The Mole: A Sci Fi Mystery

[muffinstud]

The planet Pluto. Charon's twin. The furthest significant planetary body in the Sol system. On this lifeless rock rests a wide array of bases. Charon still circles around, smothered in ice with rectangular sections cut out. In orbit around the twin bodies is a structure similar to a wagon wheel, only smothered in solar panels and tethered to Pluto's surface. One section of the structure is connected to a much stranger, much larger object.

The portion connected to the wagon wheel is rather small, about the size of a two story house if it were squashed into an arrowhead shape. At the broad end is a round set of connectors that act as a bridge to a large egg shape, almost three times the size of the arrowhead. It has large engines spaced out evenly across the radius, with a large brick looking thing between two of them. This odd assortment of shapes bears a title on the arrowhead. ECSS Horizon.

"All personnel registered with the Horizon, please report at docking bay Bravo. All personnel belonging to the ECSS Horizon, please report to docking bay Bravo." The voice over the intercom sounds just like the canned female voice in all the airports and spaceports pretty much everywhere. It sounds real enough, but a little too enthusiastic to be human.

Aboard the wagon wheel that is Pluto Hard Dock Alpha, there is a small number of people this message applies to. And waiting for them at docking bay Bravo is a tall man with dark skin and a serious expression. The dock itself is a hatch with a ladder going into the floor, the hall wrapping up in both directions as it snakes around the outside of the wheel.

The Hard Dock has all the conveniences one would expect in an airport terminal. Book stores (with the latest downloads, for a low, low price!), fast food, and touristy stuff like shirts and little twin snowglobes.

[Okay, just like in an airport, you'll be allowed a small amount of baggage large enough to fit in an overhead compartment. The rest of your needs will be provided on the ship. The captain is waiting for you at the entrance of the ship. I'll be PM'ing the mole as to their instructions.]

[Harri-chan]

Atleast one person seemed far more excited than the situation warranted. Koren was seventeen, and still in education, but had managed to persuade those in power at the academy that field experience would be more useful than classes, and luckily for him, this mission had struggled to recruit a xenobiologist. They'd held out as long as possible, but as a last resort, they'd agreed to Koren filling the position. He was a little on the short side, with a very average and not particularly athletic frame dressed in a grey exo-suit, with white boots. His shoulder length brown hair was a curly mess, and his thick-framed glasses were by far the most distinctive feature about his round face. Fresh from downloading the latest comics onto a smartband already packed with entertainment media, he headed towards the dark-skinned man, clutching a large paper coffee cup topped emblazoned with the logo of a well known coffee house.

"I'm registered with the Horizon", he informed the man with a proud smile. "Koren Jenkins checking in", he declared, and saluted with his free hand. "I'm the xenobiologist from the academy". Black straps crossed over his chest, part of a black laptop computer bag that was worn more like a back pack, and this proudly displayed the logo of a well known computer manufacturer favoured by visitors of the well known coffee house. Leaning to one side, he peered around the captain, looking at the ladder that descended into the hatch. "Can I take my coffee onto the ship?".

[Shy Shay]

Luka, a short, not exactly pudgy man walks up. He dabs his forehead with a hankerchief... it is clear that he is very nervous. He appears to be in awe at all the ships, looking at all of them as if he is seeing them for the first eye. However, he is listening to all the conversations going on around him, and he frowns slightly when he catches a lie. He does this more often then not.

He slowly walks up to the man. To the unexperainced eye, with his brown exo-suit and normal figure and quite movements, he is a nobody. Not somebody to take notice of. To the more experianced eye, however, it is clear that this is a man that goes out of the way to not be noticed, somebody that values knowing more then being known. "Uh... hi, I'm Luka. The ships therapist. I wish I wasn't here, but I'll do my best anyway." He sticks out his hand, still nervouse.

[Blaze]

With a tired grunt, Dean gets up from the bench he had been lying down on. Picking up the duffel bag that has been serving as his pillow, he slowly trudged towards docking bay Bravo, stifling a yawn as he does.

"I hope we don't have to be debriefed when we get on.... I need sleep..."

When he arrives at the docking bay, he puts the bag down and gives the captain a tired smile, running his hand through his curly hair

"Dr. Dean Summers reporting sir..."

[Knight Errant]

Isaac marches towards said docking bay. He bears a large black backpack with the blue sunburst logo of the Nova Private Security Corp on it... an image mirrored on his upper right bicep... not that anyone would see the tattoo with his shell suit's shoulder armor covering it.

He walks by the shops and food vendors, an air of sharp, hard professionalism about him. Finally coming up to the small group gathered around the dock. He dose not bother announcing himself, figuring anyone important enough would know who he was.

Instead he spends his time observing what must be his fellow crewmates.

[Ookalf]

Hah, guess that's me. *Julian quickly pays for his book downloads, slings his travel bag over his shoulder, and heads down to docking bay Bravo to meet with the captain.*

Julian Bashkir, reporting for duty, sir!

[Zoey]

Lieutenant Markus Sloan was walking up the ramp of the space ship ECSS Horizon. "Hey you bloody bastards! I told you to get out of the way!" he shouted as he walked up the ramp with his trusted Mech MFA 21 Shining Knight nicknamed: Rex. As he parked Rex into the bay with the other mechs. "Take good care of her Carl" he said to the mechanic as he exited the mech. "Cya guys later" he said as he walked off the elevator. "I have no idea, how I'm going to pilot this behemoth..." he murmered to himself, since this will be his first time piloting such a heavy vessel. As he rode the way up to the main level to meet the captain he made a mental check list of everything he brought. Lucky everything seemed in order, the last thing was his mech and its loaded already. "Only thing left is meet the captain" he said to himself as he evelvator doors opened and went to the meeting point. It was an odd sense of excitement and nerves as he saw the ships interior. What a fine ship she is.

[Bigmouthstrikes]

Neil arrived at the docking bay. He was late, as usual. His carry on bag was unsightly looking, and there were definitely socks hanging out from the zipped side. He looked like he'd rolled out of bed only a few minutes ago.

He arrived to docking bay Bravo and rushed up the crowd, hoping to slip in unnoticed.

[muffinstud]

The dark man in the white jumpsuit nods to each crewmember as they arrive. "Thank you for being on time. I would introduce you to our pilot, IF HE WASN'T MAKING LOVE TO HIS MECH." This last part he growls sarcasticly into his wristband, sending the audio to Lieutenant Sloan. He chuckles when the pilot arrives. He grins at the others. "There are a few things I'd like you to know before you come aboard my ship.

"This is my ship. As far as you're concerned, the Confederation didn't even pay a cent. And since this is my ship, and mine alone, you are all guests. I don't expect you to hold hands in a circle and sing kumbaya, but I do want you to be civil. We're going to be stuck on a rock for years, all by our lonesome. The last thing I need is to kill one of you to secure the safety of the mission." There is no sarcasm in Captain Hardy's voice.

"Every last one of you is of vital mission importance. Take care of those around you, and you'll find yourself being taken care of. Even though I've been given a more administrative role, I'm telling you now that I will get even more dirty than any of you when the work needs doing. I spent my time as an enlisted, I have no qualms shoveling your shit if it comes down to it.

"We will be leaving the dock in a few minutes. The Horizon will take us to our destination within one week. Due to the ludicrous speeds we'll be going, we will be under a full communications blackout all week. To give you a sense of just how fast and far we'll be going, the colony barges already left ten years ago, and won't get there for another five."

The captain eyeballs everyone. "This is your last chance to bail. You won't be seeing any of your family members in their own lifetimes. Once you're on, you're on for good. I take great pleasure in shoving quitters out of airlocks." Still no sarcasm.

[Blaze]

Dean listens to the captain's speech, his face falling a bit when he mentions he'll never see his family again.

"Sir, I..."

He sighs and shakes his head.

"Understood Captain."

[Zoey]

Markus walks up without a care in the world to the group. "Hahaha! Finally foun ya cap'n" he said putting an arm over his shoulders and shaking him a bit. "Did I miss anything?" he asked very casually, glancing to the group to see the catch. "Sory I was a wee late, had to take care of me baby ya know"

[Bigmouthstrikes]

Neil looks around, glad that he wasn't the last person to arrive. He tried to keep his composure for just a little bit longer.

He was a nerd at heart. Never very good at this military posturing crap.

[Knight Errant]

Isaac figures now is the time to speak. He addresses the captain. "I cant speak for the others here, but I assure you I wont be compromising the safety of the mission. Safety is, after all, my job description." He grins humorlessly then continues. "And had I intended to quit, I wouldnt have bothered to show up here. Anything I start, I finish. I plan on doing my job... if we have any problems, it will be on your end."

That last sentence wasn't stated as a challenge, more of a fact.

[Harri-chan]

Koren recognised a fellow nerd in Neil, and flashed a grin at him, using his free hand to give him a thumbs up, but kept his hand close to his stomach to try and avoid the captain seeing it. His gaze continued to roam around the crew as they arrived, while sipping at his coffee, leaving a smear of cream across his top lip that he didn't seem to notice. His stomach felt like it was twisting right over inside him as the captain once more stressed that there was no turning back after this, but remained quiet as a few of the more confident crew spoke up.

[Ookalf]

*Julian salutes the captain when he finishes his speech without a moment's hesitation.* Understood, sir!