The man waiting on the docking ramp blinked a few times in surprise when he saw me come out of the access door. I walked closer, and he held out his hand. "Captain Wanderer, welcome." It sounded kind of tentative, as if he wasn't entirely sure I was the Captain.

I shook his hand. "Thank you. I believe these are my new crew members?" Eight people were lined up behind the Integration Program Manager, looking somewhat nervous, but mostly hopeful.

He nodded. "Yes."

I addressed them directly, "Welcome to the Starsong. I am Captain Wanderer, although my crew is welcome to call me Rachel. As you know, you will have a six-month probation to prove you are capable and able to learn anything that is required for your position. I will call you up one by one, and your Overseer will take you for a tour of the Starsong."

I glanced over my shoulder at the eight Overseers behind me. One came forward with a small box containing Guides and communication devices. I picked one set out before saying, "Cooking Assistant, Fred Dervy."

One man came forward, and I passed him the two objects as his new Overseer came forward - who just happened to be the original cook. Once the communication device was on his shirt, the Overseer led him into the ship. One by one, all entered the ship, leaving just me and the Integration Program Manager standing on the ramp.

He spoke, "Thank you very much for accepting all of them, Captain Wanderer. You impressed them when you sent them that file instead of blasting them into never-never land. They all specifically requested to join your ship and are determined to work hard, so I don't see any problems arising."

I said, "They will be given a fair chance. I will send you the monthly updates as you requested."

"Thank you. Travel safe, and good fortune to you."

"And to you as well," I replied before turning and walking up the ramp. We were only docking long enough to pick up the group. The Navigations Officer would be taking the ship back into outer space as soon as the docking ramp was pulled back. I knew we would be airborne before I even got to the closest elevator.

I headed back to the Bridge, unsurprised to see that the planet was already a fading dot in the inky blackness of space. I sat in my chair as I idly gazed at the main displays on the wall. The map showed that our next few scheduled stops were at fairly small ports.

I picked up my Guide; Starsong already knew my thoughts and had the list of trades open. Procurement could do most of the trades, but each stop had one or two items that required me to personally negotiate those trades. Some traders of rarer items refused to deal with anyone other than the Captain.

I remained sitting in the chair while I browsed through various programs on my Guide, but it reflected the exact same thing that it had been showing me lately. The crew worked very well together and everything was getting done, even though we didn't have a full crew yet.

After several hours, I couldn't remain sitting any longer and got to my feet. "I am going to go on a walk-about."

The Officers on the Bridge acknowledged my leaving in their own fashion, some merely nodding, while others replied.

"Alright, see you in a while."

"We'll call you if something comes up."

They were familiar with this routine and were more informal now than in the past. I had been persistent about the lack of formality when it was just us, and it had paid off. Starsong was also pleased with the outcome. Instead of having them stand on ceremony constantly, we were more like congenial co-workers with a common goal.

I found this far more relaxing than having to pretend to be some stuck-up Captain, although I knew their professionalism would re-appear the moment anyone else showed up.



* * *



"You are needed on the Bridge."

I had just been leaving my room to head for breakfast, but changed my direction. 'What's up?'

"A distress beacon from a nearby planet is calling for immediate assistance."

I furrowed my eyebrows. 'I thought the nearest port was still a day and a half away?'

"This isn't a port; it is a very small terraforming facility with about a hundred people."

A spaceship was incapable of actually landing unless it was docked on anti-gravity coils at a docking station. This also applied to the more-advanced Starships. Spaceships were designed for space, not for the effects of a planet's gravity, so we wouldn't be able to land.

I was slightly reminded of Romeo's trip through the air. 'Do they have small spacecraft that can get into one of our loading bays or are we going to have to give them a heart attack?' Space was precious on a space ship, so our loading bays doubled as shuttle bays in outer space.

"They have three very small spacecraft, but each transport vessel will have to make at least five trips to get everyone on board."

'Will you even allow them all on board? You have some pretty high standards compared to almost any other ship out there.'

"They are temporary refugees, not crew members. If they cause problems, then they can try out my holding cells."

At least he had a backup plan. Every large spacecraft out there had holding cells. Sometimes crew members just went crazy, or there was always a possibility that a ship would rescue someone in an emergency spacesuit who proceeded to cause trouble once on board. Starsong had a dozen such cells in a remote section of the ship.

The door to the Bridge opened just as my communication device activated. "Captain, please report to the-"

The Communications Officer stopped as he saw me in the doorway and tapped his communication device to turn it off. "Perfect timing."

His expression said that my unusually early arrival was a bit more uncanny and creepy than perfect, but he didn't let it faze him as he pulled up the information on the main displays.

He summarized the rather wordy SOS. "Terraformers. Just under a hundred of them, and they need to evacuate the planet as soon as possible. A large earthquake has set off a chain reaction, and if they get another big quake, it could result in something like a supervolcanic eruption along the entire fault line."

I sat in my chair. "How far away are we? Are there any other spacecraft closer than us?"

"Five hours at our current speed. It is just one facility which doesn't have anything like a docking station, so there is no reason for ships to come this way. We are the closest. The nearest port is two days away, even at our speed."

This was one of the situations that Starsong had already said that he wanted to help with. "Contact them, and tell them to get those three small space-skippers ready to transport people into our smaller loading bays. We can take them as far as the next planet."

A couple of the Officers glanced at me in slight confusion. The Communications Officer cleared his throat tentatively. "We aren't sure if they even have any vessels that are space-worthy."

This was one of the instances where Starsong's tidbits of information made others question where I had gotten that intel – or wonder if I just made it up.

I smiled faintly. "Contact them. Tell them to get anything capable of space travel ready to ferry those people up to us. It is going to be crowded, so also contact Stewardship, Cooking, and other areas to give them a heads up."

"Yes, Captain."

I let the title slide by without remarking on it.

He began tapping his screen. "The message has been sent to the Terraformers. I am also sending alerts to all of our areas so they are aware that we will be hosting refugees until we get to port."

The Navigations Officer spoke up, "I have altered our route and have increased our speed."

I nodded in approval. "Excellent."

We all knew that they would accept whatever help we offered. They didn't really have a choice if they wanted to live.