The sun so invitingly warm that John decided to walk the few kilometers between their apartment and “Mass Transit Hub 19” (the nearest high-speed transit hub) instead of calling an automated taxi.
Navigating increasingly crowded roads in downtown Colesway, John let his mind wander while the sun slowly melted away his “space lag” (a term many colonists used to describe the worn-out feeling you get from adjusting to a different diurnal cycle). Colesway was stirring from her morning repose, with automated public taxi's and a few privately owned shuttles humming by. All transporting Colesway's eager inhabitants to every corner of the thriving metropolis. Much of the increased traffic was heading towards his own destination, “Mass Transit Hub 19”.
He just entered the passenger terminal when he heard an announcement that transit pods 56, 35 and 14 were preparing for departure in five minutes and thirty-seven seconds; their destination was Colesway's space nexus. John sprinted across the terminal as big red holographic numbers floating above the departing pods kept track of how little time remained. He boarded pod 35 with a whole sixty seconds to spare. Inside, he followed the blue guide arrows moving along the floor down the center aisle between rows of seats. They passed by several vacant rows, before promptly branching off into a group of smaller arrows heading down a nondescript row to his right. Reaching a seat by the wall, the arrows appeared to dissolve into clouds of tiny blue lights moving along the floor up onto the seat like crawling insects. The lights ran along every visible edge, making sure he knew what seat the Transit Pod's AI wanted him to take. He settled into his chair and waited for Pod 35 to get underway.
“Good morning, John. Please fasten your safety harness. You will experience approximately zero-point-four-seven-five standard earth gravities for approximately sixty seconds as we accelerate to regulation transit pod speed. Please be advised that in the event of an evacuation, emergency exits are positioned towards the front and back sections of pod 35 and will be available for use upon re-pressurization of the transit pod tube. Your estimated transit time to Colesway Space Nexus is approximately 12 minutes and 48 seconds. Thank you for traveling with Colesway Transit Service, and have a pleasant trip.” Said a cordial AI voice.
Once he fastened his safety harness, a different, lower timber and more enthusiastic, disembodied voice said, “Many services are available at Colesway Space Nexus, your chosen destination, do you require anything specific? Perhaps you would like to search a comprehensive directory of all available services, everything from entertainment to travel bookings?” The voice continued, “I can also provide a narrated tour with details about many interesting local flora, fauna and landmarks.”
“Not at the moment, thanks.”
“Very well, Mr. Varen. If you require any further information, just address your request to Transit Attendant, and I will assist you.”
Looking towards the wall on his right, he moved his hand across it in a sweeping top-down motion. After a slight delay, an entire section of glistening white and blue wall from ceiling to floor vanished, replaced by a row of lights mounted on a smooth white surface about one meter away.
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A short sequence of three medium-pitched tones resonated throughout Pod 35, indicating they were about to get under way. Moments later, Pod 35 began to accelerate, gently pressing John into his seat. His window blazed to life, with a panorama of Colesway dropping out of sight behind him as the New Castle mountain range marched by with increasing speed.
Pod 35 smoothly accelerated for about sixty seconds as it sped towards immense walls of metamorphic rock. Rolling foothills, scattered forests, and glittering waterfalls were abruptly replaced by flickering lights as John’s Pod dipped underground on its way through a towering cliff covered in vegetation.
Colesway Space Nexus was at least two hundred kilometers away from the city proper, set into the side of a large mountain jutting out of the New Castle range. Doing a little math in his head, he figured that “regulation transit pod speed” must be slightly over 280 meters per second. His thoughts about this and all the implications of a sudden “unplanned deceleration” were interrupted as daylight suddenly flared from John's window. The transit tube climbed higher on its scenic course, revealing a stunning vista of towering ice-capped mountains. Dense verdant forests fed by clear glacial-melt rivers filled dozens of vales along the entire visible length of the New Castle range. Every towering granite shoulder was draped in some shade of green, red, or blue. Bright blues and yellows streaked outward across rolling foothills, and as they marched into the distance, they transitioned into wide stretches of dark green at the edge of sight.
Pod 35 shot across vaulting chasms, over thundering rivers, and through solid mountains. It wasn't the most direct route, but it was definitely worth the extra effort Colesway Transit Service put into its design and construction. Following a course towards another sheer rock wall, this one hundreds of meters tall, Pod 35 plunged into darkness, punctuated only by flickering lights. There wasn't much to see for the last few minutes of his trip.
Three tones sounded again, followed by about sixty seconds of light deceleration pressure on John's safety harness as Pod 35 gently came to a stop.
“Welcome to Colesway Space Nexus. 12 minutes and 23 seconds of transit time have been deducted from your account, John, you may now safely disembark. Thank you for traveling with Colesway Transit Service.”
Exiting transit Pod 35, John headed towards the civilian mag-lifts that serviced this part of Colesway Space Nexus.
“John? John! You hear me, John?” Someone spoke close behind him. Turning around, he could see nothing but preoccupied travelers streaming into and out of mag-lifts and transit pods. I must be hallucinating. I didn’t think I was that sleep-deprived.
“John?” This time the voice came from right next to his ear.
His heart raced as he spun in circles, but he still couldn't pinpoint any possible source for what he was hearing.
“Are you alright, sir?” He saw a woman standing by a mag-lift door.
John was slow in answering her, so she asked him again.
“Yes, I'm good,” he finally replied. “Did you hear a woman calling me just now?”
Shrugging, she said, “I wouldn't know.” She waited a moment, then walked off, joining the endless flow of people.
He walked the rest of the way to the mag-lift and hesitantly pressed a white illuminated ring centered on number three's doors for a moment until it changed to flashing blue. After a short delay, the flashing blue ring was bisected when the lift's doors opened to allow him through. Inside, he turned around and said, “Hangar, level 3.” The doors were closing when he caught sight of a woman with shoulder-length dark hair standing motionless, glaring at him. She was about ten meters away, and her stillness contrasted sharply with the ceaseless motion of transit tube travelers around her. She started to move towards him, her eyes fixed on his, but the lift doors shut before she could close the distance.