
Subj : New Beginnings
To   : All
From : Skyhawk #1
Date : Mon Jun 26 1995 17:48:20 PST

                            New Beginnings
                      By Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)

     
     "Your fired!" she said. "At least from my bridge. I'll make a full report
to the  company about your competence when I get back! Right now I don't even
want to see your sorry ass! Get to your quarters and stay there the rest of the
trip!" Candar was seething in fury. She had no tolerance for this sort of
action, particularly when it had almost cost them their lives.
     "Yes Captain." Long pushed his way past her and clambered down the ladder
of the tight cabin.
     Kevin grinned. "Your a real bitch, you know that? I think you just put the
fear of god into him."
     "Or the fear of Candar." she laughed. "Your too tolerant. He never should
have been let out of flight school. In fact, they should have washed him out!
You need to double as co-pilot now. I'll help you through.."
     "Cross training. Does this mean I get more pay?" Kevin was snickering. "It
wasnt't that close, we had you in the driver's seat.
     "It was stupid.." she sat down exhausted..."we almost died....."

     "Almost died...." she whispered. Reality had returned and she stared out
at the stars as Outlander continued onward. She looked down at Kevin, he needed
help. She stroked the hair from his eyes and hugged him tightly. This was why
she was leaving...accidents like this. Needless accidents that some money
hungry corporation could prevent "if" they care enough to properly equip their
ships! But since they only went on the premise of "you get what you pay for" 
only the rich seemed to benefit from anything. God she was pissed! If Kevin
died over this, she would never forgive them. Such a simple maneuver like
taking off! She would somehow learn who was responsible for this..
     A noise caught hjer attention as, Jerry returned with two men, one a med
tech for the colony, the other a doctor. Expertly, they moved him to a
stretcher and proceeded to move him. The doctor turned to her, "I'm Dr. Jim
Grayson. Nice to meet you, Captain. I'm sure your friend will be alright. It
doesnt appear to be too serious."
     She nodded. "Thank you, doctor. Do all you can for him. I have a ship to
run and, I need my engineer back."
     His look of concern told her there was more than he was telling but, she
let it go. "He'll be fine, Captain." he responded. They moved him past her and
exited, carefully moving him down the cramped hatchway. This was not good.
There were other engineers aboard but, none so skilled as Kevin. If this trip
kept up the way it had started, they'd be lucky to make it out of the Sol
system. She was still not sure about that baffle plate.
     Jerry was staring at her as she turned. "You okay?" he moved to her and,
for a second they embraced.
     "I'm gonna kill someone." she mumbled. Letting go, she sat down in her
seat. "Weve a long ways to go, Jerry. Prepare primary drive for full sublight
capacity. And tell engineering to get their butts on those dampeners! I will
not go to hyperdrive with this situation. Wonder how many colonists got banged
up?'
     "A lot most likely.:" he was setting up the drive system as he spoke,
preparing it for the buildup to sublight. "Most of the lot have never been in
space before..you know, looking for a new world etc."
     She glared at him. "Don't start your crap again! I'm not in the mood for
it. I really don't care who my neighbors will be, I'll get used to it. This
trip unlike others, I actually plan to get to know some of the passengers."
     "They're not like us, Candar!" he said emphatically. "They don't know what
we do, haven't excprienced the things that we have!"
     "Drop your shit now, I really don't need it!" she was furious. What was
his trip? Did he love her so damn much he wouldn't let her go? If she had known
it would be this tough for him she would have never let him be her second.
"Primary systems set for second phase control...on my mark...3...2...1 go!
     Jerry kicked in the primary engines for sublight and, the Outlander began
to gain more speed. A message crackled over the internal comm systems.."This is
Sam Boil, Captain, weve got the dampeners repaired. Looks ok for next phase."
     She cut the comm off. Good. And she didn't feel like answering. God, she
had a chip on her shoulder. The silence between her and Jerry was deafening, if
it hadn't been for the noise of the usual cabin controls and the computer she
would have screamed. "Energy shows 100%..were increasing velocity."
     "Confirmed." Jerry's tone was cold again. Good. Maybe he would back off
and leave her alone for awhile. That's all she wanted. "Now set for normal
sublight cruise till we clear the system."
     She unstrapped herself and streched again. "I'm going below to see how
things are, and to meet with Carnigan. Begin pre-program for hyperdrive, I want
it ready to go as soon as we clear past Pluto...understood?"
     "Understood, Captain." his tone was harsh now as he attended to his work.
     Candar nodded and exited down the ladder, noticing her shoulders were
still stiff from the excessive g-force she had experienced only a little while
ago. As she made her way through the tight corridors, she noticed several
children playing in the hallways. What the hell?' She looked around spotting a
woman who looked about in her forties nearby. "Excuse me, Ma'am. These children
need to be getting ready for cryo sleep. Not playing games in my ship's
corridors."
     "But they just needed some time. I was concerned they would be driving me
crazy if I didn't let them out for a bit. Besides, it's really the captain's
call isn't it who does what here? Mr. Carnigan said it would be alright."
     Candar was getting hot. "Excuse me. One, I am the Captain on this ship!
And two, who the hell gave Carnigan the authority to let children out of the
colonists area! I realize this is not a big ship and it is cramped but, I
cannot have kids running wild through my ship! Please get them out of here and
back to where they belong, now!"     
     
     

Subj : New Beginnings
To   : All
From : Skyhawk #1
Date : Mon Jun 26 1995 18:43:43 PST

                              New Beginnings
                           by Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)
    
     The woman looked perturbed. "Well you don't have to get all huffy about
it. They're just kids, they're not hurting anything. I'll do as you ask.
Honestly Captain, if you had kids of your own, you'd understand."
     Yeah, right. Please do as I ask.." she moved down the corridor her fists
tightening. " But I did.." It had been ages since she had thought of
Terry..Terry who was gone....

     "Mommy, pick me up." Terry was holding her arms upward and Candar's back
was aching from school. she really didn't feel like picking up her daughter
especially now. Sometimes she hated being a mother. Particulary, single mother.
It had been so hard, these last two years since she'd had her baby and, getting
through this last year of college had been the worst. Sitters costed a mint of
money, it seemed to get worse all the time. At age 20 she felt she was getting
too old for this. And the guys..always thinking she was desperate for a husband
and figured she was loose cause she had kid! If she ever caught up with Ben,
she would kick the hell outta him. Especially since she'd learned Kung Fu.
Wouldnt he be in for a surprise? "Mommy!"
     The shout brought her out of her musings. "Mommy doesn't have time today
sweetie, I have a million things to do. Go play with your toys. I'm really
beat."
     Terry hung her head and walked away dejected. For a moment Candar almost
went to hold her but, her aching body protested. It won and she laid back on
the chair, reclining it back while, her two year old wandered around the apt.
     She awoke with a start. The screams were Terry's but, they were the most
terrifying she had ever heard. She raced toward the balcony to find her
daughter hanging by one arm. "Oh my god!" she reached for her, the adrenaline
pumping, feeling the fear...it wasn't too late, it wasn't! "Terry! Grab Mommy's
hand!" She tried hard to reach the child but, her daughter had caught onto the
lower end of the balcony as she fell, barely out of reach. She couldn't reach
her! "Terry!"
     "Mooooooommyyy!" the child slipped. Like a scene from a horror movie
Candar watched in agony as she plunged to her death, her screams filling the
air...the screams....

     The screams and yells of the children being hustled out of the corridor
brought her back to reality once more. She was breathing hard, feeling the
horror she had experienced from that moment. She hadn't thought of Terry in
years, tried to blot it out of her mind. The tears welled up and she fought
them back. Not allowed to feel emotion. That's what they said in flight school.
Your only concern should be for that of your ship..and your passengers.
She went to find Carnigan.
     Entering the colonists area, a dull gray cargo hold that had been
converted with over four hundred cryo chambers, she found the fat little man
who had presumed upon her authority so recently. "Mr. Carnigan, I'm Captain
Candar Millis. We need to talk."
     "Ahhh yes, good to meet you, Captain." he beamed. "I understand you'll be
leaving the ship at Hycenda to stay on with us?"
     "Yes, but that's not why I wanted to speak with you." her tone was
buisnesslike letting him know she was in charge. "You can't let anyone run
through the corridors, particularly unsupervised. Not a good idea, there are
too many things that could hurt them."
   "  You act like this is a military vessel, or a cruise ship. We paid for it
now, I expect full cooperation from you and the crew."
     Candar was getting mad again. What was this asshole of the week? Or was
she being made a target? Fighting back a nasty retort about his weight and why
the hell was he going to space, she opted to pursue the diplomatic approach.
"You did pay for this vessel and it's services but, it's my job to see to it
nobody gets killed around here. Children running through the corridors only
supervised by one woman who doesn't seem very bright at that. There are ship
regulations against that sort of thing but, I don't want to bore you to death
with over twenty of them. So I'll be blunt. Until we get to Hycenda which is my
job and my crew's to see to it we do, you are to do your job and keep these
colonists under control..at least for the next day till they go into cryo
freeze. After that, we will see to it everyone reaches our destination safely
and the trip will be over."
     "For you as well, Captain." Carnigan grinned. "If indeed ou are staying on
with us, yu'll have to get rid of that militaristic attitude of yours. Can't
have that. When we reach the colony, I am in charge. You'll have to get used to
that. Might as well start now."
     So that was it! He figured since she was going to be part of this colony
he could do damn well what he pleased. Now, she was really mad. She  moved
closer getting into his face, "I don't think so you ignorant pig! Listen
closely! Unless you and everyone here adheres to the rules, I will lock your
sorry ass in a holding cell at once! I will then turn this bucket around and
head straight back to Earth! You'll have to fight with the company about
getting your money back, you sorry jerk cause, they are sharks and don't give
it up easily! I doubt you have the money to hire a lawyer..maybe if you all got
together, a class action might be worth while. But your sorry ass will be
pretty much washed up politically. And, I'll just sign on somewhere else or
keep spacing! So shut the hell up and do what your told!"
     The silence in the room was defeaning. Several important looking men who
were part of Carnigan's new government stared at him for a moment then hung
their heads. Carnigan swallowed hard. "Of course, Captain. We will adhere to
your rules."
     "That's all I wanted." She turned away and stalked out, feeling the
comedown from here adrenaline high. She hadn't been that mad in awhile. How the
hell would she ever work with an idiot like that?
