Bora Bora

[Tenacity]

<The next day, Planet Curacao, Cortez System>

"there she is..." The dockworker said, as he pointed Rikku towards the ship she had selected the day before. It was beautiful... shiny and polished, sitting there on the dock platform just meters above the crystal clear waters of the planet.



Rikku approached it and opened the entry ramp at the front of the ship. Walking inside, there was a straight hallway that ran clear to the back of the ship. Doors along the left and right of the hallway led to the private rooms for passengers; there were ten rooms here total, five on each side of the ship. At the back of the hallway was a door that entered the engine room... of course Rikku had to check that out.

The door whooshed open, revealing a large cavern beyond, with three huge engine cylinders sticking out of the wall.

"Wow... these are some serious movers..." she mumbled to herself, running her hand over the side of one engine. There was a control panel up against the starboard wall to maintain the engines. It was all fancy and high-tech, most of this was automated... not something Rikku was accustomed to. By the end of the week she'd probably have the engines torn apart and re-assembled better-than-new.

A stairway back at the door to the engine room led up to the mid-deck, directly into the huge dining area. The room was dominated by a huge, elaborate gold-plated table with enough room for a dozen people to sit at once. The sheer size and luxury of the dining room was enough to take Rikku's breath away.

A door at the forward section of the dining area lead to two master bedrooms for the ship's command crew. Of course, the second wasnt needed - the ship could be operated by a single person. Rikku peeked into one of the rooms and gasped... They were bigger than any single room she had seen on rochester and beaumont base, other than the pubs.

At the back of the dining area was a spiraling stairwell that went up to the bridge. She climbed up and got her first look through the cockpit of the ship. The bridge was a single, large room with two seats at the forward section, both held in the crescent of the primary control board. The rear of the room was taken up by two small tables and chairs for observers.

Rikku walked up to the pilot's seat and slid into it... it fit her perfectly. The chair was the most comfortable she had ever sat in before. She spun around to face the viewport and took ahold of the control stick. She had to hunt-and-peck for the buttons on the control panel that closed up the entry ramp and started the engines... it'd take a while to get used to the controls of the ship, but at least everything was labelled.

The engines went from silent to a low hum, making the ship seem alive as it warmed up. Rikku held down the commlink button on the dash in front of her and spoke, "Curacao control, this is luxury yacht Bora Bora, requesting authorization for launch."

Letting off the button she giggled to herself at the name. Her last name was Bora, and she had heard about an ancient earth vacation retreat that went by the name bora bora, it seemed to fit and she liked how the name rolled off the tongue.

A moment later, a voice responded loud and clear through the comm speaker, "Affirmative Bora Bora, you have clearance to launch, proceed to sky-vector 3931 to avoid incoming traffic, the docking ring will guide you out."

She smiled and pulled back on the double-handled control stick. The ship lifted effortlessly off the docking platform, straight up into the air as if the several-hundred-ton vessel weighed no more than a feather. She moved one hand to the speed control lever at her right and slowly moved it up, sending the ship gliding forward towards the stars.

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