by Marcus Sloss
Copyright © 2019 Marcus Sloss.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
CHAPTER 1
I returned home from my final school day before summer break with excitement and anticipation for two reasons. The first, I had completed junior year of high school on the honor roll. That was mildly rousing to me, school was easy and my summers tended to be mediocre. What really had me pumped was the ZBall (Zero Gravity Handball) championship game was about to be streamed galaxy wide. I was an avid fan of the underdog team ‘The Elephants’ who faced ‘The Griffins’ and I was giddy to watch the big game.
I approached the front door that scanned my identity and turned translucent allowing my entry. I stepped inside the foyer until I stood on a transportation pad. I thumbed a button that confirmed I had access to the requested room. An enclosing tube descended down from the ceiling as it surrounded me. An orange light blinked in combination with a tinkling soft bell. In less than a second, I became weightless and felt the suction pressure. I was shot from the first floor foyer to my bedroom on the third floor moments later. I exited the tube and tossed my bag onto my bed.
“Vivian, play pre-game show please,” I ordered my home control assistant. She knew exactly what game I was talking about.
“Of course Mack, it would be my pleasure.” Her sultry voice replied. Ever since I had turned eighteen I could tweak some settings that were age restricted. Vivian now spoke in the voice of an actress I crushed on, she also may have been set to enticing.
The entire wall behind my desk came to life as two analysts went over the potential outcomes of the game. I found my favorite hovering bean bag and nestled into my grooves. I achieved perfect comfort as my legs dangled in the air but was quickly interrupted by two calls.
“Your mother and your birth mother are pinging you. Wait… Your mother noticed the other call and dropped her attempt. Shall I connect you?” Vivian queried.
I nodded and my wall morphed into the face of my birth mother. She was extremely far away on Earth but with technology, she was right here in my room with me on planet Versi. I was dreading this conversation. There was a history here that I still resented.
My father (Hank Raul) had worked in the force protecting the citizens of Versi when an unauthorized speeder stitched plasma into the side of his patrol airship. The resulting crash turned him from a vibrant energetic man to a moppy legless mess. I was young, only three at the time, but my mother left my recovering father and her little son behind when a once in a lifetime political opportunity arose. That opportunity had paid off for her, she was now a sitting Empirical Senator. She had given up everything for her people, including me until the court ordered visitations were implemented. As I gazed upon her wrinkle lines and dyed hair to hide the grays, I knew I was better off here.
It was a hard transition for my dad and me. I do not remember much of that time but eventually, she found us. We had cycled through nannies until Bethany entered our home and never left. I always wondered how my father and she ended up as a couple. Now that I was older I thought I figured out that it was me. She fell in love with me as her own child and married a loner to never let me go. I could never thank her enough for that. The three of us struggled in those early years. I was held back a year in school because I had shut down. I eventually coped and moved forward. Father never improved but he did change. He went from a legless hovering ball of rage, to a calm placated man. The entire time we struggled Beth was there. She was the guiding hand, and voice of reason I always needed. Over time, I prevailed and excelled.
I was an honor roll student with a budding career in ZBall at the high school level. With one more year to go, I was already getting interest from scouts. Technically, I could test out of high school and go right to college - some of the lower tier schools had pushed for this. Even though I was eighteen I wanted to enjoy my last year of education and league games. I loved my life here on Versi and I always dreaded flying back to the Capital to visit Senator Maranda - aka my birth mother, but my feelings were irrelevant. It was court ordered and part of the child support agreement. This would be my last summer on Earth and I avoided the yearly debate with dad about not going. Every argument I had with him was short lived because he said there was nothing he could do. Not that he would if he could, he was always tucked away in his private room exploring virtual simulations. That man rarely dealt with his disfigurement in this reality and picked the fictitious worlds instead.
I sucked in a deep breath, placed a fake smile on my face and greeted my mom.
“Oh hey mom,” if I dared to refer to her as anything else I was promptly corrected. “The big ZBall game is about to come on, are Donnie or Thompson going to watch it?” I asked about my younger twin brothers who were eleven. The dynamic duo were terrorists of the extreme order. The only sanity in that house was my sister Beau and step farther Arenus. I never referred to them as half siblings, even though they were. That felt like it cheapened the bond to me. However, those little twin trouble makers always found a way to emphasize that to me.
“You know there is too much violence in those games… I am actually proposing a…” She stopped herself knowing I would object if she was trying to legislate my beloved sport. American football had been banned in the twenty second century and all contact sports prohibited in the twenty third. It was not until there were planets that rebelled from Earth’s authority, that ZBall became prevalent. Now here we were in the twenty sixth century and the anti-contact hounds were at it again. I was disappointed my own mother was on the team of vile villains vilifying my beloved sport.
“ZBall is a low contact sport and I have never been hurt or seen anyone carted out of the zero gravity arena the entire time I have played. You were right to stop yourself… as should I. Let us not speak of division on issues and see if we can come to an understanding. When were you expecting me to arrive?” I asked as I calmly folded my hands into a ball above my waist.
Vivian had been helping me control my anger issues. I was prone to fits of outrage and smashing things. I was easily triggered when I got overly animated in my discourse over an issue. If I calmed my hands, I could soothe my mind she told me. Maybe it was a bunch of internet self help mumbo jumbo but it worked for me sometimes. In this case, I eased my tension and exhaled.
“I booked your ticket for tomorrow morning. Butla! Display itinerary for Mack Raul.” She said with a roll at the end of my last name. It was one of the things she knew would get a grin from me, I watched her hide a smirk as she studied my transition times.
“Wait… Mom, did you rename your artificial Butla? Did you read some hip and fresh magazine?” I laughed at the absurdity of it.
“What! My polling numbers improve when I can connect with the younger demographic of voters. You know I struggle with being too stiff at times.” She explained as I saw my itinerary populate on the screen. It was a significantly shorter trip this year. Maybe all those construction projects at the spaceport and orbital were finally making a difference. “Okay… if everything goes smooth you will gate through to earth around noon, then clear customs with a home arrival estimate of six p.m. Tonight you need to pack minimally, your ticket has a baggage weight limit
of ten kilos and I am not splurging for the extra stuff you do not need. We can acquire what you lack for the summer here. See you tomorrow evening.”
With that, the screen morphed back into the opening ceremony of the championship game. My mood had soured at the reality of tomorrow when a knock sounded at my door. That was mom, the only person in the galaxy who probably still politely tapped on their child’s door.
She greeted me with a floating bean bag chair and two large slushes. Green apple candy flavored… she knew my vices. We lounged and talked of life, school, and the game. When the game finally ended my beloved team was decimated. They lost so bad, I spent more time talking with mom than watching the game. When she said goodnight I went into my cryo chamber defeated. I had to leave tomorrow and my team were not the champions I hoped for. The sleeping pod sealed with a slight hiss and played classical piano. I input my desired sleep amount, entered a slight increase in my muscle enhancement regiment and waited until a whoosh of gas knocked me out for quality rest.
CHAPTER 2
If you get intimidated by large structures, chaotic crowds or tiny enclosed spaces, do not travel the Empire. I prepared myself mentally for the struggles of the day before I got dressed. A quick glance in the mirror revealed a man that was tall, handsome, and very fit. I had brown hair in a stylish cut that helped accentuate my blue eyes and dimpled chin.
I slid myself into a travel approved space suit. It forced a functions check before the sealer would lock the garment on. I shimmied the suit's thick neckband over my head by stretching it. As it was dragged down my skull, it scanned my measurements. When it beeped a ‘go’ tone I pressed a button and clear blocky bots materialized out of a pouch around my neck. My head was instantly enclosed behind a dome helmet and my neck sealed tightly to lock in the air. I was breathing trace amounts of the thirty minutes of emergency air my suit possessed. Satisfied with its self-diagnostic, it pinged with a pleasant tone and the rest of the black suit contoured my body to wrap me in a velvety textured material. The bubble around my head reversed and packed itself back into the neckband container. I heard the air container hum as it replaced the consumed oxygen.
I tubed my way down to the kitchen and saw dad was actually up. I got an unusual hug goodbye and he even muttered for me to be safe and to have fun. I was surprised he sent me off, as of late he rarely hovered himself out of his VR room. Mom cried a lot. She reminded me to behave, to remember if I found a girlfriend to get a consent signed, and proceeded to give me a never ending hug. Dad eventually dragged her away when the hovering vehicle arrived to ferry me to the nearest orbital port. I was certain she would miss me, we were each other’s primary source of human interaction since dad was always absent.
The hour long aircar flight was the easiest and most relaxing part of the day. I lazily stared at the ever changing landscape of buildings, roads and greenhouses. It was a quiet morning on Versi. Automations transported people from point A to B and I was another solitary individual in the process. I always enjoyed this bit, every summer this was my favorite ride, the quiet peaceful roomy aircar. No smelly people crammed in beside me or a crying baby two seats over. That was another issue I found on these interplanetary endeavors. I was a huge human.
I excelled in ZBall due to exceptional hand eye coordination. I could move through zero-g like a dolphin in water. The other factor was that I was a tank of a young man. I stood over two meters tall and was a hundred and thirty kilos. Nearly everywhere I went people looked up to me… literally, not figuratively because I was a nobody. I was teased as a kid for my size but as I grew into the high school years, I found the teasing stopped. I was respected among my peers, not for my towering attributes but for my charming friendliness. If someone asked for help, Mack Raul was your go to guy. To be honest most people expected the giant, top tier athlete to be a dumb rude jerk. I was proud I was the outlier instead of the given. It still made traveling in small spaces very uncomfortable.
My arrival at the orbital launch port was slow and loaded with a queue of people dragging luggage out of aircars. When I finally was able to exit, I smoothly walked with my light backpack to a scanner station. I stopped all movement when the device glowed red, then continued on my trek when it pinged green. It verified I belonged in the port with a purchased ticket and allowed me entry. A personal navigator appeared from the ceiling to fly in front of me. It guided me through the busy walkway and displayed ads as we went. When I deviated off course to use the latrine the drone hovered in place awaiting my return. I did my business down a non-spill sanitary tube that adjusted to my height and then I was back into the masses.
The personal drone navigated me to gate C-14 and handed me off to an identity verification bot. This robot hovered centimeters off the ground and had me step on a large platform. A privacy dome enclosed me as I felt a blood prick, was blinded momentarily by an eye scan, and pleasantly surprised at my increased weight. All this confirmed who I was and that my extra items were within limits. This had all been completed at the entry to the port, but now I was officially in the right place and could board.
I proceeded into a tiny four person shuttle that would be shot up to the orbital Oasis via the octotube. The octotube was an eight armed clear device that would grab pods of four humans. Once inside the arms, gravity would be reduced and a suctioned pull applied. It was a similar concept to the common anti-gravity tube systems found in tall homes. The pods would go from an offshoot arm to a major tube that arched up into the blackness of space and linked with Oasis. It was an efficient way to get people through the troublesome atmosphere and had recently been upgraded.
When I had first started these trips to see my birth mother I would wait for a predetermined boarding time, then I would pace endlessly until everyone could shuffle onto an actual hydrogen rocket shuttle. Finally, we would blast off the ground and tear through the atmosphere to the orbital. It was archaic and a tedious process. Ever since the changes a few years ago this part had gone much smoother. Anyone traveling to Oasis was guided to a pod that was ready to go the moment four people were secured inside. No more scheduled flight times and even if you arrived at a slow time you never had a long wait.
I happened to be the fourth person to enter the pod on C-14. As I crammed myself into the seat I realized I got even luckier. I was beside a nervous small boy no older than five.
“Hey young man. I have done this a few times. From experience this is the best part. The first time I closed my eyes. After I wished I had been braver. I had them open the next time and I never closed them again. The view is specular.” I said to the kid who nodded in understanding. His dad gave me an approving smile.
The pods were meant for average sized humans so I leaned over the child’s extra space. The sensors felt my weight settle and straps enclosed my mass. The shuttle gently undocked from the port and we become weightless in the tube. A few casual spins helped adjust the weight to ensure we were balanced. I saw a pouch on the opposite side of me fill with water to counter my mass. I also noticed the young kid death gripping his arm rest. I floated my hands free to show him we were okay. The flexible cylindrical container glowed a vibrant green alerting someone in control we were ready.
I always got excited about this part. I tapped my legs patiently waiting for the inertia from our acceleration. One moment we were a mere meter off the ground and the next we launched weightlessly in a sharp curve. I grinned in joy as I slightly sunk into my chair, the improvements on inertia damping had made leaps recently and I figured one day I would no longer experience trips this way. We approached the main tube with a slowing speed until we paused as a few other pods soared by. The pressure was gone and only my straps held me in place. An internal light changed to green telling us we were next and we rocketed off the ground. We cruised at an intense speed as we silently raced out of Versi’s atmosphere. The little kid beside me had closed his eyes at first but was now aptly taking it all in.
I had to admit, the process and the views were cer
tainly something that even with my multiple trips were still a wonder. The green and blue planet below us shrank in size as the orbital Oasis blossomed in our view. We reached a diverter section and were shot down an arm to a specific gate. There was a click, hiss, and then gravity returned to us.
When our gates door swooshed open I let the others awkwardly leave first. Partly to be a gentleman, part my father always said to do it that way, and lastly because I was too darn big. It was easier to peel myself out of the small structure with less people in it.
A new hover bot obscured my view and verified my identity. I was lead to the massive shuttle arm of the orbital. The bot and I passed dozens of general stores, restaurants, and vending machines. There was a barrage of ads under the bot that I ignored as we progressed. I bypassed all of it and arrived at a seating area where I would wait for a predetermined amount of people to show up before loading. I scanned the queue board and noticed I had recently missed a flight, my name at the start of the next line. I did not mind, I was not in a hurry and decided to catch up on some post game debate. I was curious about how my favorite team was handling such a humiliating defeat.
A half hour passed and we were allowed to board the shuttle. I had always told Maranda how vital leg room was for a larger person like me, however I never got the extended seats in the front of the shuttle. There I was, folded in half in my tiny shuttle seat. I hated this part. It was the longest, and the most congested. My frustration at the mandatory travel always increased with this part. I had to repeatedly tell myself it would be over soon. It never was. Strapped in our seats, gravity was turned off for our departure and flight.
We detached from Oasis and the ship flipped over giving my stomach a twist. The captain applied thrust and the ship zoomed to the gateway. This was a newer model spacecraft with top of the line dampeners and hydrogen engines. It was part of the recent upgrades that Versi was finally seeing as it grew in import to humanity. For once I was not lying to myself when I said it would be over soon. We burst to the gateway in record time. We were already cleared for transition too, thank the maker. I couldn’t see the gateway from my middle seat in a center row. I did see my knees though.
