Straxid, Gamma Quadrant

Thike Ch’ezhyrraq

Most mornings Ralos he would step into the teleporter and be at work with 6 minutes to spare, but this morning was different, the new experimental ship was launching today. Unable to sleep much that night he had woken up early and eager to get this day underway. He wasn't just launching any ship, it was his ship, the ship he put his blood sweat and tears into. Well two out of the three anyway, he was the head designer of this project.

Ditrin was the second planet from the sun located on the inside of the expanse a few light years from Kylata system, situated opposite from the Federation/Bajoran wormhole, and it's where Ralos, and most Straxids, called home. Rolling planes, luscious hills, and crisp oceanside cliffs, Ditrin was known for its natural beauty and inhabitants who prided themselves on preserving the natural resources.

As Ralos left the house for work, he strapped on his backpack, kissed his wife Dearna, and headed on his way. On all fours, the Straxid race were known for their speed and agility, topping out for short distances at nearly 80 kilometers per hour with nearly unheard of acceleration. Ralos was lucky enough to be only 10 minutes from work at a leisurely pace.

Running with the patter of all fours down the dirt path, hair waving in the crisp early morning breeze. He was past due for a cut, but all the work on the new ship, he wasn't able, or according to his wife, willing, to find time to fit in a long past due grooming. It was a beautiful morning, sun rising on his left as it kept the wind chill off half of his body, with goosebumps forming on the other.

Approaching the glass and aluminum clad tower, Ralos stood back up on his hind legs and approached the main entrance slowing slightly to catch his breath. Reaching into his pocket for his access card, It's not there, where is it, panic starting to overwhelm him. Growing concern emanating from the pit of his stomach, frantically checking all his pockets, some multiple times. The concern grew as he pulled off his backpack, ripping through it, to no avail.

Such a hi-tech facility like this one and they can't use simple biometric security, Ralos thought with frustration at himself for forgetting his card, today of all days! About to reach for his communicator so he could quickly teleport back home for his credentials he thought back on his identification search.

“CRAP!” he barked in frustration, realising that his communicator was sitting with his identification, probably on the counter beside his breakfast dishes. Wait, breakfast dishes, I forgot to have breakfast, that would explain why I am so hungry! Ralos thought back to his disrupted morning routine. You would think waking up early, and having extra time in the morning would mean lots of time to get everything done, who would have thought it would cause so much havoc?

“What time is it?” Ralos mumbled as he looked over at the clock on the tower. [7:52..., 7:53] in bold bright numbers as it ticked over, almost mockingly, like it knew he was going to have to hustle to minimize the fact he was going to be late..

This backpack is just going to slow me down, he concluded as he dropped it beside the path a few feet from the front door. Ralos turned, and with lightening acceleration, headed for home at full speed.

On days like today, Ralos was thankful the main pathways were designed for speed. With gentle banked slopes and guide ropes, albeit low enough to step over, they were more or less there just to remind people there was a pathway there, and to use caution. The general understanding was when going fast hug the middle, to avoid people stepping out. Now going this fast, he felt himself drifting into the slower lanes trying to avoid the others. He moved with purpose, dodging and weaving around the others, and when it called for it, leaping clear over the odd slow commuter.

With his focus set on getting home for his credentials, he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Before he could think about what he saw, he found himself off the main path, through the brush, weaving and dodging around the trees. He saw the movement again right in front of him, 25 meters ahead and closing fast! As he approached, he crouched lower to the ground, ears slicked back against his head, darting through brush and brambles, he felt the blood start to run down his nose, he was so close, couldn't give up now.

Few more strides, and a hefty lunge later, the warm sweet taste as the first signs of success fill his throat, he could feel the hungry beast within start to subside as his catch started to struggle a little. With a quick flick and a shake, he could hear the telltale snap of success as he quickly finished his breakfast. Nothing beat a warm meal before work. Ralos attempted to regained his composure, fully aware of the time crunch he was under, which he just made worse by stopping for takeout. He knew that he had less than no time to lose as he quickly made his way back to the path.

Approaching the front walk, thankful that rest of the trip back home was uneventful, he hustled up to the front door turning the knob. Betting the on kids being up and the door already being unlocked, he was relieved as the door opened.

“I’m not actually here!” Ralos barked as he stepped through the front door, “seems your husband forgot his identification and his communicator this morning,” he continued, hoping she wouldn't ask him for an explanation, “I am only here to retrieve it for him,” trying to downplay the embarrassment he felt having to run home.

He knew Dearna wouldn't buy it, but she would either acknowledge his effort to put an amusing spin on it, or just give him that look when he’s being cheesy. She wouldn't admit it out loud, even though she was amused, she would most likely give him that look anyway..

“They are on the kitchen table with your breakfast,” she shouted back from another room. “You’re lucky, the kids almost ate it on you, well the breakfast, not the communicator,” she warned.

“Thanks dear, they can have it, I picked up something quick on the way,” Ralos responded as he chuckled to himself briefly. The reality of the situation honed in on him quickly as pressed the button on his communicator “Time?” he requested.

[The current time is two minutes past eight in the morning] the computer chirped back.

This could be a problem, he thought. They could start the launch without him ,but he really rather they didn't, this was his big day!

“Ralos to security, permission for site to site transport into office 1712” he requested, he knew they didn't allow site to site transport without authorization. As he waited a few seconds, his response went without acknowledgement. He had to get into his office fast, Why is there no response? Starting to get concerned. They always acknowledge within three seconds, that's standard protocol! As he looked around lost, remembering again that there wasn't anything wrong here, looking around lost wasn't going to be of any help.

With identification and communicator in hand, he zipped them into his jacket pocket, and bolted out the door, closing it behind him. Something was wrong, but he didn't have time to figure out what it was now, he had to get to the meeting already.

With identification and communicator in his pocket, and a full stomach, his trip back to the office was fast and thankfully uneventful, well that is until he approached the main door.

He slowed as he approached a crowd of people forming in front of the building. Lucky the crowd wasn’t too thick yet, so he excused his way to the front to see Thallin cordoning off the front door. Well that explains why he didn't answer my communication.

“Thallin, whats going on?” Ralos requested, trying not to interfere.

“Hey Ralos, sorry there is a mysterious package left by the front door under mysterious circumstances. Nobody is allowed to enter until Sec-two arrives.” Thallin responded gesturing over to a lone backpack with a sense of control of the situation, but concern in his voice.

Ralos looked over to where Thallin had gestured, with his tail tucked between his legs he tried to hide the long face that overtook him. How was he going to tell him this was a misunderstanding, that it was his backpack.

“How long do you suspect until Sec-two arrives?” Ralos questioned.

“They should be here any second, I called them before coming outside.” Thallin confirmed.

Knowing that time was of the essence, for both his launch, and to defuse this situation, Ralos leaned in to Thallin “Thallin, I may have some useful information for you.”

“SIR, YOU MUST BACK AWAY FROM THE BLOCKADE” barked a stern voice from behind Ralos.

Ralos spun around, tail tucked between his legs as he cowered down, taking a step back. A team of 4 armed Sec-two operatives moved past him in a hurry, leaping over the barricade with ease as they huddled around the backpack, pulling out scanners.

They checked their scanner readings a few times, discussing their findings, picked up the bag, and heading towards Thallin. “You are clear to return to work, we are taking this bag with us.”

Ralos knew it was his bag, and all that he had in there was his lunch. All the work ne needed was in his office, and with the time crunch, that just seemed to be getting worse, he thought it was an acceptable loss to avoid the hassle that was about to follow if he asked for it back.

“Ok, you can all carry on your way”, as Thallin pulled open the barricade, turning to Ralos, “Sorry for the interruption, you were saying?” he questioned.

“Ralos looked over at Thallin as he stepped towards the door, “Funny story Thallin, but I will have to tell you on my way out,” he said with a mild sense of dread before perking up, “ I have a launch to get to, if I haven’t already missed it!”

Ralos darted through the door, heading straight for the stairwell, he couldn't leave anything to chance anymore, he was running quite late now., up seventeen flights of stairs, he finally arrived in front of his office door, albeit quite winded.

He paused for a moment to catch his breath, “Computer, time,” he requested trying to control his panting.

[Current time is eleven minutes past eight in the morning, and you are late for you launch meeting.]

“Thank you,” Ralos barked sarcastically,

[Well there is no need for sarcasm Ralos, it is not my fault you are running behind, I did give you the information you requested, you can’t blame me if it wasn't what you wanted to hear’]

“You're right, my apologies,” Ralos acknowledged sincerely. “Is the launch meeting still proceeding, have they launched yet?”

[The meeting has started, ship status is in pre-check for an estimated twelve more minutes, if you hurry, you should make it with minutes to spare.] replied the computer.

Now composed, Ralos burst into his office, and took a look around. Yup, everything is where I left it last night, so he grabbed his pad, his ship model, and headed back out the door. “Computer, call lift” he requested.

[Acknowledged] the computer chirped.

Making his way to the lift, he arrived just as the doors were opening. He stepped in and caught his breath again. “Upper Observation room” he requested, considering the day he had been been having he expected the left to start heading down instead of up.

To his surprise, the lift starting to make its way up, Ralos was starting to feel relieved, his tail gently swaying back and forth as he watched the numbers count up. Suddenly the lift stopped three floors shy of target, and with it Ralos’s tail.

The doors opened and the lift sat motionless. Puzzled, Ralos let out an anxious whimper, he took half a step out and peered around the hall just as the office door across from him opened, out stepped Admiral Wralf.

“One of the perks of being the admiral, the lift waits for you!” boasted the Admiral stepping onto the lift as he noticed the puzzled look on Ralos’s face.

Ralos nodded, pleased that he wasn't the only one running late. “Good morning Admiral, I hear the pre-check has started.”

Wralf nodded back, “Good morning Ralos, my sources say all is going well so far, aside from a snafu out front the building this morning.”

Ralos tipped his head down in shame, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Just as he was hoping to crawl into the wall and hide, the doors opened, and the Admiral stepped out. Ralos followed, quickly making his way to the empty observation terminal, and looked at the launch status on the top left.

[08:22:47] [Preflight 98%] [Estimated Launch 08:30:00]

Relieved he hadn’t missed the launch, he focused on the live feed, sense of pride overcoming him as he looked at the ship sitting there. This ship was special, it was an experimental design, this would allow them to finally leave the expanse, and travel further, explore more than they ever have before. They had been warp capable for quite some time, but this ship was completely self contained, and could go for ten years without having to return, find fuel, or resupply with a standard crew.

Other races avoided the expanse as it was unpredictable, but for the Straxids, it was home, sheltered from the rest, and they became reliant on it. Being part of it, and studying it from the inside meant ships were easier to build, travel was easier, but only inside of it. Going outside the Expanse meant the rules changed completely, and this was it, his ship was going to get them out there, meet new life, and new civilizations, where no Straxid had gone before! This was an exciting time, and he was honored to be such an integral part of it.

Suddenly the room dimmed, the large viewscreen lit up [WARNING, prepare for launch, 5 minutes to launch at mark] the voice echoed through the room [MARK]

It was getting very real, very fast, Ralos could feel the tension in the pit of his stomach start to escalate exponentially. Ralos leaned back in his chair, took a few moments to breath deeply, and let the uneasiness subside. It started off slowly, but as he continued to breath deep, focusing on each breath, he was able to push out the worry, and focus on the launch.

[WARNING, prepare for launch in two minutes… MARK]

Precheck was successful, launch preparation was complete, all that was left to do was wait for 2 minutes, and watch the launch, well that's not all that was left, there was a fair amount of chatter between the captain, the pilots, and the control room. Ralos was trying to tune it out and just focus on the moment.

The next minutes and fifty five seconds seemed to take forever, but were gone in a flash.

[5…]

[4…]

[3…]

[2…]

[1…]

[Docking clamps released, Ship under its own power]

This was it, Ralos jumped from his chair in excitement, watching on the large viewscreen as the ship left dock, on a course directly out of the expanse.

He would have much prefered to be aboard the ship on it’s maiden voyage, and under most circumstances he would have been, but with the exhaustive testing they performed, they knew the technology was sound, and work to build the rest of the first fleet was to commence right away. This meant new designs for different classes of ships, and they new anything that came up from the maiden voyage could be corrected prior to the hull being completed.

The rest of Ralos’s day was pretty exhausting, updates, projections, planning. He did get a break for lunch, but that was rushed too, having lost his, he had to run home. By the time he got home to his family for the evening, he was exhausted, but it was worth it, and despite his own hiccups this morning, he would do it all over again, looking forward to the launch of the second ship for the fleet. He knew it was going to come fast!