The crew convenes

A svelte, twenty-two year old girl with platinum blond hair tied nicely in a nice ponytail, dressed in a white shirt and pink panties with a necklace of a heart-shaped gem leans herself forward on the console. As she rubs her chin with her hand, she gazes her azure blue eyes on the holographic projection of asteroids and readings. She traces a dotted line from her vessel’s projection towards an unknown object, performing mental calculations silently as she listens in on the conversation going on. This girl was Evelyn Summers, a well known starship pilot fresh out of a promising spacefaring pilot academy where she had consistently topped her cohort in all categories. Intelligent, extremely attractive, and known to be very amicable amongst her peers, Evelyn was a bright star destined for greater careers, except she had joined the Rescue team due to past histories that had scarred her.

To her right, a shorter, slightly older but much more athletic female with long brunette hair sits on the console’s edge, her arms folded as she tilts her neck over to face the blonde. The brunette speaks in a careful tone. “Evelyn, are we safe to approach?”

Evelyn does another tracing motion with her left hand, as she nods. “Yes, captain. The Winterlynx will be able to skirt through the field and make it in thirty minutes to the target point if we allocate thirty percent additional power to the thrusters.”

“Thirty percent to thrusts?!” a third woman exclaims. From the back of the bridge, another brunette, a short haired girl, halts her furious typing on a different console as she approaches the center console, her step disjointed and hasty. “Ashley, I-I mean captain!” She stops herself and turns her gaze to the captain. “We are hard locked on an even split between weapons, power, and shields!” she exclaims as she scours the holographic map optically. “Any deviation from the formula and-and an asteroid might hit us, or we might not survive a hit, or.. Or…” she rubs her hands together anxiously. Amanda Burnes, the ship’s engineer. Young, hotheaded and full of knowledge and technical prowess.

“It’s a choice between taking more hits or avoiding some and hoping we have enough to make it through.” Evelyn pauses as she inspects some additional data on the map. “I hear your concerns, Amanda, and I trust in your engineering skills that has kept us alive for the last fourteen months that we have been together on the Winterlynx, but if we go by the calculations, the Avalon will have left our visible radar range and we have a near zero percent chance to predict its next course if it hits an asteroid. An active vessel transmitting would be visible from much further away, but this ship… It’s a ghost ship essentially.”

“A hundred and twenty years…” Ashley speaks in her cautious tone as she turns herself towards the two girls. “The vessel’s serial matches the log and file for the Avalon, a supposedly missing colony ship that was carrying four thousand men, women and children as well as crew that was bound for the Alpha K-two planet past the Constellation Aquila.” the captain continues as she picks up a mug and sips her coffee. The girls focus their gaze on the holographic data, making more sense of its irregular shape and size.

“Lost a hundred and twenty years ago and never seen again. Never reached its destination. Nothing.” a fourth girl steps out from the side of the bridge, a tall, muscular woman in a black tank top wearing a pair of dog tags on her neck sporting long scarlet hair enters the frame and speaks. “Captain, if I may..” she clears her throat. “You may be new here on this team and vessel, but many of the old crew here trust you well enough due to your sister working with us. But if I may be so bold to comment, especially my unrelated role of being a soldier who knows nothing outside of firearms and punching things, this rescue mission feels cursed from the start.”

“I understand your concerns, Marylyn.” Ashley nods as she smiles and places a hand on the girl’s arm. “And I have faith in your skills as a soldier to keep us alive if anything untoward were to await us in that vessel.” the captain says as she turns toward everyone in the room and pushes herself up to sit on the table again. “Alright everyone.” She speaks noticeably louder, in a commanding tone. “If anyone has had any objections, you would have already said so in the last hour since we picked up the Avalon’s sig. And since none have, I can only assume we are all in this together. But if anyone has a second thought, you are welcome to bring it up and we will let you utilize the escape shuttles to fly back to the nearest point station which is still within reach as of now.”

“What good are we as medics…” a woman much noticeably older than the rest, seemingly in her thirties, comes forward to speak. “If we refuse to even attempt to help a vessel in need, even one that is unlikely to be carrying a single living soul?” It was Julie, one of the lead medics, known for her kind heart and always caring soul, looking out for others.

The women take their places at their stations, as Evelyn straps herself into the pilot seat and places her hands on the throttle, ready to push. She bites her lips and flips her long hair back, eyeing the instruments as she takes a deep breath. “Okay..” she whispers to herself.

“Just like the simulations..”