Jimmy~

I lean against a large metal wall and look contentedly out of a large perfectly polsihed glass window for a moment. I sigh. I had been in space a few times before, but never on such an important mission as this. But looking at the whole galaxy, staring at its complex planets, us humans have only just begun to understand them. I can see the moon from here. Everything just looks so peacful from this percpective. I deeply breath in, realising all my fears for the Nova Mission. Suddenly the door flings open and a younger woman, maybe ten years younger than me glides in, and a man soon enters in after her. The girl looks at me and says,

"Im Zava Keldon, the head of the Security around here."

"Its a pleasure, Miss Keldon. My nam-"

"Your James Burns correct?"

I nod my head. 

"I see you've already made yourself comfortable! Well, no matter, Ill have him," she gestured to the man behind her, "Show you around so you can get to know all the secret nooks and crannys. By the way, this is Jean Duval."

We shake hands, and I notice that he favors the other arm. 

"You will be working with him, so I suggest you get to know each other. Well, I have to find a few other recrutes. Goodbye Duval, Burns." She turned and made her exit. I turn to Duval and gesture towards the two seats nearby. 

"I understand it that you've known Captain Dunham for quite a while," I say smiling. Duval nods and leans back. 

"Yes, Dunham and I go quite a way back. We met in collage."

"So, heh, whats he like? Ive only met him once, to get on the crew, and he seemed quite laid back."

"Ah, Dunham's a golden one. He's the nicest man Ive ever known... but of corse, youll have to see for yourself."

"Quite right, Mr. Duval."

"I go by Pierre." 

"Then please call me Jimmy. People are to formal these days!" I say woth a slight laugh. 

Quite suddenly a voice rang through the halls of Starbound, indicating that it was time to eat. 

We both got up, and walked out. I enjoyed the notion of eating, expecially after two days of stale beagles and cold coffee.

~~~

Really sorry if I controled yalls characters to much, or made them say the wrong things. Please forgive me! Also, I would appreciate if give me how they talk, if I got the wrong notion. Thanks! 

I'm changing Isla's age to 29.

Isla~

I sit close to the threshold of the room. I should be in the fancier machinery department with the others, but here feels more comftorble and firmiliar. I left a note so they'd know. Besides, the hum of machines, the clank of gears, and the occasional drip of oil sounds like home. Here I am, surrounded by gears, knobs, buttons, tubes and levers, an a little gray room, calling it home. But it's true. I've spent many a day before takeoff getting to know this place, and I've found my niche. I'm sad I didn't get to get one last veiw of the Nova from outside, though. I walk around, tools at the  ready to make sure everything is still running smooth. It is... for now. I absentmindedly look at my watch and nearly bang my head on the low celing. Ten minutes until we eat. My hands fly over a few knobs like a mater flutist's over her flute. I pick up my tools and walk out. I want some time to freshen up, so I don't smell and look like... well, someone who's been in a tiny gray room working with greasy machines. I unbuckle my toolbelt and rinse off. I change into clean clothes and put on some earrings. I don't have time to brush my hair, and usually I wouldn't bother, but I want to make a good first impression. The hoop earring clicks into place right when a voice instructs us to go eat. I walk out of my room and over to the cafeteria (mess hall? what is it called, GW?). I look around and decide to go introduce myself. I think that we will all introduce ourselves over dinner, but it feels weird just standing here. I start to walk over to a tall, blonde-haired woman. She sees me first, fixing me with a stare. It's not hostile, but not exactly friendly.

"Who are you?" she asks. I scratch the back of my neck. "I-I'm," Make a good first impression! I tell myself. I look up and meet her eyes. They are orange. Not something I see very often. "I'm Isla Nihand, sir. What is your name?"

"You're the one who left that note. I guess that's why I don't recodnize you, if you're from engine and tech. You were in one of those... what do they call them? Engine rooms." She looks down her nose at me. "Anyway, I'm Alexa Rodriges. I go by Lexi." 

~Lexi

Isla seems to want to be I don't know accepted, liked, wanted, choose one. She seems more uncomfortable when she sees my eyes. Judging by her size, she is around twenty. More or less. She must work at the engine rooms. I work on the computer side of things. I notice that her ears are pierced. Isla seems very nervous which is making her awkward. 

"So," she starts not so sure of herself, "what part of Enginiering and Tec do you do?"

She fails to notice my computer in my hand. 

"What do you think?" i say roll my eyes, turn away, whip out my computer, and begin typing in one of the fifty codes to enter it.

"Well I think we are roomates.." She says kind of awkwardly.

"Really?" I ask "Are you kidding me?"

"No." She says in a small voice. 

I finally enter my computer and look at my emails. Surly enough there is one that has my roomate. It is Isla Nihand. My hand dwindles to my boot where the knife is. I am suprised that I was able to shut down the security for a split second before it could detect it. 

Then turns out we are to report to our rooms when we eat. I walk along in silence humming a song that i know well. I can't wait to finally have some privacy. I enter the room with a key card. I sit down on my bed and pull out m computer again. I sigh and begin working on recovering codes.  

Windows are nice. Curiosity killed the Onyx. Oh space cows. Welcome to Nova Vale. 

Onyx~

It's been nearly an hour. Something has to have happened.

The curiosity claws at me more with every passing minute. There aren't any windows in a cramped, half-open, overflowing storage compartment in the engine room. I should have suggested someone put in windows. And air conditioning units. And a television would be nice, too. 

I need music.

Or windows.

Or...something. 

I can't just go out and say, "ta-da!" I'd probably be shot on sight. Or maybe the whole ship would be destroyed before I even get a chance to come out of hiding. No one knows what's inside the Nova, or what its capable of. Or what it even looks like.

I wish I had a window.

Ugh. I bang my head back against the back of the storage compartment. Back to square one. I can't even think right. If I could just portal myself away to a quiet place where I could turn on some music and forget that the Nova even exists.

But then the curiosity would remain. The blinding red fire that creeped into my thoughts and stole through the hazy edges of my dreams. That whispering obsession that drains away the joys of my other passions. There's something supernatural out there, in the Nova. And maybe curiosity isn't an excuse. Maybe it will get me killed.  But I can't help thinking that, despite the inconviencance, this is where I'm supposed to be.

Clack. Slam. 

The unmistakable noise of a heavy door sliding open sounds over the high-speed whirs and groans of the engine. 

Oh space cows. 

Arie Orione

~~~ 

I direct the blue-haired man-- Schmitt, did Doctor Pax call him?-- to sit one one of the beds by the wall. I examine his hand, heart still pounding from Doctor Pax's name tag joke, and pronounce him fine.

"I can give you a little something to help it heal, though," I add, but Schmitt shakes his head, smiling kindly. "Nah. I'm the kind of guy who likes to let things happen naturally. Thanks anyway, though." Then he hops down off the bed, gives Doctor Pax a cheery wave, and heads out of the lab.

I sigh and lean back against the wall, wondering for the thousandth time why I was chosen. Me. Of all people. Arie Orione. Sure, I'm good enough at what I do-- but good enough for the Starbound? We'll just have to see.

"Hey, Arie," Doctor Pax calls. "I need the extra gauze from storage. Can you go grab that for me? I think it's stashed in Engineering somewhere." "

Sure, Doctor Pax," I say, pulling my hair up into a messy bun. Doctor Pax winks at me on my way out.

"Call me Bones, please," she says.

"Bones," I repeat, smiling at her before the doors close behind me. Then I'm out into the quiet hallway. For such an important mission, the ship is surprisingly empty. The click of my boots on the floor is the only sound besides the steady, everpresent hum of the engine, which gets louder the longer I walk towards it. I finally end up in the engine room, and it's like a whole other world. Instead of quiet corridors, there's shouting and rushing about. In the midst of all the chaos stands a tan-skinned woman with dark brown hair, shouting louder than the others and ordering them about. It looks like chaos, and yet, as I breathe it in, I know how orderly it really is. I should know-- I grew up in an engine room almost just like it. The dark-haired woman notices me standing in the doorway and directs her attention towards me.

"You there! Messy bun. I need an engineer to help Ilsa with the wiring over there." She gestures towards another engineer with her head stuck in the wall. I shake my head, somewhat regretfully.

"I'm actually not here for engineering, Engineer..."

"Engineer Graveson. Torri Graveson," the woman says, cracking a grin. "But most everyone here calls me Sparks."

"Okay, then, Sparks it is," I say. "Where's the long-term medical storage? Someone told me it was down here."

Sparks nods. "It's just around that corner, there."

"Thanks," I say, taking a step forward. "You're welcome," Sparks says, but then adds, "As you cross that corner, make sure to watch for the--"

"--acoustical cords, I know," I say. "Dad taught me all about them."

Sparks nods approvingly, a smile on her face. "You're sure you're not an engineer?" she asks, and I shake my head, grinning.

"Nah. I'm a doctor, through and through."

"Well, any time, you feel like coming down here to help, you just feel free, all right?" Sparks says, and I nod. "I will, don't worry."

Then I head around the corner and open the heavy door. I'm not paying much attention, just thinking about Sparks and my new job here, so I'm surprised when a flash of light catches my eye. "What the--" I say. There's a person in here! "What are you doing here?"

~~~

~Starseeker 

Jean-Pierre~

Old words. Old faces. Leave 'em all behind.

It seems they were more concerned with authenticity than comfort when they designed the security branch mess hall. As soon as I enter, I'm greeted by three rows of silver tables beneath a sea of stark fluorescent lights that was instantly reminiscent of my time in service. Yep, this is a military branch alright. The navy-blue uniforms we were supplied with complete the image.

Several people are already seated at the tables, almost all of them younger than me, chattering away and eating who knows what. Jimmy and I make our way to the buffet, my left arm swinging and my right stiff at my side, as usual. "Well, this certainly isn't a luxury cruise," I hear Jimmy mumble. "But I did hear there was a pool somewhere."

I catch a few curious glances in my direction. "Truck accident," I announce to the room. "I'm a walking PSA: 'don't do push-ups in the middle of the road'. But watch out, I can still out-squat any one of you." I hear one person laugh in the back.

I find a spot at one of the cold steel tables next to Jimmy. He comes off as a nice enough guy so far. My dad used to tell me that nice people were always hiding something. Then again, he also thought chickens held untapped super-intelligence, so that might've just been his paranoia setting in.

"So why are you here, Jimmy?" I ask, digging into a dubious piece of food.

"Hmm?" he looks up from his own four rectangles of fruit, bread, meat, and some unidentifiable brown substance. "It's lunch time and I'm hungry."

"No, I mean on the Starbound. What made you want to go?"

He seems to consider this. "Duty. Honor. You know, that shebang. We'll come back heroes."

"What about your family? Your loved ones? Any qualms leaving them behind?"

He looks the slightest bit troubled for a moment before quickly recovering. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices," he says. "And what about you? Surely you must've made a few."

I shake my head. "There's nothing left for me on Earth," I say through a mouthful of pork. "Not anymore. To be honest, I'm not here to find the Nova. I'm here to get away. I don't want to come back a hero, and I don't want to come back at all. As you might say, I'm hoping we find the milk and honey on the other side."

He raises an eyebrow. "That's a bit grim, isn't it?" 

I crack a smile. "Get used to it, cause we're roomies." 

~ Spark

I head back toward the computer hub in the engine room to make sure everything's running smoothly. A younger girl is surveying the works.

"Hello," I say.

"Hey, Spark! Nervous about the mission?"

"Not particularly- I was more nervous first time I went to Mars."

"Yeah... but no one has any idea what's in there. There could be a star as soon as we enter. Boom! Instant death."

"A rip in space-time wouldn't lead right to a star. Haven't you heard of the sheet theory?"

She paused.

"The universe is like a sheet with balls resting on it," I said. "Stars are like bowling balls, moons are like tennis balls. The bigger the figure, the more distorted the surface, as bowling balls are heavier- more mass."

She nodded.

"If a portal did open, it would have to be on a much flatter area of the plane. Stars aren't our biggest worry."

"Good then! No instant death." She looked out the window. "What do you think'll be in there?"

"Maybe life."

"Hopefully not Jar Jar Binks."

I laughed. "That would be horrible."

"No kidding," Ilsa smiled.

I check the moniters before leaving the room. Thoughtfully, I glance out the window at the swirling portal we're heading towards.

"Meesa live in nova," I chuckle to myself.

I go back to directing traffic and chat with a doctor for a bit before she heads off. Everything seems to be in order, so I walk back towards the hallway when I hear Arie yelling in the storage compartment. I run over to the door to see her holding someone down on the floor.

"Spark!" she shouts. "Intercom everybody to the engine room. I've found a stowaway!"

She throws me her portable speaker.

_________________________________________________________

ATTENTION, CREW OF THE S.S. STARBOUND: PLEASE REPORT TO THE ENGINE ROOM IMMEDIATELY. A STOWAWAY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED.

__________________________________________________________

"Oh, space cows!" says a voice from the closet.

I literally just posted, but I want to get this plot moving along before it crashes and burns, so here I go

Jean-Pierre~

The sudden announcement on the intercom startles most in the room, but I knew it was only a matter of time before we heard something like it.

"Welp, guess that's our cue." I rise from my seat, brushing crumbs off my uniform.

"Something already?" Jimmy stands up uneasily, looking like he expects the worst. "We haven't even passed the asteroid belt yet!"

"I saw this coming a mile away," I tell him. "A big ship, a radical high-concept sci-fi destination... a stowaway or two was inevitable. Heck, I'd probably be the one wedged in a storage compartment if good old Reggie hadn't taken pity on me. That, and if my waist was a few inches narrower."

Zava Keldon, the fairly young albeit competent leader of our department, strides to the front of the hall. "You heard her, meal time's over! Let's get to the engine room!"

"Excuse me, if I may, ma'am," I speak up. "I think Jimmy and I will take this one. No use squeezing the entire department into the engine room, there's enough claustrophobia down there as it is."

"A fair point, Duval," she says, nodding and turning back to the crowd. "Officers Duval and Burns will accompany me. The rest of you are on standby, so be prepared if anything happens."

"Should anything happen," Jimmy quotes Zava as the three of us head briskly down the corridor. "What might that entail, exactly?"

"Simple, we're gonna throw someone out of the airlock," I speculate, looking at the lights on the ceiling.

Zava snorts. "Please. We're not barbarians. We'll make a pitstop at the Mars base, which we should be passing.." she checks her watch. "...in approximately fifteen minutes. The stowaway can get off, maybe with a small fine for disrupting the mission, and that will be that."

"And what if we pass the base?"

"We, Mr. Duval, will cross that bridge when we come to it." 

We reach the engine room. 

Top!!! 

Captcha says dagr. Now what are you plotting that requires a dagger? Hey, give me that!  

Such a cool concept cannot die!