Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Remember Tomorrow

Franklinnoble · 07-06-2005, 05:39 PM

Somwhere in the Caribbean
May, 2040

The Eisenhower had two brand new nuclear reactors installed after it was purchased by Constantine Hilton. They were three times as efficient as the ones the Navy had been using. When Kristin began her experiment, she had to convince engineering to increase the output to over 80% on each reactor. They objected, but were overruled by Daddy.

Quantum physics required a lot of energy, and a lot of computing power. Kristin had a data center on board that rivaled that of any major university, and her lab space (which was once a set of tennis courts) was now brimming with machinery. She had made a great theoretical discovery that had worked out in simulations over the course of the last few months, but now it was time to test it.

***

Franklin landed on the flight deck of the Poopdeck and was greeted by a familiar face. Communications and Intelligence Officer JeebieD Mack had played tight end for the Scorpions for 7 years prior to a knee injury that ended his career. Not having football had been hard on Mack. He quickly blew everything he’d earned on booze and hookers. Franklin had heard of his plight and had traveled to Cabo San Lucas to find Mack in a drunken stupor keeping company with an overweight prostitute named “Buttercup.” After getting him sobered up, he’d offered Mack a post on the Poopdeck, and he accepted.

Lieutenant Mack had quickly become one of Captain Flint’s most resourceful officers, between working with Dr. Krupp on an android parrot named Skydog, and finding ways to hack into enemy vessel’s ships and cripple them without firing a shot. He took perverse pleasure in broadcasting Ride of the Valkyries over a target ship’s intercom system while the Poopdeck was on final approach.

“Welcome aboard, Mr. Brown. What brings you here?” Mack greeted Franklin as he stepped out of his helicopter.

“Nice to see you, Jeebs. I’ve got a new mission for you guys. I’ll need to speak to Ardent, and then we’ll have a meeting a little later on.” Nobody really knew the fate of the Poopdeck at this point – although Ardent probably suspected.

Franklin met Ardent in his office and went over the plan. The Poopdeck was no longer needed on a full-time basis. She would be docked at a private location in Baja California, and her crew would be given the option of retirement (they had all earned enough to be quite wealthy by now) or taking jobs within one of Franklin’s many businesses, including the Scorpions. Ardent actually took it pretty well.

“Well, damn. I was just getting to like having the parrot around.” Ardent mused. The robotic parrot – which was indistinguishable from an actual live bird – squawked its agreement.

“Yeah, I know. I half expected you to be sporting an eyepatch and a cutlass by now.” Franklin replied.

“I’ve got the cutlass in my cabin. Wanna see?”

“No, that’s alright. Anyway, I figure we can keep the Poopdeck and her crew ready and on-call in the event of an emergency, but right now, there’s really not much point in continuing her mission. The State Department is in heavy negotiations with many of our Eastern rivals, and it would make things go much smoother if we stopped picking off oceanliners for the time being.”

“I get that. So, what do you have for me and the crew?”

Franklin produced a handheld computer. The Poopdeck had a crew of 7. Franklin had new jobs lined up for each of them, if they were interested:

• Captain Flint (Ardent) – Offered the post of Director of Operations, Scorpion Defense, Inc. A lofty title that basically meant that he would be in charge of negotiating defense contracts with the United States Military.
• Ted – Hibernation. He’s an android. He doesn’t mind.
• Dr. Rudolph Krupp – Already had a standing offer as director of research for Scorpion Defense, Inc. Declined initially to remain on board the Poopdeck.
• Sterling Silvers – Serves as the cook aboard the Poopdeck. Has a way with the ladies. Offered a position with the Scorpions football club as a college scout.
• Luke Warm – Ex CIA, discharged for personality disorder. Ardent keeps him around for “all the crazy shit I can’t get anyone else to do.” Offered a job as Scorpions chief of security.
• Nick “Deacon” Noonan – Former Air Force pilot, flies the chopper when necessary, helmsman of the Poopdeck. Offered a position as a test pilot for Scorpion Defense, Inc.
• JeebieD “Buttercup” Mack – Offered a job with the Scorpions as Director of Media Relations.

Ardent looked over the list of names and jobs for his crew and nodded. “OK. I’ll get the fellas together so we can go over this with them. I can tell you right now Luke is probably going to go ballistic – he enjoys this way too much.”

Franklin nodded. “Well, they’ve all made enough money to retire comfortably. I just hate having to fire someone outright if I can help it.”

***

Kristin flipped the switched marked “Master Power” that seemed to be wired to about fifty rack-mounted devices. Machines hummed to life, and suddenly, the lights on the Eisenhower dimmed and the ship began losing speed. There was a bright spark of electricity over a platform in the center of the room, and then nothing. Everything returned to normal. Kristen walked over to her computer terminal to analyze the data.

***

Franklin was in the midst of briefing the crew of the Poopdeck on their retirement schedule when the red alert klaxon and lights went off. Everyone jumped up from their seats and rushed to the bridge. There was already a video feed open on the main viewer. John was on the line.

“Franklin, we have a major situation.” He reported.

“What?” Franklin replied.

“Somebody just opened a black hole in the Caribbean.”

Mack snapped his fingers. “I KNEW that stuff about the Bermuda Triangle was true!”

Franklin shook his head. “Please explain what that means, and why that’s a bad thing.”

Dr. Krupp interrupted. “If someone has discovered how to artificially create a black hole, the implications could be staggering – if controlled, it could be the greatest weapon of mass destruction we’ve ever seen. If not, it could simply swallow the Earth whole. We don’t know enough about how they work in nature, to say nothing of what they could do in a laboratory environment.”

John replied. “Dr. Krupp is correct. This could also have temporal implications as well.”

Oh, great. Franklin thought. “Alright. Is it still active?”

“No, it was only on for a second. Somebody’s testing their theory. It’s only a matter of time before they fire it up again, possibly with greater things in mind.”

“OK. Send us the coordinates. We’re in the South Pacific right now, but at full steam, we can be there in a day or so.”

07-06-2005, 05:39 PM	#307
Franklinnoble Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Placerville, CA	Somwhere in the Caribbean May, 2040 The Eisenhower had two brand new nuclear reactors installed after it was purchased by Constantine Hilton. They were three times as efficient as the ones the Navy had been using. When Kristin began her experiment, she had to convince engineering to increase the output to over 80% on each reactor. They objected, but were overruled by Daddy. Quantum physics required a lot of energy, and a lot of computing power. Kristin had a data center on board that rivaled that of any major university, and her lab space (which was once a set of tennis courts) was now brimming with machinery. She had made a great theoretical discovery that had worked out in simulations over the course of the last few months, but now it was time to test it. *** Franklin landed on the flight deck of the Poopdeck and was greeted by a familiar face. Communications and Intelligence Officer JeebieD Mack had played tight end for the Scorpions for 7 years prior to a knee injury that ended his career. Not having football had been hard on Mack. He quickly blew everything he’d earned on booze and hookers. Franklin had heard of his plight and had traveled to Cabo San Lucas to find Mack in a drunken stupor keeping company with an overweight prostitute named “Buttercup.” After getting him sobered up, he’d offered Mack a post on the Poopdeck, and he accepted. Lieutenant Mack had quickly become one of Captain Flint’s most resourceful officers, between working with Dr. Krupp on an android parrot named Skydog, and finding ways to hack into enemy vessel’s ships and cripple them without firing a shot. He took perverse pleasure in broadcasting Ride of the Valkyries over a target ship’s intercom system while the Poopdeck was on final approach. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Brown. What brings you here?” Mack greeted Franklin as he stepped out of his helicopter. “Nice to see you, Jeebs. I’ve got a new mission for you guys. I’ll need to speak to Ardent, and then we’ll have a meeting a little later on.” Nobody really knew the fate of the Poopdeck at this point – although Ardent probably suspected. Franklin met Ardent in his office and went over the plan. The Poopdeck was no longer needed on a full-time basis. She would be docked at a private location in Baja California, and her crew would be given the option of retirement (they had all earned enough to be quite wealthy by now) or taking jobs within one of Franklin’s many businesses, including the Scorpions. Ardent actually took it pretty well. “Well, damn. I was just getting to like having the parrot around.” Ardent mused. The robotic parrot – which was indistinguishable from an actual live bird – squawked its agreement. “Yeah, I know. I half expected you to be sporting an eyepatch and a cutlass by now.” Franklin replied. “I’ve got the cutlass in my cabin. Wanna see?” “No, that’s alright. Anyway, I figure we can keep the Poopdeck and her crew ready and on-call in the event of an emergency, but right now, there’s really not much point in continuing her mission. The State Department is in heavy negotiations with many of our Eastern rivals, and it would make things go much smoother if we stopped picking off oceanliners for the time being.” “I get that. So, what do you have for me and the crew?” Franklin produced a handheld computer. The Poopdeck had a crew of 7. Franklin had new jobs lined up for each of them, if they were interested: • Captain Flint (Ardent) – Offered the post of Director of Operations, Scorpion Defense, Inc. A lofty title that basically meant that he would be in charge of negotiating defense contracts with the United States Military. • Ted – Hibernation. He’s an android. He doesn’t mind. • Dr. Rudolph Krupp – Already had a standing offer as director of research for Scorpion Defense, Inc. Declined initially to remain on board the Poopdeck. • Sterling Silvers – Serves as the cook aboard the Poopdeck. Has a way with the ladies. Offered a position with the Scorpions football club as a college scout. • Luke Warm – Ex CIA, discharged for personality disorder. Ardent keeps him around for “all the crazy shit I can’t get anyone else to do.” Offered a job as Scorpions chief of security. • Nick “Deacon” Noonan – Former Air Force pilot, flies the chopper when necessary, helmsman of the Poopdeck. Offered a position as a test pilot for Scorpion Defense, Inc. • JeebieD “Buttercup” Mack – Offered a job with the Scorpions as Director of Media Relations. Ardent looked over the list of names and jobs for his crew and nodded. “OK. I’ll get the fellas together so we can go over this with them. I can tell you right now Luke is probably going to go ballistic – he enjoys this way too much.” Franklin nodded. “Well, they’ve all made enough money to retire comfortably. I just hate having to fire someone outright if I can help it.” * Kristin flipped the switched marked “Master Power” that seemed to be wired to about fifty rack-mounted devices. Machines hummed to life, and suddenly, the lights on the Eisenhower dimmed and the ship began losing speed. There was a bright spark of electricity over a platform in the center of the room, and then nothing. Everything returned to normal. Kristen walked over to her computer terminal to analyze the data. * Franklin was in the midst of briefing the crew of the Poopdeck on their retirement schedule when the red alert klaxon and lights went off. Everyone jumped up from their seats and rushed to the bridge. There was already a video feed open on the main viewer. John was on the line. “Franklin, we have a major situation.” He reported. “What?” Franklin replied. “Somebody just opened a black hole in the Caribbean.” Mack snapped his fingers. “I KNEW that stuff about the Bermuda Triangle was true!” Franklin shook his head. “Please explain what that means, and why that’s a bad thing.” Dr. Krupp interrupted. “If someone has discovered how to artificially create a black hole, the implications could be staggering – if controlled, it could be the greatest weapon of mass destruction we’ve ever seen. If not, it could simply swallow the Earth whole. We don’t know enough about how they work in nature, to say nothing of what they could do in a laboratory environment.” John replied. “Dr. Krupp is correct. This could also have temporal implications as well.” Oh, great. Franklin thought. “Alright. Is it still active?” “No, it was only on for a second. Somebody’s testing their theory. It’s only a matter of time before they fire it up again, possibly with greater things in mind.” “OK. Send us the coordinates. We’re in the South Pacific right now, but at full steam, we can be there in a day or so.” Last edited by Franklinnoble : 07-06-2005 at 05:41 PM.