Otaku Kaku

[Justin Carr]

Here is the first half of the first episode of a series I am working on called...well... Otaku Kaku. I hope you like. Please let me know what you think. Knowing you guys, you will, whether I want to hear it for not. *G*

I mention a lot of different anime from Macross to Robotech to Love Hina and much more in the story. However, they are such small asides that I couldn't possibly do the whole copyright thing for all of them. Except I feel compelled to make one for the Atomic Starlight Knight. He doesn't actually belong to an anime. He is an original character created by Benjamin Oliver for the series "Nuke 'Em Till They Glow." This series is extremely funny and I highly recommend it. Go look for it. You won't be disappointed. Anyway, on with the story.

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Episode One: "The Journey Begins" or "Always Read the Small Print"

Temporal Officer's Log, Capt. Icaron, Jonathon: Time Index 128394.972:

    "The Timeline is like a flowing stream. Peacefully and tranquilly flowing downhill, like a proper river is supposed to. However, there are some people who insist on throwing stones into the stream, on damming it, on diverting it, and, in some cases, on making it flow back up the hill. It is our job as the Temporal Police to prevent that."

    Those were the first words that my instructor said to my class at the Academy. I have always believed in those words. I have strived to live my life like that stream, peacefully and tranquilly.

    Although I tried hard and studied harder, I never got good grades though. Something about temporal mechanics and quantum paradox always seemed so hard to grasp. I barely passed with a 70.0%. I would have gotten a 68.7% if not for some last minute pleading.

    That was why I was so surprised when I was given command of the T.S. Continuity for my first tour.

    The Continuity has a long and distinguished history of tracking down temporal offenders. It was of the first ship of the Corrector-class and has been in more Time Wars than half a dozen of any other ship in the Fleet combined. In fact, it had been the flagship for several of them.

    Which was why I thought that it was strange that my fellow student snickered at me when the list of assignments where announced. Some of them only received Helms position or Communications. A few got Tactical or Science assignments. Stevens, the person with the highest GPA in our graduating class, only received a Second in Command post. Yet it seemed like they pitied me for received the job as Captain of the T.S. Continuity.

    When I finally arrived at the Continuity, I finally figured out why they laughed at me and why I was picked. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll just play the security tapes from that time and let the events that unfolded to speak for themselves.

Security Tapes of Crew Area 3B: Time Index 128393.235:

    Neja tried to still her nerves as she approached the Security Officer's quarters. After ten years as a Tactical Officer for Temporal Police, she should have more courage. However, there was something about Zi'ni that disturbed her.

    It was the Temporal Police's policy that on every ship there was at least member of the senior staff that was of an alien race. If need be, a half alien, half human hybrid was acceptable. However, Zi'ni's race was the most horrifying that Neja had ever encountered. There was just something about Zi'ni that felt wrong to Neja.

    As Neja hesitantly walked down the hallway, she noticed something wrong with the lights. The color was slightly off. It wasn't that they were a different color; it just seemed as if the white light was giving off a pinkish tint.

    It must be the proximity to Zi'ni. She remembered being briefed that Zi'ni's race tended to affect reality in strange ways. She pulled out her copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to review everything she had on Zi'ni's race to help calm her nerves.

   Zi'ni's race had been genetically engineered by the Saiya-jin. Their designation was KWE-872. Their primary purpose was to fight any Super Saiya-jin that lost control. The KWE-872's natural appearance and fighting style had a disabilitating affect on Super Saiya-jins.

    However, the creating and maintaining for the KWE-872 had a severe affect on their handlers' mental state. Insanity usually occurred after six months. First, they tried rotating handlers, giving them convalescent leave to recover and regain a hold on their slipping sanity. However, the handlers' reason never recovered as quickly as it was lost.

    Next, they used criminals and institutionalized lunatics as handlers. The reason behind this decision was that they might be hardy enough to survive the close proximity to Zi'ni's race. However, even these hard-bitten and immoral people couldn't handle the influence of the KWE-872. They all ended up... changed for lack of a better word.

    The final straw was when a small group of KWE-872 escaped. The populous was thrown into disarray. The reality-altering affect was no longer nullified by the laboratory's fail-safes and spread rampant across several provinces of the Saiya-jin homeworld. The Saiya-jin lost most of their military and half of the royal family capturing the escaped KWE-872. To this day, all Saiya-jin only speak of the KWE-872 in fearful whispers.

    After this, the KWE-872 were all banished to a deathworld, where the Saiya-jin hoped the harsh climate and giant predators would kill off the KWE-872, since they couldn't bring themselves to do it. As a direct result of this incident, the Saiya-jin started an expansion program that eventually led them to sending a Saiya-jin infant named Kakarot to a planet named Earth. But that is neither here nor there.

    However, the KWE-872, stranded on the deathworld, didn't die off. They were able to change the climate to something that suited their nature better. Most of the predators were killed off by the KWE-872s' fighting prowess. The rare predator that succeed in killing and eating a KWE-872 died soon afterwards from fluxuations in their blood-sugar content. The surviving predators were then domesticated.

    The race was found several hundred years later by a Temporal Scout ship. Although several of the crew nearly died, it was determined that the KWE-872 were in fact not evil; they merely were unaware of the affect they had on other sentients. In fact, they were quite friendly. Through the help of the science of the Temporal Police, the KWE-872 were able to invent a device that dampened their reality altering nature. Slowly, over the past 20 years, the KWE-872 were integrated into the Temporal Police, whom felt that their abilities would help in fighting some of the stronger temporal criminals and that it would be better to keep a race who can unconsciously alter reality close at hand instead of running unchecked through the space-time continuum.

    "...And that is how the KWE-872, or Kawaii-jin as they called themselves, joined the Temporal Police and used their fearsome fighting style, Kawaiijitsu, the Art of the Kawaii-ken, to fight for the Temporal Police," the Guide finished as she arrived at Zi'ni's door. She tucked the Guide back into a side pocket of her uniform.

    The pink door had a woven wreath on it. The wreath had small figures of pastel rabbits and chicklets lurking in the intertwined twigs. The wreath seemed infested with pink and yellow ribbons. The words "Welcome Friends" and a large smiley face were in the center of the wreath.

    Neja gathered up her courage and pushed on the doorbell. The jingle that played, for some reason, made her think of colorful, singing dinosaurs and she couldn't help but shudder in revulsion.

    "Coming," called out a cute voice, well, cutely. The door slid open to reveal the T.S. Continuity's Security Officer.

    As part of the treaty signed allowing the Kawaii-jin to enter the Temporal Police, the Kawaii-jin were allowed to design their own uniforms. Therefore, no two Kawaii-jin wore the same uniform. Zi'ni was wearing white boots with pink trim. Her pink, frilly skirt came up a few inches above her knees. Her blouse was a pure white. Her sleeves were puffed up and had pink lace around the cuff. She wore a pink collar with yellow trim around her neck. The collar ended in a big ribbon that hung in front of her chest. The entire ensemble looked like a cross between a sailor fuku and a party dress.

    Zi'ni's pink hair was cut into a short bob framed her lovely face. She was also wearing a silver tiara with a red gem in the center; however this was not a decoration touch. This was the reality dampener that all Kawaii-jin had to wear if they wanted to interact with anyone else in the universe without sending them into diabetic shock.

    While Neja was pretty, both Zi'ni and Cynthia, the ship's Communication Officer, always made her feel plain. Neja had typically worn her shoulder length brown hair in the same hairstyle for years: a ponytail with a headband to keep her long bangs away from her face. When she was off-duty, and not wearing the standard blue uniform of a Tactical Officer, she liked to wear jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt. Her idea of fashion differed from Zi'ni and Cynthia, whose outfits tended to look more like they were going to a Mardi Gras than just relaxing on their off hours.

    "Yes," asked Zi'ni cutely as she answered the door. In fact, from now on, whenever she speaks just add cutely to it.

    "The new captain will be arriving in an hour. Since the intercom is down again and Cynthia is working on getting it back up, I'm going around and getting all the senior staff," said Neja. "I thought that you'd like to help roundup the crew."

    "He's finally arrived? Yippee-skippee," Zi'ni exclaimed, clapping as she jumped up and down. "Perfect timing. I just finished his present."

    "Present?"

    "Yeah. I've been working on it for a week now," she explained as she twirled around and ran over to her closet. She started digging through a small pile of clothing and knickknacks before pulling out a box wrapped in glittering pink wrapping paper with a bright yellow ribbon circling it. There is a small note saying "From the Crew" taped to one corner. "I hope he likes it."

    "Um... I'm sure he will. What is it?"

    "I can't tell you," Zi'ni giggled, "That would ruin the surprise."

    "Whatever. I've already gotten most of the crew. If you could go get Seinrick that would be great." Neja was starting to get a bit edgy. This was the longest conversation she'd ever had with the Kawaii-jin and she was starting to get a toothache.

    "'Kay," Zi'ni chirped. Swinging one arm and holding the present in the other, she marched down corridor in typical Kawaii-jin military style. It just happened to look like a light skip to every other denizen of the cosmos.

    "I'll never understand Kawaii-jin," muttered Neja as shook her head in bewilderment and walked the opposite direction to collect the rest of the senior staff.

Security Tapes of Crew Area 5C: Time Index 128393.235:

Zi'ni skipped/marched to the elevator and descended couple of floors. Once the elevator doors opened, she marched/skipped down the corridor before stopping in front of a non-descript door.

She pushed the doorbell, which rang out in a long and generic single tone. This was unusual because most crewmembers customized their doorbells once they moved into their quarters.

She heard a muffled voice reply to the doorbell. However, after waiting a few seconds and the door not opening, she punched in the personal access code on the door and let herself in.

Standing in the front of the dresser was Seinrick. He was clad only in his uniform pants and was drying his short black hair with a towel. Seinrick was tall and thin, bordering on skinny.

"Zi'ni, you can't just let yourself in here whenever you want," said Robert Seinrick, sounding more annoyed than angry.

"Well, you did personally give me your personal access code," replied Zi'ni perkily as a change of pace from cutely.

"Yes, well, that was when we were dating and we're not anymore, so please don't do it anymore." Seinrick pulled on a white undershirt that he retrieved from a drawer.

"Sure, whatever," Zi'ni remarked distractedly. She sat down on his perfectly made bed, complete with hospital corners, and folded her feet underneath herself. She smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt as she surveyed Seinrick's room.

His room was almost completely devoid of any decoration. The desk was cleared, except for a couple of textbooks tucked in one corner. There were no photos or knickknack atop the dresser. The walls were almost completely bare. It looked like it was an unoccupied room.

The only thing that hinted that the room had anyone living in it was a dartboard. Taped to the dartboard was a picture of a dark-haired man wearing a green camouflaged set of armor and a sword strapped to his side. The picture, and the wall around it, had several holes from thrown darts.

"I never figured out why you don't like that man," said Zi'ni. "He's kinda cute in a don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-destroy-you-and-your-planet-while-I'm-at-it kind of way."

"Only you could think of the Atomic Starlight Knight, the Bane of the Silver Millennium, as 'cute,'" replied Seinrick, as he put on his shoes and socks. "This man is one of the Top Five temporal offenders. He is right up there with Dr. Samuel Beckett, Dr. Thinker, Dr. Emmett Brown and Oscar."

"Don't lie. I've known you for years and you've hated him since before he made the list. Plus he's hasn't done anything bad." Zi'ni paused and thought about what she just said. "Sure he's done some not-nice things, but the timeline was able to repair itself and no one got hurt in the end."

"Starlight Knight is pure, unadulterated evil. He is selfish, uncaring, and egocentric. He's just lucky that he never corrupted Princess Terra with his malignant ways." Seinrick stopped to catch his breath.

"Wow. You really don't like him, do you? Why not? Come on. You can tell me," she pouted.

"No. The history between Tim and I is a dark and horrible one that should never be repeated. This shameful tale is something that can never be forgotten or forgiven. It will only end when one or both of us are dead. Our charred remains left unburied in the ruined surroundings from our final and climatic battle," Seinrick said with a tragic air about him.

Zi'ni quickly dissipated that tragic air. "Aaahhh. You can tell me. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease," whined Zi'ni perkily as she started to bounce on Seinrick's bed while staying in the seated position.

Seinrick finished buttoning up his uniform shirt and walked across the room. He planted his hands on her shoulders to stop her from bouncing and leaned over until his face is level with hers. "Tell you what. I'll tell you what Tim did to me... "Zi'ni's perked up, "...if you tell me why you broke up with me. I thought that things were going pretty good there for a while."

Zi'ni suddenly becomes very serious. Her face lost much of its cuteness, although she still looked like a very attractive young woman. She shrugged off his hands and turned away from him as she climbed off Seinrick's bed, wrapping her arms around herself as if warding off a sudden cold wind. Seinrick, surprised by the unexpected change in Zi'ni's personality, took a step back.

"I told you before," said Zi'ni, "I can't tell you. Please don't ask me again. I just... had to. Okay?" She quickly wipes away some tears that were threatening to form. She turns back and, as abruptly as her cuteness had left her, it returned. Zi'ni looked as if the last bit of conversation had never happened. "But this is not the time for this conversation. We have to go greet the new captain. Are you finished dressing," Zi'ni questioned with a perky, yet still cute, smile.

"Um...sure. I'm all dressed now, so I guess we can leave now." Seinrick looked around his room to make certain that everything was in order. While he smoothed out the wrinkles in his bed that Zi'ni made, Zi'ni cast one more teary-eyed look at Seinrick's back, before cutening her features. She gathered up the present for the captain and the two of them left together for the shuttle bay.

Security Tapes of Shuttle Aragoth: Time Index 128393.245:

The T.S. Continuity's new captain was fidgeting nervously in his seat. The shuttle was in its final approach path towards the Continuity. Jonathon Icaron looked out the passenger window of the shuttle at the timeship. His timeship, he corrected himself.

The ship was shaped like a large, slightly flatten teardrop with the wide end of facing forward. Its silvery hull was polished to a bright gleam. The front and sides of the ship were dotted with window for the 200-plus crew to look out onto the stars.

About midway back on the top of the ship, there was a large spine that curved back towards the rear of the ship. Along the inside of the spine was a bright, glowing blue energy ribbon. Further back, on the bottom of the ship, were two smaller spines set 120 degrees from the other. The smaller spines also had a blue energy ribbon. When the ships sails were unfurled, the T.S. Continuity looked like a large, interstellar fish.

At the rear tip of the Continuity, there was a large engine, pushing the ship silently through space. The ship left a blue trail of energy behind it that slowly faded as the ship moved further away.
Most of the new ships of the Time Fleet had for a more technological look to them. Blocky and studded with miscellaneous devices, the ships might have more firepower, greater defense and finer equipment. However, they didn't have the sense of aesthetics that the Continuity had with its smooth curves. Jonathon greatly preferred Continuity to any other ship in the Fleet.

As the shuttle swung around the ship towards the docking bays at the base of the topmast, the glare from the engine exhaust shone through the shuttle window. The window instantly turned reflective to protect the eyes of any passengers, in this case, just Jonathon. He looked at his reflection.

Jonathon was handsome with soft, boyish features that made people think that he was younger than his age of 20. He was short, barely five and a half feet tall and had a slight build, which added to people's misconception of his age. He remembered how, in his senior year at the Academy, a sophomore tried to make Jonathon carry his bags up to the sophomore's room, a task normally reserved for the freshmen. Jonathon hadn't wanted to make a fuss, so he carried the bags up anyway.

His hair was slightly longer than regulation and spiked. He hated it, but no matter how he styled or cut it, it soon returned to this old style. His mother claimed it made him look heroic.

If his hair was out of regs, his uniform was definitely within them. His uniform was clean with sharp creases in on his sleeves and pants. It was the only thing he learned at the Academy that he could do well. He was terrible at sports, his grades were nothing to be proud of, he wasn't any good in the dating scene, but he could press and mend his uniform like a professional. If he had failed the Academy, he had considered getting into dry cleaning.

As the shuttle finished its docking maneuvers, the engine glare subsided and allowed Jonathon to look out upon the expanse of the Continuity. He watched the numerous maintenance bots swarm over the hull of the ship, constantly repairing and polishing the ship wherever their Destiny Matrix told them to. The Aragoth shuddered as the docking clamps clasped the shuttle and drew it into the shuttle bay.

"Yo, buddy. Youse awake." A deep Brooklyn-accented voice broke Jonathon out of his daydreaming and he looked up at the pilot of the Aragoth.

For some reason, instead of using a Temporal Police shuttle to deliver Jonathon to his ship, they decided to use an independent contractor. They claimed that it was more economical and cost efficient to send him in this manner when he asked why. Not wanting to make waves so soon in his first command, Jonathon agreed to take the Aragoth.

When Jonathon first saw the dinged and dingy yellow shuttle with its bumper sticker with colorful language, he began to wonder if High Command had gone with the lowest bidder. The shuttle's pilot didn't do anything to dispel this thought.

Henry "Cabby" Grungic had piloted the Aragoth for over twenty years and looked like he hadn't bathed the entire time. The grotesquely overweight pilot wore an old, faded tropical shirt that had to be unbuttoned to be worn. Unfortunately, this allowed the man's stomach to almost spill out, barely held in by the stained wife-beater that he wore under the tropical shirt. His clothing was covered with miscellaneous stains because apparently moving at any pace faster than a walk made him break out in a sweat and he was allergic to napkins. Instead of wearing shoes, he wore old leather flip-flops.

"I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know that the docking procedures had finished," apologized Jonathon as he stood up and retrieved his luggage from the overhead bin. He began to drag it towards the exit when the pilot held out a hand to stop him.

"Is there a problem," asked Jonathon.

"Yeah. There is a problem," said the pilot as he scratched his stubble-covered chin. "Who's payin' the fare?"

"Um, what do you mean? Didn't High Command take care of it?" Jonathon was confused by the Cabby's statement.

"Nope. They's told to me to deliver ya COD. Now, youse can argue alls you want, but I have it in writin' that you were payin'. Now, I kin take ya back, so that youse kin argue with High Command, but you'll still have to pay for the fare, plus the fare back to High Command and returning to here when youse done. Might as well pay now and save yerself the hassle. Here I'll even let you look at the contract."

Grungic handed a datapad over to Jonathon and he scanned the document, looking to see if for some reason Grungic was mistaken. He wasn't. So that's what High Command meant by it was more cost efficient for an independent shuttle. They wouldn't have to pay the cost for fuel and shipping. I don't want to cause any trouble with High Command so soon after receiving command, so I guess I'll pay.

"Okay. Give me the bill." Grungic smirked, as if he knew that Jonathon would pay all along, and punched a key on the datapad. The contract disappeared from the screen and the bill appeared. Jonathon's eyes widen with shock as he saw the amount of the bill.

"B-b-but this is half my salary for the month!"

"Hey, I don't set company policy. I just charge what I'm told ta," Grungic said with a shrug.

Jonathon sighed and paid the fare. Well, maybe things will get better from here. Jonathon picked up his bags and headed for the exit

Security Tapes of Deck 12: Time Index 128393.241:

Cleaning Bot 376 took a step back and surveyed its work. The floor gleamed with a glossy sheen. It had been waxing and buffing this single stretch of corridor all morning. If its A.I. had been advanced enough, it would have questioned the need to wax the same area repeatedly. However, its Destiny Matrix had told him that it was what was required, so it did the cleaning.

The custodial robot looked up as it heard the lift ding. A shapely, young woman wearing grease stained coveralls came bolting out of the elevator. She stepped onto the waxed corridor and began sliding, her arms wind milling in the air to keep her balance. Her momentum caused her to pick up speed as she zoomed past Cleaning Bot 376 and she slammed into the junction wall at the end of the corridor.

Cleaning Bot 376 looked down at the freshly waxed floor and the large streak that now ran down corridor. It would have started to buff out the streak; however, its Destiny Matrix told it that it was needed elsewhere. Therefore, with a shrug of its metallic shoulders, it boarded the lift to continue its work.

*    *    *

Tara McKail slowly climbed to her feet with a groan and readjusted her glasses. She rubbed her sore shoulder where she had run into the wall.

I really need to rewrite the Cleaning Bots' programming. I am the chief engineer, after all, and this is just plain ridiculous. However, she knew that would be a lost cause. The robots' Destiny Matrix would soon overwrite the programming again and she had other things to do with her time.

I hope I am not too late to greet our new commander. She had been working with the ship's Providence Drive when Neja had told about the captain's arrival. She had gotten carried away with her tinkering and had almost forgotten. Luckily, one of the other engineering crew reminded her before it was too late. Her staff was used to her absent-mindedness and reminding her of important meetings.

She started walking down the corridor towards the Shuttle Bay, more carefully this time in case there were any other Cleaning Bots prowling nearby. As she rounded the corner, she saw an old woman slowly shuffle ahead of her.

"Doctor, do you need any help," Tara called out as she broke into a light jog to catch up with the ship's medical officer.

"No, I'm fine, dearheart," said the elderly doctor as she latched onto Tara's arm. "I may not look as spry as I used to, however, there is still plenty of life left in these old bones. However, what did I tell you about calling me doctor?"

"Sorry, Doc...Sylvia. I keep forgetting."

"That's okay, dearheart. You don't get to be as old as me without being at least a little forgiving," Sylvia said with a smile. She looked up at Tara. "When are you going to let your hair grow out? You're such a pretty girl that it's a shame not to have a healthy head of hair."

Tara unconsciously touched her brown hair. It was common among female engineers to cut their hair in short, boyish styles to prevent it from getting caught the machinery. She had tried to explain that to the doctor before, but either Sylvia kept ignoring her, or she kept forgetting.

"I'm not that pretty. I think that mousy describes me better than anything," Tara protested as they continued down hallway.

"Nonsense, dearheart. You look lovely. You just need a little more confidence in yourself. You'll never catch a man hiding away down in the engine room."

Tara opened her mouth to protest more, but she noticed that they had arrived at the entrance to the Shuttle Bay. As the doors slide open, Tara saw a dirty, yellow shuttle touch down in the Shuttle Bay. She and the doctor joined the rest of the senior staff, who were waiting nearby.

"What do you think the captain will be like, Cynthia?" Tara asked the Communication Officer.

"I'm sure he's tall, strong, and totally dreamy," replied Cynthia as she clasped her very tan hands in front of her very blond head and sighed. Her eyes getting a starry-eyed look in them as she pictured what she thought that the captain would look like. "Oh, and he's has to be single."

"Poppycock," said the distinguished older gentleman with a gray, walrus-like mustache and a riding crop slung under his arm standing next to Cynthia. "I'm certain that our new captain is not your type."

The man's retort snapped Cynthia out of her daydream. "What do you know, Rutherford?"

"Well, back in my Royal Time Force days, an officer was not given command of a ship unless he had led a long and distinguished career through numerous campaigns. Definitely not the type to fraternize with the crew," stated Rutherford as he adjusted his monocle.

"I really don't care what the captain is like," claimed a small, mole-ish-looking man standing next to them, "as long as he doesn't interrupt my experiments and zzzzzzzzzzz..."

"Great Scott! Glockenstein has fallen asleep again," exclaimed Rutherford. "You really need to get more sleep, old man. Science is all well and good, but it shouldn't deprive you of your sleep."

"I think it's, like, totally weird how he can sleep and stand up like that," said Cynthia. "I once saw him fall asleep in the cafeteria. He stood completely still for an hour holding his tray. The line got really long that day."

"Um...guys," said Tara as she pointed at the shuttle. "I think we'd better get ready. The boarding ramp is lowering." The crew quickly lined up and stood at attention, some straighter than other.
   
*    *    *

Jonathon stood in front of the exit door, waiting for the ramp to finish lowering. He took several deep breaths and checked his breast pocket for his speech. He had been writing, revising, and practicing for weeks ever since he had found out about the assignment. He hoped that it would go over well with his crew and that it might possibly even inspire them.

A green light flashed next to the exit signaling that the door was safe to open and a bass mounted on a plaque above the exit started to sing a song about a man named Jack hitting the road. Jonathon took one more deep breath before stepping through the opening door.

"Aww, it's just a kid," whined a blond girl as she turned around and stomped off with a disappointed air about her.

"That can't be the new captain. Why he's barely out of his short pants," said an old man with a bushy mustache and monocle. "I'm calling High Command and getting to the bottom of this."

"That's our new captain? What did he do, rescue an admiral from some terrorists," asked a tall, thin man towards the back.

"I don't know. He reminds of my great-grandson," said old woman with her hair up in a gray bun. "You know the one that's always rolling around on that funny board with wheels. What does he call it? The XYZ Games?"

"If this is it, I'll be going. I need to do some drills with my team before the shift is up," claimed a tall woman with a ponytail."

One by one, Jonathon watched the welcoming committee leave. But-but-but my speech.... Uh...guess I should let them go. They seem pretty busy. Jonathon looked up again and noticed that he was not alone. There stood before him three figures.

One was a wizened old man with thick glasses. He snored softly as he slept standing up and muttering something about gravimetric fluctuations in the fusion capacitor.

The second was a cute girl with pink hair wearing a pink and white dress. She was cradling a wrapped package in her arms.

Lastly, there was a pretty, young woman with short-cropped hair and glasses. Her uniform had numerous grease spots and a few tools poking out from her pockets. For some reason, she seemed more intent on studying her shoes than looking at Jonathon.

"Hello," the pink-haired girl exclaimed with so much energy that Jonathon reflexively took a step back. "I'm Zi'ni. I'm the Security Officer.

"And this is Glockenstein. He's the Science Officer" She pointed at the sleeping man who was now giving a lecture on the quantum variants. Zi'ni leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "Don't mind him. He doesn't get much sleep because of his E-X-P-E-R-I-M-E-N-T-S.

"Over here is the Chief Engineer." Zi'ni grabbed Jonathon's hand and dragged him over to Tara before he could mutter a single word. "Tara, this is the new captain..." She turned to Jonathon. "What was your name?"

"Um...Jonathon. Jonathon Icaron," stated Jonathon. Things were moving a bit fast and he was having trouble keeping up.

"Okie Dokie, Jonathon," said Zi'ni cutely and turned back to Tara. "This is the new captain, Jonathon Icaron. Oh! I nearly forgot. Here's a present." She thrust the package into Jonathon's arms, knocking the air out of him.
Jonathon looked down at the festively decorated package as if it were an explosive device. "What is this?"

"Open and find out, Silly," giggled Zi'ni.

Jonathon carefully unwrapped the package and opened the box. Inside was a fluffy, white sweater with pink letters that spell out "Hello! I'm the Captain!"

"Um...it's nice. Thank you," said Jonathon.

"I hope it fits. I didn't know what size you were, so I made it extra-large."

Zi'ni looked down at her chronometer on her wrist. "I have to get back to work. You never know when someone might decide to do a not-nice thing. Tara can give you a tour. Right, Tara?"

"What? Oh, sure." For some reason, Tara seemed very flustered. Zi'ni shrugged her shoulders and left the docking bay.

Security Tapes of Engineering Bay: Time Index 128393.252:

Tara kept sneaking peeks at her new captain during the entire elevator trip down to Engineering Bay. There was something about him that seemed familiar.

Could it be? Could it be that he is the one who promised to go to Tokyo U with me? No, that's not it. Maybe he is my Prince? No, that's not it either. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something that seemed to draw her to him.

Maybe it was his wide-eyed innocence. He was constantly asking questions about the Continuity and her functions. He had spent 15 minutes just staring out at the stars at the ship's lounge. Everything on the ship seemed new and wondrous to him.

Or was it the pride he seemed to have of his new command? Every time he saw a crewmember, he stopped them and praised them on something, whether it was their uniform or how hard they seemed to be working. This confused most of them since they didn't know who he was yet. Also when he saw a smudge on one of the windows they passed, he would stop to clean it with the sleeve of his uniform.

It can't be that I simple think that he is handsome, can it? Tara stared at him as he watched the elevator click away the floors they passed. Suddenly, he turned to Tara and she looked away. I hope he didn't notice me staring at him. She felt a warm blush stain her cheeks.

She was rescued from saying anything that might embarrass herself further when the elevator slowed to a stop. The elevator doors opened up to reveal a large, two-story room with a couple dozen workers swarming around the numerous computer enclaves scattered on either floor.

   "This is the Engineering Bay," stated Tara as she escorted the captain into the large room. She felt more comfortable now that she was no longer alone in a small, enclosed room and back into her home territory.

   "Is that was I think it is," asked Jonathon as he pointed at the large structure that dominated the center of the room.

   "Yep," said Tara with a smile. "That's the ship's Destiny Matrix, what powers the Providence Drive and every other system on the Continuity."

   The Destiny Matrix towered before them. It had four 5-meter tall pillars set on a circular platform. Resting on top of the pillars was another circular platform. In the middle of each pillar, about 2 and a half-meter up and facing inward, as well as the center of the upper and lower platforms, was a blue glowing panel.

From each panel, five beams of light lanced out and connected with another panel. The space in between the outside beams crackled with energy and formed a blue, translucent barrier. The entire thing looks like a large diamond.

Where the inner beams converged in the center, there was a glowing cloud about two meters in diameter. The iridescent blue cloud was constantly roiling and churning. Every now and then, a lightning bolt would erupt from the cloud and strike harmlessly against the barrier.

"H-how does it work," asked Jonathon, who was clearly in awe of the device before him.

"Didn't you learn this at the Academy?" Tara was confused how someone given command of a timeship at such a young age could not know how the Destiny Matrix worked.

"Well, you see, I kinda sleep through that class," said Jonathon as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "The professor was so boring that I couldn't help it. Five minutes into one of his lectures and I would be unable to keep my eyes open. Although I always went to the Professor and apologized after class; I'm just lucky that he only gave multiple choice tests."

Aww, how cute. He's blushing. Wait! What am I thinking? We have a captain who doesn't even know how the single most important device on our timeship, on any timeship works. This can't be good. Tara quickly decided that she'd do her best to explain the workings of the ship to the captain and help him in anyway possible. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she found him attractive, she told herself.

"Some people used to believe that the future was already decided by the gods, Fates, or something," said Tara to explain to the inexperienced man in front of her. "That everyone has a destiny to do something or go somewhere. Others used to scoff at the idea of predestination. They believed that people had complete control over their future. However, with the invention of the Destiny Matrix, both turned out to be correct.

"The Destiny Matrix is able to determine who and what is needed for any occasion, but it can't figure out how or why." Tara walked around the Destiny Matrix and Jonathon followed behind. "How it does this has eluded scientist for ages. It could decide that a person is not needed for a mission, then, the next day, decide that the person is vital to its success.

"Corrector-class ships, like the Continuity, were the first and only class of timeship to have every system, from the maintenance bots to the custodial bots to the food replicator, slaved to the Destiny Matrix. That is why this Destiny Matrix is larger than most ships'. It was later determined that this process was very... unpredictable. While it was possible for the ship to run more efficiently than a completely manual-run ship, there would be times that that efficiency would suddenly drop below regulatory specs. Complex repairs could be done in record time with efficient use of materials, while some simple systems would give out and not get repaired for twice the standard amount of time for no other reason than one system was destined to be fixed at that point while the other wasn't.

"Later designs for timeship only incorporated the Destiny Matrix into the Providence Drive," Tara said as she pointed to the large horizontal cylinder projecting from the middle of the far wall that was connected to the Destiny Matrix by several cables that ran across the floor. "It was deemed that while it wasn't as efficient it was infinitely more reliable."

At this point she walked him over to a Navigational substation. "The Destiny Matrix is directly interfaced to the Providence Drive," she continued to explain, pointing out the various functions in front of her. "When we are given a mission, we input all the information into the Navigation Computer to determine how likely that we are to be in a certain place at a certain time right now. If the estimation is 60% or less, we are required to contact High Command for further information.

"If the estimation is high enough or High Command gives the go-ahead anyway, we deploy, or 'unfurl' as some of the more nautical-minded personnel have called it, the Energy Sails. The sails gather energy from a cosmic stream called the Winds of Fate. Once enough is gathered, the Providence Drive engages and takes us to the time and place that we need to go. Give or take. There is a degree of variability in the process."

"So what your saying is that we're not so much space-folding as probability-folding," Jonathon inquired. He was surprised to find that he wasn't at all bored by Tara's explanation so far.

"In a way, yes. There's more to it, but I'm only giving a simplified explanation of it right now. If you want more, I'd suggest talking to one of the science guys. All I work with is the innards of the machines."

"So, if the Destiny Matrix says that a ship can't make, then that's the end of it?"

"Not necessarily," Tara explained. "What the Matrix determines isn't always correct. There have been reports of ships with estimations in the high eighties being lost in the transit and of ships with low estimations making it. It is called 'bucking Fate.' In fact, the Continuity holds the record for making a successfully making a trip with the lowest probability: 34.79%.

"Also, there is the human factor. There are hundreds of things that the crew can do during transit that will increase or decrease our chances of safely arriving. No trip is set in stone as succeeding or failing.

"Then there are the Temporal Offenders. The reason that we hunt them down is the effect they have on the Winds of Fate. The offshoot timelines that they create can seriously hamper travel. The actually fragmenting of a timeline causes a temporal storm that can batter or even destroy a ship. In other cases, where the Temporal Offender causes a timeline to prematurely terminate, it causes a calm in the time stream. Any ships caught in it are trapped and most complete their journey without the use of their Providence Drive."

Tara finished the circuit around the Engineering Bay and stood in front of Jonathon. "Any questions?"

"Just one: what's that?" asked Jonathon as he pointed to the small locked room near the Destiny Matrix.

"That is the Timeline Eraser," said Tara. "It is a device reserved for the direst of situations. If it appears that a timeline will become too much of a hazard, the Eraser can eliminate the errant timeline. However, doing so completely drains the ship's Destiny Matrix, leaving it a lifeless hulk. The crew can make it to safety by using the escape pods and shuttles. However, while crews have been safely rescued, no ship abandoned in this manner has been recovered.

"Only the senior staff has the keys to the Eraser. Tomorrow, during your in-brief, you will be issued yours," said Tara. "Now, if you have no further questions, I'll escort you to your room for you to get settled in."

Security Tapes of Crew Area 2A: Time Index 128393.267:

   The door to the crew quarters slid open and Tara and Jonathon walked into the small room.

   "I'm sorry about the confusion with your quarters," apologized Tara. "I forgot that we were putting the Puchu delegation there. Your arrival kinda caught us off guard. I hope these are okay in the mean time."

   "No, it's fine. This is twice the size of my quarters in the academy," said Jonathon as he set his luggage on the floor and looked around the room.

   In the center of the room, there was a small bed with grey sheets draped over it. Against the northern wall stood two dressers, and a desk, and a wall locker set against the eastern. There was a door going into the bathroom on the southern wall.

   "Well, I'd best be off," said Tara was she suddenly realized that she was alone with Jonathon in the room. She quickly turned to leave before Jonathon said anything that might make stay any longer. However, the door didn't open and she ended up running into it at full speed. She fall backwards and leaded on her bottom.

   "Are you alright," asked Jonathon as he ran over to her and helped her up to her feet. He walked her over to the bed and made her sit down.

   "I'm fine," replied Tara as she touched her tender nose and felt the wet trickle of blood. "Although, I seem to have gotten a nose bleed."

    "Let me get something for that," said Jonathon. He left her side and went into the bathroom. He returned moments later looking very perplexed. "I can't seem to find a washcloth or a toilet for that matter. There only a sink and shower in there."

   "Oh, I forgot to tell you. To conserve space, the designers took those out," explained Tara. "Look for three little metal star-shapes."

   Jonathon reentered the bathroom and came back with the metal stars. "Is this was you wanted?"

   "Yes, those are it," said Tara as she took them from Jonathon's hands. "They're called ellipses. They were invented for most hygienic uses. From washing your face to more... um... private needs. High Command decided that to use these would reduce the bathroom size by a third and the laundry bill by a quarter."

   "How do they work?" Jonathon was very curious. They didn't use these devices at the Academy.

   "Like this." Tara held the three stars side-by-side in one hand. With her other hand, she pressed them simultaneously. There was a small flash of white light.

*   *   *

   As the light faded, Jonathon noticed that the blood was gone. Tara's face was clean as well as her hands, and she looked generally more refreshed.

   "See? Quite simple," said Tara.

   "If the ellipses can do that, why keep the sink, towels and shower?"

   "Well, High Command thought that for the sake of morale, they should allow the crew some luxuries," Tara clarified.

   "Can I try?" Jonathon as he took the ellipses from Tara's hand.

   "Sure," said Tara. "Just be..."

*   *   *

   Tara blinked as three small dots swam in her vision and she shook her head to clear it.

   "Cool," exclaimed Jonathon as he started to press the ellipses again.

   "Wait," exclaimed Tara. She rushed towards him.

*   *   *

*   *   *

*   *   *

*   *   *

   Tara snatched the metal stars from Jonathon's hands. The three little dots that swam in her vision had been joined by a host of their friends. "Don't play with these! They are very sophisticated pieces of equipment."

   She staggered to the bathroom and placed them back on the tray. When she reentered the room, Jonathon was looking guiltily down at his hands.

   "I'm sorry, Tara," he apologized. "I should have warned you. I just hadn't seen anything like those before. I guess I just got a little carried away."

   "It's okay, Jonathon," said Tara with a smile. "At least your hands are clean now."

   Jonathon laughed a little, feeling relieved that she wasn't upset with him. He looked up at the door and walked towards it. It stayed shut. "I wonder why the door won't open? Do you think that it is stuck?"

   "It's probably just the door's Destiny Matrix," stated Tara.

   "Wait. Even the doors have a Destiny Matrix?"

   "Yup. Like I said, every system on this ship is slaved to a Destiny Matrix. It makes boring parties real interesting with everyone standing around wondering what they're destined to do so that they all could leave," Tara said. "I remember one time we were stuck in the room for over three hours until one of the guest complimented the hostess's dress."

   "So...I guess we're stuck here for a while," said Jonathon as he sat on the floor and leaned against the bed. Tara soon joined him.

   They sat there for five, ten, fifteen minutes. Jonathon was trying to think of something to say, while Tara was busy trying not to think about how his sleeve was touching her arm.

"Tell me about yourself, Tara," said Jonathon as he thought of a topic of conversation.

"Wh-what," asked Tara. She forced her thoughts away from fabric-skin contact, which were coming to incredibly close to bordering on the dangerous side.  

"I asked you to tell me more about yourself. I figured that since we are going to be working together a lot that we might as well get to know each other," said Jonathon.

"Well, I'm a Temporal Refugee, like most of the crew. I was recruited from a city on Earth called Macross. An alien craft crash-landed on an island in the Pacific. My parents were famous engineers and were among the first people sent to study it. They settled and created a city in the shadow the alien craft. They also helped reverse engineer and rebuild the craft. It was named the Super Dimensional Fortress or SDF-1.

"It was during the first take-off of the SDF-1 that it happened. The original owners of the ship, a race known as Zentraedi returned for ship. They attacked us and, in order to save the ship, the captain attempted a space-fold. I was working in the engine room as an apprentice to my parents when the space-fold engine disappeared. All I remember was standing next to it, working on it for the jump. Then, a wall of white energy engulfed me.

"Next thing I knew, I was in a white room with two men in silver jumpsuits. They told me that I had been about to die when their Destiny Recruiter pulled me out of my timeline. They wanted me to come work for them at the Temporal Police. I was sent to the Academy and when I graduated, was posted on a timeship. This is my second assignment."

"Do you miss them?" Jonathon seemed really engrossed in what Tara was saying and she found that terribly endearing.

"Who? The guys in the silver jumpsuits? I barely knew them."

"No, your parents," said Jonathon. "Do you miss them much?"

"I guess. I mean, they were all I had growing up," said Tara. She hugged her knees against her chest. "No matter how busy they got, they always found time to spend with me. I was never really alone.

"I should be grateful for the Temporal Police. If they hadn't come along, I would have died during that accident." Tara was suddenly very curious to find out more about this intriguing person standing next to her. "What about you? What was your childhood like?"

   "Well, there's really not much to tell," Jonathon started to say when they were interrupted by the intercom.

   "Tara? This is Cynthia," said the voice coming from the ceiling speakers. "Is the captain still with you?"

   "Yes, he's here," Tara called out. "I see you got the intercom to work again. What was wrong?"

   "Nothing," said the disembodied voice. "It just, like, started working. I got this, like, totally weird message on my screen saying "Destiny fulfilled," but that was all. Anyway, tell the captain to report to the main conference room. We've got orders from High Command. It looks like we already have a mission."

   "We can't," said Jonathon. "The door won't open. It seems to be st..."
   At that moment, the door slid open. Both Tara and Jonathon stared at the opening. It seemed to almost taunt them.

   "Um...never mind. We'll be right there," said Jonathon hesitantly. The intercom clicked in response as the other side turned off.
   
   "Go ahead," said Jonathon. "I'll be right behind. I want to put some stuff away real quick. Tell them I'll be along in a few minutes." He walked over to his bags and hurriedly started to unpack.

   "Okay. Don't take too long." Tara hurried out of the room. She felt as if she had to get away from there before making a bigger fool of herself than she already had. Besides, it was getting a bit warm in there and hard to breathe. She decided that she'd look into the environmental system when the meeting was over.

[Brian]

--> "Yes," asked Zi'ni cutely as she answered the door. In fact, from now on, whenever she speaks just add cutely to it.

Should be "Yes?"

Also, kinda breaking the fourth wall with that last bit.  The narrative in the begining is just the captain talking about his story -- you might want to put it into the context of him speaking before a military tribunal or adressing another person specifically (up to you, of course) so that you can still have these asides without breaking the fourth wall.  Basically, you can cut to an intersecting scene of the captain character speaking to someone else and saying, "You know what?  Every time I mention her just imagine that she's doing something cutely.  It's what she IS." or the like.

Just a suggestion, mind. ;)

-> "He's finally arrived? Yippee-skippee," Zi'ni exclaimed, clapping as she jumped up and down. "Perfect timing. I just finished his present."

'Yippee-skippee' should probably be an exclamation.  Like this!  ;)

->  "I can't tell you," Zi'ni giggled, "That would ruin the surprise."

This is actually two sentences, so both dialogue bits shouldn't be tacked to the prose.  I would suggest:

"...you," Zi'ni giggled.  "That would..."

-> There were no photos or knickknack atop the dresser.

I always thought that was knick-knacks....

->  Seinrick stopped to catch his breath.

Not much of a rant to leave him breathless....  I think he should whine longer, first.

-> "I told you before," said Zi'ni, "I can't tell you. Please don't ask me again. I just... had to. Okay?" She quickly wipes away some tears that were threatening to form. She turns back and, as abruptly as her cuteness had left her, it returned. Zi'ni looked as if the last bit of conversation had never happened. "But this is not the time for this conversation. We have to go greet the new captain. Are you finished dressing," Zi'ni questioned with a perky, yet still cute, smile.

Tenses -- wipes -> wiped

Also, "...finished dressing?"  Zi'ni questioned...

-> The front and sides of the ship were dotted with window for the 200-plus crew to look out onto the stars.

window -> windows (pluralization)

-> When the ships sails were unfurled, the T.S. Continuity looked like a large, interstellar fish.

ships sails -> ship's sails (possesive)

-> At the rear tip of the Continuity, there was a large engine, pushing the ship silently through space. The ship left a blue trail of energy behind it that slowly faded as the ship moved further away.

You don't really descibe the engine.  On the one hand, I could see it as a giant fish tail ... but I can also see it as the engine from a standard car just slapped onto the back of the ship.  :p

More description!

-> His hair was slightly longer than regulation and spiked. He hated it, but no matter how he styled or cut it, it soon returned to this old style. His mother claimed it made him look heroic.

regulation, and spiked.

I can just imagine his mother sneaking in while he's sleeping to style his hair.

-> If he had failed the Academy, he had considered getting into dry cleaning.

Defining moment for this fic.  If it was just about him getting along with the women of the crew, it'd be a clone of Tylor.

-> "Yo, buddy. Youse awake." A deep Brooklyn-accented voice broke Jonathon out of his daydreaming and he looked up at the pilot of the Aragoth.

Youse awake?"

It's a question, remember. :p

-> When Jonathon first saw the dinged and dingy yellow shuttle with its bumper sticker with colorful language, he began to wonder if High Command had gone with the lowest bidder. The shuttle's pilot didn't do anything to dispel this thought.

Repetition of 'with'.  I'd replace the first one with 'and', but you might get other suggestions.

-> stained wife-beater that he wore under the tropical shirt.

You can replace 'under the tropical shirt.' with 'underneath' to avoid repetition.

-> Grungic handed a datapad over to Jonathon and he scanned the document, looking to see if for some reason Grungic was mistaken. He wasn't. So that's what High Command meant by it was more cost efficient for an independent shuttle. They wouldn't have to pay the cost for fuel and shipping. I don't want to cause any trouble with High Command so soon after receiving command, so I guess I'll pay.

Repetition of 'command'.  I'd replace the last one with 'orders'.

-> However, its Destiny Matrix had told him that it was what was required, so it did the cleaning.

...I don't really get this.

But I like it.

->  Cleaning Bots

Is this the proper name for the group?  I understand that an individual bot is named Cleaning Bot #???, but as a whole, are they called the same?

->"I'm sure he's tall, strong, and totally dreamy," replied Cynthia as she clasped her very tan hands in front of her very blond head and sighed. Her eyes getting a starry-eyed look in them as she pictured what she thought that the captain would look like. "Oh, and he's has to be single."

blond -- blonde (since this is a woman)

That second sentence is part of the first sentence ... you probably want to re-write it, or merge it with the previous sentence.

he's has -- he has -- he's got

-> "That's our new captain? What did he do, rescue an admiral from some terrorists," asked a tall, thin man towards the back.

That (again) should be a question.

Nod to Tylor, very nice.

-> "If this is it, I'll be going. I need to do some drills with my team before the shift is up," claimed a tall woman with a ponytail."

Extra quotation mark on the end.

-> "And this is Glockenstein. He's the Science Officer" She pointed at the sleeping man who was now giving a lecture on the quantum variants. Zi'ni leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "Don't mind him. He doesn't get much sleep because of his E-X-P-E-R-I-M-E-N-T-S.

Officer."  She

-> Inside was a fluffy, white sweater with pink letters that spell out "Hello! I'm the Captain!"

spell -- spelled

-> Could it be? Could it be that he is the one who promised to go to Tokyo U with me? No, that's not it. Maybe he is my Prince? No, that's not it either. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something that seemed to draw her to him.

Slightly gratuitous.  :p

-> It can't be that I simple think that he is handsome, can it? Tara stared at him as he watched the elevator click away the floors they passed. Suddenly, he turned to Tara and she looked away. I hope he didn't notice me staring at him. She felt a warm blush stain her cheeks.

simple -- simply->

"Is that was I think it is," asked Jonathon as he pointed at the large structure that dominated the center of the room.

Should be a question, again (missing question mark)

-> The Destiny Matrix towered before them. It had four 5-meter tall pillars set on a circular platform. Resting on top of the pillars was another circular platform. In the middle of each pillar, about 2 and a half-meter up and facing inward, as well as the center of the upper and lower platforms, was a blue glowing panel.

half-meter -- half-meters

-> "H-how does it work," asked Jonathon, who was clearly in awe of the device before him.

This is a question, too.

-> Aww, how cute. He's blushing. Wait! What am I thinking? We have a captain who doesn't even know how the single most important device on our timeship, on any timeship works. This can't be good. Tara quickly decided that she'd do her best to explain the workings of the ship to the captain and help him in anyway possible. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she found him attractive, she told herself.

anyway -- any way

-> "So what your saying is that we're not so much space-folding as probability-folding," Jonathon inquired. He was surprised to find that he wasn't at all bored by Tara's explanation so far.

Also a question.

->  "Are you alright," asked Jonathon as he ran over to her and helped her up to her feet. He walked her over to the bed and made her sit down.

And again.

-> "Sure," said Tara. "Just be..."

* * *

Tara blinked as three small dots swam in her vision and she shook her head to clear it.

BRILLIANT.

-> "Yup. Like I said, every system on this ship is slaved to a Destiny Matrix. It makes boring parties real interesting with everyone standing around wondering what they're destined to do so that they all could leave," Tara said. "I remember one time we were stuck in the room for over three hours until one of the guest complimented the hostess's dress."

one of the guest -- one of the guests

-> "It was during the first take-off of the SDF-1 that it happened. The original owners of the ship, a race known as Zentraedi returned for ship. They attacked us and, in order to save the ship, the captain attempted a space-fold. I was working in the engine room as an apprentice to my parents when the space-fold engine disappeared. All I remember was standing next to it, working on it for the jump. Then, a wall of white energy engulfed me.

Now, that opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.




Okay.

I liked it.  I'm curious to see more, and appreciate the love-interest that the main character has as not being so typical of most anime.