Stories of The Sunbeam
The Sunbeam GTACMTC2-64
Gateway Transport Agency Civilian Mass Transport Class-2, Number 64 (Former ID: ASTV3-989)
Passenger: Olivia Malcolm
Liv woke up to half her head pounding, and groaned. She'd hoped the migraine would have been gone by now, but unfortunately, it was a stubborn one. The headache persisted as a steady chiseling feeling, located just behind her right eye. And, though the sensation of it was dulling (maybe), it was still irritatingly present. The room felt a little too bright for her comfort, too.
She exhaled a small annoyed whimper, rubbed one eye, and sighed. The last estimate she’d gotten was that only 51 more Earth-length hours would be spent in warp, and Liv had wanted to be in proper shape when the ship docked. A two-day migraine? Well, it wasn’t a good sign, and she really hoped it wouldn’t persist.
Liv's sour mood suddenly deflated further when a bright, chipper, feminine voice interrupted her thoughts, and sang, "Gooooood day!"
The voice smacked of artificial cheer, it drifted in from some unknown source within Liv’s quarters. And, Liv knew exactly who it was: Sunbeam. The Sunbeam, to be precise. Why the main intelligence of the whole ship would personally greet an average passenger was beyond Liv’s reckoning, but she had grown used to Sunbeam’s presence. While Liv figured that it was probably boring to monitor warp stabilization calculations, or whatever it was that ships must do for work, she wasn’t too confident in the ship’s intelligence, either.
Sunbeam’s voice continued, "It is good to see that you're awake, Olivia!"
Liv groaned, "Sunbeam, can you stand to tone the sunshine down a bit?"
"No can do, Olivia! In fact, we are likely very far from any quantity of nearest-sun, and it would be unwise to risk checking! It is an estimated Forty-Seven Hours and Twenty-Eight minutes until we exit the warp tunnel, and it is too dangerous to withdraw too early simply to look for suns!"
That was not the answer Liv wanted. Worse, she realized that she had experienced only about four hours of sleep. Great! Not ideal.
"Ugh, Sunbeam, you know exactly what I mean. Can you turn down the lights?!"
Sunbeam responded with a pause, one that Liv found a bit uncomfortable once the 15th second had passed. Before she could say anything further, without warning, the lights went out with a ping! and her room was plunged into darkness.
Suspicious, Liv growled impatiently, "Sunbeeeeam?"
Sunbeam was silent.
Liv's eyes then adjusted, somewhat, to the darkness. She fumbled out of her bed, and bumbled her way to the door. She felt around the walls for stability, though she didn’t really need it. The room was a bit too small, but serviceable; temporary lodgings for her journey, made available free of charge.
There was just enough space for a bed, and to walk around a few short paces. A small seat and desk were attached to a wall at the far end of the room, and located right by a door that led to the even-tinier bathroom accommodations.
The conditions were claustrophobic, really. But, Liv had assured the agency (Gateway Transport) that she could handle these conditions for a week’s travel time, whatever a “week” was in space. Four days so far, and it hadn't been too bad, weakening migraine aside.
After all, the room was offered to her for free, and she thought it far better than being in the group berth. Yet, despite having second thoughts about her accommodations, there wasn't anything she could do about it now, really. “Hindsight is 20/20”, or something like that, it was said.
Towards the front of the room, a small rectangular outline near the door panel could be discerned by its dim yellow glow. Liv approached the smooth panel, and then smacked her palm against it. Thankfully, her room's door slid open without delay.
The hallway was equally dark. Confused sounds, other passengers' voices, mumbled nervously in the darkness, "What's going on?" "What happened?" "Where are we?"
Liv drew in a breath, and called out, "Hey, Sunbeam!"
The other passengers stopped talking as soon as Liv addressed the ship. Liv, for her part, felt extremely self-conscious.
Was I really that loud?!
The hall was silent, and then the lighting sputtered back on with an audible whirr. Sunbeam's voice danced in the air with the bounce of honeyed delight, as if she had been talking the entire time, "-orry for the inconvenience! It appears that there was a minor mishap with the ILCS Integrated Lighting Command Systems. For your convenience, and to prevent any further outages, please use the manual rotary switches available within your quarters and at your berths, to control localized lighting."
Liv's face suddenly burned hot with embarrassment. This couldn't be her own fault, could it? Maybe that was a coincidence? She wasn’t sure, though some part of her felt intensely anxious about whatever was going on.
...
A few hours later, the incident with the lights had receded into a lighthearted joke among the other passengers, as if there wasn't any real concern to it. Nobody seemed to blame Liv however. Instead, a few folks congratulated her for getting things "back to normal"!
But, Liv felt concerned.
She sat at the far end of a table in the shared mess hall, and poked distractedly at her food. Though she took an occasional bite, her meal was growing cold, not that it mattered much to her. The other passengers eventually ignored her, wrapped up in their own conversations with each other. A relief, for sure, but Liv also felt desperately lonely.
She was on her way to her first major assignment, traveling as a highly-recommended individual by the professors at her university. All of Liv’s friends and classmates took different shuttles from her, or were headed to different destinations. She sort of wished she had taken Maude's offer to travel up to a halfway point, though she didn't want to impose on Maude and her partner, either. Liv also wasn’t sure how’d she would have made the second leg of the trip either, anyway. Sunbeam, after all, happened to be a direct one-way route to Liv’s destination, and so the ship was far more convenient for that reason. No imposing upon others, free food and accommodations… Sunbeam seemed perfect, more or less.
And yet, Liv was bothered, now. The "problem" wasn’t impossible to Liv, she could solve this! Surely, this was within her ability! And yet, despite it all, Liv suddenly felt both overwhelmed and clueless. She especially felt burdened with a dreadful worry because of what she knew.
The Sunbeam was a repurposed freighter vessel originally built to carry cargo, but now she carries people, instead; like a flying space hostel. Being neither a cruise ship nor a ferry, Liv had figured the ship herself also barely got an upgrade in the brains department. There would have been no need to specially accommodate the sort of clientele that would travel with Sunbeam, though the ship’s intelligence was still unfailingly prompt, as if she never got the memo.
A malfunction to the lighting command systems aboard a vessel like the Sunbeam could potentially be indicative of a larger issue at hand... And, Liv's thoughts jumped to her fear that the life-support systems were affected, too. Though she longed to speak to somebody on the ship's crew, like an engineer, she was aware of the rules.
Olivia Malcom was aboard the Sunbeam as a passenger, and nothing more. The specifics of the trip meant that Sunbeam herself would be the one Liv would have to get through first, anyway! Liv’s heart sank slightly at the thought.
Damn, but if I could get a hold of someone! Anyone other than this flaky boat! This thing is about as dumb as an Alliance Freighter!
Liv grumbled under her breath, "I wonder how many corners were cut, to make this thing passenger-ready?"
She abandoned her food tray, walked her way back to her room, and closed the door behind her. "Hey Sunbeam," she called.
"Hello, Olivia, what is it?" chirped the chipper voice of the ship.
"What's the status of your life-support systems?"
The ship paused, before replying, "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to provide you with any specific details, but everything's coming up Green! Or, if instead you were looking for Uplifting Supportive Cheer because the gloom of deep space has gotten to you, I am afraid I lack the resources to fully provide for your needs!"
There was something markedly specific about the nature of the ship's response, and Liv rolled her eyes.
"Ok then, how long have you been in service as a passenger vessel? How many trips have you made?"
Sunbeam answered right away, "I have been acting as a passenger vessel for the past 5 annans, and have made hundreds of trips each an! The specific number of trips taken differs according to need and circumstance, but I am proud to say that I am a star of safe travels at an affordable rate for even the most simple of standard incomes!"
Liv opened her mouth, as if to respond, but then closed it. Sunbeam was definitely an Alliance Freighter in another life, and worse, she’s now one with a dash of whimsy.