Emerald Isle (MOST RECENT EDIT 01/29/08)

         The Emerald Isle is an old space merchant ship of the line. Of the four built for deep space cargo transport, she is the last of her line.  More than 8,000 feet in length and more than 5,000 feet wide, she is a hefty lady at 540,000 tons without being loaded. It takes 500 people to keep her going. She is slower than most of her newer sister ships, but she can carry cargo. Her large five cargo bays could amply hold any materials being transported to the planets and outer systems. One word, cargo. That was what made her so special. With her thirty- two cold plasma engines providing her interstellar flight, she was a jewel when she first took flight. Not now. Not with her newer sister ships.
                             
         The captain chose to take a cargo hold and convert it into a medical bay. Merchant vessels that plied the space lanes were often by themselves for a long time. Captain Samuleson made sure he had the medical equipment to do whatever it took to keep his crew safe. MRI machines, CAT Scanners, serology, oncology were only a few of the space taken up. Space radiation was not taken for granted. You were on your own.

         The crew’s quarters were Spartan for a ship of her size. Grunt quarters boasted of bunk bed, shower. You shared the head and the tooth brush sinks in the common toilet area. There were 200 of those. In the grunts room there was closet space for two personal bags.

         Junior officers in training had it better but not by much, only five square feet more and a slightly larger shower and a sink and toilet. That took almost the entire five square feet of space.

         Officers meaning Merchant Officers, Officer of the Deck, Quartermaster, Physician, Executive Officer had better quarters. Ten square feet more and a desk/table that folded back onto itself and two chairs for company.

         She had four ready rooms and four cargo shuttles for on planet deliveries. The shuttles were big bellied.  Larger cargo  was netted and cast off in orbit for pick up by the local planet.

         The cook was one of those unusual finds. He was stranded on a backwater planet. His ships company had a falling out with his gambling debts and set him adrift. Their loss was Emerald Isles gain. He could put together meals from practically nothing.  That was a regular occurrence on a merchant vessel traveling in deep space.  The captain, being wise, counseled the cooks about his penchant for gambling.  The Captain told him, if  he ever had a problem with him, he would turn the Emerald Isle back and land him on the planet where he found him.  The cook never took a chance of that happening.

         She was destined for the breakers when Mathison Interstellar Mercantile Shipping looked her over. It took three years to bring her to where Mathison wanted her to be.  Speed wasn’t important, cargo was. Emerald Isle could carry non-critical supplies and free the other newer ships of the line. After making a stop at Tippany, she would be on her way to the Deep Space Station Epsilon a stop that would change the captain and her crew. 

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Jamie sat at the command console.  She was extremely nervous.  With good reason, she was to bring the Emerald Isle into space dock by herself.  She was on her final boards of Merchant Testing to obtain a provisional Masters Permit.  Captain Samuelson sat passivly at the helm.  He was now taking her orders and grading her on the way she performed.  It had been this way for centuries since the Galvin Consortium standardized the testing for all Merchant Masters.

"Helm, slow to station speed. Ears, contact Station Master for permission to dock and get us a docking berth."
"Aye Mam, slow to station speed." answered the captain

"Aye Mam, contacting station master." replied ears.

So far so good.  Now if she could only settle down.  It was bad enough when she first boarded the Emerald Isle so many years back.  She struggled with the books and the computer simulations. Her only worry was George Daniels, her only competition.  She remembered the time when she almost lost out because of his antics.  She was finally at the precipace where she could taste her Masters Permit.  Well, at least her provisional Masters Permit.

"Helm answers slow to station speed Mam."

"Very well"

"Ears? Status?"

"Station Master sends his regards and asks us to stand by for traffic departing to our port."

"Very well. Helm. Station keeping, bring us to a stand still now."

"Aye Mam." answered the captain.

So far she could not tell whether he approved of her actions.  Time would tell.
"Helm answers to station keeping Mam"

"Very well." How many times would she say that. Lots and lots and lots of times.

"Helm answer station keeping starboard thrusters two second burst if you please, and bring us about ahead slow two degrees starboard."

"Aye, helm answering station keeping thrusters two second burst, coming around slow two degrees starboard."

WARNING WARNING WARNING THIS SHIP WILL IMPACT STATION IN 25 SECONDS.

"Ship!!! Sameuleson, TJ Captain Merchantman License number Alpha Romeo seven seven nine seven Command to Helm. Execute!!" Yelled the captain as Jamies face turned ashen white.

"Ship station keeping thrusters amid ships, forward thrusters fire small bursts three second intervals. Assess collision status of this ship to the station."

SHIP WILL IMPACT STATION IN TEN SECONDS.

"All hands this is the captain....secure all i say again secure all rig for collision"

ALL SHIPS CORRIDORS ARE SEALED.  HULL INTEGRITY ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. NOSE ASSEMLBY BEING IMPACTED BY STATION. PORT SIDE BEING IMPACTED BY STATION. THIS SHIP HAS ZERO MOMENTUM.  HARD DOCKING IS ADVISED. HULL INTEGRITY STILL AT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. ALL MOTION HAS STOPPED. THIS SHIP IS NOW AT STATION KEEPING PROTOCOLS IN EMERGENCY STATUS. AWAITING COMMANDS FROM AR7797 SAMULESON TJ ACTING CAPTAIN EMERALD ISLE.

"Ship. Stand by. No other authority is given."

UNDERSTOOD. AR SEVEN SEVEN NINE SEVEN SAMUELSON TJ CAPTAIN ACTING IS THE ONLY AUTHORITY RECOGNIZED.  ALL FURTHER TESTING IS HEREBY SUSPENDED.

"Master Apprencentice Sorreson come with me to the ready room. Now!"

"Captain", chimed in ears, the station master is yelling what in the world you are doing.  What shall i tell him?"

"Tell him I'm a bit busy right now and will get back to him in fifteen minutes!. Sorenson get your sorry butt in the ready room now!"


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What in the Belt of Orion were you doing? If SHIP handn't caught the drift we could have had a very expensive and very bad docking!  Do you want to be put down from the testing? Do you want to start over again and have to come up to this level in another three years after you take your written boards and your similuations again?"

Jamie stood absolutly still.  She was ready to break down and cry a river.  But she would be damned if she did it in front her Captain.  Soon enough to do that when she got to her quarters.

"No captain, I don't want to start over. I dont know what happend on the bridge.  I was following all the standard protocols.  I have no explanation to what happend."

"Jaime I know your zeal. You're not careless. That's what puzzles me. But I can't ignore it. I've got over three hundred people on this vessel.  You are but only one of them.  Until I find a satisfactory explanation to what's happened I'm going to have to reduce your access to critical portions of command.  I know how this hurts Jamie, I really do.  But this is not a minor ding with a rock size meteor.  It's a full blown collision with a space station.  And, I've got to report this to the insurance company for repair. I've got to send another to the company office. This is going to go on your record unless we can find a reasonable explanation for it.  But Jamie, I'm not hopeful. I dont know how to prove it was not your fault. Dismissed."

"Yes Captain.  May I ask a question sir?"

"Yes"

"Does this mean I cannot observe? I mean am i still allowed on the bridge. If not in command training perhaps as Ears?"

"I really don't know for now Jaime. I've got to write a report right now while its still fresh in my mind. Any other questions?"

"No sir"

Captain Samuleson turned away and pulled a huge book from the shelf. Jamie turned and left. No use in talking further. Captain Samuleson was right. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do. And Jamie had an idea that any thing she tried to say would only make it worse. It would be better to lay low and not attract attention to herself.

Going to her quarters required her going through the crews mess. Great! By now word had probably gone through the whole ship.

"Hey Jamie" Called George Daniels.  "You get you nose bent out of shape by a merchant ship?"

"Don't press it Daniels. Don't you dare press it. I'll squash you like an insect!"

Her voice whispered where no one else could hear.  George Daniels shivered at that voice, remembering the last two times these two crossed paths.

She hurried past the mess toward her quaters, ready to break down. No! Not yet. Please God not yet.  When I get to my room. Then I can break down.

The little twit. I could have docked this ship better than she could, thought Danny as he sat at the mess table.  Taking his coffee cup he poured another cup. I should have been docking the Emerald Isle. I should have been doing that, not her! His nose still hurt from the memory of the academy.  One of these days I'll be ahead of her. Soon. Very soon, he thought.

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“Tippany planet control, Tippany planet control, this is the merchant vessel Emerald Isle over,” said ears.

What is taking them so long. She thought.

“Tippany planet control, Tippany planet control, this is the merchant vessel Emerald Isle over.”

“Emerald Isle this is Tippany planet control. We see you inbound stay on your trajectory.  You have outbound ships in your area.  Please put a solid watch on when you are within range of laser approach.  When you are in orbit contact orbital control on specified frequencies found on your check list for this system.”

“Roger Tippany. Understand we have outbound traffic. Solid watch to be maintained on laser approach. Contact orbital control once in orbit on specified frequencies found on our check list for this system.

Any word on whats selling down there?”

“Well we need any type of grease you’ve got. Ball bearings are really selling fast.  The three of our five radio telescopes are down for repair and most of those bearings are shot. Oh and if youve got any terran seed for vegetables, our hydroponics people are screaming that we need a better gene variety.  They are also looking for any polyster cloth for root barrier sheets. We’re growing rice and use the fresh hulls and sand as a substitute for the polyester fiber.  We’re just barely growing leaf lettuce  We’re also trying corander and some Chinese celery and  Chinese cabbage.  Agriculture products are what we need.”

Sue was surprised.  She had no idea that Tippany had this much invested in hydroponics.  She wondered if that 2000 feet of pvc eighth inch tubing would be a good trade. Couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Sounds like you folks are doing pretty good.  How old is your tubing?”

“Do you have any? Dr. Flemming is asking every time a merchant is in hailing distance. And since I am the one that gets you folks inbound, I get bombarded by the scientific types.”

“We’ve got about 2000 feet of pvc eight inch coiled in our hold. I don't know about seeds though. I 'll have to check with Emerald Isle’s Merchant Master and see what she has.”

“Oh great! In the meantime what is it you need?”

“Tell you what. Let me get together with Captain Samuleson, Derek, our Merchant Master and our science types and well see what we've got. We need fresh vegetables. Chinese Cabbage and the lettuce you mentioned would be good too. Ill get our cook to make a list. Do you have any meat? Cattle, poultry?”

“No sorry.  We are trying to get some embryo's from another shipper.  But their storage system failed while inbound and we lost them all.”

“Sorry to hear that. I’ll make a note in my comm log to alert other merchants of your need.”

“Hey thanks Sue, I appreciate it.  Emerald’s always been good to us. Gotta run. Another one inbound.

“Roger that Tippany Orbital, Emerald Isle on Solid and Comm Watch.” Said Sue reverting back to formal communications.

                                        ***

Thackery sat on the Irish Mist’s ramp waiting for Captain Samuelson to give him his orders in person.  With red hair and freckles, he was an Irishman except for the accent, Thackery had none.  His deep blue coveralls were loose enough so when he started unloading, it wouldn’t handicap his movement.  The cap carried the insignia of the Emerald Isle with the logo of Matheson Interstellar Shipping  imposed on it, the shoulder patch matched the cap. Pulling the bill down in frustration he thought, ‘Doesn’t trust me yet I guess.’  He ran over the protocols for Tippany one more time.  Vectors, allignments, a change in frequencies if needed.  He couldn’t think of a single thing he’d left out.  He loved the Irish Mist. The way she handled going planet side was sweet as it could be.  She could go into a planets gravity well and still come out smelling like a sweet glenn in spring time. 

Going back into the cargo hold he checked it again.  Tubing, assorted nuts and bolts both metric and English. Lots of grease and ball bearings.  The load should be okay. Load Master Jorgensen saw to that alright.  Only after he and Thackery got in an argument about the placement of the nuts and bolts. ‘Well, he was right. I tried a short cut and that would have thrown the Mist off her balance.

He went inside and secured the Mist’s cargo doors then strapped himself in. He might as well get the ships clearance.

Ship. McLoughlin, Thackery J. Cargo Master Irish Mist Authority Charlie Mike Niner Zulu Niner

SHIP RECOGNIZES MCLAUGHLIN, THACKERY J., CARGO MASTER IRISH MIST. CHARLIE MIKE NINER ZULU NINER

Give me a vector and route to Tippany using normal approach controls for this planets system. Route it to Irish Mist navigation computers. No reply is necessary. End.

Now to call Susan. Turning the radio to intercom he keyed the mic. “Emerald Isle com, ears, Irish Mist, Thackery.”

“Irish Mist, Emerald Isle ears. You ready for your sojourn to a fog bound planet Thack?”

“Yeah, I guess so Susan. I just wish the Cap’n would trust me a little more”.

The way it came out was painful.  Sue knew Thackey was a good kid.  He even tried to make a pass at her, which flattered her to no end. But being thirty years his senior she didn’t feel like robbing the cradle, and let him down easy.  Boys his age had a fragile ego, especially with Captain Samuelson watching the boy as he became more proficient in his handling of the Mist.

“You get the vectors from SHIP?”

“Yeah, they came over just now.  Any word on the fog?”

“It’s lifting but it’s still bad.  Orbital Control is slow in answering as well. I think they have a few more cargo carriers lined up"

Sue stopped speaking. After thinking before she said anything, she continued, "Thack, be careful okay? You tend to over correct on everything you do. Don’t give the Captain an excuse to sideline you. You’ve come a long way so far.  Even Rebbecca thinks you have.”

At the mention of Rebbecca, Thackery’s face turned red and his freckles even redder.  Even though he was sitting down, his knees felt like rubber.

‘That’s nice,” he managed to stammer.

Sue caught his stammer and knew she scored a hit.  ‘Round one goes to Rebecca.', Sue thought. I hope that girl is carrying protection.  Hormones at that age are like thrusters on full.’

“Okay Sue. Let me know if any thing changes on the weather.  Maybe I can get the Mist into a nice fast approach in a clear spot.”

“Thackery J. McLoughlin don’t you dare.  You already had  that landing on Orremmi. Remember? Captain Samuelson was non to pleased with that! .  You do not want to piss off Captain Samuelson again.”

“Okay Sue! Okay. Jeeze. Anyway let me know if the weather changes.”

“Will do Thack.  Safe Journey. Emerald Isle ears on intercom watch for Irish Mist.”

“Roger Emerald Isle. Irish Mist on intercom watch for Emerald Isle.”

He saw the Captain enter the cargo bay not looking to pleased at all. ‘Great! Just great. Now I get to be read a story like a proby on his first dirt side delivery’.

Captain Samuelson looked tired, and  exhausted..  It was the planets fog that worried him the most, that and a certain Thackery J. McLoughlin. Hot headed and wanting to show the right stuff. He took the radio and switched to cargo carrier frequency.

“Thackery.”

“Yeah Captain.”

“We’re almost in orbit around Tippany. They are fogged in. When you go down with that cargo you use instruments only.  You never know what kind of weather you’re going to encounter down there. You be extremely careful. Put everything on automatic. Let the Mist fly itself.” Samuelson’s famous bushy eyebrows did a dance.  They always did a dance when he was animated.

“Awe Captain,”complained Thackery. “I know what I’m doing.’  Thackery wished he could look  into the captain’s eyes.  Eye contact he was told at the Thurston Cargo Academy gave the appearance of attentiveness and confidence. Only problem with that, Thackery was scared to death of the Captain.

“No Thackery. This is an order. You will put the Irish Mist on auto pilot as soon as you leave the Emerald Isle. You have  been on this ship for only two standard years. Not nearly enough time to do complex maneuvers. Clear?”

Thackery could not see the captains face sitting in the cargo carrier. He could imagine the eyebrows going up and down in anxiety.

“Aye Sir.” He said disappointedly.

“I mean it. I don’t want you to go visual. If you do I will have you scrubbing pots and pans in the galley till you retire from the company.”

He knew Thackery was a good kid. Just a bit hot when it came to doing things. Thank heaven he hadn’t found any of the women on board to impress as of yet. Of course scuttlebutt had it that Rebbecca  in medical was starting to heat Thacks engines.  He wish he knew how Susan found out things on the Isle.  Better to keep the young ones busy. That was the key.

“Aye Captain.”

“Now fire up the Mist.  Start one.” The whine of magnetics started. 

“Number one online”

“Fire two”

“Number two online”

“Mag lifts off”

“Mag lifts off.” Thackery repeated.

“Thackery, fire three and four when you're away from the Isle.”, The captain said. He turned away and went into the pressurized safety cabin which had a complete view of the cargo bay.

“Okay Captain.” He said and saluted.

“Emerald Isle, Emerald Isle. This is the Irish Mist. Departure vectors nine six alpha romeo. Insertion point on contacting Tippany Planet Control. “

“All hands this ears.  Cargo carrier Irish Mist is cleared for imminent departure.  Safety protocols are now in effect.  All fire safety personnel to cargo bay Delta.  Acknowledge. Irish Mist, stand by for departure.”

Safety personnel wearing red coveralls converged on the cargo bay.  Each cargo bay had its own safety board independent of the entire ship.

“Irish Mist on standing by for departure.”

As ears looked at her board, each light winked from yellow to green.  Paul was good at his job in ramrodding  the safety personnel.

“Ears, Safety Boss.  All protocols in place.  Irish Mist is cleared.”

“Irish Mist, ears, Irish Mist is cleared. Bay doors opening now.”

Silently and slowly the giant cargo doors opened to the darkness of space.  The planet Tippany shown in that blackness.  Since releasing the magnetics nothing was holding the Mist to the Isle.  Thackery applied compressed gas maneuvering thrusters to gently ease her out of the cargo bay.

As he slipped out of the cargo bay a light went red on his console indicating that the doors were closing once again.

Once he was in the in orbit, he contacted the planet.

“Tippany orbital control this is the cargo carrier Irish Mist inbound with cargo from the merchant vessel Emerald Isle, over."

Try it again.  Sue said something about them being slow to answer thought Thackery to himself.. “Tippany orbital control this is the cargo carrier Irish Mist inbound with cargo from the merchant vessel Emerald Isle, over.”

“Irsih Mist, Tippany orbital control, ride the beam to the outer maker and land just short of the customs area.”

Remembering Captain Samuelson’s and Sue’s comments, he went in slow taking the Mist around the planet the did and insert.  “Slow and steady like the Cap’n  said.” Thought Thackery. 

“Tippany Orbital Control, this is the cargo carrier Irish Mist in bound with cargo from the merchant vessel Emerald Isle, over.” Try it again. Sue said something about them being slow to answer thought Thackery to himself..

“Irsih Mist,  Make a right turn on your planetary approach.  The beam will adjust automatically.  Contact Tippany Space Port Control on you frequencies listed for this time.  Time is now fourteen hundred Tippany Solar Time.”

As he turned the Mist he saw the beam adjust as advertised.  Mist’s nav computers were now “talking” with Tippany’s.

He was coming in slightly faster than he liked but nothing he couldn’t handle.  Just below Tippany showed herself.  To the right lay the space port.  “Looks like small doll houses.” He thought.

Once in the atmosphere the buffeting started. Good thing he had listened to the Cargo Master Jorgensen’s advice.  Time to bring the com back up. Thackery checked the TST time and the corresponding frequency and switched frequencies.

“Tippany Space Port Control, this is the cargo carrier Irish Mist in bound with cargo from the merchant vessel Emerald Isle,”

“Irsih Mist, Tippany Space Port Control, keep riding the beam to the outer maker and land just short of the customs area.  Adjust your decent..  Be advised there is another cargo carrier coming up behind you. I suggest you increase your speed.”

“Roger that,” Thackery said. He heard the controller continue talking the cargo carrier behind him.

“Samson’s Delight, Tippany Space Port Control. decrease your speed now. Irish Mist is first in for landing.”

“Samson’s Delight, roger that.”

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“Ears, give me an update.”

“Lots of outbound traffic for us to take notice.  Lots of fog still, but the fog alert they sent is being cancelled. Visibility is improving.  There’s one or two patrol cruisers around to keep the traffic in line.”

“Put me on the horn ears.”

“Aye Sir.”

“All hands the is the captain.  Rig for standard orbit.  Emergency crews to their stations.  Medical teams to stations. Emerald Isle is now on Orbital Watch.”

That's better. At least now he had something to keep him busy.

“Ship”

SHIP ANSWERS CAPTAINS REQUEST.

“Ship, monitor all systems while we are inbound.  Authority is given to Communications Officer Susan Keats.  Captains authority Alpha Romeo seven seven nine seven.”

AUTHORITY OVER RIDE PERMISSION IS GIVEN TO KEATS, SUSAN COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER EMERALD ISLE. CAPTAIN'S AUTHORITY ALPHA ROMEO SEVEN SEVEN NINE SEVEN.

"Let me know if anything happens. You've got the watch ears."

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An ancient philosopher once said, “If anything can go wrong it will. “Thackery lined his approach. The fog lifted a little bit for the Irish Mist.  Over to the left sat the adminstration buildings, to the right the landing areas.  Thackery came down too fast. Part of the problem was with the remaining fog banks and Thackery’s inability to sense his surroundings.

Thackery tried to pull the nose up and apply the spoilers. It didn’t help.  Hw was already in another fog bank.What the captain had warned him about had happened to him. He felt strong winds buffet the Mist.. He lined his approach up wrong.  Thackery tried touch and go but didn’t have enough lift..
“Irish Mist!” Shouted the controller. “You’re off course! Full throttle and: now!”

It was too late. Irish Mist was down hard and still rolling. The controller saw it spinning like a top as he reached and hit the collision alarm that would send rescue workers  to the wrecked ship.

A horrible  noise came from the underbelly. The steel cables were tearubg into the cargo area.  Rescue workers were descending on the wreck.  The Iris Mistg came to rest just short of the landing area, with Thacker unconcious and bleeding.