While walking in the glass corridor connecting the ship and the dock together, James could finally get a good look at the vessel they would be using. It was almost shaped like the tip of a spear, with broad engines at the back ending in a sleek front. At the ship's side, the name was painted in large white letters.
"Trondheim, huh?" He said, wondering if Clay could hear him.
"That's the name." Clay answered, but to James it seemed as if he was more interested in gazing at the universe that surrounded them. He didn't blame him, it was truly an amazing sight, with the glass corridor creating an illusion of walking in space. James could see another ship in the distance, accelarating as it disconnected from the station. Soon, he too got lost in thought as he walked down the corridor, until the corridor ended and they both entered the Ship.
There were a good few people sitting around at the bar or in front of the TV in the main room of the Trondheim. Others were spread across the room in small groups, talking. Even with the room being fairly large, the people made it look crowded and small. James noticed that besides the exit, there was only one corridor leading away from the main room.
"There's so many people going to the station?" James asked.
"Well..." Clay hesitated. "The station we're going to is slightly larger than I have made you believe. In fact, It's not a small station at all." He smiled at James while saying this, probably plotting something again.
"Slightly larger?" James was sceptical. It was obvious that with the amount of people going there on just this one trip, it wouldn't be the cramped up space he had first gotten the impression of. Still, how much larger could it be? It was only a station after all.
"Slightly larger." Clay repeated, still cheerful. "Now if you will excuse me, I have something to take care of" He started moving towards the bar.
"Hey, what about the luggage?"
He turned towards again and shrugged. "Take it to our cabin, find the number on your card." Then he turned and walked to the bar, introducing himself to a few of the other passengers as he went past them.
James sighed and walked into the corridor situated to the right of the exit, dragging with him his suitcase and the large, heavy trunk that Clay had brought.
Damn him, if he brought something this heavy, why couldnt he drag it around himself? Wait, why am I doing this anyway? If I just leave it here though... Probably not worth trying. Damn him.
The corridor was long, with 5 doors each at both sides. At the end there was a last door labeled "bridge". He quickly checked the ID on his passenger card. 2b. He looked at the doors again, and saw that door number 2 was right at the entrance of the corridor. Relieved that he wouldn't need to drag the heavy trunk to the end of the corridor, he quickly slid the card into the door and watched it open with a slight hiss.
The room was quite spacious, and had everything a traveler would need. At the right wall there were two beds separated by a small nightstand inbetween. Next to the second bed there was a large cabinet for clothes and towels. A glass table with steel chairs graced the middle of the floor, and at the left wall there was a small kitchen area with refrigerator, stove and sink. The wall opposite to the entrance was filled with large panorama windows for a amazing view of space, except the rightmost area, where a door leading to a small bathroom were.
James plunged into one of the beds after conveniently dropping the luggage on the floor. He was still tired after the morning, and thought that now was a good time to catch up on some sleep. He was also very hungry, but whilst the thought of raiding the fridge for food was tempting, the bed was just too comfy. He was almost asleep when someone started talking on the speakers across the ship.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen! This is the Captain speaking, or the pilot, whichever you prefer. You may call me Zephyr." The voice was loud and annoying, and James opened his eyes again. No way was he going to sleep with this racket in his ears.
"I would like to welcome you all to the Trondheim, which in a few minutes will be taking you to AutoCorp Hercules."The voice paused, and James noticed that the ship started moving as it disconnected from the station. Soon after the ship shuddered as its engines started. The voice then continued in a rushed manner, as if the captain was in a hurry.
"Depending on the mood of the subnet, we will probably arrive somewhere around noon tomorrow. There is a TV and a Holodrive in the lounge for your entertainment. Also, you can help yourself for some food in the fridge at your cabin, or drinks at the bar in the lounge if you prefer something stronger to aid your journey. That being said, first time travellers can feel a slight discomfort as we enter subnet warp. Do not worry about this, as it usually only last for a few seconds. Additional safety information can be found on the table in your cabin. Please enjoy your stay here at the Trondheim. Captain out."
With that, the voice disappeared, leaving only the soft, humming noice of the engines. James figured that the reason why the message had been rushed was because the captain had spoken this message hundreds of times, eventually gotten bored with it.
The voice had left James widely awake, and he decided that some food would be a good idea right now. He got out of bed and scurried over to the other side of the room. He opened the fridge, which were filled with various foodstuffs, and quickly decided that fast and tasty was the way to go. Chocolate it is then. Thank god for well-stocked fridges. James kicked the door to close it when he had collected a couple of large bars, and was about to return to bed when the room started pulsating in a strange blue light as the ship entered subnet warp.
He was taken completely by surprise. At one moment he had watched from the window as the ship entered the blue portal, the next one he was staring at the roof, watching one bar of chocolate fly across his field of vision. Then there was pain. At first only a slight stomachache, but it grew, and soon it felt like someone was punching him repeatedly in the stomach, over and over again. When it finally diminished, James was lying on the floor, clawing helplessly at his invisible assailant while gasping for air.
It took him a few minutes of breathing heavily before he could finally get up, his head screaming in agony as he struggled himself back to the bed. What the fuck was that? A slight dicomfort?! The bed greeted him with the sight of one of the bars of chocolate that had been flung across the room as he fell. He wasn't really hungry anymore, and threw the bar at the wall across the room. He just needed some sleep.
As James tried to get comfortable with the lingering pain from his body, he noticed that he couldn't see space from the window anymore. They were in subspace now, which was just blackness, and blue strings pulsating around the ship and ahead of it, forming a road. Watching the lightshow for a while, James soon drifted off to sleep.