I woke up earlier, today, to try and get a decent speech written. I have to address all of the civilians on the ship to give them the details of the ship and our trip. I’ve been writing for three hours. I have almost nothing. Shit.

I figure I’ll be able to wing it and head to the bridge. I set up a meeting with Lance and Simon to make sure we were all set for the tasks ahead of us. As the door slides open, I find the two waiting by the doorway making small talk. Lance seems to be asking Simon about his cybernetics. “So you’re plugged in to RIN, right? Can you see all the security cameras, like, in your head?”

Simon remains expressionless. “Yes, I can. It’s a rather useful ability given my position as head of security. Using it, I can constantly cycle through cameras to ensure that nothing is awry. However, I rarely find it necessary as there are others who are tasked with monitoring said cameras.”

Lance scrunches his face at Simon’s words. “Don’t you think that’s a little… creepy though? Not much is gonna happen on the ship, yet you have access to see everyone whenever you want.”

“You two can finish this later. I want to make sure we’re all set before the folks start getting on.” I step into the room to get their attention. The two turn to me at my entrance. “Lance, is the ship up to the task?”

Lance smiles and gives a thumbs up. “She’s running at max efficiency. Everything’s perfect, not that we really strained it with our last trip.” He shrugs and looks back to me with an expression that asks if there’s anything else I need.

I nod to let him know I’m satisfied and turn to Simon. “Simon, I assume you’ve got everything set?”

He nods as well. His voice informs me dryly: “Yes, Captain. The civilian quarters are all prepped and there are members of the security staff are on rotating guard duties to ensure the safety and hospitality of our guests. Civilian quarters all have direct lines, through RIN, to the security office to request anything when one of the guards cannot be found.”

I stare at him, surprised, mouth agape. I regain my composure and pull my jaw back up. “Wow. Yeah, cool, sounds good. Th-thanks, Simon, good work. Alright, that’s all I had for you two. You can go back to taking your days off if you want, just be back when we address the colonists.” Lance does a two fingered salute and walks past me, giving me a high five on his way out. I start to turn to follow him before I notice that Simon is still standing there. Turning back, I give him a puzzled look. “Simon, you’re dismissed. You can go chill if you want.”

“I’m aware, Captain. I wanted to finish the guard assignments and ensure maximum team efficiency.” The screen on the right side of his face is cycling through spreadsheets of, what I assume to be, the staff assignments. I can’t really tell though due to the glaze effect that’s keeping me from seeing the “confidential” information.

“Alright,” I say with a shrug, “suit yourself. Don’t forget to take a break eventually though. That’s an order!” I point to him with a smile as I walk backwards through the bridge doors. Turning about face, I begin my march down to the med bay. Along the way, I continue to rack my brain for some semblance of a speech.

Ten minutes and three more sentences later, I reach sick bay. Standing inside is Dr. Tasha Medli - the veteran put in charge of taking care of this ship full of newbies. As she turns around, her kind face greets me with a caring smile. Her shoulder length black hair is streaked with bits of gray to emphasize her experience. Her tan skin is only imperfected by the laugh lines she’s formed over the years. A bright soul amidst the cold darkness around us.

“Howdy, Dr. Medli. You all stocked on supplies? I know all the civilians are vaccinated but you can never be too careful. Also, Lord knows what could be on the planet we’re going to.”

Her laughs make the air sweeter around her and I can’t help but smile at the sound. “Yes, as I told you two days ago, we’re fully stocked. There’s nothing to worry about.” She rests her hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes with a caring smile. “Breathe, Clark. You’re doing a great job. Everything is perfect on the ship. You’ve got this.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Here I was thinking that I was hiding my worries well, but she saw right through me.

Opening my eyes back up, I look to her and give a reassuring nod. “Thanks, Doc. I got some last minute stuff to check up on, though. I’ll see you at the introduction.” With that, I left feeling much better than I did going in.

After a few more of these check-ins, it’s finally time for me to meet our passengers. With my stomach in knots, I make my way down to the civilian rec room. My eyes and ears are instantly assaulted by the two hundred, or so, individuals bustling around the room. At the far end, is a microphone and my fellow crew members. Squeezing my way through the mass of bodies, I pop out on the other side in front of Lance. “Hey man,” he looks at me with a cocky grin, “you have a speech ready?”

“Not at all.” I look at the crowd behind me nervously, “this’ll be fun.” I turn away with a sigh just to see Lance’s grin grow.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be hilarious.” He turns me toward the microphone and pats me on the back.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence…” I emphasize the bitterness in my voice as I walk on. Stepping to the mic, I tap the metal and clear my throat to get the room’s attention. The group begins to quiet down and turn towards me. My stomach drops to the floor. Hundreds of eyes all stare at me, expecting some kind of words of wisdom or profound instruction. Well, this is gonna be a train wreck.

I steady my breathing and clear my throat again before speaking. “Well, hello everyone. This is your Captain speaking. Heh…” No one is laughing. That joke was awful. “I’m Clark Henley, your Captain. I already said that part, didn’t I? Anyways, welcome aboard the Union of Planets’ Starship Watanabe.” They’re all just staring at me. Maybe my crew can help? Nope, they’re doing the same thing. This is awful. “Heh, yeah um… it’ll take us around twenty five days to get to Verreth and we’ve been assigned to watch you guys, like in a security capacity, and aid in your initial setup. After a week, the next group of colonizers will arrive with the rest of your supplies and security. Until then, we’ll be in charge of your security… like I already said.”

I gulp and awkwardly smile at the crowd. Can they see me sweating? I feel like I’m melting. Someone end my suffering. “If you need anything, there’s communications systems set up in each of your quarters that connect you to the security staff and there will be guards patrolling at all times, thanks to our head of security, Simon. He’s the one who set that all up… Which I’m sure you figured out.” I gesture to my cyborg companion.

“We’re no Starliner, but we’ll try and make your journey as pleasant as we can. If there’s anything really pressing or if you feel like an issue absolutely must be taken higher, you can go to Fist Officer Selai here.” I look to my right and make eye contact with her only to see her blush and quickly move her head to stare at the floor in front of her. Clearly she hasn’t gotten over what happened last night. Great, now I’m blushing. This doesn’t look conspicuous at all! No one noticed that, right? Staring back out to the crowd, I try desperately to regain my composure. “Uh… Yeah, I think that’s about it. Some security staff are gonna give you guys the rundown and that’s it. Welcome aboard again and remember: always aim higher!” I give one last painful grin and walk away from the mic and don’t stop until I’m safely in my room.