IMPALA (Farside Saga: Book One)
Chapter Twelve: Take Off (2045 Part Three)

"Captain Dodge....Captain Dodge!!" Jason woke up in a cold sweat, looking around the room wide eyed for the source of his name being called.

"Your heart rate elevated almost to the point of cardiac arrest. I've increased your oxygen intake by 13% to compensate." Bianca said in his ear.

Relieved he wasn't being visited by ghost, he grabbed his head, shaking off the dizziness from sitting up too fast.

"Bad dream. Something about a space dragon." He said, not quite remembering the details of the dream before it faded all together as he threw the covers back and got out the bed.

He stretched for a second then headed towards the door across from him.

"I cannot access your dream itself but I am detecting an unusual reading in your left frontal lobe. Nothing serious that i can tell so far but I will continue to monitor and inform you of the results if any change." Bianca said.

"Illuminate!! He said as he crossed the threshold.

Confused for a sec, then he remembered he wasn't at home as he stared at the small sitting room.

"Maybe it's just stress." He said as he turned around and went to the door on the left wall, finally finding his destination.

"Possible, but these readings do seem strange." She said after he did a quick shit shower and shave.

"Strange?... How?" He asked as he left the bathroom feeling much better and more aware of his surroundings.

He got dressed, then headed out the room towards the command tower.

"There seems to be an external stimulus agitating the subconscious part of your mind." Bianca said after a soft ping.

"What do you have then?" A young lady asked into her comm link as she stepped into the lumilift. She gave Jason a slight nod before turning and realizing her button had already been pushed. She turned her head back slightly to look at Jason with a raised brow before finishing her conversation.

"Great.... I'll see you later on." Disconnecting the link, she turned to Jason and saluted.

"You must be Captain Dodge. I'm Lt. Commander Vanessa Ray, your Chief of Security on the Impala." She said proudly.

Jason, completely lost in thought, had just realized he was being addressed as she brought her arm up to salute.

"At ease Lt....yes I am Captain Dodge, but you can just call me Jason for now. Nice to meet you." He said with a smile and extended his hand.

She visibly relaxed and returned the handshake. All her information including personal from birth til now started scrolling across his vision. It was a bit annoying but he was impressed by her many merits and performance certifications.

"She is highly skilled in martial arts..." Bianca said after a soft ping in his hear. "...I've taking the liberty of downloading her form and style and is now stored in muscle memory for future use." She finished. Mentally thanking her, he shifted his stance to lean a little on the wall.

"Yes, Ms. Ray... I've read your file. You have a very impressive background. A handwritten letter of recommendation from Madam President Obama herself." He said as he looked at her with a raised brow himself.

"Well not to sound like im bragging but it did help that Malia... I mean Madam President and I are best friends, but it was my performance that made her come to me with it." She said, trying to sound humble.

"Indeed, your performance is quite remarkable, which is why I chose you. I need the best minds and skill sets for this mission if it is to be a successful one. Also, I want my crew to be comfortable which is why im holding this meeting." He said. Vanessa was just about to respond when they finally reached their destination.

The doors opened to a large outer atrium. In the center, was a large, very life-like, holographic red oak tree that stretched up through the ceiling's opening. It stood in a square pond that took up most of the floor leaving only a platform big enough for six people to stand side by side comfortably. The four corners of the pond met with the squared pillars in the corners of the room making it so that you would have to cross the pond to get to the corridors on each side of the room. An arched lumibridge crossed over the pond and around the tree, giving access to each side of the room. At the end of each bridge was the same platform but opened to hallways that lead to different departments of the upper command tower. The tower itself looks like a 300ft needled skyscraper with a disc on top. The disc actually serves as an emergency transport to the Alpha 2 space station just on the other side of the moon. The disc would take off, the bridge would retract and the center opening would be the female end of the station's designated docking port. Jason and Vanessa took the right bridge and headed towards the senior officer's conference room.

All that day, he met with the senior officers. Getting to know them a little, assigning and readjusting their functions for the mission, advising of a possible one way trip, and thanking them for coming along and doing their part. All but one exited the room.

"Captain Dodge..." A short but stocky Korean man approached. "Good you're still holding in. Almost thought I lost you for a second."

Jason looked up and finally recognized the face behind the scraggly facial hair.

Steven Chung (a.k.a.) "Magi" was Carl Chung's little brother. Carl was Jason's best friend until he died 4 yrs ago on Rainbow Bridge. Steven got his nickname from his brother's first performance when he was young. Carl always wanted to be a magician ever since he was 8 and found an old digital copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in his lumitablet's entertainment archive. He tried to make a 6yr old Steven levitate during his 13th birthday using a small homemade lumilift and almost pulled it off, almost, had the family cat not ran across the stage and disconnected the power cord causing Steven to fall and sprang his wrist. Steven, however, was so excited about the whole thing that he didn't feel the pain until he tried to clap but instead was saying "maaagiii maaagiii!!" the whole time thus earning the name.

"Magi?...I thought that was you sitting there. When did you join?" He said as he stood up to greet him.

"Right after Carl died..." Magi responded with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, mom went into depression and dad went on a binge. Couldn't take it no more after about 3 months so i left and went to Fort James and enlisted. Been here for 4 years ever since. Got my bachelor's in Biomechanics and Molecular Engineering and finishing out my Associates in Robotics here...aboard the Impala." He finished, then looked at him with curiosity. "When the Impala project first came here, they use to tell me about the design engineer that built it. Said he had a friend he killed back at the Tuscan Research Facility. Went a little crazy after that. I didn't realize it was you until I saw your name on the classification papers....yeah, part of my intern was working with the classification department. Anyway, it also mentioned an experiment gone wrong...sorta speak, what exactly was the experiment? Ill be able to explain why its important I talk with you about something afterwards depending on your answer...hopefully!! " Magi asked before stepping back.

"According to his vitals, he is sincere...and slightly nervous." Bianca said in Jason's ear.

"Magi my dear boy, this is gonna sound crazy."

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The following day was launch day T minus 16hrs 3mins 48secs. Eddie, the shuttle pilot co-captain, announced on the intercom to the bridge crew of the Impala of their take off and to strap in. Jason and the rest took their seats and locked the support bars across their chest as the shuttle lifted up and angled towards the rising sun before taking off at breakneck speeds, spiraling upwards towards space. The crew felt none of the g forces used to propel the shuttle, only the slight vibration of the engine, as they loosened their support bars when their bodies became weightless. The majority floated towards the view ports as the shuttle leveled off and headed towards the massive station housing the Omega, the last of the jumpships in route to the Impala. Station looked like a giant jack balanced on top of a large beam of light. Station was a joint project created in the shadow of the ISS. Built in orbit on the darkside of the moon, it was introduced to the world in 2038 when the president announced the reopening of Reagan's Star Wars program after the discovery of a solar system a little closer than the Andromeda Galaxy. A massive starfleet was already in the making aboard Station, as it was placed in geosynchronous orbit above the Independent Space Administration's main headquarters. Attached to a fortified lumilift, crew and passengers could travel back and forth or take the shuttle. A small door opened on one of Station's four extensions as the shuttle made it's way through the opening and into a long tunnel that suddenly opened up into a very large docking chamber. Massive battle ships, starfighters, and shuttles were docked along the walls and catwalks throughout the room as the shuttle angled its way towards the larger of two ships inside a ribcage-like structure. Jason chuckeled to himself as he saw the crews reaction upon seeing The Omega.

The Omega, with a smaller version of the new engine as well, was a galaxy class destroyer that was reassigned as one of the planetary jumpships to the Impala. The Omega was the last of five other similar ships to leave for the Jupiter station and board the Impala. The crew were awed at the ship's design and size. It was literally the size of California and looked like an elongated F/A 22 Raptor. The Captain thought to himself, if they're amazed by the Omega, wait till they see the Impala. The Impala was somewhat similar in design but if it could land on Earth, it would stretch across Canada all the way down to the Northern border of South America.

Thinking about the Impala, the Captain sat back and watched through the view port as the shuttle made it's way into the Omega and landed. After making it to his quarters 'T-Minus 9hrs 32mins til launch' was the last thing Jason heard before falling into a much needed sleep.

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