Worlds Apart Pt. 02

"I work at an embassy, it's my job to be diplomatic," she replied with a wink.

***

The plan was progressing far faster than Jamie had anticipated. After some back and forth between Liz and the UAS, the date had been set, and it was only a scant few weeks away. Interstellar travel wasn't something that one did on a whim. The survey vessel couldn't wait around for them indefinitely, as it had other assignments that were being put on hold.

Jamie had given his two weeks' notice, and while his manager had been understanding, he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to rehire Jamie when he returned. It was a pretty low-skilled position, and it would be very easy to replace him. Liz, on the other hand, had fared much better. Her Borealan heritage and her mastery of xenolinguistics made her an asset that the embassy would rehire as soon as she was able to work again. Jamie had also contacted their bank to make sure that they would continue to pay the rent on the apartment while he and Liz were away, because they would be out of contact while in deep space.

The only way to get messages between planets fast enough that the recipient hadn't died by the time it arrived was through a network of quantum-entangled satellites. They were outrageously expensive to build, and they were only capable of sending small packets of data at a time. Official messages from governments or the Navy were bumped up the queue, while civilian messages usually languished in the comms buffer while they waited for a slot to open up. For a vessel traveling through deep space, communication was impossible, as it was limited by the slow crawl of light speed. If your target was twenty light-years away, then it would take twenty years for a tight-beam laser or a radio transmission to reach it.

Going into space didn't just remove a person from their familiar surroundings, it severed all connections with everything that they knew. Jamie wouldn't even be able to look up the news on his phone or make a call out there. After living his entire life in an environment where all the information he could ever need was just a tap away, and every device from cars to refrigerators was connected to a planet-spanning network, being unplugged was an odd prospect. Liz was nonplussed, as she had spent three years living on Borealis, a planet where running water was considered cutting edge.

The days flew by, until finally, it was time to face the music. It was an overcast morning when they left their residential building for what could be the last time in months, a chill wind creeping beneath Jamie's jacket as he hauled two suitcases towards a taxi that was waiting for them on the curb. Liz followed after him, her Borealan strength letting her carry far more baggage than he ever could. She was wearing her signature bomber jacket, its collar lined with fur, the brown leather creaking as she tossed the bags into the back of the van. She dusted off her hands, then planted them on her hips, watching as Jamie slammed the door shut.

"I hope we didn't forget anything," she said, turning to glance up at the towering facade of their building. It was so high that the spire was out of view, shrouded in a layer of clouds. "If we remember that we left the stove on when we're out past Pluto, it's not like we can ask the pilot to turn the ship around."

"I think we've done all that we can to prepare," Jamie replied, making his way around to one of the sliding passenger doors. They had opted to hire a van rather than a car, as Liz was too large to fit inside a conventional taxi. She joined their baggage in the compartment at the rear, sitting down the floor, hunching over to avoid hitting her head.

"Comfortable?" Jamie asked, peering back at her.

"It is what it is," she grumbled.

Jamie directed the nav computer to take them to the spaceport, the van pulling out into the street, matching speed and distance with the other cars to optimize the flow of traffic. He lounged in the passenger seat, fiddling with his phone as the taxi weaved its way along.

"I'm making sure to max out my storage with as much media as I can get," he explained. "Movies, shows, music, whatever I can find. We're going to need the entertainment when we're cooped up on that survey ship for God knows how long."

"Depends on the speed of the ship," Liz explained, bracing her arms against the sides of the compartment to steady herself. "Jarilo is in the 70 Virginis system, which is about sixty light-years away. The jump carrier I hitched a ride on when I left Borealis could do twelve a month, so that's like...five months. A smaller ship isn't necessarily faster. It depends on the capacity of the generators. I have no idea what the UAS survey vessel can do."

"Here's hoping it's not a ten-month round trip," Jamie sighed.

"You think you're going to be bored out of your mind because you've never been away from your phone," Liz added, "but this is going to be a totally new experience. You've never even left the city, but you'll be going into deep space, you'll be visiting a totally alien planet. You're not going to be bored, trust me."

"What if I do get bored?" he asked, turning to glance back at her.

"We'll be stuck in a tiny cabin for weeks," she replied with a knowing smile. "I think we can find some creative ways to pass the time."

The taxi pulled onto the freeway, the vehicles that clogged the lanes moving together like a shoal of fish, their chassis glinting in the light of the rising sun that was slowly burning away the clouds. The towering skyscrapers gradually thinned out, giving way to rolling countryside. It took a good hour for the spaceport to come into view, Jamie leaning forward to get a look out of the windshield at an SSTO as it took off, the plane's boosters burning brightly as it rose into the azure haze.

The green fields and farmland abruptly gave way to a massive, sprawling complex, almost a self-contained city in its own right. There were several terminals of curving glass and steel, each one linked by a complex network of mag-lev rails and roads, the tall control towers looming above it all. The surrounding area was occupied by long runways and huge landing pads, the sight of a cargo crawler the size of a building trundling along on its tank tracks drawing Jamie's gaze.

The base of the orbital tether was located nearby, a several-meter-wide strand of what looked like black cable rising up into the sky until it vanished from view. It was anchored to the Earth by a skeletal, ring-shaped structure made of exposed beams and hefty machinery that was the size of a building in its own right, flanked by sturdy supports that extended deep into the ground. Jamie could see the mag-lev rails that led into the structure, but the passenger car that ran up and down the cable was out of view. Despite its immense size, this was only a transit tether, intended for civilian use. The larger variety were located off the coast, their anchors ringed by artificial islands that serviced waterborne cargo ships. They were intended solely for goods, not passengers. Massive interstellar freighters would dock at the stations in orbit that served as their counterbalance, loading and unloading cargo from around Coalition space that would then be ferried up and down the elevator.

The taxi slid into a parking spot, Jamie hopping out onto the asphalt, glancing around to see an ocean of cars. Liz soon emerged from the rear compartment, stretching her arms above her head, glad to be free of the cramped interior. Jamie went to find a baggage cart, and they piled their belongings into it, Liz pushing it as they made their way to the terminal. They stepped through the automatic doors, emerging into a long, squat structure.

The roof was mostly glass, like a giant greenhouse that let the sunlight bleed in. The majority of the building was taken up by a large concourse that was lined on either side by stores and restaurants, escalators and elevators leading to the higher floors. Even this early in the morning, it was packed with crowds of people who were hurrying to catch their next flight.

"Which gate are we leaving from?" Liz asked, Jamie pulling up his phone.

"Twenty-eight. It's right at the other end of the terminal."

"Lovely," she grumbled, pushing the cart along behind him. They passed by dozens of storefronts, the scents of cooking food distracting Jamie as he weaved his way through the throngs of weary travelers.

"You want to get some breakfast?" he asked, turning to glance back at Liz. "We're here a good couple of hours early."

"Sure," she replied. "I don't expect the galley in the survey ship is going to be serving filet mignon. This might be our last chance to get some comfort food before we leave."

They steered their cart into a fast food restaurant, choosing a small table at the back of the room. The seating wasn't sturdy enough to handle Liz's weight, so she sat down on the floor, the table still at a comfortable height due to her stature. After examining the laminated menus, they ordered burgers and fries, Liz eating portions large enough for five people. While a human needed two-thousand calories a day to function properly, Borealans needed ten-thousand calories to maintain their enormous bodies, and plenty of protein. An employee wearing a colorful apron brought over a stack of cheeseburgers that would have looked more at home on a buffet table, Liz lifting one to her mouth and taking a generous bite. Meat and cheese was her favorite combination, so greasy fast food ticked all of the boxes.

"You've been to space before," Jamie said, pausing to take a bite of his burger. "What was it like?"

"I spent about a year in space," she replied, extending her long tongue to lick some of the grease from her furry fingers. "And that was just traveling to and from Borealis. Six months there, six months back. I'm not sure what I could tell you that isn't already obvious, though. You're in a cramped, sterile environment for long periods of time, and you'll have to endure several jumps to get where you're going. That part is never very pleasant."

"Do they really hurt as much as people say they do?" he asked warily.

Liz pondered for a moment, taking another wet bite of a burger. They were so small in her giant hands, barely the size of a slider by human standards.

"It's not that it hurts, exactly," she replied. "You might get muscle cramps and migraines, those hurt, but it varies from person to person. When a ship performs a superlight jump, it briefly exits reality as we know it, traveling into a higher dimension where the laws of physics no longer prohibit faster than light travel. We can't break that speed limit here, so we just send the ship somewhere we can. The downside is, living nervous systems don't do well there. Something about its properties stops them from functioning right. It doesn't matter that you're inside a ship or wearing a spacesuit. It's something to do with the way that the fundamental laws of physics differ in that dimension. You'll lose consciousness, and your nerves will go haywire, resulting in muscle spasms and disorientation when you come to. It's good practice to use the manacles on the crash couches and to bite down on a bit so that you don't accidentally bite your tongue off."

"I thought you might try to dress it up a little for me," Jamie grumbled, dipping a fry into his ketchup.

"There's no way to sugarcoat it," she replied with a shrug. "It sucks, but it's not dangerous as long as the right precautions are taken, and it gets a little easier each time you do it. I've even heard stories of ship captains who can remain standing on their bridge during a jump because they've done thousands of them. Don't worry," she added, brushing his leg with her tail beneath their table in an attempt to reassure him. "The jumps will be weeks apart, and we'll only be doing a few. Maybe half a dozen, depending on the ship. The rest of the journey should be pretty relaxing."

"I guess taking a few months off work to hang out isn't so bad," he said, perking up a little.

They finished up their food, then proceeded through the terminal, reinvigorated by their full stomachs. They soon arrived at a security checkpoint, where they were met by a pair of uniformed guards who were screening a queue of people. Liz and Jamie hauled their bags onto a conveyor that passed them through a scanner before sending them to be loaded, then they were waved forward.

Jamie lifted his arms as one of the guards passed a handheld device over his jacket, checking for weapons and contraband. Upon finding nothing, he waved him through the gate, Jamie turning to watch Liz step forward.

The guard hesitated as he glanced up at her towering, eight-foot frame, failing to conceal his alarm. Liz didn't stand out so much in the spaceport, it was one of the few places on Earth that one might expect to encounter an alien, but the reputation that the Borealans had garnered for being belligerent preceded them wherever they went. Liz wouldn't have swatted a fly if it could be avoided, but the guard had no way of knowing that. All he could see were the claws, the rippling muscles, and the bomber jacket.

He lifted his scanner, wary of getting too close as he ran it over her midriff, probably operating at the greatest distance the sensor would allow. She was tall enough that he had to stand on his toes to reach her torso, waving the device over her leather jacket. He was visibly relieved when he confirmed that she didn't have any concealed weapons, motioning for her to carry on. Liz gave Jamie a toothy grin as she joined him on the other side of the gate, and they began to load their carry-on bags back onto the cart.

"Hey, look," Jamie said as he gestured to another row of stores. "Duty-free. Want to load up on some tax-exempt booze for our trip?"

"You know Borealans can't hold their drink," she replied, "but go ahead. Getting plastered is a good way to pass the time, right?"

They made their way into one of the stores and began to peruse the shelves of glitzy jewelry, drinks, and gaudy souvenirs. Jamie picked up a small shopping basket on his way to the alcohol section, where he selected a few choice bottles of spirits, Liz idly spinning a rack loaded with colorful badges while she waited.

"Hey!" Jamie called to her, alarming a tourist who was browsing nearby. "They have snacks over here, I know you won't say no to those."

That got her attention, and she strode over to join him, the tourist slinking away when he saw the fearsome alien approaching. Such reactions had bothered Liz when she was younger. Her alien heritage had been a source of embarrassment for her, and she had taken great pains to hide her Borealan features beneath mittens and beanies. She had even tucked her tail into her pants in an attempt to avoid drawing attention. She had returned from the homeworld prouder and more confident, no longer fearing the curious stares of strangers.

"What have they got?" she asked, ignoring a display of exotic chocolates and candies completely. Her kind weren't very sensitive to sweet flavors, so sugary treats were of little interest to her.

"Beef jerky," Jamie cooed, waving a packet of smoked meat at her. She looked conflicted, like a drunk eyeing an open bottle of bourbon after months of sobriety, but she soon caved. He laughed as she scooped an armful of the plastic packets off the shelf, dumping them into the little basket he was carrying.

"Might as well indulge," she muttered. "We can probably fit them in one of the bags."

"Don't worry," he added, giving her a playful nudge with his elbow. "The UAS is paying for the elevator ride, so we don't have to worry about bringing a few extra pounds aboard."

They paid for their goods, then located their gate, taking a seat on the rows of benches nearby as they waited. For once, there were seats large enough to be comfortable for a Borealan, so Liz didn't have to sit on the carpet. Rather than sit a few feet away from her on the human-sized benches, Jamie elected to take a turn on the floor by her side. He leaned back against the wall, idly scrolling through his phone as he glanced around the terminal. There were quite a few people milling about, also waiting for their turn to the ride elevator up into space. It looked like it was going to be fairly packed. The company that operated the tether wanted to get their money's worth, no doubt.

"Have you ridden one of these things before?" Jamie asked, glancing up at his companion.

"A couple of times," she replied. "It's a much smoother ride than a shuttle, I'll tell you that much. It takes a few hours to get up to the station, but it's kind of like being in a giant elevator car, which I suppose is pretty apt. You can look out of the windows, watch the Earth slowly fall away."

"Any last messages you want to send before we leave?" Jamie asked as he tapped at his phone. "I'm sending one to my parents."

"What did they say when you told them where we were going?" Liz asked.

"Not a lot," he replied with a shrug. "We haven't talked much since I moved out. They weren't exactly overflowing with support after you left."

"You'd be surprised how easily a cute grandchild can reel in wayward relatives," Liz replied, reaching down to ruffle his hair affectionately.

It took another hour before their ride arrived at the gate, a mag-lev train with several cars pulling up to the terminal. A small gantry extended as its doors opened automatically, a good eighty people starting to form a queue as they boarded. Before long, they were packed into the seats, the train starting to accelerate along its rail as it veered away from the terminal. To Jamie's right, he could see the anchor of the tether through the windows, looming ever larger as they neared it.

The base of the structure stood several stories tall, concrete buildings that might be control rooms, warehouses, and boarding areas built into the exposed superstructure. Between them emerged a set of eight giant pylons that somewhat resembled oversized pistons. They were used both for securing the massive, sixty-thousand-kilometer cable and for making minute adjustments to its angle and tension to keep the orbiting station at the other end in the correct position. The structure that joined everything together was made up of naked beams and supports, like a giant, metal rib cage that enclosed the anchor.

The mag-lev made a semi-circle around the base, its rail raised a good twenty feet off the ground, eventually sliding into a cavernous hangar. It resembled a train station, with a concave roof made from exposed support beams and panes of glass that let sunlight shine through, half a dozen other magnetic tracks terminating here. Jamie gripped the handhold above his head to steady himself as the train slid to a stop, the automatic doors opening again to let the occupants dismount. He and Liz stepped out onto one of the platforms, the other passengers giving his alien companion a wide berth as though afraid that she might step on them.

At the far end of the station were a series of doors that led deeper into the building, the crowd slowly flowing in their direction. They stepped through onto a ring-shaped platform that encircled the base of the monstrous cable, the roof above their heads covered over by concrete this time, rather than glass. Ahead of them was the passenger car, a circular climber that attached to the cable like a steel fitting around a garden hose.

It was even larger than the train, and it could hold many more people, Jamie able to see a few passengers who were already milling about inside through the many round windows that lined its white hull. It looked almost like an old space capsule, albeit many times the size, tapering into a conical shape at the top to diminish air resistance during the climb. He was a little unnerved to see the housings for the flotation devices that ringed the base, designed to be deployed in the event of a malfunction that required it to detach from the cable and fall back to Earth. How exactly it did that when it seemed to be built around the cable, he wasn't quite sure.