The Dealer's Hand

Chapters

Chapter 1 Who's Dealt What
Chapter 2 Taking a Glance
Chapter 3 Big Blind

Chapter 1 Who's Dealt What

(So I decided to start every chapter with a little random something, it might be a poem or a prose or just a small quote. Hope you enjoy.)

"Remember there is always good and bad in everything, pros and cons, even in life and death"

-MisterSkids

The small vessel known as The Darwin floated through the empty space. Light could be seen coming from a number of windows in the sides. Strange devices extended from the main hull of the egg shaped ship, making whirring and grinding sounds as they moved. The hulls shining surface had small burns and blemishes covering it, dents and dings from a long time of use. Stars shined where ever the eye could see, filling the contrast of darkness with hope. Except for one spot. The nebula that attracted this expedition blinked and winked purple flashes of energy. Its own color was a deep blue that would bring back fond memories of a perfectly clear sunny day. The vessel itself was no bigger than a farm house, but humans had learned how to compact everything into tight spaces long ago.

Captain Honeycut stared at the screen with the nebula, hoping to see some kind of change, any kind. It had felt like forever ago since he was sent here by command. He had jumped at the opportunity to for this mission. Not because the pay was good, or that the strange anomaly before him had special energy that could possibly be harvested, no. It was because of Jack Spade, and the fame that proceeded him.

They Jack Spade. Said to have the greatest mind in the galaxy, and they weren't to far off. He single handedly engineered and created the Compressing Molecular Converter Core, or the CMCC for short. Honeycut didn't know all the details of it but what it did was it broke down solid materials into a molecular form and fed off the energy that was used to do it. Nothing like it was every heard of before. Just one bar of uranium could keep a medium sized ship going for about a hundred years, take or give a few. His very own ship had a small one that it used to run everything, from life support to the shabby looking lights. It astounded the Counsel of Races, nobody had ever come close to a technological wonder like that before.

His feats had astounded his fellow peers. So when the good captain had heard that the amazing Spade was going to have another technological break threw, who wouldn't want to be part of the crew that discovered something like infinite energy. Jared Honeycut, the man that helped Jack Spade and reached a new era. It sounded real good at the time.

It had been two years since they arrived at this god forsaken spot that was barely on a map. The Counsel had used the oldest, beat-up ship they could find to save a little bit of money. But a lot of the stuff aboard was the best equipment for testing, so they had to find some way to save money, that and the cost for the crew. They where all amazing at what they did. Three scientists, each one at the top of there field. One engineer, who was a bit crazy but good at his job. And there was him, but he had never guessed he was that amazing a pilot, but command must have thought otherwise. Sure he had led a couple of successful raids against the Zephina race but it wasn't that great an accomplishment. But it seemed that even with all this they weren't any closer to figuring out this strange energy pattern. Sure the egg heads had made some pretty good discoveries, but it wasn't going fast enough for him. He still had three whole year left stuck here with these arrogant and stuck up so called “geniuses”.

People can only take cramped spaces for so long thought Jared as he pondered his fate. He had shared this ship with four other people and everybody was on edge, no doubt for the same reasons as him. And with some body like the great Jack Spade sharing your same space, you can't help but wonder how he can keep that bloated ego inside the Darwin. The man was insufferable, if he was in your general area one could not hear anything but his talking of science or how wonderful he was. He was glad that everybody was asleep so he could get some piece and quiet, even if he had to endure what he liked to call guard duty. Making sure nothing went wrong with the ship and keeping his eyes on the nebula.

Was that something on the scanner? No, probably a bug in the system. He shifted a little in his seat to get more comfortable, sitting for a long time did not suit him much at all.

And the other three weren't that much better. Sandy, the only girl in the group, had this permanent snide look that dominated her features. She was condescending, angry, and just plain evil. She did everything in her power to make life harder for anybody not as intelligent or crafty as her, which meant that poor Jared was singled out ninety five percent of the time. She was the leading expert on physics both quantum and normal. She could turn something as normal as throwing an apple into a two hour discussion on how the property of the fruit changed the dimensions of the toss.

Then there was Bruce, leading expert on how to be a complete freak. He knew every comic book character, every historic figure, and anything else that sparked his interest. He didn't mind shouting if there was no reason for it, or putting ice cream on his mashed potatoes. But he never had a reason to say anything nasty about anybody, so all in all he wasn't too bad, Except when, bold as can be, he would walk around wearing that stupid costume of Starlander, the greatest hero ever by his claim, and make whooshing sounds as he ran up and down the place. The only reason he was here, in Honeycut's opinion was to maintain the equipment on the ship. See he was the engineer, and crazy or not, he knew the inside and out of a ship. Nothing went wrong on his schedule, and if it did, it was a minor hick up that didn't last longer than a minute.

And there was...wait now I know I seen something. There was a small white box on the screen, the Captain could barely make it out.

“Computer, zoom into section 38” he commanded, it whirred in response. Next time I want a voice module, I'm sick of the sounds it makes he thought with irritation. And really, how expensive is a voice?

On his orders, the screen began to get closer and closer to the area that was outlined that had caught is interest. Jared squinted as he searched the area, trying to figure out what was there.

“What?' he said to himself, “But there nothing...wait...whats that?”

He squinted even harder, the Captain was almost standing out of his seat as he stared into the screen. The area seemed to shimmer, like a jewel stuck in the dirt just catching the sun light. It was, slightly different from the rest of the area, no purple flashes or anything the nebula had done before. The more he looked, the more the shimmer became stronger. The blue around the glow seemed to become wavy, like Jared was seeing it at the bottom of a small pond. The distortion seemed to be getting worse, going from a small ripple to a raging sea in a matter of moments. After a few minutes, Jared had regained use of his voice.

“Computer,” he said in a harsh croak “analyze the area for anomalies”

Hundred's of thing's flew threw his mind all at the same time. He saw fame and fortune, ships with infinite potential. Him finally getting out of this hell hole. His thought's where broken by a beeping sound indication the scans completion. Words and numbers popped up on the screen. He slowly read the analysis, his eyebrows raising with every sentence. In anger, Jared flew out of his chair, pointing his finger at the screen with rage.

“Nothing! How can there be nothing!” He turned away from the screen and started to pace about the small command center. If that's what you call three chairs, a few machines and a screen in one room. He didn't always understand the read out on the analysis but he knew enough to know when nothing has changed, the other scientists had taught him that much. There has to be something he thought, something like this just does not up and appear.

After a few seconds, he calmed himself down a little and sat back in his chair. He stared and the bright shimmer that waved and wobbled like a sun possessed by some demon.

“Computer,” he said with a calm, commanding voice ”bring the Darwin closer. Maybe that well help a little.” Jared was thinking maybe the the scanners couldn't get a lock on it, yeah that must be it. He kept thinking over and over again on if they made another discovery, they would go back home and get a bigger research team. Then he could get out of this boredom invested rat nest, and never come back.

As the ship drew closer to the strange apparition, the haze seemed to have gotten worse. It would and could make somebody sick with all those lights and motion. Captain Honeycut had to look away several times, this must be what it felt like to be on one of those rickety wooden sea ships from thousands of years ago...ugh. They had cut the distance in half, and the number's indicated that ship was still in safe location. This should be good, the scanners could read the individual molecules at this distance he thought with a smirk growing on his face.

“Computer, run the analysis again,” the bleeped and squawked in response. The number's appeared once more on the screen, giving what knowledge the AI had gathered. After a moment, the Captain only got one thing from the data.

“A small energy flux? That still can't be right, it looks like a freaking super nova is going off here”. Jared glanced at the weird thing again, and say that it had changed again. What the...oh crap...I better get everyone else in on this, its not looking good.

Chapter 2 Taking a Glance

(Im going to start this chapter with a prose that I wrote. Its called A Rainbow Dream)

I slept, and as I did, my mind wandered the plains of existence. Seeking knowledge far and wide. I traveled the greatest depths and largest heights without fear or consequence. And it was then, after fulfilling my dream that I awoke.

My eyes opened slowly, and to my great surprise, there was somebody sharing my bed. She was no human, of that I was sure. Her coat was blue like the sky on the brightest day. Her long multi-colored mane ran down over her pillow, where her head had nestled next to me. The beautiful tail that would streak behind her as she flew was sticking out from the sheets, and once in a while, it would twitch ever so slightly. The wings that she was so proud of where folded close to her body so as to not disturb me. Her eyes that are a deep red like that of a ruby, where closed as she lay sleeping soundly. I could hear the deep rhythmic breathing as she lay there so close to me. To see her was to know harmony, an angel from another world. To feel so lucky to have somebody like her by my side, it was a wonderful feeling.

As I reached to hug her, the image began to blur. Nothing was substantial anymore, and the dream that was not a dream had ended. My real awakening had startled me, I looked around the room for her, but she was not there. Was it a cruel joke, a subconscious bent on causing my pain in more than just physical? Or maybe, just maybe, it was more than that. A glimpse into heaven perhaps. I should look at this not as something horrid, but a great experience. I had gotten closer to her than most people could even fantasize about. That one...she waited for me. I cannot wait to sleep again.

(START OF STORY)

Jack sat at his molecular device, crunching the number's as they went by on the small screen. A strange box sat on the pedestal inside a clear window of the device. It was no bigger than his head, but the crate must have weighed at least a good forty pounds or so. It was pitch black, and it seemed to feed off the light, absorbing it into the flat surfaces. There was a triangular pattern on one side, it appeared to be engraved into the container itself. The pattern was very hard to see and you had to look real close to see it. At the moment there was a single wire running from the center of the triangle into the machine, so it made it easier to see. Next to the engraving was a small blue monitor, it glowed with a faint illumination as it sat there. Jack looked at the crate, forgetting about reading the numbers.

He Had just finished it only two days ago, but it had taken a near month of designing and building to finally complete it. He had built it with light absorbing panels on all sides to keep the eternal battery charged, it was an old energy system but still very useful. He styled the crate to stay shut and locked even if it ran out of power, in case it had to be hidden for a long time. The inside used the same kind of system of containment that his brilliant CMCC used, nothing can get in or out without opening the hatch. The panel was made to be able to open or close the box, one just had to put in the right code. The pattern itself was the opening, but that was only one of two doors. There was an inner metal casing, made out of molecular compacted steel.The thing was nearly indestructible, it would take a near nuclear explosion to crack this nut. It was portable safe. All this, for the little piece of nebula inside.

The Scientists hadn't even let anybody else know about his discovery, not even Sandy, probably the only person on this ship that even came close to his intellect. She was still a far cry to match him though. there was two reason's to keep the box a secret. One he had to test the box to make sure that the equipment would be compatible with what he had started to call the Solar Ebon Container,or SEC for short. Secondly, and more importantly, he did not want to leave just yet. He wanted to continue to observe the nebula up close, it was much more fascinating here. If Jack decided to tell the crew about the SEC, then most likely two or three of the five man crew would want to go back immediately, especially that Captain Jared. Everybody knew that the man was no scientists and rather be in the middle of a battle, fighting in a great war like a some kind of hero. The Captain was only after glory and jack knew it, he also knew that he was getting desperate. No matter how calm he seemed on the outside, Jack could tell. That one might be trouble, better keep- he started to think, but he never got to finish his thought. At that moment the funny looking machine had given a small beep and a list of equations had popped up on the holoscreen inside the device. Jack stared for a moment at the confusing jumble, his mouth slightly open, brow furrowed in concentration. After a few seconds, a grin spread across his face. He had done it again, Spade had accomplished another feat of genius. The contained materials could be read without opening the box, it all worked like a charm, but that was nothing new when it came to Jack Spade.

He leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands behind the back of his head. His grin got bigger as he closed his eye's, seeing the looks of all the jealous faces he would see when he got back. He had made it one of his favorite pass times to see how angry they got, and there reactions where priceless.

"Oh, it's good to be me" he said to nobody in particular. He didnt have much time to gloat though. Suddenly the voice of Captain Jared cut through the silence of the ship.

"Attention," he said with all the authority he could muster "all hands to the Command Center. I repeat, all hands to the Command Center. Your Going to want to see this". In one split second Jack, who was leaning very far back in his sear, had become a jumbled heap of body part's and chair. Struggling with the vile thing for a moment, he got up in a panic. Oh hell, oh bloody hell is all he could think. Jack couldn't let anybody see the SEC, if the did they would definitely ask questions. The worst would be Sandy. She was already suspicious of him as it was with his late night excursions, and she wouldn't like this one either. It wasn't like he could help staying up, he was a bit of an insomniac after all. Some nights he couldn't sleep at all, so he had to spend his idle time doing something.

Calming himself, he thought for a second. That was all he needed to come up with a plan. He just had to be quick enough. Since everybody knew about his late night's, he had to be the first of the crew to arrive. If he was not, then they would know he had been up to something. He rushed over to the machine, opened the glass case, and snatched the box from its confines. He turned around, carefully fixed the upturned chair with one hand, and ran out of the small lab. He started jogging own the metal clad hallway, but kept himself from doing a full out run. No need to get myself worked up and sweaty, they'll just wonder why I ran here.

As the scientists kept pace, his flat, long red hair was waving lazily behind him. He wasn't a large or strong man, but he did take care of his body, using the exercise facility regularly. One had to make sure they stayed healthy, otherwise how can one scoff at all his peers and predecessors through out there years. Up ahead the hallways branched into three more sections. Going straight would lead him to Captain Honeycut and the Command Center, but he needed tomake a quick detour first. He took a left instead, flying toward's his destination. It wasn't very far, and in no time he seen his goal, the escape pods.

There where three, single person pods on each side of the ship. The doors where solid, no window to look into, and nobody would go into the escape pods for any real reason. It was the perfect spot to hide the SEC. He hoofed it to the small holoscreen next to the first pod, and pressed it with his thumb. He held the container under his left arm and the door lurched upwards. Jack threw it on the squishy seat, then pressed the button again, watching as the door slammed shut. Hoping nobody had heard that, he started jogging back towards the intersection. He slowed down once he got close to the branch, and stopped altogether, listening to hear if anybody was coming. After a couple of seconds of hearing nothing but the usual hum of the engine, he nodded. He went around the corner and started walking casually towards the Command Center.

Jack silently patted himself on the back as he made his was down the empty corridor. Nobody has seen him come from the escape pods, so there would be no way of they others knowing what he had slipped right under there nose's.They didn't even deserve to know anyway, his idea, his recognition. All he had to do is go back after everybody was asleep again, and take it to a more appropriate hiding spot.

Just up ahead stood the metal door to the Center, Jack Gathered himself and walked up to the portal. As he got closer, the hatch slid to the left automatically, revealing the room beyond. As he entered, he seen Captain Honeycut doing what he normal did when he got nervous, he was pacing. The next thing he noticed was the large holoscreen. There was a large black line in the middle of the holograph monitor and on either side was a very bright white, it kind of hurt to look at. The white seemed to be shifting, like somebody was pushing and pulling a cloth from the other side. Jack looked back at Jared in anger, but he was wiser than to let that get the best of him.

"You know, if your having problems with the screen again, you get Bruce to repair it." he said with a sneer. Maybe I should have counted to five before saying anything. Jared seemed so worried that he missed the disdain. He stopped and looked up, his face was a mix of fear and confusion.

"The screen isn't broken Jack," he said, his voice cracked a little as he said "I'm hoping you know what this is". He slowly turned toward the screen. "Computer zoom out by five times". Obeying his command, the image began to shrink, or at least the line did. The light seemed to be engulfing the black line, eating it away like some monstrous amoebae. It just kept getting thinner and longer as the A.I. continued its retreat. Jack watched in wonder, his face slack and all sign of arrogance had disappeared. Finally the edge of the light could be seen, and the nebula behind it had come into view. That-THING-was quite large, Jack couldnt even see the dark line anymore. It was round, almost perfectly circular. According to the reading, it as around five-hundred yards in circumference.

"It look's like a ball of light. Hey maybe it's God or Buddha, it would be awesome if it was Buddha!" Jack turned his head to see Bruce slowly walking into the room. His eye's where open wide as he stared at the apparition. though his mouth was agap, he had a slight smile as he sat down on the right side chair. Jack slammed the palm of his hand into his face, shutting his own eye's and giving a small sigh. All Honeycut could do was shake his head.

"Listen," started Jack as he put his hand down, highly annoyed by the whole situation, "as far as I know, God is not a ball of anything. And if he was, then why would he be bloody sitting there in front of us for no good reason". He had raised his voice in frustration, unable to deal with Bruce's antics. Why does this guy say the most ridicules things he thought to himself. "This is a very serious matter. Where dealing with an unknown element and we need to find out if it's dangerous or not". He had said that with more force than he intended but damn it this was no time for games. This could be the major break they needed, and Jack did not need some kind of mad engineer throwing him off. He did keep in mind what he said about the danger though.

Bruce turned from the monitor and looked over at Jack, he actually looked hurt.

"I'm sorry Jack," he apologized "I didn't mean anything by it. It was just a joke". He scratched the back of his head, his hand disappearing in his shaggy curly brown hair. It almost looked like bark from a distance, very grainy in color. It's like talking to a thirteen year old grumbled Jack He gave another sigh as he looked at the engineer.

"I don't want to be so hard on you," he said, making sure to make eye contact with Bruce "but we need to focus on the matter at hand. That energy flux could mean a huge number of possibility. And any one of those numbers could and would likely kill us."

Bruce looked away and said nothing, the frown on his face made it look longer than it really was. Maybe now well get some peace and quite from him for a while, and the ship turn to gold while where at it. Jack turned back to the Captain, putting his hands into his coat pocket's. He did like to wear the old style of lab coats, but he liked these smaller versions better. They weren't always dragging on the ground plus the long ones could get caught in the machinery. Jared was back to staring at the screen, a deep frown creasing the line's on his older face. He was only forty-two but he looked more fifty-five with his constant worrying.

"I'm going to order the Darwin to move away," he wrung his hands together in front of him as he spoke, "there's something wrong and I don't-" and as if on cue, the ship started to shake violently. Honeycut quickly grabbed his chair, holding on so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Bruce was gritting his teeth and his eye's where shut tightly. Good old Jack did not have that kind of luxury, he had nothing to sit on or cling too. So or the second time today, he found himself on the floor, fighting to get back up. He caught a glimpse at the door to see both Sandy, with her short spiky blonde hair, and Zed where in the same predicament. They must have fallen inside the room when the tremor started. The shaking only lasted for a couple of moments, then it ended as as quickly as it came. The three scientists slowly pulled themselves of the floor, but the Captain was the first one to recover his wits.

"What the hell was th-" he started to say, but his tongue had glued itself to the roof of his mouth. He had just caught a glimpse of the holoscreen, and all he could do was gape. Everybody else had heard him drop his sentence, and looked to see what had cause him to stop. They followed his line of sight to the screen, but all there reactions where different.

Sandy gasped as she grabbed Zed's hand, but it did not seem to register to the pale and tall scientist. His curly brown hair hung in front of his now bulging green eyes, his mouth moved up and down like a fish gulped for air. Brandon had a slightly confused look in his light brown eye's, but he also seemed excited, and really, who could blame him. Jack was itrigued more so than scared. His dark blue eye's scanned the black hole that had appeared right in front of the ship.

Well, he knew it wasn't a real black hole, if it was, they would all be dead already. The bright light was gone now, replaced with what was most likely the thin dark line. At first glance it appeared to be a flat inky sphere, but when you stared at it, you could see what looked like movement. There were slight color changes that would pop up out of no where too. It was like looking at the ocean during the night, with the city's light reflecting off the waves. It seemed mysterious and foreboding. The power from the change must have been what rocked the ship ans sent everybody sprawling. This was truly amazing, far more exciting than Sandy revealing her feeling's for Zed just moments ago. Which she had just realized what she had done, and quickly whipped her hand back to her side. Sandy looked very sheepish as she did so, the wolf looking like a lamb, this is a day for miracles thought Jack.

He kept staring into the black depths of the large orb, but something seemed off. Had the camera been zoomed in? No, nobody had given that order. Was it getting larger? After a bit of thought, Jack had a horrible realization.

"Computer", he shouted "show the distance between the shop and sector 38". Every eye turned in his direction, then back to the floating monitor. The fear in the room intensified as everybody had realized why he had made such a command. As the numbers popped up, they started counting down immediatly. Proving Jack was tight again, though this time, he wished he wasn't.

After years of training, Captain Honeycut it was the first react to the danger.

"Computer, get us away from sector thirty-eight, ASAP", he shouted, that old authority creeping into his voice. The computer gave a loud screech sound in response, but the numbers were still ticking down. It was already at one-hundred miles and closing.

Like a coiled spring, Jared shot over to left hand chair, sat down and popped up the control panel. This was his element, he had refined living on the edge into an art form during his year's of battle. He might not think much of himself but he was good, good enough to be picked for this mission. He immediately began typing at a rapped pace, watching blue window after blue window appeared on the main screen. Finally a red one appeared, over lapping the rest. As they all read it, each and every heart dropped into there stomach's filling them all with dread. The power surge from the dark ball had destroyed something and the energy that should be being fed to the thruster's was escaping somewhere.

They where free floating into oblivion.

Chapter 3 Big Blind

(Well today ill give you a piece of my thoughts in a quote)

"Burden's are like chain's for the soul, weighing it down till it can not soar."

Cory Williamson aka MisterSkids

“Why the hell can’t this thing give us a warning when crap like this happens” grumbled Honeycut, bring his fist down on the arm of his chair with a small thud. Before his hand even made contact, Bruce had jumped out of his chair as soon as he saw the problem. Though he was crazier than most mental hospitals put together, he could fix anything from a hydra power module to an antique toaster. If anybody could fix this problem, it was him.

He nearly shoved Sandy out of the was as he ran out the door, and miraculously, without making any kind of sound effects. Jack took the opportunity to take Bruces now empty spot. He calmly sat down and brought up the computer console board, but instead of using the main holoscreen, he brought up a much smaller version right behind the console. The screen flashed a faint blue light as it came to life. He started typing as soon as the screen turned a normal darker blue, never taking his eyes off the monitor. He brought up the same analyzers that Jared had used only minutes ago, and ran a manual diagnostic. jack Would have a far better understanding of the system than the good old captain any day of the week.

His fingers moved in a blur, his eyes taking in every drop of information that appeared. Window after window, paragraph after paragraph, word after word. the scanners said that the anomaly was emitting a strong energy, but the strangest thing was the signal. It was like a radio wave, but all he could see from the readings was static. He could feel the eyes of the last three people in the room, watching as he performed his magic. He did not want them to ask him any questions as he figured out this problem, and having a smaller screen made sure that they couldn’t see anything to question. That, and it would annoy Sandy to no end. He took pleasure in knowing that right now, she was staring daggers into the back of his head.

One last window popped up, and it only took two seconds for him to read the five paragraphs of information, but too him, it had felt like months had passed.

“I...it’s some kind of...portal,” stammered Jack “like a wormhole, and it’s pulling us in”. He had thought that it was just a gravitational flux, he had heard of them before and ships wouldn’t be in any danger. This on the other hand, was a high threat. If they get dragged in, the had a chance of being spit out of the other side of the univeres, and who knows where they would end up. They might even get crushed by the gravity inside the portal itself, killing everybody inside. Jack looked over to Jared, the Captain gave a slight nod and pressed a small button on his wrist mounted communicator, but they were normally called a Voice.

“What’s the status Bruce,” he commanded. The small device was no bigger than an average wrist watch, looked quite like one too. Even with there there small size, they could be loud enough to hear from four rooms away. Jared’s crackled to life and Bruce could be heard with a slight static tone.

“It’s bad, both of the main pipelines are leaking, and in several place’s. It’s going to take a while to get to them and weld them.”

“How long is a while" asked Jared.

"Thirty minutes, maybe" he responded

"We don't have thirty minutes, we got ten at best!" roared the Captain. He thought for second before saying anything else, but it was Zed the spoke up first.

"Can you get at least one thruster to work in time?" he said, his voice shook from his nervousness as he talked into his own Voice, "It's the only way I can think of".

"Well maybe," he answered back " the port thruster only has three leaks," only three he say's Jack thought in disgust, "but I think so since there close together."

"freaking cheap ass ship," swore Jared "if I get out of this alive, I'm going to make sure some head's are going to roll for this". His face was positilivy livid, his he looked like he could murder with those ice cold look.

Jack was still sitting at the chair, calculating how much time it would take to reach the dark highway of space. Counting the number's proved that it would only take a little over seven minutes. He was surprised how close the Captain had been, but there was definitely not enough time. He stood up, determined to survive.

"We have to abandon the ship," he declared, bringing there full attention upon him. Both Sandy and Zed frowned at him, but it was Captain Honeycut who again spoke first.

"Abandon the Darwin, are you freaking kidding me! After the hell of being here for so many years, with all the data we collected, you want to waste all that time for nothing!" he shouted. Jack could see several blood vessels nearly ready to pop in his forehead. His eye's where narrow slits as he stared at the scientist.

Jack just did not care what happened, as long as he got out intact. He wasn't going to stand there arqueing with this fool, there was no time. He looked the Captain straight in the eye, and took a deep breath, and let it out.

"Fine stay here for all I care. You can rot in that thing. I just thought I would give you a fair warning," Jack clicked on his Voice, "Here that Bruce, if your smart, better leave the ship now."

"Ahhh-" said the little communicator, but before any real words could be said, Jared pressed his own button on his Voice.

"Don't you dare stop welding. Your the only one that can repair the ship and ill be damned if we dont get out of this alive WITH the ship intact." he growled.

"Like I said, i am just giving you a warning. Do whatever you want," he shrugged as he turned around and jogged right past Sandy and Zed, who where still standing there like statues. They both looked unsure what to do, but Jack just kept on going. He knew that telling them about the SEC would have gotten them all to leave, but then he would have to share the spot light with these four idiots.

It didn't take him only a minute to reach the four corner's that he had past only minutes ago, but he heard afoot steps come from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Captain Honeycut trailing by only a few feet, and catching up fast. Jack smiled as he turned back, a plan already forming in his brain. He quickly took a right at the fork, but isntead of running, he stopped instead. He faced himself towards where the branch, and cocked his arm. Less than a second later, Jared barreled around the corner, only to be met by Jack's fist. It knocked the wind right out of the older and bigger captain as it connected with his stomach. He doubled over with a whooshing sound escaping his lips, but Jack wasn't done. He brought his knee swiftly into Jared's manhood, which brought a small whimper as he fell to the ground face first. Jack might no be as strong or fast as Jared, but he knew what it take's to bring a man down, and surprise was the best way.

He looked down at the pained captain, looking smug in doing so

"Your not going to stop me." Jack declared, taking satisfaction in out smarting him even if he was a dolt, "Just because your desperate to prove yourself to prove yourself does not mean you can risk my life. Your just a washed up old soldier, looking for glory in all the wrong places," and with that, he turned back around and continued towards the escape pod with his box hidden away inside.

He ran at top speed the rest of the way, long red hair trailing behind him, giving the illusion that he was on fire. for he thought to himself. Only five minutes left to go by his calculations, but that was plenty enough time. Once the escape pod launches, it well automatically send out a distress signal, but it would still take a near week before anybody would find him. Good thing there was two weeks of food supply's underneath the seat of the one man pod, he could wait it out..

It tool him only seconds to reach the mini ship, the similar three set of doors sat to his left. Rushing over, he pushed the button, letting the heavy door slide up. First thing he grabbed was the SEC, throwing it into the small cabinet holding the food supplies. It took a bit of shoving but it fit, and he latched it closed. He then climbed in himself, settling into the slightly padded seat. The seat itself took almost the whole pod, there was just barely enough room to fit one person inside the cylinder shaped ship. He grabbed two seatbelts over each shoulder, bringing them down over his chest in a criss-cross pattern. Inserting them into the slots, he brought one more over his lap the buckled in both they other side and one more in between his legs.. After finally securing himself, Jack opened up a small hidden compartment in the right arm of the seat. A tiny blue holoscreen popped up from inside, giving off a faint glow. He pressed the top button making both the inside and outside door slam shut, making the pod was closed off from the rest of the Darwin. There was no light but the one from the screen now, giving the compact room a claustrophobic feeling.

Jack took a deep breath and hit the launch button. Immediately he felt the pod speed upwards, leaving his stomach back on the ship. he gritted his teeth as it shook. Finally after what felt like a life time, the pod stopped rattling his bones and began to free float threw space. Jack let go his death grip of the chair, reached over and pressed another switch on the floating screen. Another screen popped in front of him on the curved door, revealing the outside with a bluish tint. What he say nearly made his heart stop, his pod was nearly on top of the black portal.

"What the hell!?" screamed Jack, is Scottish accent working its way into his voice. Before he could do anything else, the pod began to tremble viciously again. Both screens went out, leaving him in total darkness, frightening him even more. The only thing he could think of was how the pull from the wormhole must have gotten stronger, leaving no escape, even for him.

Jack couldn't see the tiny ship enter the black vortex, but he could sure feel that he was in it. His whole body felt like it was being stretched and pulled, as though god himself had turned him into putty and was playing with his limbs. The pain nearly made him blackout, and he wished he really had.I get to die in a great discovery, I guess there are worse ways to go was the only thought that went through is agonized mind.

The feelings went away just as quickly as it came, but the ship was still shaking, but it was different this time. After that experience Jack was feeling very groggy, but he could tell the pod was moving. Falling meant gravity, gravity meant something large enough to have that kind of pull. He just hoped it wasn't into a real black hole or a super nova. he gritted his teeth again as he prepared for impact. There was a great jolt as the pod finally crashed into something solid. He smacked the back of his head against the thin cushion back rest, nearly losing conciseness again.

In a daze, Jack somehow climbed out of his seatbelts He looked over at the small orange screen next to the door. A little green light was on next to a label the read O2, proving that it was safe outside. Jack slammed his hand on the orange screen, opening the door to the outside world. As always the door slid up, revealing more inky blackness. jack could just barely make out very faint outlines of what he thought where trees, and quite a fair few. Jack plopped out of the pod on all fours, still very dilerous from the whole trail. He looked up to see a small hole in the trees where his mini-ship had went through. He saw twinkling stars inside the cavern of leaves and branches, indicating that it must be night on this planet. He could also see that the foliage in the trees where nearly twenty feet thick, and if he hadn't made that hole, he wouldn't even know if it was day time or not.

He tried to take in everything, but he felt like he had been out all night drinking, hang over headache included. He was just about to try to stand up, but a sudden noise stopped him. It was a snapping sound a twig being crushed, but it was followed by a small thump, like somebody had dropped a big rock a couple of inches off the ground. He looked to his left where the sound originated, forgetting that the crash might have alerted anything to his presence. As he looked he saw another outline, this one was much shorter than the tree but was still nearly double his height. It was nearly three times as wide as well, but it's most frightening feature was the pair of yellow glowing eyes that towered over him.

Still recovering from the crash, he did the only thing he could think of, he ran. He scampered on all fours, to scared to try and getup normally. He weaved in and out of the trees, hoping that the creature would have a harder time catching him. Jack could hear the heavy footsteps of it in hot pursuit. Thinking fast, he pushed several random buttons on his Voice, its started to cause a loud static noise. He then flung the thing of his wrist into the woods, hoping his plan would work. The sound confused the beast, it slowed down and then stopped chasing Jack completely, and started chasing the Voice. Though jack kept going with original plan, ducking in and out of the forest just to make sure he stayed alive.

He could barely breath, his lungs burned from each and every breath, but he pushed on. He finally reached what appeared to be a clearing. Unable to deal with the stresses of both psychical and mental, Jack collapsed in the grass, and falls unconscious.