There was pain, mind-numbing, bone-breaking pain. As soon as it had started, it stopped. Mike slowly became aware of his surroundings and realized something wasn't quite right here. When he opened his eyes, everything was blurry, and he had a slight throbbing pain in his head. He stayed still for a moment and felt a little better. His eyes came into focus and he saw that he was not at the bottom of the hole anymore. He was in what looked like a hospital, though not like any he'd ever seen. Some of the things around him were so futuristic in design that they would not have been out of place in a science fiction movie. Mike was startled out of his reverie by a strong, male, disembodied voice.

"Ah, I see that you're awake. How are you feeling? Would you like some refreshments?" For a good ten seconds, Mike was too shocked to speak. When he did manage to say something it came out like "Whadduppa". The voice asked if he could repeat that because it could not understand what was said. Mike took three nice, even breaths and said.

"What is going on? Where am I? Who are you? And what the hell is going on?" Mike was starting to panic again when the voice spoke as if sensing his discomfort.

"Please, try to remain calm. I'm not going to hurt you." Mike said, "Ok, but could you explain what's happening. And by the way, my name is Mike".

"Yes, of course, Mike." said the voice, " About two hours ago you fell through a hole in the ground. When you landed you broke both your legs in several places, fractured your skull, and went into shock soon thereafter. Luckily for you, Mike, you landed outside the airlock to this ship. I am the ship's AI and when you "landed", I came out of sleep mode and had a maintenance droid take you to the med bay. You were examined and completely healed in under an hour by the auto-doc. All your bones are healed as if they were never broken, and the only side effects will be a slight headache."

Mike was silent for a few minutes absorbing the information he'd just been told. Which had boiled down to three simple thoughts: ship, AI, healed. "What's going to happen to me now?" Mike asked. The AI replied "Well nothing is going to happen to you, I was hoping that you might be able to help me. You see, you are the first person that I've come in contact with, for over ten thousand years. I would like to know what's going on, I've been out of touch as you can tell. What is the status of the Emperor and his empire? Have any more ships disappeared as this one did?"

Mike was a little hesitant at first but said, "I'm sorry, I don't know anything about an Emperor or any empire. This planet hasn't even traveled past our moon yet. I don't know what kind of help I can be to you."

The AI was silent for a few moments then said, "I know exactly what you can do to help me if you're willing. Would you like to become my captain?" Mike thought this out for a minute. "Could I really take responsibility for a ship like this?" thought Mike. Seconds later he made his decision, "Yeah sure, I will be your captain. But you're going to have to explain exactly what happened to this ship and its crew."

For half an hour the AI told Mike everything about the ship, the sabotage to all the vital systems, and how they were forced to abandon the ship on this planet and settle it, forgetting their own history, so they could make some kind of life here. Mike was a little disturbed by the news of sabotage but was excited by the story none the less. Mike decided that it was time to get up and slowly Mike swung his legs around over the side of the bed. He got up with little difficulty and started to walk around the room.

"What would I have to do to become your captain?" asked Mike. There was a pause from the AI for a few seconds. "Walk to the panel on the wall in front of you. On the keypad next to the panel press the red button. Inside is a device that will teach you all you need to know. Once you get it out, walk back to the bed, lay down once more, and slip the device on top of your head. The device will then activate and take care of the rest."

Mike did as he was told and once he saw the device it did look like a headband, though made of some unknown shiny material. He went back to the bed, lay back down, and put it on. "It's time to get up now Mike, your learning is complete." said the AI. "What are you talking about? I just put this thing on and I don't know if anything happened."

The AI replied that Mike had been asleep for over two hours and that the learning process was complete, but the information was locked in his mind. The AI was now going to unlock the knowledge. Mike felt an intense tingling sensation in his mind and suddenly he knew everything about the ship and how to operate it. Mike decided that he could not keep calling the AI "AI", so he decided to give him a name. "How would you feel about having a name?" he asked the AI.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the ships' original crew, but I will gladly accept a name." Replied the AI. Though it surprised Mike a little, naming an AI was apparently unheard of in the empire "Ok, I guess your name is going to be Samuel. Sam for short, if that's OK with you of course."

"I would be honored to be called Sam. But you have to override some programming in order to change my designation." replied the AI.

"Alrighty then, AI access main computer designation, command override seven-eight-blue-alpha-omega, Captain Mike Anderson changing computer designation to Sam."

"Command verified. Welcome aboard Captain and thank you for the name," said Sam.

"Also Sam, when it is not a serious situation, you can just call me Mike instead of captain," said Mike. Sam acknowledged this and said that was fine.

"Mike we need to get this ship back up and running now that it has a captain and we will need a crew in order to operate it."

"Just tell me what needs to be done Sam and could you list according to priority," said Mike.

"First Mike we need main power back online, all power cells are depleted and backup power is only going to last for another half a solar cycle or six months according to recent reactivation. After you get some of the main power back-online, then I can get more maintenance droids activated and they can work on the systems that were sabotaged. In order to do this, you're going to have to recruit a crew for the ship so it can lift off and return to space. After that, it's all up to you captain."

"Alright, I guess I'll start on the crew first then work on the power situation. But how will I be able to contact you, Sam?"

"I've already thought of that Mike. When you were learning, I implanted a sub-dermal communicator. So you can talk to me wherever you are no matter what time it is, all you have to do is call my name. It also acts as a biomonitor and if need be, a tracking device."

"Well done Sam, now how do I get out of here and back on the surface? And could we set up a better entrance than a hole in the ground."

"Of course Mike. When the ship was buried several entrances and tunnels were made to get to and from the ship. The hole was just a fluke of natures' own doings."

With that Mike was shown the way out of the ship and into a network of tunnels that ran on for miles at a time. One of these tunnels came out half a block away from his house, which would mean he could get to and from the ship with being seen by nosey neighbors. As Mike was coming out of the tunnel, he called Sam and asked if he could bring his best friend Emily to the ship and maybe become apart of the crew. Mike told Sam that Emily was trustworthy and wouldn't betray her friends no matter what. Sam said it would be fine, and was going to suggest that Mike bring in people he could trust. Mike and Sam didn't want any government attention just yet. He didn't want Sam to end up in some government lab somewhere. Mike was silent the rest of the way home, his head a buzz of thoughts. He was thinking about the problems that lay ahead, he didn't even notice that he walked right into Emily. Emily looked at Mike like he just grew a third arm. Mike wondered why she was starring at him like that and asked.

"Well Mike, the reason I'm looking at you like that, is because your clothes are ripped and torn in odd places."

"I had a bit of a fall" Mike replied rather quickly.

"That's not the only reason why I looking at you Mike, you've changed physically since you started your jog. I barely recognized you until you spoke."

At hearing these strange remarks, Mike ran to his house with Emily hot on his heels. He opened his front door and dashed upstairs to his room. Once there he looked into the full-length mirror he'd tacked up on the back of his door. He now knew what Emily was talking about. When Mike started his jog he was at least thirty pounds overweight. Now he looks like he didn't have an ounce of fat on him, plus he looked more defined than before. His skin was taut over his squared-off frame and his facial features were more sharpened than before. He looked damn good, like one of those Calvin Klein models. Mike called Sam and asked what he had done to him.

"When you were injured, I noticed your excess baggage. So I removed the excess weight and strengthened your muscles. I hope you're not upset with me Captain."

"No I'm not upset Sam, just a little surprised is all. Next time, when you are going to improve someone, let me know about it first. Ok?"

"Yes Captain," replied Sam.

After changing his clothes Mike went to find Emily. He found her sitting on his front porch, waiting for him to come out. Mike made his decision right then and there that he would share Sam with Emily. Mike asked Emily to come with him, that he had a surprise to show her. As they made their way to the tunnel a light rain began to cover the ground. They reached the tunnel without any mishap.

"Where did this tunnel come from? I've passed that place every day on my way to school and I never have seen this here."

"Well Em, this is just the beginning. What I'm going to show you will change this world forever. For good or bad I don't know yet." said Mike.

He slowly led Emily down into the tunnel and after ten minutes of walking, they reached the ship. As they approached, the airlock opened and allowed them to enter.

"Welcome back Captain, and this must be Emily. I am Sam the ship's AI."

Mike took this opportunity to explain everything to Emily, about the ship, its' sabotage, and its' history. When Mike had finished his story of how he found Sam, that now was his captain, and that he needed help from his friends to help repair the damage done. Mike asked Emily if she would become part of the crew and help him repair Sam.

"Hell yeah! I want to help. This could be the greatest thing that could ever happen to us." replied Emily.

Mike told her about the sub-dermal communicator and offered her a free medical check. When they got to med-bay, Emily was placed on the bed and scanned by Sam. When Sam was done scanning her, he informed Emily that she had Huntington's disease, which is inactive at the moment. Without treatment, it will become active later in her life and slowly kill her. This shocked Emily, but Sam told her that he could take care of it right now and she would need to sleep while he removed the disease. Emily agreed and was asleep almost instantly.

"Sam, while she's under could you teach her everything about the ship, as you did me."

"Yes, captain. Just slip a headband around her head and I'll start right now." Mike slipped the headband on Emily and told Sam that he wanted to inspect the ship.

"Of course, Mike, but some areas have been sealed off, during the shutdown process. You'll have to use the command override code to unseal all of the doors." Mike said that was fine.

"Mike, what position would you like Emily to hold on the crew?" Sam asked.

"Emily could be the first officer. I rely on her opinion very much."

"That is acceptable Mike. I will give her all of the proper knowledge needed for the position."

Mike spent two hours exploring the ship, where he found Captain's quarters, the galley, main engineering, the brig, Chief of Engineering's quarters, and finally the bridge. He was making his way back to the med-bay when Sam told him he was finished with Emily. Mike entered med-bay and told Sam to wake Emily. Emily slowly woke up, and couldn't recognize her surroundings. Then she saw Mike standing near the doorway and remembered what happened.

"Hey Em, you feel OK?" "Yeah, a little dizzy but I'm fine."

"Now Em, while you were out, I had Sam insert all of the command codes you'll need as first officer and all the protocols there-in."

"Really? I don't feel any different nor do I know anything about command codes. Are you sure it worked?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sam could you please unlock the knowledge inside of Emily's head.

Emily's eyes fluttered for a few moments, and a smile spread across her face.

"Wow, that was a rush," said Emily.

For the next two hours Mike, Emily, and Sam talked about what they needed to do. First, they needed to get the main power back online, then recruit crew members, and then repair the damage done by the saboteur.

"We need someone who at least is semi-mechanical for Chief Engineer, and we need someone who could be our Science Officer. Then we can start repairs and look for ways to power up Sam," said Mike.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. I think I know someone who could be our Chief Engineer. Jack Turner, is almost legendary in auto shop. He is some kind of junior MacGyver when it comes to cars." said Emily.

"Yeah I know Jack, he's pretty cool. He seems like a good choice. Also, I know who should be our Science Officer, Mitch Matrovsky. Mitch and I have been friends since sixth grade, and he would kill me if I didn't tell him. He's into the sci-fi stuff like; books, movies, TV shows, and stories. He'll die when he finds out about Sam."

Emily couldn't repress a smile as Mike said this. She knew Mitch, she liked him a lot. He always wore sci-fi shirts and had comics in his book bag. Mike and Emily decided that they would contact Jack and Mitch tomorrow. Mike and Emily headed home, hoping that all would go well when they met with Jack and Mitch.