The captain leaned forward, his hands steepled together. Though smaller than me, he projected a much larger presence. He seemed about 20 years older than me, greying at the temples and sharp blue eyes. Suddenly he grinned, and reached out to shake my hand.
"Anyone who tries to take down July has got to be a good guy," he said, shaking m hand. "Welcome aboard the No Refund. I've been reading your stuff ever since you did that series on ABS." He pronounced it as abs which had me confused for a moment before the abbreviation clicked. "You write well, and dig a but deeper than a lot of the news bots out there. It could really come in handy for us - Ewo thinks you'll be good at ferreting out info that can lead to profit. And I think" and here he paused a moment, almost striking a pose, "I think a ship historian will show the home office a but more about what exactly goes on. Give me a bargaining chip for some better rates." And with that, he spun his chair back around, looking back over the port through the aft viewports. I could see a ship launching upwards, accelerating until it got lost in the clouds.
Not knowing what else to do, I turned around and picked up my bag, seeing the tall Aslan watching me with a grin. At least I assumed it was a grin - sometimes it is hard to tell with aliens. Then thinking that to her, we were the aliens.
"Come on," she said, and turned around. I'll show you your quarters and finish the tour."
Walking back through the airlock area, we passed back into personal hygiene area. An elevator door to my right led to the cargo deck below and the command deck above. "This is the med bay" Ewo said, gesturing to her left. The door was open, and someone looked up from the terminal. "Hey, Rob, meet Malik. Malik, Robard Teag, our medical officer, 2nd officer, and astrogator. As sad a doctor as you can find." The doctor scowled, leaning back in his chair.
"Welcome aboard, Malik" he said, with some accent I could not identify. Then he leaned forward again, engrossed in whatever it was he was reading.
"Don't mind him. He's a grumpy wiyea most of the time. Always his face in a book or terminal." We entered the corridor forward of that and she gestured right, "Captain's stateroom." Left, "My stateroom." The next pair was the doctors on the left, and the one I would be sharing with Lando, the ship's engineer. The room was a pretty standard stateroom: a bunk, a sofa facing a holo projector and a couple of storage bins for our stuff. Seeing as the top bunk had no sheeting, I tossed m bag on top. The stateroom was an interesting light burgundy color, which contrasted with the plain light blue-grey walls the rest of the ship I had been on. Ewo was waiting at the door as I turned back.
"The first two cabins are passenger staterooms. So far no one this trip, but we've a few more days. Part of your job will be to round up passengers." Past an airlock style door, another cargo bay. I could see a crane system on top, and the doors on the bottom looked as though it could open bomb bay style or ramp style. The high ceiling was crisscrossed with girders. Two storage rooms were on the back, and there were some controls in the front.
"This is the shuttle bay assuming we ever get one, or maybe an air/raft. In the meantime, gives us some extra storage space. Doors can open like a ramp to the ground, or we can drop a ship out. Lockers contain tools, vacc suits, emergency gear, stuff like that. Here," she said, handing over a tablet. "This is the ship systems and manuals. You'll be in charge of maintaining the ships lockers, emergency repairs and duties as I see fit. This has a check list of the things you need to do along with the schedule. The captain keeps a pretty tightly run ship. His Navy years have scarred him for life if you ask me."
Walking back through the stateroom corridor, we ended back at the stairs. Taking the stairs up, we debarked into a square room about 6 meters on a side. I could see the elevator on my right, and consoles on all the walls. Ladders led up on either side, and in front of them were seats on rails in front of comms and sensor consoles.
"This will be your station during lift-off and to the jump point, on exiting jump and landing. If we have passengers, you will tend to them first then take up your comm and sensor duties here. Sometimes we go into questionable territory." Walking forward, the bridge door slid open to a small bridge. Seated up front was a younger guy, typing and swiping quickly on one of the consoles.
"Lando. Yo, Lando!" she said a bit louder than I thought necessary. When the man did not respond, she poked one sharp looking claw into his back, causing the man to flinch and turn around.
"Why do you always do...oh, hey. Hi, I'm Lando." He put his hand out and we shook. "Ship's engineer. Don't touch my engines." And then he turned back around, seeming to forget we were even there. Backing out of the crowded bridge, Ewo told me that he was always this way: way into engines and stuff, but actually a great guy if you got him away from the various engineering systems. You've got about an hour to relax and get settled, then into town we go."
And there we have the set-up: met the crew, met the ship, a brief sojourn about the large port on Yllom (to which I really want to make a map of but will try & hold myself back). Next step is to re-read the SOLO book as it pertains to the StarTraders group, and start playing.
Speaking of maps, my wife is making up a fishing game for her birthday. I am trying to make a board for her, and draft 1 has some ideas. Draft two will be wider - I've got some 13x19 heavy duty paper to print this out on so will try & fill that out.
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