‘Explorer’ class ships, while still well armed, were designed to serve as ships of exploration and diplomacy, as well as providing defensive support if needed. It was believed that this new class of ship would appear less threatening than the older Defender class ships. Hence the United Earth government felt more comfortable giving them the ability to travel at superluminal speeds.
It had taken several hours for the passenger shuttle to climb up to the platform’s orbit. For Nathan, it had been a difficult, and uncomfortable journey. Besides being slow, these older shuttles were cramped, poorly lit, and poorly ventilated. And the ensign next to him still smelled much like the spirits he had consumed during the previous night’s Founders Day celebration. The only way Nathan had to pass the time was to stare out the view port at the Earth below. And to make matters worse, the shuttles were not equipped with artificial gravity plating, since they spent no more than a few hours at a time in weightlessness. Despite numerous zero-gravity training exercises, Nathan had never quite gotten used to the sensation of floating, and neither had his stomach. Luckily, he had managed to make it through the flight without having to use his emesis bag. And he was quite relieved when the shuttle touched down on the flight deck and rolled into the hangar bay, the familiar sensation of gravity sweeping over him.
As Nathan entered the boarding area, he could see his new home, the Aurora. She was smaller than the Defender class ships, by as much as a third. He could only see the upper half of her from this deck, but he could already see that she was far more sleek in her design. Nathan found himself drawn to her, moving away from the boarding line to stand closer to the large view ports where he could gaze upon her more closely.
She had a long snub bow that spread out in a gentle curve on its way aft. Around her middle, her lines tapered inward briefly, before flaring back out to make room for her over-sized main propulsion section. Nathan could not help but notice that her disproportionate drive section looked like it had been stolen from a larger vessel and slapped onto her stern.
Starting at her bow, the topside of her hull rose at a gentle slope, angling upward on its way aft, and up from her sides towards her centerline, until she abruptly became flat on top. It was like a gentle hill with a flattened summit. And on the aft side of this hill was a sharp drop, into which the opening to the flight deck was situated.
“Reporting for duty?”
“Huh?” Nathan turned around and saw that everyone else had already boarded and he was left standing alone.
“Are you reporting for duty, Ensign?” the officer at the boarding desk repeated.
“Oh, yes sir. Ensign Scott, Nathan R.” He saluted smartly.
“Ah, yes. A member of our freshly appropriated crew.” The officer checked his display before continuing. “Very well, Ensign Scott. Your quarters are on C deck, cabin one fourteen. I suggest you stow your duffel and report to the quartermaster on E deck to pick up your duty gear. There’s an orientation meeting in the main briefing room on B deck at fifteen hundred. If you hurry, you should have time to grab some chow before then.”
“Yes, sir.” Nathan instinctively went to salute again, but the officer held out his hand instead.
“Welcome to the crew, Ensign.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Nathan picked up his bag and headed through the large open hatchway onto the boarding ramp. The ramp was enclosed in a tube that extended from the platform out to the Aurora’s main boarding hatch. The upper half of the tube was clear, giving Nathan an unobstructed view of the ship outside as he approached.
Like most ships in the Fleet, the Aurora’s undersides were dark-gray and her uppers off-white. As he walked through the dimly lit tube, Nathan could see dozens of workers floating about outside in the vacuum of space. Clad in bright-red spacesuits, they went about performing various assembly tasks on the exterior of the ship. In addition to the workers, there were several work pods, each looking like large coffins with windows and arms. Attached to the ends of long, spindly, articulated arms, they moved pieces about the ship to be fitted into place by the floating red workers.
As he neared the end of the boarding tube, he could see the hull of the ship around her boarding hatch. To the left of the hatch was the ships name and registry number, ‘UES AURORA, CV-01.’ Nathan paused, staring at the name, feeling the need to appreciate the moment.
“Touch her,” someone said from inside the ship.
“Excuse me?” Nathan looked through the hatchway and saw a stern looking master chief, watching him from just inside. He was dressed in combat fatigues, with Special Operations patches on his shoulders and a gun belt around his waist.
“Touch the outside of the ship, before you set foot on her,” the master chief explained. “It helps remind you what she is, makes her real.”
Nathan looked at the master chief like he was crazy. “Are you kidding me?”
“Hell, no! Every soul serving on this ship has to touch her outsides. It’s bad luck if you don’t.” The chief paused, waiting for Nathan to follow his advice. “Go on!” he said abruptly, startling Nathan, “She ain’t gonna bite ya!”
Nathan reluctantly touched the hull of the ship just below her name. He didn’t actually believe the master chief, but figured it couldn’t hurt to play along. The hull was smooth and cold to his touch, its finish perfect and untarnished. And surprisingly to Nathan, it did seem more real after touching her, like she was alive.
“That’s eight out of ten!” the master chief laughed to the clerk behind the security desk just inside the boarding hatch. “I’m on a roll today!”
Nathan frowned at the master chief as he stepped through the hatchway and onto the ship, walking through the airlock and into the entryway. “Ensign Scott,” he reported to the clerk sitting at the security desk. “Requesting permission to come aboard.”
“Don’t feel bad, Ensign. At least he only told you to touch it,” the clerk smiled. “He got me to lick it.”
Nathan smiled at the thought. “How do I get to C one-fourteen?”
“First left, then follow the corridor around the hangar bay to the far side of the ship. And welcome aboard.”
“Thanks.”
Nathan made his way down the corridor as it wrapped around the inside of the ship over to the far side of the hangar bay. Every so often, he would have to step through an open hatch to pass through the various bulkheads used to compartmentalize the ship in case of sudden decompression.
The corridor itself was not abnormally narrow, with enough room for several people to pass by at least three abreast. Yet it felt much more cramped, possibly due to the maze of conduits and pipes that were always ducking in and out of walls as they snaked their way throughout the ship.
The inside of the Aurora was no more colorful than her outside, with the usual dark-gray floors and light-gray walls. The ceilings were medium gray, but very little of them were visible due to all manner of ducting and conduit. As he moved between compartments, he kept checking the navigation signs posted above each hatchway and on overhead support beams. Although the ship’s internal layout was pretty simple, the last thing he wanted to do was get lost on his first day aboard.
As he neared his cabin, Nathan passed a tall, muscular fellow leaning against the wall as he flirted with a Middle-Eastern woman in medical attire. The man cast Nathan a quick glance, checking to make sure he wasn’t out-ranked. Satisfied that he did not have to salute, the fellow continued his conversation as Nathan passed. A few more steps and Nathan found his cabin, stepping inside.
The cabin was small, with just enough room for a bunk on either side and a couple of lockers built into the wall between them. Up against the far wall at the foot of the bunk farthest from the entrance was a small computer desk. Above the desk there was a large view screen built into the wall in a manner that made it seem more like a window.
The hulls of all fleet ships were composed of several different layers that together were nearly three meters thick, so windows were not possible. Instead, view screens were designed to act as virtual windows to the outside. Each of them could display the view from any of the hundreds of cameras scattered along the outside of the hull. In addition, they could be used as computer terminals or entertainment displays. The viewer in this compartment was set to its default view, which was of the space directly outside. Nathan stepped closer to look out the virtual window. He knew it was really just a live camera feed, but the incredible clarity made it nearly impossible to tell the difference. Through it, he could see the trusses of the assembly framework that surrounded the ship, as well as the
