Space is Vast

Chapter 1 - The Background

Space is vast. It is essentially… well, a vast space. But it is when taken in increments, that the true beauty is revealed. If one were to search vigilantly through these small increments, one would find in the farthest corner of the universe, that is assuming that the universe is square… or possibly triangular, by taking a picture at the exact moment, you would be able to see a small box floating through space labeled

“Socks”.

At this point in time, Adam Higgins, the captain of a four-man crew on board TheShepard, hardly noticed the true beauty of space, or the box named Socks. Instead his mind was set on seemingly more important things. It had been three and a half weeks since the crew of TheShepard had last set foot on solid ground. TheShepard wasn’t, and isn’t the nicest looking of ships. It being a dull gray, pockmarked from who knows what previous missions, and constantly needing fixing. It was a simple trade ship. The four man crew…well, four-person crew on board TheShepard consists of three men, and a woman. 

The Captain, having already been introduced, goes by the name of Adam Higgins. Having found TheShepard he rightfully claimed Captaincy. Adam stands at about 5’9. His dark skin wasn’t from a tan, but from his racial traits, as well as his long neck length curly hair. His second in command, or as he liked to call him, his first mate, was none other than Scipio “Skippy” Guerra. The tall tanned young man, whom Adam had known since child hood had stepped up to the plate when Adam had first brought in the junk heap that was at one time TheShepard. They had together worked day and night to create something out of the dead rats, cut wires, and strangely enough, a small piece of burnt toast. Soon they had a ship, after countless nights, and many days off, Adam and Scipio stood before the pale beauty of TheShepard. The two men quit their jobs, and went off into the unknown to make their way in life. Two weeks later, they were shoveling dead cats into the furnaces of the Taris under city. It was there they met Jonah “Jones” Ryanson. Jonah was an underachiever, lazy, and pretty much useless. Pretty much… he had graduated from a top-notch military flight school. And somewhere between then, and now, Jonah had become the lazy dead cat shoveling man he is today.

The three men became quick friends, and when Jonah learned of Adam and Scipio’s ship, he caught the opportunity by the throat, and he became the third crewmember of TheShepard. The three men pooled their money, and left the dead cats behind. It was in space where they met their fourth and last member. 

The three men had been traveling for eight days nonstop. Adam felt morale was dropping, and so he set coordinates to the nearby space station, “The Pleasure Dome” It was here that Adam was paired with a pretty girl named Vida Watson. Wearing nothing but a very, small bikini, and two colorful circles, she knocked out Adam, and stole the codes to TheShepard. Little did she know, Skippy, and Jones had already finished and had retired to the ship. When she entered, the two men were amazed that a pretty girl had voluntarily, and unpaid, come to their ship. Unfortunately, they too were knocked out by Vida. It was then that Adam awoke from his unconsciousness, and thinking he had just had the time of his life, left the small room. Vida, on the other hand was having trouble starting the ship. It was nothing she was used too, all the controls were wrong and she could of sworn one of them looked exactly like a toaster. Adam arrived at the ship, and when he entered saw Vida sitting with the controls, with a solemn and defeated look upon her face. After a long discussion, Vida became the fourth and final member of TheShepard. With her long fiery red hair, and tough no-nonsense attitude, she was the balance between the guy’s stupidity, and logic. Vida “V” Watson, became the techie for the ship, as it would turn out she had gone to a technology school, but her knack for inventions and tinkering with things got her expelled when she created her robot, “The PAL”. She had left it on one night, staring at the TV screen, where it watched an episode of The OC, and determined all humans were fanatical, and didn’t deserve to exist. So, it raged around the school campus knocking over trashcans and scaring pigeons. The dean, who was later given a demerit for the lack of pigeons on campus, booted Vida from the University.