"Are these terms clear?" a man asked sitting opposite a small table of Iris as he slid a packet of papers across to her.
"Not like you are giving me much a choice." she replied looking over the pages detailing the mission and voyage path of an exploration shuttle.
The man looked up slightly at Iris. "You will be closely monitored and are to follow instructions given from
any superior command. I know you are used to running your own show, but you are not in charge of this one."
"Yes, yes." Iris said waving her hand dismissively at the man.
"Necessary evils, and all that. What I don't see is where this helps me." There was a moment of silence between them as Iris flipped through the pages detailing the plans for a ship named Jotunheim, and her responsibilities as the lead Biologist.
"I guess we are done here then." Iris broke the silence as she picked up a pen and began signing the pages.
"Are you familiar with the story of Prometheus?" she asked as she continued reading and signing.
"The titan of Greek mythology?" the man replied not entirely sure of where Iris was going with the question.
"Yes, he was a god that stole the gift of fire to man, along with the knowledge of metal working. This jump started their development and speed up their advancements into science." she paused a moment looking over the papers in front of here one last time.
"He was punished for this, damned to an eternity of suffering." Iris slid the papers back to the man across the table.
"Lets not forget," The retorted as he swept up the papers. "That Prometheus was also a devilish trickster and spurred a war between the gods and the titans, and the titans did not win that war" He stood up and left began to leave the room.
- - - ___ - - - ___ - - -
Iris felt cold, very cold, as well as a host of many other things that were not pleasant. There was a hissing sound and then suddenly a rush of air that jolted her awake.
"Doctor Lambert" A voice called out to her.
"Iris, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Iris knew this voice, but it sounded muffled and far away. Iris raised hand up in front of her eyes as she squinted through the bright lights of the Medical Room.
"Richard," she said flatly.
"Bring me some water, and a-" Before she could finish there was a sharp pain in her arm as something was tugged loose.
An IV maybe? she thought as she reached for the source of the pain.
"We already have a hydration drip going, doctor, and here." she said laying a small towel in her lap with a protein pack. "Your vitals are good, and your Cryo-sleep shows no sign of being tampered. You're lucky." Richard said as Iris slowly came around to being fully functional.
"what do you mean lucky?""There was… complications before launch, and well… lets just take it one step at a time alright." Richard said hesitantly. Iris could see that he was shaken up a bit, and from the state of the medical room she could put together a bit of what was going on.
"Richard, I am not a child. I am 47 years old and want to know why we are in such disarray.""Well, there was a fight before launch… and um, the FTL drive didn't quite work as planned." He stammered a bit trying to find the words to explain things.
"Richard, are we lost?"Richard laughed nervously "You could put it that way… We are on a planet… but we are not entirely sure where."
Iris sighed heavily and laid back on the bed.
This is great, stranded on an unknown planet, who knows how far from anyone."I would rest for a bit, before going about. Your disorientation will last for an hour or two." With that Richard left to go tend to other things.
"I know you aren't telling me everything, but I will find out in my own time I guess."Richard paused a moment "Your things for getting around the ship are on the side table. I will let the captain know you are up." With the Richard left.
After some time of sitting and watching what looked like a small mobilization force pass by Medical, curiosity started to over come Iris on what exactly was going on. Slowly she made it to her feet, got a few things that Richard left on the side table, and made her to the door. taking a little to get her bearings Iris made her way to her room where she would find some more suitable attire. Walking down the hall there were a couple ceiling panels taken down, and an engineer working on a wall console looking a bit frustrated. Getting into her room Iris changed into her regular attire before grabbing her tablet and ear-piece and heading to the lab to check on things there.
Best to see how things are in the lab if the ship has suffered some kind of damage