It was a much different crew than last time. Unlike the Johnson, Gina discovered that she was one of three women on board. Besides herself, there was the captain and the doctor. There were also three men—the engineer, and two men euphemistically called wreckers, whose job was primarily to dismantle whatever they found and bring back anything valuable (the actual purpose of the ship).
The Quickie was a salvage ship, which meant that, while it had a cargo hold for bringing things back in, the ship was nowhere near the size of the Johnson, and a considerable portion of it was taken up with just the engine and the fuel needed to power it. Its full name was the Kitty Quick, but apparently, no one ever called it that. She got to meet the captain on the dock before boarding. The woman was a tall brunette with short-cropped hair and the kind of posture Gina would have killed for. Her uniform looked as stiff as the ship's hull. She was studying a tablet and frowning when Gina arrived. The frown instantly turned to a smile when she noticed the tech's approach.
"You must be Gina. Been waiting for you."
Gina was surprised and had to fight not to show it. With the woman's demeanour, she'd expected last names and titles all the way. Was this an attempt to show that she was casual and approachable?
"That's me. Reporting for duty. Hope I'm not late."
"Not at all. We're just in the midst of final preparations. Everyone else is already aboard."
Gina grimaced. This wasn't the first impression she'd wanted to make. Despite the captain's assurances, she may not be late, but she obviously wasn't early... and everyone else was already working.
"I hear you served under Captain Peters," she said.
She made it sound like she'd signed up for military service. Actually, at first, Gina thought she'd asked if she'd served Captain Peters, which was a thought even less palatable.
"I was on the Johnson Long with Captain Peters, but I was definitely not under him in any way."
The woman stared at Gina like she'd grown another head. She half-laughed, a choked guffaw, unsure if the tech was making a joke.
"Not my type," Gina added.
She finally let go, abruptly bursting into a belly laugh. Now it was Gina's turn to stare. She didn't think it'd been that funny.
"Captain Peters," the woman said, extending her hand.
"Yes... Captain Peters," Gina confirmed.
The woman chuckled. "Is my brother. I'm also Captain Peters. Welcome aboard." She chuckled at Gina's expression as she tried to digest this and offered her hand. "Your file gives a glowing review of your time on the Johnson. It says every single piece of equipment was in top shape, stores organized and catalogued, and you even managed to make a few improvements. That's not even mentioning your work with the android. Apparently, you've achieved more progress than the company's tech department. They couldn't get it to so much as look at them, never mind follow them around."
Gina gave her a hesitant smile, unwilling to accept the praise. She honestly didn't remember doing much maintenance on the Johnson, she'd been so obsessed with the android. She certainly didn't organize and catalogue anything. She wondered who did. She couldn't picture Rod doing it, and most of the rest of them probably wouldn't know how. When did they get out of their pod, and without her knowing?
"I understand you're just with us temporarily, that you're some kind of robot expert on assignment. It's good timing. Our last mech tech just retired and you come personally recommended by Reimer herself. Don't worry, I won't hold that against you." Her smile suggested she'd just made a joke. "You'll have your work cut out for you. It's a salvage ship, so we carry several industrial robots."
The captain turned and headed up the ramp, leaving Gina to hurry along behind.
"We rotate duty in shifts," the captain informed her. It was welcome news. "The wreckers will stay in stasis until we reach our destination, since they have the lion's share of the work once we arrive. I take the first rotation, with Huang, our engineer. You'll take the second half, shared with the doctor. Per usual, if there's any emergencies that can't wait, either the computer or one of the crew will wake the necessary personnel. Any questions?"
Gina shook her head, stunned and amazed by the efficiency on the Quickie, compared to the laziness and inequality she'd experienced on the Johnson. The captain settled into her chair on the bridge and reviewed something on a screen she pulled up from the side of the arm. The engineer was already there, checking readings of his own. He turned out to be short, middle-aged, and quiet. Salt-and-pepper lightly frosted hair that framed a bespectacled face. He seemed to be a bit shy, barely able to do more than stare when Gina said hello. But the deep crow's feet and laugh lines told her that he was obviously friendly and hadn't let the stress of his job sour him. Before Gina could think of something to try to draw him out, Captain Peters spun her chair back round to face her.
"Everything looks like it's going smoothly. We should be right on schedule. Before we get underway, there's someone I expect you'll want to see. He's in the workshop."
A wave of excitement washed over the tech, but before she could say anything, the captain shooed her away with a wave of her hand, smiling at her. Glancing at a ship's map, Gina quickly hurried to her work station. She tried not to show her excitement in front of the rest of the crew, but she couldn't help herself. The engineer laughed and the captain shook her head as their new tech practically bounced from the room, nearly running over one of the wreckers on her way out.
