the ship had a female computerized voice, others had this calm male persona.
“Yes.”
“Security features set. Thank you Stephanie Vega.”
She nodded and walked down the hallway. The ships she had served on were never as spacious as the Triton. You couldn't walk three meters without seeing someone when you were in or near a berth. A single bed to a room was so rare, she had only enjoyed the privilege once before. Ashley had the same experience, she knew. They had both grown up surrounded by people. In her own case it was brothers, sisters, cousins, and the rest of her family. In Ashley's case she was raised by slaves and lived in the cramped servant's quarters, but it added up to the same thing.
Sleeping in a room where five or more other people were crammed into bunks wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Privacy, silence and solitude were rare luxuries. She wondered if Ashley had trouble sleeping the night before as well, glad that she didn't have the tendency of cuddling up with a bunkmate that her friend did. Ashley not only liked sleeping in bunk rooms, but she preferred having someone in her bunk with her.
Stephanie didn't have anything against the right fellow or lady slipping into her bunk, she just had more discriminating tastes. She did approve of Ashley's latest cuddle buddy though. Finn was kind, smart and near her age. Her friend was taking his near death status hard and Stephanie wondered if Ashley would be able to keep it together.
She got along with Finn and even though they were just starting to become friends, really, she knew Ashley didn't open her heart to anyone in degrees. It was all or nothing. Ashley was soft for the people she liked and open to people who were kind to her. A little too open, Stephanie often thought, but she tried to be there whenever Ash watched that receptiveness backfire.
I wonder if that'll slow down on the Triton. It'd be nice if Ashley and I got to know some new people who aren't going to jump ship at the next port. Maybe I could find a squeeze of my own. The thought died as soon as she rounded the corner. Frost was coming out of his quarters, closing the front of his vacsuit. She thanked her ancestors that she had only glimpsed the curly silver hair on his chest and nothing more before the black vacsuit was seamlessly sealed. He smiled at her, his light blue eyes glinting. “Have a good night sir?” He asked as he fell in step beside her.
“Nope. You can call me ma'am instead of sir.”
“When did they change that?”
“A few hundred years ago.”
“Ah, aye. I'm not one for watchin' movies or news, guess it shows.”
“Really? I guess I never realized. You were in the hold watching holomovies with us often enough.”
“Aye, but I was mostly watchin' you and the rest of the crew. More interestin' an' more appealin'.”
Stephanie pulled her brown hair into a short ponytail and nodded. “I like the news and horror flicks.”
“You'd figure after all you've seen you wouldn't jump at the sight of some knife wieldin', crazed zombie,” Frost said offhandedly.
“I don't.”
“Aye, you do, I've seen ye.”
“I'm usually sitting beside Ash and she twitches like she's got a nerve disorder. It carries.”
“Nay, I remember both of ye jumpin' and squealin' at the sudden bits. I'll catch ye next time, just watch.”
“Not if I'm watching you watching me the whole time.”
“Well then, who needs a movie with that kinda thing goin' on?” Frost smirked at her as the double doors to the main bridge were moved out of the hatchway by heavy metal arms. He walked through before she could respond.
He was grinning so broadly she could see it from behind. Her frustration was heightened as she realized she was blushing furiously and Ashley turned from her station to glance at the bridge entrance. The younger woman glanced to Frost, then to Stephanie and a smile slowly spread across her face before she turned back to her station.
Oh God, if there was ever a rumour or even an idea I had to squelch, it's that there is anything going on between me and that lummux.
“Good morning Stephanie,” Captain Valance said as he turned in the command chair. He was wearing the same black vacsuit everyone on the bridge was, his white scarf and black long coat hung off the back of his seat along with his gun belt. She hadn't seen him or anyone on the Samson use a full gun belt aboard ship in a long time, they got caught on things and just took too much space. If the Captain was using his, maybe she could start using her own again. They were great for keeping extra ammunition, data chips and a few other odd small things in a place where they were easy to get to. They also drew a little attention away from the vacsuits, or rather what was underneath.
“Good morning sir, how is the Enreega system?”
“Half slagged,” Captain Valance said, bringing a tactical display of the half million kilometre radius around Seneschal up on the main holographic projector. “Eden Fleet ships came through and tore the place up. They made one hell of a mess.”
The hundreds of emergency beacons and drifting hulks near the planet became immediately evident on the main bridge holodisplay. All blips and shapes flashing with red exclamation points appearing and fading atop them. “Sir, I should have been here, on the bridge.”
“Don't worry, Ramirez and Price are supervising emergency shuttle landings in bay two. I'm saving the best for you and Frost. You'll be on gunnery deck A while Frost and his team tractor one of the larger disabled ships in. The survivors will have to be set up in temporary quarters.” The Captain brought up a cross section of the ship and highlighted the upper berth. “Ramirez and his team didn't get a chance to explore most of this berthing, so one of your teams will have to clear it before people can hold up there.”
“Are there any other rescue ships enroute?” Stephanie asked.
“The TRF Peter is the closest. They're two days away at top speed.”
Stephanie brought up a more detailed schematic of gunnery deck A, it was the largest space available close to the outer hull, stretching most of the length and width of the ship. There were four main mooring points consisting of large, round docking doors with heavy support clamps. There were also several emergency airlocks that could accommodate smaller ships. The open space was over four hundred meters by six hundred meters, and would normally be crewed by a minimum of two hundred gunners, mechanics and loaders. As it was, it was completely empty. The turrets were secured well above the deck, the moorings were locked down and the airlocks were all sealed. Policing the area if too many passengers were brought onboard at a time would be a monumental task. “Okay, we'll take on a group with one team while the other team secures a section of berthing. Once that group is situated we can take on another,” She said with finality. “I won't open an airlock until we're ready, so don't tractor in more ships while we have one docked.”
Frost nodded, looking over the tractor system controls. The beam system used artificial gravity and magnetic fields to move other ships into position for docking. The aft dorsal beam system was the second largest, made for hauling large objects or dragging the Triton into position for docking with much larger stations that were made to work with the technology. “Aye, I'll hold for your word, Ma'am.”
“All right, select your teams and get up there. Tell me if there are any surprises,” Captain Valance ordered while checking on main engineering systems.
Stephanie used the Command and Control Arm Unit he had loaned her to select a team of nine for herself and another two teams of five for doing sweeps through the berths and clearing them for passengers, sent everyone their orders, then signed off the system and detached the device from her arm.
“That one's yours,” Captain Valance told her with a smile. “Congratulations, First Officer.”
“Thank you sir,” She said, clamping it back on. It adjusted to her much smaller arm automatically. “I'll tell you as soon as we're ready for the first load.”
The nearest express car to the upper gunnery deck was made to haul large machinery up, down and across the ship. It reminded her of the large ore laden freight cars that used to muck up the shafts in the main complexes of the hastily built colony buildings she went to school in as a child. The large car in the Triton was much cleaner, however, despite the dents and deep scratches from heavy equipment that had been moved long before they had
