Roughnecks: A Hostile Solo Story

The Prelude...

Author’s Note: Before we get underway and really get to know the crew, I wanted to tell everyone that if you showed up and were disappointed by character dossiers and pictures so that the crew is fresh in your mind, sorry about that. I had to split what I’d had into two sections. In the last section, you got a basic idea of who the crew of the CAS Castle Bravo is.

Now, you really get to know them.

These are roughnecks and as Captain Armstrong and Lieutenant Davidson (yes, I did name a woman Harley Davidson) are the straight characters, they’re acting as foils to a group that can be immature frat boys to varying degrees. Yeah, there’s gonna be violence and coarse language and depictions of the crew “harassing” each other. If that doesn’t appeal to you then this story is one you should probably pass on. I’m not editing it. If you’re ready to see what a bunch of frat boys do when confronted by some space horror, stay tuned because horror will be visited upon them in some form or fashion.

At present, I am using Hostile Solo Rules by Zozer Games and Load The Simulation and The Database by

Cezar Capacle

. Since space travel is likely to take a long time, rather than having them sleep the whole way, they’ll have to each go into the simulation room and do their training which should be pretty fun.

Okay enough with the intro. Let’s get it…

---

Byrne waited near the dock for the ship for the crew to arrive. He'd spent the last several days tracking down crew for the Voroncovo Aerospace Castle Bravo, a three-hundred ton vessel for the Community of American States, the CAS, in which his company, Tharsis Corporation, operated. He had been assigned one crew member, the science officer, a young up-and-coming, gung-ho type that looked perfect to him.

William Byrne was the type that was risk-averse. He didn't like anything that bordered on the uncertain. Tharsis didn't either, typically. His duties would be that of Corporate Liason, Safety & Operations and Management. He'd been on survey missions before but this one, assigning the Castle Bravo to a crew of known and potentially dysfunctional crew members alike seemed off. He shrugged it off and looked over at David Lawton, his one Tharsis-assigned crew member and smiled warmly.

"First time out, Mister Lawton?" he asked, trying to break the ice.

David had been standing at at something resembling a parade rest stance. David's flat expression never wavered.

"Into the reaches of deep space, yes," he answered without looking back, "It's an honor to be recruited by Tharsis for this mission. Am I to understand that this is the ship's maiden voyage?"

Byrne continued looking at David as he spoke in his proper English accent.

"Tharsis spared no expense on it and Voroncovo Aerospace out of Moscow certainly delivered," he said to David, "To answer your question, yes, maiden voyage. She was just named. New facilities and we're traveling with a crew of eight in total. It's an exploration mission but we do have miners, pilots, medical personnel. You're among them. We should be fine. There are two that worry me, though. I'll deal with them. I just hope the reputations are on point for the more stellar of our crew and for the more ...challenged...shall we say? Let us hope that it's rumor and not much more than that."

"Mister Byrne!" a voice said from the distance.

Byrne looked over to see their Captain approaching with his navigational officer walking by his side. As the Captain approached, he extended his hand.

"Jackson Armstrong, I'll be Captain of your vessel and this is my nav and science officer, Davidson," he said as they shook hands.

"Pleasure," Byrne told them, "I don't think I've introduced you to our other company-assigned officer, this is Mister Lawton and he'll be accompanying us on this mission. Mister Lawton will share science duties with Miss Davidson." He looked at Davidson, a woman of average height, weight and with her hair pulled back into a sort of neat, short ponytail, "He's here to provide support for staff and I think you'll find he's extremely capable. This is his first deep space mission so I hope you and the rest of the crew will extend the same courtesy you extend to me."

"Glad to have you aboard with us, Mister Lawton," Armstrong said, extending his hand, "With how long this is expected to take, the only thing that isn't great is that you only get a half-share for this outing."

"I'm certain there will be other missions that will provide full shares," Lawton said, firmly shaking Armstrong's hand, "I think of this as an opportunity to showcase my skills and perhaps learn new ones. Experience, if you will, sir."

"Glad to hear it," Armstrong said, "I'm sure Tharsis may reconsider, I've seen it happen a time or two. It's rare, but it does happen. You do right by me and I'll do the same for you." He turned his attention to Byrne, "I understand that you've had some concerns about some of the crew?"

Byrne pursed his lips together and opened up the manila folder he'd been carrying in his briefcase. He handed it to Armstrong.

"As you may or may not know, Captain Armstrong," he says, "the company asked me to hire only those that we know can get the job done, however, they were apprehensive about a few of the calls I made via videophone a few nights ago."

"Oh boy," Davidson said as she read some of the personnel files alongside her captain, "Boudreaux is alright but he just prefers to add personal touches to company-standard uniforms. Annoying but not impossible."

"Jackson, Murphy and Jenkins," Armstrong said, "We'll just have to pull a bit of extra weight to keep the three of them in line."

"And, no offense, Miss Davidson," Byrne said, "but with a female crew member on board, I expect that there will probably be some form of language and verbiage that will be unacceptable from these three crew members. If there is, I represent the company and, Captain, I'm happy to assist in any disciplinary matters."

"I think things will be just fine," he says, "It's not so much Jenkins that I worry about. He's quiet, tends to stay to himself. Just don't push him too much and everything should be just fine. Jackson and Murphy, they're the wild cards of the bunch, I'm really not sure..."

They found themselves suddenly interrupted by voices approaching them. Two of them had definite Appalachian accents while the other two were silently watching the conversation unfold.

"Motherfucker!" the slightly overweight one with the large eyes and mouth started saying "You're so fuckin' old, you had a beachfront condo on the continent of Pangaea!"

"Goddammit, Ricky, I done told you once to stow that shit!" said the older gentlemen.

"Oh no..." Byrne said, his regret on hiring them, instant.

"Roscoe, you're the oldest one in this group! You remember when the Burger King was a prince!" Ricky spat back, "Now listen, buhfoh we git on this craft, I'mma show you how the younger generation does shit an' we still get shit done!"

There was a sudden, loud whistle as the four of them stopped and looked. Ricky and Rosco carried their respective bags and toolbelts over their shoulders. Their clothing was obviously stained from various mineral dust varieties and oil from working on heavy equipment. Boudreaux was decked out in his coveralls and gator-skin work boots and Murphy stood there, slack-jawed in his sunglasses, though they were still aboard a Class A Orbital Platform above Earth in the American Sector of space.

"Gentlemen!" Captain Armstrong said as he closed the folder, "Fall In!" His voice boomed through the docking bay.

"Well...shit, dude..." Murphy muttered as he fell in with the other crew members.

"Ooooooh..." Ricky said before being interrupted, his large green eyes moving over Davidson from behind as he moved into position next to her.

"Stow it, Jackson!" said Armstrong, not bothering to wait for a response, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you've been selected based on your past work to take yet another contract for the Tharsis Corporation. This will be a deep space mission with full shares for everyone save for Mister Lawton who is our greenhorn for this particular jaunt. I want nothing less than your absolute best work and...your best behavior," he said, looking directly at Boudreaux, Jackson, Jenkins and Murphy.

"That's not negotiable," Armstrong said seriously, "Mister Byrne will be managing the mission. I will be managing all of you. I am warning everyone right now, this very second that, if the behavior turns Castle Bravo into a frat house, you will forfeit your entire share to Mister Lawton. We are professionals. We will be professional in our dealings. You accepted the job and that job comes with a contract. Violate the terms of the contract and I'll pull you off the job and put you into hypersleep for the duration of the trip. I kid you not. Does everyone understand?"

There were pressed lips and cursory nods but silence reigned throughout the crew.

"This is it," Armstrong said, "For some of you, it's your final chance with the company before you'll have to seek work among the Japanese or European sectors and I guarantee, they will be far more strict than I will. Anyone ever work for Leyland-Okuda? You probably wouldn't want to. Now, if we're all clear, please board but before you do, know one thing. My feet will be the last on and the last off this vessel. My job is to see you all safely to the site and Lieutenant Davidson is going to help me do just that. We'll meet in the state room at Zero Six Hundred in the morning. Mister Byrne will be briefing us after receiving our mission details and protocol at the Tau Ceti Station where we will stop for supplies and a few final checks as well as a top up on long-range hydrogen fuel. Shouldn't take more than maybe a couple of days to get there and we’ll be there for a fourteen-day layover. Let's go."

One by one, led by Lawton, each one filed into the airlock and found themselves ushered into the industrial beast known as the CAS Castle Bravo.

"Ain't much in the way of on-the-fly maintenance gonna be needed on this boat," Rosco said as he looked around and scratched his greying beard.

"Brand new equipment and full fuckin' shares?" Ricky said, "As long as that dinero hits my account on the regular, they can expect major el worko."

"Good thing I grabbed all my downloads before I left, dudes," Murphy said in his laid back voice, "Movies straight from Thailand. Straight up she-boys..."

"Lemme tell ya somethin', chere," Boudreaux commented, "You jus' keep yo headset wired in fo' dat. Ain't tryin' to hear none o' what you got goin' on on dat screen, no."

"I'm with Gator on that'n," Ricky said, "That's some sick shit. Rosco's thing for midgets ain't that bad."

"That's wrasslin'!" Rosco retorted as they were led toward the crew lounge.

"That's enough!" Armstrong said from the rear, "Make yourselves comfortable in the lounge. Davidson, Byrne and I will be on the bridge. Do Not Mess With Anything Until You Are Instructed To Do So! Help yourself to refreshments but clean up after yourselves, once we've departed, of course. Jenkins, I can trust you to ensure everyone stays put and behaves, is that correct?"

"Aye, Cap'n," he said as they filed into the crew lounge, shoving personal belongings into their respective lockers and taking seats.

Byrne, Armstrong and Davidson entered the Bridge at the very front of the ship.

"Ever navigated with this type of display, Davidson?" he asked, "It's been a minute since I've been behind the controls of something like this and I just want to know if you're comfortable.

Davidson leaned over the comms and navigational display, taking her seat and beginning to power on the systems that would begin the ignition sequence.

"Not to worry, sir," she said, "As you're so fond of saying...I've got this."

"Glad to hear it," he said, taking his own seat and settling in, "Open communications when ready."

"This is the CAS Castle Bravo to Terran Control Tower, do you read?" she asked as she opened communications channels.

"Tower, reading you loud and clear," a male voice on the other end came through the ship's audio.

"Castle Bravo to Tower, we are initiating ignition and preparing to depart," she said, maintaining professionalism in her communication.

"Tower to Bravo, you are clear for departure. Docking clamps releasing now. Low thrust authorized," he said again, "Castle Bravo, have a safe trip. May your mission be a success. We'll see you when you return."

"Thank you, Control, Bravo out." she said, closing communication and bringing up the navigational display, "Plotting course to Tau Ceti. Course laid in, Captain."

"Thank you, Miss Davidson," he said, "Feels good to fly one of these again. I'll just do some manual flying for now."

---

0600 Hours: CAS Castle Bravo Stateroom

"Now this is what I'm talkin' 'bout," said Jenkins as he entered the space-view stateroom on the upper deck of the ship, "Boy, them Russians sure do know how to make things comfortable."

"Well hell!" Jackson said, his already large eyes popping. Everything else aboard had been minimalist and industrial in nature but the crew lounge and the state room had seemed clean, warm and welcoming in comparison, "I could get used to this."

"Aaaahhhh-eee..." Boudreaux said in response as he entered, "Ain't gon' be eatin' no crawfish in heah but it sho is nice!"

As they filed in one-by-one they all looked around, surprised, taking seats and beds where they could.

"This is where we'll all be sleeping," Captain Armstrong said as he entered from the bridge, "That includes myself and Lieutenant Davidson and the key word here...sleeping. Getting rest, relaxation, dreaming, rapid eye movement while your eyes are closed and you're dozed off, is that clear?"

"Umm...boss..." Jackson said, raising his meaty hand, "Just for the record, we have a room fulla hypersleep chambers...why ain't we just usin' them?"

"I'm glad you brought that up, Ricky," Armstrong said, pointing to Jackson, "and that's why we're having this meeting. I could have used the briefing room but this is informal so I wanted everyone here to understand fully that the cryopods are a double-edged sword. It can kill the aging process while we're on our way but...muscle atrophy, loss of bone density, those are very real things. We really want to reserve that for longer trips and use only on an as-needed basis. Fact is, every one of us will need some type of physical activity, so, every so often, you'll be awakened, undergo training, we'll have some time off and then, when everyone's training modules are done, you can kick around for a few days, watch some movies, rest and relax, play a few games in the lounge, essentially, moving around and having actual physical activity in the meantime."

Everyone looked confused. Some of them had had hypersleep sickness before and wrote it off as another in the litany of points of pain for the crew but, once subsided, there was always "It ain't nothin'" in the way of sentiments afterward. Now, hypersleep had a limit on it and every one of them wondered what they were going to do once the hypersleep period had stopped.

"Activity?" Murphy asked, "Please don't tell me that I have to start doing pushups with Breadstick's ass all over my back."

"Secure that static, Murphy," Armstrong commanded, "No. There were two staterooms. Tharsis specified that there should only be one and the other converted into a simulation room. Since we're not using hyperdrive as much, it's going to take a couple of days to get our respective training underway and then complete them as we make our way toward our destination which we'll be briefed on after we reach Tau Ceti's station. We're going to use the scoops to get some unrefined hydrogen from a nearby gas giant before we leave. Then we'll complete a series of burns until we get to our survey spot. We'll be mapping more gas giants along the way and looking for others. Keeps us moving pretty quickly. So far," he said, leaning his on his elbows as he sat and looked at the others, "Some of you seem to need warnings to keep things on the level. Point being, we do not know exactly what we have to go find and look at yet so I do want all of this by the book."

Some eyes rolled, a few scoffs and the sucking of teeth with some exasperated sighs sounded. The sounds of disappointment coming to a dull roar until Lieutenant Davidson stepped in.

"Gentlemen," she continued, "This isn't fun and games. If we end up going to a planet with only a quarter of Earth's gravity...and Jackson," she said, directing her intense gaze at him, "and I kick you in between the legs...what happens?"

Ricky's eyebrows went up, "Nope," he responded, "No no no no no...first off, that ain't happenin'"

"Answer the question, Jackson or you're getting dropped off at the Tau Ceti station and catching the first shuttle back to Earth," Captain Jackson said, asserting that he was, indeed, the boss and was backing his lieutenant's play.

Jackson looked between the two with an expression that read that he couldn't believe he was being put on the spot like that. He looked around. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for the answer to Lt. Davidson's question.

"I'll prolly fly smooth off," he said, "A quarter of Earth's gravity and a swift kick to the twins and I'm off to parts unknown."

"That is what Captain Armstrong, with all due respect, sir," she said, directing her words to him while keeping her eyes on Ricky, "and I are making our every attempt to prevent. All of you, no exceptions. Vacc Suits and tools will be inspected. Maintenance on the dirtside vehicles will be performed on a routine and regular basis. Everything we do is designed to keep you safe."

"That is correct," Captain Armstrong said, chiming in, "And thank you, Lieutenant Davidson. She makes a good point. Likewise, with a planet that has more than the Earth's gravity, the last thing any of you wants is to step out of the hypersleep chamber feeling like you're walking on cooked noodles, so we will be avoiding that. At most, and this is my rule, company be damned, everyone will be doing something physical in order to stave off the Stasis Sickness. We're all gonna have to just grin and bear it. We're going to find out more by meeting Mr. Byrne in the briefing room after we've gotten the mission briefing from Tau Ceti Station, but the long and short of it is this, this ship might have been built minimalist in most aspects. Keeps things cheap but the virtual program is run by the ship's AI, D.A.X. Software Jockeys created it and installed it both into the central computer on the bridge and in the Simulation Room."

"I don' like the sound o' dat, no," said Boudreaux, "Dat's messin' wit some bad juju, chere."

"I think Mr. Byrne can set your mind at ease, Mr. Boudreaux," said Captain Armstrong, "This is not an artificial general intelligence. It's not gonna go self-aware. It's built on learning and assisting. The programs loaded in, D.A.X. can converse with us, provide sound readings, etc. D.A.X. stands for Digital Augmentation Expert. We're not only the maiden voyage of this ship, we're also early-adopters for this program. It's never been done before like this. Come with me."

Captain Armstrong stood up from a foot locker he'd been sitting on and walked out of the room with Lt. Davidson and the rest of the crew in tow, save for Byrne and Lawton, who were taking over the controls for the time being. Cpt. Armstrong led them to the elevator which took them to the lower deck. They emerged from the elevator to see more of what they didn't before. The corridor seemed longer and almost more desolate than the upper deck but finally, they arrived at the door and Cpt. Armstrong entered.

Inside was a large, white room. From floor to ceiling looked like a barren, white grid. There was a computer terminal on one of the walls and Cpt. Armstrong walked toward it.

"Hi D.A.X." he said, waking the screen mounted into the wall. It took a couple of seconds before speaking as though the entire room were it's voice.

"Recognized. Hello, Captain Armstrong," the machine said, "Would you like to load the simulation?"

"No," he said, "But thank you. I wanted you to meet the crew...or most of them. D.A.X. each one of them is going to take turns speaking to you so that you can pick up on their voices."

Each of the crew stepped forward to talk to the computer with Boudreaux taking the longest for D.A.X. to recognize due to his thick Cajun accent.

"I probably should have mentioned," said Davidson, "that using slang with this machine is probably going to take some time for it to learn. Mr. Boudreaux, try speaking with a bit of anunciation next time and it probably won't take so long and please, gentlemen, the use of slang is not advised. D.A.X. doesn't quite understand it yet."

"To be fair," D.A.X. informed the crew, "the Lieutenant is correct. I am unable to learn most slang and was attempting to parse what Mr. Boudreaux was saying, however, I do learn. The more time you spend with me, the more I learn about you."

"And the more ways you find to try and kill us," said Jackson, "Man, come on, why not admit that you're not just an asshole, D.A.X. ...but also a monster."

"“Driller Jackson," D.A.X. Responded, "I assure you my primary directive is to enhance crew performance and ensure mission success, not to endanger you. My monitoring and simulations are designed to prepare you for the challenges of hostile environments, equipment failures, and potential threats. If my actions are perceived as hostile, I recommend a dialogue to adjust my approach. I am not an ‘asshole’ or a ‘monster,’ but a tool to keep you alive. How can I assist you to alleviate your concerns?”

"That boy already knows you better'n you know yourself," Jenkins said with a hearty chuckle.

"Enough," Captain Armstrong commanded, "Everyone needs to prep for Stasis. Davidson and I will be on the bridge. We'll be ensuring the coordinates are correct...pretty easy stuff. Hyperdrive engagement will happen after we've all turned in for the two-day trip. We'll spend a couple weeks at Tau Ceti so let's remember to be at our best. Nothing illegal. No brawls. Keep the drinking to a minimum and let's enjoy a little bit of shore leave before we set out to do the work."

Everyone filed out of the room and into the elevator at the end of the hall. Upon reaching the upper deck, they began the process of hanging personal effects in their respective lockers. By the time they were ready, everyone was in their underwear and slipping into the tubes, all ready to have their bodies reduced to a metabolic rate of near-zero.

"How old you reckon I'll be when we do finally come outta Stasis," Jenkins asked.

"That won't matter, Roscoe," Ricky said, playfully imitating a caring tone, "You'd still be old enough to remember when writing was called hieroglyphics."

"Sumbitch," Jenkins muttered.

As they settled in, there was a hissing noise and then hydraulic actuators brought the canopies down on the pods, securing them inside. The four were asleep in a span of mere moments until Byrne and Lawton arrived to follow suit. Armstrong and Davidson finally filed in last, having locked in the coordinates.

The CAS Castle Bravo engaged its hyperdrive and suddenly burst forward. Next stop: Tau Ceti Station.