What the Stars May Bring

Settling In

The USS Lexington was an old and venerable ship. While built and run by the Greater United States of the Americas, it was doing research under the flag of the Alliance. That meant that there should be officers and crew members from all three great Empires on board. To Cooper's worry, she learned that simply wasn't the case according to petty officer Hanson who was guiding the six candidates throughout the Lexington's cramped corridors.

"Until you came aboard we were flying the flag of the GUSA," the young officer explained. "Now, however, we are flying the star spangled union jack."

"Why was the crew GUSA only? All ships on exploration voyages fall under the Alliance Navy," Anderson pointed out.

"All I know is that some form of high-level politics were involved," the petty officer said with a shrug. "Anything beyond that is above my pay grade."

Cooper exchanged a look with Simmons. 'This is something that we aren't supposed to know,' Cooper thought as the tour continued.

"This is the main mess hall. It is also where we hold any celebrations, since there is enough room for the entire crew in here."

'I imagine that this is the largest open area on the entire ship,' Cooper thought. 'I wonder what type of celebrations cause such gatherings to be held.'

"You will notice that the 'gravity' on this floor is the strongest on the ship. That's because it is on the far outside of the rotating arc. This floor also includes the officer quarters, exercise rooms, the officers' lounge. It also houses the main bridge." Hanson explained.

"Wait, if the officers' quarters are on this deck then why are we housed on the opposite side of the ship?" Johnson asked.

"Well, the quarters on that far side are also on the outside of the spinning sections and thus are at a Mars level 'gravity,'" the petty officer explained to the riled up candidate. "It is also the only area on that floor where we had extra bunks."

This didn't seem to placate Johnson, at least not according to his expression.

Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of Johnson's complaints. From that point onward, the male candidate from the GUSA made criticisms about everything from the cleanliness of the decks to the lack of shower facilities on the ship.

'I wish he would just shut up so that we can get this tour of the ship over with,' Cooper thought. Thanks to Johnson they were well behind schedule and it was eating into everyone's chow time.

Even Anderson was becoming upset with Johnson's attitude. "Look, you don't have to complain about every little thing," she quipped as Johnson went off on another tangent. "If you want to complain that much, then just make a note for later."

Luckily, that seemed to quicken Johnson's pace and the endless tour eventually came to a close. While it had been scheduled to last one hour, Johnson had dragged it out to last for over twice that.

---

Cooper was tired, but she did her best not to let it show. 'Its only been a week of double shifts, and we have two months before we make it to the trailing Trojans,' she thought as she made her way back to the primary arc. That was where the mess hall was, and she was starving. 'You would think they would at least give me enough time to eat a ration pack between shifts.'

When she had asked for ration packs in the galley, they had told her it was against the ship's policy to give them out except during hard burns or by order of a senior officer. However, the cook took some pity on the candidates. He set aside six plates of food and made them available when the mess hall was shut down. That way, they could have food whenever they could stop by and eat and not just during set mealtimes.

'I wonder what's on today's menu,' Cooper thought as she made her way through the cramped corridor.

The cook merely reconstituted all the dehydrated foods that were offered. This, of course, saved considerable weight on the ship.

'I just don't want to know too much about where the water actually comes from.' After all, they made it from the crew's urine via a reverse osmosis filtration system.

When she made it to the galley, Cooper happily ran into Simmons and Watanabe. Both of her fellow candidates were sitting in an otherwise empty mess hall in the seats that junior officers typically sat. Cooper waved, grabbed her tray, and then walked over to join them.

Both of her fellow officers looked as exhausted as Cooper felt. "So what did the cook put aside for us?" she asked only for Simmons to answer listlessly, "Some form of mystery meat in barbeque sauce."

Watanabe then commented, "I think it's pork, but I'm not too sure."

"Oh, that sounds yummy," Cooper replied as she removed the top of her meal. "Right now, even tofu in barbeque sauce would sound good."

"Its not bad," Simmons replied as he ate another fork full. "If the cook were here, I'd ask for seconds," he admitted.

"You must be starving if you like it that much," Watanabe quipped. "You can have the rest of mine."

"I don't mind if I do," Simmons replied happily as he forked the rest of Watanabe's entrée onto his own plate.

"So, what have you two been up to? I feel like I haven't seen you both in a month," Cooper admitted as she tried a fork full of the mystery meat. 'This is good,' she realized.

"I spent today on the bridge," Simmons answered. "It was mostly empty since the ship is currently inertial."

"Did you learn a lot about ship's systems?" Cooper asked. "So far I haven't worked on the bridge."

"I have," Watanabe admitted. "It was too much information to absorb all at once."

"How about you Coop? What were you up to today?" Simmons asked.

"I was down in main engineering," Cooper admitted. "If I don't make it into one of the command spots, I think I will ask to be head of engineering. I'm really enjoying learning all about the ship."

"Coop, it would be a waste of your talents if they assigned you to engineering," Simmons replied as he ate the last fork full of food off his plate. "Your command abilities would make you the perfect captain or first officer."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," Cooper said with a smile. "I could say the same about you, Simmons."

---

The following day they assigned Cooper to secondary engineering. As a result, she donned her space suit once again, and she went out of one of the front airlocks.

After successfully cycling through the lock, she pressed the button to summon a sled. The primary hull of the USS Lexington was just over a kilometer long. She had to traverse almost half of the ship's length to get to the front of the ship where secondary engineering was located.

'If it wasn't for the sleds, it would be a very long trek,' Cooper thought as the sled she had ordered pulled up. Then after she lay down and buckled herself onto the sled she realized, 'Having to space walk the distance would be a nightmare.'

Thanks to the sleds it was only a fifteen-minute trip. 'As an added bonus, I get to see the superstructure of the ship as I go by,' Cooper thought as she passed the forward water tank. That showed that the trip was almost over. After all, that tank was used to store propellant for the ship's main navigational thrusters, which was just beyond the cabin of secondary engineering.

"This is Cooper," she called out over her suit's com. "My ETA to the lock is approximately three minutes. Please prepare it for me."

"Hey there Cooper, I already cycled it earlier to prepare it for your arrival."

"Thanks for your forethought Lieutenant Snyder."

"No problem. See you soon."

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