Two Hundred Credit Tour

[rosetto 0]

As they approached the vessel Pher said something under her breath into Audrey and the aft cargo ramp, the only means of entry, slowly opened. Sal followed her up the ramp into a large open space that contained several tiers of large storage shelves. Five or six surface vehicles could easily be parked in this space. She continued across the bay and entered a wide corridor that had doors to the right and left and a single gangway about half way down. Pher started up the gangway and Sal paused momentarily.

 

 

"You coming?", she asked.

 

"Right behind you, Pher", he responded.

 

 

At the top of the gangway were several doors. Pher said they were crewmen's quarters and currently unoccupied. They had let them out for passengers in the past but mostly they were used for extra storage rooms. She spun around and started back toward the stern. Two large blast doors opened up and they were in the main engineering bay. The center of the room was dominated by what appeared to be the main reactors. Pher pulled out Audrey again and listened to the commands that T'Aral had recorded.

 

 

"You gonna be a while?" he asked.

 

"T'Aral said that this will take about a half hour to complete, why?"

 

"Well, I'm gonna have a look around and find a place to put my stuff down", he continued all glassy-eyed. Pher shook her head and began walking toward one of the engineering control panels. She called out, "Well, don't get lost."

 

 

With that and like a child who had just got a new toy, Sal headed back out the blast doors. Finally he was on the ship. He'd anticipated this moment for many years. Back on the slip and catching the stars. Sal had yearned for this freedom and Harriet knew that it was what her man needed. He wasn't a business man though he'd become one for her. In the end it was strangling his spirit and she knew it.

 

He peaked into one of the crewmen's quarters and discovered that it was indeed being used for storage. It was filled with boxes and storage containers. Most of them were unmarked and the one's that were had either Klingon script or simply bill of laden numbers.

 

Continuing forward he entered a hall that was lined with cabinets on either side. Sal had to stop for a moment and remember that there were usually few windows onboard a vessel. Looking back and thinking, he imagined that this was the neck of the bird. The cabinets seemed newer, cleaner. There lines were not so dark but they were still simply and functional in design.

 

More changes appear as he exited the hall of cabinets and came to a section where there was an obvious mixture of Federation and Klingon design. There were two rooms, one on each side. These sections had apparently been more open before the up grade. Sal tried to remember the BoP simulator that he had flown. Like a good Navigation Officer, he'd walked those decks to even though it was just a holographic simulation. Transporters! Then the memory of how the Federation had banned transporters in the Bull's Head colonies. It was a long joke on K'Normia where the ban was not enforced. Too many people with a lot more credit than Sal had kept the Federation at bay on that issue for years.

 

'So if the transporters were now gone', Sal thought. He opened the door on the left and looked around. It was most definitely a laboratory and from the equipment on the counters he determined it to be the science lab. The other room was filled with panels of isolinear chips. This was the computer core of the vessel, the nerve center.

 

After passing another gangway that went down, the corridor opened onto the main bridge. It was similar to the simulated one but had its own uniqueness as all of the BoP vessels did. The command chair was traditional and was raised on a swivel platform. There was a gunnery turret off to the right with targeting scope suspended just above. Scanning left he saw two control consoles that formed a rough 'L' shape and then the main view screen. As he put his arm on the command chair and continued to survey the room and imagine the crew at their posts, he saw three more consoles. The one closest to the other side of the viewer was obviously the helm controls. The other two were not so obvious.

 

There was also a doorway off to the far right. As he recalled from the simulation it lead to the sensory control room and a gangway that lead to the forward torpedo room. Sal decided that he wanted to explore another deck instead and turned back down the main corridor.

 

There had been a second gangway leading up next to the one that he and Pher had taken earlier. This one turned out to be about twice as long as the first gangway and when he reached the top he saw some Federation labels indicating the Sickbay on the port side of the vessel. The rooms were all done in Federation style. There was a small ward, examination room and the Doc's office on the end.

 

Some of the rooms to the starboard side were unmarked but the others had the crews' names on them; Andrews, Parsons, a blank one and then T'Aral. At the aft end of the hallway he found an archway that lead into an open mess hall. It contained three simple tables and some lounge seating. Pher's quarters were at the end of the wall. Beyond the tables he could see a kitchen area and a couple other doors labeled in Klingon script. Sal set his stuff down on one of the couches and figured he'd better get back down stairs and see how Pher was doing.

Edited September 4, 2010 by rosetto