5P - Ship Log 3c - Job 1 - Trouble pt 1

Hi all, 

Previously 5P - Ship Log 3c - Job 1 - Coasting to CL.

On the Cargo Deck of Magic Carpet

Ted hits the start button of Droid 834, "Wakey Wakey sleepy head, rise and shine."

Droid 834,"I was not sleeping, I was deactivated."

Ted, "Same thing, same thing. Since you are fond of cleaning and I am on light duties, you can do my share of the polishing. Cleaning materials are in that storage bin there. Start at the top and work downwards, cleaning the hand rails. I want them clean, but not so polished that I cannot get a grip on them if I needed to. Safety is paramount. The same when you do the deck later, clean but not slippery, that is slippery by human standards, as in the safety protocols. You do have them loaded ?"

Droid 834, "Yes, Orakkg."

Ted, "Well, I'm glad to see that your species recognition software is working, You can call me 'Mr.Greene'...on second thoughts, you might as well call me Ted, like the rest of them."

Droid 834, "Yes, Ted."

Ted, "Any questions or problems, I should be in the kitchen. You may begin."

Droid 834, "Yes, Ted."  He walked over to the storage bin, selected the correct items and went to the top deck and began cleaning the handrails.

After a few moments observing the droid, he walked off to the kitchen, thinking to himself *This is the life. I wonder if there is any of that Gerbiloid pie that Dave made left ?*

-------------------

Later, on the bridge.

From one of the console comes "Beep, Beep, Beep" , on comes a red warning light.

Dave is alone sitting at his desk in  Navigation / Science mode,  "What now ?", he wonders.

The console flicks to diagnostic mode, showing that the sensor turret has only partially extended from the hull. He checks for more information and it reveals that the wire to the motor has snapped. "Oh dear."

He flicks a switch, "Martin to the bridge please."

Martin soon comes bounding up the stairs, almost colliding with the droid as he did so and into the bridge, "Whats wrong?"

Dave, "We have a major problem, The Navigation system is down. The sensor turret is stuck, half way extended. It will not budge either way. The fault is a snapped wire, but to get to that wire we have to go through Access Panel 23."

Martin nodded, "Which is only used on planets, and is too small for our spacesuits to get inside, even the ladies. So, we're stumped. We will have to go back, blowing our schedule and our reputation."

Continued in....Trouble Part Two.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

5P - Ship Log 3a - Job 1 - Coasting to CL Jump

Hi all,

Previously  - 5P - Ship Log 3 - Job 1 - Depart for CL


On the Bridge of the Magic Carpet

Melody on view screen. "Height 300 km, speed 27358 kph and increasing."

Rosie, on coms, "Tower, this is Echo Romeo Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, we have visual on Wheel 1, 100 km plus distant, please confirm departure vector clear of traffic."

Tower, "Wheel one departures reports no change, you are clear to pass through their 100 km outer sphere zone. Please set Navigation Transponder to send 10 minute updates and report when ready to jump. Tower out"

Rosie, "Understood, Clear to pass outer zone, 10 minute squawk and report when set to jump. Magic Carpet, listening out."

Captain Martin, "That was a very smooth departure Rosie, Well done."

Rosie shrugs it off, "Just a stroll down the lane, Captain."

Martin looks over at the other crew member on the bridge, "Anything showing up on Tactical, David ?"

Dave replies, "Not a bleep, apart from the Wheel 1 beacon. Tower reported that there were no scheduled departures for today, just a sky-bike coming from the Shack to pick up supplies for the Vac Jockeys at Wheel 2."

Martin, "Ok, you can switch everything over to automatic, long range and short range scanning as usual and...."

The door opens and in walks Lucy, looking sternly at the Captain, "And David can take it from here. You are now officially off duty."

Martin retorts, "But we haven't plotted the Jump Sequence yet !"

Lucy replies, "Then it will be good practice for them, won't it ? They can do it independently of each other and if they get the numbers differently then Melody can check both sets for errors. Agreed ?"

"Well..."

"Any other answer will get you confined to quarters with no computer access.", insisted Lucy.

"Agreed. David, you have command."

Dave, "I have command."

Lucy, "Now then, Martin, how about a nice game of Ma Jong ?"

She escorts him off the bridge.

Dave, "Right, lets get that sequence out of the way and then we can set the watch."

To be continued...

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I have just ordered a few little bits from Angel Barracks, to spice things up a bit.

5P - Ship Log 3 - Job 1 - Departure for CL

Hi Everybody,

Following on from 5P - Job 1 - Interlude.


Next morning, on the Bridge of the Magic Carpet.

The bridge has a standard ship layout, Rosie, in the pilot's seat, to the right of Dave, at the weapons console, with Martin sitting behind and above them.

"Melody, I want you in standard Quiet mode, while our passengers are on board, unless emergency situations apply. Understood ?"

Melody, "Understood, Captain. Standard text and tones will apply."

Rosie, "Captain, after we had filed a flight plan for Camp Livingstone, we had a message from the "Med Flyers", they have a couple of crates for the colony, I said we can take them for the usual transport fee. They will be delivering them in about 5 minutes. Also, some Personnel Parcels from "Ace Courier" to go into the safe for them as well."

Martin, "We are always glad to help the Med boys in red, and a bonus Ace delivery is sweet too."

Dave, "Chris and Eric have been cleared by customs and will be boarding shortly."

Martin, flicks on the coms, "Ted, can you take delivery of a couple of crates from "Med Flyers", arriving any minute, as will Eric and Chris. You can put them in the guest quarters next to Pinky. Also the "Ace Courier" Service will need access to one of the wall safes. Make sure they use the scrambler key code on it."

Ted, "Will do, Captain."

Martin, "Dave, keep the tactical console active, just in case the jokers from yesterday have some nasty friends. I don't think they would try anything, but just in case..."

Dave, "Yes, Captain, still monitoring local frequencies. We have a green light from security and customs."

Shortly afterwards....

Ted, on coms, "All buttoned up, Captain. Chris, Pinky and Eric are nice and snug in their cabins, The "Med Flyer" crates have their Customs seals intact, are stowed and the parcels are secure in courier safe 1.All Droids secure, charged up and in power down mode. The rest of us are in the lounge. Good to go here."

Martin, "Thanks Ted. Rosie, if you please".

Rosie, on comms, "Tower, this is Echo Romeo Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, requesting clear for lift.
Entities on board, 5 male and 1 female homo sapiens, 1 Screand female and 1 Orakkg male plus 15 droids.
No change to flight plan.. Magic Carpet - Over."

Tower, " Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, I have your beacon and flight plan. Clear skies, depart when ready. Tower standing by. Safe journey, Rosie."

Rosie, "Magic Carpet - Thanks George. Commencing lift. Liftoff."

Melody displayed text on the view screens, "Liftoff confirmed, at 10:05:05. Noted in Ship's Log".

The Magic Carpet floated off the deck with a slight humming of her engines and began her ascent.

Melody, "Heading is 43 degrees and increasing. Height above pad is 15 meters and increasing. Internal gravity engaged at 1.00g."

Rosie, "Magic Carpet, under way, green across the board. Heading up, Over."

Tower, "Depart vector is 127, report when in orbit, then outbound of Wheel 1. take care. Tower standing by. "

Rosie, "Magic Carpet, understand depart vector 127, report when in orbit, then outbound of Wheel 1. Will do.Magic Carpet out."

She pointed the nose upwards to reduce the effects of atmospheric drag and then gradually increased the speed along the course they had been given into the sky and beyond.

Next - 5P - Ship Log 3a - Job 1 - Coasting to CL Jump.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

5P - Ship Log 3 - Job 1 - Departure for CL

Hi Everybody,

Following on from 5P - Job 1 - Interlude At The Admiral's Table and More.


Next morning, On the Bridge of the Magic Carpet.

The bridge has a standard ship layout, Rosie, in the pilot's seat, to the right of Dave, at the weapons console, with Martin sitting behind and above them.

"Melody, I want you in standard Quiet mode, while our passengers are on board unless emergency situations apply. Understood ?"

Melody, "Understood, Captain. Standard text and tones will apply."

Rosie, "Captain, after we had filed a flight plan for Camp Livingstone, we had a ping from "Med Flyers", they have a couple of crates for the colony, I said we can take them for the usual transport fee. They will be delivering them in about 5 minutes. Also, some Personnel Parcels from "Ace Couriers" for storage in the PP Bonded safe.

Martin, "Always glad to help the Med boys in red, and a bonus Ace delivery is sweet too. I will see to that".

Dave, "Chris and Eric have been cleared by customs and will be boarding shortly."

Martin, on coms, "Ted, can you take delivery of a couple of crates from Med flyers, arriving any minute, as will Eric and Chris. Put them in the guest quarters next to Pinky."

Ted, "Will do, Captain."

Martin, "Dave, keep the tactical console active, just in case the jokers from yesterday have some nasty friends. I don't think they would try anything, but just in case..."

Dave, "Yes, Captain, still monitoring local frequencies. Green light from Security and customs."

Shortly afterwards...

Ted, on Systems Console - "All buttoned up, Captain. Chris, Pinky and Eric are nice and snug in their cabins, The "Med Flyer" crates have their Customs Seals intact, they are stowed and strapped down. Their self-contained power packs running the refrigerator units show they will be well for 21 days. I have connected them to the Aux power supply number 2 for backup charging. Their status is green on the board. You have dealt with the parcels secure in PP Bonded courier safe 1. Their status is green as well.  All Droids are secured, charged and in power-down mode. The rest of us are in the lounge. Confirm, good to go here."

Martin, "Thanks Ted. Rosie, if you please".

Rosie, on coms, "Tower, this is Echo Romeo Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, requesting clear for lift.
I have Orbital Situation Report Gamma. Entities on board, 5 male and 1 female homo sapiens, 1 Screand female and 1 Orakkg male, plus 15 droids. No change to the filed flight plan. Magic Carpet - Over.

Tower, " Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, I have your beacon and flight plan. Confirm Report Gamma. Clear skies, depart when ready. Tower standing by. Safe journey, Rosie."

Rosie, "Magic Carpet - Thanks, George. Commencing lift. Lift-off."

The Magic Carpet floated off the deck with a slight humming of her engines and began her ascent.

Rosie, "Magic Carpet, underway, green across the board. Heading up, Over."

Tower, "Depart vector is 127 degrees, report when in orbit, then outbound of Wheel 1. Take care. Tower standing by. "

Rosie, "Magic Carpet, understand depart vector 127, report when in orbit, then outbound of Wheel 1. Will do. Magic Carpet out."

She pointed the nose upwards to reduce the effects of atmospheric drag and then gradually increased the speed along the course they had been given into the sky and beyond.

Next - 5P - Ship Log 3a - Job1 - Coasting to CL

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

5P - Job 1 - Interlude At The Admiral's Table and more

Hi everybody,

Previously - 5P - Job 1 - Droids Part Three

At The Admiral's Table Restaurant

After a fine meal was had by all, (meals had been delivered for Rose and Ted from the local ET Eatery) the team relaxed with a drink, while Martin finished explaining the next part of the operation.

"So there you have it. Any questions ?" Asked Martin.

"Er, yes." said a voice, coming from an unexpected direction, behind him.

"The name's Chris, Chris Don Royton, and that's Eric Vickers. I'm a freelance reporter and Eric is my cameraman / Bodyguard / Survivalist, I heard you were going to Camp Livingstone and wondered if we could come along too ?"

Chris continues, "We could only pay about a third of the standard rate of the journey to Camp Livingstone, but if you want, we could do interviews of you and possibly, your crew and get your profile boosted in the area  Who knows what that might lead to."

"Are we talking  about one way or return ?", asks Martin

"Probably there and back, unless things have changed after we get there. what I'm after is the local angle. You get the headlines on the news, but nothing more. I aim to provide that follow-up, the grit and the dirt, that sort of thing. Get interviews with the civilians, some of the grunts, the commander, if I'm very lucky.  It should take us about a day, all told. Then we edit it on the way to your next drop."

Chris takes a drink, "Once we have it ready, we post short clips on the net to editors of magazines such as "Grunt", "Homesteader" or "Trailblazer" and the news corporations. After they have had their pick, we release the rest to Netblogs. Different material to different markets."

The Captain muses a moment, "Two return tickets at 1/3 usual rate, the Outbound to be paid in full, the Return fee notarized and deposited with "Safe flyer" until we get back, plus", he pauses slightly, "10% of any royalties you make from all of the interviews, before tax. Contracted with "Blog Bank", we get the fees straight from them. That way there are no messy lawyers and their fees involved."

Chris was surprised by the unexpected extra cost, "10% ?"

Martin explained, "Sure, you are cutting into our safety margin of supplies. No transport, no story. The regular supply run is not till the end of next month, the story will be cold by then. Look at it this way, I could have said 20%."

Chris looks at Eric, who nods at the unspoken question, "Ok, Captain Martin, you have two new passengers."

Martin smiles, "Good, now that's settled, let's seal it with a drink and you can get to know everybody."

Eric, "We would be delighted."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in an altogether shadier part of town....

A hooded figure knocks on a door.

The inset grille slides back and a gruff voice asks, "Who is it ?"

The figure replies, "Slinky, its me, Specs. Have you got a place where I can lie low ?"

"Sure mate, come on in,"

Assorted bolts clunk and the door swings open, revealing a dimly lit hall. Specs wearily goes inside, using the wall for support.

"You look a bit shaky, how did the job go ?"

The door shuts with a thud.

"Well, tell ..Rusty.. it    Ugghhh.." He passes out on the floor.

"Oh, great.  FRANK, get the medkit, its going to be one of those nights..."

Later, Slinky makes a call.

"Rusty, Its Slinky. If you were expecting a package, I don't think its going to arrive. I have one of the delivery men here on my couch. I think they call him "Spats" or  "Specs", something like that."

"I had heard there had been a foul-up from other sources. Is he going to make it?"

"Yeah, that is.. If you want him to?."

"No, no, he would not dare die on me, he still owes me for certain favours and I will collect, sooner or later, off him or his associates. Look on the bright side, it means you don't have to dump his body anywhere. I will pass the news along to any interested parties."

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Next - Job 1 - Departure for CL


Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts - On Star Trek : Beyond

As usual, I had avoided all of the trailers and the magazine articles about the film, as I like to enjoy this cinematic feast of goodies fresh off the screen, not emotionally or visually thinned down by previous exposure to pictures. My 3D specs were cleaned and ready to see what awaited us on the final frontier. Away we go on another Trek.....

PRO'S

* Great sets and acting, as usual.

* Good character bonding.

* Interesting alien races.

* Good continuity to previous films. (The timeline is three years into a five year mission.)

CONS:

* Poor 3D quality.

*  The space battle scenes were too fast and furious. Lets throw the kitchen sink against the Enterprise.

* There was not enough time spent on the Enterprise before it was trashed, yet again. (It was trashed in the Search for Spock, coincidence ?).

*  An unimpressive main baddie. (Not the actors fault, he did well with what he had to work with.)

I came out of the cinema feeling let down.I had expected a red hot enchalada, I got a jalapeno. The whole was less than the sum of its parts. I was not a happy tribble. Do go and see it, it may be just me.

"Live long and watch out for Harry Mudd bearing gifts."

 They reached for the stars but did not achieve warp speed.  5 out of 10.

Ivor

P.S. I have since learned that Simon Pegg and his colaborator wrote the script in about a month, so that was a good effort on his part. So, a revised score of 6 out of 10.

Thoughts - On Ghostbusters 2016 (no spoilers)

Just to let you know right off the bat where I stand, as a general rule, I am not a great fan of what is known as "re-imagining" in film making, with the honorable exceptions of the latest two (and hopefully three - I have not seen "Beyond" yet) Star Trek movies. I would much prefer if they set the latest offering of GB3 further along the timeline of Ghostbusters 1 and GB 2, instead of a rehashing of an old favorite, this could have easily be done in this case.

 The new lady team of paranormal "butt-kickers" could have been scripted as family members of the old well loved crew, this would have been easily done as Dan Aykroyd still has the rights to Ghostbusters and two of the old stalwarts did have cameo roles in the film anyway.

I watched the 2d version due to circumstances, but I would imagine the 3d version would give a better enjoyment factor in this instance. The 2d graphics were acceptable, but not in the WOW category, as you would hope for. Reasonable quality performances from the actors, but this was not supposed to be Shakespeare, so no complaints there.

The plot was average, not that I was expecting much from this slapstick genre film. But, considering they had a free hand, I was not greatly impressed with the results. It is just out there to make money, not to please the film going public.

Could have done better.    6 out of 10.

Ivor