When I awoke again, it was much the same as the first time, except that Hailey was nowhere to be seen. My scalp was bare again, and I lamented the loss of my hair, as briefly as I'd had it. I blinked and sat up slowly, the bed following after a moment. I didn't feel or see anything different, if this was a NIL I was a bit underwhelmed.
As soon as I thought that, a golden wave went across my vision, and I watched as various windows appeared and disappeared faster than I could follow. Eventually, they all disappeared, leaving me with a variety of indicators, none of which I could read. I looked around the room as my NIL tagged and identified various items throughout the room, all in some strange blocky script I didn't understand.
I looked over as the doors opened, and Hailey entered once again. Just like with everything else, a line of script I couldn't read appeared over her head that I could only assume was her name. I felt like slapping myself, of course I couldn't read it. Humans have always used the Itzli script. We didn't have our own written language.
"I can't read it!" Way to go, Rama, just blurt it out like a complete scraphead. She'll think she's got a complete mental deficient as the new captain.
"I mean, um, I only know Itzli script. I don't know whatever written language you use." I rushed to make myself sound like less of a total brain-dead Kab. She tilted her head again, looking confused, like I had said something outrageously obvious.
"It is not unexpected for there to be language differences given the amount of time that has passed. I am already compiling a program for you to execute tonight while you sleep that will teach you. In the meantime, if you wish, I can take you on a tour of the ship."
"Yea, if you're not busy with anything, I'd love a tour. Do you have any clothes I can wear?" I fingered the thin but warm blanket that covered me, and shoved the embarrassing thought that she was likely the one who had undressed and cleaned me into the dark depths of my mind.
My NIL overlay pinged a location as another pillar rose out of the floor with a set of charcoal gray clothes on a shelf. I was kind of curious about how that worked. Were the pillars interchangeable? did it fabricate materials on site, or was it linked to a cargo bay? Something to think about later, I guess.
An opaque barrier that looked like frosted glass snapped into place around the bed, giving me the privacy to change. I carefully maneuvered my way out of the bed, my body still weak. Using it for support, I made my way down the length of the bed toward it.
Reaching the end of the bed, I reached one arm out towards the pillar. It was just beyond my reach, surely I could take at least one step unaided. Taking my other hand off the bed, I took a step forward. My knees buckled, and I pitched forward. I flinched and closed my eyes as I saw the rounded edge of the pillar rushing toward my face. The expected pain didn't come. Instead, there was a warm pair of arms around my waist. Opening my eyes, I saw Hailey looking up at me with concern.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'm not hurt, thanks." I flushed in embarrassment. How pathetic can I get? Unable to even walk or clothe myself, and making a girl two-thirds my size help me.
"I am sorry, this was my fault. I should not have asked you to leave the bed so soon. You are still too weak." I felt a surge of pride and indignation at this humiliation as she supported me, and I took a step back and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Give me the clothes."
"Eh?" A noise of cute startlement left her mouth at my demand.
"It's not your fault, and I can't stand laying around anymore anyway. I'm not letting this stop me either, so give me the clothes." I demanded, arm outstretched.
She gave me a slow, uncertain nod before reaching for the clothes. First was a pair of underclothes so light and silky you'd think they were made of air. After struggling for a minute I managed to slide them on, I could at least do this much myself, the alternative was too embarrassing and humiliating to contemplate. Next were the pants, a strange design that covered the feet as well. Try as I might, I couldn't lift my legs high enough to get them on.
"I- could you... help me with this?" I hated having to rely on someone else. I'd never needed anyone to help me do anything. As a Human on my own, I didn't have the luxury of having someone around to help me. If you couldn't make it on your own, you weren't going to make it at all.
"Of course, Captain." A pair of small hands held the pants in place as I slid my feet into them. If Hailey noticed my embarrassment, she kept it to herself.
Next was a white long-sleeved shirt that also covered my hands like gloves. This, I was at least able to put on by myself, I'm not sure how much more of being dressed like a child my pride could take. The shirt hugged my skin and was just as soft as the underclothes. It almost didn't feel like I was even wearing it.
The jacket I also managed by myself, restoring some small bit of my pride. Ok so she helped with the buttons but that doesn't count, I still put it on by myself. Charcoal gray just like the pants, there was a set of four metallic blue stripes on each shoulder. I'm betting they either light up or act as reflector strips, maybe both, so that you can see them in the dark.
Last was a pair of simple black boots. Simple in that they did not look out of the ordinary. They were the best boots I'd ever worn. They fit perfectly, my feet weren't sweating in them, and they were so light I hardly felt them. I didn't even get a chance to ask before Hailey helped me put them on.
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"Right, I still want that tour." In some ways, they were right, clothes do make the man. I certainly felt like a new man.
I stood up, and Hailey once again attached herself to my side, supporting some of my weight. From what I'd seen in the short time I'd been here she was an amazing young woman. Smart enough to fix an FTL drive, strong enough to carry me, and kind enough to hold me up without complaint. Slowly, we made our way toward the double doors of the medical bay. It was finally starting to sink now that this was my ship. I felt excitement bubbling up in me, I felt almost giddy with anticipation.
Stepping through the doors that slid away silently at our approach we entered a corridor. Warm gray walls backlit by yellow lights. Looking down the passageway I could see frames that likely held bulkhead doors spaced evenly.
"How big is this ship?" I wondered aloud.
"The ship is one-hundred and twenty units in length and two-hundred and forty in width. It has a height of sixty units and contains 5 decks at its thickest and one deck at the narrowest part of the hull." Even as Hailey answered me, a spinning model of the ship appeared in my vision, thanks to my new NIL.
The hull was a sleek delta-shaped craft with curved and rounded edges. The hull thinned towards the sides, creating the impression of wings. The side of the ship cut away to show me a cross-section of the interior. The deck we were on now was the one in the middle and the command deck. All the critical facilities were housed here, such as the bridge, captain's cabin, mess hall, and, of course, the medical bay. This was the only deck that extended the entire width of the craft, with the 'wings' containing the crew quarters.
The reactor and engines took up the entirety of the aft quarter of the three middle decks. The room left on the deck above this one looked to contain the crew recreation area. I saw what looked like a gym along with a general-purpose multi-media room. The spare room on the deck below me contained the workshops, life support system, and maintenance bays along with the primary airlock. Below that, the bottom deck was cargo space with a lift that went the entire height of the ship for ease of access for crew and cargo to the cargo area and the airlock. The top deck was a shuttle bay with a pair of shuttlecraft of the same basic shape as the ship, large deltas with tapered wings.
"Let's visit the captain's quarters first." I decided, and Hailey gave a small nod as we shuffled off.
Walking down the corridor it was eerily quiet. Every ship I had ever been on had always made some amount of noise whether it was faulty, wheezing life support systems, flickering and noisy light fixtures, or a malfunctioning door that ground its gears every time it opened. Here, the only sound I could make out even when I strained my ears was a slight hum and the soft shuffle of our feet on the deck plating. It made me nervous, even on stations you had noise just from all the people going about their business. I needed something to break the quiet.
"It's a big ship for a courier."
"Mm, it was designed to transport crew and personal belongings to new duty stations as well as carrying important messages too sensitive to transmit on the Light-Net."
"Light-Net?"
"A nation-wide inter-system communication network. It allowed the flow of messages and commerce all across the SUNS almost instantly."
"Are you saying you had FTL comms? That's insane. Since you mentioned you've been out of contact with anyone from the SUNS, I'm guessing that we're beyond the range of the network?"
"Correct, I have had no further communications with any SUNS organization."
Finally, Hailey stopped in front of the door to the captain's quarters. My NIL's indecipherable text tagging the door likely indicated it as such if I could read it. The doors slid open without a sound revealing a room with dark walls, a sleek black desk, and comfortable-looking chairs with harsher white lighting. We made our way toward another doorway on the right side of the room.
This room was, surprisingly, different in color. A soft off-white finish on the walls made the room feel larger and more welcoming. The same yellow backlighting as the rest of the ship gave the room a relaxing ambiance. A large bed was set against the wall on my right and a set of drawers covered the wall on my left with a large window above them. Ahead of me was another doorway into what looked like a bathroom with a shower stall, toilet, and sink.
"Well, given the bedroom alone is bigger than anything I've ever lived in, I can't say I'm not impressed." I browsed through the drawers in curiosity, finding more identical sets of clothing to the ones I was wearing.
"The furnishings of the captain's quarters are multi-purpose and can be further modified to your specifications if you desire." I jerked, startled, as the bed became a couch, and the viewport was shown to be a screen of some type as it cycled through several different types of media.
Closing the drawers, we turned and made our way back out into the corridor. The mess hall proved to be a quick stop, there was little difference in such spaces between races. There are only so many ways to set up a buffet line after all.
The cargo bay and workshops were also equally fast. You've seen one crate of cargo you've seen them all and a fabricator is a fabricator wherever you go. Walking by the airlock was a bit disturbing. That was more because of what was by it than the room itself.
My discarded vac-suit and equipment lay on the floor beside the inner doors. The missing leg and blood stains around it took me back to that terrifying, painful moment and I shivered. It was still hard for me to believe that I survived, that this wasn't all a dream.
"Let's move on, I want to take a look at the bridge." Hailey gave me a soft nod before securing herself even tighter to my side as we walked back to the lift.
I poked my head into the standard crew quarters on the way. I was curious how much they differed from the captain's quarters. There was no office space, which was understandable. The bedroom was similarly sized, with a smaller bed and a small table taking up the extra space. The attached bathroom was identical. Two bedrooms each shared a bathroom as well.
"How many people does a ship like this usually carry?" I asked as we left the crew quarters and made our way to the bridge.
"Standard crew capacity is one-hundred-ninety-two, maximum life support capacity is three-hundred-eighty-four. The minimum crew required to operate the ship is five. However, a class one NIL like yours reduces the required crew to one."
"You mean I can fly this ship with my mind?" My mind froze. No wonder that NIL looked so different, the ability to control an entire ship with just your mind was something I'd never even heard of before. The amount of information you had to be able to process was massive. Even for a small fighter, it was difficult, leading to information overload and disorientation. It was more effective to allow a pilot to manage his ship systems mentally and keep using physical controls.
The doors to the bridge opened into a large half-circle room with dim blue backlighting. A single throne-like chair took up the center of the room. Four additional stations, in an arrow shape, sat in pits in the floor.
"There is an attached office and bathroom through the other doors." While I heard Hailey, my attention was focused primarily on what had to be the Captain's Chair. I'd always dreamed of having my own ship, of being free to go where I wanted. It had always been just that, a dream. Now I was living that dream. This ship, and that chair, were mine.
Leaving Hailey behind, I approached the chair. Carefully sitting down in it, I felt it adjust to the shape of my body as it reclined back. More golden text I didn't understand scrolled across my vision, and then suddenly, I wasn't looking at the bridge anymore. Instead, I now saw the dorsal hull of the ship surrounded by nothing but darkness.
I could feel the ship respond to my thoughts, no, my instincts. I tried moving the ship sideways like I would my own limbs, and I could see and feel the thrusters on the hull fire, pushing the ship towards where I wanted it, and then the retros firing to bring it to a stop. The sensation was indescribable, it wasn't just my ship in that I owned it. It was my ship in that it felt like a part of me now.
I pulled my mind back, and the bridge reappeared in front of me as the chair reverted to its upright position. My mind felt somehow stretched by the experience. It was surprisingly exhausting. I had only been in control for a few minutes at most, but I felt like I had been at it for hours. I turned my head to see Hailey standing by my side, a slight frown on her usually impassive face.
"Your brain is still adjusting to the Neural Interface. I would recommend against any further strenuous mental activity."
"Yea, not gonna argue with you on that. I think I could use another bit of a lie-down, to be honest." I groaned and rubbed my forehead, feeling the first signs of a coming migraine.
Levering myself out of the captain's chair, Hailey returned to her position at my side. Making our way back to the captain's quarters, the pain in my head intensified. By the time we reached the doors, it was now an insistent and painful throbbing.
Collapsing onto the bed, I dimly noticed Hailey disappear into the bathroom. Returning with a bottle of water and something in her hand, she offered them to me.
"Here, this should reduce the pain and help you sleep." Taking the pill, I slugged it back and chugged the water.
Laying back down in the bed, I hazily registered Hailey pulling the blanket over me and dimming the lights. There was a shift in weight on the mattress, and then a pair of cool hands were on my face providing sweet relief from whatever was going on in my brain. My eyes drooped, and I welcomed the embrace of sleep.