The HoloGlass is a wrist bound device, designed like a watch, except with many more capabilities. Made with the rarest materials and the most expensive electronics on the market, the Glass has the power of a quantum computer all neatly fitting into the palm of your hand. Allowing instant communication over decent distances, Hologlasses are must-haves for military specialists, expeditionary forces, and explorer groups looking to keep contact with their ship or CO’s if normal communication lines are down.
Because of their quantum functionality, stemming from tiny quantum computing chips, each communication line is determinate, and unbreakable. Because they are only useful in long distance scenarios, their high cost to produce, and overall impracticality for general use, means production is highly specialized. Standard markets are flooded with similar devices and gadgets, however none so powerful, or encrypted as a HoloGlass.
Even military commanders have limited value for such devices, thus, HoloGlass usage is limited strictly to general commanders of exploratory ships, scout captains, and the like. There are three aboard the ship Voyager 8. One is in the captain’s hands, one in the offshore leader’s possession, however access to this device changes hands frequently, and the last is in the first officer’s hands.
On Luna 1, Juno was handed the device in an expertly crafted box. The box was stark black with faded shimmers of gold lining on the edges. Gold was a valuable resource in space, used in many electronics, plating and even visors to help regulate heat. As such it was commonly the color of exploration. For obvious reasons, so was black.
The box was slid across the desk to her like she was being proposed to by the Ordinance Chief of the space station. It was a big deal, apparently, and afforded a micro ceremony she’d learned upon arrival.
“This version’s been designed for the First Officers. It’s linked to the ship’s internals. You’ll have access to everything aboard. You won’t be able to drive the ship with the Glass, but you can get readings and things. Of course, it also comes with all the usual magic of quantum communication. Your captain has this one’s sister,” the Ordinance Chief explained. “You two can be in constant contact even if one of you is on the other side of the system.”
Oh great, Juno thought involuntarily. She didn’t know she’d react that way. There had barely been any time to get a read on Captain Carter, but apparently his first impression had not impressed her.
The watch glistened as she opened the box unceremoniously. It was a flat looking plate of glass, black, and harnessed to a carbon wrist band of pure white. Juno peeped her reflection in its face.
The Ordinance Chief, a thick messy haired woman in an orange jumpsuit, studied her face. When she realized Juno barely knew what she was looking at, a frown dropped her excited expression.
“That’s a HoloGlass. Very expensive. Very rare. They don’t keep these in shipping containers or warehouses. They’re made specifically for someone. This one was made for you.” Juno tried to look more appreciative, for the Ordinance Chief’s sake. Unfortunately, fancy tech had never impressed her. Juno hadn’t heard of a HoloGlass before. It looked delicate.
“Oh, I see,” was all she could conjure. Taking it out of the box, she twisted it around, inspecting it. “It looks fragile… like it’s going to break as soon as I bump it against a table.” The Chief’s face fell flat. She was not amused at Juno’s disinterest. Juno could tell the Chief was wondering how someone like her was given one of these things.
“It’s not a wristwatch. It’s meant for explorers. It won’t stop a bullet, but it’ll survive wherever you need to go. That’s what it’s for, afterall.” Juno slipped it on and closed the box. She obviously didn’t care for the packaging. That also pissed off the Chief.
“This Glass came from 300 lightyears away. Hyperion made this specifically for you. Someone must think you’re pretty important to be getting one of these. I bet this box, alone, is worth ten thousand dollars. I can’t imagine what the watch costs.” The Ordinance Chief was enamored with this thing. Juno couldn’t care at all. She had heard the name Hyperion before though. It was a well known company in the human systems.
Juno didn’t need fancy gear. Fancy gear was just showing off. Unimpressed, Juno met the woman’s gaze.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“You want it?” she mocked. You can talk to Captain Carter, then. The Chief sighed.
“Let’s get you registered for this thing. Thumb print or neural link?”
Juno had forgotten she was wearing the HoloGlass while making her rounds on Voyager 8. She was exploring the ship, making sure everyone was doing their jobs, when it started chirping. The face was bright blue with text that read, “Transmission. Cpt. Carter. ”
She’d been briefed on how to use it, but barely had the training committed to memory.
“Uh. Answer.” Nothing happened. “Accept.” A small pleasing tone escaped from the Glass.
“Juno. How is the ship looking?” Captain Carter asked. His voice pushed through her cochlear implant, a small implant at the base of the skull, just behind her ear. She’d gotten it when she became a soldier. Most soldiers did.
“It’s prepped and ready to stretch her legs, Captain.”
“Good to hear it. The meeting’s over. I’m coming back to the ship. Have the crew waiting outside the Voyager and ready for PT.”
“Yes, sir.” Transmission lost, the device read. Juno held it up to her face while she spoke like she could see through it, but there was no video feed. Looking around, Juno put her hand down quickly, hoping no one had seen her do it. Why would there be video feed on a tiny screen like this? She asked herself.
Also, PT? Physical Training? Just before they launched? She knew why Carter was doing this. It was a discipline thing. He was showing the crew, and anyone watching, how his ship would run, but to Juno that seemed excessive. Some of these people weren’t even military. They were engineers or scientists. Juno figured that he’d want the crew rested and focused on the launch. That’s what she would want as captain. But he’s the captain, she reminded herself.
Juno went for the radio on her uniform belt to inform the crew, but then stopped. Sighing, she raised the watch to her face again.
“Glass, contact Pilots Grenswich and Pressly–” She stopped again. Juno was going to give them an order to relay to the crew, but she remembered she could tap into the comm systems herself with the Glass as well. She figured she better make use of it and get used to it. Her HoloGlass clearly wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Also, again, there was no need to look at it, or even bring it close to her mouth. Juno could just speak to it.
The device was encoded for her voice commands only, and she could simply say whatever she wanted the device to do. It would hear her no matter how far away from her mouth it was. But, the habit from watching old sci-fi movies with old platoon friends back in the day was hard to break. She dropped her hand again before someone walked by.
“Erase that, Glass. Patch me into internal ship comms.” A dual beep sounded from her implant meaning it was done. Maybe this thing would be handy after all. “First Officer Junotori to all crew aboard the Voyager 8. Finish up tasks and meet on the docking bay floor for PT and Captain’s Orders in fifteen.”
The ship’s crew stood in lines outside the docking bay floor. Soldiers were with soldiers, scientists with scientists, and engineers with engineers. The military crew far outnumbered the other two, with engineers being the smallest group with only ten men and women in total. Together, the complete crew was sixty men and women plus the Captain, and the First Officer.
Juno stood before the entirety of the crew, stiffly. They all awaited the Captain who arrived a couple minutes later.
He stepped in front and addressed all them, eyeing each one by one as he walked up and down the line.
“I am your Captain, Captain Carter. I command this ship, and everyone on it. Some of you have met me before, and some of you haven’t. I assure you, though, none of you know me.I will teach you who I am. This is First Officer Junotori.” He waved a hand at her.
“Address her as First Officer, or Ma’am. Salute her. Respect her. She is your salvation from me. She will keep you out of my sight because trust me, if my gaze is on you, it’s because you’ve stepped into a world of shit. They tell me this mission is a diplomatic effort, a humanitarian effort.” He paused, looking at the faces of the men and women in front of him.
“They say that, but they say a lot, don’t they? You are my crew now. Whatever allegiances you carried in the past, they are dead now. You belong to me. Your ass belongs to me. And if you don’t like it, then that ass will be promptly kicked off my ship. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Some of you have never been in the military. That’s alright. I won’t hold it against you, but you will not be caudled. You will be an asset. You will be part of this team. And you will follow my orders. Now, First Officer Juno, give these ladies and gentlemen some exercise.”