Sci Fi Story

The first sun of the day had just cleared the horizon, marking the recurrence of the hot and active season. Wondrous rays illuminated with the sparkling brilliance of diamonds emanated along a distant anonymous range of lesser mountains. A muffled wheeze of a sleeping chamber slowly releasing its atmosphere into the stale air inside the camp. The incoming rays from the sun slowly recharged the mining ship as its first crew member was regaining consciousness. He lay there for couple of minutes while his head cleared. Eventually, he sat up and stretched his muscles, working out the inactivity that always came with extended naps. His hands flitted over a keypad on the wall, and the ship was suddenly alive again. Lights flickered and flashed as they warmed slowly. The ventilation kicked in fluttering as the fans started to cycle the atmosphere. Shields opened on the small portal to his room, and he reached to the wall for support as he stood out of his bed.

The red sun was quickly illuminating the landscape, and he was encouraged by the view. "Same old same old," he coarsely whispered to himself. He headed off to the lavatory. A body can only hibernate for so long, and he needed to release the accumulated toxins of a three month nap. Soon he was wide awake with a shower, shave and fresh clothes. His steps were light and tender as he readjusted to moving around, and headed to the command room. He turned on the ambiance lights, cycled his computers, and checked out the craft's systems. Once he had verified that everything was normal, he headed off to make his first meal. A toasted biscuit, reconstituted peach jam, a mug and a large pot of coffee were placed on a tray, and he delicately balanced this on the way back to the command room.

He set the tray down on the center table, turned on the hologram, and walked over to the communications console. A brief scan told him all he needed to know, nothing out of the usual...personal messages for the crew, no emergencies, no end to the universe, the usual high priority messages from the company, and the vessel log for arriving craft.

Two hours later he was just finishing his check list when the door to the command center opened. "Hey Skipper! How'd you sleep?" he asked in a playful too cheerful manner.

A low voice crackled, "Not bad Digger. How about you?"

"Like a baby, even needed to have my diaper changed! Oh, I ain't a digger no more, remember?"

"Yeah, don't remind me...might just be the second worst thing I ever did," the Captain replied. "So Aimus, how's my baby?"

Aimus grinned, gestured like he was stroking something in his arms, "Purring like a baby Stan, like a little kitten. Promoting me was the second worst thing you ever did, huh? What was the first?"

The Captain laughed, reached out to tussle Aimus' hair saying, "Well don't ask your mother, she promised me she wouldn't tell a soul." His smile was broad, and his laughter boomed in the silent command room. Amos looked perplexed at the comment, and Captain Stanislaw only laughed harder. "You do anything right before I awoke?"

"Just finished the checklist. Everything is good to go."

"What about coffee, or do I have to do everything around here?"

"Just made the second pot."

Stan walked over to the pot, and looked for a mug, not seeing one he walked over to Amos, and took his. "Looks like you forgot to bring yourself a mug." He topped the mug up with coffee, took a swig, and stated, "Gonna get a shower and change. She's all yours. You did good Aimus, keep it up."

Aimus smiled as the Captain exited, and yelled back to Stan, "Its good to see you too Sir!"

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This is just a prelim to a story I've been working on, but I thought I might try to add names from the litnet forums...when applicable. I haven't asked permission, but I don't know how long I'll keep this going, just like to have the access to some good names. Anyone that doesn't want a character name based off of their name, kindly PM me, and I'll change it. Cheers B