A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 25

I wandered through the upper dining area and grabbed what resembled a granola bar as I passed the side table. The cook had noticed that I was prone to grabbing an eat-as-I-go snack, and there was always something sitting there for people to grab.

The cook waved as I passed by, and I waved back. I wasn't terribly fussy when it came to food, at least as long as it was edible, so I didn't put any demands on the cook. The somewhat grouchy cook of the past had transformed into a grinning chef who was completely delighted with the kitchen and appliances at his disposal.

'Starsong, are the Overseers ready to begin the tour?'

"Yes. The Overseers are already waiting by the access door. All of the new crew members are assembled at the bottom of the ramp."

There were thirty new crew members at this stop. If any had heard of my trip down to the Enforcement Station, at least none had changed their minds about working on the Starsong. Word had already circulated through the current crew, and they were quite indignant that the Enforcement officers had just barged in and disrupted my schedule like that.

The man whose meeting got cancelled had been perfectly content to reschedule it to a lunch meeting at a fancy restaurant. It just so happened to be the same Diner that the arrogant interrogator had eaten at. I planned on sending the bill to him as repayment for disrupting my earlier schedule.

I rounded the corner and, sure enough, the Overseers who were about to meet their new assistants were waiting. There were two new Overseers waiting outside, and their Officer was going to give them the tour, as was custom.

Like I had done last time, I passed out the communication devices and Guides as I called them up. This time, I also introduced them to their superior. It didn't take very long before everyone had formally been welcomed onto the ship. The group scattered as they went on their various tours.

I lingered on the platform just outside the access door as I gazed across the docking station. The Security Guard on the other side of the door was actually just an off-duty Officer who had volunteered to act as a doorkeeper. I didn't address him, so he pretended to ignore my presence, probably realizing that I was just relaxing a bit on the doorstep of my ship.

People, loaders, and equipment on the main docking station were busy coming and going. Three ships were docked at the moment. One was a trading ship, and the other one was a large passenger transport ship. Occasionally, someone glanced up towards us on the platform, but most barely even noted our presence. None approached the ramp, which was to be expected since usually only the crew or special guests used the ramp leading to the access door.

One child stood by his parents in boredom as they spoke with another couple. The boy looked at the ship across from us and opened up a book before pointing to something inside of it. He looked at the ship at the far end of the docking station and turned more pages before pointing once more.

He gazed at the Starsong for some time before flipping through his entire book. He looked up and down several times before searching the entire book again. 'I assume that is a book of different types of spaceships?'

"Yes." A misty image, like a see-through mirage, appeared in my vision. I could see the boy and his book as if I were standing just in front of him. I carefully controlled my reaction to the completely unexpected mirage.

'You should really warn me before you pull out new tricks like that...' I was a bit exasperated, even if it was kind of neat.

"I wasn't even sure if you would see it. How the human mind views mental images and how computers do are fairly different. I am pleased that it worked though."

'Yeah, well, the Guard beside me would not have been so pleased if I had sworn in surprise.'

"My apologies. I will warn you in the future."

'Thank you.'

The boy was still flipping through his fairly large book, obviously trying to figure out what kind of ship the Starsong was. I didn't look right at the family since I didn't want to be caught staring, but I wanted to keep watching for a bit.

The boy eventually tugged on his father's shirt sleeve and pointed to the Starsong before holding up the book. The father knelt down and flipped through the book with the boy, only to come to the same result.

The father pulled out a phone and began typing, likely searching the spaceweb. The other couple took notice and started searching with them. Soon, it became a giant contest of who could find the proper classification first.

'Are there any types of spaceships that they may mistake you for?'

"No, the Starships are unique in shape and size. The visible equipment and arrays are also quite distinctive. Apparently, the boy's father loves to build model spaceships, and I have him quite perplexed. He has even taken several pictures and uploaded them into digital classifiers, but they came up empty. He has just gone into the spaceship database listing all trading vessels and is searching for my name."

'Are you still classified as a Starship?'

"Yes."

'I am surprised they didn't change it since it isn't on their recognized list.'

"They originally entered it as something else, even though I had put Starship on the form. I hacked the system and changed it so it is correct."

I smiled slightly, not bothering to respond as I continued to examine the view. Below the docking station, the main city spread out. They had prudently put a large meadow under the docks themselves just in case the anti-gravity docking coils failed and a ship plummeted down to the ground. It was rare, but such things happened.

Normally, a ship could get its engines up to speed fast enough to stop their fall and get into orbit, but some older engines didn't like firing up that fast, or sometimes the Officer wasn't at the console to react to the emergency.

About a quarter of our crew were currently on ship-leave and probably having a good time shopping or dining in the city below. They would be wearing civilian clothing so they didn't stand out, but they would still have their communication device tucked into a pocket or hidden somewhere on their person.

"Hmmm... Speaking of our crew, we may have a situation."

I lifted my head to gaze across the docking station, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. 'What kind of situation?'

"One of the assistants on ship-leave just got mugged and is unconscious in one of those weird areas with no addresses."

'If you can guide me, I can go find him or her. I assume the shield in my communication device will protect me if those troublemakers are still around?'

"Call Romeo from the Plumbing area to accompany you. He is strong enough to carry the man back. You have the rank to get past any Enforcement Officers who may find it suspicious."

I reached up to tap my communication device. "Captain Wanderer to Romeo in plumbing."

Beep. "Romeo, I have to head downtown and need someone to pack a fairly heavy load back. Do you have half an hour to lend me a hand?"

"Sure thing, Captain. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"At the main access door, please."

"I am on my way."

The Officer posing as a Security Guard was giving me an odd look, probably wondering how I had come by that information. "Do you need any help, Captain?"

I glanced at him, but shook my head. "Thanks, but I will pass this time. It should be a simple enough trip, depending on how idiotic the people guarding the base of the docking station are going to be."

I leaned against the railing as I waited for Romeo to show up.