The gentle vibrations typically lulled her to sleep, but not tonight. Cass lay in her rack looking out the window as the vessel moved effortlessly through the expanse between Mars and Jupiter. In the distance she could see a tiny glimmer of light as they passed one of the larger mining operations of the belt. The slow rhythmic pulsing of the light drew her attention away from the multitude of stars that filled the tapestry of space like shimmering diamonds.
She placed the tip of her finger against the glass, lining the edge of her finger to line up with the beacon and waited until it passed behind her finger, blocking the light.
“One … Two … Three …”
She counted, waiting to see how long it would take for the light to reappear again.
“Eighteen … Nineteen … Twen …”
The light pulsed once more, this time on the opposite side of her finger. “Twenty” she thought with a slight smile, before trying to calculate the speed of the ship in her head. Yes, she could have just queried the ship’s telemetry information from her crew tablet; but she wanted to see how close she got this way.
About a minute passed by before she realized that she didn’t carry the 2 properly in her head and didn’t want to start over again. She wanted the calculations to help her sleep, but instead they got her worked up.
Rolling away from the window, she reached over and picked up her tablet from its dock attached to the wall, the device lighting up and filling the room with the blinding light of the unlock screen. Opening the app, she accessed the ship’s telemetry data.
Seeing the speed of the ship, she rolled her eyes. She had been off by a factor of ten. Normally she could have done the calculations in her head, but clearly she was tired.
She rolled over and returned the tablet to its charger, watching as the screen went black displaying nothing but the time.
01:30
If she fell asleep now, she would have almost five hours of sleep before she needed to start getting ready for her ■■■■■. But she couldn’t rest, her mind was racing and she didn’t know why.
Being aboard a vessel like this wasn’t something new for her, she had severed many years aboard smaller ships. Some of her fondest memories were from her first deployment to the Kuiper belt. That wasn’t long after leaving basic training, and she was as green as they came, and her service record showed it.
Smiling, she began to recall the found memories of friends she made aboard the Jericho. Even though her service contract had ended, she had made it a point to keep in contact with many of them throughout the years. They were planning on meeting up again in a few months to celebrate the end of another contract.
She looked out the window once more, this time straining to see the pulsing light once more. Though she spent several minutes focusing on its last location, she was unable to see it’s light.
Disappointed, she closed her eyes once more; listening to the quiet hum that the engines made as they sent vibrations through the inner hull of the ship. The sound of the ventilation system added to the lullaby, inviting the rest of the subdued sounds of a living and active ship to join them as they helped her drift away into sweet sleep.
