The Man Who Received a Spaceship: It Turned Out to Be a Star!? - chapter 9
Chapter 9: Going to See the Gifted Spaceship 2 – Transfer
I’ve disembarked from the shuttle and am now following Ein through the cruiser’s interior.
Lights embedded in the corridor floor flow forward, indicating the direction of travel. As we approach what seems to be a dead end, a section silently opens, revealing it to be a door. After walking for a while and passing through several doors, we reach what looks like an elevator hall. It is indeed an elevator hall, and we enter without waiting. So far, we haven’t encountered anyone who looks like crew.
As always, there’s no sense of acceleration or deceleration as we exit the elevator, arriving at the ship’s heart – the central command room.
The front and sides, instead of walls, show outer space. Probably giant screens displaying the exterior view.
Ein, who had been walking ahead, takes a step back.
“Welcome to the S2-class cruiser LC-0001.”
A handsome man stands there. Next to him is a slender beauty. On either side, three people holding guns? are lined up, weapons raised. Security guards? If this spaceship is like a sea vessel, are they the marine corps?
“I’m Kabura Hainante, captain of LC-0001.”
He looks unmistakably Japanese, appearing to be in his early thirties. His black bodysuit has a stand-up collar with two silver buttons? on one side. Probably rank insignia. He’s not wearing a hat, sporting a crew cut-like hairstyle. I later learned that while they wear helmets, they don’t have a habit of wearing hats. The captain of a certain space battleship wore one, but there’s no strong sunlight inside a spaceship, and wearing a hat can lead to premature balding due to sweat and stuffiness.
“Hello, I’m Yamada.”
“I’m Asa Nabaite, the executive officer.”
Another Japanese-looking beauty, seemingly about 25 years old. She has one silver button. Again, it looks like a rank insignia. On closer inspection, the stand-up collar seems to have a black trim made of different fabric. The captain has black hair, but hers is slightly brown and also very short.
“I’m Yamada. Pleased to meet you.”
The black bodysuits they wear are actually a very dark navy blue upon closer look, with a non-glossy finish and what appears to be a fish scale pattern. At this point, the security guards on either side lower their guns, holding the thin part and placing the thick end on the floor.
“This room is the ship’s central command room. Most of the ship’s operations can be conducted from here. Please, take a seat in the squadron commander’s chair. By convention, we provide a seat for the squadron commander, but typically, torpedo squadrons aren’t assigned a commander, so I, as the ship’s captain, currently serve as the squadron commander.
Please make yourself comfortable for the brief period until we reach Agiracana.”
A step down from where we are, people who appear to be operators in dark, body-fitting suits similar to bodysuits stand up from their chairs and look our way. They’re making fists with their right hands and placing them against their left shoulders. It seems to be a salute. Let’s see… there are about ten of them, five on each side.
I return the salute by making a fist with my right hand and placing it against my left shoulder, and everyone takes their seats.
As instructed, I sit in the squadron commander’s seat on the elevated platform. Ein stands beside me.
The captain sits in the chair slightly ahead. The executive officer and security guards leave the room. Apparently, the XO has a seat in the secondary command room. The security personnel probably guard the area. I’m not entirely sure.
“Hyperlane gate all normal! No opposing ships!”
“Proceed to enter the hyperlane gate. Squadron, launch!” the captain orders.
“Mooring beam released! Squadron, launch!”
“Mooring beam released! Squadron, ahead slow!”
“Thirty seconds to hyperlane gate entry, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, …, three, two, entering hyperlane gate.”
Simultaneously with the word “entering,” the faintly red hyperlane gate that had been visible on the front screen disappeared. Jupiter, which had been displayed on the right wall, also vanished. Had the other stars changed? It was hard to tell.
I didn’t notice much change in the stars. Probably the ship exited the gate on the other side in the same orientation as it entered.
“All ships have successfully passed through the hyperlane gate.”
“All squadron ships normal.”
“The squadron will now head for Agiracana’s First Spaceport. Increase to squadron cruising speed. Course set for Agiracana First Spaceport!”
“Increasing to squadron cruising speed. Course set for Agiracana First Spaceport!”
The captain turns to me and says,
“We’ll dock at Pier One of Agiracana’s First Spaceport in about two hours. Pier One is exclusively for the Agiracana captain, so no other ship has ever docked there. We’ll be the first!”
The captain seems visibly excited and fired up from an observer’s perspective.
It appears that Agiracana’s captain is a special existence and receives special treatment. Well, it makes sense for the captain of a planet-sized spaceship.
But what about the responsibilities that come with the rights? There’s also the question of where and how this Agiracana could possibly sink, but surely there’s no expectation like with old battleships where the captain goes down with the ship?
Belatedly, I wonder why everyone can speak Japanese. When I asked Ein later, she told me that everyone had installed Japanese for my benefit. Even units of measurement were changed to Japanese standards. The time was synchronized with Japan Standard Time (Akashi), and apparently, this causes no inconvenience. For concepts that don’t exist on Earth, they create appropriate neologisms, and Japanese is said to be simple and convenient in this regard. I’m glad to be Japanese.