A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 20

The display screen on the wall of the corridor showed a view of the docking station we had just arrived at. This was a decent-sized port on a big planet. We supposedly had 58 new crew members that would show up this evening. All seven current crew members had agreed to show the newcomers around as they got settled in.

Most would be Overseers or Officers with a lot of experience under their belt and they met Starsong's rather rigid qualification checks. At least half of those coming were married couples whose children had already grown up and left home. All that is left to be seen is if they will turn around and leave the second they see me.

That was a worry for later this afternoon though. We had almost finished docking, so I would be meeting the docking Overseer. Normally an assistant met the Captain of a trading vessel, but Starsong wouldn't be in the interspace spaceship database yet so he had to be registered as a new ship.

Starsong had already booked and paid for two days in this docking space. Apparently, the original Captain of the Tyndel had stored a lot of astrogold in a hidden cubby in one of the rooms in the spaceship. That Captain had been struck by a fatal heart attack during ship-leave and no one else had known about the rather substantial hidden stash. No one had ever stumbled across the old hidden stockpile either. Starsong had sent one of the robots to collect it, and it now resided in our treasury instead.

"Docking is completed. One of the docking station Overseers is waiting at the base of the ramp."

That explained the rather thin man with a digital clipboard in his hands who looked rather bored as he waited for me to make my appearance. Starsong had done the majority of the online paperwork, still proclaiming me as Captain. This man just needed to get a picture of the Captain and confirm a few details.

My outfit was in Starsong's colors, a steel grey and a light cream color. Starsong was once more going with the original ideology that Captain were not supposed to separate themselves too much from the crew, lest they become arrogant and stuck-up, so my uniform was very similar to theirs.

I looked away from the display on the corridor wall and sighed before saying, "Let's just get this over with. This day is going to be just one big series of meeting people who are not going to believe I am the Captain. I am not looking forward to it."

The access door slid open, and I put a polite, yet professional, expression on as I stepped out onto the docking ramp. I walked steadily down it as if I didn't have a problem in the world. The friendly, approachable, and easygoing nature that I planned on using with my crew was not to be seen now.

The man looked me over as I got within speaking range. He said, "This ship is still unregistered. I require the Captain's presence." He tapped his screen. "A Captain Wanderer, according to the form."

I held out my ID card, and he took it in scepticism. He examined it and glanced at me to ensure the faces matched. "You are a Captain?"

The doubt that laced his words made me narrow my eyes as the challenge in his voice roused the rebellious side of my personality and made me want to confront this man. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

The edge on my words had been carefully calculated to make him realize that if I was a Captain, then he was coming rather close to breaching protocol.

He immediately stood straighter with the slight reprimand. "No, Captain. The rest of the paperwork is in order and matches this. I will require a photo of you, and then you are free to start any trading or other business."

I nodded coolly, not bothering to reply. He tapped his screen before holding up the device for a few seconds, then lowering it. "There. Everything is in order. Have a good day, Captain."