Categories > TV > Battlestar Galactica > Unhuman
Unhuman
Chapter 38: Spaced!
Deep Space - Battlestar Atalanta - Hanger/Landing Bay airlock
As soon as the door closed, Juli ‘Steady’ Drajfus turned to her compatriot.
“We’re about to find out if these Starfleet uniforms are as good as they told us. said Steady. “When that door opens try to grab onto something.”
Before Ray ‘Hot Stick’ Walston could reply, the outer door opened and there a was a big blast of wind, sweeping them out of the airlock. There was only a limited blast as there wasn’t much air in the airlock to begin with. He managed to grab a bit of piping on the wall. But he saw Steady was too far from the edge to grab anything so he grabbed her to prevent her from flying out.
The Starfleet uniforms worked as advertised. As soon as they hit vacuum the collars of their uniforms swept up and covered their heads in a think hood with a see-through pane of clear plastic in front, trapping the air inside the hood. The difference in pressure between the hood and vacuum inflated the hood into a semi-spherical shape. The rest of the uniform was acting as a pressure suit. So their lungs were not exploding from forgetting to exhale. There was no oxygen tank. The air inside the uniform was all they had. But a human can survive in hard vacuum for 30 seconds will no ill effects. Their Starfleet uniforms would give them a little longer. They had to make every second count!
There wasn’t a continuous wind, just one blast and that was over. The had no way of speaking to each other. But Hot Stick understood when Steady pointed and motioned for him to follow her. The Landing Bay had gravity plating, so it was fairly easy for them to walk at a fast pace along it until they found another door. She motioned him to stand away from the door and she stood to the side so neither would be hit by the gust of wind when she opened the door. By now, the low oxygen content of their hoods was making them hyperventilate. Once the door was open, they both entered, sealed the door behind them and Steady was able to operate panel and depressurize the airlock before she passed out. When their hoods started to deflate from outside pressure, they opened them an let the air in.
(pant!) “That - (pant!) That was - (pant!) intense!” (pant!) panted Steady. (pant!) “Let’s - (pant!) never - (pant!) do - (pant!) that - (pant!) again!” (pant!)
(pant!) “Agreed!” panted Hot Stick.
They took a few minutes to catch their breath. The hoods of their Starfleet uniforms were limp and protruding out of the top of the Colonial flight suits they were wearing over it. The hoods were an emergency feature and didn’t automatically retract. They stuffed the hoods into each other’s flight suits.
“After we open this door we’ll have to look like we belong,” said Hot stick. “I don’t think any of them got a good enough look at us and they expect us to be dead.”
“Right,” agreed Steady. “If we can get to the pilots dressing room, we might be able to get out of these flight suits.”
Quietly, Hot Stick opened the door and casually walked over to the pilots dressing room. No one was in. They opened the lockers of the pilots who were flying cap until they found a couple of uniforms that fit them. The Colonial flight suits were designed to act as pressure suits when your helmet was on. And the people wearing them typically only wore boxers and a tank top as underwear. The Starfleet uniforms were thin enough that they had been able to wear them under the flight suits. They helped each other stuff their hoods back into the collar. Not well enough for them to automatically deploy if they were needed again, but enough that their hoods wouldn’t stick out. Once they were in uniform again, they made their way out of the locker room and started roaming the ship, trying to look like they belong.
Deep Space - Battlestar Atalanta - Commander’s Office
Commander Korren and Major Mirdahk had just finished watching the video that had been brought by two pilots that got spaced.
“Do you think I made a mistake in spacing those two?” asked Mirdahk.
“No . . .” replied Korren. “This is obviously a Cylon trap. Though it is an elaborate one. I think we should spring the toasters’ little trap.”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Mirdahk.
“Well go to the coordinates he gave us,” said Korren. “But when we jump in, we’ll already be at Condition One with Vipers ready to launch the instant we arrive.”
Kobol - Athens
Kobol turned out to be a nice small town of about 10,000 ‘people’. But not all of them were colonial humans. It disturbed Captain Illyria to see Cylon skin-jobs walking the streets like they belonged. And there were aliens too! The Admiral had introduced her to the President of Kobol and the Delegates of the Federation Council, some of whom did not look at all human. And their were other members of their species living here too.
“Ack!” she jumped in fright as another one of those Medeusans walked by. To her eyes they looked like Octopuses walking on land. They had seven tentacles instead of eight, each of which ended in a seven fingered hand. They would use four of them to walk on. But it wouldn’t be the same four from moment to moment. The Crew of the Polvo had wanted to tour the Federation Capital before they went on to Caprica. So they were being given leave at the same time as her people. This meant their were 50 of these things walking around the same places her people were.
Athens was a small town for such a an important role in this Federation. It had a few small factories, a research lab, Starfleet headquarters, the Federation Council and administration buildings. There were a few stores and taverns and some makeshift temples to the Lords. There was even a Temple of Aphrodite. It was easy to see that the taverns were over crowded with this many people and aliens here. And Kobol was a very fertile world. Everything that wasn’t manmade was green. The town had green fields of crops surrounded by green forests.
“Greetings human. I am Lieutenant Ruža,” came a voice from the device on the head of the Medeusan that was rapidly flashing different colours across its’ skin at her. “Would he care to share refreshment with me?”
The alien waved towards the pub with a tentacle.
“ . . . Sure . . Why the frak not,” said Captain Illyria, as they stepped towards the pub.
When she stepped inside, she saw that it was filled with her enlisted men and Medeusans. There was Colonial music playing and some of them were dancing to it. The Medeusans were dancing to it too. Mostly, people were dancing with their own kind. But there were a few mixed couples of Medeusans dancing with Humans. There were no available chairs left at the tables. But a group of her warriors fled to the dance floor on seeing their Commander. Illyria and Ruža seated themselves at the table. A waiter came to the table. It was one of those big-headed Talosians and it brought them drinks they didn’t order, but would have if she had been asked.
“This is very interesting,” said Ruža. “What do you call it?”
“Ambrosia,” answered Illyria. “Can I ask you a question? Why do you keep changing colours?”
“That is how my people communicate in person,” explained Ruža. “The Universal Translator is translating what I say with my skin into Kobolian.” (If you would rather, we can communicate this way.)
Illyria started when she heard a voice in her head.
“How did you do that?” asked Illyria.
(Telepathy,) it is a trait of my people, sent the Medeusian, telepathically. (Though usually we only use if for long distance communication. It DOES allow us to converse without the music drowning our voices out.)
“I’ve never seen anything like that!” exclaimed Illyria. “Does this mean you can read my mind?”
(Only the thoughts you wish to send,) explained Ruža. (My people have strict taboos against using telepathy to find each other’s secrets, unlike the Talosians)
(What do you mean?) thought Illyria.
(That Talosian waiter, reached into our minds discovered what you would like to drink and brought it to us) explained Ruža.
“That’s going to take some getting used to,” said Illyria. “I don’t think I like the thought of people looking to my mind like that.”
Captain Illyria was careful to moderate her drinking and left before she became too inebriated to make good judgements. It wouldn’t do for a Captain to wake up the morning after, in bed with one of her lowest ranked crewmen. But she found in talking to the Medeusan that she had more in common with her than she thought. By the time she left, she had come to understand that although there were differences, aliens were people.
Deep Space - USS Argos - Ten Forward
There was no rule preventing officers from entering the Crewman’s Club. But is was considered a safe space where Crewmen could go, relax and not have to deal with officers. Now that Boomer was an officer, she was no longer one of the Crewmen. She was no longer welcome there. Occasionally Luziana would go there without her to meet with Medi. There was also no rule preventing Crewmen from going to Ten Forward. And often Officers would bring their Crewman/civilian spouse/partner with them to Ten Forward. And that is why Boomer had brought her wife Luziana with her here. Currently they were sharing a table with the Baltars. Neither of them could see Mrs Natasi Baltar. But Luziana could look into Gaius’ mind and see what he was seeing and this allowed her to carry on a conversation with Natasi.
“When I started there, I never intended to become the head of Astrometrics,” said Gaius Baltar.
“One of the hazards of Starfleet,” mused Boomer. “You tend to get promoted for competence. Luziana just got made Transporter Chief.”
“Well congratulations!” said Natasi, as she stroked her husband’s arm with one finger.
“OH!” moaned Boomer. “I felt that!”
“What?” asked Gaius.
“Emotion!” said Boomer. “Projected from our baby! Love!”
“I’ve been feeling her mind for some time,” said Luziana, as she patted her baby bump. “She doesn’t have language yet, but she can feel my emotions and project her own. I’ve let her know that we’re her parents.”
“Oh! Our baby!” cried Boomer as she moved around so she could place her hand on her wife’s abdomen.
Note: I got the idea for the hoods on the Starfleet uniforms from someone else’s story. (I don’t remember which one)
Chapter 38: Spaced!
Deep Space - Battlestar Atalanta - Hanger/Landing Bay airlock
As soon as the door closed, Juli ‘Steady’ Drajfus turned to her compatriot.
“We’re about to find out if these Starfleet uniforms are as good as they told us. said Steady. “When that door opens try to grab onto something.”
Before Ray ‘Hot Stick’ Walston could reply, the outer door opened and there a was a big blast of wind, sweeping them out of the airlock. There was only a limited blast as there wasn’t much air in the airlock to begin with. He managed to grab a bit of piping on the wall. But he saw Steady was too far from the edge to grab anything so he grabbed her to prevent her from flying out.
The Starfleet uniforms worked as advertised. As soon as they hit vacuum the collars of their uniforms swept up and covered their heads in a think hood with a see-through pane of clear plastic in front, trapping the air inside the hood. The difference in pressure between the hood and vacuum inflated the hood into a semi-spherical shape. The rest of the uniform was acting as a pressure suit. So their lungs were not exploding from forgetting to exhale. There was no oxygen tank. The air inside the uniform was all they had. But a human can survive in hard vacuum for 30 seconds will no ill effects. Their Starfleet uniforms would give them a little longer. They had to make every second count!
There wasn’t a continuous wind, just one blast and that was over. The had no way of speaking to each other. But Hot Stick understood when Steady pointed and motioned for him to follow her. The Landing Bay had gravity plating, so it was fairly easy for them to walk at a fast pace along it until they found another door. She motioned him to stand away from the door and she stood to the side so neither would be hit by the gust of wind when she opened the door. By now, the low oxygen content of their hoods was making them hyperventilate. Once the door was open, they both entered, sealed the door behind them and Steady was able to operate panel and depressurize the airlock before she passed out. When their hoods started to deflate from outside pressure, they opened them an let the air in.
(pant!) “That - (pant!) That was - (pant!) intense!” (pant!) panted Steady. (pant!) “Let’s - (pant!) never - (pant!) do - (pant!) that - (pant!) again!” (pant!)
(pant!) “Agreed!” panted Hot Stick.
They took a few minutes to catch their breath. The hoods of their Starfleet uniforms were limp and protruding out of the top of the Colonial flight suits they were wearing over it. The hoods were an emergency feature and didn’t automatically retract. They stuffed the hoods into each other’s flight suits.
“After we open this door we’ll have to look like we belong,” said Hot stick. “I don’t think any of them got a good enough look at us and they expect us to be dead.”
“Right,” agreed Steady. “If we can get to the pilots dressing room, we might be able to get out of these flight suits.”
Quietly, Hot Stick opened the door and casually walked over to the pilots dressing room. No one was in. They opened the lockers of the pilots who were flying cap until they found a couple of uniforms that fit them. The Colonial flight suits were designed to act as pressure suits when your helmet was on. And the people wearing them typically only wore boxers and a tank top as underwear. The Starfleet uniforms were thin enough that they had been able to wear them under the flight suits. They helped each other stuff their hoods back into the collar. Not well enough for them to automatically deploy if they were needed again, but enough that their hoods wouldn’t stick out. Once they were in uniform again, they made their way out of the locker room and started roaming the ship, trying to look like they belong.
Deep Space - Battlestar Atalanta - Commander’s Office
Commander Korren and Major Mirdahk had just finished watching the video that had been brought by two pilots that got spaced.
“Do you think I made a mistake in spacing those two?” asked Mirdahk.
“No . . .” replied Korren. “This is obviously a Cylon trap. Though it is an elaborate one. I think we should spring the toasters’ little trap.”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Mirdahk.
“Well go to the coordinates he gave us,” said Korren. “But when we jump in, we’ll already be at Condition One with Vipers ready to launch the instant we arrive.”
Kobol - Athens
Kobol turned out to be a nice small town of about 10,000 ‘people’. But not all of them were colonial humans. It disturbed Captain Illyria to see Cylon skin-jobs walking the streets like they belonged. And there were aliens too! The Admiral had introduced her to the President of Kobol and the Delegates of the Federation Council, some of whom did not look at all human. And their were other members of their species living here too.
“Ack!” she jumped in fright as another one of those Medeusans walked by. To her eyes they looked like Octopuses walking on land. They had seven tentacles instead of eight, each of which ended in a seven fingered hand. They would use four of them to walk on. But it wouldn’t be the same four from moment to moment. The Crew of the Polvo had wanted to tour the Federation Capital before they went on to Caprica. So they were being given leave at the same time as her people. This meant their were 50 of these things walking around the same places her people were.
Athens was a small town for such a an important role in this Federation. It had a few small factories, a research lab, Starfleet headquarters, the Federation Council and administration buildings. There were a few stores and taverns and some makeshift temples to the Lords. There was even a Temple of Aphrodite. It was easy to see that the taverns were over crowded with this many people and aliens here. And Kobol was a very fertile world. Everything that wasn’t manmade was green. The town had green fields of crops surrounded by green forests.
“Greetings human. I am Lieutenant Ruža,” came a voice from the device on the head of the Medeusan that was rapidly flashing different colours across its’ skin at her. “Would he care to share refreshment with me?”
The alien waved towards the pub with a tentacle.
“ . . . Sure . . Why the frak not,” said Captain Illyria, as they stepped towards the pub.
When she stepped inside, she saw that it was filled with her enlisted men and Medeusans. There was Colonial music playing and some of them were dancing to it. The Medeusans were dancing to it too. Mostly, people were dancing with their own kind. But there were a few mixed couples of Medeusans dancing with Humans. There were no available chairs left at the tables. But a group of her warriors fled to the dance floor on seeing their Commander. Illyria and Ruža seated themselves at the table. A waiter came to the table. It was one of those big-headed Talosians and it brought them drinks they didn’t order, but would have if she had been asked.
“This is very interesting,” said Ruža. “What do you call it?”
“Ambrosia,” answered Illyria. “Can I ask you a question? Why do you keep changing colours?”
“That is how my people communicate in person,” explained Ruža. “The Universal Translator is translating what I say with my skin into Kobolian.” (If you would rather, we can communicate this way.)
Illyria started when she heard a voice in her head.
“How did you do that?” asked Illyria.
(Telepathy,) it is a trait of my people, sent the Medeusian, telepathically. (Though usually we only use if for long distance communication. It DOES allow us to converse without the music drowning our voices out.)
“I’ve never seen anything like that!” exclaimed Illyria. “Does this mean you can read my mind?”
(Only the thoughts you wish to send,) explained Ruža. (My people have strict taboos against using telepathy to find each other’s secrets, unlike the Talosians)
(What do you mean?) thought Illyria.
(That Talosian waiter, reached into our minds discovered what you would like to drink and brought it to us) explained Ruža.
“That’s going to take some getting used to,” said Illyria. “I don’t think I like the thought of people looking to my mind like that.”
Captain Illyria was careful to moderate her drinking and left before she became too inebriated to make good judgements. It wouldn’t do for a Captain to wake up the morning after, in bed with one of her lowest ranked crewmen. But she found in talking to the Medeusan that she had more in common with her than she thought. By the time she left, she had come to understand that although there were differences, aliens were people.
Deep Space - USS Argos - Ten Forward
There was no rule preventing officers from entering the Crewman’s Club. But is was considered a safe space where Crewmen could go, relax and not have to deal with officers. Now that Boomer was an officer, she was no longer one of the Crewmen. She was no longer welcome there. Occasionally Luziana would go there without her to meet with Medi. There was also no rule preventing Crewmen from going to Ten Forward. And often Officers would bring their Crewman/civilian spouse/partner with them to Ten Forward. And that is why Boomer had brought her wife Luziana with her here. Currently they were sharing a table with the Baltars. Neither of them could see Mrs Natasi Baltar. But Luziana could look into Gaius’ mind and see what he was seeing and this allowed her to carry on a conversation with Natasi.
“When I started there, I never intended to become the head of Astrometrics,” said Gaius Baltar.
“One of the hazards of Starfleet,” mused Boomer. “You tend to get promoted for competence. Luziana just got made Transporter Chief.”
“Well congratulations!” said Natasi, as she stroked her husband’s arm with one finger.
“OH!” moaned Boomer. “I felt that!”
“What?” asked Gaius.
“Emotion!” said Boomer. “Projected from our baby! Love!”
“I’ve been feeling her mind for some time,” said Luziana, as she patted her baby bump. “She doesn’t have language yet, but she can feel my emotions and project her own. I’ve let her know that we’re her parents.”
“Oh! Our baby!” cried Boomer as she moved around so she could place her hand on her wife’s abdomen.
Note: I got the idea for the hoods on the Starfleet uniforms from someone else’s story. (I don’t remember which one)
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