Ava spent several weeks preparing for her work off-planet. During orientation, she trained on Alliance's collection and storage procedures and sample analysis. She practiced with her assigned ship and skimmer. And, best of all, she was introduced to her companion, Pisk.
Pisk looked much like an earth feline. Though he wasn’t a cat, that’s how Ava saw him. A low slinky creature covered in mink-like fur, Pisk had a tendency to purr when happy. Unlike Earth cats, he had the ability to climb walls like a gecko. Further distinguishing himself from a cat, Pisk could speak a few words, but did so only on rare occasions. Pisk was assigned to Ava during training, and they had bonded immediately. Alliance regulations dictated that all employees on deep space assignments have a pet-like companion with them. It was sound policy because the black space surrounding a craft could create solitude so intense it had a psychotic effect on some minds.
Once Ava's orientation was completed, she would leave the solar system via the moon. Due to the tremendous release of energy required for dimensional transport, jump stations were always located on orbiting moons or other natural satellites. And Earth's jump station was no exception. Equipped with a modern way station, Earth's moon had only a small steady population in its single and unremarkable domed city, consisting mostly of terminal employees and their families. Earth, with its friendly environment, was simply too nearby to justify the expenditure of putting a city on the moon.
The day of departure, Ava arrived at the shuttle terminal empty-handed. Everything she would need was already stowed on her ship; and her ship was already on Earth’s moon aboard the massive carrier, having been ferried there by Alliance personnel.
Ava had shuttled to Earth’s moon several times during orientation and the trip was no longer a novelty. But, she had yet to see a jump ship, or transporter as they were more commonly known. With Pisk asleep next to her, Ava rested during the forty-minute flight, not opening her eyes until after landing.
The moon’s jump terminal was much like a large airport, only on a grander scale. Hovering above the building was the enormous E-H Transporter. Sleek and ovoid, it gleamed with the sheen of an opal. Ava stood speechless before it, gaping like a tourist seeing the great pyramids for the first time. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight. Ships of all sizes were being uploaded into the E-H. The giant transporter reminded Ava of a hive with busy bees swarming around it. Closing her mouth, Ava moved into the terminal where, due to her employment with Alliance, she was spared the usual agony of pre-flight check-in. She and Pisk moved past long lines of travelers, and went directly to the boarding station.
If she thought the outside of the transporter to be impressive then she certainly found the inside to be the opposite. Barren hallways led to the center of the transporter. Here, voyagers would stand in waist-high aisles in the order they entered. Seats could be dropped from the partitions if needed, and were being used here and there, as the passengers waited for the uploading to end.
Air conditioning was not supplied, deemed unnecessary for a flight lasting less than a second. However, it seemed the designers of the ship had not considered the loading time. Ava was standing behind a rather heavyset man who reeked of body odor. Unable to move backwards, or even turn to the side due to the press of people from every direction, Ava took shallow breaths and covered her mouth with her hand. She prayed they would soon get under way. Pisk buried his face in her neck.
In answer to her prayer, a recorded voice announced that they would now make the jump. A mere nano-second after this announcement, the same mechanical voice welcomed them to the primary moon of Tangerine in the 32nd sector.
Amazing, Ava thought, I never felt a thing. She had heard stories about earlier jumps when travelers felt as if they were being pushed through the floor. Modern jumps had thankfully advanced to the point where dimension shifts were unnoticeable.
Ava followed the odoriferous man from the ship, through many hallways, and portals, until she stepped out into a sight far more amazing than the transport station on Earth’s moon. A sprawling city, alien in nature, stretched before her like a scene from a movie, only this scene was real, and she was part of it. The buildings before her were not tall, rising no more than twenty stories, but what they lacked in height they made up for in mass. Some were as long as three football fields while others were no larger than a satellite banking facility. All were made of a material unfamiliar to Ava, and ranged in color from dirty white to deep bronze. Looking over the city from her vantage point on the docking station’s balcony, Ava noticed the city expanded from that point and radiated out like the spokes of a wheel, with the buildings getting smaller in the distance.
Wow,” Ava murmured under her breath.
Turning, she scanned the interior wall of the docking station. Iron ramparts ascended high above, and stretched far on either side. Multiple levels of docking ports dotted the wall, each opening onto a platform spanning the length of the wall and interspersed with glass-enclosed lifts, within which Ava could see people zipping up and down.
A burst of light caught Ava’s attention and drew her eyes upward. A dazzling meteor shower was in progress. As the meteors hit the protective shields of the complex, they were repelled, emitting an array of spectacular colors and drawing ohhs and ahhs from observers.
As the stellar show ended, Ava continued gazing up, marveling over the unseen force that protected the living beings within its shelter. Invisible to the eye, the shield could deflect massive projectiles from the outside while maintaining an artificial environment within. These force fields had a strange quality; they allowed nothing to move them from the outside but were completely flexible from the inside. It has not been determined to what degree a shelter could flex, as the maximum had not yet been reached.
Ava noticed that vids in the area were offering information about the jump site and the surrounding city. She stepped near and jacked her headphones. Watching the vid, she listened to the commentator. Pisk placed his ear next to hers so he could listen too. They learned how the station dealt with waste of all kinds, turning it into useful material, including fuel for ships and supplementation of the city’s power supply. Businesses offering a range of goods and services from the practical to the whimsical, including hotels, entertainment venues, and souvenir shops from multiple galaxies, stood ready to meet the needs of the interstellar traveler. Information kiosks were situated throughout the terminal.
Scanning ahead, Ava looked at the different views of Tangerine. One shot showed the planet from deep space. It resembled a big dip of sherbet hung suspended in blackness, its huge moon a generous dollop of cream, and its second smaller moon a mere dot. Thought to be uninhabited by intelligent life, the planet offered a variety of indigenous flora and fauna that would fascinate and intrigue any scientist. It was also strictly off-limits as it had not yet undergone testing of the sort Ava would be performing. The information known about Tangerine up to this point had been collected via unmanned probes.
Ava disconnected from the vid, and looked skyward again. Floating above the city, like an oversized balloon, was the planet Tangerine. Gazing at the glorious shades of orange, Ava felt strangely drawn to visit the planet now, but that wasn’t to be. While Tangerine was on her list of assignments, she wouldn’t evaluate it until later. Her first mission was in the galaxy, Alfea, four jumps from her present site. The first stage of those jumps was being announced now. She took one last longing look at the planet overhead before she and Pisk entered the portal to the transporter to make their next jump.
Arriving at the rather unremarkable jump station on Xenorel’s moon, Ava took possession of her ship and was cleared for flight. Pisk settled into the co-pilot’s seat, his large eyes on Ava. Following the coordinates given her by flight command, Ava maneuvered away from the moon station. Moving past large barges and ships smaller than her own she gloried in the feel of being in control, of having no one to answer to directly, at least not here and now.
After exiting the main flight congesti
on, Ava found nothing but space in front of her.
“Look at that, Pisk,” Ava breathed in awe. “All that space just waiting for us.” She and her companion soaked up the view for a few minutes. Finally, Ava asked, “Ready?”
Pisk nodded in agreement.
Ava programmed the coordinates for their first stop, hit a button, and the ship entered hyper speed. Leaving Xenorel’s moon behind, she began her new career hurtling through a blaze of stars, with new experiences just over the horizon.
Notes of Interest
Cover art for “Troll” by Joerg Michael & Sonja Gehrke ©Depositphotos/DigitalArtB
“Troll” was originally published in shorter form in Alone, Selected Short Stories Volume Three by Wodke Hawkinson.
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Author Biography
Wodke Hawkinson is the name under which writing duo PJ Hawkinson and K. Wodke produce their collaborated works. The authors have been friends since high school, and began their co-writing partnership in 2009. Before combining forces, each completed solo projects in addition to publishing various short stories and/or articles.
Both PJ and Karen attended school in Kansas. PJ graduated from Hutchinson Community College, and Karen attended HCC and Kansas Wesleyan University. Both reside in different Midwestern towns, and do much of their collaboration via telephone and the internet. However, they have been known to discuss ideas while casting their lines at a quiet lake, as they both enjoy fishing.
We hope you enjoyed “Troll” and will take the time to peruse our other works as well.
~Wodke Hawkinson
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