Alone on the Edge (The Chronicles of Anna Foster)

by Patrick Stutzman

Returning the attitude, he replied, “Well, it’s easier than trying to read it backwards from in front of you.

  “I can help you with that,” he offered after studying the list for a few more seconds. “Why don’t you go fix the lights, while I hop into my ship and scan the outer hull for microfractures?”

  Turning to face him, Anna asked curiously, “You can do that?”

  “You can’t?” he returned, emphasizing his astonishment with a raised eyebrow.

  She shrugged and said, “I’ve always had to break out a hand scanner and go over every inch of the hull with it to find the breaches. It would take me all morning to just get that done.”

  Patting her on the shoulder, Ryan consoled, “Not today, you don’t. I’ll have that hull scanned in less than 10 minutes.”

  “Really?” she asked appreciatively. His confirming nod answered.

  A second later, she suggested to him, “Would it be too much trouble for you to scan the rest of the hull while you’re out there?”

  As he turned and walked out of the mess hall, he called over his shoulder, “Already planning on it. That’s why it will take 10 minutes.”

  Anna watched him go, smiled from ear to ear, and started a happy dance in the middle of the mess hall, overjoyed that he will be saving her hours of work over the next couple of weeks.

  A few seconds later, Ryan walked back into the room while saying, “By the way, Anna ...”

  Recovering quickly by stopping her dance before he could notice, she quickly responded, “Yes, Ryan?”

  Her rapid, staccato answer forced him to pause for a second and gather his thoughts again before continuing, “I was thinking that it might be a good idea to clean that intake tube also before lunch. Might help the food taste better.”

  With a broad smile and a slight nod, she answered, “My thoughts exactly.”

  “Great!” he smiled back before turning on his heel and retreating from the mess hall again.

  Anna held her breath, waiting to make sure that he was actually gone this time, before she finished her little dance and left to complete her work in Green-1.

  Changing the lights went relatively fast. She replaced almost all of the expired bulbs in Green-1 before Ryan had docked back with the station. As she finished the last one, Ryan joined her in the section’s main corridor.

  “Got the scan done,” he started. “Overall, it looks fine, but a couple of areas are showing signs of stress. You should probably look into having those hull plates replaced soon.”

  Anna grinned, “Thanks, Ryan. Do you have a report I can refer to later?”

  “Yeah,” he replied, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. “It’s on my ship. I can upload it at your convenience.”

  “That’s fine. I appreciate that.”

  Ryan looked at the lights around him and inquired as he watched Anna step off her stool, “Ready for your next stop?”

  Reaching the floor and grabbing the squat piece of furniture, she replied, “Yep. Let’s go.”

  The rest of her chores went almost too quick for her to believe possible. By 1000 hours, the only item left on the agenda was the drones’ routine maintenance, and that was not scheduled to take place for another three hours.

  Anna and Ryan laughed as they walked out the door leading to the culinary system’s food bank.

  “I would never believe that stalrants would smell so bad!” Anna exclaimed between giggles.

  Ryan added while he laughed, “Words cannot begin to describe how horribly they stink! You’re better off not knowing.”

  They laughed for several more seconds, echoing through the hall. As their mirth finally died down, she observed, “Well, we have a couple of hours until lunch, and I cannot do the work on the drones until after lunch.”

  “I have an idea!” cried Ryan. “Why don’t we take a spin around the star system? I’ll bet you haven’t taken a tour of the planets. Have you?”

  “Well,” she answered almost hesitantly, hoping he would take the hint. “I have been around the gas giant a few times, so I don’t need to see that one again.”

  “Yeah,” he resigned. “You’re probably sick of seeing that ball of gas every day, aren’t you?”

  Her nod pressed him onward as he suggested, “What about the inner planets?”

  The mere mentioning of other planets nearby got her attention, and her mind instantly filled with thoughts of what may lie closer to the orange star.

  Looking innocent like a young child, Anna replied, “Uh, no. I haven’t seen the inner planets. I didn’t even know this star system had any.”

  Ryan smiled and offered his hand to her.

  “Shall we?”

  As Anna raised her hand with an accompanying grin and took his hand, her wristcomp signaled an incoming message. She paid no heed to it and followed him to his ship without a second thought.

  The pair entered the airlock minutes later and opened the hatch leading to the landing bay. Since she had never seen his ship before, curiosity got the best of her, and she looked down at it before stepping onto the first rung.

  The docking tube had been extended to the vessel’s dorsal airlock due to the simple fact that it was too big to enter the bay. The white hull, in stark contrast to the gray metal walls of the landing bay, gleamed under the artificial lights and brightened the entire room. The drastic change in lighting caused Anna to blink several times while her eyes adjusted. By the time she could see into the landing bay clearly, Ryan was already about halfway down the ladder, prompting her to pick up the pace to join him.

  Reaching the top of the ship, Anna stepped down onto the ship just as her visitor opened the top hatch.

  “Welcome aboard, ma’am!” he greeted cheerfully. “Please step inside.”

  Without hesitation, she climbed through the portal into the ship. She descended only a few meters into a dark, cramped room. Glancing over her shoulder as she turned around, she quickly found the door, but the switch was not active. She pressed the button, wondering if maybe the light inside was out, but the door did not budge. Seconds later, the hatch above her closed and sealed, plunging the room into total darkness, save for the single, pale green light that suddenly appeared behind the switch that she had just determined to be dead.

  “Go ahead,” Ryan urged from above, his voice sounding hollow within their tight quarters. “Push the button.”

  Anna pressed the green button again. The door in front of her slid open, revealing a rather sizeable room. Stepping through, she realized that the room was in fact the ship’s bridge. Looking forward, her first view was the gas giant in the distance rotating out of view while the ship spun with the station. She noticed the pilot’s seat next, situated at the front and center of the bridge. But, something struck her as odd about the panels. They had no buttons, no switches, and no dials. They did not even have any monitors for him to view any of the ship’s statuses. The only item present on the panels was a single lens embedded into the middle of the console.

  “Ryan,” she asked curiously. “Are these holographic controls?”

  As the access door closed behind her, he replied as he walked past her toward the pilot’s station, “Yes, they are. Much more convenient than the physical buttons you have on the station and less of a chance of them breaking down due to wear and tear. The only thing I have to do is keep the lenses clean.”

  Ryan waved his hand over each of the lenses, bringing the controls to life. Full color monitors, virtual controls, and other assorted displays appeared around the ship’s pilot, many of which floated in the air within reach. He even had what appeared to be a 3D sensor readout of their area of space. The only physical control Anna saw was the flight wheel that she surmised he would use to fly the ship.

  “Computer,” Ryan said firmly.

  A smooth, pleasant-sounding female voice responded, “Yes, Ryan.”

  “Prepare to disembark. We are taking a tour of the solar system.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Anna inter
jected, “I haven’t heard another female voice in over six years.”

  Ryan looked at her over his shoulder and commented, “It’s nice to listen to, but it’s nothing like the real thing.”

  While Anna attempted and failed to hide her acceptance of his compliment, he continued, “You should find someplace to sit down when we take off. The inertial dampeners are sometimes a little slow to engage.”

  Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “How slow?”

  “About an eighth of a second.”

  She looked behind her at how far back the aft wall of the bridge was from her. Although she was not very well versed in physics, she knew that an eighth of a second would be long enough to throw her against the back wall if she was not prepared. She looked around the bridge and only found one seat: Ryan’s. She quickly determined his motive and smiled knowingly.

  While he continued to prepare the ship for launch, Anna sauntered next to the pilot’s seat and slid into his lap.

  With a smirk, she said flirtatiously, “I found my seat.”

  Stopping long enough to let Anna slip past his arm, Ryan shifted his legs to allow her to rest comfortably, snickered at her comment, and finished his pre-launch calibrations.

  A minute later, he closed several panels and ordered, “Computer, detach from the docking tube.”

  “Yes, Ryan.”

  Several seconds passed, and a concerned look crossed his face, and he looked upward.

  Noticing the odd expression on his face, Anna asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “The ship usually detaches by now.

  “Computer,” he continued without missing a beat. “What’s going on?”

  The female voice replied, “I am unable to detach from the docking tube.”

  “Failure on our end?” he inquired, expecting a positive response.

  “No, my request is received. However, the clamp is refusing to disengage.”

  “Faulty equipment?” Ryan asked.

  Defensively, Anna quickly added, “Not on my watch!”

  He apologized, realizing the error in his ill-timed statement, “Sorry. What could it be, then?”

  “I have an idea,” she suggested before calling out to the ship’s computer.

  Chapter 20

  “Computer?”

  “Unauthorized user,” the feminine voice responded. “Permission required for authorization.”

  Ryan interjected, “Computer, grant guest access to Anna Foster.”

  “Acknowledged. Anna Foster, please provide voice print.”

  Taking a quick breath, she said plainly, “My name is Anna Foster. This is my voice print.”

  “Voice print recorded,” the ship’s computer replied. “How may I be of service?”

  Anna stated, “Open a channel with the station.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  The station’s male voice replied after a couple of seconds, “This is Mining Station 14. How may I be of service?”

  “Computer, this is Anna. Disengage the docking clamp.”

  “Acknowledged,” he replied, sounding slightly disappointed.

  “Thank you.”

  Shifting her gaze to look at Ryan, she concluded, “Computer, close the channel.”

  The female computer voice returned, “Acknowledged.”

  “Can we go now?” she asked with a little impatience just as the docking clamp released the ship.

  Smiling, Ryan grabbed the control wheel and waited a few seconds for the ship to drift away from the station. Seconds later, he engaged the sublight drive and steered toward g Lupi. Anna noted to herself that she did not feel any kind of lag from the inertial dampeners when they took off, but she did not protest.

  Several minutes passed in silence while they sped toward the sun. At first, she looked out the forward window while reclining in Ryan’s lap, expecting to see stars whizzing by like in many of the movies she watched as a kid. After a few seconds, she remembered with slight disappointment that they would not change their relative galactic position while they remained within the system. She, then, looked around the bridge to see if anything caught her eye. None of the usual control panels that she found aboard her skiff were present, nor were any that looked similar to them. But, she spied two doors that flanked the airlock at the back.

  “Excuse me,” she whispered as she clamored out of his lap.

  Ryan, pulling his hand away from the hologram he was using to program their course, asked as she landed on her feet and turned to the back, “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing, just want to see what’s back here,” Anna answered nonchalantly while she walked away from the pilot’s station.

  “Back there?” he wondered aloud. He looked over his shoulder to see her walking toward the doors. Suddenly seeing an urgency to intercept her, he leaped from his seat and jogged after her.

  “Ryan,” the computer pressed. “Your route has not been completed.”

  “Just return us to the station at that point!” he cried while closing the space between him and Anna.

  “Acknowledged,” it replied as Ryan reached the doors at the same time as his guest.

  Slipping his arm across the starboard-side door in front of Anna right before she reached it, he asked teasingly, “And where do you think you’re going?”

  Anna smiled mischievously, pointed at the door, and replied, “Through there.”

  Before he could say anything more, she pushed the button under his hand, opening the door to reveal a small corridor that extended further back as it curved to the right to reveal two doors. Smiling again, Anna ducked under Ryan’s arm and entered the hallway, while he watched her pass and did nothing to prevent it. A smirk skulked onto his face as he stared at her, and he fell into step behind her.

  The well-lit, narrow corridor leading into the aft portion of the ship wrapped around a central room that Anna assumed was the vessel’s power core. The sound of the engines was more apparent past the door and filled the hallway with its low hum, forcing its occupants to speak up a little more to be heard clearly.

  Striding up to the first door, Anna hovered her hand next to the opening switch, turned her head toward Ryan and asked, “What’s in here?”

  “Just storage,” he answered calmly.

  She nodded her understanding and hit the switch. The white paneled door slid into the wall, revealing an assortment of simple boxes and metal crates in various shapes and sizes stacked on top of each other inside the cramped room with virtually no room to move within.

  Closing the gap to stand next to her, Ryan added, “See? Just storage.”

  “Okay,” smiled Anna as she brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Touching the switch to close the door, she hastily stepped away from him and rushed to the next door. Ryan gave chase, playfully pursuing her to the next door.

  “And this one?” she asked tauntingly.

  “Uh,” he hesitated slightly. “Just more storage. No need to look in there.”

  Picking up a hint, she stated mischievously, “If that’s the case, then you should have nothing to worry about.”

  She smirked and hit the switch as Ryan lunged at her to catch her arm. The door slid open to display a tiny cabin furnished with a narrow cot and an old, beaten foot locker whose hinges and metal edging showed signs of rust. On the opposite wall hung a poster printed on paper, which right away indicated the age of this artifact. The image proudly exhibited a scantily-clad pale-skinned woman with dark hair sitting on her feet while folding her arms behind her head. On the cot sat a small, palm-sized dark gray disk.

  Anna’s eyes widened at the sight of Ryan’s miniscule quarters, especially upon seeing the antiquated picture suspended on the wall above his cot. Her bemused smile told him volumes about her reaction, and his face felt warm as he blushed.

  She glanced at him sideways and asked, “Is this your room?”

  “Yes,” he sighed. “That’s where I sleep.”

  She stepped inside, ignoring his protesting groan, and studie
d the other wall that displayed a holographic picture of a naked woman spreading her legs while stretched out on a black, velveteen blanket with her hand resting on her inner thigh dangerously close to her labia.

  “Oh, that’s quality art!” she commented aloud while working to suppress her laughter.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, impatiently urging her to step out of the room. “Moving on.”

  Wheeling about, her eyes fixed on the disk resting innocently on his cot.

  “And, what is this?” she asked teasingly, grabbing the disk with lightning speed.

  Ryan cried as he raced toward his bed, “Oh, please don’t!”

  Once in her hand, she recognized it as a display disk and pressed the thumb switch. Appearing in the miniaturized display were a naked man and woman simultaneously performing oral sex on each other. The low quality sounds of their moans and cries of pleasure emitted from the disk while the scene played out.

  “Seriously?!” Anna exclaimed while staring at the hologram.

  Ryan’s head dropped, his last secret revealed.

  Turning to him, she asked evenly, “Seriously?”

  With a sigh, he nodded, wanting desperately to retreat to the power core and seal himself inside.

  Anna watched him squirm for a few seconds and smiled, amused by his discomfort. She did not know why she was enjoying seeing him like this; she was not feeling malicious at all. Perhaps seeing him vulnerable helped her learn more about him and made him more human in her eyes.

  “What?” he finally confessed, breaking the relative silence. “I’ll be honest. It gets lonely flying through space by yourself.”

  Changing the subject, Ryan quickly added as he ushered her out of the room, “Can we move on now?”

  Anna smirked, “I suppose so.” She palmed the display disk and slipped it into one of her pants pockets as she left.

  Quickly shifting her attention elsewhere, Ryan worked to get the images of his quarters out of her mind by taking her on a guided tour of the rest of his ship. Anna seemed less interested in the tour without being chased, but certain elements of the engine room did capture her attention.

  “You mentioned when you first got here that you needed to get some fuel,” she questioned. “What does the ship use for fuel?”