SS Odysseus

Chapter 1:

I laid in my bunk, staring at the top. Life on the SS Odysseus was boring.

You see, the starship that I was in was, at one point, what seemed like the only hope for humanity. It was part of the Korean Missile Crisis of 2030, when the US launched this starship up into orbit around Earth, carrying 5,000 soldiers and technicians.

I didn't understand fully why they were staying in orbit. This was a starship. The first of the kind! It could easily get out of the solar system in a few days, but of course they didn't do that. It would be far too interesting.

Instead, they stuck to basic exercises: firing weapons, maintaining the defense mechanisms, sending off escape pods, that sort of stuff.

My classes as an regular soldier on the Odysseus weren't hard. They were rather simple. actually.I had learned everything I truly needed to know at West Point and high school.

My best friends were not numerous. One was named Kaleigh, the other Abby, and they shared most classes together. However, they were in different base sections.

The starship was split into 5 sections. L, CL,C,CR,and R. I was part of R Squad, while Kaleigh lived in CL and Abby lived in C. C controlled everything. The clothes you wore, the food you ate, the weapons you trained with, C controlled it. Since I was in R, that meant that I was training to become a base soldier, as would you also become if you were in L. Since Kaleigh prefered CL, she would become a medic, as well as most of the CR's, although the CR's were mostly engineers. Abby, however, was training to become a leader. A squadron leader.

So, as I heard the morning announcement, this all circulated through his mind, and I stood up, walking to my allocated 'personal space', and pulled out the regular jumpsuit, putting it on and jogged into the hallway, running to Sharpshooting class.

~-~-~-~-~-~

"Good morning. Urgent news..." Professor Barkwood said nervously "The Eurasian Rebels have officially made huge progress. A starship was spotted in a launchpad controlled by the Rebels. There will be no classes. Everyone must get back to their designated squads immediately, and report to the Weaponry room. This is not a drill." he said and quickly slung a rifle over his shoulder and walked out.

I was among the first to get out of the room, sprinting back to my room and quickly getting my own standard rifle and breathing pack.

"Everybody, into module C!" A voice spoke into my radio set and I quickly moved into the module, which was packed with people. Everybody on the Odysseus was here, and I looked around for Kaleigh or Abby, and saw neither of them.

Randomly, there was a lot of gasping and pointing to my left. Outside, I saw a spaceship (or starship who knows) barreling straight at us.

We all ducked as the fighter slammed through the glass surrounding us, spraying us all with glass, and vaulting hundreds of people into space. We all hefted our rifles and began firing panickedly at the incoming fighters.

"EVERYBODY!" A voice yelled "EVACUATE! THE REBELS HAVE ATTACKED!" the same person shouted, and chaos ensued.

~-~-~-~-~

He immediately took off towards the R module, dodging stray pieces of metal as the Rebels fighters battered the glass dome we were standing in. As I looked off to my left, and I saw one module explode into oblivion.

"Damn it! Nielsen, can you hear me?" Kaleigh's voice came up in my headset.

"Yeah." I said.

"Get the hell out of there and to the C defense turrets!" She shouted and yelped as another explosion could be heard.