SS Pentallian
The SS Pentallian was a Transtellar cargo ship operating in the 42nd century, transporting cargo throughout a galaxy "half a universe" away from Earth.
Characteristics
The ship possessed heat shielding to protect it from intense heat. However, the hotter that the outer hull got, the weaker those shields became. The ship also had escape pods.
Every system aboard the Pentallian was fully automated; the crew's main purpose was simply to keep the engines going. (TV: 42)
Security aboard the ship included Secure Closure. The system, which could not be overridden, closed a series of deadlock-sealed doors along the Pentallian's length when triggered. The only way to cross the ship in these conditions was to answer a series of questions, devised by the crew in a drunken haze nine trips before their journey through the Toraji system; they felt they would be the only people able to answer if they ever got hijacked. However, this logic became clouded with the crew changing repeatedly since then. The questions required a team of two to answer: one to control the computer interface which provided the questions; the other to control the door clamp which would open the door to the next area upon entry of the right answer.
History
The ship's captain, Kath McDonnell, had illegally stolen some gas from the Torajii sun in order to fuel the Pentallian, not knowing that the sun was in fact alive. Torajii was angered and used its gas to possess crew members like Hal Korwin and Dev Ashton to kill the remaining crew one by one. The ship was also sabotaged so it would collide into Torajii, destroying itself. When the gas was released, Torajii left the crew alone and let the survivors leave.
The Pentallian was apparently using sun fuel to power itself up, but the sun was alive, possessing Hal Korwin, who began a murderous rampage through the ship. (TV: 42)
Crew
- Kath McDonnell - Captain
- Riley Vashtee - Pilot
- Orin Scannell - Chief Engineer
- Hal Korwin - Security Officer
- Abi Lerner - Medical Officer
- Dev Ashton - Chief Technician
- Erina Lessak - Technician
Behind the scenes
The Pentallian was designed by Concept Designer Peter McKinstry, who recalled, "It was scripted as a beat-up old tug boat, so we researched by finding interesting boat shapes and naval silhouettes, then bending them to come up with a spaceship with subtle echoes of those features. The main corridor, the ship's spine, was integral to the script, so it was integral to the design." At least one concept image was drawn by McKinstry, realised using Photoshop on 5 January 2007. The illustration was approved and the design process continued from there on. "This locked design was passed onto The Mill. who built it in 3D," McKinstry concluded. (ImageFX magazine, October 2008, p. 65)
