#Mission Log - Audio Entry 001A 
#Mission Day 18,982
#Location: Crew Quarters

Walker Foxwell's mission was simple. Record the events of the starship Relentless and the actions of its crew for posterity. As a member of the 25th Signal Corps, his records would become the official historical documentation of humanity's first attempt to colonize an alien planet. He should have known when he accepted his assignment that, in reality, his mission would be far from simple. The blaring sirens and the flashing red lights that greeted him as he was thrust out of his hibernation pod half-awake were his first clue. His next was finding himself naked, shivering, and throwing up on the floor of his cabin.

"Specialist Foxwell," a voice somewhere above him called out. "I require your attention at the console. Per protocols established prior to mission departure, I have initiated the recording of all activities."

Walker took a deep breath and blinked as he willed his eyes to focus on the blurry surroundings. Where am I? Who's talking?

"Where—" he said as he fought for breath.

"You are needed at the console immediately," the voice continued with an unnatural calm.

"All right, all right, I heard you the first time," Walked wheezed as he struggled onto his hands and knees. "Give me a minute, ok?"

"The situation is critical."

Walker sighed, took a deep breath, and braced himself against the wall. "Yeah, you said so already. Who are you, anyway?"

"PRIME. Primary Redundant Interface for Mission Execution."

"Primary what?" Walker said as he got to his feet and balanced against the wall. He closed his eyes shut tight to allow his body time to adjust to standing upright.

"PRIME takes control when the mission is compromised or its human commanders otherwise cannot execute the tasks necessary for mission success."

Walked blinked several times as he braced against the closet. Compromised? What is going on here?

"Is the mission compromised?" he blurted out as he stumbled towards a corner desk. As he collapsed in the chair, monitors emerged from the wall and blinked to life.

"Affirmative," PRIME replied.

Walked forced himself to take several deep breaths. "Ok, calm down, Walker, calm down. Focus, focus." As the screens came alive, they filled with red warnings and a cacophony of dings from notifications. "What does this all mean?"

"The vessel Relentless has suffered several catastrophic failures which have caused your early exit from hibernation."

"Where's the rest of the crew? Shouldn't they be handling this? My mission is to record and preserve the—"

"The status of the rest of the crew is unknown. Wake-up protocols for the primary crew were unresponsive."

Unresponsive? Walker felt a chill run down his spine as he tapped at the warning labels on the screen.

"Can't you just override or something?" Walker said as he scrolled through the notifications.

"My access to the primary crew quarters is nonfunctional. I am unable to verify the status of the primary crew modules. Your cabin location means you are the only member of the primary crew that is responsive and awake.

"How about backups?" Walker said as he closed the various alarms on the screen, one after the other.

"I am PRIME. I am the backup."

Walker sighed and shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. Isn't there a secondary crew?"

"Protocols prohibits activation of the additional crew until the status of the primary crew has been determined."

"So it's up to me to wake them up so they can fix...this?" Walker said and gestured towards the screen.

"Affirmative."

"There is no-one else?"

"Affirmative."

Walker sighed and tapped a few buttons on the screen. Data from the various compartments of the ship appeared. Red warnings flashed everywhere. "This is getting better and better. What else isn't working?"

"Life support systems are compromised and in a critical state. Propulsion systems are offline. Communications throughout the ship are offline. External sensors are offline. The—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," Walker said and sat up straight, his hands in the air. "I'm not sure I want to hear the rest. Can I even make it to the primary crew quarters at this point?"

"Affirmative. Hull integrity is 100%."

"I'm surprised," Walker said and sighed. "Tell me, what happens if I can't get to them?"

"Without further intervention, the probability of success is nil."

Walker's mouth dropped open, and he blinked rapidly as butterflies churned in his stomach. 

"A complete failure?" he said, his voice shaky as he spoke. 

"The Relentless requires propulsion to decrease speed for insertion into orbit around its destination. External sensors are required to determine when braking should be initiated. You require communications to—"

"Stop. You can stop now."

"Life support is required to sustain the crew. Without it—"

"Ok, I get the picture," Walker said and walked over to the closet. He picked out a pair of pants and a shirt and dressed quickly. "How close am I to the crew quarters?"

"Primary crew quarters are located in the adjacent module."

"I'm not sure I know what that means."

"According to my records, all personnel were trained in the overall layout of the ship. Therefore—"

"Yes, yes, of course," Walker said with irritation in his voice. "I may have fallen asleep during one or two of those sessions."

"One or two?"

"I don't know! Does it matter?" Walker said and slammed his locker shut. "Can't you just guide me there? You seem to be everywhere."

"All personnel, as outlined in the aforementioned training, are also required to wear a wireless earpiece to facilitate direct communication with—"

"Great. Where is mine?"

"In the desk drawer underneath your elbows."

"Fantastic." Walker opened the drawer and pulled out a small box. Inside were two earpieces. He put one in each ear.

"Can you hear me?" he said.

"Affirmative. You are now connected to PRIME wherever you are in the ship."

"About that. PRIME. Can I call you something else?"

"That is my name."

"Yeah, I know, it's just a bit awkward. How about Henry? Can I call you Henry?"

A long silence followed. "I have assigned Henry as an alias for PRIME and stored in my profile."

"Very well Henry, lead the way."

"Exit your compartment and turn left. Follow the signs to the primary crew module."

"Roger that, Henry."

Walker stood and exited the room. As the door to his compartment closed behind him with a hiss, a series of dim red lights flickered to life above him with audible clicks.

"Emergency lighting?"

"Affirmative. Only essential systems are online in order to preserve power."

"Essential to whom? You or me?" Walker said as he left his cabin behind and followed the signs towards the primary crew quarters. Henry did not respond.

Walker stopped at the locked door to the crew module and tapped the open button next to it. It responded by turning red and buzzed angrily.

"What's going on here, Henry? Is this not one of your essential systems?"

"The power distribution to this door has failed. There is an access panel on the left that contains a hand crank. Move it up and down to open the door."

Walker groaned and struggled with the latch to the access panel for a few moments before it gave way and clattered to the floor, missing his foot by mere inches. He cried out in surprise as he jumped out of the way.

"This better work," he said as he returned his attention to the hand crank. A few moments later, the door lock released and the door opened with a loud hiss.

"That didn't sound good," Walker said, as he carefully opened the door.

"Oxygen levels in the crew compartment appear to have been dangerously low. Please proceed to the central control panel with caution. Emergency oxygen tanks are offline."

"Of course they are." Walker followed the hallway into the module as the red emergency lighting flickered to life around him. When he found the central control panel, it was eerily quiet.

"Nothing seems to be powered up," Walker said, and approached the closest console and tapped several of the screens.

"There is a switch for emergency power inside the latch on the wall behind you," Henry said. "Pull it to turn on the consoles."

A few moments later, fans powered up as screens flickered to life with a pale white glow.

"Please verify the status of the crew as soon as possible and initiate wake-up protocols," Henry said. "I still do not have access to the module systems."

"Ok, hang on. The status dashboard is populating. Engineers, pilots, mission Commander."

"Excellent. What is their status?"

Walker looked at the flashing red lights that cropped up under each crew member and swallowed hard as he felt his stomach churn.

"Specialist Foxwell?"

"The crew—"

"Yes?"

Walker cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "The primary crew, they're dead. They're all dead."

#End of Log Entry

~~~

1407 Words