XIRIA

In the distant future, the Captain of the GSS Ninevah takes a mission into his own hands. His actions may be viewed by some as selfish and insane, but to his few loyal crew-mates, he is the hero of the space-faring age.

DAY 1

Station Update: Signal from GSS Ninevah within normal ranges. Captain updates Station Control every six hours, according to protocol. GSS Ninevah currently following mission parameters.

The ship undocked from the space-station and negotiated its way out of the station's bay. Chief Navigation Officer Daniels operated the controls with the finesse of a surgeon and set the thrusters on their final clearance blast. When the ship had aligned with its course, the thrusters were retracted and the autopilot engaged.

The Captain stood on the Navagation Deck with his thumbs in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth. He wore army field uniform and his dirty, worn combat boots. His stance, dress and cigarette were all against regulation, and the voice in his ear was reminding him of it in extremely hostile tones.

"I need not remind you AGAIN, Captain, about the code of conduct that binds all officers-"

"Astroid field up ahead, Admiral. Signal's a bit bad," the Captain said through his cigarette. "I'm losing you."

With that statement, he severed the communication, pulled his earpiece out of his ear, and dropped it into a toolkit that sat beside an open electronics panel. Chief Navigation Officer Daniels smirked and took out his own cigarette. The Captain lit it for him cheerfully and left the bridge. He descended onto the Engineering Deck through an open floor grate and tapped his lead engineer on the shoulder.

"Did you install the new drive?"

The engineer looked at the Captain wearily.

"I installed it, Captain, but-"

"But what?

"We don't have enough drive power to finish the mission if we engage it. According to our estimations, it will drain our reserves in 72 hours."

The Captain scratched his stubble for a moment, before he dropped his cigarette on the floor of the deck. The engineer winced and stamped on it quickly. The Captain raised his eyebrows.

"There... things are flammable down here, Captain..."

The Captain clapped the engineer on the shoulder and gave him a crooked grin. He returned to the Navigation Deck and took the co-pilot's chair.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Captain," said Chief Navigation Officer Daniels nervously. "A lot can go wrong."

"Relax, Daniels. I know what I'm doing."

DAY 3

Station Update: Signal from GSS Ninevah fading. Captain updates Station Control every 12 hours, therefore breaking protocol. Signal indicates activation of unauthorised jump drive. GSS Ninevah has broken mission parameters.

The Captain lounged in his quarters. He opened his third packet of cigarettes of the day and took another sip of rotgut from his rusting hip-flask before lighting the cigarette. He stared out of the bay window and watched the motionless stars for a few moments. It never failed to excite him to see the vast emptiness of space - an infinite amount of star systems, an infinite amount of worlds to explore... but with a sober regret he understood that he would never have enough time to see them all. He checked the co-ordinates on his light-projected map, grunted in approval and left his quarters, dropping his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray.

He made his way through the ship with long, confident strides and entered the escape-pod bay. He opened a security console and checked the pod-diagnostics. All appeared to be in working order. He ran the diagnostics three times before he was satisfied, finally giving another approving grunt, and made his way to the Navigation Deck. He approached the navigation console, pulled a small drive from his back pocket and plugged it into the co-ordinate input port. Chief Navigation Officer Daniels watched him.