Beyond Uranus

by Stewart Bruce & Nigel Moreland

  “It’s OK” she said “You can pick it up. It’ll be a call redirected from Earth.”

  The phone on the coffee table was a cream coloured phone that had a dial on the front. The receiver was on top of the phone with a curly wire that attached to the body of the phone, quaintly-retro for such an advanced environment. I picked up the receiver and bought it to my ear.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Roy,” said my mother and I rolled my eyes, “where on Earth are you?”

  I put my hand over the mouth piece and said to Claire “It’s my mother.”

  “Who are you talking to?” said my mother.

  “It’s only a friend mum.”

  “So who’s your new friend?”

  I was dreading the next bit because I knew my mum would over react.

  “She’s called Claire.”

  “Claire? A girl? How long have you been seeing this girl? Is she your girlfriend? Are you getting married? Am I actually going to get grandchildren?”

  “Mum Claire is a work-colleague and a friend. We’ve only just met so we’re not getting married and having your grandchildren. ‘Oh god’ I thought ’Claire’s still in the room’ I could hear her sniggering in the background. “Mum did you want anything or did you phone to totally embarrass me?”

  “I phoned to see how things were going and to find out where you were.”

  I gave my mum some false information about being in South Africa doing a preparation course before moving on to somewhere I hadn’t found out about yet. She told me the latest news about her brother and sister, we said our goodbyes and I hung up. Claire burst out laughing.

  Blushing, I said, “I’m really very, very sorry about that. I haven’t had a girlfriend in a long time and every time I mention a female name she thinks I’m getting married.”

  “Don’t apologise I thought it was quite sweet actually not to mention very funny.”

  We sat and chatted. I hadn’t sat with somebody and talked to them like this since my university days. We talked about all sorts of things from politics to our favourite children’s TV programs when we were kids. We grew up with totally different backgrounds and spent a long time telling each other about how we had grown up and what we did as kids.

  I had a nice safe middle class background but Claire hadn’t been quite so lucky. She was the only one of five children that had wanted to do something with her life and had done very well at school and with her exams. Unfortunately there was no chance of Claire going to university because her parents had insisted she got a job and contributed to the family finances. She had spent several years doing whatever jobs she could get, but most of them involved cleaning private houses, shops or schools. It was when she was twenty five and sick of the dead end jobs that she had decided to do a degree with the Open University. The outstanding grades she was getting on her English course had brought her to the attention of Simon. Compared to Claire’s upbringing I had lived the life of luxury.

  As tiredness overcame her, she looked at her watch and exclaimed, “Oh my God it’s half past three in the morning! That went so quickly. I’m going to have to go and get some sleep. I was going to call round at eight to take you out but I think we’ll delay that until ten so we can both get a bit of beauty sleep.”

  “You really don’t need it,” I said and immediately thought, ‘bollocks I shouldn’t have said that.’

  “Bless you, you’re so sweet.”

  I accompanied her to the door for the second time that evening watched her leave.

  Time for bed.

  Chapter 4 - Finding My Feet

  The following day, Claire came round to see me at about ten o’clock. We had a stroll down the side of the square where all the general facilities were. The first place was the super market. Well, more of a mini-market to be honest, it wasn’t really that big but it contained all the usual items that you would need to get by on a day to day basis. There was plenty of stock and it all looked and smelt citrusy fresh even though we were several billion miles from Earth. This wasn’t a ‘stack it high and sell it cheap’ operation, instead there was a large variety of quality produce. The fruit and veg section was especially striking with the brightness of yellow honeydew melons set against vivid Navel oranges and the green of limes, interspaced with the russet of apples and the deep purple hues of plums all crammed into a small space. I was out of breath just looking at it. Everything seemed so health conscious and it all looked like it had only been picked recently, though of course it was all synthesised. I learned later that any unsold items were sent back into the machine, at the end of each day, as raw material for the next batch.

  Claire explained that there were a lot of people who still enjoyed cooking for themselves even though there were restaurants and bars where people could eat.

  After a quick browse around the super market, we walked along the rest of the general facilities. Claire showed me the clothes shop which seemed a bit pointless because it only supplied green or white jumpsuits, although I guess you had to get them from somewhere. She also showed me the two restaurants but explained that we would be highly unlikely to use them because the pilots used their own area which had similar places but for pilots only.

  “Why the segregation, aren’t we pilots allowed to mix with everybody else?” I asked.

  “Don’t be silly, of course we can mix! It’s just a kind of perk of the job, pilots can use all the other places but choose not to. We all get on together really well but we tend not to mix socially.”

  “That sounds really strange.”

  “I had a friend who played the flute and went to a performing arts college. She told me that there was a common room used mostly by the music and drama students, but the drama students sat on one side of the room and the music students sat on the other side. There was no animosity between them; they just chose not to mix together. I guess if the music students were talking about their music courses then a drama student may not be able to take part in that conversation and vice versa.”

  “However, only the pilots can use the pilot’s facilities.”

  “Like I said, it’s a perk of the job. The job can get quite stressful so it’s nice to have something in compensation for the work we do. I guess it would be like the officer’s mess in the army or the staffroom in a school. Did you share your staffroom with the caretakers, dinner ladies or office staff?”

  “Absolutely not,” I answered a little indignantly. “Even senior management stayed away from the staffroom.”

  “Exactly, I bet there was no rule against all those people from sharing your staffroom but they chose not to go there.”

  We passed Sam’s Bar and arrived at Gary’s Salon and popped in to see Gary who was his usual charming self. His salon looked like every other one I had ever walked past without entering, but was painted in the usual sterile white. It had a long mirror with three black chairs sat side by side facing the mirror. On the other side were three chairs facing three sinks. The only real colour in the salon came from a mass of hair products that were on a shelf above the mirrors. I hadn’t really said much to Gary and I felt a bit awkward around him because I fancied his girlfriend so much.

  “Hi Gary,” said Claire and she kissed him on the cheek.

  “Hi Gary,” I said, but didn’t kiss him on the cheek.

  “Hello you two, how’s it going Roy?”

  “It’s going OK I think. I haven’t really done anything yet. Claire’s showing me around today so it’s all a bit relaxing. I’m starting my training tomorrow so I guess it’ll get harder.”

  “How was the reception last night?”

  “Yes... well... I don’t think I made a very good impression and I feel a bit out of my depth.”

  “Don’t worry about that too much. The other pilots always seem a bit aloof to begin with but they are all very nice people.”

  “That’s what Claire said.”

  “You should listen to her because she knows what she’s talking about don’t
you darling.”

  “Yes I do. Come on Roy let’s continue the tour.”

  She kissed Gary on the cheek and we left the shop. Next to Gary’s salon were some leisure facilities. I had a quick look through the window and could see signs to a fitness room, gym, swimming pool and weights room. Just looking bought me out in a sweat. I’ll have to work my way up gently to going inside, well there’s no point rushing like a bull at a gate. We left the general facilities and started walking across the square towards the pilot’s area. As we walked across, I asked Claire “Where does all the light come from?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s bright in here but there are no lights and we’re too far away from the sun for this to be natural.”

  She stopped and said “Look up.” I looked up. “Do you see the ceiling with the view of space?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, those are video panels projecting a view of space. All the equipment for the lighting is contained behind the panels.” I was certain that I’d caught her looking me over as I tilted my head upwards to look at the ceiling. Any optimism being dashed, the moment I remembered that she was Gary’s girlfriend.

  When we arrived at the pilot’s facilities Claire showed me the leisure facilities that we could use at any time. It all looked impressive, but I’ve never bench pressed anything heavier than a pint, been in a sauna, run anywhere let alone round a gym or used any cardio vascular equipment. Maybe that’s why I spent a week in reconstruction! The swimming pool was large and there was nobody using it. I used to love swimming as a kid but my experience was sharing a small pool with half the inhabitants of my town, some of whom looked like they were using it as an alternative to having a bath.

  After the tour we had lunch in the Pilot’s Restaurant. In the afternoon we strolled around the grassy square several times talking. We had an evening meal in the restaurant again and spent another evening talking until the early hours of the morning.

  *

  Monday, this would be the last day before I started my training with Simon. Claire and I spent the day together and in the evening we ate in the restaurant again. After the meal we sat in my apartment talking. I’d had a brilliant couple of days with Claire and had enjoyed every minute of it.

  “I’m going to have to apologise to Gary when I see him next” I said, as it was getting late again.

  “What for?” asked Claire.

  “Well, I’ve taken up so much of your time. He must be missing you.”

  “Missing me?”

  “Yea. If you were my girlfriend I’d have missed you if you’d spent three days away from me.”

  Claire started laughing.

  “What’s wrong?” I said.

  Eventually she calmed down and said “You are a bit of an old fashioned Gentleman at times Roy. Gary’s not my boyfriend; he’s a close friend, that’s all.”

  “Thank heavens for that,” I blurted out before thinking about what I was saying. A massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

  “You seem very happy to hear that, have you got a soft spot for him?”

  “No. Gary seems like a nice enough person, but I’m not gay.”

  “Are you sure? Gary is a really nice person and one of my best friends. You’d make a lovely couple.”

  “I’m not gay. I like Gary, but I wouldn’t sleep with him. Honestly, I’m one hundred percent heterosexual.”

  “The way you looked so uncomfortable with Denny pawing at you the other night gave that one away.” I blushed, as she continued, “I’m only messing with you, but it was really funny you thinking we were a couple. I can’t wait to tell Gary tomorrow he’ll laugh his head off. I’m going to have to go now because you’ve got an early start tomorrow. Simon wants you in his office at nine o’clock. I will call round at quarter to nine to take you there.”

  I walked over to the door with Claire. She turned before leaving and said “You’re so funny. You make me laugh and that’s a good thing. See you tomorrow.”

  I watched her enter her apartment and then closed the door and went to bed. This was the happiest I’d felt since arriving at the station and I hadn’t even looked at her breasts yet. Well... maybe a sneaky peek when she wasn’t looking.

  Chapter 5 - Computer Training

  Claire arrived on time and walked me over to Simon’s office which was in the pilot’s facilities area.

  “Shall we meet for lunch?” she asked.

  “I would love to.”

  “One o’clock in the Pilot’s Bar. Russell will make some sandwiches for us if we ask.”

  “That sounds great. I’ll see you later.” She smiled at me and headed off. As usual I watched her leaving. It was the only time I could ogle her without her knowing but if she ever caught me I’d be so embarrassed. I knocked on Simon’s door and waited for a response. When he shouted ‘come’ I entered the room.

  The room looked like most of the station, white walls which were totally devoid of any decoration and no windows. Strangely, although the floor wasn’t carpeted it was soft underfoot perhaps some form of rubbery polymer? In the right hand corner, as you walked in, was a wooden desk with Simon sat behind and in front of it were four chairs. He held his hand out to a chair opposite him and I sat down.

  Somebody once told me that the desk is my symbol of power over underlings. ‘I have a nice comfy executive style chair and you sit down there, underling, in the cheap seats.’ In commerce they have training courses telling folk not to do this nowadays - avoid symbols of power when meeting others, talk over the corner of the desk if you have to, better still sit the same side of the desk as the person and in the same style of chair. Hierarchy’s thrive on deference but breed ‘them and us’ situations and possibly resentment. This was like being in a bad nineteen sixties sit com. All Simon had to do now was pull out a thick cigar and offer me a whisky poured by a top-heavy secretary in a mini skirt after having her bottom pinched.

  “How are you settling in?” he asked, interrupting my day dream.

  “It’s good. I’ve had a great couple of days. The reception on the first night was a bit depressing. I’m not quite sure you’ve got the right person especially when you compare my qualifications with the rest of the pilots.”

  “Roy, it’s not about qualifications. We pick the very best to come and work here. A lot of the people we pick are highly qualified and that’s because they are very intelligent. Not everybody who is highly intelligent is suited for this job and not everybody who is suited for this job has a string of degrees and post graduates. If we didn’t think you had the potential you would never have been approached. This job is about what you can do and not about how many letters you have after your name.”

  “Thanks Simon. Claire told me a similar thing and it gives me added confidence coming from you as well.”

  “Good so let’s move on. I’m going to start today with computer training and tomorrow we will do flight training. In about a week you’ll be working for real.”

  “Wow, that’s fast.”

  “It is but you’ll be expected to put a lot of work in, except for today which will be a nice easy day for you.”

  Simon opened a draw and pulled out a belt and a black rectangular cuboid. He placed the items on the desk in front of me. The cuboid was about the size of a bar of soap but thinner. It was pure black, seamless and without any features on its surface. There were no buttons, holes and no screen like you might get on a mobile phone. I had seen other people wearing them around their waists but I had never seen one this close.

  “This is your computer. Your computer is biometrically attached to you and only you can operate it. You can talk to it and ask it questions. It has the knowledge of everything we know and will give you answers to anything that doesn’t contravene our station regulations about in-depth knowledge of how our technology works. The computer can interact with all the stations technology and equipment. This little box is the culmination of about five hundred years research. In that
time we have produced only four versions of this computer. The first version was the size of a room and we’ve spent a lot of time getting it down to this size. Version four has been around for fifty years and it has a track record that is second to none. The Architect designed, built and wrote the program for version four.”

  “The Architect?” I asked

  “Yes, The Architect. He’s a computer genius the like of which the universe has never seen before. All the other versions of this computer were designed by teams of computer scientists. Version three had about a thousand scientists involved. Version four was built by one person we call The Architect. You must keep your computer with you at all times and never let it out of your sight. This isn’t like one of your mobile phones where you can order up another. If you lose this, we are unable to replace it and you would then be unable to work. So we would have no choice but to release you from your contract. Have you understood everything I’ve told you?”

  “Yes Simon.”

  “Good. All I want you to do today is to get familiar with your new computer. I want you to ask it directions, find people, ask it questions, talk to it and become acquainted with it. I will meet you back here tomorrow morning at nine. Put the belt on first, attach the computer and then speak to it.”

  I did as I was asked. The computer felt so heavy when I picked it up considering it was such a small package. It stuck to the belt like a strong magnet and then I said “Hello computer. Can you hear me?”

  “I can hear you fine thank you Roy,” said the computer in a soft baritone voice.

  It spoke normally with inflection, not the monotone expressionless voice that I expected from a computer.

  “This could well turn out to be the best piece of technology I’ve ever had.” I said.

  “Very good,” said Simon “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  *

  I left the pilot’s facilities, walked to the centre of the park and sat down on one of the many benches. It was a nice quiet day with a few people walking or out for a run. It almost felt like being in a park at home except I could see all the white built up areas in the distance and although it was mid morning the roof showed the blackness of space with the starry streak of the Milky Way.

  “Hello computer.”

  “Hello Roy.”