The Comet's Tail

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 40145

"Charting of Sector Gamma-Zero-Nine-B completed," Fred reported. "Sensor logs downloaded and transmitted."

"Roger that," came the reply from Earth. "Receipt of logs acknowledged. The Comet's Tail is now free to proceed to Gamma-Zero-Nine-C as scheduled."

"Acknowledged, GEF Central. Comet's Tail out."

Fred stretched back, glad that this round of charting was almost complete. Humans had been in interstellar space for over 500 years without finding any other sentient life. I guess we could be the lucky ones to find some, Fred mused wryly, But I doubt it.

Just then, a large man came up and wrapped his hands around Fred's shoulders. "Feeling a little stressed, darling?" he asked.

"I was," Fred laughed, "But now that you're here, I'm much better."

"Good, because I hate it when my pilot is stressy. And when my wife is stressy, it's even worse."

"Just your bad fortune that they're one and the same," Commander Winifred "Fred" Danner smiled at her husband.

When The Space Exploration Corp had developed the idea of the long term missions, they decided that the best traveling companions would be couples who were married or in long-term relations. This hadn't always turned out to be the case, but fortunately, husband and wife Commanders Art Aquilla & Fred Danner had proved to be ideally suited for the mission, and their ship, the Galactic Space Scout Comet's Tail had achieved a remarkable record of success, finding everything from rare minerals to lost ships to habitable worlds. Everything but another intelligent lifeform.

"Listen Fred, it's going to be a while before we have to start scanning again," Art said. "Why don't you go grab a quick nap and I'll keep an eye on things."

"Thanks, sweetie," she replied, kissing him on the cheek. She turned the ship's console over to him and turned to go.

  1. Just as she left, a console beeped. It was Earth HQ with an urgent message.
  2. She'd no more than fallen asleep when Art called her up. He'd spotted a ship of unknown type and origin.
  3. In the middle of her nap, the ship was rocked by an explosion.
  4. After a brief four-hour nap, she awoke and returned to the bridge.
  5. Having overslept, she awoke to find everything - changed.

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Bill L.

3/19/2004 10:01:55 PM

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