Out of bounds

[Sombs]

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March 14th, 825 Day 1 - Location unknown

The bridge looked like a mess. Burned cables and metal platings all over the place. Parts of the ceiling and the walls were loose, dirty or on the floor. Consoles demolished by electric discharges or collisions with other debris. Ezrael looked around, taking in the view with his arms folded infront of his chest. "Does the main screen still work? I want some visuals first," the Captain sounded, eyeing his seat. One of the few things that could have easily caught on fire, yet it was one of the few things that remained unharmed, apart from a layer of dirt and dust. Walking towards it, he sat down, feeling a mix of comfort and discomfort. The main screen was black, then gained some color. There were some dead pixels along a split in the physical monitor, however anything else was working as usual. The screen went black again, however. "Apahanta, please put the frontal view on the main screen."

"That is the frontal view, Captain." Sherry stepped to his side, not sitting down but instead remaining standing, her hands hidden behind her back. "The optical cameras are working on most parts of the ship. I just checked it."

"I see no stars," Ezrael commented the view.

"Maybe there are no stars, Ezrael."

Blinking, he glanced over to her, then back to the screen. "Apahanta, please put a threehundred-sixty degree optical scan from the outer hull cameras on the main screen." A second later, the ship carried out his order. Ezrael stood up again, walking a few steps closer to the main screen, staring at it. "No stars, but a giant black hole. How close are we? Apahanta, please put a visual on screen describing the proximity of the Apahanta to that black hole."

But the ship didn't do as he asked. Sherry moved once more to his side, taking in the view. "We only have the cameras right now. All other sensors are offline." After taking a deep breath, she continued. "If we were too close to it, we would be dead already. The intense gravitational forces would have ripped our bodies apart in one single moment."

"Does this mean we see no stars because the gravitational forces suck up the light of the surrounding stars?" he asked her.

"Possible," she returned, shaking her head slightly. "But extremely unlikely. We still would see something, as the photons don't just disappear but are just heading for the black hole. We would see bent light. But we don't see anything but the black hole. If - with emphasis on the word - our known laws of physics apply here, I would guess we have blindjumped into deep space. And with that I mean very deep space. However, we would need to use the sensors to get a better grip on this. We are close to a black hole, somewhere. We don't know yet if common physical laws apply here, or to what degree. We need to understand the situation here." She then noticed his questioning look towards her.

"I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation," the Captain said quietly, signaling he was a simple biologist. "What do you suggest should be done first? Sensors, engines and life-support, I guess?"

"Yes. And we need to make sure the shields are holding. So those sub-systems should have highest priority." She turned towards him. "I think I don't need to tell you, but especially right now we need to act as leaders. The crew is counting on us. If we show any sign of defeat, it will negatively impact on the crew's morale. We need them focused, Captain."

Smirking, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm doing this for two years now, Sherry. I told you not to worry. That is an order."

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Uncharted System Stories: 18 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 38 | 85

Templates: Character | Transmissions

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