Rebel Star - The Scarlet Insurgent

Chapter 7 - Ghost Ship

Maeve lay silently in her bed, watching the stars from the window as her mind drifted into consciousness. The tiny specs of light appeared perfectly still, scattered across the darkness so unfathomably  distant that it was impossible for her to get an estimate of the vessel's speed. Soft golden ripples streaked across the glass. They were the only way she could tell the ship was moving. She lay her head against her pillow and listened to the rumble of the warp drive. It's subtle but persistent vibrations reminded her of her first journey through the depths of space. 

She would sit in the cockpit of Halastjörnur with her father and watch as the ripples formed in front of the ship, turning to waves as the streaks of light circled the yellow sphere which encompassed the vessel. They made her think of water, the way the stars would become distorted, as if the ship were a submarine being pushed through an endless sea. It was always an event when the ship would be pulled in and out of warp space. In those days a vessel could only push beyond light speed for a few minutes at a time, a short burst of speed before being forced back down to allow the engines to cool. For Maeve's family on their weeks long voyage towards the cluster, they must have jumped in and out of warp space a few hundred times. It was always followed by familiar tremors and a violent jolt as her ship crossed the light speed threshold. By now on Celeris, she was used to the feeling. 

The ripples outside her window dissipated as her cabin began to shake. A burst of golden energy flooded Maeve's cabin like a firework as the ship lurched out of warp. Her treasures swung back and forth above her bed, suspended by wires to the joists on the celling. A soft blue cloth from the market at Saro. An empty satcha bottle from her home on Athena Colony. Her brother's medal from the third corporate war. 

 She rose up, tossing the covers off of herself where they landed against the wall in a disorderly mess. She swung herself out of bed where her feet made contact with the cold metal floor. She stretched her arms and back as she peered out into space, eager to see where Mr. Ivan had brought them, though only the feint red sun looked back at her. 

 She threw her messy hair behind her shoulders and pulled a dark green cloak over her tank top, followed by a loose pair of charcoal leggings that tied at the waist. Finally, she pushed her thin communicator badge through the left side of her cloak, and her silver Celeris pin through the right. She crossed the room and pushed against the heavy door, shoving it out of her way and into the corridor ahead. 

The grey floor was cold under her bare feet as she moved down the passage towards the center of the ship. There were spots along the walkway where the plastic wall coverings had been removed, exposing the tangled mess of cables and pipes that flowed through the ship. The panels themselves were left lying around the corridor, leaning up against the walls and lying flat across the deck, threatening to trip anyone who wasn't paying attention. They were just one of the many little things that had been neglected by the ship's crew over the recent years. Celeris was nearly a hundred years old, and had been operated by thirteen different owners, including Captain Paris. He had always been vigilant about keeping the vessel up to date, though Maeve was still a bit nervous that it would just come apart one day. 

I guess you don't throw out what works. she thought. 

She reached the end of the corridor and turned the corner, climbing a narrow metal staircase to the deck above. With the press of a button, the airtight door slid out of her way, granting access to the main living space on board Celeris. It was a large circular room that took up about a third of the main deck. Inside was a kitchen and dining table, which also served as the main place for Captain Paris to host meetings due to the holographic projector for displaying images. On the other side of the room sat two large black sofas facing a monitor which took up a good portion of the wall, the rest of the walls being covered in storage areas for a variety of things as well as two terminals that could be used to access the ship's functions from inside the chamber. The central chamber was the primary area for socializing and was where the crew spent the majority of their time since there wasn't much to do while cruising through deep space.