Fiction:The Journeys of Darius Snerk


 * Magnetic Tape begins to spin in the player. Faint crackles can be heard, then a sharp thud, as the record plays back:*

"Captain's Personal Log, O.S.S. Spirit of Othens, Darius Snerk, Captain. February Eighteen, Othenian year Two-thousand-one. I have, against my better judgement, accepted what might prove to be my shortest command. Ever. *Deep Sigh* I don't trust the new 'Othenian Praetorate.'Sure the Prime Director, and the Praetor say that Lacon is a free and equal partner, but why then is it Othens that this new World Order is named after? They say that there are greater threats out there. That, somehow, we need a united government to protect us. *Raspberry* Right. Worse still, my crew is about as eclectic as it is possible to get. we've got four Othenians: a linguist, and a biologist, some old guy, who can barely walk, much less fly, with a degree in some esoteric math discipline I've never heard of, and some fresh-faced kid for our engineer. She's a bit too keen, in my judgement, for a mission like this, where we will be completely out of touch with the Home System for up to a year. But, they did manage to get me my old security crew from my old command, the aircraft carrier Starkiller. And they got me "Ace" Hotchins, who can make nearly any flying vehicle do things that would probably put the engineers who designed them into shock. It isn't all bad. But this mission is going to be a waste of time. End Log.


 * Faint thud, faint crackles, Tape Ends*