There was the constant flow of goods and workers to and from the Earth station’s underground network of farms, industries, and warehouses. Robotic manipulators whirred back and forth loading and unloading cargo. The constant chatter of people filled the air; some more jubilant as they came back from shifts, others more subdued as they were heading down to start a shift. The main port was the largest area in the space station--the edge of our floating artificial society--the beginning of travel down to Earth. For everyone apart from us, it was merely to work in the underground commercial areas underneath the Earth dome, but for us--it was different. We were actually going to explore Earth and all its beauty and dangers. As we spoke, one of the several massive clunky personnel shuttles had just entered a transition chamber. Before the large interior doors slid shut, I could see the circular outer portal door. We would soon be going through there--into space.
"Keep the circulation moving," an authoritarian voice shouted from a high balcony overlooking the entire main portal. I looked up and could see a portal security uniform on the speaker. Down on the ground level with us, portal security officers dutifully obeyed, keeping the people entering our shuttle in the proper area.
Amid all this organized chaos, the four of us stood beside our shuttle entrance; our families standing by. Andy Stoneman and his dad exchanged non-committal shrugs and an awkward handshake, while his mom patted them both on the elbow. Stoneman was easier to handle in front of his parents. It was the only time he shut up. Martina’s parents came with one of her brothers. Her mom didn’t want to let go of Martina’s hand. Martina had to yank it away as one security officer shouted to us:
"Okay people, only passengers can remain here now. We're getting ready to board the shuttle!"
Doug Lloyd’s mom was blubbering the whole time, nattering unintelligibly about how he should take care of himself—be careful. Doug looked around at everyone, embarrassed at his mother’s lack of emotional control. My dad was there too, and he looked at Doug’s mom as if he could not understand for the life of him what was wrong with her. Doug smiled nervously at my dad and asked irrelevant questions about the mission to try and distract attention.
When we boarded the commercial shuttle, it was jammed with many other passengers. The hostesses ran around nervously making sure everybody was buckled in properly. The four of us were far from any window; stuck in the middle of the shuttle. I remember craning my neck to try and get a glimpse of the approaching atmosphere of Earth. We entered the atmosphere smoothly, with the usual commuters continuing to read or sleep, their heads rocking back and forth lazily. After passing through the atmosphere, the flight felt different. Even in this contained environment, I felt more alive and part of a real world.
I could hardly wait. We were approaching the Earth base dome.
The arrival of any incoming space shuttle to the Earth base is through a large tube of Zerite connected to the Zerite Earth dome. Like the rest of the Earth base, this was designed by 21st century terrorists to protect incoming shuttles from land attacks by irate Earth survivors. It is ironic to now realize the same tube protects space station citizens from the same type of terrorists who designed the system.
We took the Earth base and space station from them--now it was time to take everything else back.
The Earth dome was far different in appearance and feel to the space station's domed city. The space station domed city was designed for living, and was jammed with people trying to make the most of what was probably plentiful space one hundred years ago when it was first populated. Arriving at the Earth dome, the first thing you were struck by was how wide open it was. That first time when I came out of the shuttle and saw it; the open space made me gasp. The transparent Zerite dome only slightly tinted the majestic view of mountains.
Leading off the shuttle, people were being funnelled in a massive line to pass a security checkpoint. Beyond that there were various wide stairwells, people streaming down, heading to work. This occupied only one section of wide open floor space of the Earth base. The rest of the space was mostly empty with several heavily armed military personnel standing guard.
Away from this hub of activity, separating the mass of travelers from the more secure areas was a plexiglass fence. In this more secure area, towards one side of the dome, a military hovercraft stood in waiting. Around the base area were massive stairwells leading towards different parts of the underground tunnel system. On this side there were a couple of smaller stairwells with military personnel guarding their entrances closely.
The larger area on the secure side of the plexiglass fence had only military personnel. The security checks seemed to be going smoothly as we found ourselves advancing in the line. I was in front of my team. As I handed my ID card to the security check guard, I realized it was an android. They looked human from a distance, but their crude movements and ultra-smooth cosmetic finishing were quite apparent once you got close to them. The android held my ID card to its eyes, the familiar beep of approval, and then handed the card back to me. Andy Stoneman was right after me. He handed the android his ID card and in a very awkward glitch crushed Stoneman’s card in its silicon-covered metallic hand.
“What the hell!” Stoneman protested. “The damn android crushed my ID card!”
Two soldiers hustled over, examining the situation.
“Did you see that? That stupid hunk of junk destroyed my card.”
“We’ll have to process you manually.” One of the soldiers said. He started to lead Stoneman over to a table near an information system terminal.
The other soldier waved at the rest of the line. “Use the other line, everybody to the other line.”
Martina called to me, “I don’t know why they make these stupid androids. They always screw up. They should spend more time on making a machine that can process IDs properly instead of some silly doll that looks like a human being.”