07-03-2008, 09:58 PM
''All I ever wanted was a normal life.A family,a job,perhaps even a dog.And here I am,in this darn pile of junk,hauling damn Boron to LD-14.Again.''
Somni shuts his old diary,glaring dreamily through the bridge window on the JPT ''Orange''.Could it have been true?Could his life have changed SO much in only 2 years?Somni stands up,walks to the replicator.''Shayla,coffee.Black.''After a series of whirring sounds,a small cup appears in the replicator shaft.''Thank you,Shayla.'' -''You're welcome,Captain.What is on your mind?I sense something is stirring within you.''Shayla was a...special AI,designed by the best Hacker engineers especially for the ''Orange''.She was capable of sensing one's emotional status.''Just remembering,Shayla...Have i ever told you about how I came to possession of this ship,and ultimately,you?'' -''Countless times,Captain.But I'll listen to it again.'' -''It was only two years ago...I come from Pittsburgh.My father was a miner,my mother a waitress in the Pittsburgh bar.They gave me this rather odd name for the following reason : when I was a child,every single time my parents fell asleep before I did...They could not explain this phenomenon,so they named me Somni F. Erus.Conveniently,their last name was Erus,since they were a refugee family from Malta.My name originates from an ancient,almost three thousand year old culture,which once existed on the human homeworld,Earth.The culture was called Latin,and in their language,Somnifer means ''The bringer of sleep''.Henceforth,my name.Anyway,back to the subject.Two years ago,I was on the edge.I was ready to fly my rickety little Dromedary into the nearest planet and just get it over with.Luckily,I was talked out of it by Mira.Ahh,Mira.Just the thought of her makes me happy as a little child.Two years she has been my companion in my travels...'' -''She seems to be awake,Captain.Should I call her?'' -''No,Shayla,let her rest.After today's slave shipment,she deserves to be left alone.She's probably just up for a glass of milk with cinnamon.It always makes her sleepy.'' -''Right,as always,Captain.She just ordered a glass of cinnamon milk.''Somni walks over to the window and looks out. -''Yes...She was the one that first introduced me to the Sigma - 17 Mind Games.As i grew up,I found that i possess a strange ability to put a person to sleep in a matter of minutes.Over time,as I grew up,those shaky minutes became seconds...So,Mira and I went to Sigma - 17,to the ''Brainship''.But that's a quite different story.Anyway,I was in the Mind Games,and I won the first prize - 40 million credits.That's when my life took quite a twist.Mira and I flew straight to Montezuma base in Cortez,to visit my friend,Saraph.He sorted things out and gave me the chance to buy a pirate transport ship,the one we're in as we speak.First off,I named her ''The Somber Lay'',but as I found the Cardamine trade was quite profitable,in honour to Malta and The Orange Fields,I named her ''Orange''.After a shipment of slaves to the Outcast homeworld Malta,which are used as extra workforce for gathering ''The Orange Dream'',I overheard a discussion between two Lane Hackers,who were just discussing their latest invention - a sentient ship AI.After a few drinks and a few credit transactions,they uploaded the location of Mactan base in Magellan to my neural net,and I set off to get you.The whole job cost 20 million credits,and it took the Hackers a month to replace my old ship's computer with you.Mira wasn't very happy in the start,remember?'' -''Yes,I'm having trouble forgetting that one time she tried to toss an EMP grenade into my processor room.'' -''Well,she IS a redhead...They tend to be feisty.Anyway,good thing Sparks came in time to stop her.'' -''You could say I owe him my life...*chuckles*'' -''Indeed.Anyway,she might not show it,but she grew fond of you as time passed.She even likes you,but she just won't admit it.A true Capricorn,stubborn as a Hamburg mountain mule.'' -''I know she likes me.I can sense it,remember,Captain?'' -''As if i could forget.Well now,I should really get rid of this.''Somni gets up,grabs his old journal,and tosses it into the fireplace. -''Max out the temperature.Burn my history...''Blazing fire envelops the journal,and,shortly afterwards,its charred remains are sucked into the trash airlock.''Captain,you look like you would use a rest.Go have some sleep,I'll get us to Rochester and dock.'' -''Thank you,Shayla.Remember,she has a heavy rear end,watch the back clamps.'' -''I learned that on my first solo dock,Captain.I think I'll manage.'' -''Good night,Shayla.'' -''Good night,Captain.''
Somni shuts his old diary,glaring dreamily through the bridge window on the JPT ''Orange''.Could it have been true?Could his life have changed SO much in only 2 years?Somni stands up,walks to the replicator.''Shayla,coffee.Black.''After a series of whirring sounds,a small cup appears in the replicator shaft.''Thank you,Shayla.'' -''You're welcome,Captain.What is on your mind?I sense something is stirring within you.''Shayla was a...special AI,designed by the best Hacker engineers especially for the ''Orange''.She was capable of sensing one's emotional status.''Just remembering,Shayla...Have i ever told you about how I came to possession of this ship,and ultimately,you?'' -''Countless times,Captain.But I'll listen to it again.'' -''It was only two years ago...I come from Pittsburgh.My father was a miner,my mother a waitress in the Pittsburgh bar.They gave me this rather odd name for the following reason : when I was a child,every single time my parents fell asleep before I did...They could not explain this phenomenon,so they named me Somni F. Erus.Conveniently,their last name was Erus,since they were a refugee family from Malta.My name originates from an ancient,almost three thousand year old culture,which once existed on the human homeworld,Earth.The culture was called Latin,and in their language,Somnifer means ''The bringer of sleep''.Henceforth,my name.Anyway,back to the subject.Two years ago,I was on the edge.I was ready to fly my rickety little Dromedary into the nearest planet and just get it over with.Luckily,I was talked out of it by Mira.Ahh,Mira.Just the thought of her makes me happy as a little child.Two years she has been my companion in my travels...'' -''She seems to be awake,Captain.Should I call her?'' -''No,Shayla,let her rest.After today's slave shipment,she deserves to be left alone.She's probably just up for a glass of milk with cinnamon.It always makes her sleepy.'' -''Right,as always,Captain.She just ordered a glass of cinnamon milk.''Somni walks over to the window and looks out. -''Yes...She was the one that first introduced me to the Sigma - 17 Mind Games.As i grew up,I found that i possess a strange ability to put a person to sleep in a matter of minutes.Over time,as I grew up,those shaky minutes became seconds...So,Mira and I went to Sigma - 17,to the ''Brainship''.But that's a quite different story.Anyway,I was in the Mind Games,and I won the first prize - 40 million credits.That's when my life took quite a twist.Mira and I flew straight to Montezuma base in Cortez,to visit my friend,Saraph.He sorted things out and gave me the chance to buy a pirate transport ship,the one we're in as we speak.First off,I named her ''The Somber Lay'',but as I found the Cardamine trade was quite profitable,in honour to Malta and The Orange Fields,I named her ''Orange''.After a shipment of slaves to the Outcast homeworld Malta,which are used as extra workforce for gathering ''The Orange Dream'',I overheard a discussion between two Lane Hackers,who were just discussing their latest invention - a sentient ship AI.After a few drinks and a few credit transactions,they uploaded the location of Mactan base in Magellan to my neural net,and I set off to get you.The whole job cost 20 million credits,and it took the Hackers a month to replace my old ship's computer with you.Mira wasn't very happy in the start,remember?'' -''Yes,I'm having trouble forgetting that one time she tried to toss an EMP grenade into my processor room.'' -''Well,she IS a redhead...They tend to be feisty.Anyway,good thing Sparks came in time to stop her.'' -''You could say I owe him my life...*chuckles*'' -''Indeed.Anyway,she might not show it,but she grew fond of you as time passed.She even likes you,but she just won't admit it.A true Capricorn,stubborn as a Hamburg mountain mule.'' -''I know she likes me.I can sense it,remember,Captain?'' -''As if i could forget.Well now,I should really get rid of this.''Somni gets up,grabs his old journal,and tosses it into the fireplace. -''Max out the temperature.Burn my history...''Blazing fire envelops the journal,and,shortly afterwards,its charred remains are sucked into the trash airlock.''Captain,you look like you would use a rest.Go have some sleep,I'll get us to Rochester and dock.'' -''Thank you,Shayla.Remember,she has a heavy rear end,watch the back clamps.'' -''I learned that on my first solo dock,Captain.I think I'll manage.'' -''Good night,Shayla.'' -''Good night,Captain.''