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Chapter 2

Chapter Two

March 12th 2157

            The airlock made a loud thwamp noise and Jake felt the pressure suddenly change in his ears.  Two lights above the door on either side began to flash amber, and an alarm began to sound.  It reminded him of the warning sound of a large truck backing up.  Large cogs inside the door and around the door began to slowly role open.

            The Caprica’s deck boss floated up behind Jake, “The crew of the station and I are going to unload the cargo.  You will need to check in with Mathews, the station crew boss.  He will give you a tour of the station, as well as set you up with living quarters.  Once this hatch opens move through quickly so we can unload quickly.  Do you understand?”

            Jake nodded his head dumbly.  The external door of the Caprica began to open and a puff of air pushed inside.  Slowly the maw with large square teeth opened and allowed him to see into the station for the first time.  There floated three humans dressed in dark blue coveralls.  The door opened to its full breath, and Jake forgot to move for a moment.

            The deck boss slapped Jacob on the back and pushed, “All right lets get moving.”  He said a little louder than needed.

            Jake moved forward, floating through the door and passed the three-crew members.  One of them was almost a foot taller than the other two, and it made him pause for a moment.  The three-crew members flew thought he door that he had just come out of.  He didn’t get a good look at any of them, but he wondered if the taller crew member was a Neo.

            “Jacob Dent.”  Jake started.  He spun in the air and saw a middle-aged man wearing the blue coveralls.  His hair was lightly salted with white hair.  He wore a pair of black-framed glasses that were designed for function, not fashion.

            “Uh, yes sir.  Uh, just Jake.”

            “Ok, Jake.  Come with me.”  Jake followed the man down the long hallway that was the airlock tube that connected the Caprica to the station.  “I am Mathews the crew boss on this station.  You are on this station to assist in the separation of any usable metals and file official reports to the company on the quality of those metals.  Do you have any questions?”

            “No, sir”

            The two floated though a hatch and entered a large room.  Mathews kept walking and Jacob followed.  The room was mostly empty but had about twenty or so boxes lined against the far wall.  “This is the first of our two cargo bays.  The other can be found on the far side of the station where our shuttle docks.  Here we store food and anything that is not used for mining.”  Behind them the three-crew members pushed identical boxes into the room. The crew expertly maneuvered the boxes to the far wall and clamped them into place.

            The two kept floating and Jake glanced once again at the larger of the crewmembers before they moved through another hatch and entered a room about half the size of the last one.  This room was partitioned off into three sections.  “This is our kitchen, dinning area, and recreation rooms.”  In the recreation room a woman and a man sat strapped in chairs close but not together in the room.  Each held captive by their entertainment of choice.

            The man was in his early twenty’s, he had short cropped dark brown hair.  He looked to be a little shorter than average, and skinnier than average as well.  He was playing some type of war simulation on a computer.  On the screen masses of armed soldiers tried to out maneuver for an advantage.