Extract from chapter three of book one of “Aeonian Void”.

 

Henry stood nervously in the assembly point, resting his hands on the handle of the suitcase at his feet. He adjusted his tie and shoulder bag again as he discreetly looked around the room at the other smartly dressed young men and women, each with their own nervous expressions and body language, standing or sitting around the edge of the area. Some of them made eye contact and gave small smiles before looking away again whilst others looked down at their feet or used their pads to go over the joining instructions they had all received a week before coming here for the hundredth time, endlessly checking they had not forgotten anything. He decided to focus his attention yet again on the large sign on the far wall which read “Alliance Navy Transfer Point”.

                In the centre of the room was a single, small table with a fold out chair on one side of it and a large pad resting upon its surface. Sitting upon the chair was a naval serviceman who had introduced himself as PO Summers, followed by asking for his name and ending this short conversation with telling him to stand in the spot he currently found himself in. As first impressions went it wasn’t off to a great start. He hadn’t been the first in the room, with two other trainee’s also being there, who also looked slightly bewildered as what they had let themselves in for had slowly dawned on them. That had been almost an hour ago and a large number of others had arrived since then, all of which had received the same greeting as he had. No other conversations had been initiated since he walked in the room by anyone in it and the PO had not once got out of his chair, remaining focused entirely upon his pad as he sipped water from a flask.

                Another person walked in the room, a young women carrying two large carry bags who stopped at the entrance and looked around with a flustered look on her face. The PO glanced at her, looking her up and down with a frown. “Your late.” He stated. “The joining instructions stated you were to be here no later then an hour before lift off.”

                The trainee nodded before speaking. “Im sorry, my connecting shuttle was grounded because of engine failure, I had to wait for the replacement.”

                The PO grunted before giving her the same reception we had all received. Once he had taken her name and tapped it on the pad he cleared his voice as he stood up from the table. “Ok ladies and gents, now were all here, we can get going. Follow me please.” At which point he turned towards the door and started to walk out at a brisk pace. Everyone else started to quickly pick up their bags and follow him as he disappeared out of the room, attempting to catch up with him as he led them through the terminal towards the far landing pad. On it stood an idling long range orbital shuttle with its side access walkway open and illuminated. The PO led them across the landing apron and up into the shuttle. As they reached it he told them to leave their bags to one side in a pile to be loaded by the crew into the hold before leading them up into the passenger compartment, standing to the side just as he got in before instructing them to fill up the seats from the front. As Henry did so he got a glimpse of two of the crew members beginning to carry the bags along the hull towards a large access hatch which led underneath the seating area before he stepped from the cold, dark air into the well-lit and warm passenger compartment itself. He followed the person in front, finding himself sitting in the end seat of one of the rows. As he sat down he found himself sitting next to the same women who had arrived late in the waiting area. She smiled and nodded to him as he sat down. He did the same then, after a few awkrad seconds of silence as they waited for the other trainee’s to pass by and fill the seats bhind them he introduced himself. “Hello, my names Henry Anders.”

                She smiled again as she replied. “I’m Sarah Berran.” She paused before continuing. “Nervous?”

                Henry nodded. “Little bit have to be honest. Yourself?”

                “Yep!” she replied, her smile broadening.

                “Still think youv made the right choice?”

                Again she hestitated. “Yep…? She replied, with not a lot of confidence this time. They both  broke into laughter. She then turned to the man sitting the other side of her. “My name is Sarah, this is Harry”, she said, motioning to me with her thumb.

The man gave a small smile and a nod before responding. “I’m James Duffy but feel free to just call me Duffy” he said with a strong Northern Irish accent. Sarah and myself nodded back. “Do you think you have made the right choice about joining up mate?” I asked.

Again James smiled as he shook his head “Not even remotely!” all three of us burst out laughing at that. Before the conversation could continue the access door hummed as it folded back into the hull, closing with a hiss of air. The second this occurred the PO turned to us and raised his voice. “Listen up. The journey to Luna should take about two hours. Once we land il escort you off and then were form up for your welcome speech before we show you where your be billeted. Any questions?” everybody either shook their head or remained silent. “Sweet. Get your heads down for a quick nap, get to know the person next to you or just chill, up to you. Il be at the back if anyone needs anything.” Not waiting for a response from us he walked briskly down the aisles towards one of the rear unoccupied seats and sat down, bringing his pad out again.

The three of us looked at each other. I decided to ask the obvious question first. “so, why did you guys join up?”