SG Nova Roma - Chapter 2.4

4 – Two Days Later

(Spera – Gate Room – Day 10, 0800)

Colson put the plank against the wooden beam and hammered a nail through it. NR-3 had managed to bring back an impressive amount of wood. Because there had been nowhere else to store them, they had put all of the trees in the corridor. It had then been a race to turn the trees into lumber. If the wood dried out, it would crack and become useless. So it had been all hands on deck to get it done. And the crew had pulled together and done just that.

Of course, the wood had been just half the equation. To attach it, they needed nails. It was here that the biggest surprise had come. It turned out that Claus and Frank – who were on board as botanists – were actually both blacksmiths as well. Frank had explained that the New Asurans believed that one of things was holding them back as a race, was that they did not have personal things. And that had included hobbies. So they had decided to change that. Frank and Claus had both found that they were fond of working with metal.

They had gotten the metal they needed by dismantling the railings of the spiral staircases that connected the decks. These had then been replaced by wooden rails, which – ironically – turned out to be stronger than the original ones. It was not the first time that Alec had noticed that the Ancients had been kind of cheap when building Spera. In their infinite arrogance, the Ancients had apparently presumed that the main ship would hold together and they would never need the back-up. Fortunately, Alec already had an idea for an upgrade or two. But those would have to wait.

There were enough planks and nails to upgrade all the walls on board. This was because they were also using glue to connect planks to the beams. The nails were there to make sure that the planks didn’t come off if the glue failed. Alec was currently working in the Gate Room. He was putting up the planks, while G’Yal and Hailey were painting the wood. There had been some pondering about which color they should use. In the end, they had decided to go for white. They had brought some colored paint with them, but the cans were small. The plan had been to use that paint to make door signs and markings. But white paint was relatively easy to make. So they had. He had just finished securing another plank when Teldy came in.

“So, how is our little DIY project coming ?”

“We’re on schedule.” Colson said. “So what are you thinking of this little upgrade ?”

“I think Colonel Vale is doing some old-fashioned team building.” Teldy began. “He’s got this whole Captain America thing going, after all.”

“I saw that movie. Rogers was only frozen for seventy years. Vale was in stasis for over two-thousand years.” He glued another plank in place. “I wonder if that’s part of why he was able to adapt. I mean, if it’s a short hop, there are things from before left. But in the colonel’s case….he had to start from scratch, so to speak. Maybe it’s easier.”

“Well, I’m not going to ask him. And I hope never to find out from first-hand experience.”

“Me neither.” He said. “Now, care to help me with these planks ?”

“You got it.”

Teldy nodded and the two of them got busy with the next plank. Neither of them had noticed Vale, who had been watching from the corridor. He had overheard the whole conversation.

“Captain America, not bad.” He said with a grin. “Better him then Tony Stark.”

He reached the staircase and headed for the Bridge. There was work to be done.

(Spera – Bridge – Day 10, 1035)

T’Zalo had dropped Spera out of FTL. This was the third stop in this Galaxy. And that was not good news. The original estimate had been that they would get eight or nine stops. But the last two days, all the planets had passed had been harsh and low on resources. And what had been there, had not been useful. So they had not send teams to any of them. They had dropped out now, because there was a world with where they would be able to stock up on water. Vale stood next to Porter, who was manning one of the science consoles.

“Any other Gates in range ?”

“No.” Porter said. “And this one is barely in range.”

“What do you think ?” Vale asked. “How many more stops ?”

“I’ve been studying the telemetry from the seed ships and it is not good.” She hit several keys and a short list appeared. “Two planets. The rest of them have poisonous atmospheres, extreme temperatures and other fun and exciting prices. We really need spacesuits.”

“Alas, we don’t have any,” Vale said as he looked at the telemetry. “What about the hazmat gear? Can we modify it to handle some of the circumstances on these planets?” ~The temperatures thing looks like the easiest to handle.~ They might be able to put together some kind of cooling system.

“Well…temperature would be the easiest modification…” Vale snickered at that. “….and if we use the Puddle Jumper, we might be able to send a team to E4X-281 to collect several boxes worth of limestone. But that’s it.”

“I’ll take what I can get. How long until we get to 281?”

“It’ll be our last stop in this galaxy. We have six hours to collect water here, then its three days to stop number two. I have no idea how long that stop will be, but after that we’ll have one day until we reach 281.” Porter paused. “So, at least four days. Which should be more then enough time to modify the suits.”

“Excellent. In the meantime, I’ll get this water collection going.”

Porter nodded, while Vale activated his radio and began organizing the mission.

(Spera – Bridge – Day 23, 0938)

Spera had passed E4X-281 and was now on its way to edge of the galaxy. The water collection mission had brought as much water as possible, with the main water tank having been loaded to capacity. Stop number two had been at a planet where they had collected several eatable plants for the hydroponics bay. Then they had reached 281 and picked up a huge stash of limestone. But now came the hard part. Spera had begun shutting down everything but the bare necessities. And now, she was mere minutes away from leaving Galaxy Delta Alpha. So Vale had ordered the bridge fully manned.

~Hope for the best, plan for the worst.~ Vale thought as he sat down in the command chair. T’Zalo and Patterson were on the flight controls, while Hailey and Porter covered the science consoles. Finally, G’Yal was on tactical and Colson was leading things at the engineering stations in the back. Major Teldy had asked Vale to put G’Yal on tactical, so that she could run a final check on some things. Which was why she was not on the bridge now. Vale leaned forward.

“Time?” He said.

“Three minutes,” T’Zalo began. “And the course plotting program is running. We should know how long the crossing will take soon, sir.”

“Excellent,” Vale said as Major Teldy walked in. “Everything secured, Major?”

“Yes, sir. Everything checked out.”

“Good.” Vale said as he stood up. He could see that the clock on T’Zalo’s console turning from white to red. ~Less than a minute.~ The color change had been in a report from Doctor Rush. “Here we go, people.”

“Thirty seconds,” T’Zalo said. “Twenty….ten…five, four, three, two, one…zero.” The lights dimmed and most of the consoles went dark. “Flight controls just went dark, Colonel. The ship is now on auto-pilot, sir. We should reach Galaxy Destiny One in…” T’Zalo hit several keys. “…Two weeks, sir.”

“What about the other consoles?”

“All the weapons are off-line and shields have been dialed down to minimal power.” G’Yal said.

“Our long-range sensors are off-line and short-range units are at minimal power.” Porter added. “Console one is still working, but number two is completely dark. Alec, what about the Engineering consoles?”

“All dark.” Colson said.

“Well, I don’t see any point at all of us staying here to stare at black screens. T’Zalo, you and me will cover the first shift. Everybody else, dismissed.”

T’Zalo nodded, while the others began leaving the bridge. Vale sat at the working science console and checked the short-range sensors. They showed nothing. But Vale knew that everything was about to change. These first twenty-three days had been them settling in aboard Spera. When they got to Destiny One, however, they would have to get work.

This galaxy was where they had first encountered the Home Space Nakai. And they knew nothing about the chunk of Destiny One which Destiny had crossed before Colonel Young and company had arrived. ~Not to mention that we still have to find Telford and his team.~ Part of him hoped that they hadn’t made it to Destiny. They had no idea what condition the ship was in, which meant that it was potentially a death trap. ~And if it is, they’d be better off on a planet.~ Because then they would have a fighting chance. And maybe Spera could find them. But first they would have to cross this void. So that was the plan.