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A man steps into the room; he's young, maybe late twenties or early thirties. His pants are faded; patches at both knees prove years of use, his jacket, equally used, has several stains running up the arms, marring its once fine leather.
Small wisps of dark hair jut out from his head in all directions, begging to be groomed. He is of average height and weight, and overall, very non-descript. Someone who could be easily lost in the crowd.
He turns, and for a split second, you get a clear look at his eyes before they dart away. Eyes the color of the deepest glaciers, a light blue glowing with their own internal light; inquisitive and searching. They don't seem to stop moving until he glances in your direction again, and locks your gaze. He smiles, high cheeks and a narrow chin only serve to accentuate his youthful appearance as he walks over and sits down, still sporting a boyish grin. Everything about him screams juvenescence, except those eyes. They somehow feel…. old.
He reaches up and scratches the stubble on his chin, his stare never leaving yours.
‘Nice to meet you, but look… I don’t have all day. So what do you want?’
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He inhales deeply and looks down, breaking the gaze. His calm composure from before, starts showing cracks around its edges, as he thumbs the table and taps his foot. A soft hiss escapes pursed lips as he exhales the breath that had been held for the last moment.
Still looking down, he shrugs, 'I'm not, it’s like the Solar Navy is punishing me or something. I mean, Je-Sus, you're late for one little contract and the next thing you know... you're blacklisted.'
Looking up again, his bright blue eyes glisten under the lights, looking hopeful.
'Why, you offering?'
[This message has been edited by Jeff (edited October 30, 2009).]
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A smile creeps across his face as he leans into the table.
'Work? I'll take almost anything you got, because, to be honest, I'm damn near broke, and I don't really have a specialty, heck, my last real gig was moving toilet paper between solar systems for the Navy,' the edges of his smile turn downwards, 'That was the contract I was late for, you see, some hyperspace monster shot a couple of tracking beacons into my ship, mid-jump. The damn things messed up our drive, and it took forever to calculate the gravitational quotient before we could jump again.'
The frown fades, he shrugs, 'That is if you believe that, it's far-fetched, I know, and I really can't prove it. But look,' he says holding out his calloused hands, 'I'm out of the mercenary business. No more military contracts, scouts honor.’
The boyish grin returns, high cheekbones creating shadows across his face in the dim light, ‘Anyway, you'll have a hard time finding anyone as honest as me this side of the Kuiper belt. I'm a straight shooter who can haul just about any kind of cargo you want to load up. My ship isn't the biggest or the fastest but she's got a darn good crew, and a good crew goes a long way. Feel free to have a poke around if you like; she’s at docking berth forty-two, just look for the Midnight’s Revenge, when you find her ask for Jenever,' he puts a data card on the table, 'give her this, she’ll show you around.’
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Both eyebrows shoot skyward as he leans back in the chair, ‘The hyperspace thing, why do you want to know about that?’ he says, shaking his head, unkempt hair swishing side to side.
A sigh escapes his lips, ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know that much about it, just what the science types have told us, and most of their information came from an archeological dig on Espen, so who knows how accurate that is… you know how those Techies’ are,’ he says rolling his eyes.
‘But, with that in mind, here is what I can tell you. They are alien, there is more than one, and they're ancient, from the beginnings of the universe type stuff. To make matters worse they’re sentient, and destructive. So destructive, that someone imprisoned them inside what we call hyperspace. Oh… and now a few have gotten out.’
He leans forward again, slipping off his jacket, the leather rustling against the back of the chair. ‘That’s about it, other than the fact that I was the first poor bastard to run into one in a couple of millennia. And look, not to pat myself on the back or anything but that’s why we’re the best choice for whatever job you have. So far, the Revenge is the only ship to encounter these things and survive.’
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Well, I should clarify. My boss wants to capture one of those monsters. He wants to study it, to try and find a way to utilize its power. Maybe to control it. Imagine the possibilities.
Besides hyperspace, what do you think could hold it? A black hole maybe? Can it be subdued or tranquilized?
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For a moment he sits up a bit straighter, caught off guard by the truth, 'You are insane,' he says waving his hand, 'But, far be it for me to tell someone else what to do. If you want to go after one of these, well... it's your neck.'
Reaching up, John rubs his chin, 'I'm not sure what could hold it. From what the science guys are saying, they uses gravity as thier primary senses, you know, actually seeing grav' fields and such, it also uses gravity for it's tactile abilities. I mean, how the hell do you defeat something that can manipulate gravity?' He puts his hand to his left temple, rolling it around to help concentrate, 'A massive stasis field might do it, but where would you get that kind of power?'
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'Yeah, I would. One of those things killed a good friend of mine. I wouldn't mind a shot back at it. That is, provided the chances are good.'
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Okay, so what do we need to do this? Give me your dream list of hardware, personnel, anything you want and I'll pass it on to my boss. He really wants this. I don't think we'll have any problems getting approval.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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'I'm gonna need some time on this, its a lot to ask for, let me consult with Jenever first, she's my resident tech guru.'
Posts: 42 | Registered: Oct 2009
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John take on a distant look, his eyes dilate, the rise and fall of his chest slows. A moment later he blinks, the vacant look gone. ‘I just got off the neural net with Jenever. She says we need something that will screw with its ability to see us.’
He coughs, red beginning to show at the collar of his shirt. Obviously uncomfortable, John fidgets in his chair. His mouth opens to speak, then snaps it shut again. Nodding to himself while rubbing his thumb on the table he looks up, ‘She say’s we need a quantum singularity generator, specifically a Schwarzschild generator. I told her it wasn’t possible but she thinks that is the only thing that will create enough of a distortion to make us invisible.’
Still nodding his head, ‘That woman comes up with the damndest things. I mean, who the hell keeps a Schwarzschild generator laying around, right? Am I right?’
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It just so happens that we have some researchers working on something that is very much like a Schwarzschild generator. Of course we can't use the name and we've been playing with the technology some. But there's a good chance it'll get the job done. I can have my tech people talk to your tech people.
Anything else?
He fidgets in his chair again.
You look nervous John. Is there something you're not saying?
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'Well yeah, just two of these things destroyed half of the Solar Navy's fleet. The only reason the Revenge got out with her hull intact is because it was weak and confused when we first encountered it. We were entering hyperspace as it was exiting. The other ship in the system, the Pequod, wasn't so lucky.'
He scratches the back of his head, 'Also, we got some on board video back from one of our sister ships, the Hades Cannon, before she was "consumed". The creature was interrogating the crew, but... it seemed to be...' waves his hand, 'never mind you'll think I'm crazy. Let's just say there are a lot of unanswered questions. And I don't like things I don't understand.'
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"I won't think you're crazy. I need you to tell me everything you know. We'll get our experts on it. Maybe we can help you understand. You see, you're not the only one who's encountered these things."
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He clenches and unclenches his fists, 'No-one can say for sure but it... the creature... it was as if it had detailed information. It uses some form of telepathy to communicate. The things it did to Iami and her crew was horrible,' he shudders hesitating, his brow furrowed, 'Some people are saying that when it consumes you, it really consumes you. Your body, your consciousness, or soul, whatever you want to call it.'
'I don't know about you but the idea of something consuming my soul scares the hell out of me.'
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He slams an open palm onto the table, "Heart? I have so much heart you would have to tie me up while you went a ‘hunting. And let me tell you something else." He leans forward, his eyes narrow as a bead of sweat breaks on his forehead, "We can't fail. Failure means the end of the human race. Get it? Forget about any other consequences. We are talking about complete extinction." He stands up slicing the air with his hand , the chair screeching backward against the floor. "These creatures need to be stopped, now. Before any more get free."
Posts: 42 | Registered: Oct 2009
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Then we have a task before us. You compile your list of what you need. We'll get you everything and everyone. Then prepare your crew. We're going monster hunting.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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