A New Beginning Ch. 01

He sometimes did that to me. He would come in while I was sleeping and just watch me while I slept. That didn't bother me. That was his hang up, his dream, not mine. I had other things to worry about. Besides, I trusted him. He was one of the three or four people onboard that I did trust.

I want to point out that for emergencies and security, the two of us, the ship's doctor and the chief of security each had an override code to unlock the door to each other's cabin as well as any other hatch onboard ship. I didn't mind them having the ability to open my door. It made it easier for the four of us to quietly slip into each other's berth and have sex.

As for the rest of the crew and sex, well they were on their own to make do the best way they could. I'm sure they managed.

A lot of people enjoy sex in weightlessness. They say it's more fun. I tried it twice, didn't like it one bit. The second time was just to confirm my first impression of weightless sex. There was too much bouncing around. For every thrust forward there was a push in the opposite direction. After that I did my lovemaking in the artificial gravity of the living section, usually in the privacy of my own cabin.

"Toni, I've got to go to sickbay to check on the burned victims and make a report on the two dead crewmen. Then I have to make arrangements to get their bodies put into cold storage in the cargo hold. I want you on the bridge while I'm gone."

I sat up on my elbows again. "Get George to do it. He's the second officer."

He misunderstood me. He thought I was talking about putting George in charge of the bridge but I was talking about having George bring the bodies to cold storage -- although he's never been there. I've only been in the cargo hold twice; once just after we left MC3 and the second time about six months ago. But then I had no need to go there; the only thing there were our extra supplies and the materials that would be needed to build the space station.

"I don't trust him. With this electrical storm and everything I don't want to leave him in command of the ship while I'm in the cargo hold. Come on Toni. I want you at the controls. I need you there. Besides, you know as well as I do that George is not going to give up his off time . . . assuming anyone can find him."

The two of us had decided before launch that all officers and junior officers would each stand six hour shifts followed by twelve hours off. The one thing George could be counted on was his ability to get lost during his off time. He liked zero G sex. So I'm sure he spent a lot of time back with the laborers.

I was never able to ascertain if that's where he was when these most recent lightening bolts struck the ship. I don't believe he was there when the fourth one hit us and I know he wasn't there when the fifth one got us.

How he got chosen for this mission was simple: he knew the right person.

For all long range missions the captain gets to pick his or her own flight crew. When I found out that the mission to Europa was looking for officers I approached Butler.

Don't get cocky. I'm not here for the sex or to do any heroic deed for my country or any other thing you may be thinking of. Sure I like the sex but I'm here because of the money. A seven or eight year mission in space and I'm set for life. I'll be able to invest my pay and retire in my early forties, spending my days living naked on Nuda Earth. That was my dream and Butler knew it.

So I guess you could say that I knew the right person too. But at least I'm qualified for my position. I've had flight experience.

But George was another story. Rumor had it that he was at one time the President's lover, before the President became the President of the United Earth Republic. Then after he won the election, or so the rumor went, he dumped George for a younger congressional male page. When word went out that the James Cook was looking for officers George called in his chip to his homosexual lover. The rest is history.

Not that I'm against homosexual love; I'm bisexual. But I'm sure you've guessed that by now. I'm against someone using sex to further their career, which is exactly what George did -- or so the rumor went.

"What about Joshua?" I asked. But I knew the answer before I asked the question. Our flight officer had been working with our navigation officers on the lower flight deck, charting paths to put us in orbit around Europa for two days prior to this.

Connie and her crew had finished collecting the necessary data on Europa's surface the day before Joshua had begun working with them. I know that sounds kind of in the extreme -- two days just to plot a course. But that's what Butler wanted and Joshua was working one-on-one on the lower flight deck with Connie and her two junior officers, Aleks Michelle and Constansia.

As per Butler's orders, they were using the data Connie and her crew collected and were busy plotting several different orbits around Europa's equator, around the poles, as well as other trajectories around the satellite. That's our meticulous captain for you, always wanting things done in triplicate, checking, rechecking and then checking again.

Anyway, working with each navigation officer on their own shift on the lower flight deck didn't leave a lot of free time for Joshua. At the time of the catastrophe our flight officer was working on the lower flight deck with Aleks; Connie and Constansia were off duty.

"You know I can't use Joshua. Come on Toni help me out here. Right now Juan is at the controls but he's a junior officer. I want you there. I trust you more."

I threw the covers off myself and put my feet over the side of my bed. I opened my legs considerably so that Butler could have a better view of my vagina. I knew that this would arouse him. I also knew that he couldn't do anything about it . . . at least not at that time. I guess I was trying to punish him for waking me up and interrupting my dream. I don't know, maybe I was trying to stimulate him into doing something. I know just being naked with him got me hot and wanting to fuck.

"I want compensation for this," I replied. I was thinking of some extra time in the sack with him.

"OK, you can take off early next Friday afternoon and go swimming in the pool on Nuda Earth."

"Very funny only I'm not laughing." I got up and walked naked across my cabin toward my closet, again punishing him for waking me from a beautiful dream, or punishing myself, whichever. Because there was nothing I could do about it . . . at least not at that time.

He came up behind me, grabbed my shoulders, pressing his groin against my naked ass, and kissed me on the nape of my neck. Then, "After, I'll give you a nice massage and eat your pussy again. How's that sound?"

I turned around and put my arms over his shoulders. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me into himself. I could feel him pressing against me; he was erect. We kissed, our tongues danced together.

After we broke the kiss I said, "I'm going to hold you to that."

He didn't answer me. He just gave me a sexy smile, smacked my naked ass once and then walked out of my cabin. He didn't have to answer me. He knew I would be on the bridge before he left sickbay. But I never saw him again after that.

I got dressed, slipped on my Velcro shoes and headed for the elevator room. As I pressed the up elevator button I looked up towards the display to see what floor it was on. It was on the first floor, where sickbay, the doctor's berth and some other accommodations were located. It would take a minute or two to come back to me. I frowned.

It has always puzzled and annoyed me that the rear laborer's entrance to the living section has two elevators and the officer's only have one elevator. I can only surmise that since the only way to get to the James Cook's flight deck or bridge is through the forward elevator, when they built the living section they figured that there would only be a few of individuals using this elevator.

For security, except for a few select custodians and some of the flight crews, only the officers are allowed on the lower flight deck or the bridge. Even then you have to enter your security code to open the rear door of the forward elevator.

But they figured wrong; everyone uses both the forward elevator and the rear elevators. Nor did they take emergencies into consideration.

As soon as the elevator arrived at my floor I entered and pressed the button to go up to the lower flight deck. This particular button slid the hatch closed and then disengaged the electrical magnets holding the elevator onto the elevator room. Immediately I was weightless and started to float around. You'd think that after nineteen months aboard a spaceship I would have learned to grab onto the railings running around the elevator before pressing that button. I guess it's because I was not accustomed to pressing that button; I only entered the James Cook when I had duty there or was called there.

Just as I got to the top of the spiral stairs leading to the bridge another bolt of lightening hit the James Cook. This was the fourth hit and it did more than just knock out an antenna. If you can imagine being on an ocean liner and taking a thirty degree list to starboard after being struck by a torpedo, then you would have a good idea of what happened after this last lightening bolt hit us.

It fried most of our electrical circuits and knocked out our lights. Also, the entire Spaceship James Cook, including the cargo hold, immediately began to rotate clockwise. Pandemonium was everywhere. We suddenly had gravity. Only it was to the wrong part of the ship! The centrifugal force threw everyone to the ceiling of the bridge and flight deck.

It took me a good three minutes to finally get back to the floor of the bridge. Some of the crew were already at their stations, trying to hold on so as not to be thrown back toward the ceiling. Others were still heading, crawling if you will, to their stations.

I immediately ordered a switch to emergency power. With the return of power the lights were restored but that is about all. Only about half of our control panels were restored. Worse than that, we were still spinning.

I knew that the James Cook was not built to withstand the pressure she was now under if we didn't stop the rotation soon. The mass of the cargo hold would tear her apart or in the very least tear off the tail section. I called over to our chief engineer, "Joseph, try to determine what is causing the rotation and stop it."

Next I called to our chief computer officer, "Natalie check our computer for any damage and get it back online."

Then I used the ship's intercom, "Attention all section chiefs, report any damage to the bridge immediately."

I glanced across the bridge. Victoria Rose was still trying to get back to her communication station. "Vickie use the backup antenna and send a report to MC3 as soon as you can." She started to say something but I told her to hold it for later. I didn't have time to listen to her complaining. I was still unaware that we had lost all communications with MC3.

Natalie Amiee was able to report that somehow the lightening didn't touch our computer. Miracles still happen. I watched her tap in a few commands at her keyboard -- how she managed to hold onto her desk and type in the commands without falling back toward the ceiling is a credit to her ability to do her job. Within a minute or two we had control of the flight deck. But we were still spinning.

After about four minutes the chief engineer reported that one of the five huge liquid oxygen tanks attached to the top of the cargo hold had ruptured a valve and was leaking oxygen into space. It was shooting out fast enough to cause us to rotate. He was able to have the computer shut the valve off and stop the spinning but by that time the damage had been done, although we didn't know it at the time.

Then for the next five minutes or so I received reports from various sections of the James Cook's upper and lower flight decks. Everyone reported back that everything was OK. At least their readouts were reporting that everything was alright. I never received any reports of damage from the other sections of the spaceship; it didn't stay in one piece long enough.

After the rotation stopped I radioed down to sickbay to try and locate Captain Butler. Nurse Rebecca told me that he and nurse Brenda left for the airlock in the rear elevator room with the two dead workers just moments earlier. Doc Yves was still busy with the two injured men.

I knew that with Butler on the way to the airlock and the ship's cargo hold, he wouldn't return to the flight deck for another hour or two. I needed him now and I wanted to get in touch with him before he suited up -- unlike the flight decks, the living section and the laborer's sleeping section the cargo hold was not pressurized.

In the meantime I wanted George close by. As bad as George was, I thought it would be better to have someone else of authority alongside me or nearby for appearances if for nothing else -- and for my eventual report to UNESA.

Butler was on his way to the cargo hold, Joshua was below and Juan, although sitting next to me, was just a junior officer. This was his first flight into outer space and he had no experience with emergency situations.

George didn't have any emergency experience either but he was the second officer and I'm sure UNESA would have wanted him on the bridge, if only for appearances sake. Also, like Butler, I wanted him where I knew where he was and what he was doing.

Who should I call first, George or Captain Butler?

At that time I believed the situation was that bad and I was hoping it wouldn't get worse. I didn't think George would answer my call. I figured he would have some kind of lame excuse or another. But I also thought I would at least give it a try. Maybe the James Cook's rotation would have jarred him and he would put his duty over sex. Besides, it would look good on my report to UNESA that I at least tried to get in touch with him.

I also figured it would be easier to put George on alert than to have Butler return to the bridge. I would have to actually talk to Captain Butler and explain what had happened.

But to put George on alert all I had to do was to send a message to his cell TV-phone that we were now in condition red. That way even if he had his cell TV-phone turned off he would receive the message as soon as he turned it on. Then he would have to report to the flight deck, at the very least, in order to receive his orders.

I immediately sent a standard text message out to all twenty-six senior and junior officers to report to their duty stations. To do that all I had to do was to press a button on my own cell TV-phone that we were now in condition red, which took precedence over their off time.

All the officers were issued special cell TV-phones that they were supposed keep with themselves and turned on at all times, especially when they were off duty. George was the only officer who consistently turned his off. He claimed that it was defective and that it shut itself off. No one believed him.

When he finally did report to the bridge, after all the damage had been done, he claimed that he was in his cabin and that he hit his head when the lights were off, temporarily knocking him unconscious. I didn't believe him.

After putting the emergency call in to everyone I then tried to call Butler on his cell TV-phone. I was hoping that I would be able to catch him before he got suited up so that he could abort his trip to the cargo hold until later. But like I said earlier, I never spoke to him again after he left my berth.

As soon as I pushed the send button on my cell TV-phone for my call to Captain Butler a fifth lightening bolt hit us. This one hurt. Instantly, the whole ship shuddered, knocking all of us to the floor. A loud warning bell sounded indicating that the ship's outer hull had a hole in it. We were losing pressure but where?

This continued for about fifteen seconds until the ship's onboard computer slid the proper hatches closed and we were safe -- the airtight hatch on the bridge was locked open. The bells stopped but there was a look of fear in everyone's eyes. Where had the hull been breached?

I called to our chief engineer, "Joseph try and find out what that warning bell was about."

"I'm on it," he called back.

I didn't have to wait long. Natalie reported that the onboard computer indicated that the laborer's sleeping quarters and the cargo hold, along with the five huge liquid oxygen tanks and the five huge liquid hydrogen tanks, were no longer attached to the living section.

This confused me. My first thought was that we had lost our computer and this would allow Jupiter's immense gravitational pull to capture us and we would eventually crash into the planet.

I radioed below for either Elizabeth Dee or Kerri to use the outside telescopic camera to get me a visual on the rear of the James Cook. Joshua answered me that neither the engineer's first mate nor the engineer's second mate had reported in yet.

"Joseph, neither Beth nor Kerri have reported in yet. Go below and get me a visual on the rear of the living section."

He didn't answer me. He was already on his way to the lower flight deck.

I couldn't radio the construction crew's sleeping quarters because it didn't have a two way intercom and I figured Joseph could get me a visual faster than actually sending someone to the rear of the ship.

Nor could I use my override code for control of the camera because the image I would receive on my monitor depended on the ship's computer, which at that time I didn't trust. Whereas the image a person got on the lower flight deck came from the telescopic camera's own computer.

A very tense two minutes later our chief engineer radioed up to me that the latest lightening strike had exploded one of the huge liquid oxygen tanks attached to the top of the cargo hold. The cargo hold and the tail section were torn away, leaving a gaping hole in the rear of the living section.

Later Joseph told me that when he did the visual he also took some pictures of the rear of the living section and what was left of the tail section as it fell away from the James Cook.

After examining the pictures he came to the conclusion that the spinning had probably loosened the connections holding the rear elevator room onto the living section. Then when the lightening bolt exploded the oxygen tank, the elevator room just broke off taking the construction crew's sleeping quarters, the cargo hold, the liquid oxygen tanks and liquid hydrogen tanks with it.

We were lucky. It could have broken apart where the James Cook's forward elevator room is connected to the living section. Then everyone would have died.

Instantly, we lost eighty-nine souls or almost 56% of our compliment of men and women, sixty of whom were construction laborers. At that time I didn't know the actual number of personnel; I got the number later.

The only construction laborers to survive were those who were in the living section at the time of the explosion. Even some of them didn't live because two of the three TV lounges, four of the five games rooms, the gymnasium and both movie theaters lost all their oxygen and pressurization. Everyone using those facilities at that time died when the tail section broke away from the living section.

The cargo hold and James Cook's tail section were now an independent satellite of Jupiter, a satellite that would someday crash into the behemoth. They had no power, no lights, no radio, nothing. Nor did the tail section have any airtight hatches -- a design flaw.

As soon as it tore away from the James Cook all the men and women living there died. Now the James Cook's tail section was just a lifeless hulk attached to an immense boxcar-like cargo hold. Captain Butler was among them. I tried to reach him on his suit's radio but got no response. I assumed that he was already dead or that the explosion broke his radio and he would soon be dead when the oxygen in his suit gave out.