Star Liner

By Scott Branchfield

Congratulations Mr. Stot! Your application for employment in the New Star Corporation has been approved. You have been assigned to the Star Liner Webelos with the job title: General Entertainer. As a member of the ancillary staff of the Webelos, you will be required to have general knowledge of the craft and familiarity with safety protocols to aid passengers in case of emergency. Attached to this message is a video that you are required to watch before signing the acceptance tally on this message.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Copypasta Publishing
• Release date: Aug 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463839331

Book preview

Chapter 1

I brought up the link with a wave of my hand. There it was, the message from the New Star Corporation that I had been waiting for. I opened it.

Congratulations Mr. Stot! Your application for employment in the New Star Corporation has been approved. You have been assigned to the Star Liner Webelos with the job title: General Entertainer. As a member of the ancillary staff of the Webelos, you will be required to have general knowledge of the craft and familiarity with safety protocols to aid passengers in case of emergency. Attached to this message is a video that you are required to watch before signing the acceptance tally on this message.

I viewed the message with mixed feelings. Finally I had secured a job, even though it was not exactly the kind of job I had been planning for. At least it would make my parents happy. They had not been overly pleased when I had chosen the Chaubet College for the performing arts. Jan, I’m sure Chaubet is a fine little school, my father had said. But finding a job in the performing arts will be a challenge. There is no shortage of unemployed artists roaming the streets working as dishwashers or hotel maids. I ignored the non sequitur of ‘roaming the streets’ and ‘working as a dishwasher". But I explained to my father and mother my passion for this chosen path. It was what I had to do. So of course they had to accept it. That is what parents do. But I could tell they would have been much happier if I had said I was going to an engineering school.

Alas, my parents had been right. After graduating, numerous auditions led nowhere. And I had found myself washing dishes in a local cafeteria. The audition for New Star was kind of a lark. My friend joey had told me about it. I auditioned for the job like I had audition many, many times before. I had not really thought about the implications of getting the job, because I did not really think I would get it. But now here it was. I had to face it. I had never been off planet before. I had never even been on a Sat ship jump to the south continent. Flose had been my whole world and I had not even seen much of that world. I wasn’t even sure where the Webelos was going. I remembered reading something in the job announcement about going to a colony, but which one?

I opened up the vid. It began by showing me an exterior panning shot of the Webelos. It was essentially a fat cylinder with extensions sticking out in various places. It was not aerodynamic. It did not need to be as it would forever remain in space. It was in fact ugly. But then, no one would ever see it except at the space docks. It had three decks labeled A, B, and C from bottom to top, and then a flight deck above Deck C that was reserved for flight crew only. No passengers or ancillary staff were allowed on the flight deck without special permission.

Welcome to the Webelos, the video said in a deep resonant voice that wanted to inspire awe, but just sounded silly to me. The Webelos is an F-3 class star liner which makes passenger and colony support runs to the new colony planet of Asbos. The Webelos is equipped with standard Quanta FTL drive which means that the twelve light year distance to Asbos will be covered in 93 days. Some passengers will opt for hibernation for the journey. But due to the side effects and limitations of hibernation and the relative shortness of the journey most passengers will opt not to hibernate. Ancillary staff are required to take care of the passengers who do not hibernate. Ancillary staff are hired to cook, clean, and entertain passengers on the journey.

I paused the vid. Shortness of the journey? Three months out and three months back. That was half a standard year of my life. Did I really want to spend half a year of my life in a tin can between the stars? Not exactly a movie contract. No one would see me perform except colonist who would probably never be back to Flose. Still, it was a job. And it was something I could put on my resume when I got back. The only thing on my resume at this point were school plays and recitals. Not very impressive for a production company looking for the new holo star.

I remembered hearing something about the Asbos colony. There was something controversial about it, but I couldn’t remember what. I called my parents and told them about the job. My parents had that expression on their faces that I had seen before: smiling on the surface with concern showing around their eyes. Clearly they had some of the same concerns that I did, and maybe some others as well.

I remember hearing something about Asbos, but I don’t remember what, I said.

Well yeah, father replied. It was all over the news a year or two back. Big debate about it. It was already an inhabited world. It had its own flora and fauna including one species which people call ‘the slithers’ that might be intelligent. It was way outside the bounds of what had previously been allowable for colonization. But, we are running out of suitable habitable worlds, and the argument was that it would expand our reach into an area of the galaxy that looked promising. Then the natural resources of the planet were too good to pass up. You know humans, use it up and move on. Anyway, the objections were overcome. Somebody decided that maybe those aliens weren’t that intelligent, and the decision was made to go ahead and colonize. Some groups are still fighting it even though it is now a fait accompli.

My mother said, are you really sure you want to do this Jan. You know we will support you in whatever you want to do but this is six months of your life. She smiled her concerned smile.

I’m still thinking about it. I have to make a decision by tomorrow. It is a job in my field. It has that going for it. My parents smiled that smile. I signed off and returned to the video. It gave a more detailed tour of the ship. It explained the safety protocols that all ancillary staff were required to know: where the escape pods were, how to activate them, where the fire alarms were and how to operate them. It showed where sick bay was and showed the staff of two doctors and four nurses, who would be taking care of a complement of nearly 1000 people. It then went into the generalized duties of the cooks, the cleaning staff including light maintenance, and the entertainers. It is important for the passengers to have diversions on a 93 day journey. Not everyone wants to sit in their cabin and watch holos for 3 months. So that was my job: diversion.

The Webelos and 3 other star liners had been ferrying colonists and equipment to Asbos for the last year and a half. That meant that there was now a somewhat sustainable colony on Asbos. Habitats were well entrenched. Sustainable crops were getting a foothold. The vid showed a rendering of what the colony would eventually look like. What about the return trip? There would be fewer passengers on the trip home, but there still would be some. Tech people on an off planet rotation and a few would be colonists who decided they could not hack it. All Ancillary staff were expected to perform the same duties on the return trip that they had on the trip out. This did not bother me, though I realized I might be playing to some pretty small crowds on the way back. Then again, I might be playing to small crowd on the way out too. It was not like the name Jan Stot was any big draw.

I looked at the contract. I was not going to be paid much for this gig. But there was room and board, the free star flight, and the chance to visit a new world. I decided to go for a walk in the shell park to think it over. As I walked I looked up at the whitish dome overhead. What would it be like to walk out in the open air? The colonists on Asbos were temporarily still in domes, but after the quarantine period was over, the domes would be removed. I tried to imagine wind that wasn’t generated by fans. And weather that was haphazard. What would it smell like? Hmm, what would the ship smell like after 6 months of living together? No doubt the cleaning staff knew their stuff but still.

As an entertainer I had to come up with material. I had to have five different ‘shows’ ready to be performed before the ship departed and I was expected to come up with new ‘shows’ en route. They didn’t want the passengers to have to see the same thing over and over again. There were 4 other general entertainers on board. This was intended to give as much variety as possible to passengers. Crew and other ancillary staff would also take in shows in their off duty time. I was not too worried about coming up with material. I could sing and no doubt the equipment on board could accompany in any style I wanted. I could also perform the one man show Doc Holliday and the Angel of Mercy which I had done as my senior thesis project. As I contemplated the differing acts I could perform, I started to gather enthusiasm for the project. I went back to my room and opened up the message tally and accepted the position and signed.

Chapter 2

The shuttle ride up to the space dock was not fun. I lost my lunch. The fact that I had not been the only one to do so in the shuttle did nothing to quiet the nagging voice that was telling me maybe this had been a mistake. Taking off was not so bad. It was the zero gee part that lasted until we reached the dock that had done it. A number of us carried our barf bags with us as we floated to the air lock of our docked shuttle. I just hoped I could make it without throwing up again. The woman next to me didn’t. I heard her vomiting into her bag and I tried to focus my mind on something else. I recited The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. Everyone was holding onto the rails in the airlock when finally the outer door opened and we were allowed through. I pulled myself along the rail. There was a steward at the door to help us transition into the gravity field. I swung my legs under my body and slowly moved across the threshold. I felt the weight start to pull on my leg as I set it on the floor. I walked into the half gee transition zone as a steward held my hand until he was sure I was okay. I moved across the transition into the full gee portion (full gee was actually about .7 of the gravitational pull of Flose). My stomach was much happier, but not completely happy yet. The walls were white durplastic and the floor was a dark spongy mat. There was a nice diagram on the wall outside the station airlock, but I could not make head nor tails of it. A collection of geometric shapes must have represented the space dock, but it meant nothing to me. I knew the Webelos was supposed to be parked at terminal 12. There were some weird red symbols with numbers after them. Perhaps they were terminals.

Someone bumped into me and I dropped my pad along with my barf bag. Fortunately they were self-sealing. I picked up the pad and reattached it to my arm where it normally resided. I picked up the barf bag and looked around for a disposal chute. I looked at the diagram again. No help there. I followed the hallway until it emptied out into a large concourse. It was more crowded here than the shuttle port on the planet had been. The concourse widened out to include shops and eateries. Finally, near a small café I found a disposal chute and sent my barf bag off to be recycled.

I was not due on the Webelos for several hours so I ordered tea and a scone from the café and sat at a small table to watch the people. The fact that I had been bumped into had not been a fluke. The crowded conditions and the fact that many were in a hurry led to numerous bumpings and some out and out knock downs. Now that I was seated, I sensed that something was not quite right. Perhaps I was not over my space sickness yet but the gravity did not feel right. It was better than zero gee, but still there was a rushing feeling in my ears that had nothing to do with the sound of all those people. It felt kind of like the world was slightly askew. It did not feel askew in any particular direction, just askew. The scone seemed to settle my stomach a bit. I ate it slowly and it did not seem to want to come back up, so that was good.

I finished my snack and went to another diagram that was visible on a wall. This one made a bit more sense. At least it had a you are here notation on it so I could orient myself. I found the red symbol with the number 12 beside it and decided it must be near the end of a concourse that ran parallel to this one. I found a connecting hallway and proceeded to the other concourse. I followed the concourse to the end and discovered that I had oriented myself backwards. Terminal 12 was at the other end. But just to be sure I asked a passing man in a blue uniform. Excuse me. Can you tell me if this is the way . . . The man had just kept on walking. He surely must have heard me. How rude. I asked another man in station coveralls walking toward me. Excuse me. Can you . . . Obviously people were not very friendly in the space dock.

Hey newbie, a voice said behind me. I turned and saw a young woman wearing blue coveralls. Nobody’s going to help you unless you find a station guide, and they are pretty few and far between. She was on the short side, a little plump. Her hair was in a tight bun and she had a pleasant smile.

Are you a station guide?

Naw, but I’ll take pity on you anyway. I was a newbie once. Where are you headed?

Port terminal 12, the Webelos

She smiled again. Yeah, you are at the wrong end. Those station diagrams are pretty lame for newbies. She turned and pointed. Follow this concourse almost to the end. It’ll be on your left.

Thank you miss . . .

I’m Bax

Thank you Bax. I’m Jan. Do you work on the station?

No. I just got in on the Eagle

It took a second for the name to register in my brain. The Eagle. That’s a New Star Corporation liner right? Did you just get back from Asbos?

Yes and you being on the Webelos means you are shipping out tomorrow. Before you ask, I cannot tell you anything about Asbos. The closest I got was the docking station for a few days before our turnaround. They don’t like spending the energy sending people dirtside unless you have a reason for being there.

What did you do on the Eagle?

Ancillary staff. Housekeeping and light janitorial. What are you going to be doing?

General entertainment.

Her smile brightened. That sounds like fun.

I smiled. We’ll see.

We parted company and I made my way to the other end of the concourse. I almost missed terminal 12 because of all the people standing in front of the sign. I wedged my way through the throng and went to the gate entrance. A staffer asked for my ID. I showed it and was passed through. I went through the station airlock and into the ship airlock with no awful transition this time as both had the standard artificial gravity at .7 gee. There was a nice big sign once I was on the ship proper that said Deck B. I thought the effort to provide directions probably more user friendly for the passengers than the space dock station had been. They do not want them wandering off to someplace they are not supposed to be. My quarters were below on Deck A. I was in A-53. Most of the ancillary staff was on Deck A along with those passengers who had opted for hibernation. I found a lift tube and passed down to Deck A. The hibernation pods were all in the aft section of Deck A. I moved forward past them and soon found my cabin. It was small and utilitarian. It was about 7 feet wide by 10 feet deep. The darkness of the walls gave the room a dim appearance even when all the lights were on. There was just room for a bed, a desk with an attached but adjustable chair, a closet and a tiny washstand. Toilets and showers were down the hall and shared by the ancillary staff. This was to be my home for the next half year. That thought brought a wave of panic but I settled myself down and told myself it would be alright.

There was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a man in white coveralls sitting on a lift pallet piled with luggage. Are you Jan Stot? he said. I nodded. I have your bag.

Thanks. I opened the door wide and