Cargo Bay 2 (Deck 7)

Smaller than Cargo Bay 1 but built to the same pattern, this bay occupies a boxy, high-ceilinged volume on the starboard side of the deck, its bare structural ribs and support struts left visible against the pale grey composite of the outer hull. Recessed strip lighting runs the length of the ceiling, casting an even, slightly cool white light down onto a floor marked with broad yellow hazard lines defining forklift lanes and stacking zones. Cargo containers of varying size are secured in tiered stacks along both long walls, most in the ship's standard grey and white composite finish, secured with wide magnetic clamps and cargo netting where they rise above shoulder height. A cluster nearer the forward doors is visibly food-service related - crates and canisters bound for the Main Galley one deck section over, kept separate from general supply stock by a painted floor boundary. A reinforced blast door dominates the forward bulkhead, wide enough to admit a loaded anti-grav pallet, while a smaller personnel door sits beside it for foot traffic. In the aft corner, a cargo transporter alcove is recessed into the wall, its pad outlined in pale light-up striping and a small companion control console mounted beside it at waist height. The bay carries the particular quiet of a working cargo space - the occasional creak of a container settling in its restraints, the soft whine of an idle anti-grav pallet's repulsors, and the steady hum of climate control fighting the bay's sheer volume. The air is cool and carries a faint metallic tang common to large, lightly used cargo holds.