The Solar Wind (2 page)

“Hi, I’m Helena Marks” said the young woman. Ava introduced herself and the two young women began to talk. Ava felt surprised to see how friendly Helena was, not many people were in this age. Most everyone kept to themselves. Helena’s perky twenty-four year old personality cheered Ava a little bit. She disco
vered Helena’s reason to travel
to Orionis; to be a sever technician migrating for a job. Her parents had encouraged her to migrate as soon as possible after college. They too wished to join her at the first opportunity. Work was scarce in her location of what was left of the United States.  She hoped to begin a new life and one day visit some of her other friends that have migrated to the other stations.

One of the starship attendants made final rounds to check to see that everyone in the human transport cabin was secure before lift-off. “This is it, there is no turning back now” Ava mumbled to herself.

             
After a brief count-down The Solar Wind blasted off. After they cleared Earth’s atmosphere, the disposition in the cabin seemed fairly peaceful. Ava and Helena chatted amicably about their lives on Earth and what they each knew about Orionis. Ava liked Helena’s upbeat and positive outlook on life. She appeared to be very trusting of strangers, something that Ava was always cautious about. Helena’s peppy personality matched her physical appearance perfectly. Her travel attire was practical and fashionable. She wore stylish silver boots, light gray pants and a new white cropped coat. The perfect waves of her shoulder length hair bounced whenever she turned her head. Even her eye makeup looked perfect, applied expertly around her light icy blue eyes. It seemed fairly obvious that she had come from a privileged family and was a tiny bit spoiled despite her need for a job. Ava and Helena got along with each other agreeably, both seemed relieved to have met each other and would be friends starting out in a new environment. Ava expected to be entirely alone beginning her new life on a space station and was happy that she now had a new friend to share experiences with. As the trip grew tiresome, Ava reclined her seat and drifted into a dream-less sleep.

Chapter 2: Orionis

             
Ava woke at the sound of the intercom. The starship attendants issued instructions for the landing procedure that would begin soon. Ava felt as though she should be taking notes as the instructions seemed to go on forever. The passengers were advised to report immediately to the ITO Migration Point in the hangar on Orionis to begin the check in process. Although nervous, Ava brimmed with excitement as the ship landed.

             
The passengers formed a line awaiting th
e cabin doors to open. Several minutes passed and they groaned as they
slowly
slid open. Ava raised herself up on the tips of her toes and gained her first glimpse of her new home. The gigantic brightly lit hangar bustled with activity.  There were many starships present of all shapes, sizes and colors; some large, some small, and some coming and going through the airlock. People seemed to be everywhere doing various tasks, though everything seemed to be well controlled and calm, business as usual on what seemed to be a typical Monday. Large monitors were positioned around the hangar with vivid green words, numbers, and symbols indicating the status of the various vessels present. One of the starship attendants ushered the passengers out onto the landing dock and down the steps to the ITO Migration Point. Ava’s deep blue eyes flashed all over the hangar taking it all in as they approached the office. Since she was in the middle of the line behind Helena they would have to wait their turns to be processed. While waiting and filling out an electronic questionnaire, Ava could not shake the feeling that someone’s eyes were on her. She glanced around a few times and thought she saw someone in the distance staring at her. For a split second their eyes met. He leaned against one of the monitor kiosks staring intensely at her with wide eyes. The distance made it impossible to discern specific features. Ava could see that his hair and eyes were dark, his face expressionless.

             
“What are you looking at Ava?” Helena demanded, realizing the story that she was telling did not hold Ava’s attention. Ava looked down at Helena and glanced back at the stranger who had disappeared.

             
“It’s nothing. I wonder how much longer we have to wait to be checked in.” Ava remarked slightly impatiently, changing the subject.  She didn’t want to dwell on it, although that didn’t stop her from looking around frequently. By the time her turn came she had not seen any further sign of the stranger.

Ava sat down at the small desk as the uniformed ITO officer began to process her arrival. The officer, a cheerful middle aged woman with short blonde hair smiled as Ava handed her the electronic tablet to sync. “Let’s see, Ava Amherst, age 25, hair; Auburn, eyes; blue, height; five feet seven inches, weight; 130 pounds, marital status; widowed, occupation; Nurse Practitioner. Oh yes, I processed your approved application. You’ll be working at the Orionis Medical Center on Level 3 in the outpatient clinic with Dr. Grant. They are looking forward to having you there, they are so busy.” Ava liked the officer’s friendliness.

             
“Let’s get your ID processed and then we’ll go over your orientation schedule and living quarters arrangement.”

Each new immigrant to Orionis received a photo identification card that was linked to a bank account and served as a debit card when making purchases. The ITO on Earth assisted Ava to create an account on Orionis and transferred her credits prior to her departure to expedite this process and ensure she would have access to her money immediately after arrival, not that she had much saved. There was no such thing as legal money lending or “credit” anymore. The amount of money, or credits, a person had at any given time in their account was all a person could spend. If you didn’t have the money to buy something, you simply did without. If you spent more than you had, you were arrested. This system often set new immigrants up for failure due to the high cost of living on the stations.

“Okay, everything’s all set Ms. Amherst. Tomorrow you will report to the ITO orientation office on Level 3 at 8 a.m. for the new resident orientation program. They will review all of the major laws of this station among other things. You can access the station handbook and map from the internet in your quarters. Tomorrow you will also be taken on a short tour of the third through fifth levels to help you become more familiarized with where things are located. Your quarters are located on Level 4, residential district number three, unit number forty-seven. You’re lucky; a single dwelling became available last week so you won’t have to share with anyone. Your first day of work will be on Wednesday. Report to the Outpatient Clinic at the OMC at 8 a.m. Dr. Grant requested that you shadow him for a week or so until you feel comfortable on  your own, then they’ll work out a schedule for you, but they will talk with you more about that on Wednesday. Now, if you’ll have a seat in the waiting room next door we’ll finish processing your group and escort everyone to their quarters with their travel trunks.”

Helena waited impatiently for Ava to be checked in. “Isn’t this exciting? I’m going to be working on Level 5 and living on Level 6. What about you Ava? What level are you on? Are you going to have a room-mate?”

“No room-mate. They gave me a single dwelling. I’ll be working on Level 3 and living on Level 4. It looks like I’ll be able to walk to and from work, I’m glad, the public transportation fees for the trams are outrageous.”

“Wow, Level 4, that’s nice.” Ava thought she detected a slight note of jealousy in Helena’s voice. Ava’s prior research of Orionis revealed that the station had 12 levels. Like an onion’s layers, the outermost levels were larger and the lower, inner-most levels were smaller and more compact.  It was no secret that the more affluent people and businesses were situated closest to Level 1 and it seemed to go down from there. The extent of the differences in class amongst the levels did not seem to be widely publicized. Ava figured they would learn more at tomorrow’s orientation.

“I’m going to have a room-mate.” Helena mockingly pouted. 

“That’s great Helena; you’ll have someone who can help to show you around.”

“Yeah, I guess so; I wasn’t expecting a room-mate. I’ve never lived with anyone other than my parents. I always had my own place in college.  I hope she’s not a psycho.”

“I’m sure she’s not.” Ava laughed as they exchanged addresses so that they would be able to call and message one another.

The ITO completed the registration of its new residents. There were a few more people in the waiting room that must have come in on other starships. Several sighs of relief were heard as the tram arrived to collect everyone and their possessions to escort them to their new homes.

Ava was one of the first residents to be dropped off on Level 4. Most of the others would most likely dwell on one of the lower levels. Ava suspected that because of her profession, she needed to be closer to the clinic and was assigned her quarters based on this. An ITO officer punched a code on the number panel next to the door. A chime prompted Ava to press her thumb on the digital scanner to record her thumbprint which would now be her entry key. Once everything was set the door silently slid open and Ava said good-bye to Helena as two of the officers carried her trunks inside. The door shut instantly once Ava was inside and the lights turned on. They were apparently set to activate on motion sensors in order to conserve energy. The vents began to cycle once the sensors were activated, flushing out the dry, stale air. What a nice little one bedroom apartment Ava thought. Although small and plain, it was neutrally decorated and adequately furnished. A small lightly cushioned couch and metal table were in the center of the main living area.  A large monitor/television hung on the main wall next to the tiny kitchen. Two small stools stood at the kitchen bar/counter. Whoever had lived here before arranged the small desk with the computer next to the entryway, a nice placement Ava thought. Next Ava checked out the small bedroom. A twin sized bed, small armoire and dresser overwhelmed the space. The bathroom next to the closet also housed the laundry equipment, small, but more than adequate for one person. Overall Ava felt satisfied with her new home and began the task of unpacking her few belongings.

After a short rest, Ava accessed the map of Level 4 online and decided to venture out to buy some food. Residents were allocated a set amount of water each day. Using more than the assigned amount meant receiving a water bill above and beyond the rent. Most residents could not afford this. Ava felt exhausted by the time she reached the store. This is weird she thought, she didn’t usually become so tired from walking. Must be the long journey she thought. Food and plant life, especially produce, were precious commodities on any space station. The outermost level of any station was dedicated to sustaining oxygen gardens, agriculture, and also farming of edible food. No one looked up as Ava passed through the crowded avenues and arrived at a small store. Ava never expected friendliness from anyone, it just didn’t happen. Making ends meet was hard and everyone had their own agenda, mainly survival, therefore people tended to keep to themselves.

Ava walked through the entryway into the small store. Everything appeared to be arranged in a neat, orderly fashion on the shelves an
d in the refrigerated units. She
scanned the shelves for the basic staples and was astonished by the prices. English and French were the primary languages used on Orionis. Ava only knew a few words in French. She could not identify many of the items on the shelves because of the plain packaging and language barrier. On Earth most food products could be identified just by looking at the package, it didn’t matter what language was used. Without pictures or illustrations, Ava had to spend more time standing there, figuring out what things were.  Being in a store when you are hungry is not good for your budget, it’s even
worse when you are starving. She
remembered from the online map that there were a few more stores further down the avenue. She left the store without buying anything. A few minutes later Ava stood
outside of the second store. She
hoped for the best and walked in. These prices were even more expensive than the first place and most everything was labeled in French.
She
couldn’t believe it. Much to Ava’s relief the third store, “Foust”, had slightly lower prices than the first store, but not by much. Ava knew it would be a few weeks until her first payday so she could only afford only a few of the basics. No produce this week. Looks like it will be rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a while. Anything to fill an empty stomach. It won’t be so bad once I get paid, Av
a kept thinking. By the time she
returned home with her few precious food items, she could barely keep her eyes open. After a quick rinse in the shower and eating a small bowl of rice she set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. and went to bed.

Ava followed the directions from the online map to the ITO Orientation office on Level 3. As she walked she observed her surroundings. The passages and avenues appeared clean, sleek and simple. The streets consisted of a pattern of white and silver tiles. The offices and shops that lined the corridors demonstrated their uniqueness in their store front designs and colors of their lighted signs. The light gray industrial ceiling did nothing for the imagination. Orionis certainly did not have a reputation for excitement, nor was it a vacation destination. However, dull as it may have seemed, Ava appreciated the cleaner air and peaceful environment. She never enjoyed living underground on Earth. The entrance to the ITO office seemed impressive compared to the other offices around.