by Robert Culp
Aria continues speaking: “Directions aboard are given relative to the ship’s bow, or forward end. Rooms are designated by their deck first. For example: Sonia, you are in stateroom C-11. You will find it on the port side of the corridor. That is to your left as you exit the elevator. You two are on deck B. You will all get an orientation briefing at 2100 in the crew Commons, deck A forward.”
After exiting the elevator, I do my best to find Stateroom C-11. Oh, here it is. I open the door and start moving in the whole time pondering, Girl, have ye bitten more’n ye can chew?
For a ship this size, the rooms are cozy. It appears I have a room to myself. I hope so, since there’s only one bed. I must have impressed someone. Jimmy always said that a solo room on a first cruise simply doesn’t happen. I have a bed, my own refresher, a desk with a holographic communication system, or holoCom, and a locking storage cabinet with separate pistol and rifle racks. The locks will have to be programmed to accept my thumbprint. My refresher consists of a toilet, shower, and sink. The room has minimal storage space. I suppose the towel will dry over the same rod that holds the shower curtain. I can’t imagine two people trying to be in the refresher at the same time, much less the shower. There are plenty of hangers for clothes and gear. I can stand in the middle of the floor space, extend out both arms and not touch the walls. But with one hand on the desk, I can easily put the other hand on the bed frame. I’ll hang up what “pretty” clothes I brought and stow various and sundry items. Lacking direction, I secure my pistol in the rack. The lock chirps at my thumbprint. I didn’t see everybody packing, but some were. Hopefully, that will be covered in Orientation. My holoCom beeps. I press the button to answer it. “Sonia MacTaggert.”
The holoCom display has one window with Aria speaking. Another window displays the “for public” information from her personnel record. It oddly shows no surname. It lists her as Operations Officer and deputy head of Security. “Hello, Sonia. Someone from Engineering will come by to take you to chow and show you around. I will see you in the crew Commons area at two one hundred.”
I look at the chronometer on the holoCom screen. Is it really only 1945? I’ve not been here a half-hour yet. “Thanks, I’ll see you at twenty one. MacTaggert out.” I busy myself with more moving in and other such nervous puttering.
After about thirty minutes, while I’m moving my toiletries into the ’fresher, there is a beep at the door. The doorcam automatically flashes the person’s picture on the holoCom screen. He waves. I see a short, young, fat, bald man with blue coveralls and big black boots that shine like mirrors. In a side window the holoCom displays his personnel record. Like before, it’s just the basics. I wonder if it keyed on his perCom or if it uses facial recognition. Either way, it’s pretty cool.
“Hi, Shownya,” I hear through the holoCom. He waits for me to answer the door. He looks to be about thirty, but he has a childish air about him. I open the door. “It is you!” He exclaims and claps his hands, twirling and dancing a little jig. He remains in the corridor.
“Hi, I’m Sonia. Did Aria send you?”
“Uh-Huh. Awia said to find Shownya with pwetty red hair. And your hair is pwetty red. I sposed to show you around,” he says, “don’t worwy, I’m not bad guy.”
“Okay, I’m happy to meet you. What did you say your name was?” It was on the personnel record, but I don’t remember it. I close the door as I step into the hall, reassured to hear the lock click as I close it. In person I see that he isn’t bald but has a sparse covering of blonde hair.
“I’m Gorb. I fix stuff. ‘Gorb loves to help!’ Everyone says it; so it must be true. Let’s go this way.” He grins, turns and leads me to the elevator. It takes us down to the next deck, where the galley is bustling.
Two women are busy taking orders and shuffling plates over the short order bar. One of them sees the two of us coming. “Hey, Gorbie!! Have you dumped me? Is she your new girlfriend?”
Gorb blushes and says, “They just kiddin’, Shownya. I wouldn’t dump her. She cooks too good.” She doesn’t sound like she’s just kidding to me. I’ve known him less than ten minutes, but I’ve already decided I like him. I try to decide: Is she just teasing him or is she being nasty about it? If it’s just ribbing, that’s one thing. But if he has mental issues, well, that’s different. I finally decide the girl is just playing around, trying to make the best out of working twelve-hour shifts.
The crew cafeteria contains a handful of people: a few technicians, three hard-core looking soldier types, Gorb and me. One of the women points at me and speaks. “Whatllyahave?” sounds the same in any language. Then each says hello and welcome. I can hear the claws slipping back into their sheathes. There will be no catfight tonight. Gorb orders soup and a sandwich. I see about every kind of diner cuisine going across the bar, so I quickly decipher that I can order just about anything I’d expect in any short order place. I keep it simple. “Hi, I’m Sonia. A cheeseburger and fries tonight. Any chance you can make a milkshake?” I can see the beer bottles with the Troopers, but I want nothing alcoholic, not with a 2100 meeting.
“Milkshake it is, sugah. Anything else?” She passes a plate across with a saucer-sized cheeseburger and what must be a pound of fries, followed by a huge vanilla milkshake with a big straw and a mound of whipped cream crowned with a cherry.
“That will do it, thank you.”
“Yer welcome. Now you behave around Gorb, ya heah? He’s my bud. I’d hate to have to hurt ya.” I just smile. If I see her coming, I might be able to take her, but I’ll keep it civil for the time being.
Gorb and I find a place to sit. He bows his head before putting his spoon into his soup. I have some holes in my knowledge. “This ship looks a little scary on the outside. It’s pretty big to be a merchant. And there aren’t enough government types for it to be a cruiser. What kind of mission does this ship have?”
“Save people ship. Uh, I mean ‘ship saves people.’..and I help!!”
I make a dent in the cheeseburger, but not much of one. If I tried to eat all of these fries, before long I’d be bigger than the launch I flew up in. Which is not to say I’m going to waste them all, though. I dip them in ketchup and continue small talk with Gorb.
“‘Saves people,’ you mean like rescues and stuff?”
“Good food!! Mmmm. You eat like a bird, Shownya. Don’t fly away! Hee hee. Birds fly away.” He pauses. Then he looks at me intently, “Hmm. If I marry my son’s stepdaughter, do I become my own grandfather?” He shrugs then tucks into his sandwich with a purpose, effectively ignoring my question.
“One other question, when I came aboard, I saw a man with heavy boots, gloves and a respirator mask. Who is he?”
His face falls a little. That must be a painful subject for him. He shakes his head, “Too many questions for Gorb...make head hurt. Ask Awia pwease.”
“Okay, I will. Thanks for what you’ve told me.” We finish our meals in silence.
After chow, Gorb leads me up to Deck A, where there are the other newbies, their guides, and Aria in the crew Commons. Aria stands and breaks the silence “Alright, everyone take a chair. Gorb, please return to Engineering and help Mack.”
“Okay, Awia. Gorb loves to help! Everyone says so, it must be true.” the other guides leave as well.
“I suppose you all got fed? Good. You will all receive more specific orientation briefs tomorrow morning. Typically, shifts are twelve hours long but there are exceptions and when they apply, you will be made aware of them. Richard, you are assigned to the hangar deck. Your supervisor is Lance Corporal Tug Pederson. Report to him no later than 0700. Twelia, you will be in Galley C, and you will work for Chef Albert Dinkley. He has already made your acquaintance and set your starting time, correct?” Twelia nods. “Good. Sonia, you will report to Dr. Mack Sinnair in Engineering no later than 0645. Your duty day is roughly 0700 until 1900, but he may tell you otherwise.
“Now begins the mundane part of this brief. As you all know, space travel is much s
afer than it was years ago. But accidents do still happen. Seams and seals do still fail. For that purpose, every person aboard will be familiar with the Atmospheric Protective Ensemble. It is more colloquially referred to as the ‘APE suit.’ You will have one in your quarters. You will have one at your workstation. You will see them in cabinets in every corridor. Should atmospheric pressure in a segment of the ship drop, alarms will sound. The corridor cabinets will open. Drop what you are doing immediately, don and activate the APE suit. Once you have done so, and are breathing normally, help anyone in your immediate area who may need help with his or her APE suit. Anytime we know the ship is going into combat, the vessel is decompressed to avoid explosion due to catastrophic decompression. The same warnings will sound. We will now practice donning the APE suit until you can literally do it in the dark. Let us begin.”
We practice for an hour. The APE suit isn’t powered, so there’s not much to get working. The challenge is to get the seals tight. Good to her word, once we have some proficiency, she turns the white lights out and only the flashing of the red emergency lights illuminates the Commons. Once we can perform under the beacons, she turns those off and plunges the room into total darkness. She doesn’t have a flashlight but is able to correct our mistakes as we make them. I didn’t see any night vision goggles around. I wonder how she’s doing that? Aria also teaches us how to configure the suit for storage, thankfully with the white lights on. Once we have our suits so configured, she asks: “Has anyone questions of me?”
“I have one.” Ricky has his hand up. “What is Night Searcher’s big picture mission?” He beat me to it.
“The vessel was designed to be a search and rescue ship. We also perform freelance deep space salvage. At this time, the ship is on a long-term contract with the Academy of the Ancients. The particulars of our mission have not been released to the crew. And as you are not part of a tactical team, please do not ask questions that do not pertain to your job. I assure you, you will be given all relevant information for your position before you need it.”
“Yes ma’am, just trying to get a feel for the environment.” He has a hard look in his eye. “And you did ask for questions.”
“I understand. Please realize that for the moment, you will operate on a need to know basis. And when you need to know something, it will be told you.” I know a rebuff when I hear one. “Now, you each have intraship email accounts and several documents have been deposited to your inboxes. You will see the alerts on your desk holoComs in your cabins. I’d also like to draw your attention to the casual communication or ‘casCom’ site. It is used for intra-ship and casual communication … ” She goes on for what seems like hours, until mercifully, “Very well, your brain can absorb no more than your backside can stand. Begone! Get some sleep. Your duty days begin tomorrow.”
4 MACK AND ENGINEERING
I set my alarm for 0500. That will give me time to stretch, exercise, shower, dress and get breakfast before meeting the Chief Engineer, Dr. Sinnair. I haven’t found much in the library about him, but if he’s related to Michael Sinnair—or is one-tenth the engineer Michael was—he is sure to be superior.
Different women from last night are tending the breakfast bar. That’s not really a surprise. I see Twelia working at one of the short order stoves; the girls tending the bar yell orders back to her. She repeats them and gets busy cooking. I try to catch her eye but she’s too focused. A stack of empty egg cartons tells me why. Eggs to order for several hundred people would tire anyone with a spatula. She’s not having a good first shift. I opt for the simple this morning: scrambled eggs, three strips of bacon and a biscuit with a small bowl of gravy. I load my tray and look for a place to sit. A nondescript man of medium build, well-groomed blonde hair, mustache and goatee is waving me over. I take a chance and walk over to him, my coffee cup sitting precariously on my tray just in case I need to spill it on him.
“I take it you’re our new Probationary Engineer’s Mate. Or do you prefer ‘Miss MacTaggert’? Aria told me to look for a gorgeous redhead, so I think I figured it out.” He sets his fork down and gestures across the table from him. “I’m Mack Sinnair. Please have a seat.”
I sit and extend my hand. He shakes it, and not like he’s afraid it will break. I can’t turn the boss down on the first day. Not only is it simply not done, it’s not a career-enhancing tactic. “Sonia, please,” I say. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I don’t know about gorgeous, above average maybe? Or more likely cleans up good. So, what can you tell me about the ship that won’t get me beaten up?” We take turns eating and talking.
“Ah! You’ve gotten Aria’s famous and copyrighted ‘mind your own business’ speech. First, self-deprecation is frowned upon. If someone didn’t think you measured up, you wouldn’t be here. So if you have problems receiving compliments, learn to keep your mouth shut. Next, Night Searcher is about two-hundred sixty years old. She’s been overhauled thirty times but is still in excellent shape structurally. The engines that are in her now are about four years old. One of your tasks will be to keep them going until their next upgrade. I’ll make sure you get the logbooks. My grandfather designed them. The engines, not the logbooks.” He chuckles. I try but can’t laugh with him. The best I can offer is a weak smile. “As soon as I look over your aptitude exam and resume, I’ll let you know more about which systems you’ll be maintaining. What else?”
“I met Gorb last night.” I’m not sure what else to say, so I leave it there.
“Ah Gorb, I guess you have perceived that he has a bit of a…” he takes a sip of his coffee. “…let’s call it a mental quirk? I don’t know if it’s genetic or not, but he is a documented genius with respect to propulsion systems. Sometimes he figures things out that stump me cross-eyed. And he does it walking past what I’ve agonized over for hours, while he’s playing with a spatial geometry toy. Challenged doesn’t really describe him and he certainly keeps me humble.”
“And he’s such a sweetie, too.” I add. “When the girls in the chow hall were teasing him I was ready to scratch their eyes out until I realized it was that ‘nobody picks on him but us’ type.”
“True that. I don’t know that they’d take a bullet for him, but I know several people who would empty several magazines for him.” He puts my coffee cup on his tray and walks off, leaving his tray at the cleanup station. He returns shortly with two covered to-go cups.
I take the hint; it’s time to go to work. I police up my tray and we walk towards Engineering. “I want to get familiar with the drives as quickly as possible. Are the TMs and MWOs available through that holoCom I saw in my room?”
“The maintenance work orders are all filed in the Lead Engineer’s Office more familiarly known as the LEO. The technical manuals can be made available over the network. I’ll ask Aria to give your workstation holoCom access. I appreciate your initiative, but I’d really prefer you do all of that from your workstation in the shop. Unless you’re restricted in some way, I don’t want you taking your work into your cabin. And I don’t want you bringing your personal life into Engineering. Keeping some separation is recommended, otherwise there’s always the potential to air your dirty laundry in Engineering. I don’t want to hear it anymore than you want me to. You’ll have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement first, so read it carefully. The Powers That Be—in this case the Academy of Ancients—are pretty tough on rule-breakers.”
As we walk the corridor, Mack fills me in on some operational and historic aspects of Night Searcher. “This ship has uronium fuel cells rather than hydrogen reactors. Years ago my Gran and Gramp knew this character on some distant planet that developed a revolutionary way to employ uronium and increased its yield by seventy-eight percent. And then Gramp developed these batteries. As long as they get charged enough to stay above the threshold, they should last about thirty years. Which is why we still refuel. The little engines running in the corner of deck H are for charging batteries. They’re simple old hydrogen engines, similar to old Ship�
��s Boat drives. They don’t require much attention but they can’t be ignored.”
“Impressive. I’m guessing the NDA expires a few years after I leave the ship right?”
“More than a few. The NDA I signed is in effect for twenty years after I leave.”
I stop mid-stride. “Twenty years?”
“Mmm hmmm,” Mack hums as he takes a sip of his coffee. “Twenty years. Standard. Keep up with me, we aren’t there yet.” I start walking again.
“I imagine the fine is pretty steep.”
“You could say that,” he sips his coffee again, “a complete cerebral sweep.”
I stare at him, but he doesn’t grimace, wink, blink, break stride or anything. I don’t know if what he is saying is true, but he believes every word of it. That’s good enough for me. I decide to change the topic. “I’m guessing you have a supply of uronium in reserve also?”
“Enough for one full swap. But of course, if we have to make a complete exchange, we have much bigger issues. If we find ourselves needing more than that, we have problems of cataclysmic proportion. What else?”
“Oh, I’m sure there will be others, but right now I don’t know what I don’t know.”
“The mark of intelligence and the beginning of wisdom: Knowing there are holes in your understanding. Sonia MacTaggert, welcome to deck F.”
Deck F—Maneuver Drives. The doors open and we step into a room filled with a soft humming. The drives are massive, even for a ship this size. “I’m guessing I could spend a lifetime trying to run down all of these lines and circuits.”
“Easily.”
I meant to say it to myself, but by the grin on Mack’s face I must have used my out loud voice. I’ll have to work on that, otherwise in six months I’ll have absolutely no secrets. Gorb is over by an Auxiliary Power Unit reattaching a cable.
I get a quick half credit tour. After that, Mack takes me to Deck G to look at the Transit drives.