After posting my Spaceship of the day post and writing a little explanation of the ship I had the start of an idea so I'm going to get to typing below.
Gyne stood looking at the large screen that displayed the crew vacancies on the freighters that would be heading out over the next few days. There were reports of an outbreak of Sty-virus on the planet below and he needed to be on a ship and moving before any lockdown was announced. The last place he wanted to be was stuck on a space-station in lockdown. His dwindling credits wouldn't last him through private lodgings and he'd be transferred planet-side to a hostel where the risks of infection would be high and medical care patchy at best. Even if he survived the outbreak it would take him months to earn enough to get back to the station and find a new ship.
As a level two technician, he knew he had to act fast before any available berths were snapped up once news spread of the virus became widely known. With over ten years of experience of station hopping around the Federation's trade routes, he had the experience to sign on to the most modern and best-paying ships but time was now the major factor in his choice.
In usual times he'd avoid any of the ships offering positions but pressing the screen on the best of a bad bunch he brought up the details and scanned his identity chip to upload his experience and C.V. and stepped back to wait. The ship would be leaving in twelve hours and to still be needing crew showed how bad the job was but it was a flight out. As expected he quickly got a response and was ordered to Hanger seven to sign on and help with the last of the loading of supplies.
Picking up his already packed flight bag he turned and headed to the lift that would take him up to the hangers from the habitation zone. The offer of a berth on his ship now gave him clearance to leave the habitation zone. He'd be out of this system and safe in space before any lockdown was called and a few months roughing it on his new berth, The FTS White Orchid, would be a small price to pay to keep him safe from a deadly virus outbreak.
When the lift doors opened Gyne got his first look at his new ship and he almost stayed in the lift to return to the habitation levels. About fifty years ago the Mysicle corporation had built and launched a new fleet of freighters cabs, each named after Earths flowers. The cabs and trailers were small in comparison to those ships built for deep space journeys and they were used for shorter trade routes, pulling the cargo trailers behind them. The ship showed clear signs of its age and the Captain seemed to have little regard for keeping up appearances of his ship. Unlike the large trading fleet ships he was used to, the White Orchid was a privately owned ship and it was many years since the owner had bothered to give it a paint job.
Outside the hanger doors, Gyne could see part of the trailer that was docked to the station after being loaded with goods transported from the planet below. By the ship, a man stood directing loading droids as boxes were taken onto the ship via an access ramp. With a sigh, Gyne began to walk across the hanger towards his home for the next six months.
