by Laer Carroll
The woman led them to an elevator. It moved "upward" toward Can A, the habitat where Jane and her people would be housed.
At the end of the ride they stepped out into a low-gravity corridor. The floor and the ceiling curved upward, slightly but so much the far ends could not be seen. She walked a couple hundred feet in a stride that was more bounce than step, her feet leaving the grass-green carpet with a slight ripping sound from the Velcro on the bottoms of her shoes.
She stopped and palmed a plate mounted on the wall at chest height beside a door. This swished open, sliding into the wall.
"Each of you needs to rest your hand on this plate till it turns green. This means it will recognize you in the future. As requested you have five rooms with shared facilities making up a suite. I believe the Station Administrator is requesting the pleasure of your company for dinner this evening. The invitation should be on your rooms' general information screens."
She entered a hallway into the suite and stopped just inside and to one side of the doorway. Each of the five put their palms onto the entry plate and filed into the hall. The woman advanced into the shared living room off to one side of the hallway and, pointing, described a few items in the suite. Then she left, nodding unsmilingly as Jane thanked the woman.
Kate walked to the entrance to the hallway leading further into the suite. She said, "Captain, you have the master room. Mine is across the hall from yours. The rest of you pick out a room. As for me, I'm getting out of this thing and into something more comfortable."
Jane followed Kate's example. Passing the open door to Kate's room Jane could see no difference when she entered her own "master" room. It resembled a room in any Earthly hotel except for a rack for her spacesuit. She quickly backed into the rack until her spacesuit locked into place, then climbed out of it.
From her duffle bag, lying on the bed, she took panties and a bra, removed the close-fitting spacesuit liner, and donned them. She also dressed in jeans, a tee-shirt, and "soccasins." These looked like thick socks with a thin faux-leather sole with Velcro circles on the heel and ball of each sole. Such wear was usual; most long-term inhabitants of the station dressed comfortably and informally.
After stowing away the contents of her duffle, some toiletries and a few changes of clothing, she used the bathroom and wandered back into the general living space just inside the main door to the suite. There she found the always-efficient Kate examining the kitchenette adjoining the living space.
Kate turned away from the refrigerator and said, "Looks like we've some complimentary wine and ale and a few snacks. I guess we're supposed to feed ourselves from a cafeteria or a café. Or maybe a posh restaurant for the rich tourists."
Riku came into the communal space just then and heard her.
"Those restaurants are in the other 'can.' This one is for the workers and the hoi polloi. But there's a McDonald's and such in this one."
Klaus and then Nicole were the next to come into the living room.
"So, Cap," said Klaus. "What's on our agenda?"
"It's almost noon local time. I suggest we eat then just wander around this afternoon and get used to the station. But first I need to call the Administrator and confirm our readiness to dine with him, then the Boeing Test Facility liaison to synch our schedule with theirs."
Kate did something with her vear and said, "Your phone is now connecting with--Hello, this is Captain Jane Kuznetsov's executive officer. The Captain is on the line to confirm our arrival.... Thank you."
"Administrator Howell. This is Jane Kuznetsov. Thank you so much for your kind invitation to dinner. We accept, of course.... Yes, a party of five. I have my subordinates with me....
"See you then."
Kate said she had the Boeing rep on the line and Jane had a similarly brief conversation.
"Well," she said. "Looks like we're free till the evening. I hope everyone brought a set of summer blues for the Admin's dinner."
Upon receiving a Yes or a nod from each of them the five set out to explore.
<>
The "A" can in which they were housed was like a large combined hotel and shopping mall with two floors arranged vertically. There was wide central corridor on each floor, the one they'd traversed from the elevator. There were residences, shops, and offices on each side of it and down short side corridors. As they'd earlier noticed the floor and ceiling curved upward.
There was indeed a McDonald's. There were other restaurants as well. After the usual wrangling (more for fun than serious discussion) they ended up in a Romano's Macaroni Grill, over-riding Riku's impassioned advocacy of the Japanese restaurant.
Then they wandered from one end to the other of the can, mostly on the first floor but with a couple of short excursions onto the top floor, which held mostly offices.
Nearing 5:00 local time the group returned to their rooms to shower, rest, dress, and otherwise get ready for their dinner date. Kate reminded them that water was rationed.
"Just do your arm pits, crotch, face, and feet."
Riku complained. "I thought the space station carried a sixth of its weight in water."
Klaus, a mechanical engineer with a minor in space civil engineering, said, "Ninety percent of that is in the outer shell to shield us from radiation. It's not bad this close to Earth, but long-term exposure still isn't good for us."
At 7:00 the team was ready to officially meet the space station public. Each wore the Air Force summer-weight uniform. This included a short-sleeved shirt of very light blue with dark-blue shoulder tabs decorate with their rank insignia, dark blue slacks, and black soccasins resembling the official Earth-side shoes: shined black Oxfords. Atop their heads they wore the dark-blue beret to which officers in the Space Force were entitled.
Jane held a brief uniform at-attention inspection to remind her subordinates that they were military people now about to embark on official business: symbolically showing the flag on the civilian space station.
At the end she braced and saluted them. They returned the salute and she gave the order to fall out.
"We are right and tight. Let's go dazzle the civs."
"Oo-rah," said Riku.
"That's the Marines, dumb-ass," said Nicole. "We go who-ah."
"I like the Marine version. Ours makes us sound like hoot owls."
"Well, owls have wings," said Klaus. "Shut up. I'm hungry."
Chapter 6 - Movie Star
They traveled "down" to the core of the space station in one of the "A" can's four elevators. It opened into a large terminal in the center of the core. It was weightless with people swimming from place to place like so many fish, oftentimes upside down or sideways in relation to everyone else.
There they transferred to an elevator "up" to the "B" can, got off at the top of the two floors of the can, and walked to the guest cafeteria.
Unlike the modern look of the guest cafeteria in the "A" can it was decorated with a faux Victorian English motif. Riku openly admired the effects.
The considerable expanse of the general dining area contained many dining tables, most of them square ones seating four people. Some of those were positioned together to seat several diners. The wall opposite the entrance contained several semiprivate rooms. Each had a large entrance that let everyone see into and out of the room, but was a symbolic barrier to unwanted guests of whoever had taken over a room.
The central of the semiprivate rooms was their destination. Nearing it they could see a U-shaped table with the open end facing toward them. In the middle of the rounded "bottom" of the U sat a handsome black man of sixty-something years with close-cut grey hair. When he saw them he stood and raised a hand in greeting. Jane saw that he was quite tall and had the thin wiry physique of basketball players or runners.
A stout man in a suit rounded the table and ushered the five into seats to the right of the man. He greeted them by name and gestured for them to sit. He joined them as they did so.
"Captain Kuznetsov. Ladies and gentlemen. I'm p
leased that you could join us. You're the first to arrive. Very courteous of you, to be so prompt. Order something first before we talk, will you?"
"Thank you. Have you ordered?"
"I have. I'm just enjoying this glass of wine. Care to join me?"
Riku, at the tail end of Jane's companions and so easiest to see on the curve of the table, said, "Take him up on the offer, Sir. It's a special brand and vintage."
Jane, momentarily turned toward Riku, turned back toward Administrator McIntosh.
"Just a single glass, then. I don't have much of a head for alcohol. Especially on an empty stomach."
The Administrator looked at Jane's four companions and said they were welcome to join him as well. Kate declined with thanks and the others followed her lead. He touched a hidden button on the base of the low flower arrangement in front of him and spoke up a bit.
"Another glass of this wine. And bring menus please."
A waiter in black wearing a white apron arrived with Jane's glass of wine and menus. She waited while the five Space Force officers ordered drinks. When she returned with their preferences they were ready with their food orders.
That done, Jane turned back to the man beside her. She found herself leaning forward a bit and focusing on him. For the first time she consciously observed herself going into what Kate had recently said was her "charisma mode." Apparently it came from traits which were automatic to her. This included a liking for people and curiosity about them.
"Administrator, I understand you were once an officer in the Army. How did you go from there to here?"
For the next half hour, as the food arrived and everyone addressed their dinner, he talked about his history. It began with him being assigned as an officer to the logistics of supporting Army units with food and other supplies.
"At the time I was disappointed to be appointed to such an unglamorous job. But after a while I came to become interested in the challenges. And I realized I had a talent for it."
Kate spoke up. "When we were studying military history at the Academy our professor emphasized that logistics was behind every major military victory. Contrary to the general opinion that combat was the most important job of soldiers."
"Both tasks are certainly necessary for victory. There are others just as essential. Intelligence, for instance. You must know your enemy and the terrain over which you fight."
Other guests arrived and were seated to the Administrator's left, then to his right beyond her staff. For a short time he engaged in chatting with the late arrivals, then returned to talking to Jane.
By the time he and Jane and her staff had reached the dessert and digestif stage of their meal he had told the rest of his story, prompted by Jane's attention. He'd retired from the military after twenty years and, still fairly young, been given a middle management job by an uncle in the huge Hotel Victoria hospitality chain. Started in Ireland and England in the 1800s, it was global today.
"Despite its 19th Century trappings--" He waved at the overly ornate surroundings of the semiprivate room and the larger area beyond. "--the chain is very forward looking, taking advantage of every new technology. AI in the management area, 3D printing in supplies and repairs, and so on. When Wyndham, Marriott, and Hilton began talking about creating a space hotel Victoria was already ahead of them and became the central partner in the conglomerate.
"And I with my engineering degree and logistics experience was drafted early on to manage all this." He waved at his surroundings again, now indicating the entire space station.
"Quite an illustrious career," Jane said. "Interesting that you should spend any attention on me, a lowly captain in the Space Force."
He chuckled. "No need for false modesty with me, young lady. Suppose we meet on Monday morning, say 10:00 in my office, to discuss certain matters. Bring your staff, of course.
"Now I really should spend more time with my other guests."
With that hint Jane turned her attention rightward and joined in the discussions her friends were involved in with some of the other guests at the table.
<>
Back in their suite the five met briefly in the conversation area.
Lounging in an almost horizontal posture Riku said, "So what do you think the old man wants, Cap?"
Jane, in a near-matching pose in an easy chair, said, "Might be something of a military nature. More likely technical, given my reputation."
Kate said, "That would be my guess. I noticed how he played up Victoria's 'forward-looking' investment in technology."
Jane nodded and looked to Klaus, Nicole, and Riku. "What were you three up to with those scruffy looking types?"
Riku answered. "They're here as part of a team shooting Blaze Corrigan's latest action-adventure pic. The two big fights book-ending the story take place in space.
"The first supposedly is in Boeing's manufacturing facility, subverted to be the evil weapons-making lair of the villain. Actually they're doing it in this space station. Corrigan plays a kind of James-Bond-like saboteur followed by a chase as he escapes."
Klaus added, "The last fight is in a hidden alien base on the Moon. They've rented a part of Can A to stand in for it. They shoot here in next week."
Nicole, head down, looked at Jane through her lashes. "I'll bet you could get an invite to meet Corrigan. I hear he likes boyish looking girls."
Riku said, addressing the ceiling, "Two insults for the price of one. One, that he's into boys. Two, that the Cap lacks the feminine touch."
Jane chuckled and stood, bouncing a bit in the one-sixth Earth gravity. "I'll leave you to your snidery and get to bed early. I'm still adjusting to the time zone the space station keeps."
She entered her bedroom trailed by well wishes for her sleep. After a brief days-end toilette she put out the lights and slipped into her bed. Then, supposedly settling in to sleep, she merged with Robot and the space station and spent a couple of hours exploring the station. She wanted to know everything about it, partly to find problem areas, and partly just for the fun of exploring.
<>
Saturday morning everyone slept late, their bodies still adjusting to the Space Station time zone. It was set to the mid-Atlantic halfway between New York and London, centered on an obscure small chain of Portuguese islands.
They had brunch at Wilson's, a version of the famous London Franco-Italian restaurant of the same name. Then they wandered, window shopping at the numerous small shops selling merchandise at outrageous prices. They had a very late lunch at a steak house. The prices of everything were about four times what they would have paid on Earth. The meals, naturally, would come out of Jane's Space Force budget.
Dinner was food from the concession near a huge facility containing several indoor sports, such as the one for table tennis with a half dozen tables. The balls were weighted to fly well in the one-sixth gravity environment simulating lunar gravity. This had the unfortunate side effect that if they hit you they stung a good deal.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except that they did movies instead of sports as they'd done the previous day. This was at the small multi-cinema, one theatre serving 200 people, the other two serving 100 people each. To Jane's surprise the two theatres they went to were fairly full. Jane went with Kate and Nicole to a "romantic comedy for the thinking man" which was being touted as an early Oscar possibility. Her two companions had a great deal to say about why it was not a movie for the thinking woman but were eager to see it anyway. The two men went to an action-adventure film based on a superhero comic.
They convened in their living room before bed with wine and ale and iced tea (for Jane). Riku opened the conversation.
"I felt a real chill when I sat down in the theater. Everything was so Southern-California normal. But instead of air and land outside there was vacuum. If the station was destroyed we'd all die horribly within minutes."
"My reaction," said Nicole, "was: What the fuck are we doing in a movie theater here in outer space? Watching on a vear is
much more convenient."
This was a well-worn conversation among the five: the pluses and minuses of the two ways of seeing movies. They half-heartedly replayed the scenario but quickly lapsed into another discussion, this time voiced by Klaus.
"What bothered me about the movie that Rick and I went to were the stupid costumes. Capes and tights so tight you can measure the bra and jock strap sizes of the wearers. And their bright colors. Take the Shadow's costume. She's supposed to be this nearly-invisible assassin but stark black and white? Christ!"
Riku said, "The Cap is the closest thing I know to a superhero. What costume should she wear?"
Kate grinned. "Tell me. I'll order up three and set up a dry-cleaning schedule at the nearest laundry."
<>
Monday morning the group dressed for the day in the blue coveralls of Space Force in-space duty and had a leisurely breakfast in the Can A food court. At 10:00 they arrived at the Administrator's office and were ushered immediately into his presence. He greeted them and asked them to seat themselves.
"As you likely know, the station is big enough that solar radiation perturbs its orbit. For that reason we have rocket engines to readjust its orbit. We have to do that about every two or three months. This is expensive in terms of fuel. It also puts stress on the entire system. It's engineered to withstand that stress but still there is some degradation of the system.
"We'd like to replace the rockets with space jets. They use no fuel except energy gotten from solar cells. They can also operate continuously at a very low level. This puts a much smaller stress on the station. Further, it's constant stress. This is much easier on everything because it's not a flexing and unflexing action, the kind that eventually can cause things to break.
"We'd like to consult with you on the details of this refurbishment. I believe we can get permission from your superiors for this work and any funding you require."
"I and my team would be happy to help. We're probably your best source of it, for a while. However, we have other priorities that I deem more important.
