first line Prompt #444 - First Line

[comicfan]

“Would you, please, go to sleep?”

[JohnAR]

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/johnar/metaprompts/34 ... the weekly bulletin from the Metaverse.

[Former Member]

My entry into this week's prompts... for your enjoyment.

 

https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/story/atruefan/annoyances

 

True

[albertnothlit]

Mine has a dark tone, but it was great fun writing. Thank you, comicfan, for posting the prompt!

The story's here:
https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/story/albertnothlit/pleasegotosleep/1

[JamesSavik]

More from Cadet Cruise

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“Would you, please, go to sleep?”

 

Gary rolled over and said, "How did you know I was awake?"

Jerry snorted and said, "We're twins. When you lay there worrying , I know. So... spill it."

 

Gary sighed and said, "I don't know. I just feel like something is wrong. I can't really say what it is."

 

Jerry sat up. "I hate it when you do that."

 

Gary said, "Do what?"

 

"You say you're worried about something and something bad happens." Jerry jumped out of his rack and started dressing.

 

Gary sat up and dangled his feet over the edge of his bunk. He groaned, made the short drop to the floor and started dressing.

 

Jerry said, "You really ought to talk to somebody about that."

 

Gary asked, "What?"

 

"The way you get these feelings and something always happens."

 

"What am I supposed to say? I get nervous and worried and something always happens? They'll put me on drugs."

 

"Well, it has been really useful. Remember that time..." Jerry stopped and looked at his arms. The hairs were standing straight up.

 

Gary looked startled and jumped in front of his terminal. He pulled up the ship's status display and saw that the Basilogne was charging it's jump drive. He put two and two together and said, "The ships jump capacitor is leaking. Everything is charged- it's going to blow- we've got to get out of here!"

 

They were both dressed in seconds and moving. Jerry stopped at a damage control station on their corridor and pulled the cover. Sure enough there were several yellow warning lights on jump drive systems and a big red flashing one on the jump capacitors.

 

Gary looked over his shoulder and said, "We are so screwed. Why hasn't the crew noticed anything wrong?"

 

Jerry pushed the intercom button labeled "bridge". They waited for what seemed like entirely to long and a sleepy voice answered, "This is the bridge. Who is this?"

 

"Cadet Jorgenson, J. Look at your jump drive status board."

"What? Get off the DC panel and get back in your rack cadet."

 

Jerry persisted, "Look at the board sir. The jump capacitor is leaking charge back into the jump drive systems. There's going to be an explosion any second."

 

There was some swearing over the pick up and then the GQ alarm went off.

 

In a few seconds their squad mates were in the halls saying, "Top, what's going on?"

 

Jerry made his very first command decision. He put as much authority and strength into his voice. "Listen up. The ship is having a serious problem with it's jump drive. We've only got minutes to get off before she blows. Everybody go to Boat Bay 2 and load up on the shuttle we trained on. Move it, move it, move it!"

 

A few of the cadets looked like they wanted to talk about it but the tone in Jerry's command voice got through the boys sleepiness.

 

Everyone was making for the Boat Bay- most of them carrying their clothes and shoes.

 

They were boarding the shuttle when something strange happened. It was like a jump but it didn't feel right at all. Then the first explosion rocked the ship.

 

Wind gusted and ears popped as the ship started losing atmosphere. It didn't take any encouragement for everyone to run.

 

Gary was the last one through the shuttle hatch. He did a quick count and got twenty-two, "Everybody is aboard, let's go!"

 

Jerry sat at the pilots console and saw that at least the ship hadn't been asleep on watch. A red emergency strobe was flashing on the panel. He began the start up check list as quickly as he could as he brought up the shuttles fusion plant and systems. Another explosion rocked the ship and he could tell the boat bay had completely lost pressure.

 

Gary sat down in the co-pilots chair and began working the boat bay door controls. Slowly as the ship was rocked by a cascade of explosion the boat bay doors came open and Jerry hit the maneuvering thrusters.

 

Gary said, "Computer, use external cameras. Give us a visual record of the Basilogne."

 

Jerry had to dodge debris as the big ship came apart but as soon as he was clear, he went to maximum military power and pulled away from the doomed ship.

 

Seconds later the fusion reactor mag bottles failed in cascade and the the big ship became a boil of white hot plasma and fury.

 

Jerry cut the thrust and said, "Where the hell are we?"

 

Gary answered, "I requested a navigation fix from the Basilogne on the way out. The on board computers are chewing on it.  It looks like we had a mis-jump right before everything went to hell."

 

Carter Rogers and Arron Ross entered the control room from behind them. Carter said, "Oh shit."

 

Jerry chuckled and said, "What part of this Charlie Foxtrot rates an oh shit from Carter."

 

Carter sat in the navigators station and said, "When a jump goes bad like that, we could be anywhere in a sphere of about fifteen light years from the intended destination. There's just too many variables to figure it out. We need to shoot a raw fix."

 

Gary asked, "Do you know how?"

 

Carter said, "Maybe. I've seen my dad do it about a thousand times but I don't know the systems on a fleet ship."

 

Jerry said, "Use the computer in tutorial mode. It will walk you through it."

 

Carter booted up the navigation station and did battle with the ships computer for about twenty minutes. He did get a position fix and nobody liked it.

 

With the shuttle in auto-pilot, the boys had a major conference in the squad bay.

 

For some reason everyone was looking at Jerry and he began, "We've got a position fix and we're light years from any Alliance planets, colonies, stations or out posts. That being said, we're fifteen light days outside the system SK-03-445. It's got a K dwarf star and about 14 planets- one of them is a Class T9 so we can land there."

 

Someone sucked in their breath. Jerry grinned and said, "I think Kyle knows what a classification of T7 means."

 

Kyle said, "It sure isn't going to be the Disney planet. T means Terran or earth like. The higher the second digit, the more hostile the environment. It could be really hot, cold or..."

 

Jerry finished for him, "Suffice it to say that it's a hostile environment. Now- every T class world that we know of has been surveyed to some extent. When we get closer we can query the survey satellite for more information. Most surveyed world have a ground station for scientists. There may actually be people there. That's our destination. We can get there and hole up until someone show up."

 

Carter said, "The only problem is that we're a long way from the system. It's going to take at least a month to get to the planet."

 

There were groans all around. Carter said, "We need to have two or three people awake but we can put everybody else in cold sleep."

 

Riley quipped, "I wonder who it will be?"

 

Carter said, "It has to be people that know how to use the ships systems. Jerry. Gary. Probably me. The rest of you we'll put in the sleepers and we'll wake you when we get there."

Edited September 9, 2015 by jamessavik

[comicfan]

My attempt at it can be found here - https://www.gayauthors.org/story/comicfan/apromptaweek/36