Jim walked down the empty corridors of the Luxury Liner. Still taking it all in. It was likely the last time he would ever have the corridors to himself. Once they slipped away from the drydocks at Baltimore Shipyard he doubted they would ever be so empty ever again.
”Captain Hammond” his headset snapped on.
Jim sighed, ”Go ahead”.
Matt, the newly minted first mate, continued. ”Sir, the harbor master is on the horn asking when we plan to move.” there was an awkward silence.
”And?”
”Sir, Orbital policy...” Matt began to reply before Jim cut him off. ”No, we had this conversation once already, I have zero intention of spending anything beyond the bare minimum of time on the bridge. I will be down with the guests gladhanding them all and you will get us from A to B in one piece.”
”Captain...” Matt tried to reply again. ”Damn it, NO” Jim cut him off, again for the second time.
”There is YOU, 8 bridge personnel, 10 engineers, ” he started to raise his voice ”25 chefs, 18 servers, 7 hosts, and 50 personal attendants.” hitting his peak ”Thats over 100 personnel just on duty not even mentioning the two other fully staffed shifts. If she is ready to move, make her move.” tapping his wrist cutting the line to the bridge while exhaling loudly. Jim glanced up and down the long corridor, at least he was still alone. In the time it took him to take another breath a low rumble shuttered across the ship, indicating that the engines had roared to life.
The shipwide intercom snapped on "The Tierra del Fuego is now departing Baltimore Shipyard bound for Newark Station in Orbit of Planet Manhattan, all crew members please report to action stations blue, I repeat all crew members please report to action stations blue."
Jim took another deep breath before continuing his journey to the end of the corridor, a giant window dominated the T junction. Jim walked up to the window just in time to see one of the many docking arms release from the Tierra. As the liner slowly pulled away from the encompassing superstructure that represented the home where she had grown over the last 18 months Jim felt a wave of elation wash over him. Regardless of the future Jim intended to enjoy the now.
Tapping a nearby integrated wall console Jim accessed the drinks menu before making his selection. "Error" a voice filled the corridor, "Orbital Personnel are not permitted to drink while on duty." Jim frowned unhappily while hitting his communicator on his arm once again ”MATT!”