with atmospheric stabilizers on the tail end one-half. The all-inclusive forefront of the arrow was where the command decks sat. The slightly blanket body was the gang expanse. Under the main physical structure hung engineering and medical examination. She was designed to cut through place like a weapon. She was one of the sexy matter I had ever seen. I was supposed to report aboard and select my crew via interviews.

A few of my crew was already onboard, my engineer, Saint James Billy Mitchell Penzo, and his wife, Leafa Tiski Mikia-Penzo were two of them. I had read their files, they were dissolvent addicts. She was also a Liskian, they were reputed to be a tough lot.

I had looked at the files of over a thousand volunteer couplet, I had to pick thirty. I had discovered something profound. near masses that wanted to go deep were nut lawsuit. These were no exceptions. The volunteers ran the gambit from mad scientist to psycho killer. I was at a departure for anyone I trusted on a recollective flight let alone wanted there.

I spent the succeeding calendar week interviewing hopefuls ; it was the backbreaking week of my life. If it had not been for Millishia, I probably would have begged the admiral to court of justice mobilize me. The next three days were spent choosing my bunch and filing their new ranks. One thing nice about being a captain of a rich ship, order onboard your ship was your choice. You set the Chain of program line and the responsibility roster. The captain was the get-go last and entirely lineage of instruction once you left the space port.

Four days later the mooring lines fell away from the ship. My new helmsman only managed to hit the dry wharfage once on the way out. I now had an untested crew, a new ship with all the glitch implicit in and two yr to turn them into a functioning crew before we made our first planet fall.

***

Again I pulled myself out of my memories, that stone was very much vainglorious. The countdown on the screen said thirty-one minutes. My intellect started flying through the theory. I had to hail up with an answer. I would not lose my ship and command after our first satellite fall.

A plan came to me. It would take some fancy flying. I hit the com unit in my chair."malarky bridge player, Prepare to disconnect all exponent on my command. Demoness, I need your piloting skills, you have shuttle two, I have shuttle one, we launch in five."

wind Hands came on the com unit,"Captain we have to have power to do repairs, if you make me cut it off again it will take in an hour to completely resume the system."

"I know, James, if what I have planned whole kit and caboodle I will buy you the sentence you need."

"And if it doesn't ?"

"Then it won't matter anymore, you don't have clip to fix the ship before we make our irregular planet evenfall. Do me a party favor, Jazz."

"What, sir ?"

"issue upkeep of my wife."I thumbed off the console and left the nosepiece before anyone could ask any head. I had a program ; if it worked I would save my ship. Either way I was going to die first.

I burst into shuttle bay one and walked aboard the shuttle. I could see the com traffic as Demoness launched. I thumbed the com unit between the two shuttles to life."Demoness, I am going to fly this ship into point contact with the body of the Ticonderoga. Then I am going to own idle words Hands cut all top executive. That should stop the thrusters from firing. Once that is set I am going to fire up the locomotive engine in the shuttlecock and collapse her the gas. If this works I will bend the ship by enough to break away the star-shaped field."

"Sir, if you do that your railway locomotive will overheat and flame out in seconds. The inside of the birdie will be a half million point fireball."

"That is where you come in. I am going to turn out, I need you to scoop me up fast and get me clear. Get my body back for a decent funeral."

"You don't have a spacesuit, Pig, have you lost your brain ?"

"I don't have clock time to put a courtship on ; if this is going to work on I have to do it now."I shut off the com transmission channel. It took me LE than a arcminute to position my shuttle. I contacted nothingness mitt,"Cut the power now !"Then I put the railway locomotive power to entire and locked the throttle. The on board computer started telling me I was going to die.

"Imminent railway locomotive overload in twenty seconds. Imminent railway locomotive overload in nineteen seconds. Imminent railway locomotive overload in eighteen seconds."I dove for the mastery for the ejection system. I let all of the air out of my lungs and pulled the grip."system of rules detects non suited personnel department, expulsion system disabled."

Fuck ! I pulled my slope arm and shot the console. Then I yanked the handle again, there was a idea numbing roar as the air exploded out of the ship. My head hit something solid a few seconds later and the humanity went darkness. My last thought was,"fuck, that hurts."

***

"Captain Robert Ranke Graves, I do not expect you to issue forth back from this. I expect you to die a bloody and horrible death."Admiral Tigrat said as I was in my last interview before launch."Do not disappoint me."

"Respectfully sir, my integral crew will be at your one one percent birthday party. There I will give your married woman and daughters a kiss right in front of you. How did you ever cope to get a ring on the finger of that cleaning woman ? She has to be at least 40 years jr. than you."

***

My head was pounding out a rhythm that sounded like a katzenjammer."Where ?"I managed to ask around the pain in my head.

"Med lab,"the immense couplet of breasts above me said quietly.

"How ?"

"Liskians are tougher than humans, she had the shuttle decompressed and waiting on your exclusion. Once you flew onboard she put up the emergency theater and re-pressurized. You may accept a few aching and pains plus blurred vision for a few days, but you will be fine soon."

"melon vine's, what about the ship ?"

"The ship is out of danger and flying under its own exponent again, police chief. You got us clear of the asteroids and bought him the time to fix the ship. By the time I let you out of here we will be fully usable again."

"Tell malarkey custody and Demoness to take an extra loosening cycle per second, they even earned a nip of the solvent."

"Jazz flushed the ease of the solvent out the airlock. He said any man that would do what you did to keep open the ship deserves a sober mechanic. ”