A portfolio of free textures, 3d models, Jedi Knight levels, and other miscellaneous things.     A Green Swirling Pool By: Adam Sliger 3/18/1999 The year is 5608, and I have set off on my journey to the galaxy of Andromeda. Two friends came with me,their names are Chris and Michael. I, Adam Lee Sliger, 32, am captain of our tiny though beautiful ship, the Minimal Eagle. Christopher James Kyonka,33, is the navigator. Michael Ryan Palmer, 34 is the Medic. With that said let the story begin! "Chris! How do I pilot the Eagle to Andromeda without crossing through that asteroid field?" I questioned as we soared out of the space station. "Fly straight until you reach NAV Alpha, then turn 36 degrees starboard and continue until were there. "Chris called from somewhere behind me. "Thanks!" I replied quick my first direction was to fly straight for awhile, I turned around in my chair to face Michael. "So, how's your journal coming?" I asked Michael. "Oh, it's coming along all right I guess," replied Michael. You see, Michael has been recording everything in his computerized journal. Now, once again, he was staring at the screen and hammering away at the keyboard. I swung my chair back around and checked our speed. We were going way too fast! I instinctively glanced at the radar. "Oh Crud!" I exclaimed, "We passed NAV Alpha!" "Shoot!" yelled Chris. All of a sudden I noticed a huge disturbance in the space. I saw it on the radar,and through the view port. It stood out like a sore thumb. I was staring out the view port when Chris asked. " What the heck are you looking at? Get this ship turned around and head for Andromeda!" Michael just sat there working on his journal. "B-B-B-Black H-H-Hole!" I stuttered. "What!?" Chris exclaimed, followed by Michael. "We're going to be sucked in!" I screamed. Then the Minimal Eagle began to drift more and more quickly toward the tear in space. Chris started screaming, followed by Michael. I grabbed the controls and cranked the engine up to full throttle and tried to escape the extreme suction. The movement of our ship slowed, but did not reverse. Now I too started to scream. I closed my eyes. When I awoke, I looked around and noticed Chris and Michael next to me. "Are you OK?" Chris asked me. "You hit your head on the controls when we entered the black hole." "Yeah," I replied while holding my head, "I've just got a major headache." "That's understandable," said Michael, you slammed your head into the control panel pretty hard." I didn't reply, but instead looked out the view port. The surrounding space was a green and swirling pool. I gripped the controls and turned 90 degrees starboard. I stared out the view port, along with my friends. In the far distance was a large vessel. My mouth dropped open. Michael and Chris must have seenvit too, because when I turned to tell them, their eyes were wide and glued to the view port. We all kept quiet. I don't know what Chris and Michael were thinking, But I had an idea. I punched several buttons and commanded the scanners to check the unknown vessel's communication frequency. The Eagle returned the data within seconds. I input it in the communications computer. I picked up the small, hand-held communicator and flipped it on. "Uh... Hello," I spoke into the communication device, "We come in peace. There is a crew of 3 aboard our ship. We accidentally came upon a black hole. It brought us here," I turned around and Chris grabbed the communicator from my hand. "Can you help us get out of here?!" Chris yelled into the microphone. "Please?" added Michael. We waited for about twenty seconds, then came the response. "We can help you, under one condition. You must allow us to come with you. You see, our ship's engine has failed, so we can't escape this dreaded place! And we have been stranded here aboard Mother Fox for several weeks. We are sure your ship is quiet capable of ripping a hole in the surrounding space," recited our ship's translation program. "What does our ship need to be capable of that?" I asked. "A 480 zilo-kart engine, able to boost a ship at over 10 times the speed of light, and of course, heat shield," came the replay. "OK, can you hold on just a minute?" I requested. Chris, Michael and I talked it over and decided to let the aliens on board our ship. We knew it was risky, but we needed help. The exterior door on the Minimal Eagle opened and 5 creatures stepped in. They were green human-like creatures. They had a third leg and 6 eyes, 4 of which are on stalks above their heads. Then the interior door opened and in walked the aliens. Chris, Michael and I were there to meet them. The aliens each had a hand-held translator, and so did we. The alien captain informed us that they were going to perform a spot check on our ship. After they were finished testing, the alien captain and I sat down at the controls. The alien shoved me aside and began frantically typing code into the computer. In no time, we were traveling full speed toward what looked like nothing. Then there was a bright flash of light and a roaring noise, and the temperature in the Eagle rose greatly. I continued to look out of the view port. We were out! "That's all it took?" I asked, using the translator. "Affirmative," was the alien's reply. "Thanks, " I said. "Think nothing of it, actually, thank you for bringing us with you," he said. "No problem I replied. "One last thing," hinted the alien captain, "Can you drop us at that space station?" He pointed to a station ahead of us. "Sure," I replied. And so our incomplete Journey ended, dropping the aliens and heading home. THE END