Saturday Matinee - The Fletcher Drive

Forty years after the Fletcher Drive was first experimented with....humanity set it's sights on the previously unreachable stars!!!!
Construction began on Luna and the first of the two giant colony ships was launched!!!!
Bound for the the star Kepler 1638 in the Cygnus Constellation it would land on the second planet in approximately 165 earth standard years....
Colony1, as the first ship was named, would land and automatons would create the shelters needed for the first colonists....it would also begin production of raw materials and food so that the colony would be prepared to expand almost immediately on the arrival of Colony2, which carried the first wave of outward expansion of the human race!!!
The outward bound settlers would be placed into stasis pods where they would slumber until arrival at their new planet.....they would age but at a rate of one second per year their experience of the trip would be that it had only taken a few minutes!!!
It was originally planned that the ship would be run by computer and all aboard, including the Command Crew, would be safe in the static pods...The 660 in the crew would only be needed when the ship would need to actually require pilot the ship during the very last stage of the trip before they touched down at their destination!!!
That had been overruled by the Pilot and Command Union and so it was decided that one crewman would stay on watch for four years and then go into stasis after turning over command to the next who would serve four years and so on....
This was the first time any human would be awake during the activation of the Fletcher Drive and the scientists were eager to learn what, if any, effect it would have on them as the drive bent space/time around the ship!!!!

Captain Lance Hendricks opened his eyes. He had been in stasis before and he always felt slightly disoriented for a moment as his body woke up and his brain activity resumed!
He didn't enjoy it but it was better than growing old and dying on his way to his new home....
A face was looming above him....pretty....a pretty blond....and he sat up fast adding to his disorientation....
"He rubbed his temples as if that would wake him faster....
"What's going on? Who are you? You're not in my crew!!!"
"Captain....it's me.....Ensign Tompkins....we have a problem!!!"
"You're not Tompkins....I picked Tompkins for the First Watch myself..."
"I assure you Captain....it's me....it's the Drive....the Fletcher Drive....it changed me....it made me into a woman.....I don't know how or why but it did!!!!"
The Captain reached for the bio-scanner on his belt and waved it at this crazy woman...first he'd find out who she was and then he'd find out what the Hell was going on here!!!
The scan took a moment and the holo displayed that this person was Ensign Robert Tompkins and it said there had been some genetic "damage" due to unknown reasons!!!
The Captain was quick to process this information....now he knew that this was Tompkins he still needed to know what the hell was going on!!!
"What do you mean it's the Drive Tompkins? How can that be....explain yourself Mister!!!!"
He realized it sounded a little silly after he said it because Tompkins was as far from being a "Mister" as anyone he'd ever seen!!!"
"As per the Mission parameters we were ten days out of Luna before I engaged the Drive....there wasn't any feeling of acceleration although we had moved into non-relativistic speed. But I did feel a tingle....over my entire body but centered in my....well....in my genitals!!!! Over the next several days the tingle continued and grew stronger.....until I could barely stand it.....I began to administer muscle relaxants from the pharma stores.....and that helped a little....several months later I started to notice the changes....and as I changed the effect seemed to accelerate,,,,,and now....well....you can see what's happened to me.....I tried to shut down the Drive but it was hard wired to continue until we reached Kepler....I considered putting myself in Stasis but the ships computer wouldn't allow it.....we had insisted that one human always be on watch....I had no other choice than to physically cut the Fletcher Gateway!!!"
"My god....you've disengaged the Drive!!!! "
"Yes Sir....and the moment I did the tingling stopped...."
"Do you realize it would take us almost an infinite number of years to reach our destination at this speed.....and even if we woke everyone one at a time we'd all be dust by the time we arrived!!!"
"I know Sir.....that's why I woke you.....this is above my pay grade!!!"
"We must re-engage the Drive....we have no choice..."
"Aye Aye Sir!!!!"
"Show me where you cut the Gateway...."
Captain Hendricks followed his Ensign through the massive ship and the old Space Dog couldn't help noting that the view from behind was just as good as the view from the front....maybe better!!!!"
They came to an engineering hatch and Ensign Tompkins pointed....
"In there Captain...."
The Captain paused long enough to put on a radiation suit before he entered the chamber....Tompkins followed him in.....
"You understand why we have to do this Tompkins...."
"Yes Sir.....I understand...."
Slowly the Captain began to repair the Gateway connection....and the Fletcher Drive came to life......
"Sweet Jesus Tompkins I can feel the tingle.....oh my god it's maddening....and it's....in my pants!!!!"
"Mine too Captain......"
"All right....we can't shut off the drive or we all die but we can change the watch times....we'll stand watch for as long as we can before exposing anymore crew to this weird effect!!!!"
"We'll stand watch? You mean you'll stay with me Captain?"
"I couldn't ask you to shoulder this burden alone Tompkins....do you mind if I call you Bobby?"
"Not at all Lance...."
"Fine....now let's go to my quarters and have something to eat and we'll see if we can do anything about these damned tingles...."
"Yes Sir!!! I think the coming years are going to be very interesting!!!!"