First Impressions (Breaking Away part 1)

First Impressions

  Breaking Away part 1

  by Sarah Baethge

  copyright 2011 Sarah Baethge

  Everything within this is either a product of the author’s imagination or its name/description is used fictitiously.

  The flight in had been smooth.

  The landing had been fine so they said.

  Sure, the fellow meeting him seemed to be a little late, but it isn’t like that’s the end of the world.

  The thought made Parker chuckle. Not the end of the world, huh? Now that’s almost a shame. Now, of course, that thought brought a sting of guilt; making him nearly choke upon the laughter.

  Samuel’s quiet laugh had drawn the curious looks of a few of the other bored waiting passengers in the spaceport lobby with him. Other people, who seemed to be mostly waiting for their own flights to distant stars or stations to arrive; people who would ‘ooohh’ and ‘aaahhhh!’ when they first caught sight of their great height from the window. Some parents even unconsciously pulled their children back from the glass, as if that will somehow protect them. Unfortunately, noticing the windows only brought Parker’s closeness to the ground back to the forefront of his mind.

  Quickly closing his eyes, Parker’s hands gripped the arms of that little chair the stewardess had helped him to. Clenching his teeth, it took every ounce of his will to fight the spasm of his stomach and keep himself from vomiting. He could only be thankful that he hadn’t felt hungry (premonition?) before the flight. It was an eerie sensation; to be pulled down by the gravity of an entire planet was almost something like being pulled towards the back of an accelerating airship; he simply could not escape the constant strain that seemed to want to tug him directly through the floor.

  “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” the cheery stewardess who was helping Sam off the spacecraft had assured him on their venture to the lobby. “You can just sit in this chair until you feel up to tackling the stairs down.” She smiled up at the young man who seemed far too tall for his age.

  “What!” Parker couldn’t believe what she was saying. “We’re not on the ground yet!?!? I knew that landing was a bit hard! Just what did we crash into? Where are we now? Was anyone hurt? Do I need to see a Dr.?” That could explain this sudden sickening dizziness.

  Surprisingly though, his concerns almost brought the stewardess to laughter; “A doctor? Goodness no. You know how some planet-born get motion-sick in space? I hear about the same percent of space-born don’t cope with gravity well.

  “As a large rocket engine that is more than half the size of the spacecraft we were in was still underneath us when we disembarked, we’re on the ground, just some 16 stories up; in the lobby. Were this some more populated planet I’d just pop you in an elevator and say ‘good day,’ but in this part of the galaxy, people don’t often pay for what they can make do without; meaning that on this planet, you’ll find few elevators. I’d help you down the stairs myself, but I have to get back to the rocket as my job before it takes off on its next flight.” Not to mention, this sick little boy is so tall (height unchecked by gravity, I guess) I’m not exactly sure that I can be of much help to him. “Someone is coming for you, right?” Babysitting wasn’t part of her job, but leaving such a young-looking (preteen? Impossible to tell with his unnatural tallness) man alone in a big, nearly empty spaceport, on this desolate planet felt wrong.

  “Yeah, one of the people I’m staying with should be here somewhere,” Sam assured her with a casual gesture towards some groups of people that were obviously families or friends greeting one another post-flight. Being much older than he looked, he had found that admitting the expected arrival of ‘guardians’ was generally more effective than claiming his age. Anyway, he assumed it was true enough; one of the people who hired me had better be nearby. As the stewardess smiled and patted Parker’s shoulder (nearly cringing as she noticed the unusual extra-thick texture of his medical-protective ‘skin-suit’) before walking off; he was left suddenly aware of just how incredibly heavy his own hand caught in the air pointing seemed.

  Was I perhaps a bit quick at signing up for this? Parker thought as a new wave of dizziness hit him. Any casual thought of the gravity only made it more impossible to ignore its constant crushing presence. Is this outlandish Hell truly the same ‘sublime paradise’ I was hired to come help save? Looking around filled his mind with disbelief at how most people seemed to move without taking any notice of the inescapable restrictive force.

  Unsure of exactly how he should proceed; Parker closed his eyes, trying to just ignore the ungodly amount of weight pulling at his arms and feet. If those TGR people really still want me, we can meet right here; I don’t exactly feel ready to brave the 16 flights down alone.