liftoff.
Hoisting her lone bag of personal belongings over her shoulder, Lawn strode toward the ship as the public address system called for her presence onboard. She rolled her eyes and quickly went up the hatch steps. The ship lit the interior as she approached, and quickly extinguished them behind her.
As she climbed up the narrow tube to the walkway, the ship bathed her in several rings of blue lights. The ship was scanning her again, comparing her DNA against the molecular tissue scan it had done on her yesterday. If there had not been a match, the Vogt would have stopped her from advancing any further.
Lawn paused on the lit walkway. "Hello, Deep."
"Hello, Lawn. Welcome aboard."
"Got my bed ready?"
"And the sheets warmed."
Once inside the interior, Lawn followed the path of lights to a short stairwell leading downward. At the bottom she entered the main living area of the ship where she would sleep and eat when she wasn't working on the bridge.
Lawn paused as she stared at the oval-shaped bed with its raised domed roof. To the rear of the cabin was a set of tall doors, as well as a wall of smaller compartments. Her mental schematics recognized the tall doors as the bathroom.
25
"You can put your things away while I power up," Deep said to her.
Her eyes immediately spotted the tiny speakers in the ceiling. Next to each perforated disk was a second solid one with a tiny antenna, which she privately thought of as a miniature nipple. The entire ship was studded with these itty-bitty communication combos—the ear and the nipple. Except, in this case, these barely inch-long teats were capable of projecting the vessel's holographic form. The analogy made her smile. "Sounds like a plan," she acknowledged.
Rather than unpack, Lawn stuffed her duffle into one of the small compartments and slammed the door. There wasn't a lot to unpack, anyway. From the moment she was notified she had been chosen for outpost duty, she had begun to systematically give away, sell, or throw away everything she owned, knowing she would have to meet a rigid weight restriction.
Since she had no family to hold any of her things while she was away, she couldn't see any sense in paying a company to watch stuff that cost less than their fee. Hence, everything she could live without she got rid of. And what she couldn't bear to part with, she could now pack into a duffle. Problem solved.
That done, she retraced her steps back up to the main entry and made her way into the control room. "Give me a countdown," she ordered the ship.
"Liftoff in sixteen minutes, forty seconds."
She took her seat and waited for it to adjust to her contours. At the same time, it strapped her in and moved her 26
toward the shiny control panel. Lawn barely glanced at her reflection in the board as she checked her readouts.
"Central calling Officer Bascomb."
"Go for Bascomb."
"Officer Siler has been notified that you are on your way."
It was Captain Brune. He would be with her for the entire two-year period as her direct link with the Bureau. Her sole tie to the planet.
"How's he doing out there?"
"He says it's nice and quiet."
"That's good to hear." She smiled. That's all she wanted, too. A nice and quiet stint on the outer fringes of their solar system, followed by a sweet promotion and all its perks and benefits when she arrived back on Earth.
"Liftoff in nine minutes, sixteen seconds," Deep said.
"Good luck, Lawn," Brune said. "I'll see you on arrival."
"Thank you. Bascomb out." She manually closed communications, since the ship was busy with last-minute details before liftoff. In fact, she had little else to do. Once they were out of Earth's atmosphere, she would hand the ship over to itself, and then she would climb into her little bed capsule for a six-month sleep. My hibernation.
She was determined to make liftoff textbook perfect.
Although the ship followed a predetermined navigational route to the outpost, it had one
Hoisting her lone bag of personal belongings over her shoulder, Lawn strode toward the ship as the public address system called for her presence onboard. She rolled her eyes and quickly went up the hatch steps. The ship lit the interior as she approached, and quickly extinguished them behind her.
As she climbed up the narrow tube to the walkway, the ship bathed her in several rings of blue lights. The ship was scanning her again, comparing her DNA against the molecular tissue scan it had done on her yesterday. If there had not been a match, the Vogt would have stopped her from advancing any further.
Lawn paused on the lit walkway. "Hello, Deep."
"Hello, Lawn. Welcome aboard."
"Got my bed ready?"
"And the sheets warmed."
Once inside the interior, Lawn followed the path of lights to a short stairwell leading downward. At the bottom she entered the main living area of the ship where she would sleep and eat when she wasn't working on the bridge.
Lawn paused as she stared at the oval-shaped bed with its raised domed roof. To the rear of the cabin was a set of tall doors, as well as a wall of smaller compartments. Her mental schematics recognized the tall doors as the bathroom.
25
"You can put your things away while I power up," Deep said to her.
Her eyes immediately spotted the tiny speakers in the ceiling. Next to each perforated disk was a second solid one with a tiny antenna, which she privately thought of as a miniature nipple. The entire ship was studded with these itty-bitty communication combos—the ear and the nipple. Except, in this case, these barely inch-long teats were capable of projecting the vessel's holographic form. The analogy made her smile. "Sounds like a plan," she acknowledged.
Rather than unpack, Lawn stuffed her duffle into one of the small compartments and slammed the door. There wasn't a lot to unpack, anyway. From the moment she was notified she had been chosen for outpost duty, she had begun to systematically give away, sell, or throw away everything she owned, knowing she would have to meet a rigid weight restriction.
Since she had no family to hold any of her things while she was away, she couldn't see any sense in paying a company to watch stuff that cost less than their fee. Hence, everything she could live without she got rid of. And what she couldn't bear to part with, she could now pack into a duffle. Problem solved.
That done, she retraced her steps back up to the main entry and made her way into the control room. "Give me a countdown," she ordered the ship.
"Liftoff in sixteen minutes, forty seconds."
She took her seat and waited for it to adjust to her contours. At the same time, it strapped her in and moved her 26
toward the shiny control panel. Lawn barely glanced at her reflection in the board as she checked her readouts.
"Central calling Officer Bascomb."
"Go for Bascomb."
"Officer Siler has been notified that you are on your way."
It was Captain Brune. He would be with her for the entire two-year period as her direct link with the Bureau. Her sole tie to the planet.
"How's he doing out there?"
"He says it's nice and quiet."
"That's good to hear." She smiled. That's all she wanted, too. A nice and quiet stint on the outer fringes of their solar system, followed by a sweet promotion and all its perks and benefits when she arrived back on Earth.
"Liftoff in nine minutes, sixteen seconds," Deep said.
"Good luck, Lawn," Brune said. "I'll see you on arrival."
"Thank you. Bascomb out." She manually closed communications, since the ship was busy with last-minute details before liftoff. In fact, she had little else to do. Once they were out of Earth's atmosphere, she would hand the ship over to itself, and then she would climb into her little bed capsule for a six-month sleep. My hibernation.
She was determined to make liftoff textbook perfect.
Although the ship followed a predetermined navigational route to the outpost, it had one