The Journey Begins

by Dan Eaton

  Eventually, after saying our thanks, we waddled our way out of the restaurant. Myra and I tried to pay, but Chef Patel wasn’t having any of it. He said the publicity from the picture would more than offset the cost of the food. I had wanted to get Willie to let us in the Hotel so we could go look out the fancy window the hotel had installed at the end of their tunnel, but Myra said that now that we were stuffed we really needed to complete the walk through the Grand and time was getting short. Across the plaza from the Hotel entrance was another place I had wanted to check out. The sign said Public Pool and according to people that had made it inside on the first day they actually had a good sized swimming pool in there. We didn’t have time to investigate so we left the plaza where the Hotel entrance was located and headed on East in the corridor.

  The basic pattern of park like area and then a structure was repeated over and over again. There were a couple of spaces where the entire space was taken up with crops that couldn’t be grown inside the normal grow chambers so we were treated to three stories of corn or wheat. I wasn’t sure how my mom and Dr. Belvert were planning on harvesting the corn, but I recognized it was sweet corn and was really looking forward to eating some.

  The other structures were apartment blocks, some with their own private pools on the lower level. All of the end apartments had either a terrace or a balcony with windows looking out over the open space. Spread out amount the structures were several food shops where folks could grab something to eat if they didn’t want to walk to one of the cafeterias. Eventually, we reached the far end of the Grand underneath the manufacturing Module. It was strange to think that people use to have to take a transport from the Habitat out to the Manufacturing Module where they worked and now they could walk to work.

  Myra said, “This thing is what? One point one Kilometers long?”

  “Yep,” I said, “It shouldn’t take us very long to walk back unless Ananyu’s father decides we need to eat more.”

  “I just want to make sure we’re back in time for me to go to work. I don’t want to be late for your mom.”

  “You know I could just call my Mom and tell her we’ll be a little late. She really wouldn’t mind. She likes you ya’know.”

  “That’s not the point. The point is I respect your Mom and you show people you respect them by being on time. Let’s get a move on.”

  There really was no point to arguing with Myra. She was stubborn, so it was really funny to me that she ended up being the one who made us late.

  On our walk out we had passed several locations where there were doors marking emergency services locations, but they had all been closed and we hadn’t paid much attention to them.

  As we passed by the school, Myra said, “Hey look at that. Isn’t that Nurse Oak?”

  I looked where she was pointing and it was Nurse Oak and a guy I didn’t recognize pulling along a service cart.

  We ran to catch up with them and I called, “Hey Nurse Oaks, what brings you down here today?”

  Nurse Oaks turned to greet us with a smile and said, “Hey yourself, Bryce. Hi Myra. Do you know Jim Dean?”

  We introduced ourselves and Nurse Oaks continued, “Somehow, in the rush to get the Grand opened, we never got around to the final checkout of the Emergency Station up ahead. It’s probably okay, but Jim and I are going to open it up, make sure the trolleys are up to snuff and all the supplies are in place.”

  We walked along with them as we all came up to the Emergency Station.

  Jim walked over, hit the latch and pulled both doors open. I recognized the door chirp that said Jim’s ID had been recognized. Anyone could open the doors, it was an Emergency Station after all but unauthorized access was discouraged by dispatching a security team if someone unauthorized opened the door. If someone had a valid emergency they got extra help and if someone was trying to abuse the system they were dealt with.

  With the doors open, Myra was peering inside with interest and asked, “So these are the trolleys you mentioned?”

  “Yes, Myra, give Jim a minute to pull them out and you guys can take a closer look.”

  Jim stepped up on the rear deck of the trolley, opened a panel, and flipped a switch enabling the power. He grabbed the control bar and carefully backed the trolley out into the corridor before moving forward and pulling the trolley into a nearby open space. He then returned and did the same with the second trolley only this one he parked in the open space on the opposite side of the corridor.

  Myra stepped up to the first trolley and asked, “So is this the fire response trolley?”

  The trolley in question was painted a bright green. Like its companion trolley it was about three meters long.

  Jim spoke up and started giving us a tour, “The rear deck gives a place for two people to stand as the trolley travels along. We can hit a top speed of 30 kph. That lets us get from one end of the Grand to the other in about two minutes. That’s assuming people get out of the way. For those that don’t, we have these.”

  A loud siren started up and we were all glad when Jim just as quickly killed it.

  “The trolley carries two fire hoses, each one long enough to reach from the ground floor up to the third with some to spare. There’s also a feeder hose that lets us hook the trolley up to any of the hydrants to get water. There’s the usual firefighting paraphernalia you’d find on any fire truck back on Earth. Something you won’t find on one of those trucks are these inflatable seals.” I took one look and realized what they were for.

  I said, “Cool idea. So are those applied where the corridor enters the building on either side from where the fire is to contain the smoke?”

  Jim answered, “That’s usually the case, obviously, the smaller the space we can confine the smoke to, the better, the plan is to seal the building off if it’s just a small fire, but if it’s too big we have to do what you suggested.” The seals were actually inflatable air locks so emergency crews could pass in and out of the affected area.

  Myra was looking over thoughtfully at the other trolley and said, “So the white one must be the ambulance?”

  Nurse Oak responded, “You got it Myra. Let me give you guys a tour while Jim finishes checking out the fire trolley. First off, we have large bays on either side to hold patients. The end bays and bays underneath the patient bays hold everything you might need to treat an injured person in the field or to at least stabilize them until we can get them to Medical.”

  Myra had a bunch of questions for Nurse Oak so I stepped aside for a moment to call my mom and then I watched Jim hooking the fire trolley up to one of the hydrants.

  Myra finished with Nurse Oak and then asked, “Hey Jim, are you going to squirt someone with that?”

  Jim gave her a smile and said, “Watch this.” He hit a switch on the console and then grabbed the hose as a powerful stream of water shot out of it. He was able to aim it at the school building and still hit the top of the wall from where we were at on the other side of the park.

  Myra squealed in delight and said, “Can I try that?”

  Jim shut down the pump and warned her to keep the flow of water pointed far away from anyone or anything since it was quite powerful.

  “Here,” he said, “place your hands on either side of the nozzle and hold on like there’s no tomorrow.”

  He started the pump back up and Myra almost lost control, but quickly braced herself against the force of the water. She was playing it across the upper floor of the school pretending she was fighting a fire.

  It looked like fun, so I asked Jim if I could give it a try and he smiled, winked at me and said, “Sure, we’ll make firefighters out of both of you yet. Myra, I’m going to shut the pump down now. Keep a steady hold on the nozzle until the water pressure drops off and it’s safe to hand it to Bryce.”

  Jim then reached over and shut the pump down. Myra’s face was flushed from the exertions of holding onto the hose and the fun she had been having when she handed me the hose. Jim checked that I had a good hold of
the nozzle and said, “Okay Bryce, I’m going to turn on the pump. Hang on and remember not to point the flow at anything close.”

  He hit the switch and suddenly the nozzle came alive in my hands. I was able to keep it under control and after a couple of minutes of playing fireman I yelled over to Jim, “I’m good. Shut her down.”

  We spent another ten minutes talking to Nurse Oak and Jim. Jim said we were both welcome to try out for the volunteer emergency service when we got a little older. I told him I didn’t know if I’d still be around by the time I was old enough, but if I was I might give it a try.

  It was then when Myra got a stricken look on her face and said, “Oh shit! What time is it? Bryce, we got to get going. I’m going to be so late.”

  We said quick goodbyes to Jim and Nurse Oak. Myra was in such a panic that she started loping along to cover the ground faster. I hurried to catch up and then kept the pace until we were finally back at my house. Mom was sitting on the patio having a cup of coffee with Myra’s mom.

  She called “Hey, you two.”

  Before I had a chance to say anything, Myra exclaimed, “Oh my God, Mrs. Burns, I am so sorry to be late. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

  Mom gave Myra a smile and said, “Calm down Myra. It’s okay, Bryce called me and said you were running late. We’re okay.”

  The emotions swirled across Myra’s face so quickly. At first there was this look of immense relief and then before it could take hold she looked really angry. That was when she hit me in the other arm. Hard.

  Before I could say anything she ran off yelling, “Give me a minute to change into my work clothes and then we can go Mrs. Burns.”

  Mom and Mrs. Cherneski just gave me sympathetic looks as I rubbed my arm and started towards the house. I don’t understand girls and didn’t want to be around when Myra came back because there was no telling what she might hit next.

  Myra was sitting outside on the patio waiting for me when I got home from working with Sandy that night. Sandy had ordered in a shipment of raw metal stock and I got the job of moving it into the shop from the airlock where it had been delivered After it was moved into the shop it needed to be stored on the proper racks and although it only weighed one sixth what it would have on Earth it still took some grunt to get it moving or stopped and there was a lot of it. I like Myra but I was tired and talking to her and possibly getting punched again wasn’t on the top of the list of things I wanted to do at the moment. She must have sensed my trepidation because she got up without saying a word and came over and gave me a hug. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the patio chairs.

  When we had both sat down, she said, “I’m sorry I hit you Bryce. I was just so worked up over disappointing your mom and you hadn’t told me you called her and then she said it was okay and I felt like you had played a joke on me and I got mad. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay Myra, I can see how you’d feel that way. You should know I’ll always have your back. When you got so wrapped up in what Jim and Nurse Oak were doing, I took a moment to call Mom because I knew then we were going to be late. I would have told you, but you freaked out when you figured out we were late and took off so fast I didn’t have time to tell you. Besides, I don’t know what you were freaking out about. You know they call you the girl with two moms. It’s not like my mom would fire you for being a little late.”

  Myra had worked with my mom so much that the two were very close and it was Mrs. Cherneski that had started calling Myra the girl with two moms.

  Myra looked down for a moment and said, “I know, it’s just your mom is real important to me and I didn’t want to disappoint her. Are we good?”

  “Yep, we’re good”, I said with a smile on my face. It was looking like I might make it home without getting walloped again so I was feeling a lot better about running into Myra. Myra was my best friend next to Willie. If she’d stop hitting me she might even be a better friend than Willie.

  She said, “What did you mean when you told Jim that you might join the volunteer Emergency service if you were still here. You know we can try out when we turn seventeen right?”

  “I meant if I was still living here I would. We’re almost through our first year at the Habitat and I guess I’m not sure what happens when we hit the two year mark. I mean, some or all of us might be going home.”

  Myra looked at me and I could tell something was stirring in that pretty head of hers. She said, “Your parents are happy here aren’t they? Your mom really loves what she’s doing. I can tell. Is your Dad happy?”

  I thought about it a minute and said, “I hadn’t thought it through. Mom and Dad are both very happy doing what they are doing. I miss Earth sometimes, but overall I’m having a good time here. I guess that means when the two years are up we’ll probably stay, at least until I finish school here. I’ll be going to college back on Earth. Are you guys staying? I wonder if anybody is leaving.”

  “My parents and I are staying. Ananyu’s Dad just opened the restaurant and I hear he’s thinking about opening others. Her mom likes what she’s doing so I think they are staying. So far it seems like the Dumas and Stephenson families are staying too.”

  I asked, “What about Nina and her parents?”

  Myra tensed up for some reason and I had a feeling I almost got another bruise somewhere. I had never noticed before that Myra had problems with Nina. I didn’t know what that was about, but decided not to mention Nina to Myra anymore in case it touched off a bout of hit-Bryce-itis.

  After a moment she answered, “Nina will finish high school here. Even if her parents have to leave, they’ve already talked to my mom and dad about fostering Nina if need be so she can stay here. They feel her experience here will give her an edge to get the assignment she wants after she graduates from the Air Force Academy.”

  That sounded like a can of worms I didn’t want to go anywhere near. No wonder Myra was touchy about Nina.

  I said, “Myra, I’m glad we’re okay now and that we’re both going to be staying after the two years are up. It’s been a really long day for me and I’m tired. Would you mind if I said goodnight now?”

  Myra smiled at me and said, “Thanks Bryce, we can talk more tomorrow. You go get some sleep.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Dinner with a View

  Good morning fellow NLH residents. It’s Saturday, May 22nd, 2038.

  In Habitat news, tonight is the NLH High School Prom. Please join our students as they celebrate the end of their first year at NLH High. The dance will be held in the main cafeteria and formal dress is required.

  O’Reilly’s Shellfish Company is looking for three people for off-shift work on their Tilapia line. Please contact Rob if you are interested.

  Margarita Mama’s is having a Two-fer sale in honor of the Prom tonight. For you adults attending the Prom come in wearing your Prom best and get a special price on a beer and a burger of your choice.

  Seline’s Bistro is offering a Prom special dinner tonight for those attending the Prom.

  In financial news today, on the Lunar Stock Market shares of Mussconny Machine are trading steady at $26.73 a share, Mussconny Fabrication at $29.66 a share, Hotel Whipple shares are rising at $28.83. O’Reilly’s Shellfish Company is up at $22.59 a share and CDB Farms is trading steady at $22.04 a share.

  Normally, a Prom is a dance held towards the end of the school year for the seniors that will soon be leaving the school. Sometimes that definition gets bent a little and they allow the juniors to participate as a Junior Prom. Normal has little to do with NLH High. Miss Gayle couldn’t bear the thought of waiting for several more years before she could start planning a Prom. She pitched the idea to Christine, who in her role as chief NLH social activities instigator never met a reason to party she didn’t like. If for some weird reason they had founded NLH High the year before and there had been no students until we showed up I’m pretty certain they would have held a Prom without us last year. They do like their parties h
ere at NLH.

  I met up with Willie this morning for breakfast. Between school and work neither one of us had been able to scrape up the time to hang together for a while. They had a new breakfast entree on the menu so we both grabbed a breakfast burrito and headed to a table.

  Willie asked, “So you’re like off the whole day today?”

  “Yep, Sandy didn’t want to risk running afoul of my mom by getting me dirty or anything. He said if somehow I managed to get hurt today there wasn’t a woman in the place that wouldn’t be demanding he be tossed out the nearest airlock so he said he’d feel safer if I just stayed home today.”

  “Man, you get all the breaks. Sid wants me to work the early shift today at the Whipple and then pull another early shift tomorrow because we’ll be so busy.”

  “Ha,” I said, “Remember last fall when you were telling us all how you didn’t mind not getting as much as we were getting paid because you didn’t have to work as hard either. Now listen to you.”

  It was good talking with Willie. I asked, “So when do you get off work today?”

  “Sid said I could get off at four. That will give me time to go home and get cleaned up before meeting everyone for dinner. I’m really looking forward to eating dinner at Seline’s Bistro tonight. It was really good of Ananyu’s dad to invite us all. It’s not like I’m a big shot like you and Myra who get to have a meal there for free whenever you just wander in off the street.”

  “Hey, you know it’s not like that. Chef Patel was just showing off. Besides, you take Nina there sometime and he’d probably do the same for the two of you.”

  “Why would I go there with Nina? She’s nice and all that, but it’s not like I want to hang out with her.”

  “Why the heck did you ask her to the prom, then?”

  “I didn’t. Miss Gayle said Nina and I were the last couple and was it okay if I took her.”

  Willie’s E-pad alarm went off meaning he had to get moving if he was going to make it to work on time. I told him I’d see him later and spent the rest of the morning working with my mom on the farm.