STRANDED

Prologue: The Check-Up (Phoenix)

Note: (This chapter is mostly for minor character introduction. Nothin' plot-wise is happening here, so if you wanna just skip on to Chapter One, Go on ahead! If you want to learn the characters and their jobs early, this is just the thing for you. hope you enjoy!)

PS: (The ages listed are the current ages in which they are, and due to Cryo Sleep tremendously slowing aging effects of the bodies, they are not some superhumans. They just haven't had their body age the twenty years it would have.)

"Computer, run diagnostics on Cyro-Pod three," Phoenix ordered. He walked along the Cryo Bay of the ship's Quarters as he waited for the response. His jet black hair, speckled with gray along with his beard, were uncommonly in a more wild appearance than usual. Most times he had his hair slicked back and beard neatly trimmed. However, with being in cryogenic sleep on and off for about nineteen and a half years, he wasn't much for keeping his appearance ready.  His deep brown eyes scanned over the six pods, one of which was empty due to his necessary check-ups on the crew. the coffee in his mug steamed lightly and the light bars hanging from the ceiling did a well enough job of illuminating the room to see.

"Diagnostics Complete, Captain Ayala," The Computer's artificial voice chimed in. It was female but the fluidity of the speech was choppy and inconsistent as if random words were selected from a database and thrown into one sentence. Which was probably how the artificial 'intelligence' worked.  "Vitals are stable. Heart rate, 40 beats-per-minute. Blood pressure, one hundred and twenty over seventy-five. No anomalies located. Cryogenic-induced Sleep systems operational. Report over."

"Good. Run diagnostic on pod four." He retaliated. And with that, Phoenix made his way to the table alongside the wall of the far side of the room. The Cryo pods sat neatly in line in a separate room of the Quarters, and through a doorway were the actual sleep quarters. Three bunk beds were built into the walls parallel to each other; between them was the table that Phoenix now found himself at. Along the table was a tablet of which contained the company files of the crew-members. Phoenix skimmed through it when he got the chance to pass the time on the diagnostics tests. Which took about another twenty minutes of the computer reading vitals and checking operational systems before he had finally completed the rather important but still mundane task. 

When the task was over, Phoenix walked along the corridor of the ship to the bridge, which then lead to the head of the ship, where manual operation of its flight and landing were found. He took a seat in the Captain's chair, opening the tablet once again and pulling up the file of the next crew-member. The file read as follows: 

Name: Evie Gallagher                                                                                                                                                           Age: 49                                                                                                                                                                                         Crew:  124-7J-455                                                                                                                                                                   Status: Deployed                                                                                                                                                                    Occupation: Botanist

Afterward, it only showed a photo of her. She was still a rather attractive woman. Evident laugh lines along her cheeks gossiped about her happiness; her hair was ginger red, and her eyes a vibrant green. Her skin was rather fair and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Past that, she had on the typical lab coat that signified her scientific background and an enclosed file of her credentials. Phoenix didn't bother reading through that. He was sure his crew was capable; most of them were near the top of their game.

He closed the file and pulled up the next one. This man was another scientist. The crew's Planetologist. He had brown, bouncy curls and a thick-rimmed set of glasses. His smile was wide, and his blue yes beamed out behind his glasses. He was another one of the labcoat-clad scientists, with yet another plethora of credentials on his list. His skin was a more natural tan than Evie's, but he was still more on the pale side. On the top left corner of the file, in similarity to the last file, his name was displayed:

Name: Caleb Bennett                                                                                                                                                            Age: 48                                                                                                                                                                                      Crew: 124-7J-445                                                                                                                                                                    Status: Deployed                                                                                                                                                                   Occupation: Planetologist

Next up on the list was a man by the name of Guiles Maverick. The man had a fancy barber-style haircut, and his brown eyes almost matched the color of his dark skin. His face was also clean-shaven; looks like most decided to keep a professional look nowadays. The notable feature about this man was his thin appearance. He was tall and lanky which made sense as to how he was the Tech Support of the crew. He had heard of the boy as well. Graduated top of his class in school and attended an extremely prestigious college. 

Then there was Toby Jonson. This boy was the athlete of the group; tall, lean, and muscular. His hair was a sandy blonde, combed over to the right, and a gentle smirk rest upon his lips in the photo. Hazel eyes looked out somewhat captivating Phoenix in the photo. Eventually he just looked off, and checked his occupation. Security. Good, he'd need a younger and more able bodied man. He would fit greatly for that role.

Last but not least, was Michael Howitzer. Phoenix had spoken personally to him. He carried a noticeable German accent, and his attitude was very humble. He looked nothing like a scientist, however; he was almost like a mountain. His shoulders were broad and his physique was stocky. However, he was a Biologist, and most likely the one hired for the team. And Phoenix knew so because of the occupation status of the file. He knew of Michael's past as well. He had a daughter he was never able to see. She was born after drunken sex at a party, and the mother never spoke to or showed her daughter to him again. Phoenix revered Michael's change in nature after the incident, and respected the man as he would his superior. 

Eventually, Phoenix closed the laptop and set it on the desk on the Bridge after getting up from the Captain's Chair. He took a deep breath and exhaled before making his way back to the Quarters to prep for another bout of Cryo-Sleep. "Computer, Give me the ETA to our destination," Phoenix asked, then opened up his pod. the hydraulic door hissed up as it opened. He took a bottle of pills out and a bottled water. The pills induced the sleep, as the body was then chilled to survive the prolonged flight times. He popped the pills in his mouth then knocked his head back as he took a gulp from the bottle. He then stepped into the pod, and strapped himself into the bed.

"Estimated Time of Arrival to planet Cragua U6: six months, thirteen days," The computer chimed off. It was a question Phoenix asked every time he woke up. Which, this was about the fifth time he woke up for routine check-up. The crew was given a twenty year time estimation, and every time he was reminded of how far he was from Earth and how long it had been, he immediately thought of his wife, Emilia. He missed her tremendously, and even moreso he missed his son, Trujillo. The man would be twenty-two now. He wasn't the boy he had left him as. As for his wife, she would be forty-three.  He still remembered her face; the blue eyes, the jet-black hair. Her feisty attitude. It brought a grin to his face. And as the doors shut and he felt himself getting drowsy, he closed his eyes and stained the image into his brain again. Next time he's be awake, he would finally be where he was supposed to.