The Birth of Fantasy

Chapter 1

I was startled awake by the ship's intercom system crackling out a message repeatedly. Still groggy, I swung my feet over the edge of the bunk and listened to find out what was going on. We had been in the slipstream for over two months, and this was the first announcement since.

"All personnel to your stations, I repeat all personnel to your stations. We are dropping out of the slipstream in t-minus eight hundred seconds. Abator Zeal, please report to ship bay four for briefing. All personnel to your stations...." The intercom began to repeat the message.

Hearing my name and title caused me to quickly jump out of my bunk and head into my private shower. My rank had its perks. I still couldn't believe I had been promoted to the rank of Abator. It has only been eighteen months since I graduated from the Science Academy and was assigned to the F.N. Xistrith.

From a young age, a love for both science and exploration of the unknown set me on my current path. At the academy, I excelled in both of the requirements of space exploration to become an Abator. Those requirements were the science of astrophysics and the rigorous physical exertion of piloting the exploration and science vessel, The Nav. With my academy scores and recommendations from my teachers, I was fast-tracked into one of the few open positions for an Abator on a military scouting vessel.

Abators are a civilian branch that works alongside our nation's military. We provide the means of research into anomalies and other discoveries the military's vessels can't handle. At this moment, we are on our way to the Lolth system. Our people recently helped evacuate as many of the system's inhabitants as possible back to our homeworld.

Seven rotations ago, their star had gone supernova, wiping out the entire system's inner worlds. Then four cycles ago, a strange anomaly was detected by one of the military's reconnaissance vessels studying the after-effects of the supernova.

A tiny prismatic sphere now floated where the planet Eilistraee had once been. Initial reports gave the anomaly the signature of a black hole without any signs of the warping of space around it. It would be my job to investigate this new anomaly. Being my first solo mission, I was beyond excited at the prospect of being the first to study this strange phenomenon.

Finishing up in the shower, I dried off and got into my flight suit. After making sure I was presentable In the mirror, I opened my bulkhead and left. I was grinning the entire time I ran through the halls, dodging various crew members as I made my way down to bay four.

As I walked into the large docking bay, another message alerted the crew we were dropping from slipstream, prompting me to grab onto the closest railing I could find. Within a few moments, the feeling of passing through the warp bubble made my skin crawl. Moving towards the center of the bay, I could see the Nav in all its glory.

It resembled one of the many-eyed creatures from myth. The cockpit at the center was a sizable glassed half dome, resembling an eye. Around this cockpit, extended eight long robotic arms that spread out in a circle. Various instruments extended from each of these limbs above and below the glass eye. The two arms at the sides had graspers for manipulation tasks.

"You're good to launch as soon as the command comes down from The Tower. The Tower wants you to make two wide passes to see if we can get any additional readings from the long-distance sensor array." my commander said as I got closer. I gave her a nod of understanding.

I went over to the sidewall and began clipping on the outer parts of my suit. These, along with my basic flight suit, would help sustain me if there were to be any type of catastrophic failure on the NAV. The commander came over and helped me clip on the back parts of my suit. She grabbed my outer helmet from the wall before turning to speak with me.