A Visitor to the Future - 15 - Approach to Earth
Part One: Earth
I wasn't the only one easily transfixed by the sight of Earth, as it turned out. As we began to get closer and closer, it was common for me to walk out of my cabin and see at least one or two people staring out of the windows of the gravity ring at the blue planet drawing ever closer. In a way it was very comforting - even for people who travelled through space regularly the wonder of a planet in space never seemed to dull.
I'd started meeting Sarkona in the canteen before we worked through the various things to learn that day - and I had asked for a tablet device so that I could take notes. Writing helped me to remember and order my thoughts on things - there was still so much to learn that I'd barely scratched the surface.
Sarkona had given me more time to myself as I began to feel more comfortable over the week, and I'd used that time to to explore the ship, talk with Tungsten and even help Antonia with her packing – if there was one thing I could do to help in this new age of wonders, it was to put things in crates as instructed. I'd also spent a lot of time learning Contact with Aln'ten, and was beginning to move a lot more comfortably in no gravity, though a week could only help so much.
We were on the final day of our journey when I found Tungsten standing by a window outside my cabin, the image of Earth reflecting off his eye-lenses. Always keen to practice his handshakes, Tungsten gave me one and gestured to the tablet. "Sarkona told me about your notes - I always say reflection is the key to understanding! Any interesting observations?"
"Depends on how you define interesting," I said, "I've mostly been writing about my favourite foods that I've tried. If they sold them in my time I think I'd have been bankrupt."
Tungsten tapped his cheek area in contemplation. "Interesting that you still think of things in terms of money. Though the habits of a lifetime are hard to break, I would guess. Tell me, can you see Anchor Station? I can just about make it out from this distance."
I looked out of the window and saw the Earth and the accompanying flecks of light that marked all the orbital infrastructure. I couldn't see anything in particular, and shook my head.
"Ah, well - we'll be transferring there soon enough. I wondered, have you read the rules of the Anchor Org yet?" asked Tungsten, his tone inferring a note of the mysterious.
"We're going through them shortly," I replied, "Are they interesting?"
"Oh, quite! Do let me know what you think. Anyway, I'd better head off. I'll talk to you later!" said Tungsten, giving me a wave goodbye.
I made my way around the ring to the canteen, which was now firmly my favourite room on the ship. Though my mind was having issues adjusting to the idea that I could eat as much as I wanted for free, my stomach had no such problems.
"Welcome back! This is a Helix Twist," said Sarkona, who was already eating some sort of toasted twisted bagel with shredded almonds on top. After the first few days Sarkona had just gotten into the habit of telling me what they were eating for breakfast so that I could get one too. I walked over to the food printer, which changed its display into English as I approached. From what I understood the device reconstituted biomatter from the ship's hydroponics bay and bioreactors into pretty much whatever form you wanted, though Sarkona preferred to cook from the raw ingredients themselves. I seated myself at the table and put my tablet in easy reach. But something was different.
"Sarkona, have you changed your nose?" I asked.
"Ah! Very perceptive. Tungsten thought you wouldn't notice for at least five minutes." They took another bite of the bagel, and I did the same. The exterior was bagel-like but the interior was much softer and slightly spicy, which was not a combination I was expecting, but was very nice.
Sarkona's new nose was a bit thinner and shorter than their previous one - it made them look slightly younger. Now that I thought of it, it reminded me a little of Dr. Grant's. I said as much to Sarkona.
"Yes, this is my original nose! While we get set up on Earth I figured it'd be best to stick with what I know works, nose studies will have to wait! Anyway," they said, placing a disc projector on the table, "We still need to look at Anchor's rules - we'll be transferring today!"
The projector lit up the surface of the table and I saw a list of rules helpfully translated into English. They said the following:
- During poor weather events, all visitors and residents of Anchor must stay indoors or follow evacuation procedures as instructed.
- Designated diving points must be used for any diving activites.
- All prospective residents must pass the Anchor Org Challenge.
Sarkona spoke up, "A bit long if you ask me, of course people will follow evacuation procedures."
"A bit long?" I asked, flabbergasted.
"Yes, what were you expecting?" replied Sarkona.
I stared at them for a moment. "I don't know, what about theft? Vandalism?"
"That's covered in the Consortium's base laws - these are just the rules specific to Anchor. I know some Orgs go crazy with their rules but they're really not necessary in most cases."
"And what is the 'Anchor Org Challenge'?"
Sarkona finished their bagel before responding. "Some Orgs have requirements before you're allowed to settle in their area - but they have to be genuinely fair, you can't just forbid anyone who doesn't know a password. As for the challenge itself - no idea, I've never applied for residency in Anchor before. When I last left Earth it wasn't even a thing! Why, are you interested?"
I looked at the wording and thought about it. Then I connected it with Tungsten's cryptic tone earlier. "I think I might be - Tungsten seemed like he was interested too."
"Then we'll have to check it out!"
_
The trip in the small transfer ship from the Promise of Sol to Anchor Station was not at all what I had been expecting. We spent about half a day in gyrochairs like those I'd seen on the bridge. I'd pictured cheek-pulling G-forces but it was more like being on a long flight on an airliner – though there was nothing to see outside the windows but stars. I'd pictured watching the Earth get slowly closer – but it seemed the angles just didn't line up.
Eventually, we docked with Anchor Station – which was a pleasant surprise as the docking port opened. Sarkona floated through and I followed behind.
The interior of the station was not what I was expecting. There was a very green and vibrant sense to the place, to the extent that it made the comfortable Promise of Sol seem metallic and bare in comparison. Leafy plants covered walls wherever possible and a lot of surfaces had a wood veneer, making the entire place seem warm and welcoming.
It was probably that false sense of security that made me jump out of my skin and realized there was no floor to the station, leaving what looked like a drop straight down into the sky - and sea - below. I recoiled and flattened against the wall - which was a bit awkward in no gravity.
"It's alright," said Antonia, floating over from where she'd been inspecting one of the wall-plants. She gave the perfectly transparent ground a rap with one fist, and there was a thunk noise as she made contact. "Just transparent, see?"
"Probably should have warned you," said Sarkona sheepishly.
I slowly relaxed, steeled myself, and began to take in the view a bit more. The right hand side of the glass floor revealed a majestic view of most of Africa, but my view to the west seemed to be obstructed by a large black line which occupied the entire left side of the window. I followed the line with my eyes, and could pick out tiny shapes climbing and descending the cable. It was like staring up at a massive skyscraper which reached up into the clouds.
"Surprise!" said Sarkona, "This is a space elevator! No messing around with fast re-entries for us, we can take things casually. Aren't carbon nanotubes super?"