Three...

Two...

One.

BWFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

The exploration ship lifted off of the ground with a primal roar, rattling Alex in his seat. Even though he was strapped down, he was flung back and forth, shaking against the straps. Eventually, the crushing force found a direction, and pushed downwards. He didn't even know who was in the pilot's seat, next to him. Eyes being squeezed from the pressure, he shut them tightly, and for the rest of the ascent into space, clutched the armrests of the chair as if they were his lifeline. When they reached orbital level, he exhaled raggedly, panting in his suit. Opening his eyes slowly, he pushed the button on the control panel that would release the seat straps. Pushing himself out of the large-backed chair, he pulled a switch that slowly turned the gravity generator on. Tearing the helmet off of his face, he hung it on a hook on the wall. Turning to the pilot, he said, "Well, it would seem that we made it up in one piece. Didn't think we would make it, what with all the banging around."

"What're you on about, Boyo? That was a textbook launch manuever." The launch itself was fairly aggressive but not anything out of the ordinary. Just as soon as she cut the engines for the first burn her crewman got out of his seat and turned on the artificial gravity. "Turn that off you pillock!" Val reached for the Anti-Gravity controls and set it to shut down again. "No gravity 'till we finish the ascent. That's all we need is a fault in the primary bus before we even turn on the bloody reactor." There was technically no restriction for anti-gravity but they were still attached to the launch carriage which meant they were using old and new tech on the same power grid so it was difficult to predict how they would interact.

Alex snorted, and said, "Ya know how many 'textbook' launches have gone wrong, with fatalities, in mankind's history of space flight? Twenty-three. So yeah, sure, it might be 'textbook'," he said this while making air quotes with his fingers, "but where did the textbook get the nineteen scientists aboard the Interstellar?" He turned on several of the self-monitoring instruments that he was required to activate, early in the launch. As the panels around the cockpit lit up, a grin split his face. This was his environment, the instruments of his trade.

At her angry words, Alexander narrowed his eyes, as every movement of his head now made weightless strands of hair drift about his head, in a messy halo of blonde. "Ay, the gravity shouldn't even affect anythin' outside the inside of the ship. And we just passed the periapsis of the slingshot orbit's trajectory, so that shouldn't be a problem." Still, he didn't argue further. This woman was the pilot of the ship. His superiors said that if it had anything to do with the piloting or mechanics of the ship, what she said, went. Floating to the back of the cockpit, he silently flicked some more internal systems on. "Internal monitoring system checks green."

"I'm detatchin' the launch carrier clamps now. A soft thud could be heard reverberating through the hull plating. We're free of that god awful antiquated rocket now. It should make a nice big splash down below. Once we're clear I can start powering up the reactor." Just moments later they were clear of the launch carrier which now slowly descended back down to Earth. Awrite, switching from internal batteries to primary power bus... A few of the running lights around the ship flickered as power fluctuated for a moment. "...Secondary bus is active...Coolant pumps one and two nominal...Core temperature nominal...Fuel tanks one and two are good to go...I'm bringing up external communications now so we should be able to get in touch with mission control. I'll get our main systems online while you're at it."

Alex waved his hand in acknowledgement, staying silent as he ran several programs through the system, initiating a code that would create backups of every single piece of electronic eqipment's programming and systems, which would result in a barely noticeable slowdown in the start-up. Couldn't be too careful. Pushing back, he floated in open air for a few seconds as he listened to the pilot's jabber about the rocket. Frowning, he said, "Does it matter if it's old? The science behind it is still solid." He grinned as he flipped the switch to turn the gravity back on, and immediately fell to the floor, landing on his back. "Anyway, I think it was the piloting, rather than that old girl, that made this ride bumpy up here." Walking over to a large wall station, which had a keypad that extended from the wall, he input a simple command that routed the communications to the OWA Space Center directly to his console, and the speakers and wall mics therein.

A familiar bespectacled face appeared on his screen, that of the Areo-Space Research Devision Head, Jackson Everson Hughes. Alex put on an extremely fake smile, and said, "Hey, if it isn't my old buddy Mr. Mustache! How's the wife, kids?" Hughes just sighed in aggravation, and wearily spoke.

"Hey, Johns, just to remind you, the entire world is banking on you two right now. So don't bollocks this up." Alex stared at Jack in disbelief. He was doubting him now, of all times? Glowering, Alex said, "We're in space, and we're on the way. Cryosleep isn't up yet, but we won't be needing that for about a week. I'll hand you over to this lady. Whoever she is. Because, if she's supposed to be the pilot, then she obviously couldn't be arsed to take a less harsh escape velocity."

Jackson grimaced, and started to lecture Alex. "Now listen, you daft West Country ass, she's more than qualified, in fact, you should be honored that she even agreed to take you into space- aaaaand he's gone." Whenever Valerie decided to go to the monitor, he looked up with a regretful look, and said, "I'm sorry you have to deal with that prick for the next few years."

"Can you believe he called my launch bumpy?! Millions o' pounds o' bloody thrust behind you, ought not be surprised it shakes a bit!" Valerie wasn't really paying attention to the monitor. "I'm bringing the Low Energy Nuclear Reactor online in a moment, Jack." She continued through the process as the ship came to life she spoke to herself. "Initialize fuel... preheat the core... time to wake up deary... Reactor is online, switching to main system bus... we're now generating our own power... I'll start getting major systems online now..." She didn't really have to do any of that on her own but she always felt like she would get lazy if she always let the automated start up and shut down sequence run. "Bringing the visual monitoring system online... starting up the VASIMR engines... ignition is good... No problems here. All systems are good to go, Jack"

Jack just sighed and shook his head. "Listen, if it's any consolation, I tried to get someone else to be your partner." Flipping on several switches, he said, "You have a green light for slingshot acceleration. Aaand, go." As the ship accelerated, he said to Alex and Val both, "Listen. All of humanity is riding on your success. Godspeed, you two." Alex smiled cockily, and leaned in to the camera, past Valerie. Performing a mock salute, he said, "When have I ever failed?" Jack, irritated, said, "Space Base out. Good luck out there," and cut the monitor feed.

Lounging about in a chair, Alex laughed. "I made him rhyme! Nobody EVER makes Jack rhyme!" Proud of himself, he looked at Valerie, and grinning, he said, "Come here often?" Spinning the chair around, he said, "My boss didn't tell me your name. Mine's Alex Johns." Waving condescendingly, he said, "I know, you're lucky to be paired with me, so why don't we skip all the gushing over my amazingness, and just get down to business, okay?" Alex smiled, and looked into Val's eyes, not even expecting her to not like him.

Val started the burn as instructed to push them into the eccentric orbit needed for a "slingshot". It was a fairly simplistic name for a rather complicated maneuver. In fact, an average pilot might not even be able to pull it off. There would essentially be four major burns with course corrections along the way. Her concentration was broken by her crewmate once again. Valerie was not amused by his ego and it was clear to see on her face. "Of course I know who ye are. Alexander Johns, age twenty six, height approximately five foot one, weight around a hundred twenty five pounds or so. Graduated top o' yer class. Various scientific degrees, expertise relevant to the mission blah blah blah. Personnel file's included in the mission brief, though they forgot to mention you were so in love with the sound of your own voice."

The first burn was simple enough since they would only be pushing the periapsis up far enough to use the orbit's eccentricity to amplify their next burn. That will take place as they are falling towards the planet thus using the Earth's gravity to assist in accelerating to an escape orbit thus performing a 'slingshot' around the earth. They would still, of course, have to perform the same maneuver around the sun itself. "I'm sure you've plenty to do Doctor Johns. I'll be checkin' the reaction control thrusters in the mean time, felt a bit sluggish. Give a shout if ye break somethin'." Val got up from the pilot's seat and synchronized her watch to the clock tracking mission time. That way she would know when the next scheduled burn was approaching. Ignoring Alex for the most part she made her way towards the rear of the ship towards the engineering bay where most of the ship's guts could be found.

Alex grimaced as the woman stated his personnel profile, with no indications of awe. She obviously knew what he'd done, what he was capable of. Was she not impressed by a PhD in Research Science at age 19? A bachelor's in Astrophysics at 17? A degree in all bio-, astro- and physical chemistries at age 16? Sneering back at the woman, he said, in a harsh, yet still condescending tone, "You still havn't told me your name yet, doll." The last word was drawn out slightly, to try and get a reaction. Positive, negative, it didn't matter. This woman needed to regard Alex in some way.

Turning back to his console, grousing, and nursing his hurt pride, Alex unlocked the door to his research lab, and walking along the corridor, slammed the console back into the wall, angrily. A bit sluggish? The computational systems were designed by Alex himself. Each was a basic AI, formed to chirp up at the slightest problem. They were the fastest computers that one could fit into a thruster block, and each was like a child to him. A bit sluggish. The hydraulic door hissed open, pulling upwards, and revealed Alex's lab. Several counters, with doors that held supplies underneath, were at the sides of the room, stretching from wall to wall. An analysis table, with several scanners, electron, thermal, vibration, CT and MRI, sat in the back of the room, a stark white tabletop, lit from below. In the center of the room, was Alex's computer table, which doubled as an access console. The flat black top lit up with a simple touch of his hand, and a soothing female voice said, "Welcome, User: Designation- Alex Johns."

Alex waited a tic, as it booted up, and smiled as he saw what he had at his disposal. Most of the scientific texts, throughout history, were recorded here, from the Ancient Greeks to the most modern advances in scientific discovery. Along with this, was a myriad of personal items, which Alex had brought with him, from his computer at home. A bunch of games, books and videos, chosen from an algorithm of his personal interests, that he had coded himself, lay in wait. He knew less than 1/8 of the content, so it should entertain him for a while. Sliding the personal files to the side, for later, he viewed the external and internal sensors, able to note any changes in either. Almost immediately, a red triangle quietly pinged in the proximity alarm box. Sighing, he opened an audio channel to the engineering section's two-way intercom. "Uhhhh, yeah, hey, so there's a defunct satellite about... 150 km. out, directly where our apoapsis would culminate. Ya might want to get on that. Guess that the Davis Project didn't clear out all that junk, 50 years ago. "

Val did her best not to sound annoyed at the fact that she had to make yet another course correction before she got a chance to recalibrate the RCS thrusters. Not that they were malfunctioning in any way, she simply didn't like the feel of how the controls responded. It was something only a pilot would understand as they have to work very intimately with their spacecraft. She could cope with how the controls were now but personalizing the inputs would make it much less stressful to maneuver and ultimately more efficient.

Annoyingly she had already made it to the back of the ship where the more complex ship systems such as the Reaction Control Systems could be accessed and more easily modified. She tapped the nearby intercom. "I'm on it." Back again to the cockpit for a few seconds of thrust, at the current range it wouldn't take more than a minute change in heading to alter their course far enough to pass by harmlessly.

Settling in and reactivating RCS, she grabbed hold of the control stick. For a second she thought about accelerating without giving her crewmate the benefit of a warning. The thought of his smug face smacking squarely into the floor was an amusing thought. Fortunately Val wasn't so cruel as to possibly ruin whatever experiments he might have gotten started for the sake of a practical joke and, she still had a job to do after all. She tapped the intercom again. "Brace for some mild acceleration Doctor. Ready in three... two... one... burn." The RCS kicked the same way as last time. Calling it mild acceleration was a bit of an exaggeration but it only lasted a few seconds and it was over. "All done." The new course would put them about one hundred meters away from the satellite. They would pass by close enough to see it through the windows, which is something she was looking forward. She always liked to see old designs and the philosophy behind their construction. Now she could finally go back to Engineering and calibrate the RCS thrusters to her liking.

Alex heard the warning, and braced himself, but still slammed his head against the glass table. The slamming and his resulting groan were clearly audible over the intercom, and so were his loud curses. At her "All done," he switched off the intercom, but his loud swearing was able to be heard throughout the ship. Pushing himself up, muttering, he looked down at the screen. The random input had opened the surveillance system feed. Ah. That. He had forgotten to enable that. Switching the cameras on, he gained a view of every section of the ship, and the entirety of the outside of the ship.

The only movement, however, was in Engineering, where the pilot was, and the Lab Bay, where he was. Breaking apart the code, he looked at a sketchy-looking line. Recording everything was fine. Transmitting it back to the ISC? Not cool. Not able to delete the line, he set up a proxy server, and added a line of code that would reroute the recordings back to his computer. That meant he'd have two copies, but that was fine. He didn't like being watched. The comms alert immediately blinked, the blue circle indicative of a transmission from Base. Alex blithely flicked it off. Then, his console command was overridden, and Jack connected to the cockpit and Engineering intercoms, babbling about everything going dark. Whatever. Alex ignored the man, and muted his intercom to that incoming signal.

He then ran tests of the passive sensors. Primitive, yes, but this ship was loaded with every single piece of exploration equipment ever. Literally. They even had a surveyor's scope, and a compass. A COMPASS. Whatever good that would do in the depths of space.