Aboard the Astral Queen

[Heraklion]

Almost two months have passed since Shizuma had a meeting with captain Iglo, he offered her the position of communications officer which she gladly accepted. After a training of one month she was seated at her station for a two weeks evaluation. Upon completion of that she received her insignia and she could now call herself 'Junior Lieutenant'

Tonight she has the bridge all to herself since she is in watch duty for the next four hours, the Astral Queen is currently stationary in the Omega-49 system approximatly ninety thousand meters from planet Gran Canaria, so actually there wasn't much to look at outside. She leans back in the captain's chair while gazing into the endless void of space as her mind wanders off. For months she tried so hard to remember anything about her past but now it all seem so meaningless. She enjoys her life as she knows it and for the first time the idea of her past actually scares her, what if she used to be a thief, or worse, a murderer? If that was the case and people find out, what would happen to her? A voice awakes her from her contemplation "This is Zoner borderworld transport one zero zero Z two dash four five for the Astral Queen, do you copy?" She jumps up and walks to her station and quickly puts on her headset "Zoner borderworld transport one zero zero Z two dash four five, this is Astral Queen, I copy you loud and clear." "Good evening ma'am, we are delivering that H-fuel you have ordered." Shizuma calls the file with shipping orders onto her mainscreen and runs her left index finger down the list until it finally stops at 'H-fuel : 580 tons' "Copy that captain, you are cleared to moor at port side fixture five, they are already awaiting you."

She returns to the captain's chair and sits down again, she follows the entire mooring procedure on the main screen. When they are fueled up they have exactly enough to make one jump and she just hopes it will be some place nice where she wouldn't have to stare at foggy clouds all night. Her mind wanders off again and she thinks about her job and the ship she's on, she could never have imagined there would be so much traffic going in and out the Astral Queen, most of them are simple freelancers looking for a place to rest and have a hot meal but they also have alot of traders visiting their ship. Some come to sell things while others come to buy them, if she wouldn't know any better she would think the Astral Queen is nothing more then a flying flee market. It's hard to imagine there is this much peace aboard a ship that has so many different nationalities aboard, maybe it is because no one is allowed to carry any type of weapon on board except for the law enforcers. The ship does have a large amount of armories spread all over the ship, in case the ship becomes under attack every crewmember can get a firearm to defend it.

"Astral Queen, here zoner borderworld transport one zero zero Z two dash four five, we have delivered the H-fuel and are ready to depart." Shizuma quickly walks to her station again "Roger that, you are cleared to unmoor, good night captain." She still feels strange whenever she speaks the common language flawlessly as it was the only part of her training she actually had trouble with. But it was a requirement to get the position of communications officer, she can still hear captain Iglo tell her during their meeting two months ago "If you want this position then you will have to have perfect knowledge of the common language, you are free to speak any language you prefer in your free time, but when you are on duty you are restricted to the common language only."

A buzzer sounds and a recorded voice resonades through the bridge "Relief the watch!" Her four hours of watch duty are over and she would be relieved within the next two minutes and she suddenly feels so exhausted that she is looking forward to her nice warm bed.

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