Down South

[jammi]

"Right, this is it. Were sending the Cook through to the other side." There was a chorus of cheers. Over the last day there had been an air of excitement building among the crew as they envisioned pay rises, promotions and prestige. They were tired of sitting around doing very little. They wanted to explore.

"We'll be proceeding due relative north from the anomaly's exit at impulse speed until we encounter the fields edge. Seeing as this is uncharted territory, the Navcom will be next to useless, so we'll be relying on the Resolution to drop Nav-beacons at two K intervals as we go, to act as an anchor. As I like to call it, our very own bread crumb trail home. Local hotshots Greg Lewis and Paul Harrolds will be responsible for that one, so make sure to remind them what they've got to do!" There was a burst of light laughter at that one.

It was just sinking in that they were going to be heading into unknown territory and unknown dangers for most of the crew. Then Alex sent them to their stations, with the idea that hard work made a man less likely to think. Or worry.

Fifteen minutes later, the Resolution had undocked and jumped through, all provisions were stored and the hatches had been battened down. They were ready to jump. The Cook powered towards the anomaly, then reaching the correct velocity, entered and disappeared.

Almost simultaneously it reappeared in Omega 49. Alex heard a muffled cheer from someone outside the bridge. Now to start moving. The Resolution buzzed alongside like a loyal hound at its masters heels. Occasionally a flashing beacon would drop from its cargo bay, and the Cook's Navcom would lock onto it, keeping the course home charted. Just as the Cook cleared the asteroid field, Frank Holloway wandered onto the bridge.

"Good God... How did we never spot this place?" Alex was leaning on the command dash, staring incredulously out the front view window. Far away to the north-east there was a shining planet hanging in orbit around the systems sun. Frank was equally astounded. Alex tapped up a view screen and superimposed it onto the HUD, the image magnifying the distant planet. Clouds scudded across its surface, while below them there were the massive shapes of green continents and blue oceans.

Frank peered at the image in wonder. "If that's what it looks like, and the atmosphere, temperature and eco-systems are correct, I'd place a bet we've stumbled over a Class A habitable planet... Good god, were getting paid for this!" he yelled delightedly. Alex couldn't help but be caught up in the excitement. They were going to be famous.

"We'd better get a closer look before jumping to conclusions like that, ey?" he said lightly, a smile on his lips.

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