章 159: Mei's Fast Ship

I stared at the computer screen for a while before speaking.

"Tell you what... I think we can get a better idea on where to move if we just took some time and saw the other celestials with our own eyes."

"Hmm? Sounds fine. But we won't make it to any of them in a weekend." Mei said.

"I can take the next week off." I suggested. "It's not like we are doing much nowadays anyway."

My current occupation on Anchorage was basically data analysis; classifying asteroids and small celestial bodies by their likely scientific, economic and strategic values. Since I was a former sensors officer in the Martian Navy, my skills were of great use there. My results would then be evaluated by Anchorage administration, and ships would be sent to various bodies so that they could perform whatever task was beneficial for the human population.

"If you say so." Mei said. It was easier for her to take a week off since she had her own business. She and a few of her colleagues were operating a paintshop for small spacecraft at Anchorage's spaceport. They would paint company logos on commercial ships, repaint worn-out patterns on government ships once in a while, or take jobs from private shuttle owners.

"Computer, take us to the spaceport elevator."

The autopilot of the car acknowledged my command with a beep and changed course.

"We are going now?" Mei asked.

"Why not?" I asked back, to which she gave no reply.

After about a 10 minute cruise, we arrived at one of the spaceport parking lots. We left the car, which was then grabbed by a car-stacking winch. It lifted the car and placed it on a free spot on the vertical car stack.

"The elevator is here." said Mei. "Let's go."

We got on the elevator, which took us from the surface of the Anchorage to the centerline of it's cylindrical structure. The spaceport was located on the rotational center of the cylinder, in order to minimize the effort of aligning incoming spacecraft with a rotating station entrance. Being in the center also meant that the artificial gravity would be at a minimum there.

The elevator decelerated as we approached the spaceport, and the doors opened. In front of us was a hallway that lead to various hangars, some housing small, privately owned spacecraft, while some others held large cargo and passenger liners in maintenance.

We entered the one in which our shuttlecraft was parked in. It was an Intersol shuttle with custom modifications by Mei herself.

And, about Intersol... It was the same popular spacecraft manufacturer which used to dominate Martian shipbuilding economy back in the days of the People's Republic of Mars. Such companies based on Mars and Earth were long assumed to be out of business -for obvious reasons- but Intersol had somehow reappeared after the whole existential crisis situation was "resolved". The difference was that they were no longer bound by the stricter laws of a socialist Mars, and now were popular throughout the whole civilization.

Mei took a short tour around the shuttle to do her pre-flight checks, and unlocked the hatch.

"I fly." she said, as if that wasn't the norm; as if she would ever give me a chance to fly the shuttle when we were together. I just nodded as I stepped inside.

I was thinking that Mei might have been having an internal conflict. On one hand, she was missing being in the pilot's seat and going on space adventures, after having spent most of her life doing exactly that in the former Martian navy. On the other hand, she was tired, and she wanted to have a simpler life where she could enjoy life as a ground-bound citizen; taking walks in parks, going shopping, watching movies and sometimes just sitting at home.

"Anchorage Departure, this is Shuttle Lodos IV. Requesting startup."

"Lodos IV, Anchorage. Startup clearance granted. Contact again on this frequency when you are ready to depart."

Once she had the clearance, Mei started up the various systems of the shuttle. I closed and locked the hatch and sat on the co-pilot's seat.

"Anchorage, Lodos IV. Startup complete. Request clearance for departure."

"Lodos IV, departure clearance not granted, repeat, not granted. You are queued to depart after the passenger liner Diamond Bridge makes it out of the docks."

"Copy."

The main doors of the spaceport opened, and our hangar was depressurized by letting the air flow out into the vacuum of space. Just afterwards, a luxury passenger ship slowly passed overhead. I could hear Mei's breathing get faster, as if she was getting impatient.

"Easy now, admiral." I said.

"Lodos IV, you are next in queue. Departure clearance granted. Contact Space Traffic Control on frequency 122.85."

"Contacting Space Traffic Control on 122.85, Lodos IV." Mei said, with a hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"Lodos IV, readback is correct. Have a nice journey."

Mei aligned the shuttle with the main entrance. Then, she instantly yanked the main throttle stick to full, and the shuttle shot forwards with great acceleration. We were both pushed against our seats, pulling about 4Gs. Within mere seconds, we were out in space. The exhaust blast from our engines could rather easily damage the port if Mei wasn't such an experienced pilot.

"Lodos IV, can you not?" a traffic controller said, disregarding any communication standards. And, in my opinion, rightfully so.

"Yeah, can you not?" I said, joining the criticism.

Mei didn't even take a moment to give an answer or just stare at me. Instead, she rotated the shuttle and accelerated to fly by the Diamond Bridge at some hundreds of meters per second, probably causing a great number of passengers to have bowel-related accidents. This fly-by technically wasn't illegal, but I would bet that it was going to be after what Mei had just done.

"What is wrong with you!?" I raised my voice, hopefully to no longer be ignored by her.

"Nothing." she said. "It's just me. I'm bored."

"Do we constantly need to be in war to keep you entertained?"

"No, that's not what I meant. It's-"

"It's what?"

"It's... Come on, now; we've been through this in the past. It is not like I'm doing something wrong. Why have a fast ship if you won't go fast?"