There is a giant spaceship heading for other planets, they are in desperate need of a second co-pilot. I happen to be a co-pilot but had initially declined the offer. The second co-pilot is unable to fulfill the position so they last minute prepare me and off we go.
The main pilot that I’m working with is a nice guy and we manage the long stressful shifts well together. The rest of the staff up in command are all very grateful that I could fill in the position. Someone is always prepared to accompany me for the first few days. They show me the means of transport on the ship and where my quarters are. I especially like the spa area, it has many different kinds of saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools and relax areas. I decide to visit once things have settled down.
This opportunity arises a few days later, during a shift it gets calculated that for a few hours auto-pilot is safe. One of the women from the deck below the piloting deck gives us the good news. I head over to the spa retreat, fetching a towel on the way. I’m not sure what the standard procedure is, so I hang my towel on the rails at the entrance and put my shoes and uniform on a bench close to the entrance. Some of the people from command come in and greet me. I join them and follow the steps they take (the walls around the saunas have hidden lockers in them). I go to reach for my towel but the rails have shifted further up out of my reach. One of my colleagues picks up my towel that has ended up on the bench with all my other stuff. A little confused I grab the towel and walk into a large Finnish sauna with the others. I settle down on my towel and relax. The others are gossiping quietly. I was aware that the captain has a soft spot for the ladies and has had a few one-night stands; other bits of gossip are new. The second co-pilot has taken ill, the woman who said this gives me a guilty/apologetic look because this will undoubtedly mean I have to work longer shifts. The topic drifts to more neutral matters. Someone barges in bringing a cold breeze in with them. It’s a messenger and he informs me that I am needed on deck immediately. Everyone is quiet as I get up and leave. The messenger leaves and I am left to rinse off and strap my undergarments and suit on. I leave and am unsure of how best to get to the pilot deck. There are no concierge pods so I go to the sky-train station. As I wait for the train a controller makes his way through the waiting passengers checking tickets. He gets to me and I pull out my wallet realizing that the train tickets that count on the spaceship are different and I don’t have one. I pull out my earth train ticket a little puzzled. The controller sighs and explains that I will have to pay a fine and buy a new ticket. He fills something out on his tablet and hands me a new card. He asks me where I wish to go and is a little flustered when I tell him I urgently need to get to command.
Once at command, I am rushed up to the pilot deck and immediately take over. The pilot sits next to me in what appears to be a woman’s t-shirt (it has a plunging neckline) and boxer shorts. The maneuver we are doing is complex and adrenalin rushes through me, the time flies by. The second captain comes in to take over, he informs me that the second co-pilot is critically ill and so I will have to continue working. It’s exhausting work, I reach 18 hours straight when the auto-pilot light blinks on. The second captain pats me on the shoulder and tells me to go take a break. He has a big bushy mustache that moves when he talks. I smile and thank him before heading to the mess hall. It’s a small room with a large table for 10 people and a window slit on one wall that connects to the kitchen. The captain (now in his regular suit) sits at the head of the table and I see that he has already ordered my favorite meal: Fish, chicken and asparagus in cream sauce. I go to wash my hands at the entrance when a woman I don’t know with a communications suit walks in. Communications personnel aren’t really allowed in the command mess hall but she heads straight to the head of the table, plunks down in my seat and throws her arms around the surprised captain. The usually noisy mess hall is silent as she gushes about how amazing last night was and OH! How sweet of him to order her a meal, although fish is disgusting. She pushes it to the side and yells at one of the cooks to make her a salad. The captain tries to catch my eye but his one-night stand grabs his face and makes crooning noises. I make my way to the end of the table, grabbing a cinnamon toast on the way. Everyone including the captain obviously wants this lady to leave.
The next day when I’m back on the pilot deck the comms lady comes up the shoot with a plate of octopus for the captain. No one is allowed up on the deck unless it’s an emergency. The captain and I are doing a standard procedure but it still takes a lot of concentration. He eventually yells at her to leave, she gets a fright, spilling octopus everywhere and starts crying. When I next turn around she is gone though.
A few hours later on of the command men comes up and tells us to put the ship in auto-pilot emergency mode and come quick. We give each other a look and then head down. The second co-pilot tried to perform a c-section on herself. We manage to gather that she has an ovarian pregnancy that couldn’t be treated on the ship. The second captain who seems very attached to her tries to persuade everyone to land on the nearest populated planet so she can be treated. A huge heated discussion breaks out between everyone on the command deck. A fight breaks out, I end up on one side and am facing a woman that has pulled a snake whip out of nowhere. She whips out, I dive behind one of the control panels. The whip lashes across a screen and sparks fly. The fight gets out of control.
50 years later, on a distant planet, a cleanup crew is arranging dead bodies into formations that can then be vacuum sealed into as small as possible packages. It’s almost artistic the way the bodies are arranged geometrically before being covered and sucked into tiny shapes. The woman overseeing this is old but handsome just like old Sigourney Weaver. What they are doing is obviously illegal. A controller and his apprentice arrive on the planet. This is actually a really exciting story aspect, they go on many adventures like Obi-wan and Anakin. When a controller and his apprentice arrive they are vulnerable until they get to their suits. Each occupied planet has a set of these suits near the docking station. Once inside their suits, they are indestructible and can reinforce the laws and flush out illegal trade and evil rulers.
The overseer gets news that they are about to land and rushes to her ship with her 2 closest lieutenants. They reach the suits before the controller and his apprentice do, she tells her lieutenants not to be afraid because they can easily be killed outside of their suits. The terrain at the dock is hilly with a few shrubs; the suits stand out in the open. The controller, his apprentice and the lieutenants start shooting at each other while the overseer dashes for the shuttle. She locks herself in and starts taking off, looking out the window she sees that the controller lies wounded on the ground and the apprentice has made it into a suit. She flies away and reminisces to the beginning of it all when one of the first ships that left earth had a revolt over nothing more than the second co-pilot dying. She remembers how young she was back then, proud to have a position on the command deck.