It was hard being a stowaway on a spaceship. Even air was precious, so unused rooms and closets were often decompressed to save air. It was better to not think about how many stowaways might have died that way without thinking it though. You had to be smart to be a spaceship stowaway. Fortunately, I had a lot of experience. I’d hopped so many spaceships for such a long time I wasn’t even sure which galactic neighborhood I was from, let alone what planet. I knew spaceships better than their engineers. Finding a hiding place and manipulating the ship was easy for me. What was harder was the time… Spaceships often travels for weeks or months at a time. I had nothing to do what survive. So, I developed a hobby. I watched the crew.
The crew of the Celestial was becoming a personal favorite of mine. It started with the engineer. I always start with the engineer. They are the people most likely to discover me. The chief engineer on the Celestial was a gruff middle-aged woman by the name of Gins. She was hard as nails. Yet when her people needed her, she was always there for them, with a sympathetic ear and a stiff shot of the hard stuff, provided they were off shift. Gins was also irritatingly competent. No engineer had ever been able to identify and undo my handy work so quickly before. She forced me to improvise new ways of redirecting air, water, food and heat… I’m still not sure if I’m grateful for that or irritated. It certainly kept me occupied and taught me a thing or two, which almost never happens anymore.
The person who bothered Gins the most was Lieutenant James Kion. Lieutenant Kion was always calling down and demanding more power, increased speed, diverting resources, etc. His calls often prompted a stream of what I assume was profanity from Gins that her communicator didn’t translate. He made me interested in the bridge crew, and I was glad in the shift. Engineering was run by Gins and reflected her. It was cluttered yet somehow organized in both the personnel and the environment. The rest of the ship was neat and orderly, the way a military ship tended to be, but with a delightful undercurrent that was easy to pick up on. Lieutenant Kion ran the in ship communications on the bridge. He was also a hopeless romantic. I don’t know how many times I caught him sending little messages to a girl (or the occasional boy) while it was slow. I don’t know what he was thinking when he went after the security officer, Lieutenant Reya Post. That girl could seriously injure him! I don’t know why she didn’t after Kion dumped her for the scientist on B Deck. It was probably because Kion knew better than to spar with her. Reya was an impressive combination of sociable and aggressive. It was almost as if she had a switch that she was in perfect control of. One that she only turned on during combat.
But my favorite people on the bridge were the captain and first officer. The first officer, Commander Leena, was some kind of species that looked like a humanoid version of a fluffy pet, complete with claws. She made an effort with the entire crew, dealt with almost all of the internal matters, and stopped at least one attempt on Kion’s life without ending in a court martial. The ship wouldn’t run half as smoothly without her. Commander Leena eased the friction between the different command styles of Gins and the captain. Captain Jeno Ion was clearly a military man. He was shrewd and calculating. I distinctly remember the first time the Celestial entered real combat. The ship was heavily outmatched. I’m sure that half the crew was as positive that we were going to die as I was. That half of the crew had never served with Captain Ion before.
Captain Ion had the computer technician spoof the enemy ships’ sensors into detecting more ships. (Lucky Lionel was manning the computer that day. If it were Evans we’d have all been space dust!) While the enemy ships were firing at the phantoms that Lionel created, Captain Ion issued a bunch of orders that I didn’t really follow and we won! Or we escaped… I didn’t completely follow that either. I was busy fixing the computers before they blew, buying us as much time with those fake ships as I could. I even heard Commander Leena congratulate Lionel on how long the computers lasted while maintaining the illusion! I helped! Not that they knew that but it still felt pretty good!
I really like this crew. Usually I get sick of a crew after a while but after a few weeks on board the Celestial I don’t really feel like leaving. I understand how people can be members of a crew for so long. I’d even like to be a part of the crew… I know that will never happen. I’m a stowaway. I don’t belong as a member of a crew… Still, I don’t look forward to leaving them.
The crew of the Celestial was becoming a personal favorite of mine. It started with the engineer. I always start with the engineer. They are the people most likely to discover me. The chief engineer on the Celestial was a gruff middle-aged woman by the name of Gins. She was hard as nails. Yet when her people needed her, she was always there for them, with a sympathetic ear and a stiff shot of the hard stuff, provided they were off shift. Gins was also irritatingly competent. No engineer had ever been able to identify and undo my handy work so quickly before. She forced me to improvise new ways of redirecting air, water, food and heat… I’m still not sure if I’m grateful for that or irritated. It certainly kept me occupied and taught me a thing or two, which almost never happens anymore.
The person who bothered Gins the most was Lieutenant James Kion. Lieutenant Kion was always calling down and demanding more power, increased speed, diverting resources, etc. His calls often prompted a stream of what I assume was profanity from Gins that her communicator didn’t translate. He made me interested in the bridge crew, and I was glad in the shift. Engineering was run by Gins and reflected her. It was cluttered yet somehow organized in both the personnel and the environment. The rest of the ship was neat and orderly, the way a military ship tended to be, but with a delightful undercurrent that was easy to pick up on. Lieutenant Kion ran the in ship communications on the bridge. He was also a hopeless romantic. I don’t know how many times I caught him sending little messages to a girl (or the occasional boy) while it was slow. I don’t know what he was thinking when he went after the security officer, Lieutenant Reya Post. That girl could seriously injure him! I don’t know why she didn’t after Kion dumped her for the scientist on B Deck. It was probably because Kion knew better than to spar with her. Reya was an impressive combination of sociable and aggressive. It was almost as if she had a switch that she was in perfect control of. One that she only turned on during combat.
But my favorite people on the bridge were the captain and first officer. The first officer, Commander Leena, was some kind of species that looked like a humanoid version of a fluffy pet, complete with claws. She made an effort with the entire crew, dealt with almost all of the internal matters, and stopped at least one attempt on Kion’s life without ending in a court martial. The ship wouldn’t run half as smoothly without her. Commander Leena eased the friction between the different command styles of Gins and the captain. Captain Jeno Ion was clearly a military man. He was shrewd and calculating. I distinctly remember the first time the Celestial entered real combat. The ship was heavily outmatched. I’m sure that half the crew was as positive that we were going to die as I was. That half of the crew had never served with Captain Ion before.
Captain Ion had the computer technician spoof the enemy ships’ sensors into detecting more ships. (Lucky Lionel was manning the computer that day. If it were Evans we’d have all been space dust!) While the enemy ships were firing at the phantoms that Lionel created, Captain Ion issued a bunch of orders that I didn’t really follow and we won! Or we escaped… I didn’t completely follow that either. I was busy fixing the computers before they blew, buying us as much time with those fake ships as I could. I even heard Commander Leena congratulate Lionel on how long the computers lasted while maintaining the illusion! I helped! Not that they knew that but it still felt pretty good!
I really like this crew. Usually I get sick of a crew after a while but after a few weeks on board the Celestial I don’t really feel like leaving. I understand how people can be members of a crew for so long. I’d even like to be a part of the crew… I know that will never happen. I’m a stowaway. I don’t belong as a member of a crew… Still, I don’t look forward to leaving them.
I realized as I was writing this that I needed one part to introduce the crew and the other to tell the story. I feel like the crew's introduction is rushed, but has just enough characteristics to define them.
Any questions about the crew? I'd be more than happy to expand. ^_^
RSS Feed