Chapter 02: Val
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Val was surprised! She hadn’t made arrangements to leave for the moon today, but here she was about to pilot her new commander in his private ship to LunaBase for the briefing. As she lifted off the high-rise’s tarmac roof, she considered how many other things she would find as surprising as this once they reached their destination. She supposed there was nothing pending at home that couldn’t be left undone until she returned, although she did not know how soon that would be. Val had always drifted, never really settling down anywhere, so an impromptu trip to the moon shouldn’t have surprised her it like she did. There was just an uneasy feeling that she didn’t recognize, like she was heading toward danger or something. She pushed it out of her mind as she flew them out over the Puget Sound.
The ship was not so hard to maneuver, and she found it quite easy once she settled into her piloting duties. Chan remained quiet beside her, apparently watching the ease with which she handled the ship. It was a long time before he spoke, almost until they were brushing the ozone. When Chan did finally resume conversation, Val became at ease once again like before, more excited for the future rather than simply nervous.
“It is probably obvious to you at this point that the purpose you serve in this team is to pilot. So long as you are able to complete your duties as a pilot, you will be allowed a bit more freedom than in many jobs you have had before. I expect you to be ready to leave at any given time, and not hesitate when I instruct you to fly something you may not fully comprehend.” Val looked sideways at him, unclear what he meant about not fully comprehending a ship. Chan merely chuckled and continued, “You have personality traits that make you among the most qualified for this job, your unspoken curiosity being one of the attributes I most admire about you. That curiosity will serve you well in the field of science we study.
“You understand of course that I didn’t always study time travel. When I first enlisted for service, I was drawn by my curiosity to the idea of discovering intelligent alien life. My goal in life was not to advance time travel, but to meet a new species. Obviously, our inability to travel beyond the Sol system has put a damper on that. It wasn’t until I met a man named Cole Sydney that my work moved into a more practical realm. The study of time travel provides for two separate and unique outcomes. First and most widely recognized is the ability to move through a fourth dimension in a direction of our choosing. Second however is the outcome that originally attracted me to this field. If the ability to travel a distance through time can be made a reality, then the distance from our system to another becomes plausible as well.
“Getting from one planet to another in a matter of minutes or hours is commonplace, but moving between stars would still take a lifetime or more. If we were able to break through the barrier that the fourth dimension presents, then the distance between stars becomes much smaller. You see, if it takes only moments to travel through years of time, then the lifetime it would take to travel between stars could be similarly condensed in to a trip of only a few days.” Chan had a fire in his eyes, an excitement much younger than the eyes in which Val saw the expression.
Val was suddenly grateful for her acceptance into Chan’s team. She of course had heard about Cole Sydney, the young man who years ago had recognized the importance of time dilation when nobody else seemed to care about it. His story was usually only a footnote in the history of space travel, but he had apparently sparked Chan’s interest, who had in turn sparked Val’s own interest. “Is Cole still a part of your team?” she asked.
The Admiral’s answer was simple. “Yes.” Val waited for him to expound on the reply, but after a few silent moments, it was obvious he was not going to continue. She though it rather odd that while sometimes Chan seemed to run-on a bit with his explanations, at other times he remained in what appeared to be quiet contemplation. He had apparently just made that switch as he gazed out the front window at the remnants of the atmosphere falling away from the ship, accelerating into space. Chan suddenly seemed to Val like a mentor or a wise college professor. The smart contemplation coupled with the dignity and intellect his manner exhibited made Val feel comfortable with him, as if she could ask any question without fear of being reprimanded for stupidity.
“You may explore the ship if you are inclined to do so,” Chan offered suddenly. “I can make sure that our destination does not get out of sight for a little while.” They both looked ahead at the glowing gray orb in the distance.
Val sensed she was being politely excused from the cockpit, and now that they were out of the atmosphere, there was relatively little need for concern even if the autopilot were engaged. She responded quietly, “Thank you, sir,” and got up from her seat, taking her water bottle with her. She squeezed between the seats and out through the cockpit door, shutting it again behind her. As she came down the short hallway into the main body of the ship again, she saw Ms. Audrey seated, gazing quietly out a window. She looked up at Val when she entered the room.
“Hello,” Ms. Audrey said, plainly.
“Hi. I was just going to look around the ship a little bit,” Val replied. “Do you know your way around?”
“Sure. Would you like a tour?” Ms. Audrey said, seemingly snapping back into her role as being in charge of all things trivial.
“No, not an official tour.” Val didn’t want to be professional with this girl. She sensed they could become friends if they didn’t become coworkers first. “Why don’t you just tell me about the ship here, and then maybe I’ll go look around later. Would that be alright?”
Ms. Audrey seemed confused. “Oh, if that’s what you would prefer.” She picked up her TekBoard again and started tapping it for information. “What would you like to know about first? The engines and propulsion drives maybe?”
Val sat down next to her and glanced at the schematics visible on its surface. “How about you tell me about its passengers first? I know about me, and I have just been talking with Admiral Chan. What about you? How did you end up on this boat?” Val smiled at her, and Ms. Audrey set her TekBoard down in her lap.
“Oh, this is a personal visit.” Ms. Audrey seemed oddly let down by the idea of not doing business.
“I guess so. You work for the Admiral, and now so do I. I thought it would be nice to get to know the people I will be seeing frequently. Why does the Admiral call you Ms. Audrey? Is that your preference, or is that his?”
Ms. Audrey reflected on that for a moment before answering. “My name is Audrey. That’s the only name I have ever been given. I never knew my parents or their last names because I was an orphan when The Admiral took me in. He was never married and has no natural children, and he adopted me when I was ten years old. I guess my last name is technically Chan, but I have never used it. The Admiral calls me Ms. Audrey around other people to give the impression that I am a member of his team rather than the closest thing to family he has. It sort of makes me seem more important.” She smiled warmly. “You know, I have always wanted to tell someone that, but nobody has ever asked me.”
Val now saw the youth in the girl’s face again, like when Audrey had welcomed her aboard. “Well, I won’t tell anyone else. I don’t want to get you into any trouble with the Admiral.”
“I won’t get into any trouble; he’s not as tough as he seems.” Audrey brushed off the idea easily. “The Admiral likes his team to be casual, even when he is not. He and I are the only ones that wear uniforms. He says that we do so because we are the ones that the public is able to see. Everyone else on the team does their job, and when they step outside the lab they are just regular people to anyone who sees them. The Admiral on the other hand is always an Admiral wherever he goes, and I am usually with him.”
“Doesn’t that get boring?” Val inquired, growing more curious about Audrey even as she learned more about her. “I mean, following the Admiral around, taking care of the things he calls trivial?”
“I don’t think so. I always wanted a parent when I was young, always wanted someone to be proud of me. I think I make him proud of me now, simply by exercising my strengths. My purpose in this team isn’t trivial, it’s to multitask many things that may seem trivial at first glance. Your sunglasses and candy for example, nobody else would have thought they were very important, nor would anyone else have taken the time to personally pack your clothes from your apartment, pay your landlord several months ahead in rent, and hire a cleaning service to make sure the place doesn’t become stale while you are away.”
Val was surprised again, a trend she didn’t think she liked very well. “You were at my apartment?” Audrey just smiled, and then Val exhaled lightly. “You are right. I hadn’t given much thought to what would happen to my apartment while I was away. I don’t even know how long that will be, to be honest.”
Audrey smiled again, her sweet girlish grin. “You don’t seem very upset about that,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“No,” Val answered, “I’m not the kind of girl to really get attached to things very long. I move around a lot, never really settling in anywhere. It’s a pilot’s life for me I suppose.”
They laughed together for a few more minutes, and then Audrey showed Val around the ship a little bit. The tour was short, but included both the engine room and the sleeping areas. Eventually they made their way back to the main cabin, and Val looked out the window, noticing they were much closer to Luna than she expected. She thanked Audrey graciously for the tour and the company, and she rushed back to the cockpit. As she squeezed past Chan again and slid into the pilot’s chair, she apologized for taking so long.
“I trust Ms. Audrey was able to answer all of your questions…” The Admiral seemed to let his statement hang in the air for a moment before looking to Val for a response. Val simply nodded and continued strapping herself in for the descent to the surface. “Good,” he continued. “Ms. Audrey has always been the only female on this team, and I sometimes think that she could use more female role models.”
Val felt uneasy again. She knew that she wasn’t the most responsible person in the system, and didn’t know how to be a role model. Being a role model was something that parents and heroes did, but Val was only a flyer. She cleared her mind of all that nonsense and began rolling the ship to put the surface below them in order to make the approach to LunaBase. The rocky lunar terrain was sliding beneath them as she slowed the ship and reduced altitude. The base’s dock was coming into view ahead of them and docking instructions were displayed on one of the console screens. She landed the ship as directed and Chan smiled at her, apparently glad she flew his ship so easily.
As they were about to leave the cockpit, a chime sounded on Chan’s wrist. Chan answered the call, “This is Admiral Chan.”
“Sir, it’s Cole. We have just received a private communication sent to you from Mars,” said the man’s voice issuing from the communicator.
Chan’s brow furrowed, as if confused. “I have just landed with Val. We’ll be in momentarily and I’ll receive it then.”
“It’s marked as urgent, sir, from the Militia at Mars Colony.”
