Stellar Cruise Part 3

As the years long journey continues, tensions start to rise as the passengers and crew suffer through boredom...

The game had not been as easy to program as Jesivel thought it would be. It seemed that it was easier to kill zombies than it was to give them life, who knew? Her mother apparently, who actually did deal with code for a living.

Ceti Onis was the head of the ships IT department, as such the main server room was pretty much her private office. Over the years she had added numerous tchotchkes and pictures of herself and her daughter, the only family she had ever had. Very few of the rest of the 10 person IT department ever ventured into this frigid tomb. So, even though it was kept at a constant 10 degrees Celsius it was a cozy room, if not comfy.

Jesivel spun around in a swivel chair a little behind and to the side of her mother as she pecked away at the keyboard, faster than light, adding to the incomprehensible lines of code already there. How had this happened, Jesivel wondered. It was her project, darn it all, and her mother was doing most of the work. It seems, that's what happens when you ask for a little bit of help, from an almost doting parent.

"So, what do you want these zombies to do?" Ceti asked, finally turning to face her daughter, the bugs apparently worked out in the code.

"Uhg, you know, zombie stuff; tear the flesh from the living, consume it in front of them, that kind of thing."

Ceti allowed a patient smile to line her snout. She knew that a cruise ship was no place to raise a child. But after her mate, Jes' Father, and jes’ brother died, Ceti just couldn't let her parents raise her like she planned. She was going to get out of the cruise business, but things came up and Jes seemed to enjoy the life, so she just stuck with it.

They both sat in the frigid room, bundled up in their matching 'Ship's LAN' jackets, looking at each other. Jes was a good kid, but every kid deserved to play in the sun and track small game animals. Ceti wondered if this was a good time to tell Jesivel they were leaving the ship when they got to Girdania.

After a moment she dismissed the thought, "Jes, programming is a lot of planning and story writing."

"What do you mean, Mom, the gamer writes the story?"

"Yes, dear, to a certain extent, but the programmer sets the tone, makes the rules..." She began, but thought of another route, "Remember all that planning you did for the 'Siege of Castle Draganove'?"

"That was..."

"Just a game?" her mother laughed, "Yes, but that is the reason you one that tourney on Thesius Prime. And if you think that doing that is going to be easier than making a game, you maybe shouldn't be doing this."

Suddenly Jes' eyes widened in excitement, "So, what you’re saying is, I control all the variables?"

"Yes that is true, but you do have to make certain the objective is achievable..."

"Duh, but if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth playing."

Ceti shook her head then laughed in agreement, "Wait, was that your stomach?"

"Uh, must be lunch time."

"It is about that time,” Ceti laughed, getting up, “Come on sweetie, we can talk in the café, you still like Luigi’s right?"

Jesivel stood and stretched before following her mother to the LAN vestibule. In this litter ante chamber, they took their jackets off and hung them up.

“Luigi’s hasn’t been the same since Bonnie left at Crattle.” Jes shrugged as they walked to the edge of the compartment, “Can we try Ming’s!”

“Thought you didn’t like spicy foods?” Ceti chuckled, then looked back at her daughter, “Sure, we’ll go to Ming’s.”

Just outside the LAN room was a wi-fi lounge that had a few ships computers, but mostly comfy couches and tables to bring one's own computer. It was a cozy space set up to feel like a snow lodge where one could go after skiing, another deliberate diversion. Many would come and go as the mood struck them, usually not on their computers, public wi-fi was available all over the ship, for a price. But at least it was a decent place to meet for a tryst.

Currently, there was only one couple in the room that were solely focused on each other. Ketan and her live in POS boyfriend, Kamron no last name, ignored all else that was going on around them. Ketan was the ship's educational liaison from Central University. Basically, she was the teacher for crew and family of crew as they trekked their way across the cosmos. She had been for nigh on 40 years, almost as long as the ship had been in service.

They cuddled in a loveseat, her head on his chest, he, laid back, both had their eyes closed, "Why are you still on this ship?" Kamron asked after a spell of silence, his soft black fur warm and inviting.

"...Being a mentor is my job, it’s all I've ever known." she snuggled closer, "It may not be glamorous, but it does pay the bills. Besides, it led me to you, didn't it?"

Ketan was a caramel goddess as far as Kamron was concerned, she had the looks of one that never needed to try, and didn’t even know how. This one of the things that attracted him to her, she may be old enough to be his mother, but he had done his share of cougar hunting, and was willing to do anything to have a meal ticket, starving artist was one thing he knew he could not do. She did provide him with all he needed and most of what he wanted, the rest he took care of himself.

His only concern about his sugar mama, was that she was a ravenous bookworm. She was always reading and learning, expanding her mind; he could never keep up an intelligent conversation. He just knew she might finally learn that he was using her, just the latest in a long line of lovers. Little did he know she had been scrimping on herself to save up money and now had enough to buy a condo on the capitol straight out, half a billion credits worth of good investing.

"Yes," he agreed, "It did. I know I haven’t..."

"Shh," she pressed a claw to his lips, "Not the time to talk about that."

She knew the band had been in a funk, she was hoping settling down would lead them to new inspiration, and they could finally be the toast of the empire like she knew they should be. She didn't mind covering the bill for them to ride the ship eat drink and be merry on her, she just wanted Kamron to be happy.

For the longest time they just sat there on the couch, enjoying each other's company, "So what did you do with that pamphlet the snow tigress gave to you?" she asked, just wanting to hear his rich baritone voice.

"What any sane person would do." Kamron scoffed, "Threw it away. Why?"

He looked down and gently lifted her snout to look in her ebony eyes. She shied away, even though she was the eldest, she could never stand his disapproving gaze.

"Just asking..."

"Don't tell me you’re falling for that garbage?"

"What, just because I asked a question?" she blew up, "How do you know its garbage, you threw it away without even reading it?"

"Babe, I threw it away because it's garbage." He scoffed, "For cryin out loud, you’re a teacher, you’re supposed to be better than this."

"Rejecting an idea outright is no way to live. It’s..."

"What, wrong?" He suddenly bucked her off and stood to look down on her, "If something is obviously wrong there is no reason to even consider it."

"The leader of the Atheist's Union recently quoted a grad student," she maintained, "'You don't have a hope of convincing anyone, especially zealots, without a frame of reference'."

"Babe, your not a psychologist." he pleaded, "By looking for a loop hole, a layman could get sucked in."

The only thing that ever pissed off Ketan was the implication that she was stupid, "Are you saying I'm dumb, is that it?"

Kamron immediately knew he needed to calm his sugar mama before he spent three weeks sleeping in the lounge like three years ago, "No. No, no, no, far from it. But, you do have the tendency to believe what's right in front of you, regardless of..."

"What other people think?" she shot up, as he meekly sat back down, "Because everyone else, everyone, said you were no good, but for 14 years, I've supported not only you, but your crappy friends."

"I didn't..."

"Just go!" she pointed at the door, "Maybe I'll think about letting you in the cabin tonight."

He learned long ago that he couldn't argue with her when she was like this. Defeated he went four down, with his tail between his legs to the door. Washed with sadness and despair she sat back down tears already welling up as a new trio came in, only acknowledging her to note they needed to go to the far alcove.

The first to sit was Vegan Noe. He was a businessman that used his old money to make more. He had connections across the galaxy and he used them well. His suit was tailored, his fur leopard print, he had an air of confidence that none could match. His companions waited for him to get comfortable, then indicate that they should have a seat, before they too sat across the table from him.

"Where do we stand on the objective?" he finally broke the silence.

The pair looked at each other for a second before the male took a deep breath.

"You were right." Sten began, "The battle of the bands was a brilliant idea to distract passengers and crew. We will get maximum saturation while the bulk of the ship’s resources are expended to entertain the guests."

Vegan inclined his head as if to say, 'of course I'm right, was there ever any doubt', then spoke "What about the main-tech that almost caught you a few days ago?"

"Well, sir," the lady in red, Yori, shrugged, "He could be a problem, unlike most others we have dealt with, his only concern is doing his job, and he's damn good, corrected some of our strategic interruptions to ship’s systems."

"So," Vegan sat back, "He is not the type of person to come over to work for us?"

Yori shook her head, "My agents have looked into his record. He has no drive, no ambition, he's a defeatist floater that, had he been given the opportunity from the start, would be well on his way to be building these ships."

"As it stands, sir," Sten interjected, "He only cares about not getting caught doing something stupid. He doesn't even have a girlfriend, or any other friends at that."

"So, he almost caught you again?" Vegan shrugged, "Well, we have the schedules now, make certain he is not working when we are. We may be ahead of schedule, but that is no excuse for slacking. Nine months you two, make certain your teams are ready."

He dismissed them and they efficiently exited as he pulled out a datapad and began working on other projects.

“We can’t take any more chances.” Yori whispered after they were well down the hall and defiantly out of earshot, “The profile we got suggests that even if he is not on duty, if he comes across a problem is likely as not to attempt a fix, or tell someone about it.”

“What the hell are we supposed to do, he needs distraction...”

“We are already working on it, Babe.” She nuzzled him as another group passed them, “Companionship always distracts people, especially if they are not used to it.”

“Yori, if he was capable of that on his own, we wouldn’t be in this mess...”

“We have been watching him, and so has the ship’s entertainment coordinator...”

“Neither one of those kids is manipulateable...”

“But events can always be manipulated, we just have to find the right puppet master...”

“You are so sexy when your conniving.” He chuckled, “We have a few hours to kill...”

Not only were they coworkers, they were lovers. Lost more in each other than in the mission, they began to nuzzle each other as they passed a young woman who was lost in her own world.

Sarah Sheringford was a writer surviving by publishing serials and scripts, in fact she had been given a discount by providing scripts for a voice narrative that Xedra had though up the last time they were in port as a way to increase entertainment for this run. The reviews had been mixed, but reviews meant that at least a few people were listening to the story.

“Of course the princess is un relatable.” She scoffed, stepping to the side of an upper entrance to the promenade, after looking at the write up some passenger submitted on her datapad, “She is a princess, who can relate to that archaic paradigm.”

The hub of the ship was abuzz with activity. Individuals and groups all lost in their own little worlds. The catwalks between the levels and sections were wormholes leading to new worlds and ideas as Sarah struggled to wrap her mind around the reviews.

“Perhaps she is un relatable because she is a warrior princess with no past, hiding her abilities from everyone, including her father. From the tiles told, she has no reason to fight the Dreamora.” Calia laughed as Sarah passed.

Calia had had enough of Rory’s crusades, and knew it was a waste of time to try to talk her out of it, so she spent less and less time in their shared cabin. So, it was only a matter of time before she met the one responsible for one of the worst fantasy dramas she had ever heard.

Sarah, for her part, stood stunned. She heard a voice but didn’t know if it was in her head or not, the curse of being too creative she believed, then she noticed the other sipping what smelled like hot cocoa.

“And, what would you know about writing?” Sarah harrumphed.

Celia shrugged, she was not an author, but she was a coinsure of great stories. For the briefest of moments, she struggled over whether to be blunt or nice. Finally she decided to be civil, ish.

“Writing, nothing.” Calia sipped, “But continuity, flow, everything; while I was at university, I had to study all the classics, and I hated the ones that had no real back story, this is what it is because it has always been that way…”

Sarah could not believe what she was hearing. She hated fantasy, and hated herself for accepting the job. But, being told she sucked irritated the hell out of her.

“But that’s what fantasy is, and it was what I was asked to write, if it wasn’t for this contract, I wouldn’t be here, why do you care?” she groaned, clashing into the seat in front of her accuser.

Suddenly intrigued, Cali sat up straighter. This was something she could stretch into a decent diversion.

“My roommate is off on some anti-religious crusade, again, and I needed a distraction, so I found ‘Conspiracy Games’ and thought what the hell.” Calia sipped her coffee.

The server came by and Sarah ordered a hot cocoa. Now she finally had someone who would be honest with her about her narratives. This was exhilarating. She barely restrained herself from begging the other to continue. Instead she encouraged proper introductions, and asked politely for Cali to continue.

Liking the opportunity to be the smart one Cali happily continued, “After hearing that dribble on the net I wondered how you could have been paid to do this. So I read your previous stuff and the serials you have been doing while on board. It is a good start, but it is too derivative. The sci-fi you do well enough, but this fantasy, you’re trying too hard to stay in whatever mold you think you should be in, you need to break them down and make your own mold. You’re better at Sci-fi, sprinkle that in. Oh, and add some intrigue or change the name.”

“You are the one that wrote this then?” Sarah asked, holding up the pad.

“Frankly, I was being nice.”

“I get that now.” Sarah sighed, “I never was good at the romance and intrigue stuff, I am not a romantic.”

“Yeah, pragmatics don’t get love and shadow games, too logical for that.” Calia shrugged, she had seen her share of pragmatics at the university, they kind of irritated her, but they were always so, pragmatic, she could never be mad at them.

“Do you have suggestions, or criticisms?”

“Both, let’s start from the beginning...”