There is an obvious answer to where at least Part of the crew is:
Sleeping.
Unless you assume they just pull over and Park when everyone gets tired, they need At Least Two People for every critical position.
Half the crew on Watch, the other half eating, sleeping and taking showers.
A more realistic watch schedule is Three underway watches.
The US Navy has learned from Long Experience that 3 underway watch sections is the minimum safe number.
Less than that and people start getting punchy from staying awake too long.
This causes embarassing accidents.
Like running into other ships.
During Battle Stations, of course, everyone has a job.
The rest of the time, the ship would need to be able to be run by 5 or 6 people.
Engineer,
Pilot/helm/navigator,
Sensor/radar operator,
Communication watch,
Officer of the Deck (whoever is in charge when the Captain is not on the bridge)
That's the minimum. These 5 positions require 15 people.
Then, you have the Captain and such Staff positions as the Healer.
Healer is on call 24/7 and probably doubles as environmental officer. IOW, she makes sure the Air & Water stay fresh.
Captain is also on call 24/7 just by the nature of the job.
That leaves openings for about 3 more people.
Weapons specialist, we know.
Infiltration specialist.
How about a Cook? Not necessary since they could take turns, but possible.
It's also likely that, particularly with such a small crew, each person is trained in at least 3 different jobs.
Both for backup and because it'd be part of the path to Advancement.
Again, going to the USN model, the path to promotion leads through Each department on the ship.
New officers usually start out in Engineering.
They move from there into either Navigation, Deck or Weapons.
Sequence isn't set because they Will serve in Every department sooner or later.
Then, they move into more general ship's management, usually in charge of whichever department they showed the most aptitude for.
Eventually, they become someone's Second in Command.
If they don't screw That up, they get their own ship.
It's not unreasonable to assume that any organization operating ships will come up with some similar plan.
Captains have to be able to "talk the talk" with everyone, so they will spend time in Every department before moving up the ladder.
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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."
[This message has been edited by bakana (edited January 25, 2002).]
