4. KEEPING YOURSELF OCCUPIED

There is a wide variety of activities and events to participate in during your stay aboard the Leviathan. Please see your cabin computer for schedules and full descriptions of the pastimes listed below. Many of the activities listed take place in the visitor recreation facility on decks B19 and B20 and the crew recreation facility on decks E1 through E4.

4.1 Getting Your Exercise

Each recreation facility has its own gym, swimming pool, whirlpool, sauna, and large and small athletic courts. Visitors can participate in an assortment of sports including their low-gravity and zero-gravity variations. There are a number of shipboard teams made up of crew members and visitors with exercise classes and competitions held regularly. Getting involved in shipboard physical activities is perhaps one of the quickest ways to get to know crew members. Visitors who prefer a more leisurely form of exercise are welcome to borrow a pair of gravity boots and walk through the ship's many transport corridors.

4.2 Artistic Endeavors

Each recreation facility has its own craft shops equipped with all sorts of tools and materials for creating art in a wide variety of media. There are two art galleries, one in each recreation facility, for displaying art created by crew members and visitors. The crew recreation facility includes a music room offering a selection of powered and non-powered instruments. Your cabin computer gives you access to many visual and musical art programs. Visitors who are aspiring actors can join one of the shipboard theater groups which give regular performances. Likewise, visitors with musical talent are encouraged to participate in one of the many shipboard music groups.

4.3 Going to the Show

Each recreation facility has its own large and small holo-theaters playing a variety of famous shows from humanity's rich holographic cinema tradition. In addition to the ever popular dramas, musicals, and epics, the holo-theaters have a large collection of documentaries shown upon request. The holo-theaters also offer interactive fiction programs where you can become part of the story. Please see your Shipboard Guides for details. The holo-theaters run almost continuously playing adult, children's, and educational programs. Live entertainment is also available aboard the Leviathan. A number of shipboard music and theater groups give regular performances in the concert hall located in the crew recreation facility. You can also watch any of the holo-theater and concert performances from your quarters by accessing the entertainment channels on your cabin computer. In addition, you can view selections from our vast visual and aural entertainment library.

4.4 Fun and Games

Each recreation facility has its own game rooms with an assortment of solitary and group games. Lovers of strategy, mind puzzles, hand-eye coordination, role-playing, and cooperative effort can all find something to enjoy. Visitors who wish to meet Sentrob can often find a few in the game rooms as they are fascinated by human games. Many games can also be played from your cabin computer.

4.5 A Stroll in the Park

Perhaps one of the favorite pastimes of most visitors aboard the Leviathan is sojourning in the garden and aquarium bays. Each of these bays contain a plethora of animal and plant life from Earth. There are three garden bays, each recreating a particular habitat. Garden bay 1 has a grassland habitat, garden bay 2 has a forest habitat, and garden bay 3 has a desert habitat. The aquarium bay recreates a modified barrier reef habitat. Of special note is the inclusion of dolphins in the aquarium bay. These dolphins have volunteered to live in the somewhat restricted environment and have received special training to help them cope with it. Occasionally, they will don environmental suits and visit other parts of the ship. Visitors are welcome to dive in the aquarium bay but must be escorted by a crew member. Translation devices are available to permit visitors to communicate with the dolphins. The aquarium and garden bays are all operated on a day-night cycle mimicking that of Earth. Visitors are free to roam in the garden bays but can request a nature guide to accompany them. To help all humans aboard the Leviathan, subliminal natural sounds and odors are transmitted throughout all areas of the ship except the resident aliens section.

4.6 Lounging Around

There are many lounges aboard the Leviathan, places where you can go to eat, relax, and meet crew members and other visitors. Almost all lounges have view ports to observe the environment outside the vessel. All lounges are equipped with food and beverage dispensers and are open around the clock. A number of special interest groups meet regularly in various lounges. Visitors are encouraged to check the schedules for groups that might interest them. In addition, informal parties are held often in many lounges offering lighter socializing opportunities for visitors. Visitors are reminded that while they are welcome in all crew, scientist, and observation lounges, they are requested to use the visitor and recreation lounges for regular meals. Visitors are strictly prohibited from resident alien and Sentrob lounges unless invited and escorted to and from these lounges. There are planned large social events in the large lounge/dining facility on decks E66 and E67. Visitors are encouraged to attend these events as they offer the best opportunities for meeting the command staff and, on occasion, resident aliens as well.

4.7 Creature Comforts

Visitors traveling with small pets have the option of putting their pets in stasis for the duration of their trip or keeping them in their quarters. Large pets must be kept in stasis for the entire trip. The crew medical facility includes a veterinary section to assist visitors with caring for their pets. Visitors without pets of their own are welcome to visit the veterinary section to interact with small tame animals. In addition, a number of small wild animals live in the aquarium and garden bays. Your Shipboard Guides can arrange a meeting with one of the wild animal caretakers should you wish to get a closer look at these animals.

4.8 Going for a Ride

There are two smallcraft hangar bays and two small starship bays aboard the Leviathan. In addition, small starships can be hard-docked at the four docking ports of Zone C/Garden Section. Periodic tours of the exterior of the ship are held using shuttlecraft. See your Shipboard Guides for details. Occasionally, visitors are allowed to go on longer trips away from the vessel, usually to observe interesting natural phenomena. Visitors may request to participate in planetary landings but approvals from the co-commanders and Levia are required. Visitors are welcome to observe smallcraft and small starship operations from the observation lounges located in the hangar bays but are prohibited from the hangar bay decks unless on a guided tour or participating in a trip.

There are four types of smallcraft most often used on the Leviathan. Such smallcraft have sublight drives only and are not capable of warp-jump travel. All smallcraft are landable on planetary surfaces. The four types of smallcraft are repair craft, small shuttles, large shuttles, and gunboats. Repair craft are the smallest having one or two person crews. They are used in conjunction with repair-robs to perform inspection and maintenance on the exterior of the ship. The Leviathan carries twenty repair craft. Small shuttles are used to ferry personnel and small cargoes to and from the ship. They have two person crews and carry up to sixteen passengers. The Leviathan carries ten small shuttles. Large shuttles perform the same tasks as small shuttles but are more often used for cargo transport. They have two to four person crews and carry up to forty-four passengers. The Leviathan carries six large shuttles. Gunboats are used to defend the ship from attacking smallcraft and small starships. Gunboats have four person crews and are armed with energy beam projectors and energy bolt launchers. The Leviathan carries six gunboats.

There are two types of small starships commonly carried by the Leviathan. Small starships have their own warp-jump drives and are landable on planetary surfaces. Small starships are somewhat larger than smallcraft and have their own austere living accommodations allowing them to operate on their own for weeks at a time. The Leviathan normally carries two small starships: one probeship and one gunship. The probeship is a small science vessel used for missions not requiring the extensive facilities of a larger starship. The probeship may travel ahead of the Leviathan on scouting duty or may be left at the site of a scientific investigation to continue studies after the Leviathan departs. Visiting scientists will have many opportunities to participate on probeship missions. The probeship is armed with energy beam projectors for defense only. The gunship is a purely military vessel which defends the Leviathan from attacking small and mid-sized starships. In combat situations the gunship may be sent out ahead of the Leviathan to observe potential aggressors or escort the probeship and smallcraft as they perform their duties. The gunship is heavily armed for its size with both energy beam projectors and energy bolt launchers. In the unlikely case of an emergency evacuation of the Leviathan, the gunship would stay with the lifeboats and surviving smallcraft to defend them should they be attacked while the probeship would be sent to get help. The gunship and probeship both have eight to twelve person crews.

There are four other small starship types that occasionally serve on the Leviathan: freightships, medships, tugships, and salvships. Freightships carry high priority cargoes and resupply human installations and starships in deep space. Medships are deep space ambulances used for emergency treatment and transport of victims of space accidents, disasters, and combat. Tugships are used to tow modular cargo and personnel modules and are also used to tow damaged starships and smallcraft to repair facilities. Salvships are used to repair damaged starships and smallcraft on site and tow them to safety if necessary.

4.9 Celebrating Your Beliefs

The Leviathan's worship facility is located on decks E33 and E34. Included in the facility are large and small meeting rooms, deceased commemoration room, and sanctuary. Regular worship services are held for each of the three main human belief systems: the Radiant Faith, the Humanicist Philosophy, and the Pansentia Way. Radiant Faith and Humanicist Philosophy events are open to all humans wishing to participate. Pansentia Way events are open to the sentient computer, Sentrob, and interested aliens as well as humans. While some Sentrob are members of the Pansentia Way, most hold meetings involving their unique beliefs in the sentient computer audience room. Sentrob events are not open to humans or aliens unless invited.

In addition to the regular meetings held for each major belief system, an inter-belief system group meets routinely to promote understanding and goodwill between followers of the different belief systems as well as discuss issues of common concern. Many of the religious and philosophical discussion groups which meet in various lounges are sponsored by representatives of one or more of the major belief systems.

Visitors practicing one of the many ancient human belief systems should see their Shipboard Guides to arrange events meaningful to their personal convictions. Such visitors are encouraged to schedule at least one personal audience with Levia during their stay aboard the Leviathan as Levia is very interested in learning more about the wide variety of human religious and philosophical experiences.

4.10 Learning More

One of the most precious opportunities presented to visitors on the Leviathan is the wide variety of educational programs. Besides the vast collection of human art and literature available for view at your quarters computer, there are regular classes held in the education facility located on decks B1 through B6. The classes cover many subjects, one or more sure to be of interest to you. Classes are taught not only by specialized educators of the Recreation Service staff, but also by experienced crew members and visiting scientists, many of them top in their fields. Your children are encouraged to attend classes with the crew children, and adult visitors already involved in courses of their own can easily continue their studies while aboard the ship. Please see your Shipboard Guides to arrange specialized tutoring to meet your personal educational needs. Visitors willing to teach a class on a subject of interest to them are requested to notify their Shipboard Guides as soon as possible.

Visitors desiring to know more about the life of the crew can participate in the "Day with a Crew Member" program. In this program, a visitor is paired up with a crew member doing a job of interest to the visitor. The visitor is allowed to follow the crew member for one entire duty shift as she or he performs her or his duties. The visitor may ask questions as well as observe but must not get in the way of the crew member. As this program is staffed by volunteers from the crew, visitors may have to wait up to a week or more to schedule a "Day with a Crew Member" session with a crew member in their area of interest. Visitors should be aware that branch service commanders are usually much too busy to participate in the program. Also, visitors will not be allowed in certain areas of the ship, such as the control centers or critical engineering areas, for more than limited periods of time.

Visitors wishing to actually participate as temporary crew members can take part in the "Crew Member for a Day" program. In this program, a visitor is allowed to actually assist a crew member in performing his or her duties for one or more duty shifts. Unlike the "Day with a Crew Member" program where the visitor selects the area of interest, in the "Crew Member for a Day" program the visitor is assigned to a crew member by the sentient computer. Levia takes into account the visitor's skills and experience when the assignment is made. The rewards of this service oriented program to the visitor who participates include a closer relationship with the crew, additional personal audience time with Levia, and a private dinner with the co-commanders when possible. Visitors should be aware that during emergency situations all "Day with a Crew Member" and "Crew Member for a Day" programs will be suspended.

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