Category: Uncategorized

Distant Love (Part 16)

He cannot be serious.

“Can you hear me, Maeve? Please respond”

Her mouth stayed shut.

“Can you hear me?”

Maeve pressed the button to respond. “No, I’ve never taken control of the ship. I’m sure the Captain would be much better; she is much better.”

The male voice responded. “I have been examining the schematics of the ship. Your control room is set up for internal communications only. It must be done from your location, and it needs to be done now, I’m afraid.

There is a backup ability to take control at your location. You need to listen and do exactly as I say.”

Maeve bites her lip. “Okay.”

“Come on, you have ruled large Empires. You can do this. First of all, I need you to press the orange button on your console.”

Was he referencing the games I play? How does he know about that? There’s no way. Look, need to concentrate on the here and now.

She presses the button. Her screen momentarily turns a bright orange. “What’s happening?”

The male voice calms her. “It’s okay. I now need you to enter the following code. The screen may go blank and the communications may be temporarily interrupted, but don’t be alarmed – C865322567.”

She enters the code.

Distant Love (Part 15)

Derek’s eyes flash from one screen to the next. It’s almost time for him to chat with Maeve again. There is sweat on his brow.

He presses the button to reopen communications with C4365. “This is Moon Sector C. Come in C4365.”

A high-pitched voice replies. “This is C4365, over. Am I happy to hear from you.”

Derek smiles. “What is your status C4365?”

“All non-essential people on board have been evacuated. My mum, eh The Captain wants to know, can we commence the procedure to land in Moon, Sector C.”

“Maeve, and I hope you don’t mind me using your first name. But, we’re going to have to talk to each other an awful lot if we’re going to get through this. I’m going to be frank, is that okay? You won’t panic on me.”

For a couple of seconds, there is silence. Then a response. “I won’t.”

“Your ship was never designed to land, not on the moon and definitely not on Earth. Still, that doesn’t make it impossible. It should be very possible if you listen to and follow my instructions closely. And the ship cannot be abandoned as it’s already on a collision course that could potentially hit a moon station. Now, my first question: have you ever taken control of the ship before?

Distant Love (Part 14)

Maeve takes off her communications headset.

That call ended quickly. What was his problem? Guess I’ll have to work with him either way,

She sends a message to her mother in the control room, updating her on the conversation.

Now she is left with a wait.

Perhaps Derek is online.

She checks all the usual gaming sites on the console in front of her,

Where is he?

She bites her lip.

This is silly. I’ve never even met the guy. Yes, I can talk to him for hours; he is considerate and funny. But I’ve no idea what he looks like or even what he sounds like. I’m so ridiculous. Oh, Derek, where are you and what are you up to? And why are you so inscrupable? Are you afraid of me or something? I wouldn’t destroy you in reality like I do at the gaming.

A beep goes off. It’s a message from her mother.

STAY WHERE YOU ARE. HYSTERIA BREAKING OUT UP HERE. PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY THAT THEIR TRIP IS BEING CUT SHORT. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO. BETTER FOR YOU TO CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

Maeve smirks. Very good. I told you not to use all caps in your messages, though. So rude.

Hours pass as she awaits the next communication.

Distant Love (Part 13)

“You have a go C4365. You are cleared for the emergency landing at Moon Sector C. Please acknowledge”

“Thank God,” she replies.

Derek magnifies the screen and, using his mouse, draws a tangent from the ship to the landing area. “It will be six hours till we can start the landing procedure. I am going to familiarize myself with your ship. Reopen communications at five hundred hours. What’s your name by the way?”

The reply is swift. “Maeve”.

“Sorry?” Derek goes cold.

“You can call me Maeve. What’s your name?”

“Yeah, as I said, we’ll communicate again.” Derek clicks the mouse, ending the transmission.

Nathalie looks over at him wide-eyed. “Everything okay?”

“It’s my Maeve. She’s on the ship. I’ve just spoken to her!”

“No way, what are the chances? You’d better make sure that ship lands safely.”

Derek lets out a groan

Nathalie frowns. “That bad?”

He nods as he looks up at the ship’s specifications. It’s a thirty-year-old W-Class Transported. Not only is it far larger than anything he had attempted to guide to land before, it wasn’t built to land at all. Damage from a solar flare had not been countenanced.

Oh, Maeve, how am I going to get you out of this?

Distant Love (Part 12)

It is a female voice. “This is C4365 over. Please acknowledge. I repeat. This is C4365 over.”

Derek clicks on the screen to respond. “This is Moon Sector C acknowledging. What is your status? I repeat, what is your status?”

Her voice is cackling and breaking up at times. “C C C4365 in diff difficulty. Need permission.. repeat permission is needed to land in Sector C.”

Derek frowns. Emergency landings on the moon are rare, and unheard of in Sector C. This would be a management decision. “C4365 Keep your communications open. Your request is being determined.”

He ends the call and instead sent a communication request to Moon Sector A, to his manager Selena Basque.

Selena is forty-four years old with long, black hair and a tanned complexion. She is short and has a fuse even shorter. “Yes, Derek.”

“A ship is requesting to do an emergency landing in Moon Sector C.”

He hears a groan before she replies.

“Look, you’ll have to step up. You can do this. This flare has caused carnage. We already have multiple incoming here.”

The communication came to an abrupt halt.

I guess that’s a go, so Derek. Time to step up and get this done.

Distant Love (Part 11)

Derek stares at the screen and smiles. Most of the ships are moving in the expected trajectory. “How are things on your side, Natasha?”

“Good, everything appears fine, but that was close. The first one we’ve seen in months. You”

Derek grimaces. “I thought I was in the clear, but there’s definitely something up with C4365. Bolux. It must be in trouble.”

Natasha stands up and looks over at him, her brow furrowed. “How do you know?”

“Well, let me put it like this. It’s zigzagging all over the place. And that cannot be good.”

She walks over and stares at his screen for a moment. “No, definitely not. You know what to do. Follow procedure. You can do this.”

“So much for an easy day at work.”

He opens communications with C4365. “Please advise your status. You have deviated from your flight path.” The message is put on continuous repeat.

Tapping the table, he wonders how badly the ship has been damaged and hopes he won’t have to stay on late. There was a good documentary about the planned colonization of Sedna that he wanted to watch. To him, it seemed so much more exotic than his own existence.

A cackling noise came over the communications device. Then a voice started speaking into his headset.

Distant Love (Part 10)

Then her mother turns to Maeve. “You are now in charge of communications. Your father and I have too many other things to attend to. Go to the portal and relay what is happening to Calvenish and Sector C of the moon. Now, hurry, time is of the essence.”

“Will do. Stay safe.” Maeve walks to the elevator feeling hot and uncomfortable. It’s been some time since her father showed her how to use the portal.

I hope I remember how to use it.

She goes down three floors. This one is very different. There are no guests, no chatter, or furniture. Instead, it feels and looks metallic. Maeve feels the hairs on her arms stand up. Each step creates a loud clang echoing down the corridor.

Such a creepy place.

She pushes onwards.

After a brisk three-minute walk, she reaches the room. Her hand pauses over the red button to open the heavy door. After a big breath, she presses it.

It slides open to reveal a room brimming with electrical blue pulses. In the centre is the headset that will connect her neurons to the communications array.

Her muscles tense.

Derek is in Sector C. What did he say his job was? We might be about to meet.

Distant Love (Part 9)

“So what now?” Maeve asks

Her mother, Aishling, looks at her ashen-faced. “The thrusters have been affected. We already have the momentum to bring us to the Space Station Calvenish. We were due to stop there, but they won’t have the required equipment to repair the ship.

The moon is the best option, Sector C, I reckon.”

“Will the gravity not tear the ship apart?” Maeve felt her body heating up

“Your mother is right,” her father, Jack interjects. “The ship should manage it.”

There was no point in arguing when both of her parents were in agreement. That was something that she had learned years ago.

“What about the guests. They will want to know what is going on. We have to think about the future business brand.” Helen always thought about the bottom line.

Jack looks at her for a few seconds before speaking. “The shuttle craft can take them to Calvenish rather than docking when we’re within range. It will take multiple trips. You can stay at the station with them till we return.

Helen folds her hands. “And what do I tell our customers, not to mind investors?”

Aisling bangs her hand on the holographic projector. “Tell them the truth.”

Distant Love (Part 8)

Maeve walks out into the main corridor. It is filling up with guests, many with questions about what happened. They look at her, mouths wide open. She brushes past. This is the first “urgent” message she has received; her heart is throbbing.

A few minutes later, she reaches the small lift that will bring her to the deck. A few years earlier, this lift was strictly off limits. It became somewhat magical in her mind, a portal to a forbidden land. No longer.

The door opens to a panoramic view of the Earth in the distance. A wrinkled woman with long grey hair, her mother, glances back at her while looking at a holograph display of the ship. There are two other people present. One is a bald, pensive-looking man, her father, and the other is the head of customer care, Helen Johnson. Helen, a short, chubby woman, is usually happy and good-natured. Now, she is pale and vacant.

“What’s happening, Mum?”

Her father speaks. “It’s nothing to worry…”

Her mum glares at him. “The solar flare has damaged key circuits in the ship

Maeve is dumbfounded. “But how?”

Her Mum averts her eyes. “Too many cutbacks over the years.”

Distant Love (Part 7)

Maeve

With the aged woman in the wheelchair, she pushed her to a table in the large entertainment room. A holographic film of young romance is playing on the table. It appears to be having an effect, with plenty of holding hands around them.

The film stops, and red lights in the room corners turn on. A siren then goes off. Maeve turns to see the door locking. She looks around. There are no other staff members in the room. It is her time to shine. Her heartbeat quickens. In a raised voice, she speaks. “Ladies and gentlemen, there is no cause for concern. A solar flare is heading towards us. However, once we stay in one of our rooms, which have all been fortified, everything will be fine. This will be over shortly.

The room’s translator relays the message in what Maeve guessed was Spanish.

There is murmuring behind her from some of the dozen guests present. Too many people are speaking for the translator to kick in.

The lady that she has just pushed into the room raises her and speaks. It translates as, “Listen to the lady. She knows what she is talking about.”

Maeve pats her shoulder. “Things will return to normal shortly.”

The film and the normal lighting turn back on to applause. Maeve smiles. Her wristwatch vibrates with a message – Report to the deck of the ship, Urgent.