© Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All characters depicted are 18 years and over.
***
I had been awake for a few weeks, from the big sleep that is. While asleep, we had traveled about twenty light years to service a colony in the newly named Simpar system. We were in orbit around the second planet, Simpar II, of the seven planet system. The star itself was a K-type star which is a little less bright than Sol which is a G-type star. The colony had been established about three years ago and so far was doing pretty well on its own. This was the second resupply mission for them.
My job on the ship was Senior cargo clerk. I oversaw loading of the resupply vessels to be sent to the planet's surface. The colony was resupplied with just about everything needed to keep them viable for another two years. We would be in orbit until all the supplies were shuttled to the planet's surface, about three weeks. Currently we were in to the third week and had just about everything scheduled on the surface, just a few odds and ends left. Usually we would be preparing to leave to the next scheduled system but we were to be rotated and we were waiting for the personnel ship to catch up with us.
I had already been out a year so I was to stay with the ship. About half the crew would be rotated back to earth for leave but I still had a year to go in my rotation. That was the way it was supposed to work, half the crew rotated home every year and a new bunch joined us for their two year stay aboard. The idea was that we would always have half the crew with ship experience on board at all times.
The ship was the Wanderer and she had a crew of 250. We moved from star system to system resupplying colonies. A typical run from the Sol system was five legs, meaning we made five stops to colony systems and then returned to the Sol system for resupply ourselves. But a crew member always stayed on for a year and then was rotated home no matter where we were when their time was up. The Simpar system just happened to be during rotation time.
The one problem with this setup is that you could lose friends, or even lovers, during rotation. I fell into the latter group. I was losing Ginger. Although we were not in love, we were very close and we did have sex pretty often when we were awake. I was going to miss her a lot, especially the sex. She was great in bed and she was a really good friend.
The day's work was almost done. I had all the remaining supplies moved into Cargo Bay 3 and it was all going to fit in the next shuttle. The next shuttle was due to arrive in two hours so it would fall to the next shift to load and inspect it. I dismissed the cargo clerks and waited in the bay until the shift was over. There was no use going back to my compartment as Ginger would not be there for another hour. Then she would pack and be gone from my life, probably forever.
I went over to the nearest port hole and looked out. The rotation ship was due to arrive any minute. I looked out the port for a few minutes and then I spotted the rotation ship. It was small compared to the Wanderer as it only contained the relief crew and a small crew of its own. It maneuvered close and then moved forward of my position and was docked. From my vantage point it disappeared but I knew it was in the process of docking up forward.
Jeff, the Chief cargo clerk, came in and we exchanged information. He formally relieved me and I went back to my compartment. When I arrived Ginger was already packing.
"Hello, Ben. I am almost packed."
"I am going to miss you, Ginger."
She turned to face me. "I will miss you, too. But we knew this day would come."
"Yeah, I know. I just want you to know that I have enjoyed our time together."
"Me, too. You are a really nice person and I will miss our love making. The year went by too fast."
"That it did."
We came together and hugged each other. She kissed me goodbye.
"Goodbye, Ben. Be good to whoever your new room mate is."
"I will try. And you be good, too."
She pecked me on the lips again and then she was gone. I sat down on my bunk and waited for the next rotation person to join me. I had no idea who it would be, male, female, tall, short, who knows since room slots were picked at random. In any case it would be an hour before they showed up as they would have to go through ship's orientation first. So I sat back with a book and waited.
A little over an hour passed when the door opened and a very nice looking woman strode in.
"Hello, I'm Stewart. You must be Ben."
I got up from my bunk and went to meet her. "That's right. Do you need help?"
"No, I just have the one bag. They are keeping our personal stuff down to a minimum these days."
"Tell me about it. My bag was no bigger than yours is."
Stewart threw her bag on her bunk and proceeded to start unpacking.
"Are you a new-bee, Stewart?"
"Oh, no. This is my third rotation out. I am almost an old hand."
"This is my second rotation out. What position do you hold?"
"Astrogator second class. What class are you?"
"Senior cargo clerk. I was just promoted before I shipped on this rotation."
Stewart's back was to me and the view was very nice from my perspective. She was maybe one hundred sixty two centimeters with nice curves. Her legs were covered by long pants but she seemed to be nicely shaped. Her hair was a ruddy red/brown mix which hung to shoulder length, no longer than permitted by the regs. Her face was nice to look at with high cheek bones and medium sized lips. Her breasts seemed to be average in size but it was hard to tell in her uniform. If this was her third trip out she was probably five years older than me which would make her about thirty to my twenty five.
When she finished unpacking she turned to me and asked "When do we eat around here? I'm starved."
"Dinner just started. Would you like me to accompany you?"
"That would be nice. My scheduled shift is 0800 to 1700 so I have some time until I go on duty. How about you?"
"I have the same shift. So I guess we will see a lot of each other. Follow me to the dining hall."
The dining hall was forward and outboard of the crew quarters. One thing about the service is they feed us well. And there was a lot of variety. We filled our trays and sat down together. She was not a big eater and neither was I. I left all the heavy cargo lifting to the underlings and was just a supervisor so exercise was something I had to get by lifting weights and running the track. I would bet she was the same being a part of the bridge crew.
In reality, we did not have a lot in common. Just the difference in rank was going to be a problem as it might be difficult during working hours. But with her on the bridge and me in the cargo bays we probably would never cross paths during work hours, which would make it a little easier.
We made some small talk during dinner, just getting to know each other. Even though the difference in rank was rather substantial, she did not make a big deal of it. She was open, casual, and a good conversationalist.
When we finished dinner she wanted me to show her the gym. It was just ahead of cargo storage so it was not far. The gym was pretty large with a half basketball court, a weight lifting area, some exercise machines, and a running track that went around the perimeter. I usually worked out here every other day to keep in shape. Today was my day off but I volunteered to work out with her if she wanted. She surprised me by offering to match my workout schedule. She said it was more fun for her if she had someone she knew to exercise with. She did not know many people yet so I guess I was a convenient partner.
From there we went back to our room. The room had two of everything, two desks, two chairs, two beds, two clothes racks, two sinks, etc. The only thing it did not have two of was the shower. Instead it was a larger shower with two heads, one at each end. There also was a single shared toilet facility. With this setup, privacy was at a premium. However, the Service made it perfectly clear what the setup was. If you had modesty issues then this was not the job for you. In other words, you would be seeing a lot of your room mate, so get used to it. Space on a starship was mostly for cargo, people space was restricted in the quarters but was a little bigger in shared spaces.
We both sat down at our desks. Stewart got out her Personal Storage Unit and inserted it into the computer system contained in the desk. Each person on a starship had a PSU and the computer in the desk was only really useful if it had one inserted into it. The PSU actually not only contained personal data, but also the basic programs needed by each person. So it essentially made the desktop system different for each person. And it also contained a security system on it as well that required a fingerprint to gain access to anything on the unit, and system interfaces to secured systems on the ship. Each person was responsible for their PSU and losing it could get you dismissed from the Service. Which was why the desktop system also locked the PSU into place once inserted.
My PSU was loaded with cargo manifests, programs for weight and balancing on a shuttle, cargo storage locations, and many other useful programs to manage cargo offloading. It also had a lot of personal data such as books, music, movies, games, and a lot of other entertainment. The ship also had an extensive library of entertainment that could be downloaded to your PSU. I only did that on special things I really liked and kept space open for other things that might come up during the voyage.
The ship had to be self contained because we would be out for a three year period. But, it did not contain three years of food. That would have taken up too much space. So when we were in transit from one colony to another we slept. Even traveling faster than light on a leg of the voyage it took a month or more to reach the next destination. By sleeping we reduced the amount of food needed by the crew by 75%. That meant we could carry more cargo for the colonies.
Sleep during a transit was accomplished by some pretty intricate machinery. Each crew member was monitored during the sleep period but the entire crew was contained in a single sleep chamber to save space. This was probably the most armored chamber on the ship because a single meteor breach on it might kill the entire crew. To further ensure the crew's safety there were robots that could repair a hole in a very short time in case of a breach. But a breach larger than 40 centimeters would be catastrophic. It was just the chance you took as a crew member.
Stewart was still setting up her PSU for the Wanderer when I was done with my work for the evening. It was looking like tomorrow would be a light day for me but I would bet that was not the case for her. She was still working while I got ready to bunk down for the night. I decided to read a little before bed so I brought up a book to read.
"Whew, finally."
"Get yourself all squared away?" I asked.
"Yeah. This is a little bigger ship than my last assignment so there are a few more systems to get access to. At least I think I am ready for tomorrow. By the way, thanks for showing me around, it was a big help."
"Think nothing of it. The layout is logical so you should not have a problem with finding things in the rest of the ship. If you want a tour of the cargo facilities sometime just let me know."
