The Solar Wind Read Free

what seemed to be a typical Monday. Large monitors were positioned around the hangar with vivid green words, numbers, and symbols indicating the status of the various vessels present. One of the starship attendants ushered the passengers out onto the landing dock and down the steps to the ITO Migration Point. Ava’s deep blue eyes flashed all over the hangar taking it all in as they approached the office. Since she was in the middle of the line behind Helena they would have to wait their turns to be processed. While waiting and filling out an electronic questionnaire, Ava could not shake the feeling that someone’s eyes were on her. She glanced around a few times and thought she saw someone in the distance staring at her. For a split second their eyes met. He leaned against one of the monitor kiosks staring intensely at her with wide eyes. The distance made it impossible to discern specific features. Ava could see that his hair and eyes were dark, his face expressionless.
                  “What are you looking at Ava?” Helena demanded, realizing the story that she was telling did not hold Ava’s attention. Ava looked down at Helena and glanced back at the stranger who had disappeared.
                  “It’s nothing. I wonder how much longer we have to wait to be checked in.” Ava remarked slightly impatiently, changing the subject.  She didn’t want to dwell on it, although that didn’t stop her from looking around frequently. By the time her turn came she had not seen any further sign of the stranger.
    Ava sat down at the small desk as the uniformed ITO officer began to process her arrival. The officer, a cheerful middle aged woman with short blonde hair smiled as Ava handed her the electronic tablet to sync. “Let’s see, Ava Amherst, age 25, hair; Auburn, eyes; blue, height; five feet seven inches, weight; 130 pounds, marital status; widowed, occupation; Nurse Practitioner. Oh yes, I processed your approved application. You’ll be working at the Orionis Medical Center on Level 3 in the outpatient clinic with Dr. Grant. They are looking forward to having you there, they are so busy.” Ava liked the officer’s friendliness.
                  “Let’s get your ID processed and then we’ll go over your orientation schedule and living quarters arrangement.”
    Each new immigrant to Orionis received a photo identification card that was linked to a bank account and served as a debit card when making purchases. The ITO on Earth assisted Ava to create an account on Orionis and transferred her credits prior to her departure to expedite this process and ensure she would have access to her money immediately after arrival, not that she had much saved. There was no such thing as legal money lending or “credit” anymore. The amount of money, or credits, a person had at any given time in their account was all a person could spend. If you didn’t have the money to buy something, you simply did without. If you spent more than you had, you were arrested. This system often set new immigrants up for failure due to the high cost of living on the stations.
    “Okay, everything’s all set Ms. Amherst. Tomorrow you will report to the ITO orientation office on Level 3 at 8 a.m. for the new resident orientation program. They will review all of the major laws of this station among other things. You can access the station handbook and map from the internet in your quarters. Tomorrow you will also be taken on a short tour of the third through fifth levels to help you become more familiarized with where things are located. Your quarters are located on Level 4, residential district number three, unit number forty-seven. You’re lucky; a single dwelling became available last week so you won’t have to share with anyone. Your first day of work will be on Wednesday. Report to the Outpatient Clinic at the OMC at 8 a.m. Dr. Grant requested that you shadow him for a week or so until you feel