A New Beginning Ch. 04

Chantelle locked up the handgun in her berth, which is only a few meters away from the hatch to my cabin. She gave me the code to open the locker where she stowed the pistol. Either she or I could get at it very easily.

But I told her that if ever a situation arose whereby the gun had to be used, I was going to give it to Joshua and let him use it. I've never fired a pistol in my life, virtual or real. But I had no reason to doubt that Joshua could shoot the pistol properly. I believed that he would make sure of his background before firing the gun and not put a bullet through the hull.

That's because I believed him when he said he built a shooting range in the basement of his house for his .357 magnum revolver. I believed him because he's the best shot onboard the James Cook using a virtual gun on a computer. He nearly always won the onboard shooting contests that were held from time to time in the games room -- Chantelle is also a good shot.

A little over a week later Chantelle and I were showering together in my berth. I held onto the nozzle coming out of the wall while she fucked my pussy from behind with her strap-on dildo. After, while the warm water sprayed over our bodies, she revealed to me that she found out that one of the hunting knives we found had been Ronald's but she couldn't prove it.

I turned around and put my arms over her shoulders. I kissed her long and passionately on the mouth. Our tongues wrapped around each other.

After we broke the kiss she continued, "He had been quietly trying to organize the construction workers against the officers. He might have succeeded. It was only a stroke of his bad luck that the fights broke out and caused you to search the cabins. Then when he saw that we had a .45 caliber pistol and the other hunting knives to use against him he decided that mutiny wasn't in his best interest."

"Well, my earlier fears of a potential mutiny are diminished somewhat now that we have their weapons. The handgun will come into use either as a threat or actual use, as protection from anyone with less brains than a dinosaur who resorts to violence."

"That's about half of the laborers." She said dryly.

"Don't be so negative Chantelle." I paused. Then, "I'm not due to go on watch again until zero six hundred. Stay the night with me?"

She smiled and kissed me lightly on the lips. We got out of the shower, dried each other off and then crawled into bed.

The division among the crew members abated somewhat. There was still a lot of talk of conspiracy but it was mostly in the form of whispers and hushed comments in the showers, the laundry, the cafeteria, the games room and the like. I imagine that those who believed in a conspiracy figured that if they tried anything then we had enough weaponry to put a stop to it.

Also, Father Ray went around and talked to the crew members two and three at a time. In fact, it was his little talks, more than anything else I believe, that calmed everyone down.

He talked to them in their berths, in the TV lounge, in the games room, in the cafeteria. Wherever and whenever he found two or three individuals gathered together talking about the explosion, he would join in their conversation.

Without taking sides, he told everyone that it was to everyone's best interest not to resort to violence. He reminded them of what happened to the Spaceship Bountiful. He told them that further violence could possibly destroy what was left of the James Cook and then everyone would die.

The crew took what he said to heart. Anxieties were lowered and, for the most part, it appeared that the rest of the trip home would be uneventful.

Another thing that I'm sure helped calm everyone's fears was my allowing them to come to the bridge to view the Earth. For the first few days there was a constant line of crew members waiting to see it -- I stationed an officer in the forward elevator room to enter the code to go to the bridge. Some of the officers complained, especially George. But I reminded them that it was helping to reduce the onboard gossip and tension.

For the next several weeks everything went smoothly. We thought that we could no longer go outside the James Cook as there were no spacesuits. They were all in the lost tail section. But Joseph found five extra spacesuits while searching though a couple of the mini-storage bins that are located throughout the living section. I immediately sent him outside with a crew to try to repair the long range antennae.

He used the emergency airlock on the bridge. Everyone cleared out of the upper level and the airlock hatch between the upper and lower levels was sealed. While they were outside the ship was piloted from the lower level.

To be truthful there really isn't much piloting to do in space once you've set your course. The computer keeps the ship going the way she is supposed to be going. Mainly you're just watching the instruments to make sure everything is going alright. Occasionally there is a minor course correction, stirring the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks attached under the ship's wings. But other than that it's a rather boring six hour shift.

You read a lot, play cards, crossword puzzles, write up reports, listen to music or do whatever. Sometimes those on duty on the lower flight deck use the center navigation table to play weightless ping pong -- a nearly impossible task. Movie and television watching was banned by Butler on the bridge and the lower flight deck. I saw no reason to lift the ban. No one watched channel eight, which now was only a blank screen anyway.

The only other thing to do was to compose e-mails for later sending home and wait until the antennae were repaired. We couldn't send e-mails until they were repaired.

Before the explosion and breakup, every eight hours, starting at twelve hundred hours, the communication officer on watch sent reports and e-mails to MC3. Then every eight hours, but starting at twenty-four hundred hours, the communication officer on watch received reports and e-mails from MC3. That way every four hours the James Cook was either sending or receiving reports and e-mails to and from MC3. They would also send us current movies about once every week.

Everyone onboard was allowed to send and receive e-mails and they were all anxious to start sending and receiving e-mails again. The construction laborers and crew members used computers located in the games rooms. The officers were especially concerned so that we could completely put to rest the conspiracy theories.

Joseph reported that both antennae were fried something terrible. He ended up having to cannibalize the backup antenna in order to repair the main antenna. The ship's computer registered that it was working properly after he finished the repairs. But we still got nothing but static when we tried to raise MC3.

I even had the communication officers try to raise one of the other orbital stations, Nuda Earth, Lunar One, Sol Two and the others. But they still got nothing but static no matter whom they tried to reach. I was getting really worried. We only had the short range antenna and were getting farther away from Mars -- we had no communication with them either. But soon we wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone until we got closer to Earth.

I questioned whether the repairs were complete. I thought that maybe Joseph had overlooked something. I sent another crew outside to double check the repairs. Although in my heart I knew what they were going to report because of what the computer was telling us. I guess I really sent them to satisfy the diehard skeptics.

The second crew couldn't find anything wrong with the main antenna.

Joshua, Joseph, Vickie and I sat down for a meeting in my quarters. We discussed the situation for over an hour. The only thing we could conclude was that the lightening bolt had done something to both antennae, that it damaged them in some way that neither we nor the ship's computer could find.

It was either believe that or believe that there was no human with whom we could communicate on Earth, Mars or anywhere else in the solar system.

I, along with most of the officers, was totally puzzled. Even using our short range antenna we were still close enough to Mars for them to pick up our radio transmissions and for us to pick up theirs. But whether we used the short range or the long range antenna we got nothing but static.

Also, using the telescopic camera attached to the outside of the James Cook, we were able to confirm that Mars only had one satellite, Deimos. No one could figure out what happened to Phobos or why there was ring of rock debris orbiting the planet.

I checked with the ship's computer and found out that cosmologists figured out that Phobos was captured by Mars over sixty million years ago but it was no where in sight. It also told me that the last of debris field orbiting Mars crashed into the planet at least forty-five million years ago.

Then there were the background stars. The constellations didn't look anything like they should. It was like the whole solar system had suddenly changed. We were all completely baffled.

I told everyone not to let it bother them. We would find out the answers once we got back home. But silently I was worried. I knew that we went through some kind of wormhole or stargate when we went through the hole in space. I was beginning to wonder where -- and when -- the hole sent us. Were we somehow sent back in time or some other galaxy? Were we in some kind of Twilight Zone universe now?

Anyway, two days later I told Vickie to stop trying to raise Mars over the radio. We were too far away from any bases there to pick them up with our short range antenna and our long range antennae weren't working. After I gave her the order I went to my berth and took a shower. I needed some time alone.

That was a hard order to issue. I knew it would be a couple of months minimum before we would be able to pick up Earth, Nuda Earth, MC3 or anyone else with our short range radios. Another 60 to 75 days without contact with anyone.

Two days after I told Vickie and her crew to let up on trying to contact Mars Sam came to me with an idea.

He buzzed my door. I pressed the view button to see who was outside my cabin. Every berth, indeed every hatch, has a mini-camera directly above it so that those inside can see who is outside before they open the hatch to them. What no one knew except me, Joshua, Chantelle, Anthony and now the three volunteers to security was that security could use these cameras to watch all the passageways.

In fact, security made a betting game among themselves using the computer station in their department to view the passageways. They would find someone walking down a hatchway. When that person got out of camera range they would take bets among themselves as to which camera he or she would show up on next.

Of course, if that person was walking straight down a hatchway there was no bet. But if he or she was heading toward a connecting passageway, then there was one of three to five screens he or she would come up on, depending on the passageway.

They did it mainly for amusement and to break the monotony; the betting just made it more interesting. But I'm sure that if the construction crew members knew this it would have increased their conspiracy fears, which thankfully were lessening everyday.

By now it had been over a month since the explosion, I'm certain that's what was also helping to quiet the conspiracy fears. No one else had mysteriously disappeared, there had been no more deaths and everything was running smoothly.

It was as if nothing had happened. It was like the James Cook went on an extended cruise and was now returning home. The construction workers were happy that they were going to get full pay without having to do any work.

The only black spot, Chantelle told me that the ship's gossip now was that my negligence had somehow caused the explosion. She said that it was Ronald who was behind that rumor, doing his best to keep the conspiracy theories alive. But I didn't care as long as it didn't go any further than rumor.

I opened the hatch. "Hi Sam, come on in. What can I do for you?"

"Since you found those spacesuits I've been thinking. I got an idea for you with using them."

I wasn't thinking along the same lines as Sam. "Sam, I would love to accommodate you but we can't use them to make love outside. If that's what you're thinking."

He gave me one of his bodacious smiles. "Darling, I would love to screw you in weightlessness again but that's not what I had in mind."

Sam was a large man, measuring right at two meters high. He had a narrow waist, six pack abs, broad chest and shoulders with big strong arms. He weighed almost 100 kilograms and most of that was pure muscle. When he humped me I felt every thrust.

"If you remember Sam, I didn't like it; especially having to use a storage bin in the laborer's sleeping section like we did before. What did you have in mind?"

"Yeah, I remember. But I was thinking, do you think it's possible to retrieve the liquor and soft drinks and stuff from the other two TV lounges?"

"Hey, you know Sam, it just might be possible. The ship's computer won't let us open the hatches leading into them but . . ."

"Don't you have an override code?"

"Yeah, but those hatches aren't airlock hatches. We can't open them but there's nothing stopping us from entering the rear of the living section from the outside."

"So, what do you think? Do you think we could get the stuff from back there?"

"Yes, I believe we could. That's right smart thinking on your part Sam. I wish I had thought of it. I'll have someone look into it and get back with you on it."

Then we made love. It was the best heterosexual love making I had had since Butler screwed me just before he died.

The next day I had Joshua and Leonard, a cafeteria waiter, suit up and go into the section of the James Cook behind the cafeteria and retrieve booze, soft drinks, food and other necessities from the mini-storage bins there. It took them and a couple other volunteers four weeks but they emptied the two TV lounges and every spare storage bin they could find.

Once a spaceship is on its way there is no "refueling" station or turning back if someone forgot to bring their toothbrush. Consequently, there are no areas larger than a footlocker onboard long range space flights that are not used for storage. There are storage bins in every passageway and they contain everything and anything someone might use in their everyday living.

Joshua, Leonard and a couple of volunteers emptied almost a hundred bins, augmenting our supplies considerably. I had them store most of the stuff in the kitchen and the TV lounge but some of it was put in some empty cabins.

While they were getting the extra supplies they also encountered numerous dead crew members who had died from being exposed to zero pressure, their bodies literally exploding. Most of the dead were totally unrecognizable.

Joshua asked me what I thought should be done with them. I told him to leave them alone and try to avoid touching them as much as possible. Even then each time they returned from a trip to the rear their spacesuits had droplets of blood all over them. I had someone waiting on the bridge with a couple of buckets of water to wipe them down before they took off their suits.

The day after they finished emptying the last of the storage bins Joshua came to me to inform me of a new problem that had risen among the crew, again dividing them. It was still more or less officers on one side and construction crews on the other side. But this time it was more spiritual in nature.

I was in my cabin. He had just gotten off watch. I asked him where George was but he answered me by saying that Juan was at the helm. Then he put his arms around me and kissed me. It was a long, passionate kiss. We were both half naked by the time we broke apart. We finished stripping each other in my bed. We made love and then he ate my pussy.

After, we were lying in bed together. I was lying on my back; he was leaning over me, caressing my breast. I was stroking his cock.

"I got some bad news love. We got us another division brewing," he said.

"Why does everyone either fuck me and then tell me about some problem or tell me about some problem and then fuck me?" I answered him, pretending to be upset.

"Because you're so fuckable," he smiled. Then he kissed me again pushing his tongue deep into my mouth. I pulled him down towards me eagerly sucking his tongue into my orifice. He reached down and groped my vagina. I felt his finger enter me and pushed my hips up to meet his probing. I moaned as he broke the kiss.

"Mmmmmmm, hurry up and tell me what the problem is so we can make love again," I begged him.

He sat up but kept his hand on my pubic mound, running his fingers through my pubic hair. "You read science fiction, don't you?"

"Yeah sure, I read it all the time. What about it?" I put my hands on his chest and opened my legs to give him easier access to my pussy.

"Ever read anything by Arthur C. Clarke? He's a Twentieth Century science fiction writer."

"Yeah, in fact there's a copy of his 2001: A Space Odyssey and several of his other stories on disc in the library. Two Thousand One is one of my favorite science fiction stories; I've read it a couple of times."

Joshua let go of my vagina and cupped my right breast with his left hand. He flicked my nipple with his thumb. "I am. Have you ever read 2010: Odyssey Two, the sequel he wrote to 2001?"

"No. Would you get to the point?" I was enjoying the sensations running through my nipple as Joshua flicked it with his thumb and I was anxious to return to our love making.

"Clarke ends 2010 by having astronaut Bowman return to his old spaceship Discovery."

"You mean the same Bowman from 2001, the astronaut who was transformed into some kind of energy life form at the end of the story?"

"Yeah that Bowman. Anyway, Bowman then orders the Hal 9000 computer on Discovery to repeatedly broadcast the same message over and over again."

"What was the message?" Intrigue now, I sat up on one elbow.

Joshua made a sweeping gesture with his hand. "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE."

"Don't tell me the crew believes that that was some form of prophetic warning. I know there are still rumors floating around the ship. But I thought they were about the explosion, not some prophetic warning from some imaginary deity."

"It's worse than that." Joshua paused. He put his hand down on my navel. He rubbed my stomach. "In the book 2010 Jupiter becomes a nova, turning into a mini-star which the people of Earth name Lucifer. Also, there is supposedly a monolith, again from 2001, on Europa preventing humans from landing there."

"Lucifer?" I knew exactly what he was thinking, what the crew was thinking. "Did you go to Father Ray with this yet?"

"No, I thought I'd come to you first, see what you wanted to do."

"I think we need to have Father Ray talk to the crew about it. That's what I think. I mean Lucifer, Prince of darkness, Beelzebub or what ever you want to call him. It has no power over this world. The devil has no power to blow up spaceships. The explosion was caused by a bolt of lightening."

"I know that but there are some construction laborers who believe that it was Satan who threw the lightening bolts at the ship. They believe that the James Cook is now jinxed because we tried to land on Europa and they're spreading their heresy to other members of the crew."

"How bad is it?" I had to ask Joshua that question. But I knew the answer.

"About the same as before. Most of the officers on one side and the construction laborers on the other side with the ship's crew a little less than evenly split."