EVE Fiction

Jake stared out the biodome’s semi transparent force field into the cold space that surrounded the colony. Multiple large asteroids floated nearby. Several, like the rock the colony had been build on, where large enough to almost be considered a planet.

Almost.

A fleet of ships, lasers constantly streaming towards Gallent, the largest of the nearby asteroids, had turned it’s uppermost quadrant into molten slag which were being tractored into the ships before it had been cooled. Jake wished he was out there.

He heaved a sigh and sat up. His break was nearly over and he had yet to touch the protein packs that served as food in the colony. Insignificant in both size and location, the place Jake found himself pondering didn’t have a name. Or if it did, he didn’t know it. All he knew was that the asteroid the colony sat on was full of Noxcium, and too volatile for standard mining forcing a colony to be placed on it’s surface so that the population could effectively mine the materials that it hid.

Jake hated everything about it.

Jake hastily ate the few bites that his lunch consisted of and began walking the broken surface of the asteroid towards the small cluster of buildings that served as the heart of the colony at this early stage in it’s construction. He had to move out of the way of one of the Quatico’s, a robotic dozer-like machine that was slowly leveling the surface contained within the biodome while processing the material for any trace of Noxcium.

He reached the outer door of the control cluster and had to wait as the door took pressure and atmospheric readings to ensure it was safe to open the doors before it chimed and slid open. Soon enough the doors would be replaced and he would no longer have to wait, as the facilities where updated to post-dome standards. But for now, the facility still believed that the exterior opened to the cold vacuum of space.

The door opened, revealing a corridor stretching almost fifty yards, with various equipment and hazard suits accessible on the walls on either side for the first ten before turning into the featureless gray walls that the entire colony was currently decorated with. Every ten yards or so there were doors on either side of the corridor, with a large set of double doors staring at Jake from the far end. It was to these doors that Jake began trudging, idly noting as he did so the large amount of dirt and grime that had fallen under the grating he was walking on. He made a mental note, as he did every day, to have the janitorial department come out to clean it.

The double doors slid open as Jake approached it revealing a large room with twenty terminals clustered in groups of four spread throughout the room, though only five people were presently in the room. The ceiling stretch upwards, and would have allowed for a second floor. Instead a single catwalk wide enough for two to walk abreast ran the course of the walls.

There were no stairs leading down from the catwalk.
For Jake, the message was clear. One level for the workers with no chance at pulling yourself up.

“... are you listening to me Jake? Jake!”

Jake jumped and stopped his mind from wandering. Cecilia, red haired and freckled, stood over her console looking his way. A sly grin and twinkling green eyes giving away her pleasure at catching him daydreaming. “That communique you’ve been expecting from hq has arrived. They’re bringing in the spaceport you requested along with a hydroponic and living modules. ETA is three days.”

Jake nodded. They were nearing completion of the first stage of the colony construction and would soon be fully operational. The mining and extraction modules had already been installed, all that was left was to get people here to operate the machinery. “Good. Anything else?”

“They’re pleased that you’re ahead of schedule. And there’s a sealed document for you.” Cecilia knew that Jake had applied for a transfer to a mining fleet, and gave him unending grief about his desire to take to the stars, but respected him enough to not do so in public. Jake wouldn’t be surprised if she had managed to open the document without breaking the digital seal, but he didn’t care. Jake walked over to his terminal and scanned the communique.

He found Cecilia’s summary to be accurate and at the end of the file a sealed document entitled: Transfer of Personnel request #76581-8, J14768. Jake opened it and began reading, his breathing shallowing.

TO: Jake Greldsith

DATE: Jan. 12th YC 116

SUBJECT: Transfer of Personnel request #76581-8, J14768

Mr. Greldsith,

Your application for transfer to HVPT’s wormhole mining operation Joint Star was received. We are impressed with both your continual display of loyalty and successes. Most noticeably the rapid progression of project VPTD-421. Coupled with your continued exemplary test scores in spaceship command I am pleased to offer you the position of captain of the HVPT Retriever Nova Scar. You will be flying under the command of Commander Yalla Sergay, and will have your pay raised to the standard rate of captain once you take command. Please see to your transfer to Hek VII - TLF at the earliest convenience. Should you not arrive by Feb 1st YC116 your commision will be given to another.

You are to temporarily reassign all current duties to your second in command pending a permanent staffing placement.

I look forward to flying with you.

Cm. Yalla Sergay.

Jake stared out of the window of his room. An eight by twelve foot cell with walls made of metal so grey they appeared almost blue in the light. Everything about the room screamed efficiency. The desk which was the primary feature of the room stood between him and the door. Both his bed, and the facilities folded into the wall leaving a room more resembling an office then a place of habitation.

The window was the same window he had stared out of for the past five years. Jake didn’t know what he expected. To appreciate the rocky and uninhabited view now that he would be leaving in a couple of days? His views hadn’t changed tho. It was the same view he had despised all this time.

Jake didn’t hear his door open, he didn’t need to. The draft from the hallway blews his bangs into his face forcing him to put it back. Jake could see Ceclia reflecting back at him, staring at his back from his doorway and didn’t bother turning around. Postponing the conversation, if only briefly.

“Saying your goodbyes?” Driven to break the silence Cecilia’s voice shattered whatever piece Jake had claimed, if only for a few moments.

“Not really.” Jakes shoulders slumped as he turned to face Cecilia forcing his them to relax. “How can you say goodbye to a piece of lifeless rock?” Jake smiled slightly, though it came off more sickly than reassuring. Cecilia’s face was scrunched up. Most people would think that she was on the verge of tears, but Jake knew better. She wasn’t trying to hide vulnerability.

She was pissed.

He braced himself for the flood as she opened her mouth and stepped briskly into the room. “Wormholes?” Once she had started her thoughts spilled out of her mouth in a steady stream. “I knew you’ve been trying to get a ship, but wormholes?! The probability that you come out alive are one in forty! Are you really so desperate to get away from here that you would kill yourself?!” Cecilia came to a stop a mere step away placing a hand on Jake’s chest. Her other hand clutched a datapad by her sides, knuckles white from pressure. A curl of hair had escaped Cecilia’s bun, framing her face and bringing Jake’s attention to her eyes which were a shade darker than normal from crying.

Jake paused to consider this.

“You know, you could come with me.” Jake said tentatively, guessing at the source of Cecilia’s real emotions. They had been working together for five years and had gotten together more for convenience than any true attraction, but with her reactions today Jake began to suspect that somewhere along the way true emotions had developed. Late to the party, as always when it came to emotions, his or anyone else, he realised that he wasn’t displeased by the prospect.

Cecilia balked, taking a couple of steps back. Her hand that a moment ago rested on his chest now pointed accusingly at him. Accustomed to her sudden changes of temper Jake stopped the smirk that threatened to form on his face when a saying regarding redheaded temper flashed unbidden to his mind. “One in forty! You have to be crazy to take those odds! Join you! Join you?!” She was momentarily speechless as though lost for words. Jake suspected that it was the exact opposite. To many words were trying to get out at once, gumming up the works.

He took the opportunity and grabbed her hand, pulling her into an embrace. He didn’t say anything, and after a moment her body relaxed into him and he pretended to not hear her sniffle. “I know what the odds are Dice.” Jake, never a fan of nicknames, seldom used them. But he used hers this time. “The only way they were ever going to give me command of a ship was with long odds, and these aren’t the longest.” Jake gently held her away from him and tilted her head up with a finger under her chin. “All I have to do is make it once. This once! Ten percent of anything I mine will be mine! I can finally pay my way into the Academy!” Jake said looking into Cecilia’s wonderfully green eyes.

She shut them and pressed her face back into his chest forcing him to resume the embrace or be toppled over.

“No. It will go to your next of kin.” She whispered.
Cecilia never took long odds.

Jake approached the viewing port of the spaceports personnel module and watched as large canisters were removed from the rear access ports. The containers would eventually be assembled into the new habitation and operation modules propelling the colony to it’s next phase of existence. But as soon as Jake found his thoughts drifting this way he pulled them back. The most important aspect of this ship was that once it was unloaded, he would board.
A thump behind him had Jake pulling his eyes off of his salvation to see a familiar red headed figure standing behind him a rucksack at her feet. “I was wrong. The odds of the convoy surviving is listed as one in seventy.” Cecilia’s voice was deadpan, as though she were seeing through time to a certainty written in stone. “The odds of you making it out are one is one hundred and twenty.”
Jake smiled at the thoroughness of her prediction of doom. “And why would you know that?” Jake asked curious.
“Because when I asked my family to pull a favor and get me assigned as the Personnel Office on board the Nova Scar I placed a bet that the ship would make it out.” Jake was momentarily speechless as the words hit him and the realisation that Cecilia, proud and immobile Cecilia, was standing as though she was a shy ten year old after stealing her first kiss from a boy.
Jake smiled despite himself. “And here I thought you never bet on the long shot.” Jake said smiling. “What made you change your mind?”
Cecilia looked away from him. A shadow fell over them briefly as a large object was carted past the viewport followed by the sounds of the access ramp being moved into place. Jake bent down and retrieved his bag, Cecilia mirroring him. “I didn’t. I still think you…” She paused for a breath. “I still think that we are going to die.”
Jake shook his head, unbelieving. Temper flashed in Cecilia’s green eyes and she marched past him to the access ramp without another word. As the doors opened Jake fell in behind her the sight of his rescuer, ugly though the Crane was, greeted him. “I’m betting on us. Not the stupid job.” Cecilia admitted bitterly. The ramp jolted to a halt as it connected to the ship and the gate on both ends slid open. Jake laughed.
“Now theres a bet worth taking!” Jake exclaimed happily whole in both heart and purpose. He reached out and grasped Cecilia shoulder squeezing it reassuredly. Jake could feel her muscles relax at his touch, though she gave no other outward sign that he was reassuring. “We’ll make it!” He whispered fiercely to her as they crossed the threshold and was surrounded by the red tinged metal of the Crane.
“It’s not as if it will matter to us if you’re wrong.” She whispered back before coming to a halt in front of one of the crewmen waiting just inside the door. The guy stood at just under six feet and had the thin frame that came with eating the high protein foods they tended to stock ships with in order to save space. Both Cecilia and himself had the look as well.
Jake and Cecilia held out the arms and the creman pulled out a sleek looking device that he waved over both of them, reading the digital impressions embedded in their forearms. After a moment he consulted the devices screen before nodding to himself. “Welcome aboard. I’ll show you two to your quarters. We’ll be underway shortly. The ship is open to you save for the bridge and the cargo hold.”
“Thank you.” Jake said, knowing Cecilia wouldn’t indulge the man in even that much courtesy. “When will we be leaving?” Jake quickly reached for the wall as a sudden and unexpected acceleration changed his center of gravity.
“Now.” The crewman stated having no problem standing upright. After a moment Jake found he could move again without risking falling over, and let go of the wall. The crewman waited for them to get their bearings unfazed and uncaring of their troubles. Cecilia was still having issues and Jake offered a steadying hand that she gratefully took.
“What’s the ships itinerary? When will we be reaching Hek?” Jake asked as he received a grateful look from Cecilia before turning his attention to the crewman. He made a note to kick anyone who was so formal onboard his ship.
The crewman frowned as he attempted to decide what to say. “Two days. We have several… stops” he finally conceded “before reaching your system. The danger is minimal.” Jake’s mind accessed the possibilities. The Crane was wonderful for transversing low security space as they were due to it’s ability to cloak. But Jake couldn’t decide what other duties it could have here. The shipment to the colony had taken up all but a parcel of space. If it hadn’t, Jake would have seen to it that more had been delivered.
Jake and Cecilia followed the nameless crewman through the ship until he deposited them in a single room with a briefly worded apology that had Cecilia hiding laughter behind her hands behind the crewmans back. He excused himself and the two of them were left alone.

The Nova Scar was originally a capsuleer ship that was converted to operate with a standard crew. The process being cheaper than purchasing such a ship outright. The capsuleers room was converted to the captains quarters, though all of the wiring was still in place to facilitate a capsule. The room was made of a green material that appeared to be organic despite it’s metallic nature. Jake ran his hand along the wall appreciatively.
Though large, the room was nonetheless bare. An obviously post-refit wall separated the bedchamber from an office, which Jake now stood. The console in this room was hooked up to every subsystem of the ship, utilizing the connective ports intended for the missing pod. Though he couldn’t control the ship from it, Jake could get an immediate and real-time status of any subsystem of the ship with the press of a few buttons. He began scrolling through the systems now.
Looking for abnormalities. He told himself, though in truth it was simply to marvel at the ship that was now his. It didn’t matter to him that the ship was obviously used, with scorch marks along the port side bow where a weapon had melted the outer armor. Or that the aft compartment showed signs of missile damage. This ship was his. Everything else was irrelevant.
Jake spent two hours scrolling through the subsystems before concluding that the ship was in fact space worthy. He hefted his bad and took it into his room which had a large bed, private facilities, several pieces of furniture designed for comfort instead of utility and a closet. Jake began unpacking and somehow managed to turn the largely sterile room into his own. When he was done he flapped lazily onto the bed to find it more comfortable than anything he had owned previously. Idly he wondered if that was more due to his perception than actual comfort.
When he had his fill of it, which took a surprisingly short amount of time, he got back up and retrieved his datapad from the closet. Jake still had to decide on the last scanning position he had created, and hadn’t gotten to where he was by allowing creature comforts from stopping him from performing his duties. He had it narrowed down to either Fran Grelick or Absence T’Loth. Both appeared equally matched. He finally decided on Fran, for the only reason that she was a Minmatar, which was something none of his other crew could claim. Perhaps her opinions might prove to be unique, and thus more worthwhile than another Caldari. Jake hit several glyphs sending out the appropriate notice of acceptance then tossed the datapad onto his bed.
There was nothing left to do but wait.