It’s almost a full hour later. Her mind has been getting increasingly foggy; she’s been relying more and more on the friendly lady on the interc-
“Wait,” she says suddenly, forcing herself to stand up straight. She’s been hunching over, slowly, as she grows more and more tired. “You’re telling me… You’re telling me I’m talking to my ship’s computer support?”
“Affirmative.”
She blinks a few times. “Oh. That makes so much more sense. Um…” She props herself up against a doorframe, absently scratching an itch on her side. “Okay. So, nothing I’ve done so far either has been or ever will be seen by another human being?”
“Not unless you authorize it.”
“Good. How long do I have before the crew starts coming aboard?”
“Unknown. The Command-instigated hour expires in two minutes; no small craft are within ten minutes’ flight range. Would you like to contact your exec?”
“Uh, could you do the talking?”
“Certainly. Initiating call.”
“Right. Uh, can I listen?”
“Affirmative. Connection established; ringtone confirmed.”
On the surface of the Earth, many miles away from his assigned station, her second-in-command glances up from his packing project to read the caller ID off his terminal.
It’s his ship- the ship he read his Captain was scheduled to board an hour ago. He wishes they would have actually told him of his assignment sometime earlier than this morning; he’d spent much of the time since reviewing the paperwork and bringing himself up to speed with the status of the ship’s crew. Just in case his Captain decided to call him up to ask how things are going.
Then he’d left his desk and started packing his things. The ship’s porter- she’s big enough she’s got a dedicated porter, right on the crew roster- has reported his readiness to travel out to help collect the rest of the crew’s belongings. Much of their stuff will be heading up on a cargo shuttle; each crewmember is allowed to bring one bag with them on the passenger shuttle, with size limits, so long as it is properly anchored.
In any case, he has to properly pack everything first- and, as he rises to jog quickly to the terminal, he hopes whatever his Captain has to say won’t take too much time; by Command’s stipulation, because the Captain was the first, he has to be the second crewmember to step aboard. By a matter of a minute, that is- and the rest of the crew are allowed to dock their shuttles inside the ship’s bays both during and before that time, so long as they wait a full minute before they follow him out the shuttle’s door. Thus, the faster he gets aboard, the faster the crew can get aboard- and the sooner he and his Captain can get started converting this haphazard pile of new recruits into a single, cohesive whole.
He touches the accept key; interesting that it’s an audio-only call. “Lieutenant Commander Sta’leen, assigned Exec Officer, speaking,” he states.
The response is instant, with a very professional, calm, female voice. He was wondering what his Captain sounded like… Oh wait. “The Captain would appreciate a specific timeframe for crew arrivals, if available,” she states.
He blinks. “Uh, okay. They’ve stipulated that I come aboard second; I expect to be on my way up in about six hours, arrival in nine.” He glances sideways at the sidebar on his terminal. “At the moment, about a half a percent of the crew is reporting readiness to board; those six will be following me aboard. We can expect ten percent of the crew- including at least one person in each department- to be aboard in around fifteen hours; another forty percent, mostly in the support roles, will come aboard in a wave in about thirty hours; the rest should come aboard in forty hours. To my understanding, they haven’t assigned our medical staff yet, but Command has promised their boarding within twelve hours.”
“The Captain appreciates your answer.”
He blinks again. Two plus two is not equalling four. “Uh, Captain?”
“This call was placed by an automated subsystem in response to the Captain’s request for information. Would you like to reach her directly?”
Blink. That explains it. “Uh, No, thank you. I take it we’ve got good computer support?”
“Affirmative. This vessel is capable of fully autonomous operation.”
More blinking. “So, really good computer support.”
“Affirmative.”
“Nice. Anything else?”
“Negative.”
Nod. “Alright. Anything Command didn’t tell me that I should know about?”
“Residual energy from pre-commissioning tests appears to have a draining effect on passengers. The related fault was solved automatically through equipment tuning; exponential decay of residual energy levels has been observed.”
Blink. “Energy? Like, electricity?”
“Foreign energy form; no known name applies. Catalogued as Unknown Energy One. Negative harmful effects, save physical exhaustion.”
“Is it something you can contain or eliminate?”
“Negative decontamination capability; energy is self-decontaminating. Full decontamination expected in approximately three months’ time.”
“Alright. How bad is the exhaustion effect?”
“Accelerated exhaustion may require downtime in short order; rapid mental adaptation has also been detected, for diminished effect following first night. Additionally, this vessel is equipped with technology capable of offsetting the exhaustion effect.”
Blink. “How easy is it?”
“This vessel is capable of deploying a psychic energy field to offset the exhaustion effect.”
“Oh… Uh, use that when we come aboard, to help us stay awake through getting settled. Let the Cap’n sleep beforehand, if she wants to- she’s gonna need it.” He shudders. “I wish I could throw in a few extra hours of sleep, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Fuel exhausted.”
“What?”
“This vessel’s fuel supply has been exhausted.”
“Wha- When will you run out of power?” As much as he wants to ask how the fuel supply came up, keeping the ship powered- especially now that there’s someone on board- is more important.
“Indefinite.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Explain?”
“This vessel is operating on stored solar power. Assuming zero solar exposure henceforth, this vessel can maintain idle status at current power levels for two years; maximum travel range indefinite. Average solar exposure since orbital insertion has exceeded peak power demand by approximately three hundred times.”
“... Oh.”
“... but Command has promised their boarding within twelve hours.”
“Tell him thanks,” she states, then looks down another hallway. “In the meantime, where are the beds?”
“Destination, Captain’s Quarters. Follow that corridor; take the first right, then the lift will be on your left.”
She starts walking- though stumbling is a better fit. She’s too tired to hold herself unnecessarily erect, and noone is watching her anyways, so it really doesn’t matter. “Lift?”
“Affirmative. The lift will let out approximately thirty feet from the Captain’s Quarters, a linear distance of six point three miles from your current location.”
Blink. “Oh. Makes sense. Um… If I were to avoid the lifts, how long a walk would it be?”
“Approximately eight point six seven miles, on the shortest route; eight point eight three miles on the easiest.”
“I’ll take the lift. Um… Wake me up before anyone arrives, please?”
“Alarm set.”
“Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
She blearily opens one eye, one ear twitching from the high-pitched buzzer. “Whazzat?”
The buzzer goes blessedly silent. “You requested to be awoken before anyone arrives. The first crew shuttle will be docking in approximately twenty-three minutes.”
“Is Exec whats-his-name available?”
“He will be boarding first.”
“Can he handle it?”
“Affirmative.”
“Alright. Let ‘im handle it.” She closes that eye again, snuggling back into her pillows. “I’m still tired.”
“Orders confirmed. Good night.”
The buzzer on his headset comes on as the shuttle separates successfully from the space station, finally destined for his ship. He reaches up to touch the accept button; unfortunately, while the shuttle is under power, he has no way of knowing who is calling him. “Lieutenant Commander Sta’leen,” he greets, as soon as the line opens.
The answer comes back instantly- the same voice the ship had used when it called him almost ten hours ago. “Update on Unknown Energy One. Adaptation may take several hours; adapted personnel have been observed to produce additional energy. However, Unknown Energy One appears to interact in an exclusively beneficial manner to adapted personnel.”
“Right. How long will we have?”
“Forced slumber appears to occur at one hour thirty-seven minutes; adaptation appears to take an additional seven hours eighteen minutes before slumber can end. Psychosuite can stave off effects of exhaustion prior to and following adaptation period, but has no effect on forced slumber.”
“Right then. Do that, please.”
“Orders confirmed. Psychosuite standing by for activation upon your arrival.”
“Thank you.” After a momentary pause, he tilts his head. “Could you give us a chime at the one hour mark?”
“Affirmative. All Hands notification set.”
He nods, and disconnects- then touches another button on his headset. The one he preconfigured to contact the station.
It takes a few seconds to connect his call, then a traffic controller comes on. “Hermes Station Control,” she greets.
“Hi, this is Lieutenant Commander Sta’leen of the Starship Athena. I’m going to need the next crew flight to be delayed by a minimum of ten hours after this one.”
“Uh… Okay, got it. Will there be any delay requirements for further flights?”
“Negative, at this time.”
“Roger that. We’ll hold the flight. Anything else?”
“Negative. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She disconnects.
Then he punches another preconfigured button- this one to broadcast to all crew on this flight. He waits a few seconds as it connects to everyone, until it finally offers him the tone to indicate everyone is connected- even the shuttle pilots; they’re part of the ship’s small craft crew.
“Alright, ladies and gents. This is your Exec speaking. Once we go aboard, we’re going to have about an hour to get everyone’s stuff to their quarters. The next flight will be ten hours away- let’s see how fast we can get set up and hit the sack to rest up to help our crewmates beat our record tomorrow.”
This announcement, of course, is met more by cheering than disappointment. There is some disappointment, of course; one hour is a very short settling period. However, most of the crew had been expecting to have to work for several hours immediately after coming aboard, despite having worked all night- and day today- to get packed in time to ship out. Being promised scheduled downtime, then, is practically a dream come true.
Everything goes smoothly. The ship’s unexpected possession of a gravity generator vastly accelerated the arrival process; her similarly unexpected possession of lifts boosted it even further. Many of the dozen crewmembers that came in the first load completed their arrivals within the first ten minutes, spending the rest of the allotted hour settling in.
Several commented on a growing strange feeling of tired energy, of course. Lieutenant Commander Sta’leen asked Athena about it in private, of course; he didn’t want to worry the crew about the specifics just yet.
“Psychosuite effectiveness ninety six percent,” it states. “Tired energy feeling will continue to grow; personnel will drop unconscious when it becomes overwhelming. Standing by to lower psychosuite field on individual crewmembers upon bedrest.”
So he had headed out again. At the end of the hour, he sent everyone to bed- and turned in himself. Sure enough, as soon as he laid down in bed, he felt truly exhausted- and allowed the fog to take him, passing out in mere seconds.