The Sands of Marinarus 8
The anti grav shuttle rapidly swept up through the earth’s atmosphere asit silently approached the U.N. S.S. hydra. Hydra was a huge ship some 2 miles in length and a mile in diameter. These were very approximate dimensions as the power modules were attached to what would be considered the rear of the craft. It had been built over a period of twenty years as if it had been a space station. In fact when it came back to its homeport it orbited around the earth some thirty thousand miles away from it. It contained twenty shuttle bays and boasted fifteen shuttles of its own so that all personnel could embark or debark to whatever planet or moon it was sent to. One of the early difficulties of long space travel had been conqueredthe previous century, first by revolving the ships to produce some semblance of artificial gravity and now with the anti gravity drive it was possible to cause a reverse effect and the ship’s crew and passengers could travel at a comfortable half g. Considering that many of the passengers were headed for the Mars colony, this advantageous level of gravity would prepare them for the similar gravity on Mars itself. Kal watched in admiration at the great interplanetary vessel as theshuttle closed in over the last fifty kilometers. Hydra shone in silvery brilliance in the unclouded glare of ol’ sol. The hull glistened from its titanium alloy metal and ceramic coated surface. It resembled the giant oil tankers of two centuries past with its great length and smooth metallic skin. The view screen showed him the tiny diamond points of light that werethe unreachable suns so many light years away. The blackness of space Kal found intimidating somehow. There was no end to the eternal blackness. If it was true that all the stars were gradually swirling away from each other and that all stars would eventually burn out, did it mean the entire universe was eventually doomed? Would all this star spangled glory in some far distant eon become a vast, cold junkyard? He shuddered at the thought. Well it wasn’t something he had to worry about. He’d be dead long before the next ice age on his own home world. Right now he had more important things to think about like Commander Spencer and the teleport computer. Jack and Allan were beside him carrying or watching the essentialequipment that Kal was ultimately responsible for. The two security men had kept close guard from the time Kal arrived at the space port and would continue to do so until the precious equipment was securely stored on Hydra. Their vehicle landed without incident in the brightly lit shuttle bay.In moments, the entrance was sealed behind them and air was quickly pumped back into the bay until the indicators confirmed that the air outside the shuttle was at normal pressure. An officer met them at the bay entrance to guide them to their respective quarters. Each man was assigned a ten by ten foot cubical complete with desk, computer monitor, bed and toilet facilities. It was explained to them that their meals were in liquid form in large plastic tubes to prevent the problems of clean up and food preparation in the lower gravity conditions on the ship. Any solid food available was in the form of crackers or wafers. The computer was liked to an elaborate network of high quality audio speakers for music or video entertainment. THE TALL< SLENDER OFFICER IN THE PALE GREEN UNIFORM COMMENTED< "Major Allison, it's an honor to have you aboard. Someone will be along shortly to give you your orientation as far as how to obtain what you want from the ship's computer. It is expected that the passengers remain in their assigned quarters during the voyage. The crew must be allowed to perform their duties without constantly having to avoid guests and answer a myriad of inane questions. If you do need to discuss anything with the captain, an appointment must be set with him unless an emergency occurs. You have a monitor in your cabin that will warn you if a problem occurs with the oxygen content in the air supply. There is also an automatic alarm if a meteorite should penetrate the hull. We've supplied you with three titanium patches of different sizes in case such an event occurs. I must tell you that in over 20 years this ship has never been penetrated by any object but it doesn't hurt to be... Read the rest of The Sands of Marinarus 8 Author: Will Buster Download the movie of the day: Gang Bang Squad #4, Scene 1 |
WMV - LowBlack
MPEG - MedBlack; text-decoration: none;"> XVID AVI - High
Download Movie
