Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:07 pm
New chapters, finally!
Chapter Five
Near Planet Houston, Texas System
The Flamechaser glided silently through space. Planet Houston was near. Jack knew that he owed his life to this stranger, so he figured that he at least ought to let the man take him to where he was heading before he started asking questions. Jack knew that he was very lucky to be alive. Moments after they had left the station, it had been destroyed by the large ship. They had narrowly escaped. The attackers hadn't noticed them at all, so they had managed to slip away.
Jack looked into the viewport. A large planet was coming up. It was a tan color, and Jack didn't exactly like the look of it. He watched as they drew closer and closer to it.
After entering the atmosphere, the man guided the ship down towards the planet's surface. Jack watched as tall buildings and huge factories came into view. Hundreds of ships, of all sizes, were flying between, over, and around the buildings. The scale was enormous! Whoever had created this was a highly advanced civilization, with much technology at their disposal. The only problem with it was that the sky was so polluted that it was a brown color now. It gave the whole planet a slimy look to it. The man guided the ship down into a particularly slimy area, and set it down on a landing pad in a back alley. The alley didn't exactly seem like a place Jack wanted to be, but if he wanted answers, he would have to follow the man. The man exited the ship, and Jack followed, like a shadow.
He walked into a small door near the pad, where he was faced with several doors. He went up to the farthest one on the right, and pulled a key from his pocket. He slid the key into the lock, and opened the door. Jack and the man both went inside.
Inside, there was a small table, a bed, and a holoscreen on one wall. It was very simple, with no decorations.
"Please, have a seat," the man gestured to Jack.
Jack sat in one of the two chairs at the table.
"Before you start asking questions, I want to introduce myself. I am Matt. Now, let me explain, because I know where you are from, and I can guess what happened."
"My name is Jack, by the way, and I seriously doubt that, sir." Jack replied, sure of himself.
"Well, let me tell you what I think happened. You are a human from Earth. This ship, the Flamechaser, crashed there, and you just had to go into it and see what it was. For some reason, the ship launched, and you were in it, and you somehow followed its course back to Sirius, and then Madison Base. I am correct, right?"
"Wow. You are pretty close, but, more importantly, how do you know? And what is Sirius?"
"I know because the same thing mostly happened to me. I am from Earth too, Jack, and I did mostly the same thing that you did. I am still a relative newcomer to this place, I arrived about three months ago. This place is Sirius. It is a whole sector. You will learn more soon. Now, here is what I want you to do. I will go give you a book of information on this place. You read it, while I pack up my things. Okay?"
"Fine with me."
Matt went to get the book, which turned out to be a datapad that had a file on it for Jack to read. Jack laid on the uncomfortable bed, while he read and read. In an hour, he read about the entire history of the people of Sirius, their culture, the four Great Houses, all of the known factions, ships, equipment, goods, other people, stations, bars, nebulas, minefields, radiation, stars, and other things. None of the items went into much detail, and there was no particular order, which seemed to mean that it had been hastily compiled, most likely for Matt's own use. Despite that, Jack learned a lot about where he was in that hour, and he felt he understood most of it. It was still hard to grasp, though, because of the shock of this new world. He was going to ask Matt to take him back to Earth, but changed his mind. He had wanted adventure, and here was a golden opportunity. He had his answers, now he needed to know how to use them.
Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/13/2004 6:10:59 PM
Chapter Five
Near Planet Houston, Texas System
The Flamechaser glided silently through space. Planet Houston was near. Jack knew that he owed his life to this stranger, so he figured that he at least ought to let the man take him to where he was heading before he started asking questions. Jack knew that he was very lucky to be alive. Moments after they had left the station, it had been destroyed by the large ship. They had narrowly escaped. The attackers hadn't noticed them at all, so they had managed to slip away.
Jack looked into the viewport. A large planet was coming up. It was a tan color, and Jack didn't exactly like the look of it. He watched as they drew closer and closer to it.
After entering the atmosphere, the man guided the ship down towards the planet's surface. Jack watched as tall buildings and huge factories came into view. Hundreds of ships, of all sizes, were flying between, over, and around the buildings. The scale was enormous! Whoever had created this was a highly advanced civilization, with much technology at their disposal. The only problem with it was that the sky was so polluted that it was a brown color now. It gave the whole planet a slimy look to it. The man guided the ship down into a particularly slimy area, and set it down on a landing pad in a back alley. The alley didn't exactly seem like a place Jack wanted to be, but if he wanted answers, he would have to follow the man. The man exited the ship, and Jack followed, like a shadow.
He walked into a small door near the pad, where he was faced with several doors. He went up to the farthest one on the right, and pulled a key from his pocket. He slid the key into the lock, and opened the door. Jack and the man both went inside.
Inside, there was a small table, a bed, and a holoscreen on one wall. It was very simple, with no decorations.
"Please, have a seat," the man gestured to Jack.
Jack sat in one of the two chairs at the table.
"Before you start asking questions, I want to introduce myself. I am Matt. Now, let me explain, because I know where you are from, and I can guess what happened."
"My name is Jack, by the way, and I seriously doubt that, sir." Jack replied, sure of himself.
"Well, let me tell you what I think happened. You are a human from Earth. This ship, the Flamechaser, crashed there, and you just had to go into it and see what it was. For some reason, the ship launched, and you were in it, and you somehow followed its course back to Sirius, and then Madison Base. I am correct, right?"
"Wow. You are pretty close, but, more importantly, how do you know? And what is Sirius?"
"I know because the same thing mostly happened to me. I am from Earth too, Jack, and I did mostly the same thing that you did. I am still a relative newcomer to this place, I arrived about three months ago. This place is Sirius. It is a whole sector. You will learn more soon. Now, here is what I want you to do. I will go give you a book of information on this place. You read it, while I pack up my things. Okay?"
"Fine with me."
Matt went to get the book, which turned out to be a datapad that had a file on it for Jack to read. Jack laid on the uncomfortable bed, while he read and read. In an hour, he read about the entire history of the people of Sirius, their culture, the four Great Houses, all of the known factions, ships, equipment, goods, other people, stations, bars, nebulas, minefields, radiation, stars, and other things. None of the items went into much detail, and there was no particular order, which seemed to mean that it had been hastily compiled, most likely for Matt's own use. Despite that, Jack learned a lot about where he was in that hour, and he felt he understood most of it. It was still hard to grasp, though, because of the shock of this new world. He was going to ask Matt to take him back to Earth, but changed his mind. He had wanted adventure, and here was a golden opportunity. He had his answers, now he needed to know how to use them.
Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/13/2004 6:10:59 PM
Unfortunately, I am finishing up my "Victory at All Costs" story before I continue work on this one, so it could be awhile.