Chapter 37: Departure

Daria checked Tom's connections on his spacesuit. These were the new lighter weight models, since no extra vehicular activity (EVA) was scheduled on the flight back to Earth. In fact, they were not much more complex than the surface suits they wore when exploring. What had been a months long endurance test on the way to Mars was now going to be a two hour flight, most of which would be devoted to carrying out some some specific tests with the warp drive. Given its current position, Earth could be reached in about 10 minutes if that is what they wished. Even so, two hours was what they expected from the time that the ship started down the launch rail on Mars until the airlock door was opened at the space station.

"You look good except for the helmet. No sense putting that on until we are ready to board," Daria stated matter-of-factly to Tom.

Tom put his hand on her shoulder and traced its contour halfway down her arm."You look pretty good too. Too bad you are wearing a spacesuit!"

"Ha ha, Mr. Funny!" Daria retorted. "These suits are not made for fun and games!"

"We could try a redesign! Seriously, your connections are fine," Tom assured her. "Let's have a seat until they tell us we are ready to go."

The two walked over to a couple of the chairs sitting in the preparation area, pulled them together and sat down. Just then they spotted Mia coming in the door.

"Hey you too," Mia said. "Guess what?"

In total deadpan Daria replied, "We're sorry but your flight has been delayed. Please stay in the waiting area and we will inform you as soon as it is possible to board."

Mia laughed at Daria's imitation of an all too often phenomenon of air travel on Earth. Once gaining control of herself, she told Daria and Tom, "Unfortunately, you are right."

"Lovely," Daria said. "Well, you can take me out to dinner, dear. It will be too late for me to cook when we get home."

Tom looked at his wife. "You are on a roll today." Looking at Mia he asked in a serious tone, "What's up?"

Mia pulled a chair over and sat down. "One of the mini-fusion reactors is only putting out 80% of its rated power. Even though that is technically still enough to launch, Anton wants a different unit. Sazer is going to have to look this one over and figure out why it is not performing as expected."

Tom started talking, "Well, it's not like we don't have several of them sitting around! If you had ever told me before coming to Mars that we would have fusion reactors the size of basketballs I would have said you were crazy. The engineers at my firm would have laughed themselves out of their chairs at the idea. Even on Earth we can still barely get a fusion reactor hundreds of meters across to put out more usable power than it consumes - much less be commercially viable!"

Daria asked, "So how long do we expect this to take?"

Looking at Daria, Mia replied, "It should only take about 2 hours. It is not a difficult replacement. I have to agree with Anton, though. We want MRS Endeavor to launch without any problems."

Tom asked, "How do you think Earth will react when we show up suddenly in a ship they don't know about? Then there is the whole 'faster than light' thing that they know nothing about. The most we know is that they have several drop capsules at the space station so that we will be able to get back to the ground."

"It will be interesting," Mia responded."They don't have the capacity to shoot at you. Even the directed energy weapons are pointed toward the ground and are not easy to turn. If they fire some sort of missile at you, then you can easily escape. You can even outrun the lasers!"

"What a cheery idea, Mia. We aren't sure what it is. Let's shoot it!" Daria deadpanned.

Mia sighed. "You know history as well as I do. Still, I think that they would rather steal the secrets of FTL travel than blow you up. That is why Arnison is going and we have several failsafe features to make sure no one gets their hands on the ship that is not supposed to!"

Tom chuckled, "Now who would want to steal our technology?"

Mia looked at him and responded, "Three guesses and the first two don't count."

"Unfortunately, that is to be expected," Daria said.

Rising, Mia stated, "Well, you two can stay here while the technicians get everything ready. Call if you need anything and have a good flight if I don't see you before departure."

"Thanks Mia," Daria and Tom said almost in unison as Mia headed for the door.

37.2

Sitting in the preparation area Tom and Daria were getting a little bored.

Daria turned to Tom and asked, "Did you see the video from the kids that came yesterday?"

"Yeah. I finally got to see it this morning while you were in the shower. I think all three of them are a little ambivalent about this new job as Mars' diplomats."

"I agree. I think that they were expecting that we would just do something like go back to Lawndale and sit in rocking chairs on the porch and rock."

Tom chuckled at the thought. "I guess that is one expectation. I think that during times we weren't rocking we would be babysitting the grandkids either at our place or their places."

Daria explained, "In my response I told them that we took these positions in order to help the colony. Sure, it will be a lot of work. But, that does not mean we won't have time for them or the grandkids. Besides, you and I still need to decide how many years we want to spend in diplomatic service. As the colony's population becomes younger with the newer arrivals and more of the original colonists return to Earth, there will be others more qualified than us to take on these responsibilities."

"Sounds like a good response," Tom said. "I've been thinking that we maybe do this for five years maximum. By then it will be time to retire and write our book or books!" Tom raised is hand and waived it in the air while saying, "We could call our book 'There and Back Again'."

Daria leaned over and squeezed Tom's arm and in a hushed voice responded, "You know, I have always been flattered that you got that literature minor for me. But seriously, I think we can come up with our own title rather than stealing it."

"Really, Daria. Don't you feel like you have lived the life of a dwarf under the mountain for the past five years?"

"I think of it more like being a hamster in a Habitrail. I am constantly going up and down tubes and if I go outside I am in a ball that just rolls along."

"That is certainly nowhere near as romantic as being part of a great underground kingdom with giant drinking halls and vast wealth! Not to mention our great struggle against a vile foe!"

"I hardly see the dining hall as a giant drinking hall. And there is not great wealth in the sense of gold and silver here on Mars - though that may soon change with our advancing technologies. Our wealth is the knowledge we have created and found. As for fighting our foe? Well, I have never been so scared about the possibility of losing you as I was then." Looking Tom in the eyes Daria continued, "Losing you would have killed me. You have loved me for half a century! I have loved you for nearly as long. We have made a beautiful life together. There will come a time when we must part - at least for a while. But that should be natural. I could not bear having you ripped from me by vicious robots and their masters."

Tom pulled Daria close and kissed her face and her lips. When kissing her face he tasted a bit of salt. It was rare for Daria to shed tears. "I love you with all my heart, Daria. We are blessed. I didn't think you would mind my romanticizing our life here a little bit."

Wiping her face with the back of her gloved hand Daria replied, "I know. I don't really mind. Just don't trivialize what we have experienced here. Realize that if we write one book together, then we may spend some time fighting about how to present the content."

"Well, when we fight I always enjoy the making up afterward!"

Daria punched Tom in the shoulder.

"Ow!" He feigned.

"Dirty old man," Daria responded. Then she blew him a kiss.

37.3

After an hour and a half Anton and Arnison walked into the room.

"Ah good. You are still here," Anton remarked casually.

"Please don't tell me our flight is scrubbed," Daria deadpanned. "I have dinner reservations in Moscow."

Chuckling, Anton replied, "Not to worry! We are ready to get on board. It was just a simple reactor swap."

Tom smiled and looked at both Anton and Daria. "Now there is a sentence I never thought I would hear!"

"Thanks to Arnison and his friends there are many things we can say now that we could not before, at least not and have them be reality. I sometimes feel like I am living in a science fiction story!"

Arnison added, "When it comes to Kazira, I think many of the men here are living in a fantasy story!"

The other three laughed. Tom wiped tears from his face and remarked, "Wow. You are really making progress with humor! Though I have to agree with you. After that last party I think there was a great deal of fantasy happening."

In the voice of a professor addressing her students Daria stated, "Alright Tom and Anton. Enough fantasy about Kazira! Arnison, please lead us to the ship."

The four travelers put their helmets over their heads and locked them into place. Daria could both hear and feel her suit pressurize. They proceeded to the airlock and cycled through.

The walk to the ship was not long. Daria looked at the white painted exterior. The lines of the ship were smooth, since it would be traveling through Mars' thin atmosphere on the way to space and upon its return. It was rounded at the nose and widened quickly. The nacelles that generated the warp envelope were attached by a short "wing" that could provide a control surface if the ship for some reason had to enter a thicker atmosphere like Earth's. The sides were windowless. Though she could not see it, there was a forward window for the pilots that would be covered by a shield and only used for tight, close maneuvering. There were several thruster outlets at the rear of the craft bulging our of the skin above and below the nacelles. Another pair were located at the front. At the very back of the craft was the docking ring and airlock. A second airlock was located on the starboard side. All-in-all it was 30 m (100 ft) of the most advanced technology humans possessed, even if it looked like a tumorous and obese business jet with it's wings cut off! Still, no business jet could fly up to three times the speed of light!

Looking over to her right Daria could see the next FTL spacecraft that was under construction. This one would be 60 m (200 ft) long. There were now plans for a 120 m (400 ft) craft as well. One of the nice things about being on a low gravity planet with a thin atmosphere was that you could build things that were impractical on Earth. While the "Martian Republic Ship" or MRS Endeavor was mainly for transportation to and from Earth, the next ship would be for longer interplanetary missions. If all went well, then the 120 m (400 ft) ship might have interstellar capability! Daria had even attended meetings where they were discussing an unmanned interstellar probe.

There was something incongruous about boarding humanity's most advanced craft via a set of metal stairs. The Endeavor was mounted on the launch rail, so they had to climb about 15 steps to get up to the side airlock, which was open. It was one thing to board a regular business jet this way, but this spaceship? Oh well, It was still an adventure.

Daria and Tom followed Anton and Arnison. As pilot and copilot Anton and Arnison took the front seats. Daria counted and the Endeavor was set up to carry 20 passengers plus the pilot and co-pilot. Tom and Daria sat well behind them in what closely resembled first class seats on a domestic flight. They were wide, comfortable, and there were plenty of connections. They each had a personal screen and could use the screen in connection with their personal computers (connected inside their suits), choose from a library of materials loaded on their personal computers, or just monitor the flight. In any case this spaceship was definitely designed to be for transportation use and not long missions.

Daria plugged her suit into the multi-outlet at her seat. This provided power to her suit, communications, and most importantly life support. Although the cabin was pressurized, everyone was required to be fully suited, belted, and plugged in for takeoff. Once they were in space and on the way to Earth they would be allowed to remove their helmets.

To pass the time Daria sat and listened to Anton and Arnison go through the preflight checklist. Most of this was just status checks and verification. The few mechanical switches were checked. Before falling asleep from sheer boredom, Daria was jolted wide awake when she heard Anton say, "Reactors one."

Arnison reported, "Reactor one. Operating at idle. All systems are go."

Anton continued, "Reactor two."

"Reactor two, Operating at idle. All systems are go."

The two continued this back and forth until finally Anton said, "Reactor seven."

Arnison replied, "Reactor seven. Operating at idle. All systems go."

Anton then said over communications link with Mars Control, "All systems are checked and are go. MRS Endeavor is ready to launch."

Mars Control responded, "Roger MRS Endeavor. Countdown is T minus one minute to launch. All launch systems are go. Good travels!"

The screen in front of Daria came to life. Mia's face was looking into the camera. She said to all of them, "Safe journey! Our future is in your hands." Her face faded and the count appeared on the screen. They were at T minus 20, 19, 18. Soon it was 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Daria felt the force of forward acceleration push her back in her seat. Rapidly the surface outside became a blur in her monitor. Then they reached the end of the rail and she felt the angle change as their craft headed for space at nearly orbital velocity. A bare moment after leaving the rail she could hear - or maybe it was just feel - the thrusters pushing them the final few kilometers per hour remaining to reach orbital velocity. Switching between the exterior views she could see the surface falling away and the marks of human civilization on Mars disappearing.

It wasn't long before Arnison stated, "Captain, we have achieved orbit."

Anton replied, "Acknowledged. Turn on gravity plates and start the checklist for FTL travel."

Switching the gravity plating on put everyone back at Martian normal gravity. Nothing would be floating around the cabin. Over the next 90 minutes the gravity would gradually increase to Earth normal.

To Daria the new checklist sounded much like the old checklist. They went through systems, switches, and reactor status. While they did this Daria gazed at Mars. She switched to a 360 degree view available in her helmet. It was almost as if she was floating outside of the ship. The view was nothing short of breathtaking. Still, this was the last time she would see this view live. In a moment of melancholy she admitted that she had reached the time in her life when firsts would be giving way to lasts. Ultimately, like all human beings, she would breath her last breath and her heart would beat for the last time. Today her last experience was this live view of Mars.

Daria came out of her musings when she heard Anton place his last call to Mars Control, "We are go," he said.

Arnison stated, "Communications system on Internal Only status."

Anton responded, "Acknowledged. Prepare for warp."

Arnison replied, "Thursters set to off. Warp engine nacelles are on and ready. Reactor status go."

Anton ordered, "Create the warp field. Ahead 1.2 c."

Arnison just said, "Aye."

Since the warp field warped space-time around the ship, there was no real feeling of acceleration. However, there was a momentary - perhaps a tenth of a second - where Daria felt a bit disoriented and her vision seemed to become blurry. But this was over as soon as it started. They were now traveling faster than the speed of light. A nice feature about warping space-time was that both waves and matter went around you. In other words, they were experiencing little to no radiation at all! Motes of dust and even rocks would go around them. They still needed a forward deflector for objects large enough to have gravity that could interact with their warp field. And they would navigate around any really large objects, such as asteroids or planets. Running into one of those could really mess up your day! Traveling like this was also totally silent, except for a few minor vibrations from internal equipment that were transmitted through the structure of the spacecraft.

Tom spoke up and asked, "Can we take our helmets off?"

Anton answered, "Yes. Of course."

Tom asked, "What is our mission today, besides delivering Daria and I to Earth?"

This time it was Arnison that answered. "Today we are testing the Endeavor at speeds up to 2.2 c. Previously, we have only gone up to 1.8 c. That is why we added the additional reactors. The faster we go the more energy we need. We know that energy needed is not linear. We are trying to get additional data about how much energy is required to go faster. Today we will go faster than we ever have - or until we cannot get any more power from the reactors. We will log that data and it will help us to figure out how much fuel we need and how much power we must generate to run these engines!"

"Should be interesting," Tom retorted. "I will let you do the data logging and I will catch up on some reading."

Daria was thinking to herself that exceeding twice the speed of light would really put the planets closer to Mars - and Earth for that matter. The challenges were going to be to maintain the Martian monopoly on FTL travel and get Earth to pay for the transportation services. It is sure a better business model than selling Martian though there would be people wanting to get their hands on the FTL technology and part of Daria's job as a diplomat would be holding those people at bay.

37.4

Over the next half-hour Anton and Arnison went about collecting data. For some reason Daria felt her eyelids get heavy and she dozed off during most of the the testing. She thought to herself, 'It isn't like I find this particularly interesting. Sure I am curious about what they find, but still the process of gathering the data is utterly boring.' As Daria continued to go in and out of sleep something brought her wide awake.

"The starboard nacelle is heating rapidly," Anton stated.

"Roger," Arnison responded. "Monitoring. We need 5 more minutes at this speed,"

Looking over at Tom, Daria saw the look on his face. He was visibly keeping quiet when he clearly wanted to say something, but was holding back. He looked worried. Leaning over she whispered in a barely audible voice, "What is going on?"

"I've been watching the instruments and there has been a heating issue in the starboard nacelle for the past 10 minutes. I don't like it," Tom whispered back to her.

"Reduce speed to 1.2 c," Anton ordered.

"Aye," Arnison responded.

"Now disengage warp field," Anton said.

"Aye," Arnison responded. "We are now at full stop."

"Great," Daria whispered to Tom. "Dead in space. What could possibly go wrong?"

Tom leaned over, "Not now, Daria," he emphatically whispered.

Anton turned around and said, "Not to worry, Daria! It will take at most 15 minutes for the nacelle to cool down. Then we will continue at a slower speed. There is no heating problem at 1.2 c or even up to 1.8 c. The problem is radiating heat into space. As we go faster the warp field gets stronger. As the warp field gets stronger it becomes more difficult to get heat to pass through that field and it can become trapped in the nacelles. This simply speaks to design changes we need to make. Nothing is broken."

Daria was surprised by Anton's comments. She responded, "I really didn't mean for that to be a criticism."

"Daria." Anton chuckled. "I am old but not deaf. I hear many things. We will be moving again in just a few minutes."

True to his word, in 15 minutes Anton had them underway again. Now they were heading on a course for Earth.

37.5

Anton ordered, "Slow us to orbital velocity on a course to intercept the space station."

"Aye," Arnison replied as he began adjusting the warp field for sub-light travel and to give them sufficient momentum when they turned the field off.

"We will soon have you two to the space station," Anton remarked.

"And that will mean our Martian adventure will have come to an end," Daria retorted.

"True," Anton replied. "Still, all good things come to an end. Even life itself. Such a tragedy."

Tom popped in with, "You are being so Russian today, Anton. Be more positive!"

"I wish I could be, Tom. I just hope that they don't shoot at us when we approach Earth and the station. Actually, I am positive they will not shoot at us, because they have no weapons pointed in this direction. If worst came to worst we can always turn around and go back to Mars and forget about Earth."

"Your optimism overwhelms me, Anton," Tom exclaimed.

"Now you are talking like your wife," Anton said with a chuckle.

Daria blurted out, "If I could reach you, I would kick you Anton!"

"I am sure you would! Luckily I know exactly how far it is and how short your legs are."

Arnison interrupted the banter, "We have incoming radio traffic, Anton."

Arnison switched over to the radio and everyone could hear, "Unidentified ship. This is Houston Control. Identify yourself and state your intentions."

Anton touched the microphone switch. "This is the Martian Republic Ship Endeavor. We are transporting diplomatic personnel representing the Martian Republic. We wish to dock with the International Space Station and disembark our passengers."

There was silence on the other end for a long minute. Then the voice returned. "We have no record of such a vessel. What is your origin and flag?"

Anton replied, "Our origin in Mars. Our flag is the flag of the Martian Republic, which is now recognized by 78 countries on Earth and has observer status at the United Nations. Our diplomats are bound for New York under the United Nations Treaty."

Again there was silence. It was broken with more questions. "When did you leave Mars? We have not seen you on our radar systems."

Anton took a deep breath. Here it comes. They had rehearsed this scenario so many times his response almost seemed natural. "We departed Mars earlier today. We are a small ship. I am not surprised you did not detect us until we were close to Earth."

The response was almost immediate, "That is impossible."

Anton responded, "It is not when you travel faster than light. We are an FTL vessel."

Again the response was almost immediate, "We don't have any FTL vessels. Who are you really."

Anton was beginning to get a but irritated. "That is correct. You do not. We on Mars do have FTL capability. You will learn more about that at a later date. In the meantime we need to deliver our passengers for the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly. We wish to dock at the space station so that they can be transported back to the ground on Earth."

The radio was silent. Then another voice came over the speaker. "Please identify yourself and your passengers."

Anton read the names of each person on board to the person in Houston. He used someone else's name for Arnison, since clearly he would not appear on anyone's roster.

It seemed like forever that the radio was silent. It was at least five minutes. At this point Endeavor was in orbit and approaching the space station, though it was not yet in visual range. The next question came from yet another voice. "Are you equipped with a universal docking mechanism?"

Anton replied, "Yes. We can also match any pressure and gas mixture in our airlock."

"Very well," was the response. "Permission for docking is granted. Your next communication will be with Station Control. We are sending gas and pressure specifications as well. Welcome back to Earth Ambassador and Mr. Sloan."

37.6

As the Endeavor approached the space station Daria checked the readings on her suit. Everything seemed to be in order. Looking over at Tom, she gave him a thumbs up. He returned the gesture. Over the suits' communication system he said, "All my readings are good. It looks like I'm ready for the end of this flight!"

"Me too," Daria replied.

A voice came over the radio, "Endeavor, this is Station Control. We have you on beam for docking at airlock three."

Anton replied, "We are locked onto the beam. Initiating automated docking procedure."

The docking procedure was very anti-climatic. Unlike the early days of space travel, it was not a matter of the pilot somehow aligning the craft with the target. Rather it was getting close enough and letting the computers on the two sides coordinate and complete the docking maneuver. Daria knew they were docked when she heard and even felt the final "thump" of the docking clamps engage. Though she couldn't hear it, the airlock then filled with the correct gas mixture and pressure.

Anton and Arnison were going through the checklist and setting systems to idle, They were somewhat gambling that since this type of craft had never been seen on Earth before the people on the space station would not know that they had not switched off their power or their engines. Only the most minimal data was being sent through the airlock's data coupling. It gave the space station the gas mixture, pressure, and temperature inside their side of the airlock. It also gave them the locking status - open or closed. What it did not give them was crew status or any data on the ship. They were complying with the regulation, but not giving away too much!

If there was any attempt to take the Endeavor by force, then Anton or Arnison could activate explosive bolts and leave the space station holding their rear airlock. They could then engage their warp engines within a few seconds and quickly leave Earth behind. Anton hoped it wouldn't come to that, but optimism was never his strong point. He was, after all, the one who had pushed hard for the explosive bolts.

Arnison got up out of his seat, as did the others. He was the first to go up to Daria and Tom. He held out his hand first to Daria. As they shook hands Arnison said, "I have truly enjoyed getting to know you, Daria. I will miss seeing you and our conversations."

"As will I," Daria responded. "You have taught me so much. I have truly loved learning about your people. I wish you success among our fellow Martians."

"Thank you," Arnison replied and then stepped aside to address Tom.

Anton came up next and shook Daria's hand and then gave her a hug.

"Wow! Anton. A hug!" Daria exclaimed.

"I know. This is as demonstrative as I get with affection. I will miss you, Daria. You have a fabulous mind and your sarcastic wit always makes me laugh."

In total deadpan Daria exclaimed, "What wit? I simply observe truths."

Anton laughed and hugged Daria again. "See. Like this. You will do well at the United Nations. I truly hope that the rest of your life will play out like an American novel and not a Russian one!"

"Thank you Anton. I hope you enjoy continued success on Mars."

Anton turned to Tom. Daria could see Arnison returning to his seat. It didn't take Anton long to say what he wanted to say to Tom. When Anton was finished, Daria and Tom made their way into the airlock.

Tom was the one conversing with Anton. "We are ready. You can secure the ship side of the airlock and unlock the exterior.

"Roger," was all that Anton said.

Daria could see the light on the ship side of the airlock go from green to red indicating it was secured. Momentarily the aft side connected to the space station went from red to green.

Tom pressed the button that opened the aft door to the airlock and said to the people on the station, "This is ambassador and Mr. Sloane. Permission to come aboard!"

"Granted," was the reply and the station door opened.

Daria and Tom stepped inside. The door to the ship closed. Daria felt numerous sensations. The first was that the door closing was truly the conclusion of their great adventure - living and working on another planet. As had happened so often in her life she had to say that melancholia was what she felt. Melancholia mixed with anticipation. Talk about being conflicted!

The second sensation was going from the normal gravity of the ship to weightlessness on the space station. Daria knew she had to come up with a way to describe that instant sensation. In a word it was 'jarring.' Maybe this was like the feeling of jumping off of the 10 m (33 ft) tower into a swimming pool, except that there was no splash at the end and she did not get wet doing this.

The inner door of the station airlock opened to reveal two men floating there. Both looked to be in their late 30s.

"Welcome to the International Space Station. I'm Derek McKenzie. station commander." The one on the right said. Daria noticed the patch on the arm of his uniform was a Canadian flag.

The man on the left bore an Australian flag. He said, "Welcome. I'm Sean Mahoney. I'll be showing you to your quarters. You will be staying with us until tomorrow, when you are scheduled to return to the surface in one of the drop capsules."

Reaching out to shake their hands Daria stated, "Nice to meet you. I'm Daria Sloane and this is my husband Tom Sloane. I hope we will get a chance to tour the station while we are here."

"I am sure that we can arrange that," McKenzie replied. "I think you will find that in the past 5 or so years there have been substantial changes on this station. Now I am sure you will want to freshen up after a long flight. How long did you say it took you to get here?"

Ah. The first probe for intelligence. Well, that had certainly been a topic of discussion back on Mars. Daria said, "It was just over 2 hours. Really like a short-haul flight back on Earth."

This time it was Mahoney jumping into the conversation. "If you were going faster than light that seems a rather long time. Even so, I would love to find out more about your technology."

Chuckling, Tom spoke up. "I am afraid you are asking the wrong people. An English professor and an accountant are not really up on technology. All we know is that it beats months on the MTV! The engineers back on Mars used the term 'Alcubierre' when describing it, but that is pretty much the extent of our knowledge."

It didn't take long to reach the quarters assigned to them. McKenzie stated, "Our time here is 3:00 pm. We maintain North American Central Time here on the station. That way we match up with Houston. Dinner will be at 6:00 pm. Would you two like to join me for dinner?"

"We would love to," Daria replied.

McKenzie smiled, "Wonderful. I will have someone come and escort you just before 6:00 then, Enjoy some downtime!" With that he and Mahoney left Daria and Tom to check out their quarters.

Daria looked around the room. It was tiny compared to their quarters on Mars - and they were not all that big! Since they were in zero g, what passed for beds were sleeping bags hanging on the wall. There was a small closet with a space toilet in it. It was a single unit toilet and sink. Daria thought, 'At least it has a door.' There was a small mirror with a flat surface underneath it only about 50 cm (19.5 in.) long and below that 3 drawers. There were some lashing points next to it on the wall opposite the 'bed' that could be used to hold any luggage. The floor space was about enough for one person to change clothes. Of course space was at a premium on a space station, so Daria was not at all surprised by the size of the place. On top of that these might well be the VIP quarters! At least they didn't have to 'bunk' in something resembling an orbiting dormitory, though the thought of a dormitory caused a few good memories to flash by.

Daria casually took Tom's hand, turned around and kissed him. While doing that she stealthily opened his palm and traced the word 'bugs' in it. When their lips parted Tom nodded twice to acknowledge he had received the message.

"Wow," Tom exclaimed. "I need to take you to space stations more often!"

"Must be something about zero gravity," she responded. "Now let's change out of

these space suits. They may be new and improved, but they are still confining and I need to pee