F-276-Oliver: Mundo Zargo Highport, Docking Area B and Lower Concourse

Docking Area B

Spanial is docked nose-in to station at the commercial dock.  Oliver may or may not have been through a commercial Highport dock before.  The ship is docked nose-in to allow easiest access for the cargo hold doors at the front. Access to the ship is through a semi-flexible walkway connected to the port airlock that allows passengers on and off the station.

As is typical, Oliver must present his ID tag to pass from the tube into the docking area.

It is a large rectangular space, about 15m above and the floor about 5m below where Oliver is standing.  The opposite wall is about 30m from the dock entrance.  The docking row is over 100m in either direction from Spanial’s dock near the middle.

A few other ships are docked along the row as well, and the port is busy moving cargo. Particularly down the far end to Oliver’s left, where a big bulk freighter has docked and a stream of cargo is being loaded into its hold after entering the docking area through one of the big doors on the end wall.

A ramp leads down from the platform on which Oliver is standing, to the floor where most of the ‘people traffic’ is. Above him, close to the ceiling, massive cargo containers move about on cranes and cargo haulers. Oliver knows that the effectiveness of the grav plates on the floor drops off with distance, so the closer to the ceiling they are, the easier the containers are to move. Though it may feel slightly disconcerting having all that mass moving about overhead.

The air is cold in here and it’s a noisy, echoing place.

From his perch on the docking platform, Oliver can see that on the opposite side of the floor area are a few shops, including a cafe and a general knick-knack type of place.  Jennie has told him the nearest Net terminals are on the concourse; the closest access is next to the knick-knack shop.

Lower Concourse

A couple of combat-suited Legion troopers are guarding the doors into the main concourse area. Oliver has to show his ID (again) to a scanner and proceed down a long corridor with another pair of troopers at the end.

Beyond the tunnel is the Lower Concourse.

The Lower Concourse is a large area with a comparatively low roof, built as a square ring with shops around the inner and outer edges, tucked between structural pillars.  There is a central elevator bank for travel to other levels. The concourse is reasonably busy.  Compared to the air in the Docking Area, in here it is warm and dry.

Tucked away in an alcove in the central area is a public net terminal lounge, with ten terminals.  Regards physical privacy, Oliver can find a terminal near a wall where it’s not easy to see what he’s doing.  Alternately, if he’s looking for something a more discreet, roll Streetwise or Scrounging.  I’m assuming you mean physical privacy, not cyber privacy – from that perspective a public terminal is a public terminal irrespective of where it is located.