Board Thread:The Mech Bay Bar'n'Grill/@comment-24866242-20140514220513/@comment-24866242-20140514223443

“Collision alert! Object on forward sensors, dead in our path.”

“Time to impact?”

“Stand by… Computer, cancel alert.”

The warning klaxon ceased. Sandra shook her head and muttered to herself. “Time to impact is one hour,” she announced.

“That doesn’t seem urgent enough to need an alarm,” Jarrid commented.

“Weelll…. about that….”

Ben had moved forward to the navigator’s station and was punching up the sensor readings. A fuzzy image of the object appeared on the view screen. It was another ship and it was large, but their sensor resolution wasn’t high enough to make out the details. “We might not be able to change course in time. Our momentum is too great. Jarrid, transmit collision warning, all frequencies. Try to get their attention. Sandra, ease off on the engines and prepare for a lateral burn.” He punched a button on the console and his next words rang throughout the ship. “Everyone get strapped in and prepare for a high g burn.”

The alarms triggered again as Sandra eased off on their reverse thrust and gravity normalized briefly. “Time to impact is now fifty minutes,” she told the bridge as she canceled the alarm again. After easing off on their reverse thrust the computer had recalculated their trajectory. They weren’t slowing down anymore and the time to impact had been bumped up. The chairs on the bridge began to recline automatically and restraints snapped into place. A holographic display popped into place over Sandra’s head and she transitioned to small micro controls on her armrests. Similar displays popped up over Jarrid and Chaz and Ben and they continued working frantically, even as they felt the relief of the reduced deceleration.

“Everyone’s strapped in,” Jarrid reported. Below them the other four crew members would be strapped into reclined chairs, ready for the high g burn that might not be enough to save them.

“How long until they receive our transmission?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Chaz, can we pull fifteen gs?” Sandra asked.

“I wouldn’t want to chance more than thirteen. She might have been able to do fifteen when she was fresh off her shakedown, but that was what, forty years ago?”

“We haven’t got much choice,” Ben cut in. “Fifteen is what its going to take.”

“This is going to be unpleasant,” Sandy commented as she programmed the burn into the computer. “At least we’ll be unconscious by the time we wreck.” The bridge spun briefly as the thrustors rotated the ship around her axis. “Thirty seconds to burn,” Sandra said, more calmly than any of them were feeling.

“Ben!” Jarrid yelled, “Small object just dropped out of hyperspace one hundred meters off our bow. Its matching speed with us!”

“It’s in the way,” Sandra growled.

“It’s transmitting!”

“Put it on.”

A low frequency rumble filled the bridge. It took a moment before Ben realized that what he was hearing was a deep voice, slowed down by sixty or seventy percent.

“Mmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooowwwwwwwwww……..”

“It’s a subspace relay,” Ben realized aloud. “We’ve got a live feed to the other ship.”

“Are they time dilated?” Jarrid asked. “I thought they were moving at the same speed as us.”

“They are, but in the opposite direction. It gets weirder. From their point of view we’ll sound slowed down too. Record their messages and speed them up. Sandra, adjust your trajectory around the probe.”

“It’s too late. Computer is reporting we’ll hit even if we can manage a fifteen g burn.”

“Which wasn’t very bloody likely to begin with…” Chaz muttered.

The speakers filled the bridge with a deep rumbling voice again. “Minnow, power down your engines immediately and prepare for docking. Do not take evasive action. We have already moved out of your path and will match your speed.”

“I recognize that voice,” Chaz commented as the bridge chairs began to right themselves.

“Me too,” Jarrid said, squinting at the ship on the view screen. “Is that the Vextis?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Chaz sad. “What was the name of that big furry monster they had on their bridge crew? Looked like a damned abominable snowman.”

“Rah,” Ben answered. “Jarrid, record me and transmit to the probe at double speed.”

“Ready.”

“Vextis, this is Benjamin Stinel, Captain of the Minnow. Be advised, our inertial dampening system has failed. Do not engage tractor beams when we rendezvous. The strain would break us apart.”

The seconds ticked by while the message played back on the bridge of the Vextis and they relayed their response to the probe. A few moments later Rah’s voice returned to the speakers. “Acknowledged, Minnow. Docking on thrusters only. Good to hear your voice, Ben. Relativistic effects should negate as we reverse course to match your trajectory. Have your pilot stand by for instructions.”