ÒProject: TravelerÓ

 ÒRed alert! All hands to bridge!Ó
 ÒCaptain! Ship systems failing, we need to evacuate!Ó
 ÒDo someting!Ó
 ÒWeÕre losing antimatter containment on the power generator!
There was a bright flash, then nothing. I sat straight up in my bed, trembling. I reached over and tapped a few buttons on the control panel on my night stand.
 ÒLights activated: maximum.Ó the computer announced as I was blinded by hundreds of watts of light.I sat up and looked around my room, then to the window where stars were streaking by. I stood up and walked into the hall. I realized how late it was by the fact that the hallway lights were still dimmed. After confirming that the ship was in one piece, and that I had been dreaming, I walked back into my room and laid down. After what seemed hours but was probably just five minutes, I realized that there was no way I was going to fall back asleep. I began thinking, four years I , Jacob Starlight (reader please note:we get to make up last names in most cases, because we generally don't have one), had been Captain of the 10 mile long S.S.S. Dagon(du-gon). I was just finished training when I went in for my interview to be Captain, opposed to all of the other cats who had had years of experience. I didnÕt think I had a chance, flying the biggest, most advanced ship in the CatCompanyÕs large fleet.
	Suddenly, the ship began to rattle and shake. Looking out the window, there was a bright flash and the stars slowed to a stop.
 ÒUnknown engine failer has occurred(heard in back ground:Ó boooo! stupid engines, ÓKICK,Ó ooowwww!Ó)I request all crew members too your posts if your not too tired, (ÒTHAT MEANS YOU CAPTAIN!Óyelled m copilot, Rio, in the background)yes you too Captian.Ó
Rio was one of the most annoying recruits ever trained and allowed on a starship. Although he was sometimes ,rarely, helpful, I canÕt stand him.
	Fifteen minutes later, I reached the bridge, where the only other cat, out of the hundred some odd that shouldÕve been there, was Johnny. Johnny was ok, when he was in a good mood. He not only had a quick temper, but he was also very impulsive. He had gray and white long, soft fur that was mostly covered up by his uniform.
	ÒWhats going on, and what time is it?ÓI said, yawning.
	ÒItÕs 4:30 a.m. standard earth time, and the engines have failed. Although we haven't found the exact cause, it appears to be remote.Óhe said running from control panel to control panel.
	ÒWhat do you mean by remote?ÓI watched him run around like a lunatic for a few seconds, then said,ÓYou need help?Ó
	ÒNo.ÓHe sat down, panting, in a big metal rolling chair in front of the propulsion control panel.ÓWhat I mean by remote is that somting besides the components in this ship caused it to stop.ÒHe pressed some buttons, then looked up triumphantly.
 ÒAnd I know whatÓ he tapped yet another button and the giant screen inlaid in the front window of the ship came to life. A 3-d image of the ship appeared and the ÒcameraÓ swooped forward to a section in the back. Part of the hull disappeared, revealing a power conduit. the camera zoomed in and lines and words appeared, pointing to the hundreds of wires.
 	ÒA dampining field placed right here,Ó he said circling the area with the computerÕs mouse,Ó would cut off not only all power but all control to the engines.Ó
	 ÒVery good!Ó I said, but just as I was going to ask him if he could do anything, I saw somting out of the corner of my eye. I looked, nothing.ÓDid you see that?Ó
	ÒSee what?Ó
	ÒThere was somting right there.Ó I pointed. At the exact spot I was pointing, was a missile.
	ÒRed alert!Ó He yelled as he did a back flip off his chair, over the com center and on to the shield activation control. I ducked down just as the missile impacted the massive heatsink protection panel, sending a mild shock through the ship.
	I stood up and brushed myself off,ÓDamage?Ó
	He walked over to another control panel and examined the picture on the screen.ÓNothing serious, a little scraped paint.Ó
	ÒAnd an unsanitary uniform.Ósaid Rio, who had just came out of the bathroom soaking wet.
	ÒThat is sick! Go clean yourself up!Ó I said, looking away.
	ÒYessir, glad to do so!Ó he said, and he squished out of the room.
	Ò So thats where he was....Ó said Johnny. 
	ÒWhere is the ship that fired that?Ó I asked, looking carefully out the windows.
	ÒWell, first of all, don't bother looking, second, itÕs stealth. However,Óhe said happily,ÓitÕs right there.Ó The giant screen in the window produced a single circle, which turned from green to red, then into a target. The word LOCK appeared under it.
	Ò Hail it.Ó I said, turning towards the door.Finally cats had began to straggle in, a half an hour after they were called. Suddenly, the ship uncloaked right in front of us.Ó ItÕs master! A large fighter!Ó A huge wormhole opened in front of us.
	Ò TheyÕre pulling us in!Ó
	ÒFull reverse thrusters!Ó
	ÒEngines still off line!Ó a cat yelled from the back.A blinding light filled the room.

	Next thing I knew the ship doctor was looking down at me.
	ÒWhy am I here?Ó I asked feeling myself all over to search for injuries.
	ÒWe donÕt know for sure,Ó She said, Òbut we think that one of those rolly-chairs hit you. The ship turned rather sharply when we entered.Ó
	ÒCan I get up?Ó I asked looking around.
	ÒSure!Ó
	I headed off to the bridge again, feeling my now aching head.When I arrived I asked Ò Report!Ó
	ÒWellÓ, said Rio,ÓWe appear to be in an asteroid field. Short and long range scans reveal no end. Engines are back on-line, and thatÕs it!Ó
	ÒSo thatÕs it? No way out?Ó I said ÒWhats the fastest we can go? What about the worm hole?Ó
	ÒWormholeÕs closed up. The obvious solution would be contact the Catship and have them open it from the other side, but because we have no network connection...Ó
	ÒNo Network connection! So that means no navigation?Ó
	ÒNope!Ó
	ÒNo communications?Ó
	ÒZippo!Ó
	ÒNo way to know where we are!ÓI yelled.
	ÒNo way!ÓRio said matter of factly.
	ÒNo good.Ó
	ÒOf course not!Ó
	ÒWell don't Just stand there!ÓI yelled to the crew,ÓDo someting! Start by getting us moving whatever way you think best.Second, do something to enhance the network transceiver. Get going!Ó I said. The ship rattled and began to move. 
	ÒShields on, weapons on automatic. Autopilot mode 3 activated.Ósaid Johnny.
CRASH! ÒShields at 75%. Sir I recommend....Ó
	ÒI agree. Route all emergency and available power to shields!Ó I said.
	ÒShields at 75%(crash!)70%(crash!)67%. WhoÕs driving!Ó said Johnny
	ÒMe!Ósaid Rio.
	ÒRio.Ó I said ÒYour doing great(crash!)but I think AUTOPILOT MODE 3 would do a little better.Ó
	ÒYessir.Ó he said sadly.
	ÒSorry.Ó I said. Then an announcement over the p.a. system got everyoneÕs attention:Ó Breakfast is now being served in the dinning hall.Ó
                                                   <--------Fifteen minutes later-------->

	ÒSo where about are we?Ó asked a cat sitting accross from me.
	ÒNot shure.ÓI said,Óafter breakfast IÕm goint to have the crew working on Communication modifications so that we can not only find out where we are but so that we can ask for assisstance.ÓI said, taking another bite of my food. Opposed to what you might think, the food wes extremely good on the Dagon.This morning it was bacon and eggs, but it was seasoned to a amazing perfection.
	ÒWhatÕs the date?Ó asked the cat next to me, who was in desperate need of a haircut.
	ÒApril eighteenth, two-thousand four.ÓI said.He entered it in on his handheld, which was a whopping 4.0 ghz, twice as fast as the adverage home pc on earth.Many cats had accualy tried to sell such handhelds on earth for $500,000 ,which is about how much a computer twice as advanced as the most advanced earth pcÕs that fits in the palm of your hand is worth.They were, ofcourse, caught. (please note:that palm pc is eight or nine times as fast as the fastest one on earth!).
	CRASH!The lights flickred and the ship shook violently.
	ÒCaptain to the bridge!Ósaid someone over the p.a. system.I got up ad ran out of the dinning room(full of screaming cats)and on to a speeder bike(which is what you have to use to get from one end of the ship to the other in reasonable time).Suddenly, the rattleing stopped. As I arrived on the bridge I yelled,ÓWhat was that!Ó the loud talking stopped. I ran to the window and looked out,ÓOh my...!Ó The entire left haetsink protection panel was ripped off, leaving the giant fins of the computer heatsink exposed, steaming. I looked back along the left side of the ship. A giant rip extended nearly to the engines.
                                                                   ********

	ÒAre we ready?ÓI said.
	ÒReady as we can be, Houston!Ó
	ÒAlright, Frankie proceed on rescue misson Dagon, Maximum warp!ÓThe crew of the Catship is one of the craziest crews in the fleet. Even in bad or serious situations, we always make the best of it. Our current misson, ofcourse, is to rescue poor captain Jacob Starlight, who appears to have gotten himself in trouble, again.We recieved a very very very very faint transmission from the Dagon two hours ago, and were bearly able to make out the origin. They appear to have gotten themselfs stuck in a astroid field that just happens to be way out of range in a previously unexplored part of space.They are idiots.
	ÒHouston, we...Ó
	ÒDont say it.ÓI said to Frankie, who was one of the worst for doing that. ÓWhats the problem?Ó
	ÒThat, is the problem.ÓHe said matter of factly, and pointing out the window.
	ÒAww crappy, never seen that before. Wait, why havenÕt I seen that before?Ó Out the window, there was, well, there wasnÕt any thing that was the problem. Absolutely nothing.
	ÒWell, the Catcompany has never gone in this direction because we always used the sun wormhole.Ó(Just incase you didnÕt know, the sun wormhole was discovered when NasaÕs TOP SECRET mission entitled ÓOpreation Cat CompanyÓ launched a probe towards the sun. Needless to say, by some stroke of luck it happened to go in the worm hole. So Nasa built the Catship to find the probe, yes Nasa bult the Catship, but they did such a poor job...anyway CatsINC, not important to know who they are, captured the catship, repaired it, modified it, and started a ÒcompanyÓ, by company I mean Earth defense service, and thus, the Catcompany!)
	Òyou mean this has never been explored?Ó I said
	ÒNope, but I can see why.Ó said Frankie. Frankie is a long-haired part siamese cat with a great personality.Very nice cat.
	ÒYeah...ÓI said.
                                                 	<---------One hour later-------->

	ÒAnythig on scanners?Radar?Anything?Ó I said. How incredably boring.I had never realized how much I looked at the stars out side and how much more entertaining it made these long journies.
	ÒNothing. Well, we are detecting large amounts of radiation. And wait! theres more! I am detecting a small planetoid like thing a short distance away! Shall I stop?Ó
	ÒYes! Someting to do! Stop the ship!Ó I said. The five mile long ship slowed to a halt.ÓTurn on the headlights.Ó I said.
	ÒYessir!Ó He said .As the unbeliveably bright lights came on, the ÒplanetoidÓ appeared in the massive window.
	ÒThats no planet.Thats a..a...a...Building?Ó
	ÒDun Duun Duuuuuuun!Ó frankie sang, then laughed.
	ÒWhat a planetoid Frankie!Ó I said sarcasticly, ÒIs it ÒmÓ class?Ó We both craked up.The building thing was definatly not a space station. It was similar to someting you might see in rome or greece with arched windows and atleast fifteen stories, it was pretty big also.
	ÒNo this is serious.Ó said Otis, who had been taking scans the whole time.Otis is a brown and black some what striped cat.HeÕs very nice and a little to talkitive.ÓWe may find evidence here that will lead us to why there are no planets....Ó
	I cut him off.ÓThere are plenty of planets, there are no stars. Which is almost stranger than no planets at all.Ó
	ÒOh. But shouldnÕt we be able to see all the planets anyway? Light from stars out of this system? When we came in to this portion of space, there was a masive radiation surge. The type of radiation was similar to what you might find around a large forcefield, a very primitive one. I think we should send down an away team to check it out.Ó He was right too, unfortunatly.I had been so caught up in the fact that this mission was so incredibly boring at the moment that I faild to realize how strange this really was.
	ÒI agree.Ó I said, ÒFind some poeple to go with you and be ready at 0700 hours.Ó
	ÒAt wha?Ó Otis said, puzzled.
	ÒSeven oÕclock, duh!Ó I said.
                                                               ********

	ÒSir! Someting on scanners! ItÕs a ship, ItÕs losing atmosphere on several decks and appears to be full of water.Ó
	ÒWhat type of ship? How big?Ó I said. Maybe we would get the chance to learn a little about Master before we die.
	ÒMaster cruiser. ItÕs fairly big, about a mile long. They havenÕt been here long I donÕt think. They havent taken any asteroid damage.Ó Johnny said.
	ÒWe should dock with it. See if we can use it as a support ship if we need to evacuate.Ó
	ÒSr, we are fine.(CRASH) This ship can get us through this, this is nothing compared to some of the battles..Ó
	ÒNo, we have to be prepared for the worst. I donÕt want to lose this ship any more than you but we have to put our own lives first.Ó I tried to stop myself from showing my true feelings. As far as I could tell, we were doomed to fly around this field untill the ship depresureized.
	ÒDocking with ship....now!Ó
	ÒAlright, we need some volunters.Ó I said to the eager crew. Hands shot up like crazy.ÓYou, you, you, you, and you.Ó I pointed to trustworthy crewmembers and they ran off the bridge immediately.

                          <--------On board the M.S.S. Echo twenty minutes later-------->

	ÒWhen Johnny said ths place was full of water he wasnÕt kidding!Ó Said shadow. Shadow is a pure black cat with a very good stealth ability. Anymore to be said?
	ÒYeah, does this place have any power?Ó I said shinning my flashlight.
	ÒA little, Captain, not much though.Ó She said banging into a door that apeared like it was going to open, but didnÕt.
	ÒI see....Ó I ripped the doorÕs control panel out of the wall and examined the wires. I then connected a small battery to two of the terminals and the door swished open.
	ÒIt already had power though.Ó she said glareing at the control panel, which I had replaced back in the wall.
	ÒClearly not enough.Ó
	ÒWhere did all this water come from, and what are we going to do with it.Ó She said as a very odd object floated by.
	ÒWhat the.....Ó
	ÒDonÕt ask sir.Ó
	ÒIÕll trust you on that one.ÓI said. Suddenly a voice came out of my communicator(which was baisicly a cell phone)
	ÒSir! This is Johnny! Sir?Ó
	ÒWhat is it?Ó
	ÒA way out Sir, we found a way out!Ó  
 
                                                                  **********

	ÒThis place is wierd!Ó said Frankie, his vioce ehoing around loudly.
	ÒShhhh! Be quiet!Ó I wispered, ÒYou donÕt want to wake the dead you know.Ó
	ÒOh cÕmon, donÕt use that analogy you know I hate it!Ó Otis said behind us.
	ÒShutup! I just told you we donÕt want to wake the....Ó I was cut off by an earsplitting yell.
	ÒSIR, I FOUND SOMETING!Ó
	ÒSHUTUP! I can hear you Just fine without you yelling!Ó why couldnÕt they get it through thier thick heads.I walked over to the cat that had yelled and looked at what he found: What appeared to be two completely decomposed alien bodies, one of them holding on to what appeared to be a portable computer.
	ÒThats odd. I didnÕt think that stuff could decompose in space.Ó said Otis examineing the bodies.
	ÒThatÕs because stuff canÕt decompose in space. Now, who wants to be brave and grab the computer?Ó I said, but before anyone could answer a voice came over my communicator.
	ÒSIR!Ó said the voice.
	ÒWhat do you want, and donÕt be so loud!Ó I said. Voices traveled very good in this structure.
	ÒOh, sorry.Just wanted you to know that the Catship is experianceing a massive power grid failiure, thats all. Oh and.......Ó Her voice was cut off in static and the bright light shining in from the Catship flickered and went out.
	ÒCrap.Ó said someone behind me. I turned on my flashlight, following me everyone else did so too.I reached down and grabbed the computer out of the dead alienÕs hands and we set off to the outside of the structure.
	ÒCreepy huh?Ó said a voice I could identify as FrankieÕs
	ÒPretty much.Ósaid another voice. As we reached the outside, we began looking for the Catship.
	ÒWhereÕd it go!Ó said Otis, shining his light through the blackness of space hoping to catch the reflection of the CatshipÕs paint.
	ÒThere!Ó I said. The ship had foated away a bit and was in the oppisite direction we had origianally looked.ÓEveryone ready and accounted for?Ó I asked, shining my flashligh on everyone I could find. After confirming everyone was there we set off through space to the Catship, which was still drifting away. When we finally reached it(it seemed like hours)we were confronted with another problem. How to get in.
	ÒWe shouldÕve waited at the building untill they got systems back online!Ó cats began to shout and yell in panic.
	ÒPeople! Conserve your oxygen! DonÕt panic!Ó very few lisened. In fact they got more paniced.ÓFrankie Otis, you watch them while I find a way in!Ó but before I could go, there was a blinding flash and roaring sound. People screamed but once they realized what it was, they began to cheer.It was the Dagon.

                                                              ***********

	ÒSo look whoÕs in trouble now!ÓI said smiling. It was nice to finally say that to Houston after the hundred or so times he had rescued me.
	ÒWe both are. The Dagon is seriously damaged and the Catship has no power.Ó
	ÒYou always have to point out the bad points donÕt you?Ó
	ÒJust stating the obvious. Now hereÕs my plan: we dock the two ships together and we route auxillary power from the Dagon to the remains of our power grid. Then we just fire up our engines and away we go!ÓHe always made the best of bad situations.
	ÒHmmm, the Dagon has taken some bad damage......Ó I said. You canÕt just say yes. you have to have some suspense.ÓBut alright, IÕll have the crew make the neccesary modifications to the power grid and we should be ready in an hour.Ó
	ÒGreat! IÕll be ready!Ó He said, and ran out the door.
I picked up my com badge and said,ÓCaptain to the exploration team of the M.S.S. Echo.Ó
	ÒExploration team here.Ó
	ÒWhat have you found out?Ó
	ÒWith a few modifications, I think we can get the primary systems of this Ship on in a few hours.Ó He sounded rather enthusiastic about the situation, so I decided to let him have some fun.
	ÒMake it so. Lets see what youÕve got.Ó
	ÒYessir! On it!Ó

                                   <----------one and a half hours later--------->

	ÒThe power grid is holding fine sir.Ó
	ÒYou know I am going to keep asking. I donÕt want the Dagon to end up like the Catship.Ó
	ÒI understand fully sir and agree.Ó Said the young officer in charge of the power operation.
	Suddenly, the ship rattled and shook violently sending cats flying everywhere. Sparks showered down as the metal chairs smashed into lights and control panels.The droning sound of the engine slowed to a stop.
	ÒWhat the? Report!Ó I yelled, rubbing my head.
	ÒWe dropped out of warp, losing ship systems all across the board. We have to evacuate all unnecessary passengers to the Catship and the Echo sir!Ó
	ÒWhatÕs happening!Ó 
	ÒPower generator is failing and cutting out unneeded systems!Ó
	ÒGet everyone out of here.Get anyone you can to help stableize the generator and activate power conservation mode!Ó I said. Most of the bright lights turned off and the remaining ones dimmed.
	ÒPower conservation mode on. Power grid is stableizing at 71% of capacity.Ó
	ÒSend a message to the Cat ship. Tell them to quit using so much power!.Ó I turned and walked into the hall. It was, ofcourse, crammed with screaming people.
I walked back onto the bridge.ÓLooks like evacuation is going as planned. Prepare to go back into warp.Ó
	ÒIye sir.Ó
	I heared the engines power back up, and if there was any stars, they wouldÕve streaking by the windows.
 	ÒEvacuation complete, but the Catship and the Echo are almost full.They are complaining they canÕt get any work done.Ó
	ÒTell them to.. uunph!Ó The ships came out of warp so violently I was forced over the chair to the back wall.
	ÒWhat now!Óthe other cat got up and began pressing buttons and got a very puzzled and worried look on his face.
	ÒSir, I have absolutely no Idea.It appears that everthing is exactly the way it was before we dropped out of warp, exept there is unidentifiable energy fluxuatins. Massive ones.Ó
	I got up and walked over to the panel and looked at the origin of the fluxuations.My heart stopped cold, But I had to make shure.I clicked on the picture of the fluxuations to make it larger.A distinct pattern.One I had never dreamed of seeing. Not on the Dagon.I looked up straight into the catÕs eyes.ÓUndock from the Catship and Echo, emergency precedures.Anti-matter containment on the power generator is failing.ÓThe look of terror in his eyes was incomprehendable.
	ÒHa..ha ..ha..how  long do w..we have?Ó
	ÒNo longer than ten minutes.Get going!Ó I yelled.
	He jumped, Òyes.Ó he ran over to the microphone mounted to the captainÕs chairÓEVERYBODDY OUT! STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING! EVACUATE! WE HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO LEAVE! Óhe ran over to the docking controls and yanked down the two emegency relase levers.Then he ran over to the engines controlpanel and jamed the lever all the way up.The ship shot into maximum(or what wouldÕve been maximam if the engines were working proporly)impulse the ship began to move away from the now dark Catship and the Echo(which had full power).ÓLetÕs get out of here!ÓHe yelled grabbing my arm.
	ÒHow much time!Ó I yelled.It was a stupid question, how would he know?
	ÒOne minute untill antimatter containment failure.Ó stated the computer.
	ÒRUN!Ó I yelled. and we rushed out the door down the hall to the nearest docking bay,ÓThere! I pointed to my ship, still docked to the port.We ran over(Computer:Ó20 seconds untill antimatter containment failiure 19 18...)and climbed on board.I flipped all the swthches to on and yanked the flight controls back and hit maximum throttle.We shot up, I turned hard and we flew out.Behind us the shipÕs back end expoded and all of the lights went out.The massive explosion shot through the ten mile long ship to the front Where the massive glass windows exploded outward.A shockwave sent our little ship flying as the Dagon disapeared in the gigantic explosion.

                                                 <-----------3 days later---------->

	ÒAfter the Dagon was destroyed(and the Catship repaired) we sent the Catship back in time to rescue the Dagon(mostly to tell them to use the Echo to power the Catship, not the Dagon).But because recent events and amazing loyalty over the years we would like to make an announcement.A new ship, called the Skannar(code named Project:Traveler) will be made to replace the Dagon.As for the Dagon, it and 20 billion earth dollars will be donated to the start of an exploration unit of the Cat Company.Who will it be donated to?None other than the Captain and crew of the S.S.S. Dagon!Ó-Captain Houston of the N.P.S. Catship sighning off.

To be Continued....