Chapter 1 - Coming to the Station
The engines throbbed their perpetual rhythm as the ship made its seemingly slow and ponderous progress through space. They drummed a constant low volume din which provided an interminable and unpleasant background to the inter-stellar life of the ship’s crew and passengers. Functionary 1027331ab12 lay with his back against the metal cabin wall, ruminating on the tediousness of space travel. The entire atmosphere appeared filled with a repressive boredom sweated from the ship's thirty souls and perhaps from the innumerable others who had filled its spaces on previous journeys. Functionary had, unsurprisingly, experienced space travel several times before. Even on those former, shorter journeys, lasting no more than a few months, he had concluded that routine space travel was a horrendous waste of life, devoid of the thrill and excitement which the planet-bound would, almost universally, have envisaged it as entailing. Functionary, however, had enough experience to appreciate that space travel entailed months of dull routine, imprisoned in confined spaces and drab surroundings. Given the constraints placed upon the movements of most travellers, this applied even to the largest of ships and this ship was not such a ship. Old-fashioned science fiction tales had people hibernating or, alternatively, flicking through space in an instance. The modern reality was less impressive, if the long-dead might have wondered at the achievement of travel between solar systems. Clearly, the ship travelled very fast as it progressed through space. Yet, the reality of long-distance interstellar travel between planetary systems was still of many months cooped-up in the limited confines of a few similar, dreary metallic room with little to entertain or distract most of the crew never mind the paying passengers forced to pass many empty months until they reached the objective of their journey. But this was the longest voyage Functionary had taken by far, stretching out for a full nine months. The ship was three months into its journey and there was another six long months until it reached its goal. It was a journey Functionary would rather not take, to a place he did not wish to go and, to a posting he did not want to fill. He was pessimistic and hopeless about his future. He was heading away from where he wanted to be and what he wanted to be. Thus, he did not even have the solace of the ultimate journey's end. Lying there awake on his bunk, Functionary reflected with petulance and frustration on the waste of life that was inter-stellar travel.
The engines throbbed their perpetual rhythm as the ship made its seemingly slow and ponderous progress through space. They drummed a constant low volume din which provided an interminable and unpleasant background to the inter-stellar life of the ship’s crew and passengers. Functionary 1027331ab12 lay with his back against the metal cabin wall, ruminating on the tediousness of space travel. The entire atmosphere appeared filled with a repressive boredom sweated from the ship's thirty souls and perhaps from the innumerable others who had filled its spaces on previous journeys. Functionary had, unsurprisingly, experienced space travel several times before. Even on those former, shorter journeys, lasting no more than a few months, he had concluded that routine space travel was a horrendous waste of life, devoid of the thrill and excitement which the planet-bound would, almost universally, have envisaged it as entailing. Functionary, however, had enough experience to appreciate that space travel entailed months of dull routine, imprisoned in confined spaces and drab surroundings. Given the constraints placed upon the movements of most travellers, this applied even to the largest of ships and this ship was not such a ship. Old-fashioned science fiction tales had people hibernating or, alternatively, flicking through space in an instance. The modern reality was less impressive, if the long-dead might have wondered at the achievement of travel between solar systems. Clearly, the ship travelled very fast as it progressed through space. Yet, the reality of long-distance interstellar travel between planetary systems was still of many months cooped-up in the limited confines of a few similar, dreary metallic room with little to entertain or distract most of the crew never mind the paying passengers forced to pass many empty months until they reached the objective of their journey. But this was the longest voyage Functionary had taken by far, stretching out for a full nine months. The ship was three months into its journey and there was another six long months until it reached its goal. It was a journey Functionary would rather not take, to a place he did not wish to go and, to a posting he did not want to fill. He was pessimistic and hopeless about his future. He was heading away from where he wanted to be and what he wanted to be. Thus, he did not even have the solace of the ultimate journey's end. Lying there awake on his bunk, Functionary reflected with petulance and frustration on the waste of life that was inter-stellar travel.
