Fallin and Jalldrid’s shift at the roto-engine ended hours after the pickup and they were relieved by the two cousins, Roota and Foota, who came down late from their quarters. Despite their long sleep, they did not look more alert and ready for work than before, but Jalldrid knew they never looked alert and ready.
After getting relieved, Fallin immediately turned to the galley for refreshment before he too returned to his quarters. Jalldrid felt just as weary, but he went to the bridge instead to meet with his sister first.
“Hey,” Jerall said, seeing Jalldrid come up from below. Jerall noted she didn’t look very happy.
“What’s up?” He asked, coming close.
“There’s been news on the wire,” she said, “Asdred lost the Orius system a couple days ago. Also, three new zones have been declared “danger zone”, the Wilichan, Lilian, and Estora.”
Jalldrid froze at the news. “Galaxy! The Orius system was supposed to holding well, we were told that there had been strong deployment and that a loss there wasn’t a real possibility. By Space, three new sectors?” he shook his head. “What is Asdred doing?”
“I know,”Jerall said sourly, “When is the Imperial family going to step in? Isn’t it about time? This war is destroying this sector’s trade.” Jalldrid could only cluck his tongue in disgust.
Jalldrid sighed, “Listen I’m going to my quarters to get some rest…”
“Don’t you mean our quarters?” Jerall interrupted angrily, “Did you forget that I am now sharing with you, after you gave mine away to the Citizen?
“I’m going to the quarters,” Jalldrid said, ignoring his sister’s question, “for some rest so call me if you need anything.”
Jalldird left the bridge and his sister called after him, “We need more shipments, Jalldrid!”
Jalldrid walked down the hallway to his now shared quarters, mulling over the news. He growled in disgust and turned at his entrance, lifting the hatch. As he did, Rafel exited his own.
“Getting some sleep?” Rafel asked as he expertly exited the small hole.
Jalldrid nodded. “You?”
Rafel made a face, “I just had a couple hours. Obviously my shift won’t start anytime soon, but Fallin just brought some Droden beans in with him and you know what that does to his system. I don’t want to stay in that room.”
Jalldrid chuckled and entered him room with a loud clunk of the hatch. Almost immediately, the hatch to the Citizen’s quarters burst open and Bob crawled out uncoordinated, falling over on the floor and landing painfully. “Are you okay?” Rafel asked in alarm, hurrying forward to help Bob up.
“Lavatory.” Bob said quickly, his face green in sickness. Helped up, he was unsteady on his feet.
“Right,” Rafel said, amazed. He helped Bob forward. “Space sickness? I’ve never seen somebody have it before.”
“No, not space sickness,” Bob snapped back. He shrugged off Rafel who was too slow for him, and practically sprinted to the galley. Rafel followed slowly and was in time to hear the sound of Bob’s sickness come through the walls. He waited for a few moments and called out in soft amusement, “Are you alright, Citizen?”
His answer was another bout of sickness and Rafel chuckled. “I really have never seen space sickness before, Citizen. I heard it was something that land dwellers often had when they ventured into space, but I never really believed it. You are a first.”
Bob crawled back out of the lavatory and Rafel helped him up and into a seat. Bob had lost his green hue, but was now pale and sickly and trembling slightly. Bob breathed heavily next and Rafel shook his head.
“I told you,” Bob said in halting speech, “It’s not space sickness.”
“Yeah?” Rafel responded with a raised eyebrow, “Are you sick? You didn’t bring a disease on board did you?”
“no, no.” Bob replied to his relief, “If I wear my headpiece for an extended time, it makes me sick like this.”
“Headpiece?”
“Yeah, my headpiece. It connects me to the netsphere. I was looking at news and stuff, doing some research, and I had it on too long.” He shuddered again in Rafel’s arm and Rafel hoped he wasn’t going to be sick again. Thankfully he didn’t.
“The netsphere?” Rafel responded, questioningly.
“Yeah,” Bob replied, “Listen, I’m going to go lie down again; I feel terrible.”
“Sure.” Refel said, letting Bob go unsteadily back to his quarters. He entered his room with only a little trouble and closed the hatch behind him.
“The Netsphere, huh?” Rafel said aloud, “What’s that?”
Nobody answered him though and he went about his business.
Bob soon figured out that life on board the ship was pretty boring as most of a trip was simply crossing parsecs. In hindsight, it was obvious that was what it was, but still Bob was surprised by how dull the job was, especially for a passenger.
The shifts at the roto-engine were long and routine, but Bob was surprised that the entire crew did it without complaint. Jalldrid explained that not only was it their job to do, it was their primary job. In any case, it was no worse than any factory or desk work. While on shift, various forms of entertainment were available to them, games, music and otherwise and the captain was wise enough to be lax in that regard. As long as the roto-engine stayed within the accepted parameters of operation, the Captain didn’t care how the crew spent their time.
Even with all that, what made the shifts on the roto-engine most tolerable was the fact that they were never alone. The partner was always with them, and a lot of the time, so were the other crew members. It seemed that when the men were not sleeping in their quarters they were in fact hanging out in the operation room. It was a small ship after all and in the end, all the crewmen lived together well and despite the apparent ill-favor some of the crew had with each other, they still tended to migrate and hang out together all the time.
It was therefore an ironic twist that the original lobby area of the ship that had been converted into the operation room was still the primary spot that the crewmen gathered. Food was mostly consumed there as well, as it seemed the crewmen could not eat away from each other. Despite the break in policy, Jalldrid said he gave up on forcing the men to keep food out of the lower deck. “It’s good that they all are able to get along well with each other so well and it’s not worth trying to fight that.” Still, food in the engine room was strictly forbidden.
Other than the shifts at the roto-engine, at which every person, including the captain, performed, there were three other scheduled jobs. The first was command on the bridge. Perhaps this was even more wearisome than that roto job because practically nothing happened ever while they were cruising. The job of actually piloting the craft was given to the computer. However, it was DRIAS policy to keep some sort of command on the bridge for possible emergencies.
As Captain, Jerall took the bulk of the shifts on the bridge and she rarely mingled with the men. Jalldrid said it was to keep a professional difference between the crew and her which Bob accepted at face value. Other than Jerall only Jalldrid and Rafel were authorized to operate the bridge shift and they took alternating shifts on it with Jerall.
A full time man in the engine room was not needed, but it was policy that every two hours it was to be inspected. Rafel told Bob that during their first job five years ago, the engine had mis-calibrated and wasn’t noticed until the engine overheated and shut itself off to prevent catastrophe. “we were lucky that at least the auto kill still worked on it,” Rafel said, “otherwise we would have been adrift.” He made a hand gesture Bob quickly learned was sign to ward off such an end. Apparently Rafel was superstitious. Only Rafel and Jalldrid performed this work, taking turns checking on the engine.
The last duty on the ship was the meal preparation. No full time chef was employed obviously; the two cousins and Fallin were the ones who did the cooking and cleaning up. It seems that that job was literally written into their job description. One of Fallin’s few redeeming qualities turned out to be his cooking ability.
“Cooking is one of the few skills,” Fallin had said to him as he tossed around vegetables with his four arms, “That rewards you immediately. I like eating good food, not the crap that some people put out.” He snickered, apparently throwing a jab at Rafel who was notorious in the kitchen.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Therefore, despite how dull each of three jobs were onboard the ship, there was a real need to have all six people on board in order to operate the ship with relative amounts of work and non-worktime. Of course, the regular household duties of people living together for extended periods of time were still present. This was mainly in the form of cleaning, and it was astonishing at how much of it was needed.
Bob integrated himself as best he could with the crew and it turned out easier than he imagined and he even helped out on some of minor chores in the ship, despite Jalldrid’s objections. Bob was surprised by his energy.
“Listen Jalldird,” Bob had to say to him sternly, “I’ll simply go crazy if I am not allowed to do anything here. You should know how boring these rides can get it, there is only so much sitting and sleeping and eating I can do! Let me work! Let me do something, Lord knows I can’t operate a roto-engine.”
“But Citizen,” Jalldrid pleaded, “Please consider my position. If it ever gets known that I had a citizen perform labor for me…” he couldn’t finish his sentence. “I have no idea. Nothing ever like this has ever happened before! Why can’t you act like a citizen even a little bit? You’re supposed to… I mean you need to… I don’t know! You’re supposed to be different from us. Don’t you know what it means to be a citizen?”
“Apparently not,” Bob said dryly, “And neither does anybody else on this ship, either. Why can’t you ease up? Everybody else treats me normal.”
“That’s because their ignorant and don’t know any better! To them a citizen was just an abstract idea, but I understand it clearer than them. I admit that you’re not at all what I had expected from a citizen and I think I’ve been considerably flexible concerning you, but you’ve reached the limit. I can’t have you work. There are proper ways to treat a citizen and improper ones. Please understand Citizen.”
Bob looked back at Jalldrid with a sad frown. “I do not enjoy being ostracized, Jalldrid. Don’t presume to tell me how I should be treated. Isn’t it enough for me to want to be treated fairly? And fairness here would dictate me to take on an appropriate portion of the chores. You propose a business partnership between you, your sister, and I but what do you expect me to do if I do accept it? Just sit back with my portion of ownership and do nothing, riding off my name only? That thought is repugnant to me! I expect to be able to work alongside you as equals, is that too much to ask?”
Jalldrid broke out in rare heat, “Don’t you “fair” me, Citizen, it a contradiction to hear such words from you! You need to take your title seriously or it will be us who will have to pay!”
Bob did not answer Jalldird but instead sent a quick word with the Captain. “If he wants to chip in let him.” Jerall answered carelessly, ending the stalemate. “You’ll never see me deny free labor!” she laughed. After that, Jalldrid never mentioned it again.
Contrary to Bob’s enthusiasm on the ship and his easing into part of the ship’s crew, the other passenger separated herself as much as possible on the small ship. She rarely left her quarters and only did so to eat, relieve herself, and perhaps stretch her limbs. Even Jalldrid wondered what kind of person she could possibly be, but the Captain’s iron rule was not to bother their paying passenger so she was left to her own businesses. The only way her presence affected the ship’s running was the idle speculation she inspired in each person as to what she could possible me doing alone in her quarters.
After five days of travel the renegade was nearing its destination. Even Jalldrid had to admit that despite the confusion at the origin, the job had gone as smoothly as possible with no quarks in the engine popping up, no slips on the roto-engine occurring, and no significant slacking on the part of his crew at their jobs.
“After all your worry,” Rafel said laughing at Jalldrid who was taking his shift on the roto controls with one of the cousins, “This has turned out to be one of the most uneventful journeys we have had in awhile. Barring we fly into a gravity well,” he added, performing his superstitious ritual.
Jalldird grunted, not wanting to concede. “and barring that everything goes well at destination. Don’t shut down the engines till we reach our end, they say. A lot of things can still go wrong.”
“puh! You’re just a lump of fun, aren’t you?”
“I’d have to agree with Jalldrid,” Bob said, suddenly poking his head down from the bridge into the engine room where Rafel was. “I would think that destination would be just as tricky as origin, if not more so. Especially if we have to drop off the passenger before we deliver the goods. We’ll have to unload the shipment again in order to get close to the passenger docking, like we did when we picked her up.”
“Look at our Citizen now, Jall!” Rafel said jovially, “He spends five says on a ship and thinks he’s an expert.”
“I’m just chiming in,” Bob said with a frown. “Jerall’s in a sleepy mood and not much for company up here at the moment.”
“I believe that,” Jalldrid replied, “And I thank you for your support. Unfortunately, we’ll be dropping our passenger off after the goods, as per our contract with her, so that won’t be an issue. Still,” he said looking back at Rafel, “A lot of things can happen. I’ll be happy only when I have the destination’s imprint on my docu-pads.”
Rafel shook his head, but returned his attention to the ionizer port on the engine room he was inspecting. Bob stared down thoughtfully.
“When you have time,” Bob said after a moment, “I’d like to meet with both you and the Captain.”
Rafel perked up at the words but didn’t move from his spot. Jalldrid looked up from his controls thoughtfully. “Of course, I’ll come up to the bridge when my shift ends and we’ll talk together there.” Bob nodded and started to withdraw when Jalldrid added, “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” Bob said with a smile, “It’s just a small headache and nausea. I’ll get over it quickly.”
“Space sickness again?” Rafel chimed in. “If you feel the need to hurl again, please don’t do it in the corridor. You know it’ll be me who cleans it up.” Bob glared at him and left, leaving Rafel behind chuckling.
Jalldrid threw Rafel a questioning look.
“The first day out here,” Rafel explained putting down his tool, “He came stumbling out of his quarters sicker than a space ridding mussles. He claims it’s not space sickness but I don’t believe him.”
“If it really is space sickness, then let him be.” Jalldrid chided. “It’s a terrible curse to have.”
“I would if he would admit it and take some drugs to calm himself.” Rafel objected, “But he’s too stubborn. He keeps claiming it’s due to the netsphere, but that sounds like reactor waste, if you ask me. He’s too proud.”
Jalldrid tilted his head to the side in thought. “Did you say netshpere?”
“Yeah,” Rafel responded, “It’s some sort of religious ritual, I think. Spiritual connections and what not. I don’t know. But it’s a classic move to blame you problems on spiritual matters and it’s a cheap way to deflect reality, I say.”
“You’re one to talk,” Jalldrid said sarcastically, “you who can’t mention engine failure without pulling out your stupid charm and- look there you go.” He added. Rafel had taken out a small decorative ornament from his pocket and crossed his chest with it, mumbling.
“Some things are not meant to be toyed with.” He said, “Black holes, engine failures, space anomalies and any number of unpardonable dangers are out there for us, just waiting to kill us. I’ve got a wife back home to get to. Galaxy knows there is no lonelier grave than the cold of a broken ship.”
“Well,” Jalldrid said, losing the warm mood, “Let’s not test the limit of our Citizen’s endurance of ridicule. Besides,” he added thoughtfully, “I think I’ve heard of this “netshpere” before, but it was more of myth than anything else. I wonder if there might be truth in what he says.”
“Great, giving credit to his crazy religion.” Jalldrid didn’t respond.
Rafel continued to tink around in the engine room. “How soon do you think until we reach destination?”
“By the end of the day, to be sure.” Jalldrid responded. “Then we need to go and drop off our passenger, that shouldn’t take much longer if I remember the docu-pads correctly.”
“Then we return back to the station?” Jalldid nodded in affirmation. “We haven’t had back to back jobs in a while now.” Rafel commented. “Thats a lot of empty parsecs you’re traveling. Do you have another job lined up yet?”
“By the time we get back,” Jalldrid responded, “DRIAS will have posted new jobs on the board that we can grab.”
“What are you meeting with the Citizen about?” Rafel asked suddenly. At Jalldrid look he added, “Hey, it’s strange enough having a citizen on board. Don’t think we can’t see that something is going on, because it’s obvious. The citizen was asking strange questions earlier to all of us. How we feel about the business and so on. And now you’re meeting privately with him and the Captain. It makes me wonder you know.”
“You can keep wondering,”Jalldrid said, “This is a matter between him and us.”
Rafel’s face darkened, his beady eyes drawing up into slits, “I think I’ve earned the right to know. I’ve been with this company since it started and anything you guys do affects me too. If you’re planning on selling the business…”
“Who said anything about selling?”
“Nobody said it, Jall. But we’re thinking it. It makes me nervous, you see. We all know business has been poor lately, and there is no end in sight for now. And then you bring in a citizen and start showing him around the place. I can add figures together, Jalldrid, even if I can’t multiply them. What are you meeting with the Citizen about?”
Jalldird shifted uncomfortably and sighed. “Stop pretending you can’t hear us, Foota.” He said, leaning over to his cousin at the other end of the Roto-engine. “and listen up. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings here. I can understand if you are concerned. And Rafel is right, business has been poor lately, but believe me when I say now clearly, the Captain and I are not even considering the possibility of selling the business to anybody, much less to a Citizen with no experience in the industry. And I know for a fact that the Captain would sooner fly the renegade into a star-“ Rafel took out this ornament quickly and crossed his chest with it- “then sell Freeline. To her it is her life. So you can be at ease about that.”
“Then what is the Citizen doing here?” Rafel asked quickly, “I doubt somebody who has space sickness would want to have a simple cruise on a hauling ship.”
“The Citizen,” Jalldird said forcefully, “is here on business. We have offered a proposal with him, but it is nothing that would affect you directly. And if and when the conclusion of our time with the Citizen comes you all will be made fully aware of what happened. But at this time, we are keeping the proposal between us. And the most likely end of this is that it will come to nothing but a waste of time. So stick to your work and let’s finish this shipment well!”
Rafel looked entirely dissatisfied with the answer, but didn’t say any more about it. Foota leaned his head back, contemplating the information and how he would exaggerate it with the rest of the crew. “Great,” Jalldrid mumbled, “I knew this shipment wouldn’t end well.”