Reborn: Book 1 The McKensie Chronicles

Chapter 9 - Freeport 9 and the dreaded "friend zone"

 We dropped out of FTL at 0200 ships time with an hour to go before we arrived at the first station we were to visit, called Freeport 9. It's worth noting that faster-than-light travel was called many things in slang, hyperspace, warp speed, subspace bubble, etc. But the official term for the pocket dimension that ships slip into when they activate the FTL drive has always been called FTL.

We were close enough to see the station at 0245 ships time so Jackal, who was on watch, called me to the bridge. Devon was also there though it wasn't her watch. Caleb joined me as I made my way to the bridge to see this place. "It's beautiful isn't it Kinsey," Caleb stated.

"It's freakin huge!" I marveled which elicited a chuckle from Devon. "What? Is this not considered a large station?"

"Freeport 9 is a class 4 station. It isn't even considered a mega station. The station is approximately 25 kilometers in diameter and 15 high. Each of the bio-domes is only 5 kilometers wide." Caleb said before Devon could respond.

"Someone's been doing his homework," Devon said with a smile.

"Actually Freeport 9 was under construction when Endeavor left. I was aware of the original specifications then. This is considerably larger than planned, but that is not at all surprising. They normally grow a bit as time passes."

"I rest my case," Devon said. "It is 11 am local time. However, the station is active 24 hours a day because it is a major hub, but they do have nighttime for the locals. Kinsey, before we can let you or Caleb off the ship we have to get your registration settled. I have Attorneys meeting us when we dock for that, and the establishment of Vault Incorporated. I took the liberty to name our company, I hope you don't mind."

"Vault Inc? I gave a sideways look at Connor, who was on the bridge now. That was the name of a group of characters from one of our games. It was what amounts to a superhero group that spent a lot of time, saving the galaxy.

Smiling Connor said, "Sounds fitting to me"

Our turn to dock came, and Jackal deftly maneuvered the ship into position, allowing the computer to take over when it was time but monitoring the controls closely. Even though it was the station's systems in control an accident would still technically be his and Devon's fault as he was the pilot in command, and she was the captain at the time. The ship slowly shifted sideways until it settled against the docking ring.

"Soft dock" Jackal stated as the ship made contact; then the sound of the clamps engaging thumped. "Hard dock," Jackal said. Then added, "Green board, we can open the airlock chamber."

"OK" Devon began, "I've called the Lawyers, and they'll be here in a few minutes. Once they get here, we can get your paperwork filed and you will be clear to explore the station, Kinsey. If you don't object, we can get the corporation filing done at the same time. Then sometime today or tomorrow you and I can go register Pandora."

"Sounds like a plan," I said with a sideways glance at Caleb. Two hours and a lot of discussion later we had Vault Inc created, Caleb and I had digital versions of our identification, and we were headed to the station administrative offices to pick up the hard copy of our IDs. In truth, it would've taken far less time but Devon wanted to be certain Caleb and I understood our roles in the Corporation and how everything was going to work so she asked the legal team to explain it all thoroughly.

As I stepped through the airlock into the station corridor, I couldn't help but giggle. Not that this part of the station was very awe-inspiring. It looked like a plain 20-foot wide 15-foot-high corridor through an industrial warehouse. It had plain grey walls with numbers to indicate which docking port or hangar you were at. We walked 50 yards or so down the passageway, then turned into another corridor that led to what amounted to a subway station. A tram would take us from the docking area to the main promenade. From there we could go wherever we needed to go within Freeport 9.