The Game of Life

Long-distance interstellar travel rarely had any excitement. For a ship the size of the Meteora, that meant that the seven pilots and astrogators had an easy job. Admittedly, the training was difficult and the level of expertise to operate such a craft was high, but once one was able to break into the field, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Four pilots and three astrogators oversaw the flight operations. Always, two pilots and two astrogators were on duty.

In reality, the astrogators did most of the work. There job was to calculate intergalactic conditions and plot course alterations based on registered data. Of course, not all significant data was obtainable before launch or between jump points, so complications, though rare, were not unknown.

That is where the pilots came in. Their primary job was to maintain the ships pre-programmed course, and make manual adjustments when needed.

Needless to say, the possibility of emergency conditions mandated that the navigation crew remained in the command center nearly all of their shift. If the astrogators did their homework ahead of time, there would be no complications. Most of the crew’s work revolved around the periodic checking of calculations and holo-games.

Holo-games took the most time.

The four navigators sat around the table, each skillfully manipulating hand-consoles. Sounds emitted from the devices, adding to the activity of the images that hovered over the devices. In this interactive game, each navigator started with an IGCR-5 (Inter-Galactic Common Rank 5) company, and through corporate takeovers have advanced their standing to Ranks 2 and 3. None had been eliminated thusfar, and they were on turn seventy-one.

As frenzied hands worked over the controls, a voice sounded from the intercom.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that our ship is arriving at our next jump point. Only two more left until our destination. It also gives me pleasure to announce to you that dinner will be ready in five minutes. The Service Hall is now open. Please note the options available according to your citizenship package. Also, citizens of Strato-Sphere, N-I Inc., and Veritas Plus, please observe that you have bonus packages available to you. Furthermore, naturalized citizens need to observe established Menu Restrictions. Thank you for your zeal and cooperation.”

One of the pilots spoke. “Well,” she said, “anyone ready to eat?”

After the affirmative response, she continued, “Game control, pause in three.”

Her hand-held device spoke in an automated tone, “Pausing in three, two, one, pause.”

The holograms stopped moving. Upon the verbal command “off,” they disappeared.

The blonde, bearded man with the nametag “Garris” looked over at his co-pilot, “Bellina, you realize how close you are to going down don’t you?” She shot him a stabbing glance.

“And you were doing so well,” Marcia continued. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Bellina replied as the crew rose from their chairs and moved over to the eating table. Garris went to the Automated Service Provider across the room to fetch the food that had been sent to them. “I thought I was close to reaching Rank2, and then everything just fell apart.”

Kris raised her eyebrows and looked at Bellina with the smug look that can only come from a player who had reached Rank 2 some time back, “You didn’t cover your assets. I’ve told you a million times, if you don’t cover your assets you will lose them to vultures.”

Garris placed the trays on the table. “Dig in everyone.”

The navigators pulled their food before them and sat properly in a moment of silent thanksgiving to the Divine before eating.

Filling her glass, Bellina muttered, “I thought I did cover my assets.”

“For a while you did,” responded Kris. “You were fine until you sent your negotiation team into Krylon-2. That particular station had alternate investors. Those alternate investors had an observation committees established in key areas for effective espionage. Your R&D division didn’t have the financial backing necessary to uncover those deeper connections. Your resources, instead, went into more overt operations. That works well when you’re running a Rank 5 and 4 union. But when you moved to Rank 3, you didn’t change strategy. And when you came close to Rank 2, you only identified yourself as a easy target who had overextended herself. Hence your rapid plunge in standing.”

Bellina leaned forward on her elbow and said to Kris in a knowing, cocky voice, “And how, might I ask, would you know all this?”

Kris replied, “Because I helped them.” A statement punctuated by her smug smile.

“Did they make it worth your while?” Garris asked.

“Oh, you bet they did.”

All broke out in laughter. Such was the way of games.

“It’s amazing,” Garris began, “how close to real-life those holo-games are getting
isn’t it?”

A flashing light on a subsidiary astrogation panel interrupted the good-spirited time. Marcia rose and walked to the panel. Pushing buttons, she looked perplexed.

Garris called to her, “Marcia, what is it?”

“It appears as though there is a freighter floating in space. It doesn’t have any
recognizable markings according to the database. I’m running a scan for identifying mechanisms.

Marcia continued to scan the ship and the Meteora’s immediate area. Garris pressed a com-button on his belt. “Communications.”

The speaker in the room replied, “Yes, Pilot Garris.”

“We have an unknown freighter near our path. Scan is initiated. Prepare security. Send good eyes to the crow’s nests. Run in silent mode. We don’t want to alarm anyone.”

“Yes, sir.”