Interlude

[Nina]

The Polaris disappeared in 2093 and returned in 2095. The return of the Polaris catapulted her crew and passengers to stardom, hailed as heroes they became instant Celebrities, and their former lives are forever changed.

 

After the reuniting with family and friends, after the parades and the awards ceremonies, after the interviews, speaking engagements, and media appearances, after the endless debriefings, some semblance of normalcy returns.

 

At least for a little while.

 

Most of the crew worked under contract with Coriolis and the Polaris was Coriolis property, however the ships return and the new discoveries were deemed to be too much for a civilian corporation to keep too themselves as the return had world security implications the likes of which the governments of Earth had never known.

 

After some debate the overall problem was handed over to the International Science Council, which had been given official status and a broad mandate by the UN, which was itself undergoing reforms which would change it from the Political body it had always been to a true governing body it need to become.

 

The crew of the Polaris had faced something that made them invaluable to the ISC and so it was that contracts were bought out and all of them, except Karen McKenna, were transferred to the ISC, where they would work as researchers, engineers, and consultants. They along with the Polaris would form the Blueprint for the future.

 

As for Cheif McKenna, her route to the ISC and the future was  a little different.

 

The Alien Armor brought back from the sphere ship was the only actual alien artifact the ISC had to study. And it wouldn't let them. Separated from McKenna the armor shut itself down and would not allow any intrusive investigation or examination beyond scans which revealed next to nothing. The Armor would only respond to McKenna, and even then would limit what it allowed the earth scientists to do.

 

This was a problem. And not only a scientific and engineering one but also a security one. The armor contained technology and weapons which were far beyond anything fielded by any military on Earth and it was known that the Armor could and did act on it's own. Without Mckenna the armor if not controlled, would have to be destroyed. And it was simply too valuable to do that.

 

Karen McKenna found herself reactivated to active duty under the national security clause of her enlistment in the United States Marines. Gunnery Sargent McKenna was then assigned temporary duty as the US Marines representative to the ISC branch responsible for researching and evaluating the Alien Armor.

 

Soon a plan came to fruition, man was no longer bound to the Solar system and there were others out there, Earth had to be prepared. The make shift technology brought back on the Polaris was refined and new ships were being built, the first of which, the Polaris II would be ready to fly by 2100, and the original crew of the original Polaris would fly again.

 

But that was still in the future, how is that our heroes coped with the changes to their lives...

 

Spoiler

What i want is for each of you to give me a brief post about your five years between your return and your next departure. I am not looking for an essay on what you do work wise with the ISC for five years  but rather I am looking for a personal account of how things go during this time with friends family how you cope.

 

Dozer while your character was not involved he does become involved through the ISC and his life will become entwined with these persons. you can write a post as well detailing his personal feelings and circumstances.

 

Now it is a time jump and I am aware that you as players don't have full information therefore if need I can fill you in on an individual basis with certain information pertinate to each of your characters. just pm me either here or in discord.

 

After you write your interlude post it here

Bonus Points in the form of didicated xp will be awarded for this posts

 

[Exile_Jeane]

McKenna wondered if this is what a super hero would have felt like. At least she was pretty sure 'super hero' was the closest word to her current role at the ISC was. It certainly wasn't 'pilot'. Take enough bodies, time, and money, and you could produce a whole fleet of Polarises, expensive but ultimately replaceable. The armor and her though? There was only one of it, and outside of the no-longer-former Marine's interaction with it, it sat there like a grandly impenetrable lump, ready to be carted off to whatever warehouse for Weird Shit they had. Even then, she had a feeling it was humoring her whenever she donned it, so she was damned careful to treat it with respect.

 

But the professional woes of being Uniquely Awesome were secondary to everything else, really, crazy as the five years since their return had been.

 

A year of celebratory parades, celebrity, and kicking around the globe with what her ego couldn't help but suspect were on again and off again security helped paper over the strangeness of the voyage and the belly-deep dread that they'd come back to a planet made alien through time. Her family? Glad that the folded flag over the fire place didn't mean they'd lost a daughter. Her houseplant? MIA after the neighbor who was taking care of it moved and took it with him. The media? God, it had taken a few faux passé incidents and heated words blowing up in her face as she traveled, and even Karen learned to channel her inner Media Officer and give it a polite 'no comment' by the time her fifteen minutes of fame had cooled down. 

 

The big thing though, aside from being rudely re-enlisted in the Corps, was one Carrie Dawes.

 

Call it a midlife crisis or not, a not so quiet part of her pushed the blonde Marine to keep in touch with the other woman whenever she swung by the area, put her best foot forward, and not *lie* exactly, they'd had too much close contact on that first voyage aboard the Polaris to hide, but blunt her bluntness, be less of an alpha. It was work, but it paid off in smiles and touches and words and other incremental progress and even one *very memorable* trip when Karen's Leave and Carrie's spring break aligned. Gave her some extra spring in her step after a long day blowing things up on that British testing range in anticipation of a potential phone call.

 

And resulted in one diamond ring burning red-hot in the back of her sock drawer, purchased on one part hope, one part alcohol.    

[Shameless]

For Ayato, life after coming home was full of Debriefings.   The crew separated, but still, he did his best to maintain at least some contact with them.  They'd been each retained for their expertise, though Ayato was in a strange sort of limbo.   More than any of the others, As Captain of the Polaris, he was expected to do public relations related functions.   While the rest of the crew certainly had to, there were more "important" things for most of them, so it fell to him.
 

Most interviews were glowing, focusing on the adventure, the discoveries made and such, but one, in particular, about two months after they had returned was rather pointed, specifically towards Ayato himself.

Ayato had agreed to yet another interview, though this one was for Science News Network, one of their primetime news shows.

The Anchor was a woman, only slightly older than Ayato, named Julia Simmons.    Things had gone pretty normally, Similar attire to his other appearances, and all the same pleasantries.   It was when she started questioning him, though that he realized this wasn't going to be just like the script.   "You were the captain of the Polaris, what did you actually do aboard the ship, Ayato? " 
 

It was a question that really hadn't been asked in so many words, so he answered plainly. "I made all the decisions when we had to do something, and kept morale up with quality cuisine when possible."   
 

"Quality cuisine?  In space?  How did you manage that, and You're the Captain, you're saying you're also the cook too?"

"Well, to  answer the first part of your question, everyone is allowed a certain amount of mass they can bring along with them.  I have used mine to bring a variety of spices, and some foodstuffs that I know my crew enjoys, and that way we can have good food on the various trips through space.   To answer the second part, on smaller craft like the Polaris, everyone tends to have more than one duty.   I'm also a highly qualified pilot.   We work in shifts, like any other job,  and as such, we all have some ability in most cases.  Now, certainly, I can't go on and on about the science involved in our return, or the massive engineering feat that we undertook to get home, but everyone worked together to make it possible.

Simmons looked at him, and her eyes Narrowed.  "Some decisions you made placed you and your crew and ship in danger, would you care to comment?"
 

That was as close to saying he was negligent as anyone had come, and his mouth became a thin line, his smile was gone.  "I did make some calls that could have gone badly, yes.   We had no idea if we could change the trajectory of the object that threatened the planet, or if we would survive the attempt.   I had to weigh the lives of my crew and ship against the planet.   That's a decision no one should have to make, and I made my call.  Success meant billions of lives saved.   I was willing to do what had to be done, and if need be, give my own life to make it happen.   My crew understood what it was we were attempting,  and bravely, volunteered to make it happen."

Simmons went on the attack.   "So you made the call, and they backed it.  What about once you were out in the unknown?"
 

"We were so far from home it didn't seem there was a way back.   All the decisions I made were made according to the best information we had at the time, and I stand by them.   Dispute them if you want but we DID accomplish what we set out to do, and we made it home.   Thanks to that,  hopefully others who will come after us will not have to endure the hardships we did endure."

"Were you worried about contaminants, you seemed to have made many decisions that thrust yourself and crew into danger?"
 

"Miss Simmons, By the time we discovered the Ship, we were running low on supplies.   With Careful Rationing, we made it to the Alien Craft, and were able to replenish our supplies somewhat.   When we came to the Alien worlds, we made our expeditions as best we could, trying to avoid any sort of contaminants, and I assure you, I'd not be sitting here if the ISC hadn't given every one of us a clean bill of health.   As to whether the decisions I made were dangerous, at the time Necessity drove us forward.   Was it risky? Of course.   Would I make a different decision in hindsight?  No.  Those decisions were supported by the best information we gathered at the time.   They helped us get home."
 

"What lies ahead of you now?  You're a starship captain without a ship, or a crew for that matter.  You're not a scientist, or military."   She seemed to be pointing out he was essentially unemployed, and Ayato was annoyed by that.
 

"I don't know, honestly.  I'm still looking to decompress, get used to being around others who aren't my crew, Not to mention, I'm still under contract to the ISC.  I'm sure they'll have something for me to do beyond give interviews about the entire experience.  Once my Contract's up, well, the sky's the limit as they say."
 

The rest of the interview was fairly standard, and Ayato had managed to not let her anger him on camera, though his anger was clear when they stopped recording.  He left without word, his ISC handler following along behind him.   It was only in the Elevator that she caught up to him.  "You handled that well, Ayato, even when she went off script."
 

"I wanted to punch her smug face."   It was an admission he'd not have made to  many others, but his handler was special.  Suzuka Nishima was the only family Ayato had.   She was his cousin, Seven years younger than he was, when he'd left.  She worked for the ISC, though she hadn't told him much about her actual job.   He recalled when she was young that she too wanted to go to space.  It had been something they spoke of often, and he'd even bought her her first real telescope.
 

She was an attractive young woman, and chuckled at her older cousin's comment.  "So did I.  Still you shut her down well enough."   She had arranged for him to live in the apartment next to hers.   It helped her to keep an eye on him, which he knew was something she had been instructed to do.   It helped him because he wasn't really alone.   He'd been impressed how she'd made it happen, but the ISC probably had something to do with it too.   He would cook for the two of them, it was still an activity that relaxed him.   Sadly, he'd not really been able to see his crew much.
 

Following this, Ayato would go on to captain several ships, each time, his attentions in the galley would leave the ship with both improved morale efficiency.     Through it all, Suzuka was there both as his liason and his remaining family.