Adrenaline, elation, power… and an immense sense of freedom.
That was the mix of strong feelings which rose in Robin as he watched the planet, Rucasur, getting smaller and smaller. Like a little child in wonder, he stuck both hands and his nose to the window.
After taking off, the first thing that came to view was Seka in all its enormous size. The city then grew smaller and smaller until it vanished completely at some point, no longer distinguishable from the rocky plains and different facilities surrounding it. Moments later, even the ground became mostly obscured by Rucasur's clouds and only a white and brown mix remained.
By now, Robin could see the planet in its full form, floating in the middle of the wide, endless space behind them, like a curled up giant resting between the stars.
The vibrations of the carrier had died down after they left the atmosphere and the vertical thrusters had rotated to point backwards, further supporting the two main thrusters now.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Niu commented, after she gave him enough time to relish in his euphoric feelings.
“Is it your first time leaving the planet?” She asked.
“It is, yes. I have my piloting license, but one only for atmospheric flights. I was always working towards a job at the UAS to have the chance to visit classes for interplanetary ships and upgrade my license.” He explained with a low voice and without tearing his eyes away from the window.
“You were working towards this? No longer? What changed and what is your new plan now?” Niu inquired, since she already had her interplanetary license and was just a few final steps away from the intergalactic one, it was something that had quite piqued her interest.
Robin kept quiet for some time. There just came some stars into his field of view that caught his attention.
“I’ve never been so close… and yet I still have such a long way to go.” He mumbled and finally turned to face Happy.
“The plan is the same, I think, but still different. Wait until after the Apex Highspeed Cup is over, then we can have this talk in length, alright?”
“Boring!” She complained but dropped the topic, “We will have two days for preparations after arriving on Ruca II. There always are people like you, who never flew on a moon without any atmosphere and under low gravity conditions. Therefore Apex grants a grace period to get used to it. But even for everyone else it’s important as every moon is different and going to such locations is too rare to ever get used to it. I’ll need the first day for my own training, but I should be able to assist you on the second day.”
“Niu, thank you very much for the offer, but I cannot accept that. I know you are under more pressure than you show on the outside. Take the time to get in optimal condition, I’ll be fine on my own.” Robin was really touched but couldn’t claim any of her time. He would get into the top 10 somehow, he had trained so much with Happy over the last weeks that he felt quite confident.
She just laughed and didn’t start a discussion. He was right in the end, she was under great pressure. Her family expected an excellent performance from her. That was the prerequisite to let her run free and follow her own path. As soon as her results would drop, she would find herself put back on a leash and on the way to some economics school.
The ships comm channel opened and an announcement from Mr. Nelson could be heard.
*Ding* - ‘Ship’s comm open’
“Dear participants of the Apex Highspeed Cup, I hope you are enjoying the flight so far! Our short trip to Ruca II, the moon with the best racing conditions in the entire Mereus Cluster and private property of Apex, will only take us about 20 hours. So please make yourself comfortable and don’t forget to join our briefing in the evening. We will fill you in on the schedule for the next few days. If you need anything, feel free to contact the staff members of the ship. Have a great day!”
*Ding* - ‘Ship’s comm closed’
“Huh“ Robin sighed and threw another gaze out of the window - only darkness was seen outside, dotted with an occasional star in the far distance, “It’s inappropriate to stay here and just have my eyes glued to the window, right? I should focus on my training some more. What's your plan, Niu?”
“Me? I’ll keep an eye on these sweet little cocktails they have. You should taste one, they are really good!” She said with an impish grin and made her way back to the little bar.
Robin just let her be and sat back on the couch. He tried to watch her while he activated his G-Anomaly and looked for anything he could detect on her. Slowly he could see the lines of her personal datapad form in her left pocket and after a few more moments, beside her right eye he could see what should be an implanted body-heat generator. He concentrated even more, staring directly at her eyes. He hoped he would be able to see her Interface forming, but nothing came up.
“Hey, why don’t you watch an episode of this new series about the dude who wants to open a space-restaurant?” He addressed Niu once more, careful to not break his concentration and keep his skill active.
“I already watched every episode that…” She said, but when she saw him staring like an idiot, she guessed what he was trying. “Fine, but only the first 15 minutes and just so you know: you look like a pervert creep that stalks the little girl he wants to eat!”
“Fuck y… shit.” Robin cursed, having lost his concentration.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Hahaha” Happy laughed and fell to another couch, “Works every time!”
They had spent enough time together over the last weeks that she had seen him training his mutation a few times already. While she knew a few people that did that, Robin was the first one she heard of who actively trained to get better results from his mutation and not just trying to figure out new ways on how to use it.
That shouldn’t be possible at all, but while they didn’t specifically talk about it, she had the feeling he really got results from his training. It was as if she tried to get a better performance from her Highspeed Reflexes. To simplify it, let's say her mutation gave her a flat increase of 30% on her reaction time. Her body and muscles could keep up with that - she could train her body to be able to sustain an increase of even 50%, but that wouldn’t change the result, as her mutation just gave 30% and nothing more. Now, if her body could only sustain 20% in the initial position, sure, then she could get better results by training it up to 30% to make use of the maximum of her mutation - but you could train your muscles, training your brain to get better at processing information from your senses? That was utterly bullshit to her, many studies looked into that and all came to the same result: not possible!
Sure you can train your brain, but that only helps with how fast you process certain inputs and how much concentration you need, but not with how sensible it gets or how much information it can process.
So all in all: training should help Robin with keeping his concentration and using his senses with eyes open - there are some few known cases with such skills - but definitely not with how much he can sense.
However as it wasn’t her business and they didn’t know each other for too long, she skipped over this topic. He would explain it to her when he was ready. She turned on her Interface and just relaxed on the couch, drinking her sweet and tasty cocktail.
[see: author note*]
Robin tried to sense anything from her Interface for the whole 15 minutes without any tangible success. But he still felt that he improved overall - his concentration, how clear he saw the blue lines and how fast he could create the image.
The next part of his training focused on filtering and working with massive energy representations. Therefore he stepped directly to the window and used his mutation to observe one of the VTOL-thrusters (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) at the ship’s side. Instantly his whole vision turned blue and his head began to hurt.
‘So much energy, wow…’ he marveled and tried to tune down his senses.
He worked on this for nearly one hour, before he finally fell on the couch like a dead fish and with a murderous headache.
For the rest of the flight he switched between training his mutation, chatting with Happy and making inquiries about possible ways Hopewing could use external systems for cheating. When evening came, the two went to a community hall and met some other pilots. With them were seven more competitors aboard, the other ones were on a second ship or already stationed on Ruca II. The briefing explained more or less what Niu had already mentioned and Robin didn’t learn anything new.
After a good night's sleep, Robin was back to his window and watched a bright spot in the distance, which came closer with rapid speed. Ruca II was like a steppe with yellow and red sand. From this far away Robin couldn’t see the moon’s surface, but as it was illuminated by Mereus, this solar system’s sun, it glowed like a magic marble in a black ocean. Not long after, the carrier came closer to the moon and Robin saw the VTOL-thrusters turning to point downwards again.
The lower gravity and missing atmosphere were making the landing pretty smooth, without the immense rumbling that went along the take off. When Robin went to hangar 02 to get the Melody II, he was stopped by an Apex official.
“Mr. Tulward, I wish you a good stay on Ruca II. Please follow the instructions of local Flight Control and park your ship only at its dedicated landing position.” The man reminded him once more and then gave him a silver-red jumpsuit and helmet. “This is your safety gear for as long as you stay on this moon. Every pilot gets the same equipment. It ensures your survival, even if you leave the protected zones for some time. Please put it on before leaving the IPC Themis!”
“Thank you! Any further advice? Like not jumping too high or anything?” Robin laughed, he was really excited to take his first step outside.
“No, Sir, that shouldn’t be a problem! Ruca II has a quite agreeable gravitation. But if you are really afraid of drifting off into the cold space, I could ask for a leash!” The man joked and patted Robin on his shoulders.
“Have fun on your stay, try to enjoy the time!” he said as an honest advice.
“Thanks mate, will do!”
Robin walked over to his ship, put the jumpsuit and helmet on and was flying out of the hangar moments later. The internal control- and stabilization system of his ship smoothed his first low gravity experience so much that he couldn’t even begin to grasp the differences before he was already directed to his landing spot.
The camp they were stationed in had a few hangars, two office- and community buildings as well as some landing pads. Robin was directed towards one of the big hangars and landed only a few minutes later. The only noticeable difference to infrastructure on Rucasur he could see was the green shimmering containment shield that protected the open hall. It was necessary for the artificial atmosphere inside and ensured that everyone had enough air to breath.
“That didn’t count! I’ll wait for my first real flight outside to evaluate what I just felt!” He complained while climbing out of the Melody. A staff member came already hurrying over and waited for him to take off his helmet.
Robin knocked at it and shook his head, “I still need it for some time”
“No worries, Sir, the complex is well protected. You won’t need your safety gear inside.” The woman explained to him.
“I do believe you, but I have to take a walk outside first. Can you point me to an exit?”
The Apex woman looked at him and grinned.
“First time?” She asked.
“Yeah, can I just take a look for a couple of minutes…pretty please?” He begged her. No way he would just go to some meeting room now, he had to get at least his dose of space walking first!
“Only for a moment, okay? You’ll have enough time over the next few days.” She said and walked towards one of the exits of the hall, “Follow me!”
They passed some normal doors and came to a halt before a pressure lock. The woman nodded inside and Robin went ahead. Behind him a shutter closed and he heard the atmosphere around him vanishing a moment later. Instantly he felt the cold gnawing at him.
After the door on the other side of the chamber opened, Robin took some careful steps forward, stopping directly at the exit. He saw the moon’s surface just a few meters away and excitement flooded him. Robin turned one last time and saw the woman through a window giving him a supporting nod.
Finally he took a deep breath and made his first step outside.