Day 3 of my 30 Days of Space Writing Exercise from November had previously — well, why don’t I just let Chris Jericho explain it again:
Again, if you want to see more of where I went with this, check out the full list of 30 Days in Space scenes.
Copyright J.B. Norman
As she stuffs them into the shipboard laundry Kathryn isn’t sure if being seasoned with holy salt and soaked in holy water means she’s supposed to treat them in some special way, but she isn’t sure what else to do with that. So she decides to risk it.
And if she ends up being smote by the gods of p’Taa Minor, she’ll know the exact moment she went wrong…
“So, That’s the end of the job for the Academiarchy.” Kathryn says, towelling off her still-damp hair as she convokes her crew, such as it is: her younger sister Dunstella, the sisters’ robotic assistant Wembley, and the tagalong Alvaraean Amarantha who’s been travelling with the Starstone sisters since the incident on Fidelio Station – the less said about that, the better.
“Where are we off to next?” Kathryn asks, taking her place in the table in the middle of the ship’s living area.
“Lunch!” Dunstella says eagerly.
“No,” Kathryn says. “I mean where in the galaxy?”
“Right. We can talk about that over lunch,” Dunstella insists.
“Captain, we did just get a rather handsome payday, did we not?” Amarantha notes. “Why not treat ourselves?”
“Fine,” Kathryn sighs.
After lunch, the three examine the ship’s holographic map of the Oikomene
Galaxy. One sector is highlighted ominously in red and marked with warnings.
“What’s going on there, Wembley?” Kathryn asks.
“The ongoing conflicts between the Ghibellino Bloc and the Welf Patrimony have escalated. Several additional systems in the Alighieri Sector have been drawn into the fighting. Unaligned pirates are also becoming increasingly active throughout the Sector. Most galactic authorities are warning against travel.”
“Wembley, connect to the Freelance Pilots’ Collective notice board and give me an update,” Kathryn says.
“Yes, Captain,” the robot says, remotely communicating with the galaxy-spanning OikoNet.
A list of notices begins to scroll across the galaxy map.
“Oh,” Amarantha exclaims, leaping to her feet. “That one!”
“What one?” Dunstella asks, lost amid the long scroll of text.
“I saw a job on the Ice Moon of Ledu!” the Alvaraean princess continues eagerly.
Kathryn and Dunstella stare blankly at her.
Amarantha stares blankly back at the blank stares confronting her. “You’ve never heard of the Ice Moon of Ledu? The Everfrost Drifts? The Endless Aurorae? The Crystal Labyrinth?”
“No,” Dunstella answers.
“Goodness,” Amarantha mutters. “The Crystal Labyrinth is one of the natural wonders of the galaxy – a glacier full shaped and carved by millions of years wind and geological movement. They say it’s made of the purest ice in the entire galaxy and the ice halls inside the glacier are popular with explorers. I’ve only seen it in holograms and pictures, but I’ve always wanted to see it for real. Oh, Captain, we simply must go to Ledu!”
Kathryn turns to Wembley. “What’s the job?”
“As it happens, Captain,” the robot butler explains. “The ice machine on the fifth floor of the moon’s most prominent tourist hotel is broken and the hotel’s management is requesting the delivery of a replacement cooling coil.”
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