[ Security Central - Prelaunch ]
The Ark was in it’s preparation stages for launch, and Gavon was as ready as he could be for the first lift. He’d flown plenty during his tour with the Relief Convoys, but never outside the planet’s atmosphere, and certainly not into deep space. The thought of an airless environment outside of the ship left an unsettling feeling for sure, but no doubt, just like anything he’d encountered throughout his life, there were going to be drastic adjustments made. Even training in Zero-G simulators weren’t enough compared to the real thing, but then again adapting to any situation is one of his strong points.
“Follow the protocol from this morning’s meeting.” Gavon continued his instructions over the comms. “Four teams of two Agents assigned to each deck’s quadrant. And keep it low profile, just a routine sweep of the main corridors, branching hallways, etc as discussed. Squad leaders, keep a check-in with Central every two minutes. Rally point will be the Hub for all Agents not assigned to posts along the corridors.”
Gavon stood behind a seated Natalie, as she pulled up various camera feeds throughout sections of the Ark, accessing entry logs in restricted areas, and streaming data that went much too fast for the Chief to follow.
“Glad you’re the one having to stare at all that mess.” He mused, nudging her in the shoulder.
“It’s not a ‘mess’, Gav” She said, continuing to key in several cypher codes. “Think of it like I’m conducting a symphony and every instrument, every tool, has it’s place in the grand scheme of the composition.”
“So now you’re a composer?”
“In a way.” She snickered. “Besides, your neanderthal head and biceps are better used for bashing things, yeah?”
“I suppose.” He shrugged, catching something on one of the monitors and leaning closer for a better look. “Oh for cryin’ out loud...”
“I need two Agents closest to sector 8-F to break up a meeting currently being held in Storage Unit 5.”
“Copy that Chief, we’re on it.”
Natalie shook her head as she continued her work, trying to hide the smile forming across her face. “Really Gavon? You call two teenagers making out in the storage unit a ‘meeting’? ”
“Hey, you know that subtlety isn’t my thing, but I don’t need the team distracted right now. And you know as well as I do that all personnel need to be secured in authorized areas.”
She looked over at the security feed from the high angled camera in the storage unit. The adolescent couple, embraced in each other’s arms as though nothing in the universe was going to happen, seemed happy at least for the moment. Natalie sighed as she half-smiled, musing of younger and simpler times, where responsibility wasn’t first and foremost, and every decision wasn’t a matter of life or death. The world had it’s problems, it’s wars, famines, hunger, and death. But dreams seemed to hold it all together, dreams of a better life, a home, a family. She snapped herself out of the wishful thinking, turning attention back to her work.
“Did you ever think about what we’ll find out there in the unknown, Gav?”
After a moment, with no answer to her somewhat rhetorical question, she turned to realize that the Chief was gone from the room. And taking a deep breath, she went back to pulling up various records and logs, hoping that the launch would prove a success...for everyone’s sake.
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