Distant Reality Chapter Four
GRID Traveler Trinity: Distant Reality
Author: J Carrell Jones
Table of Content
Chapter 4
Encounters are the very basis for being human. Our society and our culture is based on our interaction between one another. We think and wonder on the dynamics of the outcome, but in the end the results are from actually meeting. Speculation is usually a preparation for a physical encounter.
Chapter 4
Robin sat and waited. The shuttle glided to a smooth soft landing in the docking bay. Robin approached the shuttle as its side door opened. A tall slender woman of about forty stepped out. She walked with an air of arrogance, but with an obvious naiveté of presence – Loggar seemed to be thinking about something other than the present day now.
Robin held out her hand. “Dr. Loggar.”
Dr. Loggar nodded and shook Robin’s hand briefly. “Are we ready to proceed Captain?”
“Yes,” Robin answered, “As soon as the shuttlecraft is clear, we’ll proceed to the coordinates you gave us.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Dr. Loggar hesitated a moment and cleared her throat. “Is Commander Blakemore, here?”
Robin smiled. She looked knowingly at Loggar and spoke slowly. “Yes, he’s on the Top Deck.”
Loggar breathed a small sigh. “Good.” She uttered softly. “Good.”
Robin turned, “Please follow me, Doctor. I’ll show you to your quarters. The trip is going to take a few days.”
“Yes, I know.” Loggar said with a heavier and more audible sigh. “I know. So far away, but faster than the transports GRID Command give us.”
“Yes, Cargonaughts.”
Loggar nodded, “You understand then?”
“Yes, perfectly. I started my career on a Cargonaught, the Cargonaught Surprise. Slow as hell.”
Robin giggled a secret inside joke to herself. “Shall we?”
Loggar nodded and followed Robin.
Robin remembered that the Surprise had a colorful history attached to it. She remembered one day while on deck watch when the ship came within visual range of a space station, the Comm. Officer from the station yelled over the audio band channel “Surprise! You made it!”
Dr. Loggar drifted in and out, her thoughts dancing back and forth to things serious and things whimsical. She shivered under a feeling of embarrassment.
Robin stared straight ahead. She knew that Dr. Loggar’ asking for Sean was something more than professional. The other woman exuded nervousness and anticipation. Would Sean pick up on this? She shook her head. ‘Probably not’ was her thought, but then again, at times he was good at reading people. He would have possibly been in line for fleet captain if not for an incident a while ago.
“Something wrong, Captain?”
Robin looked at Loggar. “Sorry, Doctor. I was drifting.”
“Oh,” was the simple reply. “How long will it actually take us?”
“Considering we have no GRID points out to where we’re going, we have to do long jumps . . .”
“Long jumps? I’m afraid I’m not too up on the terminology.”
“Quite all right.” Robin paused and considered her next words. “Think of it this way. Since we don’t have any heavy field generators strategically placed, we have to create our own.”
Loggar frowned and slowly nodded.
Robin said. “We have heavy gravity induction probes. We drop one off behind us, and then we literally ride a gravity wave generated by the probe.”
Loggar frowned again. “One would image I’d find time to study GRID technology. I never found it interesting until now. I mean, GRID ships. Point that away and eventually we get there, but relatively fast.”
Robin said, “If you like, I’ll have Commander Blakemore give you more detailed information. It’ll pass the days away.”
Loggar followed Robin to an elevator. As it traveled the length of the ship her mind drifted. She’d only seen Vids and bio pics of the Commander. His personnel file was thick and his Captain entries read like wonderful adventure stories. Loggar realized she had been utterly lost in thought when Robin stopped at a door. It slid opened and Robin walked in. Loggar followed. The room was spacious. The light was set at low luminosity to give it the effect of appearing much bigger than it actually was. “Lights on.” Robin said. She turned to face Dr. Loggar.
“I’ll have Commander Blakemore look in on you later, say in about three hours?”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“If you have any questions, direct them to the computer,” Robin pointed at a CRT, “and it’ll answer your questions. If it can’t then it will contact me or Commander Blakemore.”
“Thank you again, Captain.”
Robin took a step back, then stopped and looked at her timepiece. “It’s Afternoon’s watch, now. How about dinner at Dog’s watch six bells?”
Loggar blinked.
“7:00 pm, about six hours from now.
Loggar nodded.
“Relax and enjoy.” Robin did a quick nod, turned and walked off. The door slid closed.
Loggar turned to a window. She watched a star glide by and marveled at its beautiful passage. “Computer?”
“Yes, Dr. Loggar?”
“May I have a glass of water?”
A panel in the wall slid out and produced a glass. “An outlet is over in the kitchenette, Dr. Loggar. A tap will provide you with whatever your taste desires.”
Loggar walked over and retrieved the glass. “Thank you, Computer.” She held the glass in her hand. A Battle cruiser was definitely much better than a Cargonaught. She mused about her first encounter with Commander Blakemore. ‘A bath, I need a bath.’ She spoke out loud.
“Water is being drawn in the tub, Dr. Loggar. Please specify temperature.”
“Ah, 37 degrees, please.”
The computer beeped.
Loggar looked around and spotted her luggage. How efficient this crew was. She hummed to herself as she opened her suitcase and held up a plain, solid red dress. “You’re going to have to get a more colorful selection of attire.” She smiled and walked into the bathroom.