The Mole: A Sci Fi Mystery

[muffinstud]

Captain Hardy is about to reply to the doctor, when the ship lurches from the station. He growls and grabs a handset for the PA. "Excuse me," he says, nodding to Dean. "This is your captain speaking. We've just left the station, and in a few minutes we'll be going into Faster Than Light speeds. Before that however, you might notice a distinct lack of gravity for about 30 seconds. Please don't throw up on the carpet."

After the lurch is over, the gravity on the ship slowly decreases. "Now doctor, the ship may be safe, but people always have accidents and there are always bugs that make it past screening. You can relax for the most part, but consider yourself on call until we get there."

Hardy turns and brings up a display that says it's the "Helix Gravitational Tether." He activates it and gives Marcus a glance. "Eager much?"

Everyone on the ship is now subject to zero gravity. Those that have been on ships before might have experienced it, but for the most part, this is still something of an oddity.

[Shy Shay]

Luka blinks. "Oh... dear..." He is not used to this. He never managed to get used to it, and he always got nausish. As such, he makes retching motions... but he manages to not throw up. Barely. "I hate this ship..."

[Harri-chan]

Koren nodded, looking at Isaac in admiration before the ship rolled slightly, and he ended up bumping against the security officer and wrapping his arms around the guy's waist to regain his balance. "Uh... sorry...", he blushed, just as he felt himself growing lighter from the decreasing gravity. "Ohh man, this is weird...". He flailed around as he lifted off the ground, and tried to grab onto Isaac again!

[Blaze]

Dean blinks at the announcement, and despite a bit of flailing in the lower gravity, he doesn't react.

"Very well sir."

[Stray-chan]

As Thomas drifts up and away from the bean bag, he grumbles. "Well, this is pretty damn different. Maybe seatbelts were a good idea. 30 seconds, right? Man, I hope it doesn't last longer, this is weird."

[Knight Errant]

Isaac holds his arms up... looking down in annoyance as Koren gets... clingy. He seems not ill at ease with the varying gravity at all.

"Seriously... I'm not a lamp post... Have you even flown before?"

[Ookalf]

Luka blinks. "Oh... dear..." He is not used to this. He never managed to get used to it, and he always got nausish. As such, he makes retching motions... but he manages to not throw up. Barely. "I hate this ship..."

*Julian tries to cling to one of the beanbag chairs as the gravity gives out.* Hey, are you okay over there?

[Shy Shay]

Luka just reaches. "N... no..."

[Zoey]

Markus continued to check the systems as the ship started to warm up. "Hehe, flying this girl will be very enjoyable" he replies as the ship lurches again. "Ok... steady now girl" he said to himself as the reading started to hit 100% and the ship started to move upwards to the sky at an angle.

[Bigmouthstrikes]

"Oh, I never do well with this part." Neil groaned as gravity stopped functioning for him.

He looked around for a trash can or something else he could get sick in.

[muffinstud]

It seems the good Captain is more on the ball than usual, and the tether* jerks the ship into gravity with an awkward curveball of a tug. For the most part, returning to the floor is painless. Isaac and Koren end up in an even more awkward position, if that's even possible.

"All right, hope you didn't get jostled around too much there. We're free and clear of the port, we have gravity, and a clear shot of our destination. You might feel a slight pull in your stomach when we hit the drive, but don't worry about buckling in." Captain Hardy takes a look at the different displays and nods satisfactorily. "All right Lieutenant. Punch it."

*How the tether works: The ship deploys a weight with thrusters on it, attached with a long tether. Once the tether is taut, the thrusters on the weight and ship act in harmony to spin them around a central axis. This gives the inertial equivalent of gravity, without the awkward or expensive "hamster wheels" of former models. Any body in freefall at time of deployment usually follows a J curve to the ground as things move and turn.

[Blaze]

Dean lands on his feet and smiles.

'THat's all I have to ask Captain. I'll go get acquainted with the others now."

[Knight Errant]

Isaac pauses... looking down... then as tactfully as possible he hauls Koren to his feet. The expression on his face says it all... 'My god... these wet behind the ears colonists...'

[Harri-chan]

Koren blushed as he ended up on top of Isaac, with his arms around the other guy.  "Uh...", was all he managed to say before being dragged to his feet.  "Sorry...", came out next with a sheepish smile as he adjusted his glasses. "It's my first time... I can still have a poster, right?".

[Shy Shay]

Luka sighs in reliefe as he returns to normal gravaty. "Ah... thanks for worrying. I'm the ships therapist, Luka... who are you?" He holds out his hand.