properly. The object was somewhere inside the glove now . Evan clenched his hand on the fabric of the inner liner.
He was pulled along as a weightless, although hardly massless, sack of potatoes.
There was only just room for both of them in the lock. Evan found himself folded up with a close view of the other’s knees.
The inner lock opened, and they spilled out.
She pulled off her helmet, and of course it was Mira.
Mira said, “Strap in and don’t talk to me,” then she focused on the controls. The drive kicked in, more than a full gravity by the feel of it. The old bucket could move when it needed to.
Evan unstrapped his left glove and pulled it off, taking care not to lose track of the cube that was clenched within. Then he removed his other glove and his helmet. His hands now free, he tucked the cube into his outer suit pocket.
That taken care of, he looked around. The ship looked a little better on the inside than it had from without. Decently clean. Well used, but functional. Drunk but still standing, as they used to say.
The ship didn’t smell that great. Oh wait . That was him.
Evan had ridden on similar shuttles with Mira many times. One milk run was near their current location. Valley of Dreams to Foray, and back. Valley of Dreams had a lot more Versari history, but Foray was in better shape. No atmosphere. The moon was also a tougher place to work. So they had developed a routine. Go up to Foray, stay for as long as they could stand it, say two weeks. Then Valley of Dreams again for a few weeks.
Gravity was suddenly gone as the ship stopped accelerating. Evan had failed to strap in, and now he floated free.
Mira spoke from the front. “Ok, I’ve matched the vector to my prior course. No reason to let anyone know I stopped in for a visit.”
“You saved my life.”
“Well how about that? Who had to be fished out of trouble this time? And who can’t even follow the most basic instruction to strap in?”
“Thank you ,” Evan told her, “so much. It’s so great to be out of that helmet. Okay if I take off the EVA? I’ll get strapped in after that.”
“Unsuit yourself.”
Evan peeled and climbed his way out of the EVA. Freedom, after so many hours. The best part of all was unhooking the catheter. Evan stretched out fully, glorying in the lack of confinement.
“Man, when was the last time you washed?”
“Sorry about that, Mira! A big day touring known space, you know. I’ll go rinse off in the head, if this bucket has one.”
“No shower, if that’s what you mean . You can use a damp cloth to spread the stink around. That’ll have to do until we get you off this can.”
“Hardly worth it. Anyway, where are we going?”
“First, I need to stop in at Top Station. I have some cargo to deliver.”
Top Station, with him on board? What was she thinking? “You know, there might be a better time for that. I need to get to ground, quickly. Stopping off anywhere is not such a good idea.”
Mira waved him off. “No really, I need to go there . It’s the reason I’m flying. The official reason. If I don’t complete my trip plan, somebody will wonder why.” It appeared that Mira had learned to plan more than a minute ahead in the last few years.
“Give me a sec,” Mira continued. “I need to update the worm drive so that the record states that I stayed exactly on my course, rather than diverting to get you.”
“You can do that? I thought the whole point of a worm drive was just to record and never be updated. Official record and all that.”
“Just call me the worm charmer. I’ll get it, if you can shut up.”
After a few silent minutes, she called out. “There, done. I stayed exactly on the flight plan. No deviations at all. And by the way, not only should you be thankful that I fetched you, but also that I was smart enough to figure out a credible low fuel flight plan that went right past you and also went to Top Station. And then resourceful enough to find someone
He was pulled along as a weightless, although hardly massless, sack of potatoes.
There was only just room for both of them in the lock. Evan found himself folded up with a close view of the other’s knees.
The inner lock opened, and they spilled out.
She pulled off her helmet, and of course it was Mira.
Mira said, “Strap in and don’t talk to me,” then she focused on the controls. The drive kicked in, more than a full gravity by the feel of it. The old bucket could move when it needed to.
Evan unstrapped his left glove and pulled it off, taking care not to lose track of the cube that was clenched within. Then he removed his other glove and his helmet. His hands now free, he tucked the cube into his outer suit pocket.
That taken care of, he looked around. The ship looked a little better on the inside than it had from without. Decently clean. Well used, but functional. Drunk but still standing, as they used to say.
The ship didn’t smell that great. Oh wait . That was him.
Evan had ridden on similar shuttles with Mira many times. One milk run was near their current location. Valley of Dreams to Foray, and back. Valley of Dreams had a lot more Versari history, but Foray was in better shape. No atmosphere. The moon was also a tougher place to work. So they had developed a routine. Go up to Foray, stay for as long as they could stand it, say two weeks. Then Valley of Dreams again for a few weeks.
Gravity was suddenly gone as the ship stopped accelerating. Evan had failed to strap in, and now he floated free.
Mira spoke from the front. “Ok, I’ve matched the vector to my prior course. No reason to let anyone know I stopped in for a visit.”
“You saved my life.”
“Well how about that? Who had to be fished out of trouble this time? And who can’t even follow the most basic instruction to strap in?”
“Thank you ,” Evan told her, “so much. It’s so great to be out of that helmet. Okay if I take off the EVA? I’ll get strapped in after that.”
“Unsuit yourself.”
Evan peeled and climbed his way out of the EVA. Freedom, after so many hours. The best part of all was unhooking the catheter. Evan stretched out fully, glorying in the lack of confinement.
“Man, when was the last time you washed?”
“Sorry about that, Mira! A big day touring known space, you know. I’ll go rinse off in the head, if this bucket has one.”
“No shower, if that’s what you mean . You can use a damp cloth to spread the stink around. That’ll have to do until we get you off this can.”
“Hardly worth it. Anyway, where are we going?”
“First, I need to stop in at Top Station. I have some cargo to deliver.”
Top Station, with him on board? What was she thinking? “You know, there might be a better time for that. I need to get to ground, quickly. Stopping off anywhere is not such a good idea.”
Mira waved him off. “No really, I need to go there . It’s the reason I’m flying. The official reason. If I don’t complete my trip plan, somebody will wonder why.” It appeared that Mira had learned to plan more than a minute ahead in the last few years.
“Give me a sec,” Mira continued. “I need to update the worm drive so that the record states that I stayed exactly on my course, rather than diverting to get you.”
“You can do that? I thought the whole point of a worm drive was just to record and never be updated. Official record and all that.”
“Just call me the worm charmer. I’ll get it, if you can shut up.”
After a few silent minutes, she called out. “There, done. I stayed exactly on the flight plan. No deviations at all. And by the way, not only should you be thankful that I fetched you, but also that I was smart enough to figure out a credible low fuel flight plan that went right past you and also went to Top Station. And then resourceful enough to find someone
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