《Crew of the Helianthus》1.12 - Final Prep
Advertisement
This was it. Valorie’s first day on the bridge of the Helianthus. She had wanted this since she had gone into hiding. For that entire year and a half, she only talked to her sisters and only when it was necessary. Now was her chance to stretch and show off.
As she crossed the bridge, she guessed which station was hers by the fresh connectors added under the displays. The seat had a lot of wear and tear compared to her previous assignment, but it had more cushioning. She actually sank into it as she settled in.
She was not the first one to reach the bridge. Leon was at the station across from hers, and the Captain was hovering next to him. Yulia was the last to arrive, patting Valorie’s shoulder as she walked by her.
“Don’t forget to buckle in.” Yulia said, smiling with excitement. Once she was at her station, her easy-going movements became precise and quick.
Valorie watched for a moment before remembering to look for the buckle. There were two straps, one on each side starting above her shoulders and ending at her waist. First, she fiddled with her displays until she could rest her hands on the bar below the display. Comfort achieved, she started on the safety belts. She pulled each one over her shoulders, crossing her chest, and locking in. It was tight, but with everything in arms reach, it was cozy, too.
With her body cared for, she eased her physical control, and reached out beyond the Helianthus. Collecting data on their surroundings was her first priority. The large amount of life across Luxe Station created a picture so busy it was overwhelming. She could report on it all, but who would find that useful? On the imperial ships, it was her Ward’s duty to sort through the excessive amount of data. They would cherry pick the useful information for the rest of the crew.
Valorie felt a weight form over her chest. She was alone now – and she would have to learn to do both jobs. She could do it, if she tried hard enough. She had to do it. Her body grew tight with the growing tension. Unlike the clone’s body, this one was sensitive to every sensation. It was unnerving, but not altogether unpleasant.
Advertisement
She reached out for her sisters. New images flooded in. A control room from two different perspectives, and the bridge of an imperial scout. The main feeling she received from all three sisters was a severe sense of boredom. Through them, her senses reached even farther, picking up a dozen other sisters. A soothing sense of kinship eased her unhappiness. She was never alone.
“Reconnecting fragment, please report. Follow the Language Initiative: Use your words.” A voice reached out to her mind. The words were not spoken out loud, but over a telepathic network. The voice originated with one of the perspectives in the control room. It was one of her sisters working in the Luxe Control room. Valorie responded in kind.
“Evie reporting. Assignment, FL Helianthus. Preparing for departure.” Her boredom evaporated the moment she answered.
“Evie! This is Luxe control, Olli here. You’re back!”
“Oh, Evie! No wonder you didn’t report right away. This is Hexa, also with control. How’re you doing? Finally getting out of here?” The control room had a dizzying number of displays. Each had a piece of information covering every ship in the system. There was only a small pocket of glass window that escaped the screens. Olli remained focused on the list of departures, but Hexa’s eyes drifted to that open pocket of stars.
“Yes. I am finally getting out of here.” Valorie said, mimicking Hexa’s tone. From Valorie’s eyes, they would be seeing the bridge of the Helianthus. “I’m excited, but I’m nervous.”
“So, I understand.” Hexa said. The longer they talked, the more their differences faded away. Valorie did not need to describe her feelings, her sisters would already know.
“Everything is working out, then?”
“So far. Captain Hughes still bears our kind well. He has not changed.” Valorie smiled as she remembered the Captain’s greeting. The warmth spread among her sisters.
“Mother was right.”
“So far.” Olli echoed Valorie’s sentiment. It quelled the growing optimism. There were no words shared for a moment, as each of them digested these shared thoughts. Valorie remembered her original issue.
“I am without a Ward.” Valorie began, but Olli interrupted.
“We will help.” She answered, “Your departure will begin soon.” Her voice was urgent. Valorie knew the time for the Language Initiative had passed and they fell back into the exchange of raw data.
Advertisement
Valorie refocused on her wire connection to the computer systems of the Helianthus. Her current setup allowed her to observe and provide feedback. She could not make any changes to the system beyond the data she provided. With her sisters guidance, she shared all the information she thought might be useful.
Valorie heard the light ping of notifications, and it grounded her in reality once more. She stretched her arms out in front of her, before trying to get a peek at her crewmates’ reactions.
“Well, that’s handy…” Yulia muttered. She had opened her notification and was scrolling through the collected data. She would pause to make adjustments on the multitude of flips, keys, and displays in front of her.
Gareth had gone back to his seat, and was looking through his own data. His expression seemed far away, but he caught Valorie watching him, and nodded. His confirmation was encouraging, and Valorie settled back into her seat. So far, so good.
The ship shuddered as the docking crew started moving the Helianthus to the exit bay. The ship was held in place at the gate by large mechanical locks seated on tracks that led from each dock to the exit bay. The locks moved in programmed unison, but the forced movement was jarring.
“Valorie, have you connected with the Luxe control station?” Gareth interrupted her observations.
“Yes, sir.”
“How long until decoupling begins?”
“10 minutes, sir.”
“Good.” He said and then opened the ship wide intercom. “Consider this your 10 minute warning, everyone. All passengers must remain in their quarters for the duration of the flight. Safety restraints are recommended during take off and are required for jumps. Failure to heed this order will result in delays at best, and injury at worst. Quinns?” He said. When he called for Quinns, he narrowed the range of the intercom down to engineering. A new display popped up at each station with a video feed of Quinns. Valorie moved it to the side, out of the way but still in sight. New displays never popped up exactly where you wanted them.
“Yeah, Gary, I’m all tucked in for take off.” Quinns answered before Gareth could ask. He sat at a station like the ones on the bridge, but Valorie did not recognize the room he was in. It was smaller, or at least appeared so with the amount of equipment stacked in every available space. She could feel him near the bay, so she thought it might be the engineering offices.
“Thank you. Sachi?” Gareth asked. Her feed replaced Quinn’s video.
“I am prepared, Hughes.” She said. Judging by the view of the Garden through the glass behind her, she was resting in her quarters. She had strapped herself into a chair that looked new. It was so cushy she nearly disappeared into it. Her room was decorated with intricate patterns of gold and purple. It was a rich style Valorie had only seen a few times when dealing with personnel from the Guild.
“Very good.” Gareth’s transition between conversations was seamless. “Serge?”
“Would be ready, of course, but got stuck checking all the passengers. Won’t be much longer, Captain.” He said. His camera was from his PD, staring up at him as he sped along one of the hallways. He looked angry, but Valorie was beginning to think this was normal.
“Will you be in your quarters?”
“For take off.” He said. The ship shuddered again as the dock crew reached the exit bay and the track ended. Serge stumbled without falling and swore under his breath. He glanced down at the PD camera again as if he had forgotten it was there. “Right. Union rep was a real talker. Feel bad for her assistant.” He said, trying to hide his embarrassment. Yulia chuckled from the front seat.
“So, you got along well, then?” Leon looked up from what he was doing, a smirk playing across his face. The video feed cut, and Leon chuckled as he went back to work.
“You have the jump coordinates ready?” Gareth asked, and Leon nodded.
“Yeah, I’m on the second set now.” He smiled, “It’s gonna be a fun trip.”
Advertisement
48 Hours a Day
Growing up with eccentric materialist parents who left him in the care of his grandfather for a job overseas, Zhang Heng had learned to adapt and be unfettered by the oddities and challenges in life. But he would soon learn the baffling truth about the world he thought he knew when one day at midnight time froze and he found himself in a world so quiet and still it was deafening. That night, he discovered that he had 24 hours more than everybody else and thus, marked the beginning of his adventures. The mysteries surrounding his newfound ability only deepened when a strange old man claimed to have given Zhang Heng that ‘gift of time’ and recruited the young man to participate in a cryptic ‘life-changing’ game on his behalf. Little did Zhang Heng know that accepting those terms meant embroiling himself in many versions of reality and exposing himself to the hidden secrets of the world—a decision he could never undo.
8 764I'm the bad guy!?
Do you wish you could wake up inside the mind of your favorite anime character? Well, our hero certainly did. From the moment he first laid eyes on (God's Favored Arcanist); An Isekai story centered around the adventures of sixteen-year-old Masato Yamajita as he traveled throughout the world of Echeron. And Masato had it all; He was a once in a millenium genius known as the (SSS-class Arcanist), capable of wielding every element- and using them to their fullest potential- seemingly without effort. He could boil oceans, flip mountains, freeze volcanos, and as his power grew, so did his personal connections. He became a King, an Emperor, a God... And eventually stumbled into a harem of beautiful women who loved him. So, imagine our hero's surprise when he finds himself inside the body of a character from (God's Favored Arcanist). There's just one problem. Our hero isn't Masato Yamajita, he's twelve-year-old Aren (The Devil's Duke) Ulvani: Childhood friend of Masato's first wife, Heir to the Ulvani Dukedom, and the secondary Antagonist of the first season of the anime. Our Hero isn't the Hero. He's the misunderstood Bad Guy with a tragic ending. Armed with only his knowledge of the anime, the body of Aren Ulvani, and six years before the events of the anime begin. Can our hero turn his life around or will the future play out the same way no matter what he does? (Chapters 3-16 of the first book have been removed due to KDP publishing rules. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
8 93The Black God
An old archmage sees all his lifework destroyed in the flames of zealotry. His friends and fellows are killed, his home destroyed and he is consigned to eternal imprisonment. But its not the end for Gorren An-Tudok. The old mage has a last trick in his sleeve, one that will see him start a journey into a new world of power and possibilities. The research for revenge and survival will see him ascend to heights unheard of and to reach for divinity itself. From humble beginnings, through obstacles, victory and loss, friends and enemies and family. Facing himself, destiny and the world, moving through the mysteries of magic, will he manage to reach what he wish for? The odyssey of the Black God begins.
8 110Wrong number Avengers
y/n after returning to new york receives a letter from an old friend they get his new number but what happens when a badly wrote 1 looks like a 7.i do not own any characters apart from y/n all others belong to marvel. don't come after methere is tw of abuse, swearing mostly it will be on the chapter but if i forget i am sorry and if there is anything else specific it will be on the chapter. regular postingi am beginning to edit this book now (4/5/22)
8 2211MY PREY IS A MAFIA QUEEN✔
[COMPLETED]Taehyung - YOU ARE A POOR AND A NERDY BITCH !Y/n - *smirks* yes I am.what will happen when Korea's most successful business man's son and Korea's most dangerous mafia queen will go to school together?will taehyung ever come to know who actually y/n is??will taehyung continue bullying y/n when he will come to know who y/n is?will y/n kill taehyung?what will happen between them ??What will happen when taehyung will come to know that the girl he bully is a mafia queen stay tuned follow me!!vote,comment....#1 in taeff#1 in ffs #1 in mafiaqueen#1 in taehyungff#1 in work out of 13k stories💕
8 97love at first sight - Cellps
Certo dia Rafael Lange estava marcando com sua namorada Anna, mal ele sabia que um simples olhar poderia mudar sua vida.[PLÁGIO É CRIME]
8 135