Aboard the Lois, for the first time in my life, I felt the need to make some decisions. Life on a freighter was just unusual enough to have an appeal. The very idea of traveling through the Deep Dark intrigued me. Besides, with my food and living expenses covered, I could probably make a pretty good living. I hadn’t seen a pay chit yet, so I wasn’t sure. The company typically disbursed pay just before docking, and I had no need for creds aboard the ship. I knew there would be taxes and union dues deducted, along with a mandatory retirement contribution, but there would also be a share of the profit from the trip, a small share, but the potential for a little something extra. Somehow the pay didn’t seem to matter. Lying in my bunk, listening to the low voices of my shipmates around me, I could begin to envision what it might be like to do this awhile, and it didn’t seem half-bad after all. I fell asleep without getting closer to a decision about my specialty, but after my earlier disquiet, feeling much better about being aboard.
It took me about a week of evenings to make it through the various specialties listed in The Handbook. I didn’t want to leave the ship, but I discovered some interesting things about ratings and slots. For example, you could take any job listed at your rating or lower. I didn’t know how that played out in practice, but I could see where, in a pinch, you might want to take an ordinary spacer slot in order to get off-planet when an able spacer berth wasn’t available. Some ideas were self-evident. The more ratings you had, the more possibilities for employment. Despite that, most people specialized in one area and concentrated their efforts to get the largest share ranking possible in that division. That piqued my interest and I ran some questions by Pip the day before we hit the jump point.
“Why do people work up through a specialty?” I asked.
“Why not? The higher you go, the better the pay.”
“Well, yes, and no. Within some narrow range, your pay is largely determined by your share and not by your specialty, right?”
We were swabbing down the mess tables and he stopped to look at me. “Sorta. Your salary goes up based on rank even after your share maxes out. The difference in base pay between able spacer and spec one is pretty large but they’re both full share berths.”
“Okay, but the key to earning is being on a ship, isn’t it?”
We had finished with the tables and moved on to sweeping the floor. “I’m not following where you’re going with this, Ish.”
“Suppose something happens here and I get put ashore. As a quarter share, I don’t have much to draw on for a new berth.”
“I’m with you so far.” Pip rinsed out his rag in a bucket and nodded for me to go on.
“Now, if I qualify as a half share in, say, cargo, then my options begin to open up. I’m eligible to take any quarter share berth that comes along or a half share cargo slot.”
“But why would you want to do that?” he asked. “Take the quarter share berth, I mean.”
“Well, maybe the next ship in port doesn’t have a cargo slot open. It would be a cut in pay for me to take the quarter share, but it’s still more than I’d make planet-side earning nothing and paying for everything.”
“True enough.”
“Now, what if I qualify as half share in cargo and engineering? Or cargo and deck?”
“Why wouldn’t you go for full share in cargo?” he asked.
“Well, the qualifying exam for full share is roughly twice as hard as for half share, isn’t it?”
Pip considered this and shrugged to grant me the point. “Yeah, I suppose that’s one perspective.”
“So, for the same amount of effort for full share cargo, I could get two half share ratings in other divisions. And if my goal is the best possible chance of staying employed, wouldn’t it make sense to get a second and third half share rating in order to diversify my options?”
He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me, his head tilted a little sideways. “That’s an odd way to look at it.”
“Yeah, but play the game with me. Take the long view. Where are the most jobs?”
“Full share berths are the most common. So if I want to be guaranteed, as much as possible, that under any given circumstances I can get a position on the next ship, what do I need to have?”
His response came instantly. “A full share rating in a division. You can take any lower position and the majority of them are full share to begin with.”
“Close. What I really need is a full share rating in every division.”
“Goldilocks and her bears, man. That would take forever!”
“Not so long as you might think. A university degree can take four or five stanyers. Advanced degrees even longer.”
“True.” He shrugged and granted me the point.
“It’s much better, from an economic stand point, to be out in the Deep Dark. When I’m planet-side I’m burning creds. So long as I have a berth, I’m making money. So, what I need is the ability to maximize my time on board, and that means being able to take whatever job is open as soon as I need one. Most are full share and, while a lot of those are specialized, my best bet is getting rated in every division.”
I could almost see his mental gears clicking that idea around. After nearly a full tick, he frowned at me. “True. But what if you like one kind better than another? Doesn’t that factor in?”
“Yeah, but not to the extent that I’m willing to go broke waiting for that slot to open up.
He grimaced but nodded slowly. “You’ve got a point, but how long will it take you to make half share?”
“I don’t know, but we’re still twenty-five standays out of Darbat. I bet I can accomplish a lot in that amount of time.”
We finished sweeping and stowed our cleaning gear. Pip turned to me with a thoughtful nod of his head. “If the last three weeks are any indication, my friend, I suspect you’re right.”
Chapter 8
Neris System
2351-September-21
A loud electronic horn woke me out of a deep sleep and practically gave me a heart attack. Even before the klaxon had stopped, I heard people moving about in the berthing area, pulling on shipsuits and boots. When the noise stopped, it was followed by the announcement.“NOW THIS IS A DRILL. THIS IS A DRILL. FIRE, FIRE, FIRE. THERE IS A FIRE IN THE PORT-SIDE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. ALL HANDS TO FIRE AND DAMAGE CONTROL STATIONS. THERE IS A FIRE IN THE PORT-SIDE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. ALL HANDS TO FIRE AND DAMAGE CONTROL STATIONS. THIS IS A DRILL. THIS IS A DRILL.”
Pip slapped me on the leg and grinned. “Come on, greenie. Move it!” Beverly was already out of her bunk and zipping a shipsuit. I grabbed mine and followed her and Pip into the berthing area where everybody grumbled but moved sharply. I dressed quickly still pretty disoriented from the sudden arousal. When we exited, Bev peeled off at the passage that led aft and I followed Pip to the galley where we found Cookie waiting for us.
“Such excitement, eh, gentlemen.” His cheerful smile seemed out of place.
I managed a look at the chronometer and saw 01:16. “Do we always do this in the middle of the night?”
Cookie shook his head. “No, young Ishmael, we do it at all times of day.”
Pip snorted a laugh. “Last time was in the middle of lunch service. Trust me, this is easier to deal with.”