The Massive Planet : The Adventures Of Deep Contact

Chapter Two - Descending Into The Depths

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Yang finally caught up with the captain as he sprinted down the narrow passageway. The various crew heading to their duties had to step to the side as Yang called out to his superior.

"Captain! Captain!"

"Walk and talk, Yang..." Riley said, motioning his hand.

"Aye, sir," The young commander huffed. "I just wanted to voice my concern, that's all."

"Concern?" The captain glanced back at him. "About the situation or my conduct at the meeting?"

"Maybe a bit of both..."

The two men found a private room to chat in. The captain (looking unwilling to talk about it) folded his arms and stared at his second in command. Yang took a minute to make sure no one else was in the room and slicked his hair back while talking.

"It's been two years, sir. Two years and you've never once had a personal one on one with any of the senior staff." The captain gestured at him and Yang nodded, "I'm the exception, of course. I don't condone their actions in that meeting, far too much drama going on, I know. But, you picked them to be on this mission, and the officers just need to know the man behind the wheel. They need to know their captain. They need to know they can trust you, believe in you, maybe even like you?"

That drew a smile from Riley. In all the years on board, he didn't think they did like him. But then, as a captain, he wasn't supposed to be a 'likeable guy'; none of the captains he served under were personable or friendly. Most of the time they were threatening to push their officers out of an airlock if they didn't do as they instructed.

That was the way of the military, especially of the ECU, Riley was used to that kind of hard-ass kind of command. But Yang had a point. Two years was a long time to say nothing to any of them. This wasn't like the typical military ship, this was different and it required a longer stretch of time to be with all the crew. A softer, kinder commander for such a long mission was in need here.

"Heck of time to bring this up now." He mused. "But I'll take it under consideration. For now, though, we need to get this ship out of this mess. And, I'm sorry to say... but being a 'best bud' to the officers at this point and time, isn't likely to happen."

"Just wanted to make the point, Captain."

"And I heard it..." Riley said while stepping out of the room. "Now, tell them—from me, their friendly captain, to get their bloody asses in gear. Understood?"

Yang stood with a blank face as the captain stormed out before he could answer. But with a jerk of his head afterwards, he replied anyway.

"Understood, aye."

* * *

The ship continued to fall deeper into the planet. The layer of clouds now cascaded over the ship like waves and brought it in further. Deep Contact dropped away from the white cloud of gas to another darker almond-grey one. The impact of that heavier vapour caused the hull to buckle as it squelched from the corrosive cloud eating away on its surface. Every second they were in this soup, it would continue to degrade the structure of the metal more and more.

Riley got to the bridge and found most of the senior officers back at their stations. Loud popping noises came from the bulkhead and caused the crew to flinch. The captain instantly barked orders at them and took to his seat.

"Everyone stay at your post and keep calm! Helm, can you give me any sort of maneuvering at all?"

"Without power to any thrusters—no sir!" Sarah replied, the frustration soured her tone. "We're just a brick in water."