by M. D. Cooper
Isa realized she could buy all the equipment she needed after she arrived. All that was required for a trip to Athens was fresh underwear and a sense of adventure.
Well, I have plenty of underwear, and an adventure would be perfect.
After arriving at Landfall Space and Air in plenty of time for her flight, Isa watched the shuttles take off and land while she waited. Domestic craft for public transportation were the most common—boxy, utilitarian ships, they were the fastest mode of travel for ordinary citizens moving between the many islands and small continents of Carthage’s archipelago. At Landfall’s seaport, ferries, hydrofoils, and catamarans also departed, but they were more for vacationers and leisure excursions. Commuters and business travelers took the shuttles.
Isa saw some private, luxury space vessels, more of them than she had ever witnessed before at the air and spaceport. As earned credits mounted up in the economy, more and more people could afford the high prices demanded for the craft.
She could see the appeal. The sleek lines and eye-catching designs were enough of an attraction by themselves, even without the high-powered engines that the ships also sported. They could travel at more than twice the speed of commercial spacecraft.
She also saw a few of the tiny planet hoppers. New on the market, the small vessels only carried a handful of passengers, but they were spaceworthy and fast.
A domestic shuttle appeared in the sky. This was Isa’s transport, just arriving from the Athens ship, which would be hanging in orbit. The bulky space vessel landed and powered down. Isa grabbed her bag from the seat beside her. It was time she went to the gate.
As she stood in the line, wondering when the other cars would be added to the nearby space elevator—which would eliminate the need for surface-to-ship shuttles—she checked out the other passengers. They were mostly couples or small groups of friends, but there were a few families with older children. Only a handful of passengers seemed to be alone like her.
Carthage and Athens were at their most distant points in their respective orbits, so the flight would take two days. Isa had visited many places on Carthage since coming out of stasis, but the Athens trip was to be her first interplanetary flight in the New Canaan System.
The shuttle flight only took thirty-five minutes, and as they docked with the Odyssey, she wondered what the passenger situation on the ship would be like. Once aboard, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her seat was a small compartment. The seating area converted to a bed, and she could activate shutters that would seal off the entire compartment, forming a sort of pod.
“It’s pretty neat, isn’t it?”
Isa turned to see a man in the compartment opposite. He was tall and large, but in a heavily muscled way.
“Is this your first flight in New Canaan?” the man asked.
“Yes, it is as a matter of fact.”
“I thought so. I’m a regular on this route. I can show you how everything works, if you like.”
The crew was busy settling in other passengers, and the man seemed nice, so Isa accepted his offer.
“First off,” he said, “anything you want, just ask through the ship’s Link. A servitor will bring it to you. There aren’t any set mealtimes or anything like that, and all your food and drink is included in the price of your ticket. You can see the list of everything they have on the Link. It’s a good selection. I recommend the bouillabaisse. Best I’ve ever had. If you feel like watching a holovid, your entertainment section is here.” He pressed a button above Isa’s seat, and a screen lowered. “Because this one belongs to your seat, you can activate it via the Link of course. Plenty of sims and games in the ship’s system, too, if you’d prefer.”
“Can we see outside the ship from our seats?” she asked.
“You can if you like, but the window’s small. I find that the view gets boring after a while.” He pressed a recessed panel, which slid open, revealing the round window and the local starscape. “Again, because the window belongs to your seat, you just instruct it to open.”
“Well, thanks a lot,” said Isa.
“Oh, that isn’t all. Let me show you around the ship. I’m Usef, by the way.”
“Hi, Usef. I’m Isa.”
“Nice to meet you, Isa. You passed the restrooms on your way in from the shuttle, but you haven’t seen the passenger lounge yet. It’s this way.”
Isa followed Usef down the aisle that passed between the seat compartments. Some of the compartments were doubles, and there were even some family units with smaller bunks as well as double beds.
The general noise level was rising as more passengers boarded. Usef had noticed the increase in background noise too.
“Your compartment is entirely soundproof when it’s closed up,” he assured her over his shoulder.
At the far end of the ship, the compartments ended, and the passenger lounge opened out. Seats ran around the edge of the wide, circular space, a bar occupied the center, and more tables and chairs were dotted about. A long window ran around the wall above the seats.
“You’ll see a more interesting view here than in your seat,” said Usef. “It’s much better than the tiny cabin peepholes. But if you want the best view of all, go up there.” He’d brought her around the bar. Behind it was the bottom of a spiral staircase.
“What’s at the top of the stairs?” Isa asked.
“After we’re underway, they pull back the skin on a viewing dome.”
“Cool.” It had been a long time since Isa had seen the splendor of a starscape while out in the black.
“Passengers, please return to your cabins,” came a voice over the intercom. “We are about to break Carthage orbit and begin our main burn.”
Isa and Usef made their way back down the aisle, along with other roaming passengers returning to their seats. As she sat down, Isa opened her window.
A soft vibration ran through the ship. The engines were pulling them out of orbit and setting them on their way, but she could barely feel it; her first experience with the artificial gravity technology they’d gained from the Transcend.
A thrill coursed through her. Whatever came of her trip, she was determined to have a great time.
The gentle pull of acceleration was still present to a small degree, and it eased Isa into her comfortable seat. As the ship gained speed, she contemplated watching a vid, but she wasn’t ready to be distracted from her experience yet.
Across the aisle, Usef was reading some plas sheets.
“Are you going to Athens for work?” she asked.
“Work?” he replied, looking up from the sheets. “Heck, no. Does anyone go to Athens for work? I guess maybe the tour operators. No, I go for the surfing mainly, among other things. Athens has the best waves in New Canaan. I used to ride tsunamis back on Victoria—these aren’t as extreme, but they’re still pretty intense. How about you?”
“Actually, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do. I just felt like a change, and Athens seemed interesting and exciting.”
“It’s certainly that. The planet hasn’t settled down yet—and I don’t just mean the tsunamis, lightning storms, breathtaking auroras, etcetera…” Usef laughed. “I sound like I work for the Athens tourist office, don’t I? But it is a spectacular place, if you don’t mind living a little dangerously.”
“I don’t mind at all, or not for a bit, at least. It can’t be any more dangerous than Victoria was. If you don’t mind my asking, by the way, what do you do?”
“I’m—it’ll be more comfortable to talk in the lounge. We can get up now. What do you say?”
“Sure.”
The lounge was already filling up. Usef and Isa took stools at the bar.
“This spaceline has its own speciality cocktails,” said Usef. “I’ve tried a few. They’re pretty good.”
“Any suggestions?”
“My favorite is a Hot Buttered Fusion Flame, but I don’t know if it’ll be to your taste.”
“Only one way to find out.
” Isa ordered the cocktail.
Usef ordered another, and the servitor presented them with tall glasses filled with a translucent, milky liquid shot through with ribbons of yellow and scarlet.
Isa took a sniff of her drink. Her head jerked back. “How strong is this?”
Usef smirked. “You probably don’t want to have more than two.” He watched as Isa took a sip.
She almost spat her mouthful back into the glass. “Tastes like industrial solvent,” she squeaked. After swallowing, she managed a more normal tone. “We made better stuff in our stills on the mining platform.”
“Mining platform?” said Usef. “You used to be a miner? That must have been interesting.”
“No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t interesting at all, though I can think of several other adjectives to describe it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re from the Sirian mines. You’re a bit on the short side for a Noctus.”
Isa nodded. “Story of my life. Helps me fit in with you colonists better, though.” She took another sip.
“You’re a colonist now, too,” Usef said with a wink, then added, “I thought you didn’t like the drink.”
“I said it tasted like industrial solvent,” Isa squeaked again. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
Usef chuckled.
“So what is it you do?” she asked.
“I’m a Marine.”
“You are? I didn’t think… When I saw you reading plas sheets, I thought you were some kind of businessman.”
“You thought I had an office job? I do right now. Marines aren’t always shooting things up.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s OK. I’m not offended. We have that image because that’s the most memorable part of what we do, but some of us have to push plas sheets around occasionally. Now that we aren’t at war with anyone, more and more Marines have desk jobs—organizing things and making sure stuff is built properly. To be honest, I miss active duty. You get used to people trying to kill you all the time. Funny as it might sound, feeling safe and secure can get boring.”
“So that’s why you go to Athens so much? For the risk-taking and excitement?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Whenever I have R&R, which is fairly often these days, I’ll usually take a trip, if I can fit it in.”
Isa took another sip of the pungent, creamy cocktail. It had gone down surprisingly fast.
“I just realized, you must have been serving when the Intrepid saved us from the Lumins that came after us from Sirius,” she told him.
“I was,” Usef nodded. “Was on the team that boarded Katrina’s father’s ship.”
She touched Usef’s arm. “Thank you.”
“Hey, just doing my job. We all go where Tanis sends us. Are you ready for another Hot Buttered Fusion Flame?”
Isa’s eyes were watering and her throat burned. “I sure am.”
From somewhere unseen came the sound of a woman singing along to an instrumental track that was playing in the background. The woman’s voice was becoming louder, but Isa couldn’t figure out where she was standing; the Hot Buttered Fusion Flame she’d just finished wasn’t helping. Finally she located the songstress: a pair of heeled feet had appeared at the top of the spiral staircase. They slowly made their way down, revealing a slim, red-haired woman in a long, clinging dress.
“Live entertainment?” Isa asked Usef.
“Nope,” he replied. “That’s just Molly. She likes to make an entrance.”
The woman smiled as she reached the bottom of the staircase. Her gaze swept the bar, taking in all the admiring glances. Though the woman’s behavior was unusual, Isa couldn’t help but admire her, too. She had great poise and a beautiful singing voice.
Molly stepped slowly across the floor, swinging her hips. She was heading toward a group of three men. From their calm, appreciative looks, Isa guessed they knew her. One of the men opened his arms as she approached. Another held up a drink, ready to hand it to her when she reached them.
Molly had perfect timing. She arrived at the group of men as the song wound to its end. She sat on a man’s lap, taking her drink from the other. The group dissolved into laughter, Molly affectionately leaned into the man on whose lap she was sitting.
“You know her?” Isa asked Usef.
“I’ve seen her a few times. She always does the same thing. Same song. Everything.”
“And she sings to the same friends?”
“Friends? You mean her husbands?”
“What? All three of them?”
“Uh huh. The whole group are regulars on this flight. I chatted with that guy she’s sitting on. He said they all got together not long after they left stasis. The four of them seem pretty happy.”
“They certainly do.”
Now that Molly’s performance was over, the group was bantering and drinking carelessly. Isa had heard of groups of three or more people getting married, and about people marrying AIs and having children, but she’d never seen three men and one woman together. The colonists and crew that had remained out of stasis back at Victoria had been a more practical group. She was seeing more and more of the wide variety of people who had come from Sol and remained in stasis until arrival. New Canaan seemed to be providing the opportunity for many to live out their deepest dreams and desires.
If only she could discover her own.
“Want to go to the top deck and do some stargazing?” Usef asked.
“I’d love to,” Isa replied. When she climbed down from her stool, she wobbled a little. “I think I’d better take it easy on that next drink.”
Usef chuckled and let her lead the way up the spiral staircase. She mounted the steps, taking care to grip the banister. Before she even emerged fully into the domed viewing space, the sight of the starscape took her breath away as it was revealed.
The ship was angled toward the Cradle, the M25 cluster that contained thousands of stars laced with several nebulae. On Carthage it was always partially obscured by the nebulous gas ring—Isa had never seen it looking so beautiful.
Long loungers dotted the viewing room. A few were already occupied. The place was entirely dark, to enhance the effect of the spectacle above, and the passengers present were speaking in hushed voices to avoid intruding on others’ peaceful enjoyment. Isa and Usef lay down on a pair of loungers.
After settling onto the soft cushions, Isa said, “You know, Usef, this trip is already turning out to be everything I hoped.”
“It’s hardly started yet,” he told her. “Just wait until you get to Athens. I can show you around there, too, if you want. It might be a good idea to hang out with someone experienced. Though everything’s pretty safe, the planet likes to deliver a surprise once in a while.”
“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”
SAILING
STELLAR DATE: 11.29.8935 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Eastern shores of Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, 3rd Planet in the New Canaan System
Martin’s boat bobbed on the gentle swell of the deeper water on the northern side of the promontory. He was too distracted to work. He wasn’t, however, too distracted to watch the construction workers as they finished putting up the fence around the development site.
No one was doing anything at the hole in the cliff face, but he was certain that would soon change. He wondered how they planned to excavate and then build a facility inside the rock without causing any sort of vibrations. If they didn’t use explosives, beams, or an MDC, they would have to drill. He couldn’t figure it out.
ere,> Eamon said, politely ignoring Martin’s petulance.
Martin scanned the activity at the promontory as he decided his answer.
Chewing over his AI’s words, Martin was forced to conclude he had a point.
Eamon went on,
He couldn’t deny the logic of Eamon’s reasoning. He began to regret his displays of anger toward the engineer.
What did she say her name was? Erin.
Maybe he’d been a little too focused on his work and his aims. It wasn’t like he owned the promontory. It was just that he’d gotten used to having the place to himself, and the arrival of newcomers had made him wary. Most people didn’t really understand how vulnerable marine organisms were in their juvenile stages. That was why his and other seeding sites were established far away from recreational areas.
