Systems Of Valor - Chapter 7 Repairs

Its been a week since I’ve started to fix the ship, and so far everything has been going smoothly. Amy wasn’t grumbling as much, but quickly grew frustrated when I ask her to start calling me Captain. So far, I first fully fixed the Power core, cleaned up the interior of the ship, gyro, and a majority of the thrusters. Now at first, I had no idea what I was doing, but with time, the information started to flow through me.

I only had a couple more things to fix; being the consoles in the bridge and the navigation system, also, the only problem to my beautiful plan is the windows. “Hey what can I do about the windows? From what I’ve seen, we have no spares.”

“I can seal them off with the bulkheads, but they will still need repairs. But once we get back to UHF space, we should be able to get me repaired fairly quickly.”

“But won’t that be expensive?”

“No, in the United Human Frontier War Guidelines it clearly states any damages incurred during a battle will be fixed with no charge.”

“That’s neat.”

Heading over to the bridge, I brought over the command chair with some console parts I had scavenged from other ships. Walking into the room I inched the chair to its place, then heard it click into place, I grabbed the parts and dropped down in front of the navigation console. “I know this is my life now, but… it feels so surreal like I’m in a dream. Mary would have loved this place.” I frowned, moving my eyes up to the window, I stared at the stars Mary loved so much. “I miss you, Mary…” I hope my father doesn’t blame her for my death, and I hope he’s doing okay without me.

Blinking away the tears in my eyes, I easied underneath the console and started to work.

“Who’s Mary? Is she your mother?” I stopped and turned to Amy.

“No, she was the most important person in my life, she was my love,” Amy replied with a little comfort in her voice.

“What was she like?” I turned my head back to the stars, thinking of her.

“She was the sweetest person you’d ever meet, even when you were angry at her, she had a funny way of making you happy just by being close to her. Her voice was so soothing; we used to stay up all night talking until one of us fell asleep. Looking at her would blow you away no matter who you were, her bright purple eyes and amber skin always were accompanied with long silky strands of brown. To put it bluntly, I was a lucky guy.”

“What happened?”

“She died.” Again sticking with the backstory, at least until he trusted her to keep his secret. A few hours later I had finished repairs. Going back to Engineering, I replaced the last of the Fuel Cores and headed back to the Bridge. I sat down In the chair and looked forward. “Amy, are you ready to do a test flight?”

“Yep, All systems essential for flight are reporting green… Captain.”

“See that wasn’t so hard, why don’t you just call me Captain all the time.”

“Because you hadn’t earned it yet, but… I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d be able to do it, every simulation told me you lacked experience and that you would break me before you could ever fix me, but again and again, you proved me wrong, and for that, I shall call you Captain.”

“Wow… thanks, Amy.” I then grabbed the flight controls and reached my hand to the thrust controller.

“You know how to fly right?” She said nervously.

I smiled, “Were about to find out.” I then threw several switches and then slammed the launch thrusters at maximum. The starship lurched into the air flying up several thousand feet before stabilizing. I started testing the controls of the ship, I pulled left, right, up, and down. “Okay, that checks out…” I muttered. Now, Its time to test the Impulse engines on the back, I looked up into the Bridge, not looking at anything in particular.

“Are you ready for this?”

“More than you’ll ever know.” I smiled, she almost sounded excited, he liked that… He tightened his grip on the throttle and slammed it forward. Everything in view shot towards him in an instant tree’s, lakes, mountains, and fields of grass. A second later I heard a loud boom. We’ve broken the sound barrier, but yet I don’t feel the g-forces. I pulled back on the throttle and set down in a forest clearing next to a stream.

“Amy, why can’t I feel any g-forces?”

“It’s because of the gravity generator.”

“Oh… cool, anyway, Amy, how long will our food and water last.”

“A week at the very least.”

I put a contemplating look on my face, “How long will it take to get to the nearest UHF controlled planet?”

“Three days.”

“Good, because we set off today. Is that okay with you?”

“Affirmative Captain.” I flicked the necessary switches and pushed the throttle controller into its maximum limits. The starship flew off into the air, then I eased back and tilted the bow to the sky.

“Are those bulkheads closed?”

“Yes”

I smiled, “Good.” As I slammed the Impulse throttle forward and the ship rocketed to open space, I shouted something I’ve always wanted to say.

“TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!”