1.1: Full House

The passengers aboard Icarus get to know each other a little.

The dock was crowded with humans and outworlders alike. Though most of their people preferred to remain in the oceans that spanned all of Ecco, it was not uncommon to see brine or basker mantises in the Floating City. Many of the younger natives ventured up to the surface every so often to quench their thirst for adventure but typically returned to the deep within a few months.

Several shops lined the polished white walkways, selling everything from bizarre edibles and alien trinkets to clothes and electronics. And antique store boasted real wood furnishings. A blacked-out weapons shop advertised a discount on pest control.

Dez was easy to spot in a crowd. He leaned against a magazine kiosk just inside the terminal. As Halette approached he bookmarked his page and slid the tablet into his back pocket.

“That’s all you’ve got for cargo?” he asked, gesturing to her travel bag. He offered to take it and she gladly obliged. To her it had been quite heavy but he slid it over his shoulder with ease.

“This will hopefully be a short trip,” she said as they walked down the terminal. “I just have some business to take care of and then I’ll be returning home.”

“Do you live here in the City or down on Ecco?”

“I live all the way on the other side of the planet. Business and government district. Until yesterday I’d never been to this side. Nor the ground, for that matter.”

“You’ve never been to Earth before, have you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well, it changes a person. Seeing all those derelict buildings and ghettos and smashed cars, it can make someone a little...jaded.”

They stopped in front of a black gunship. The plating had been freshly lacquered and the dock’s lights swam across the glossy surface as they walked around to the loading dock. Dez set her things down on the elevator that descended to meet them. The ship’s name had been engraved on each wing: Icarus 9.

As a blonde woman in holy garb approached them, he said: “I hope you don’t mind, I took on a couple more passengers. There ain’t many patrols between here and Sol; it’s mostly lawless space. Pirates are less likely to board a full vessel.”

Halette nodded and greeted the priestess. New Order missionaries were all over the galaxy, spreading the word of The Evolutionist, Peter Hawking. They preached that the universe and heaven were one in the same and worshipped the forces of nature and science. 

They waited a few more minutes and the rest of the passengers arrived; a dark-skinned Persean native, his only cargo being a cache of paper products; a young man in search of work; a fair woman in a doctor’s uniform; a half-breed scientist from Ecco’s surface. 

 

The ship’s interior was finished with no loose cables or exposed pipelines, a rare trait in private vessels. Amongst the safety warning posters, maps and TV panels were old adverts for music events, movies, BluNet shows and nightclub venues. There were even a few planet directories on which Halette could see Dez had marked his favourite spots with a star.

They had been in flight for an hour now, and the captain called everyone to the mess hall after they settled in.

“Well everyone, I hope you’re comfortable. Most trips it’s just my crew and I, so those rooms don’t get much breakin’ in, if you get me.” He lit the cigarette hanging from his mouth with an orange Zippo and tossed the lighter into a pile of clutter. Halette noticed a thick accent, somewhat Southern with a foreign flair, that he was trying desperately to cover up.

He began to introduce the crew, starting with a young black man wearing an apron who leaned against the counter. “This is Ian, the MacGyver of chefs. He can make space rations taste like real food.”

The fair woman who had boarded earlier with Halette stepped forward. “I’m Eva Kaniel, M.D.”

Dez added, “Should you get a papercut or sever a limb, pay her a visit and she’ll patch you up well.” He then gestured toward an olive-skinned young man with beautiful green eyes. The muscles of his arms and torso were well defined, suggesting a lifetime of heavy lifting. “Last but most certainly not least is the engineer and tech expert, Tank. He keeps the AI patched and all the machinery running smoothly, so thank him for his hard work when we land on Earth.”

He took a drag of his cigarette and smiled at the young man who flashed a shy grin in response. Halette picked up on the fondness with which Dez had spoken about the boy and wondered what their history was.

 

 

Halette dumped out her bag and reorganized everything, clearing out foil wrappers and plastic tabs, wiping the fingerprints off her tablet and smoothing the pages of the two books she’d brought.

She was just killing time at that point. Everybody had been introduced to everybody else, and lunch had ended not long after. The other passengers lingered around the commons, making small talk about space and starships and the absurdity of parliament. Tank had retreated to the dark bowels of the ship, and Kaniel had grudgingly left the captain’s side to tend to her duties on the life support deck.

It was nice to get away from formalities and bureaucracy, even if only for two days, but she had never been good around groups of people. She’d unintentionally insult someone and things would be awkward for the remainder of the flight; bad blood in such close quarters in the void could drive a person crazy.

More than anything else, though, she didn’t trust herself. She was afraid she’d let something slip; she’d divulge too much information and spoil her mission. Such a mistake would be both costly and dangerous.

A knock on her door startled her from her meditation. “It’s open,” she called.

The young man who had boarded earlier�"searching for work with a lunar construction depot, he claimed�"smiled as the door slid open before him.

Halette straightened up. “How may I help you?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, miss. It’s funny, actually. We’ve even got a pool going. Um, a couple of us are arguing whether you’re Irish or Scotch.”

She laughed. And here she thought she’d be able to go through the flight unnoticed. “Well, what if I told you I’m both?”

“Your accent, ma’am?”

Ma’am? Do I look like a ‘ma’am’? “It came primarily from my mother, I suppose, so it must be Scottish.”

The young man hesitated a moment, then said: “Why don’t you come join us? You don’t expect to spend the next two days alone in here.”

“A very nice offer, but I’m not good with crowds.”

He stared at her. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Halette smiled helplessly. “Okay, okay. Just give me a moment to finish tidying up, and I’ll be out to the commons.”

“Good. They won’t believe me if I tell them anyways.”

Maybe this won’t be so bad, she thought to herself as she made her way towards the commons. I’ll just have a couple drinks and laughs go to the library or something.

The captain was nowhere to be seen.

The young man popped up from his seat and introduced himself. “By the way, I’m Roy. The Persean is Zayed, and this is Sister Paluva.”

She took a seat next to the priestess and smiled. “I’m Halette. Nothing special about me, really. Just off to visit some friends on Earth. Oh, and by the way, my accent is Scottish.”

Zayed snickered as he gathered all the marks from the table and scraped them into his lap.

“Where’s the scientist?”

“Mantis-man? He’s up with the doctor in life support. Good riddance if you ask me. Stinks like fish.” Roy poured a round of white wine from a box. “Captain disappeared a while ago too.”

“He doesn’t smell like fish, though,” added Paluva with a giggle.

Author's Note

This is a small interim between the prologue and the real meat of the story. Longer, more eventful chapters are soon to follow, I promise. :)