USS Apocalypse

Miami: Part One

Per-click

Per-click

Mitchell Caliendo opened his eyes slowly, awoken by the sharp sound of two hard objects hitting together. He checked his watch, hardly moving his head. Everything was still heavy from the night. It was only 5:00 am, way too early for him to be awake. Being the cruise director on this ship, he had to stay up late every single night, facilitating the staff and making sure that the passengers had a good time. But he was never required to get up until at least 8:00am. Hell, they probably weren't even docked in Miami yet... 

Groaning, Mitch sat up and blinked. His tiny room was pitch black, with the only light being a small sliver under his door. The small amount of light reflected off his calander, which hung on his wall. Even though it was March, Mitch had not changed it since February. The sound of the engines, close by, hummed through the air, only disturbed by the per-clicks. 

"Nice shot. Those were some mad calculations!"

"I know right!"

Mitch recognized those voices. They belonged to two officers, Ryan Lesley and Evan Clacher. They were usually working on the bridge, but Mitch knew exactly why they were down here... to play 8-ball pool.

The weary cruise director swung his feet off the bed, standing up and heading out. He had a bone to pick with those two. He was one of those people who would sleep all night until woken up... then he would never sleep again that night. 

Mitch breifly wondered why he ever agreed to take the room next to the game room. It was larger than most of the crew and staff quarters, but still cramped. He was now wishing that he'd taken the room closer to the engine, which would have drowned out all unwanted noise.

"Would you two cut it out!" he exclaimed, walking to the room next door where the two white-clad men were standing, concentrated on the green felt table. "It's only five! Have we even docked yet?"

Evan and Ryan jumped at the voice. "We are docked! We've been working all night, Mitch!"

Ryan nodded. "We deserve a little time to play, don't we?"

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I guess it's too late to go back to bed then."

He sighed and turned around to return to his room. In a matter of moments, he was dressed in his usual attire: a tropical shirt and khaki pants. Sofisticated yet casual.

He headed back out into the hallway and started making his way to the aft. He passed by both tired and fresh looking crew members on his way. Mitch made a point to greet each of them by name. He knew all of the crew and staff, save for a few in the hotel management administration. He tended to stay away from them.

"Amy! Corrine!" he said, spotting the two women walking towards him. Amy perked up and waved haplily, and Corrine barely managed a hand motion of greeting.

"Ready for a new batch of children?" Mitch asked with a cheeky grin. Corrine rolled her eyes and shook her head, her black hair moving only slightly. "I am never ready. They are the worst on the first night."

Both of them were youth managers, in charge of the various kid's clubs on the ship. Amy was definitely more suited for it, as she immediately started to gush about how excited she was, much to Corrine's dismay.

Mitch said goodbye and continued on his way, running into none other than Jordan Belafonte, his assistant cruise director! Mitch grinned and held out his fist, bumping into Jordan. "Jordan, ready for our Parcheezi tournament tonight?"

Jordan rolled his eyes, managing a laugh. "Parcheesi? No one even knows how to play that, Mitch!"

"I do!"