CHAPTER 2 – LEAVING FOR A NEW LIFE
The planet Providence, in the Alpha Centauri System, 4.36 light-years away from the Solar System.
15:34 (Universal Time)
Wednesday, May 21, 2324
West Outer Access Rotunda, Level 9, A.M.S. KOSTROMA
Docked at the passenger terminal of the Las Americas orbital station
Low Earth orbit
‘’Our passenger load for this trip is going to be pretty close to our maximum capacity, Serena.’’
The registration booth attendant nodded her head to that remark from Natalia Vasilyeva, the tall blonde woman who was KOSTROMA’s head hostess: all ten registration booths of the West Outer Access Rotunda were manned and fully occupied, with hundreds of prospective passengers lined up at the booths and waiting to be registered in.
‘’Indeed! If all the passengers who took reservations show up, we will have just over 4,300 passengers for this trip. Thankfully, that would leave us with still 200 places available for late or unexpected passengers.’’
‘’True!’’ replied Natalia, a 38-year-old native of Hygiea, one of the main asteroid worlds of the Solar System’s Main Asteroid Belt. ‘’With our cargo bays also filled with prefabricated modules and cargo pods, this will be a very profitable trip for us.’’
The registration booth attendant then had to concentrate her attention on a family of five that had just stepped forward. It was composed of a man and a woman in their early forties, two teenagers and a preteen boy. All five were obviously of Latino descent.
‘’Good afternoon and welcome on the KOSTROMA! May I see your reservations, please?’’
‘’Here they are, miss. My name is Pedro Mendoza and I am traveling with my family to Providence, where I am going to take a new job there. The Providence Mining Corporation is supposed to have paid for our passage.’’
The booth attendant took the reservation slips offered by the man and quickly scanned them on her computer station, then read the information that appeared on her screen before smiling to Pedro Mendoza.
‘’Your passage has effectively been paid in advance by the Providence Mining Corporation, sir. If you may take two steps to the right and position your back against this white screen, I will take a picture of you and then produce your embarkation card.’’
‘’Oh, okay!’’ said Mendoza before moving to a position sandwiched between a white partition screen and a digital camera. The picture taking took only a couple of seconds, following which the attendant asked the man to put both hands down on a pair of glass screens, in order to register him via fingerprinting, a standard procedure concerning space travelers: with the faint but still real possibility of some kind of emergency happening in space, the central computer of the ship had to be able to account quickly for every occupant of the vessel. It also prevented some passengers from becoming stowaways, something that still happened, however infrequently. With both photo and fingerprints taken, the attendant was then able to give to Pedro Mendoza a plastic embarkation card bearing his name, photo, date and destination of trip and his assigned cabin number. The card also came with a long neck ribbon clipped to it.
‘’Here is your embarkation card, sir. Your family will occupy Cabin 926, on Level 16-D. Please wear your card from your neck when out of your cabin. I will now register your family members. Just wait next to that man behind my booth while I do that: he will guide your family to your cabin once you are all registered.’’
‘’Thank you, miss.’’ replied Mendoza before walking a few steps to join up with the big, beefy and muscular man waiting behind the booth while sitting at the controls of a small electric cart. In view of the huge size of the ship he was going to travel in, Pedro Mendoza thought that going around in a small vehicle was probably a near-necessity rather than a luxury.
Pedro’s wife, Maria, was next to be registered, followed by her youngest son, 8-year-old Carlos, her 13-year-old son Rafael and finally her 16-year-old daughter Isabella. Dragging her two suitcases behind her, Isabella, a very beautiful Latina girl, couldn’t help admire for a moment the powerfully-built and obviously fit man with bulging biceps sitting at the controls of the cart. The man in turn smiled to her and stepped out of his vehicle to help her load her suitcases in the rear compartment of the cart.
‘’Here you are, miss. If you will now take a seat, I will drive you and your family to your cabin.’’
‘’Uh, are you a security man, sir?’’ asked timidly Isabella. ‘’You look so strong.’’
The man smiled in response and shook his head.
‘’Not really, miss. I work as a doorman at one of the clubs established on the Promenade Deck of the KOSTROMA. With the KOSTROMA being such a huge ship, employees of those commercial establishments often help with passenger embarkation by guiding newcomers to their cabins. My name is Mark Cisco, at your service.’’
Isabella shook Sisco’s hand while discretely admiring his physique.
‘’And at what club are you working in as a doorman, Mister Cisco?’’ Mark Cisco
‘’The JUPITER Sex Club, miss.’’ answered Cisco, who smiled again on seeing the teenage girl blush at that. ‘’You may now take your seat.’’
Once the teenager had sat down with the rest of her family, Mark Cisco then switched on his cart and started rolling, with his previous parking spot immediately occupied by another cart ready to take away more passengers. However, instead of entering the long and large gallery heading towards the core of the ship, he drove his cart inside a nearby cargo elevator cabin, in which another cart had just entered. A third cart quickly joined them inside the cabin before the doors closed and it started going up. Cisco explained what was going as the cabin went up.
‘’In the past, we would have gone down the gallery leading to the ship’s core section, then would take an elevator to Level 16, the Human Services Deck, and roll outward through it to get to the Outer Apartments Ring. Captain Forster finally decided that a more direct way for passengers to enter the ship and then get to their cabins was needed, so she had some modifications made to the outer access system two years ago. A number of cargo and personnel lifts were added to each access point, with the lifts going directly to near the apartments ring, on Level 16. As a result of those modifications, our passengers can get to their cabins much quicker, while traffic through the Human Services Deck was greatly diminished. When our cabin will stop on Level 16, we will exit it inside one of our four forest habitats and enter the main circulation gallery linking the core section with the apartments ring.’’
Cisco barely had time to finish his explanation before their cabin stopped and the double doors slid open. All three carts rolled out of the lift cabin and into a short gallery with transparent walls connecting at right angle with a much wider gallery. The Mendoza opened their eyes wide on seeing that the gallery was bordered on both sides by a temperate rain forest counting hundreds of large trees.
‘’Woah!’’ exclaimed 8-year-old Carlos. ‘’Look at those trees! How did they manage to plant trees in a spaceship, Father?’’
‘’Uh, I don’t know!’’ replied Pedro Mendoza, as surprised as his son. He then looked at Mark Cisco for an answer. ‘’How is this possible, mister?’’
‘’With planning, careful design, time…and lots of money. Adding those forest habitats to the KOSTROMA was neither cheap nor simple, but the final result was more than worth it in terms of the vastly improved living quality for both the crew and the passengers. Don’t forget as well that many of our people from the Spacers League who live in under-ice habitats on moons of the outer planets or on asteroids rarely had a chance to enjoy some time in a real forest and, prior to the building of those habitats on the KOSTROMA, basically had to travel to Earth in order to enjoy some time in true nature. As a result of building those forest habitats, the KOSTROMA has become very popular with space passengers, something that has further helped its level of profitability.’’
‘’But building such a huge ship must have cost a fortune.’’ said Isabella Mendoza, making Cisco nod his head.
‘’When it was built some forty years ago, the KOSTROMA cost over six billion credits to build. Since then, another three billion credits were spent in two major refits along the years, in order to maintain and improve it. However, its unequalled capabilities in transporting large loads and prefabricated modules have made the KOSTROMA a ship in high demand, so business has been very good for many decades and still is so. From what I heard, it has fully amortized itself many years ago and is now operating on a pure profit basis.’’
‘’Wow! I wish that my last employer could have said the same.’’ said Pedro Mendoza in an envious tone, prompting a question from Mark Cisco.
‘’And for what kind of company were you working for, mister?’’
‘’I worked until two years ago for a vehicle parts plant near Veracruz, in Mexico. I am a sheet metal worker. Unfortunately, that company went down under and I ended up on unemployment. Thankfully, I saw a couple of weeks ago an employment add from the Providence Mining Corporation, which also operates a manufacturing plant on Providence, and I jumped at once on that occasion. I am hoping to rebuild a new and better life for my family in Providence. Have you ever been there, mister?’’
‘’Yes, I did, a couple of times, and I can tell you that it is a truly beautiful world, with a pristine environment and with oceans that cover about half of its surface. You should love it.’’
Pedro exchanged glances with his wife and children, encouraged by those words. However, they nearly at once had their attention attracted by something else as their cart was rolling through a sort of tunnel with transparent walls: they were now going through what looked like a giant aquarium! While continuing to cross the tunnel, Mark Cisco volunteered more information for the Mendoza family.
‘’We are now rolling across our salt water marine ecosystem, which is situated directly below our apartment levels. It forms a closed ring some 27 meter-wide and 38 meter-deep, with a circumference of over 2,000 meters. That marine ecosystem contains hundreds of various marine species, including shellfish and algae. We have a number of underwater observation lounges connected to our apartment complex, which you can visit to relax and pass the time while on board. I strongly suggest that you visit them.’’
‘’We certainly will, mister. Decidedly, your ship is nothing short of fabulous.’’
Cisco beamed with pride on hearing that: he, like all the crewmembers and commercial concessions’ personnel of the KOSTROMO, positively loved their ship. It may not be the prettiest or raciest-looking one, but no other ship could beat it in terms of quality of living while in deep space.
Turning left at the end of the transparent tunnel, Mark Cisco rolled for only a few more meters along a wide promenade before driving his cart into a large lift situated along the outer wall of the promenade, which had huge armored windows piercing the ship’s outer hull at intervals of ten meters. That lift raised the cart by four levels before stopping and letting out the small vehicle on a platform forming a wide bridge over the promenade. Maria Mendoza couldn’t help gulp on seeing how high they now were above the promenade floor. However, the bridge looked quite sturdy and Cisco crossed it before stopping and parking along a suspended circulation gallery, near the entrance to what looked like an apartment unit, complete with windows.
‘’Here we are! Cabin 926, Level 16-D! I will now help carry your bags inside and will give you a brief tour before letting you free to unpack.’’
The Mendoza stepped out of the vehicle as well and carried themselves most of their suitcases up a few steps to the door of their cabin, where Cisco made Pedro Mendoza use his registration card to unlock and open the door. Walking in eagerly, the family was led by Cisco past a study before stopping in front of the door of a bedroom containing two single beds.
‘’Your cabin has three bedrooms, a study, two bathrooms, a lounge and a kitchen corner, plus a balcony with view on the forest habitat. Two of the bedrooms each have two single beds, while the master bedroom has a large king-sized bed.’’
Pedro nodded his head in understanding, then pointed the nearest bedroom to his two sons.
‘’Rafael, Carlos, you take this bedroom. Isabella will take the other bedroom with two beds. Leave your bags on the beds for the moment, so that Mister Cisco can show all of us the rest of our cabin.’’
Pedro’s three children obeyed him at once, returning into the hallway after a few seconds. Mark Cisco then made a few more steps to get to the master bedroom, where the parents left their own suitcases before following Mark into a large, comfortable lounge covering a 63 square meter surface. The view from the outer windows of the lounge immediately captivated the Mendoza, who went to them to admire the view they now had of the temperate rain forest habitat of the ship. Giving them a few seconds to look outside, Mark Cisco then showed them a transparent but solid and airtight door giving access to the large balcony of the cabin.
‘’This airtight door forms part of a safety airlock between your cabin and your balcony. It is designed to protect you in case a catastrophic collision would trigger an explosive decompression inside one of the forest habitats.’’
‘’Dios mio!’’ uttered Maria Mendoza. ‘’How possible could such a collision be, mister?’’
In response, Mark looked at her with utter seriousness.
‘’Madam, it would take a hit from a nuclear warhead or a collision with a major asteroid to get through the bow shield of the KOSTROMA. A collision with an asteroid still is a possibility, however distant, but the crew would have to literally be sleeping at their post to let this happen. Even then, the ship’s central computer, a machine with a high degree of artificial intelligence, would react by itself and maneuver the ship in order to avoid any collision. Don’t worry, madam: the KOSTROMA is about the safest ship you could be on in Space.’’
‘’Come on, Maria! Stop worrying about everything and anything!’’ gently admonished her husband. Pedro then looked at Mark.
‘’Where can we go to have supper, mister?’’
‘’If you choose to eat for free, you can then go to one of the ship’s cafeterias, situated on Level 10 of the core section, where you will only need to present your embarkation cards. There, you can either eat ‘à la carte’ or serve yourselves at the multiple self-serve buffet counters. Or, if you are ready to pay for more culinary variety, you can go to the Main Promenade, on Level 9 of the core section. The prices in those restaurants in the Promenade are quite reasonable, while the quality of the food is excellent. You also have on the Promenade a number of bars, pubs and clubs where you can have some good time in the evening. To have an idea of the various services and commercial concessions you can find on the KOSTROMA, you just need to use your video entertainment unit and switch it to Channel 1 and then consult its menu. By the way, you will be able to tune your video unit to the Spanish language, for your convenience. Do you have any more questions before I leave?’’
‘’I have one, actually.’’ said Pedro Mendoza. ‘’How long will be our trip to Providence?’’
That question brought a big grin on Cisco’s face.
‘’The trip between the Solar System and Alpha Centauri will actually be nearly instantaneous, thanks to our Koomak Interstellar Drive. However, the maneuvering and approach phases in both the Solar System and the Alpha Centauri System will take a total of nearly a full day: you just can’t rush to dock a ship as big as the KOSTROMA to a space facility and the last few million kilometers will have to be made at fairly low speed, for reasons of space traffic safety. So, my advice would be to eat supper tonight at our ship’s cafeterias and then decide tomorrow if you wish to try one of our privately-owned restaurants. Oh, one last point: at our cafeterias, you will be allowed to take out some items from our buffet table and bring them to your cabin if you wish so, in order to have a late meal or early breakfast in your cabin. However, I do not recommend doing that for such a short trip. Our cafeterias are anyway open around the clock.’’
‘’Thank you, Mister Cisco!’’ said Pedro while shaking hands with him. ‘’You were very helpful.’’
‘’It was my pleasure, sir. I hope that your family has a nice trip.’’
On that, Mark Cisco walked out, taking back his place in his cart and driving away to go help more passengers. With him gone, Pedro looked at his wife and kids and gave them directives.
‘’Alright! Since our trip will take only a day, unpack only the minimum needed out of your suitcases. Then, we will consult together that video channel listing the services available on this ship before going to eat at a cafeteria. After that, we will see how things go.’’
18:06 (Universal Time)
The ‘Marco Polo Cafeteria’
Level 10, Core Section of the A.M.S. KOSTROMA
In the process of undocking from the Las Americas orbital station
Low Earth orbit
There were already some customers in line at the entrance of the Marco Polo Cafeteria, one of the three eating places on the ship which served both passengers and crewmembers for free, when the Mendoza family arrived there. However, those customers were being processed quickly and efficiently by four female hostesses and the Mendoza had to wait only a minute before arriving at the reception point, where a young woman smiled to Pedro, who was leading his family in.
‘’Good evening, sir! You need a table for five?’’
‘’Yes, miss! Uh, this is our first time on a spaceship. What are the rules in your cafeteria, exactly? Is everything free?’’
The hostess glanced quickly at the five members of the Mendoza family: from their clothes, she could guess that they were not affluent people. However, the KOSTROMA had been transporting thousands of poor people and refugees to new lives in other star systems during the last few years, with those people treated with as much respect and care as for affluent or powerful people. That was all part of a philosophy spread and encouraged by Tina Forster. In turn, that philosophy had endeared her even more to her crewmembers, many of whom had come from modest social classes. The fact that Pedro Mendoza was asking about the cost of eating at the cafeteria proved to the hostess that this was a family hoping for better days away from Earth. She thus gave Pedro her best smile while answering him.
‘’All paying passengers traveling on the KOSTROMA can eat for free at this cafeteria and at our other economy-class cafeteria, the Globetrotter Cafeteria. All the food is free and you can eat all you want, but we encourage our customers not to waste any food by overserving themselves. Non-alcoholic drinks are also free, while you can have two alcoholic drinks per adult also for free, be it wine, beer or cocktails. Additional alcoholic drinks would however be charged, while our waiters have the right to refuse to serve extra alcohol to customers who would appear to become intoxicated. As for the choice of food, you can either order ‘à la carte’ or you can serve yourselves at the various buffet tables and grills. Does that answer your question, sir?’’
‘’Yes, it does, miss!’’
‘’Then follow me: I will lead you to a free table.’’
The hostess then grabbed five menus before walking into the dining room proper, closely followed by the Mendoza family. As they were passing by an occupied table, the Mexican family couldn’t help stare for a moment at the four occupants of that table: those were certainly not Humans! They appeared relatively short compared to average Humans and had an elongated head with long, pointy ears that made Isabella think of a deer, with those heads being at the end of a thin and long flexible neck. The creatures also had two arms with five-fingered hands and their skin was of a light beige color. She couldn’t see clearly their legs but those were strangely shaped, with at least three joints in them forming a ‘Z’, a bit like the legs of chickens. Isabella waited until they were a few paces away past that table before asking a question in a low voice to the hostess.
‘’Excuse me, miss, but what were those four creatures we just passed by?’’
‘’Those are Koorivars, beings originating from the Gliese 667 System. Over 60,000 Koorivars fled their home system just before a wandering brown dwarf entered it and caused havoc in it, with the Koorivars’ home planet being utterly destroyed by that brown dwarf. However, that happened some 370 years ago and the surviving Koorivars were transported in a state of cryogenic sleep in three sub-luminic ships. One of those ships was headed for Earth but instead suffered some serious equipment failures and landed in automatic mode on the dwarf planet Eris, at the confines of our Solar System. It was then encased in ice for decades, until the KOSTROMA found it and freed that Koorivar ship from its icy tomb. Those Koorivars now live on the northern end of Vancouver Island, on the western coast of North America, where they were given lands to build a colony for themselves. More Koorivars were subsequently rescued from their derelict ships by the KOSTROMA, which eventually found a new, suitable home planet for those survivors in the Wolf 1061 System. However, the Koorivar colony on Vancouver Island still exists. As for those four particular Koorivars, they are actually crewmembers of the KOSTROMA, which counts about a dozen of them as part of its crew. You never saw Koorivars before, miss?’’
‘’No! In fact, we heard about but never saw such alien creatures before. Are they peaceful beings?’’
‘’Very much so, miss. They also happen to be vegetarians and never eat meat or fish. Ah, here is your table.’’
Letting first the Mendoza sit down at the round table she had led them to, the hostess then distributed five menus around them.
‘’A waiter will soon come to your table to ask for your choices of drinks and to fill glasses of water for you. A list of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, is part of your menus. Again, you may order dishes from the menu list or go serve yourselves at the various buffet tables and grills around the cafeteria. Have a nice supper!’’
‘’Thank you, miss!’’ replied Pedro. As the hostess was walking away, he opened his menu list and consulted it, imitated by the members of his family. Carlos, the youngest member at eight-years-old, then spoke up.
‘’Hey, they have Mexican dishes on their menu!’’
‘’Please!’’ replied Isabella in a dismissive tone, ‘’We have been eating next to nothing but tortillas, beans and corn for the last couple of years. I am hungry for something else than Mexican staple food.’’
‘’Me too!’’ said thirteen-year-old Rafael. Both Pedro and Maria could only agree with him and Isabella: the last couple of years, while living on modest unemployment benefits, had been meager indeed and they had rarely eaten meat other than chicken during those years. While they had not been starving, their past diets had been heavy on low-cost carbohydrates. Turning the pages of his menu, Pedro got to the list of beverages and quickly read it.
‘’Hum, they have a fair selection of beers and wine, on top of non-alcoholic drinks like milk and fruit juices. The list says that the buffet tables include milk, water and juice dispensers… That’s curious! Some of the beer and wine selections have the mention ‘KOSTROMA product’ next to them.’’
‘’Some of the dishes listed in the menu also have that mention, Father.’’ said Isabella. ‘’Could this mean that they grow some types of foodstuff on this ship?’’
‘’Maybe! I will have to ask that waiter approaching our table with a pitcher of cold water.’’
That waiter soon arrived at their table and started filling the family’s glasses with water and ice cubes while addressing Pedro.
‘’Good evening, sir! Have you made your choice about your drinks?’’
‘’Uh, we are still looking at your menu, mister. Some of the selections are marked as ‘KOSTROMA product’. What does that mean exactly?’’
Pedro’s question brought a proud grin on the face of the waiter, a man in his thirties.
‘’That means that this particular beverage or foodstuff was grown or produced on this ship, using fruits, vegetables, fish or meat from our hydroponic cultures, fish ponds and farms. We actually produce enough on our ship to feed its occupants, plus having enough surplus to sell at the various destinations we go to. All our products are certified as purely organic, with no use of pesticides or herbicides. Concerning our in-house beverages, may I counsel to you our KOSTROMA brand of either blond or brown beers, plus our house red, white and rosé wine?’’
Pedro looked again at his menu before answering the waiter.
‘’Then, I will try your KOSTROMA Blond beer.’’
‘’I will try your house red wine.’’ added Maria, with Isabella, who was officially old enough to drink alcohol, asking to try the house white wine. As for the two younger boys, then went for fresh milk. With the waiter noting down their orders and then walking away, Pedro got up from his chair and rubbed together his hands, a smile on his face.
‘’Alright, let’s go see what their buffet has to offer! I am hungry!’’
Leaving their table, the Mendoza walked past other tables in the busy cafeteria, going towards one far corner of the cafeteria where two long rows of service counters, steam tables and grills lined parts of two walls. However, an appetizing smell of grilled meat made the family deviate towards a series of grill plates and BBQ grills where an assortment of steaks, cutlets, ribs, chicken parts and various sausages were being cooked. Pedro’s mouth started watering at the sight of a large, thick T-Bone steak being cooked on a grill for another customer.
‘’Hell! No need to look further: I’m going for a steak!’’
It didn’t take more than a few seconds for his wife and children to also decide to order some grilled meat for themselves, with all of them choosing pieces of beef or veal, except for Isabella, who took a large cut of lamb. Once they had meats on their plates, the Mendoza then went to the counters serving vegetables, rice dishes and salads, to complete their menus. When the family returned to their table, it was to find that their drinks had already been served. Sitting down with his plate, Pedro examined for a moment the cold beer bottle he had ordered, then filled his mug with blond beer and took a sip of it.
‘’Hmm! This beer is quite good! Now, let’s dive into that juicy steak.’’
His first bite of his steak made Pedro close his eyes with ecstasy while he chewed on the meat.
‘’Por Dios! This is heavenly!’’
The whole family was soon busy eating and drinking, truly enjoying their meal. Maria was the only one not to return for seconds, always having had a moderate appetite. Pieces of cakes or pies helped conclude the meal, with cups of strong coffee or specialty coffee with liquors capping their supper.
The Mendoza left the cafeteria a bit over one hour after entering it, both full and content. As they had decided collectively in their cabin before going to have supper, the family took again an elevator ride, this time going down one level to the Main Promenade Deck, with the idea of going around it to see what kind of commercial concessions they would find there. Being still poor and having on them only the hiring premium given to them by the Providence Mining Corporation, which had also paid for their passage to Providence, the Mendoza quickly regretted not having more money on them, as they found close to sixty various boutiques, clubs, restaurants and stores along the wide, circular Main Promenade, which was lined with small trees and bushes. Flashy neon signs and advertising boards made the Mendoza feel like they were back in a commercial artery of a big city in Mexico, with Maria and Isabella Mendoza stopping for a long moment to examine the front of a women’s clothing store and admire the female clothes on display. Continuing their exploration after a couple of minutes, it was soon the turn of Pedro and his sons to stop and admire the advertising signs and video displays of another concession. However, Maria and Isabella were less than pleased to see that they had stopped in front of a place named ‘Jupiter Sex Club’.
‘’Pedro, did you really have to stop in front of this club?’’ admonished Maria. ‘’Carlos is only eight-years-old!’’
‘’So? He will have to learn about girls eventually.’’ replied rather lamely Pedro, attracting a slap on his right arm from his wife.
‘’He is still only eight-years-old, Pedro! Let’s move on!’’
Pedro reluctantly obeyed her and continued leading his family along the Main Promenade, then veered right at the next intersection in order to check out what kind of bouti