Story: The lethe, pt. VIII

By 1200 hours, the number of people on the bridge exceeded the capacity specified by the designers. In addition to the usual crew of the 2nd shift, there were a number of dignitaries from the “United Earth Hegemony” government. The governor of the Martian colonies sat next to the commander of the Lunar outposts, the two men quietly laughing at some private joke. Next to them, looking bored as always was the Prime Minister of the European Union. Dobbins could not remember ever seeing the woman smile. If she was enjoying being on the Hyperion, she showed no sign of it. The Emperor of South America and the President of the United States of North America stood next to their chairs, listening to the slow, sonorous voice of the head of the Hegemony. By no means did all of the inhabitants of Earth live under the rule of the Hegemony, but far fewer lived outside than inside. The other dignitaries included the Prime Minister of the East Asian Republic, the commander of the Martian shipyards, and the Hyperion’s primary designer, Albert Yuntzen.
The bridge itself held all of the extra personnel with difficulty. Aside from the touch-sensitive panels that ringed the outside of the room for various secondary systems, and most of the dignitaries found themselves stuffed in between these outer stations and the inner area of the bridge. The captain’s station, which included readouts for every major system and basic controls that he could use, if necessary, stood at the very center of the bridge, a large, almost complete circle of touch-sensitive panels. Behind the captain’s station were the communications and tactical stations, facing forward. To the captain’s left was the vast, intricate control panels for the chief science officer, and to the right was the executive officer’s station. It looked like a smaller version of the captain’s station, a semicircle of panels facing forward. In front of everyone sat the helm and navigation controls, a vast set of panels operated by the helmsman. The remaining dignitaries who could not fit around the edge of the bridge found themselves stuffed into whatever space could be found within the inner bridge.
“All systems report ready, sir,” Brackers reported.
“Excellent, Commander, thank you,” Dobbins responded. “Mr. Skylar, when you’re ready, clear moorings at take us out of dry dock, full thrusters.”
Skylar’s hands flew over the panel with the fluidity that came from years of familiarity. “Aye, sir. Moorings cleared. Aft thrusters to 100%.”
On the holovision at the front of the bridge, the three-dimensional view of the dry dock ahead of the ship began to slide backwards as the Hyperion accelerated out of dry dock and began initiating orbit around Mars.