The stars burn bright here. I like looking at them. They give me comfort in times of great destress. Most of the time, I am here in the observation room, looking into the sky and wondering. As I close my eyes, the low hum of the ship soothes me, and I fall into a gentle sleep. Free from any stress or fear. Just peace.
"Hi cutie!" a voice says in my ear.
The sudden voice sends a shock through my soul. I scramble to my feet, my heart racing as fast as it can as I search for the source of the voice. There standing in front of me was a full-sized Angel, smiling from end to end, completely unaware of the fact she scared the shit out of me.
"Angel." I said, catching my breath, "Oh, it's just you."
"Oh, course it's me, who else would it be?"
"I..."
She stands there, just smiling. Swaying her hips side to side, her digital black dress swaying along with it, and humming a gentle tune I have never heard of before. I could never understand her, she's so...oblivious to everything. Is it by design? Honestly, I don't know.
"What is it, Angel?"
"Oniv wants you on the bridge for jump preparations."
Something is off about her. She is too...cute?
"R-right. What's with this cute phase that you are doing, right now?"
"What's a cute phase?"
"I... Never mind. I'll see you on the bridge."
"Ok, bye!"
She then quickly phases out of existence. Confused, I try to brush it off what I just saw and head for the bridge. When I arrive, everyone is already ready and waiting on me. Oniv stares at me for a moment then turns his attention back to the front of the ship. The bridge is quite small here compared to other ships I have been on. It's a bit claustrophobic. A table sat in the center with holographic displays. It takes up most of the space. The pilot's seat sat in the front of the room and sat at a lower position than the rest of the bridge. Most of the other stations sat that way, including navigation, weapons, and diagnostics. As I sit in my seat in the back, Oniv turns to Rom who is standing in the back of the table, overlooking the rest of the bridge. Angel phases next to me and sits down in her chair. Not sure why she is here, she doesn't need it.
"Ok Rom," Oniv says, "We are ready to go. On your signal."
Oniv heads for his seat. Rom bends down onto the table and presses a button, then speaks into the mic.
"Attention crew, prepare for jump sequence, seven rings."
The entire bridge jumps into action. Two keys are presented, one held by Rom, the other by the co-captain. A man whose name I don't really know. They both plug in the keys into the table, count down, then turn at the same time.
The ship starts to rumble, hard. Pillars expand and open on either side of the bridge and lightning bolts start to flash between them at a rapid pace. The rumble grows harder. This time I can barely hand on to my chair. Angel phases out of her seat again, standing next to Rom before he spots her and head for his seat. He too struggles to stand straight. A beam of light fires into the sky above us and expands to form a single ring around the ship, glowing brighter than any sun nearby. The ring then multiplies to three, then five, and finally seven, glowing even brighter each time this happens until it becomes so bright it overtakes the windows. The rings start to phase in and out. Angle begins the count down.
"Beginning jump in five...four...three...two...one...standby."
The engines spin up. The ship roars with excitement while space and time starts to warp into shapes I can no longer explain. I grow dizzy from the visuals and close my eyes.
"Ready." Angel continues, "Engage."
The engine screams a final time and suddenly, the ship launches with incredible force. My weight shifts into the back of my stomach and my legs are lifted off the ground. The shaking has become unbearable, which you would think with all the time I have been traveling I would get used to this...nope. Soon, the shaking calms down and we finally arrive at equilibrium. I open my eyes and engage with my surroundings. The visuals out the window are breath taking. The entire bridge has turned into a pallet of several colors and patterns as reflected by the light outside. Angel turns to us and smiles with glee. She has this look of, "Look what I just did." Oniv stands to his feet and turns to the rest of the crew.
"Ok," he says. "We will arrive at our destination in three hours. Everyone get ready. I want this done right."
"Yes sir!" We all say in unison.