CHAPTER 18 “Departure” Thursday 2 February 2812 The departure ceremony is turning out to be a simple affair, probably to the chagrin of Gregor Pfalz who always wants ceremonies to be like over the top. It’s not lacking for attention, however. It’s estimated that already over 60% of the world’s population is watching the pre-show … Read more
David Almandsmith
CHAPTER 17 “ZERO Station” Thursday 3 November 2811 My crewmates have already gone the additional 2,500 km to ZERO Station where you don’t need to worry much about dropping things; they just stay where you put them in mid-air, sort of. The GEO Station location was chosen so that “up” and “down” helped with quotidian … Read more
CHAPTER 16 “GEO Station” Friday 28 October 2811 I was like trying not to be late to my Extra Vehicular Activity class – E.V.A. class for short – when the damn yellow warning lights started blinking in my corridor. I set them off again. There is a five km/hr speed limit that I keep exceeding. … Read more
CHAPTER 15 “Elevator to Space” Saturday 22 October 2811 This time I stayed on the elevator car when the klaxon sounded and the voice announced, “Visitors please exit immediately.” Celeste led the six of us down the dozen or so ladder segments to the Observation Room. An elevator bell sounded, and a voice announced, “Space … Read more
CHAPTER 14 “Leaving Earth” Tuesday 6 September 2811 My hand is still sore and bruised where they removed my I.D. chip. They made quite a mess of it but at least they used enough care to prevent an infection. The new chip is in place and barely a mark remains there, about a centimeter from … Read more
CHAPTER 13 “Kampala” Wednesday 31 August 2811 Captain Perry concurred with me that my missing the trip to GEO Station was not a problem. The trip itinerary did not include any formal training and there was a reasonable chance that I would have suffered nausea much of the time anyway. VACATION! And with Caleb! Caleb, … Read more
CHAPTER 12 “MomDroid” Monday 29 August 2811 One day followed the next with the six of us in classrooms and online sessions and studying. I had additional training that the other five had long ago completed. ISTRI was trying to make me into an astronaut. I had to attend sessions of the briefing-that-would-not-die, be subjected … Read more
CHAPTER 11 “Complications” Sunday 31 July 2811 The pod climbed up the narrow road with Captain Perry and me. She remained silent as the pod came to a stop at my new home. I opened the door and rather perfunctorily said, “Thank you for the ride, Captain.” “Estrella, my apologies for not being conversational. You’ve … Read more
CHAPTER 10 “Trillium Project” Sunday 31 July 2811 The mission briefing was held in a large plain meeting room next to the office of Gregor Pfalz, the Project’s Director of Communications. Gregor started the proceeding by introducing the others who would be presenting at the briefing: Project Ethicist Jacques Arnould, Environmental Director Margaret Race, Recycling … Read more
CHAPTER 9 “The Beanstalk” Saturday 30 July 2811 At 10:02 AM, Danika knocked on the door and called out in a sing-song voice, “Good morning. I’m here.” Mom opened the door with, “Hi Danika. ¿We should have asked yesterday, but should we bring along something to eat?” “Hardly. There’s like a café on the Anchor … Read more