Distant Love (Part 23)

Maeve’s hand trembles as she sees the ship is approaching the first marked point. Everybody she loves is on this ship, and their lives are now in her hands. This is not the extra responsibility she looked for from her Mother over a month ago. The manager of a section of the ship would have done.

Just some recognition, that’s all I wanted. Nothing like this.

She ignites the thrusters for four seconds. The ship’s descent is slowed.

The surface of the moon is coming closer now, and she can now make out its major craters along with various human settlements, including Sector C.

Once more, she fires the thrusters. Again and again. All she can do now is hope.

Derek and Nathalie look out through the window of their compound as moon ash is thrown up toward the darkness of space in the distance.

Nathalie put her hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s okay. You did everything you could.”

A solitary tear rolls slowly down the side of his face. “I sure hope so. If anything has happened to her…”

“Don’t think like that, Derek. Nothing good will come of it. Be positive. You need to prepare to finally meet the woman of your dreams.”

Distant Love (Part 22)

Maeve hears Derek take a large breath. He speaks in a serious tone. “Your ship has no landing gear. To have a soft landing, you will need to initiate the thrusters at certain points as it descends. Even then, it would ordinarily be considered a crash landing.

“I’m going to change the holographic display. You will now see a much smaller ship in front of you and the moon in the distance. Your landing area is marked out, along with the different points on the trajectory you need to take action at.”

The new holographic display appears.

Maeve stares in awe. “I don’t know about. Can you not do it remotely, or maybe get an AI to do it?”

“I’m afraid not. Unfortunately, I will be unable to communicate with you as you near the surface. No AI has been trained on what you are about to do.

It’s up to you, and you alone.”

There is silence. Maeve says, “I understand.”

For the next ten minutes, she watches the ship approach the moon. She launches the thrusters at the first marked point. Then releases.

Derek speaks. She can hear the fear in his voice. “I’m about to lose communications. Best of luck, and I’ll see you soon.”

Distant Love (Part 21)

Maeve feels her heart beating, “I’m not sure I can do this, Derek.”

“Yes, you can. Remember when you thought you were a goner in Terminutus V? I messaged you that you could do it, and you did. And I’m telling you now, you have this.”

She grinned. “You always were my biggest supporter. If I do make it through this, we must meet up. You can show me the best places in Moon Sector C. What do you say?”

There is a pause for a few seconds.

“Yes, we’ll do that. I promise.”

The holographic display begins to flicker, and a red dot appears. Maeve purses her lips. “There’s something wrong.”

Back on the moon, Derek is trying to understand what has gone wrong and what can be done to rectify the situation. He bites his bottom lip as he looks at the timer at the bottom right of his screen. It shows fifteen minutes counting down. It denotes the time left before Maeve either lands safely or dies in a massive fireball.

You can do this, Derek.

“Okay, Maeve, we need to cut off the fuel to a thruster. Press the red dot three times.”

She did so, and the display stopped flickering.

Derek tapped his desk. “Okay, Maeve. Here comes the hard part.”

Distant Love (Part 20)

She replies in an excited tone, “This is Maeve.”

“Good to have you back, Maeve, and sorry for leaving you. The solar flare created a major problem with some of the lunar systems. Everything should be fine now.”

Maeve jerks as the holographic display reappears.

“The holographic display should be back. Now we have to go a bit faster, as we’ve lost quite a bit of time. It’ll be like that game you play. What was called – Mars Odyssey?”

Her heart misses a beat. “How do you know that?”

“It’s me, Derek.”

“No way.”

“Yes, it is. What are the odds, eh? I know it’s such a strange way to finally meet. But must get back to the task at hand. There’s not much time.”

Maeve closed her eyes and took a big breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Derek went through a series of actions that would need to be done in quick succession. “Okay, Maeve, let’s see what you can do.”

Seconds later, Maeve’s hands flail all around her as she controls different parts of the ship. “How’s things going, Derek? The hip has started to rumble.”

“Stay calm, the ship is starting to feel the moon’s gravity. You are doing great so far.”

Tom Hardy Shines in Mobland : A Crime Drama Review

Ladies and gentlemen, this is straight off the press. If you are going to watch one crime series this year, then let it be this one. First off you’ll recognize the list of truly great actors involved – Tom Hardy, Guy Richie, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan.

The Series follows the coming and going of a family of Irish gangsters called The Harrigans. They are vicious, but it is to warm to them. Most, if not all the action revolves around Tom Hardy who plays Harry DaSouza, a loyal fixer for the family. He finds himself in different predicaments as he tries to get the family out of one mess after another. All the time, his own family are causing further difficulties.

From Wikipedia – The Harrigans, a London crime family, find themselves in a battle with the Stevensons that could end syndicates and their lives. Harry Da Souza is a street-smart and formidable fixer employed by the Harrigan family to navigate and mitigate the escalating conflict threatening their empire. As tensions between the families intensify, Harry is tasked with protecting the Harrigans’ interests and preventing an all-out gang war.

The series is gritty, full of violence and realistic twists. Da Souza is not portrayed as some sort of Superman, and the different stories seem plausible.

As usual, it’s hard to know what future series will be like. They may just get silly as sometimes happens. But Series 1 is a must see for raw drama and emotion. At times, it feels like a grand Shakespearean play. Watch it, whatever it takes. It get five stars out of five for me.

Distant Love (Part 19)

Maeve waits for the communications to resume. She is sweaty and repeatedly tapping the side of the computer console. It’s been over twenty minutes since the communications ended.

She hears the clanking of steps. Someone is coming towards her.

Her mother enters with a frown, just as she had expected. “What happened Maeve? I thought we had things under control.”

“The communications abruptly ceased. I’ve tried everything I know. Things seem to be fine at this end, the lunar end seems to be the problem.”

Her mother leans back against a wall. “Well, they better get their house in order or we’re lunar dust. That moon is getting bigger all the time.”

“They will Mom. The guy I was talking to, I trust him. He’ll figure something out.”

“I hope so, Maeve. I hope so. I’m going back up. Keep me in the loop sweetpea.”

She never calls me that. Things are very bad indeed.

A cackling sound. Maeve reacts, “Is that Moon Sector C? I repeat, is that Moon Sector C?”

“This is Moon Sector C.” Maeve grinned at the sound of the familiar voice. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if he was handsome. She just knew he was.

Distant Love (Part 18)

The voice spoke to Maeve again. “Okay, our trajectory is still a bit off. Look to your right. Do you see the orange line? I need you to hold your finger on it for ten seconds. Now.”

Maeve lifts her hand to the right and holds it there.

“Peerrffect. Well..” The line goes dead, and the holographic display disappears. Maeve looks around the room, her pulse racing.

In Moon Sector C, Derek stares at a blank screen. The room is dark except for a red, hazy light coming from the four corners of the room.

Nathalie shouts, “What in the Earth just happened?”

Derek shakes his head. “It must be some sort of power cut. I think we’re on emergency power.”

“Yes, you’re right. I think I remember reading it somewhere in the Emergency Protocols.” She walks over to the door and looks through the transparent top. “We’re not the only ones affected. Scary, what if we run out of oxygen?”

“No, there is an emergency supply. I’d be more worried about the ship that I’m pretty sure is now on a direct collision course. Whatever the problem is, I hope they fix it fast. At least it would be quick.”

Nathalie stares at him, “You are a strange one.”

Distant Love (Part 17)

The communication line goes silent.

A holographic display appears around her. Each section of the ship is detailed in multicolor light. Her mouth is ajar as she hears the man again.

“Maeve, can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?” His voice sounds tense.

“Yes, I can hear you. It worked. A holographic display has appeared around me. It’s like I’m in the middle of it.”

The male voice takes a large breadth. “Well, thank the stars for that. So, there’s not a second to lose. I need you to turn your head left. Do you see a flashing, green light?”

Maeve frowns and looks to the left. She sees the flashing green light. “Yes, I can see it.”

“Good, the ship is currently travelling too fast. We need to reduce its velocity. Put your finger on the flashing green light for five seconds. You will feel the ship slowing down.”

She puts her finger on the light. The deceleration pushes her forward in the seat. “You should have told me I needed to be strapped in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Trying to think about so much at the moment. Yes, you need a belt, and so does everyone else on the ship.”

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?