Entropy Gate

So what's been happening, eh?

Here is a small section of dialog from ENTROPY GATE - BEYOND. It takes place on board one of the R.C.C. ships - the Gray Shadow.



Captain Peter Tambov hated the ship he was ordered to command. He had spent a month on board the R.C.C. Gray Shadow learning its systems and working closely with the scientists from Tranquility base as they prepared it for the voyage to the Entropy Sphere. There were ten Gray Shadow ships all equipped with the much-talked about, closely-guarded, artificial gravity. When Peter boarded the small craft and learned the truth of the new system he was ready to resign his commission. As feared by most scientists, an artificial gravity system was still a thing of the future to be dreamed about and theorized about. The Gray Shadow vessels had no rotating section and therefore were much smaller than the average S.E.R.F. exploration vessel. What passed as gravity and enabled the crew to walk on the floor was a series of very complicated electromagnetic coils in the floor boards and ceiling and body suits that were created out of a thin metal mesh encased in an artificial cotton material. The suit Tambov was required to wear was tight, awkward and restricted movement. He had the feeling of gravity, as his feet and body were pulled by the floor coils and pushed downwards by the oppositely charged ceiling coils, but he still felt that his insides were weightless.

Tambov, along with the rest of the crew, all shaved their heads, men and women alike, to keep their hair from drifting about.

"It's a rather ugly looking crew," Peter's first mate Alexander had said. "The women look like men now. The only thing uglier than a Russian woman with out hair is a Chinese woman without hair."

"You sound like a racist," Peter said as he ate his processed meal. The plates were magnetic and the food had a sticky consistency that kept it adhered to the dish. Drinks were still kept in bottles.

"I think the Chinese women look rather pretty without their hair," the doctor replied. He was an older gentleman and had served on several rotation ships. He too did not care for the Gray Shadow.

"You think all women are pretty," said Alexander.

"All women are," Dr. Mehov Logashkkino.

At that moment Dr. Lucy Williams-Matsushibishi entered with her colleague Yun Sing. Though most of the crew were Russian and spoke Russian, there were a few Chinese and they, along with expatriate Lucy Williams-Matsushibishi, could speak Russian as well as Chinese. Only the crew of scientists, referred to as the phase three team, spoke English and they kept to themselves most of the time.

"See," said Mehov, "two women, both beautiful."

"But Dr. Matsu isn't Russian or Chinese," said Alexander.

"I have an idea," said Lucy sarcastically to Alexander, "let's act like Yun and I are actually in the room."

"Apologies, Doctor," Mehov said. "I'm afraid that our first officer is still stuck in the twenty first century."

"I was just saying that we all look ugly with our heads shaved," Alexander said. "I meant no offense to either of you. I, for instance, had a great head of hair."

"So today we're complaining about hair," said Yun. "Yesterday it was the food, today it's no hair. Why must you always be so depressing at dinner?"

"We aren't depressing at dinner," said Alexander, "we're depressing all the time."

There was a light chuckle in the small room.

"As you all know," Captain Tambov said, "we are with in one day of the Venus Orb. S.E.R.F. will have several satellites and probes orbiting the small planetoid. It will give us the perfect opportunity to test the long range weapons of the Gray Shadow."