Chapter 55: A Tour of Corsica

The walk across the dark landscape took a few minutes longer than I had hoped, but it was only three forty-nine when we arrived at the administration building. The door opened up and we found ourselves looking at a small room with several doors and a large purple circle marking a gravity elevator.

“Wow,” Ashley said as we entered. “Lots of space.”

“Which way to the teleportal?” I asked.

“Use the first door on the left,” the AI said. “Concubines must wait for their citizen or another responsible citizen to use the teleportal.”

“What about to return?” I asked.

“Concubines who visit Corsica with their citizen will be permitted to return to this building. No other unaccompanied teleports will be permitted,” the AI answered.

“Let’s go,” I said as I stepped into the room and headed to the first door on the left. It slid open to reveal the blue square of a teleport pad.

I stepped directly onto the pad and found myself standing in a small alcove with grey walls. The floor in the alcove was one teleportal pad.

“Please step off the pad,” a scratchy AI voice ordered.

“Which way to Corsica?” I asked as I followed the order.

A line made of blue light appeared on the floor. It snaked to the right and vanished down a narrow passageway. “Follow,” the AI started saying

“The blue light,” I finished. “I guess its better than a yellow brick road.”

“Oh good,” I heard Lenore say from behind me. “There is an easy way to recognize the route. I’ll wait here and send anyone who shows up.”

“What about a tour of the ship?” I asked.

“Ashley or Miki can come and spell me once they see the ship,” Lenore said. “Now get going. You only have a few minutes before your crew might start arriving.”

“What about?” I started to ask.

“I’m here,” Miki said. “Ashley is going to come up last and keep the others together until we can meet up. Constance had a bit of a panic attack when she saw the teleportal pad.”

“Let’s go,” I said. I started walking forward, following the blue light.

The light led down a surprisingly narrow passageway for about thirty meters and then turned to the left. Miki and I then continued walking at least half the length of a football field before the line turned right and stopped at a thick door made of some unusual alloy.

“Airlock cycling,” a feminine AI voice said.

“That’s not the voice of our pod,” Miki observed.

A green light appeared above the door. It opened slowly to reveal a small chamber that was no more than eight feet on a side. Another door closed off the far wall.

I stepped inside. Miki immediately jumped through the doorway. It closed behind her and the same feminine voice called out. “Airlock to ship door opening. Pressure standard. Atmosphere standard.”

The door that had been closed opened up. At first all we could see was another door, but then that retracted away from us and slid to the side revealing a passageway that was less than three meters wide.

I stepped in, listening to the echo of my boot on the surface. “Welcome to Corsica,” I said.

“This is a small passageway,” Miki said as she joined me. “I could stand in the middle and almost touch both walls.”

“Probably for safety in space,” I said. “The ship is going to be similar to a submarine in a lot of ways. But we’ll find out as we move around. Let’s start at engineering and move forward to the bridge.”

“You don’t want to start at the bridge?” Miki asked as we walked forward. The passage had doors every five meters. They opened as we walked. Finally we came to an intersection. We could see a door about ten meters to our left and another about five meters to our right.

“I figure I’ll get there last as I might stay there for a while. Of course, we need to know which direction to go to reach engineering. I’m guessing it is towards the stern of the ship,” I said.

A light started flashing above the door to our left. “Entrance to engineering and the missile operation chambers can be found through this door,” a toneless voice said.

“We go left?” Miki asked. She used a tone that suggested she was some brainless native girl.

“We go left,” I agreed before I burst out laughing. Miki joined me as we walked the short distance to the door.

The door slid open soundlessly when we arrived. On the other side we found that the passage split. One route went off to the right at a sharp angle. The other led onward.

“Which way?” Miki asked.

“Let’s go forward first. I get a feeling that the engineering department will be in the rear, where the engines are,” I said.

We walked down the passage. After only another ten meters or so we saw another door. It immediately opened allowing us to enter the chamber beyond.

Lights came on in the room as we entered. The first thing I noticed was the paired control centers immediately in front of us. Another pair stood several meters to the right. I recognized these as similar to the ones used by the engine tech and engine flow tech in the simulator.

“Hey, I recognize those setups,” Miki said as she ran forward to look at them. She reached around the chair for the flow tech and ran her fingers along the console. “Wow, they did a good job, but this is a single room. Shouldn’t they separate the two?”

“Probably,” I said as I entered the room and slowly turned around. I found that the center of the room had a raised dais and chair similar to the one I expected to find on the bridge. The last two stations were up against the wall we entered through.

“It’s small,” Miki said. “It’s not all that much bigger than the simulation room. The only reason it is any bigger is it has a full number of stations.”

“It will work,” I replied as I spotted a second door. It was on the same wall we entered by, but at the other end of the room. “And shall we exit by the other door?”

I started walking to the new door. “What other...” Miki asked faintly. A moment later I could hear her slippers move as she ran to catch up to me.

We entered another passageway that looked remarkably like the one which had brought us to the engineering room. The passage quickly led to a door, although we could make a right turn to avoid going through it. I pointed to the right. “Let’s go see the missile control area.”

We had a very short walk before we came to a cluster of doors. There were two on each side of the hallway. Miki looked around and then moved to the second one on the left. “One engine room, but four missile rooms?” she asked.

“Ours is not to reason why,” I said calmly. “Let’s look inside.”

The door we had chosen opened. Inside was a tiny room that was actually smaller than the simulation room back on the transport. This was mostly due to the fact that there was no waiting area. The room was not much bigger than a walk in closet. The door entered from the left side. Inside were two control panels and the chairs required to sit at the station.

“Are the others the same?” Miki asked.

“We can look,” I pointed out. I stepped back out and then turned around to look at the room set up across the narrow passage.

The door to that room opened revealing a mirror room. The only difference was that the door was on the right rear of the room rather than the left.

Miki pushed me aside so she could look inside. “So four identical rooms?”

“Looks that way. Shall we head forward again. Perhaps using the left door?” I said.

“So all that’s left is what?” Miki asked as we turned away from the missile room doors and started to head down the hallway.

“Rail gun stations, living quarters, and the bridge,” I said. “That’s all there is. And I expect the living quarters to be very small.”

“Why?” Miki asked. “And why are the passageways tiny? On the transport you could walk three abreast easily. Here two people can barely slip by when they meet.”

“Remember that this ship is in space. If the hull is breached anyone in the area is likely to die. The ship probably is set up with the living areas deep inside and I expect that the walls are rather thick,” I said. “So space for passages is limited.”

“Wow, that makes sense, but its also scary,” Miki said just as we reached the door. It slid open at our approach. “But what about the doors?”

“I expect we are seeing only some of the doors. Once battle is joined bulkheads will probably seal off areas of the ship no one is in. The air would be removed so that those areas are less likely to have blowouts,” I said.

Miki merely nodded as we passed through the open doorway. We could see that there was a door to our right as we started to walk down the passage.

“This was not visible on the other side of the ship,” Miki said as she ran forward.

“It might not have been there,” I said as I approached the door. It slid open to reveal a small room filled with strange padded slabs.

“What?” Miki asked.

I was scanning the walls. The only thing I could see was some areas that glowed. I could see that the slabs tended to line up with a pair of glowing spots. “This must be set aside for concubines,” I said. “I don’t have a count, but there are probably fifteen or twenty beds in here.”

“Wow, so we will be stacked up in here when we come along?” Miki asked.

“Space is limited. I just hope there are some private rooms for sex,” I said.

As I finished speaking two wall sections opened up revealing tiny rooms that weren’t much bigger than a closet. I could see what looked like lace curtains on the walls of the rooms.

“What is that?” Miki asked.

“Rooms for sex. Probably not much bigger than a room in a brothel, but they will serve,” I said.

“This isn’t a pleasure ship. It’s supposed to scout and fight,” I replied. “Obviously luxuries are at a premium. But the nice thing is that if this is the concubine living quarters, we can expect to find the rest of the living quarters nearby.”

“Captain Parker,” the AI said. “There are four concubines at the airlock. They belong to you. Shall I allow them to enter?”

“Yes, and give them guidance so they can meet us,” I said. “We’re going to continue moving towards the bow.”

We left the room and turned right, continuing through the passage. We had not traveled far before there was an interesting pair of doors to our right. Both opened. The first revealed a passageway that sloped upward slightly. The other revealed a small room containing several long tables. Padded benches lined the tables and we could see a replicator on the far wall where there was no table.

“Not a five star restaurant, but it provides a place to eat and to mingle while off duty,” I said.

“So we check the one with the passageway?” Miki asked.

I was about to say more when we heard someone shouting. “Hey! It said to follow this passage, but now we have a door to the right or the passage slopes back down.”

“That sounds like Constance,” Miki said.

I rushed out of the room and quickly turned around to head up the passageway. “Wait there,” I shouted as I headed up the sloped path.

The slope was rather steep, but it felt like I was running on a flat surface. In a few moments I realized I had moved to be above the roof on the galley area. At the moment I noticed that I saw a door to my left. Constance, Aine, Tatyana and Lenore were standing at the door. They looked puzzled.

“Mark!” Lenore said. “Where’s Miki.”

“Hopefully right behind me,” I said. “I see you arrived safely.”

“Yes,” Aine said. Her voice had a bit of a harsh edge. “But it took almost ten minutes to convince Constance to enter the teleportal. She was sure, she would never reappear.”

“I would never do that to any of you,” I said firmly. “I might get angry. Heck, I have been angry, but I feel that you have a right to live. Just as much as I do.”

“Thanks,” Constance said softly. “So what’s behind this door?”

“I’m guessing the rail gun stations,” I said. “They would be closer to the guns and able to take advantage of the mass of the guns to provide some protection.”

“Protection?” Tatyana asked.

“I read the specifications for this class. This ship isn’t all that much bigger than our house. It’s a modification of a courier ship the aliens used. This ship has almost no armor. However, the rail guns would offer some protection thanks to their mass. As long as the failsafes work.”

“Failsafes?” Lenore said. “What do you mean?”

I stepped up to the door. It opened up revealing a small alcove with doors to the left and right. Both doors opened. Inside I could see three chairs beyond each door. I couldn’t get a good look due to the angle, but it wasn’t hard to picture the training station from the simulator.

“Tiny,” Lenore said. “I think the training rooms had a bit more space.”

“It needed to have space so people could observe what was happening,” I said. “And there was a bit of extra space on the transport. Now, this is a warship and the ship doesn’t have space to spare.”

“It should,” Aine said. I stepped back and looked down the passage they had walked up.

“No, I’d rather sacrifice some comfort to have more and better weapons and armor. The goal is to bring the ship home with all the crew alive and well. A few more square feet at a station won’t have much effect on that, but a few extra inches of armor might,” I said. “Did you see any other doors down this way?”

“One, or was it two?” Tatyana said. “I think there was one on each side of the door to this passageway.”

“Probably crew and officer quarters,” I said. “Shall we take a peek and then head to the bridge? And AI, let me know if anyone else teleports up so I can greet them at the airlock.”

“The AI on Crucible has reported that people are moving on the planet,” the toneless voice of the ship’s AI informed me.

“Then we should get moving. Come ladies, let’s hurry to get a quick look at the rooms, and then look at the bridge,” I said.

I headed down the sloped path. My mind said I was moving downward and should be feeling a pull, but my legs insisted that I was walking on flat ground as I made my way to the end of the passage.

When I reached the bottom of the passage I found that Tatyana had been correct. There were doors on both sides of the door guarding the passage. I turned to the right and found that the door was marked. I paused to look more closely at the markings.

“Railgun and Bridge crew quarters,” the door was marked.

I touched the words and then looked up. “Can the door be opened?” I asked.

“Standing Confederacy orders is that an officer can only enter the crews quarters for inspections or to discipline a soldier,” the AI said.

“This is an inspection,” I said. “I need to see the quarters. Are there identical rooms in the stern near the engineering and missile rooms?”

“Affirmative,” the AI responded. “But they are split. The missile room entrance is on the port side, the engineering room is on the starboard side.”

“So engineering is on this side,” I said. “What about the officer’s quarters for the engineering officer?” I asked.

“It is accessed through the engineering room,” the AI said.

The door opened. I found that the room had only six beds set up as two triple bunks. Along one wall there were a set of what looked like lockers. The room was otherwise bare.

“Wow!” I heard Aine say as she nudged me in the side. “There isn’t much in there. No space either.”

“Miki and I saw the galley. It has a bit of space for the men to relax. But it is going to be tight quarters,” I said.

“Don’t you have a couple women in the unit?” Aine asked. “What about them?”

“AI? Do Morgause and Ingrid have separate quarters from the men?” I asked as I stepped back. “And where are my quarters?”

“Your quarters are right behind the bridge,” the AI replied.

“Let’s hurry to check out the bridge then,” I said. “and what about my question.”

“The crew quarters are not segregated by sex,” the AI responded.

“Remind me to work with Ensign White and Sergeant Bruce. They will have to make sure we have no problems due to that,” I said as I turned and started to move to the bow.

“Captain Parker,” the AI said. “Two privates have arrived in the administration building.”

“We’ll have to finish later,” I said. “Time to head to the airlock so we can meet the crew.”

“I didn’t get to see anything really,” Aine complained. “And those rooms don’t make me think this ship is any good.”

“Actually so far I’m impressed. The rooms I’ve seen all appear to be functional. I was more worried about that,” I said as I turned to head towards the stern.

“What?” Aine asked as she put a hand on my shoulder and followed. “I mean this place seems so cramped.”

“That’s not a bad thing. Remember Corsica is a combat ship. Space devoted to comfort is space not allocated for weapons or armor. I’d rather be a bit uncomfortable than have too much comfort and a ship that won’t survive a fight.”

The doorway to the airlock opened up. I turned to look down the passage and could see only a short distance before I saw a closed door.

“Why?” Aine asked.

“Are there doors? It’s probably to compensate for the fact that the ship has an opening to the outside. The doors are there to try to limit the vulnerability the ship has right here,” I said. “It’s not a good solution, but...”

“Captain Parker, two of your crew are at the airlock. Privates Kelly and Morgan are here. They are accompanied by pregnant concubines. It is against regulation for pregnant concubines to be aboard a warship,” the AI said.

“Even in port?” I asked. “The concubines will leave before we launch Corsica at oh six hundred. Please allow them to board.”

“Corsica’s engines will not engage until all unauthorized concubines are removed,” the AI said.

“Understood. My concubines will be escorting all other concubines back to the planet,” I confirmed.

“I notice it did not complain that you allowed us into the ship,” Lenore said. “And where should we stand? The passages are too narrow to allow three people to walk side-by-side.”

“Line up against the wall just to the right of the airlock passage,” I said. “I’ll stand on the left side, so there is space to move around.”

“Not much,” Constance said as she moved to be the first in line. I put my right shoulder against the bulkhead next to the doorway and stood at what I figured would appear to be attention. To my surprise the door slid closed.

“For the protection of the crew, no more than two doors may be open in the passage, and never two that are adjacent to each other,” the AI said.

I nodded in reply and waited. A few minutes later the door slid open. Voices could be heard as the door opened.

“I’m telling you, I’m sure the system pulled some bait and switch. We probably will be stuck with some fifty year old dotard as the captain,” a grumbling man said.

“No, I’m still the captain,” I said calmly as Brad Kelly stepped into the ship. He turned to look at me and stiffened in surprise.

“Sorry,” he said. “Anders was just grumbling.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “So do you want to see your quarters and station?” I asked. “Or do you want to head to the galley and the concubine’s quarters.”

“They don’t sleep with us?” I heard Anders ask from the airlock passage.

“Once you see the sleeping quarters you’ll understand why they can’t always do that. And remember that your concubines are pregnant. I was just reminded by the AI that we can’t launch Corsica if any pregnant concubines are on board,” I said.

“Let’s see the sleeping quarters,” Brad said.

I looked over at my line of concubines. “Miki,” I called out. “You went with me to the stern. The AI told us the quarters for the missile crews are there. Care to lead Privates Kelly and Morgan. They can have first choice of lockers,” I said.

“There are two missile crew quarters. Each will sleep four men,” the AI said.

“Hey!” I heard Anders shout. “Let’s make sure we get the same quarters as those two broads. We’ll have them to ourselves.”

“Soldier, if I hear one word about you or any crewman abusing a woman on board this ship, I’ll conduct a demonstration of what happens should someone take a spacewalk without a suit,” I said firmly. “Miki show them the setup.”

“But I never saw the living quarters,” Miki replied.

“They will be in the same passage as the control rooms,” I said. “It turns out that officers aren’t supposed to enter the crew quarters unless they are conducting an official inspection, so the AI did not reveal the rooms.”

“Ah,” Miki said as she stepped away from the wall. “You know that makes sense. If the men would follow me I can lead them to the missile rooms. And afterward I can show them where their concubines will stay while they are on duty.”