Arrival

Time stopped as the stars darted past my window, leaving me lost in thought and

drowsy from the journey. I felt the room shutter, causing my long-untied auburn hair to

drift up in the gravity-free environment. A quiet beeping drew my pale blue eyes from

the void outside and to a small pad. When I touched the screen, it lit up with a reminder.

- You will arrive at Delga docking bay eighteen at 1500 -

I sat reading it over twice before finally resolving to act on my reminder. I was

exhausted, and my joints wanted nothing more than to rest, but I had work to do.

“O-kay Iris let's see” I slid the message to the right of the screen. Unbuckling the

seat belts that kept me tethered and moved to turn on the lights. As I wandered over, I

moved my aching joints that were far less aggrieved than I predicted. Anticipation for

my new life gave me newfound exhilaration and seemingly endless energy. I propelled

myself off of the seat toward the wall, and as I began to check, the fastens on my luggage

and supplies. I ensured all the doors were closed and ran an analysis on my pod before

moving back to my seat. Sitting down in the pilot's chair, I re-clipped the safety buckles,

tied my hair up in a tight bun and prepared for landing.

I feel my spacesuit tighten and loosened to encourage blood circulation in my limbs as the ship's speed increased. The ride was bumpy at first, but after it reached a steady cruising speed It was smooth sailing.

Gazing back out the window, finding a fast-approaching city of silver and glass hovering above a rusty-colored planet, I felt my breath hitch. It's thousands of miles of the state of the art technology that acted as the pinnacle of mankind started back with a beautiful sheen from its perfectly kept exterior. I dreamt of being one of its four million dedicated soldiers and researchers studying this magnificent planet that was teeming with life drifting barely two hundred thousand miles away from the Deliga since I was

ten and now I was. The ship itself was fascinating, but that rusty planet had the only

other known forms of life, and despite none of it being animal life, it was still the greatest Scientific discovery of the millennia.

“Deliga…” I spoke as I slowed my approach and sent a docking request. I looked

back up to the city in amazement before I was pulled from my trance by another beep,

this time louder and immediately followed by a voice.

“This is docking bay 18-B4. Please send your fight plan and ID” His voice was distorted ever so slightly by the transmission and laced with exhaustion as he repeated himself, no doubt, for the hundredth time today. There was another beep as he finally shut the communication down, leaving me with my words alone.

“Thank you” I was sure he hadn't heard me, but it felt right to let the words slip before I followed his orders and sent my information and reports over to the bay.

It didn't take long before I received a digital reply with the signal to dock and just as

quickly, as I received the message, I began my approach. I entered the docking bay slowly

as my ship fought to keep from being pulled in too fast and being crushed agents the larger ships shield. After getting in place with the landing crew, I stopped the directional thrusters and slowly descended to the ground with my landing gear. I had arrived.

One shaky landing later, and I was left feeling heavy from the artificial gravity I had lived without for the last ten months. Every ounce of pressure killed, causing an instant headache as it slowly built up.

“Ohhhhhh boy, oh boy, you are not ready for this Iris, not at all” I moved slowly to unclasp the buckle over my body and I struggled to stand under the immense pressure I had forgotten.

My legs shuddered under the weight of my own body. I stood with the help of my chair and moved to lean against the wall as I struggled to get to the door. It may have been a bit ambitious to start walking but I was so close I had hardly

made it to the wall when I was greeted by two medical officers.

“Easy there you just spent ten months in zero-G you are nowhere near ready to walk on your own yet.” They were obviously concerned by my attempt but were too calm for this to be

a first. The Meds helped me off my ship and sat me down for a brief check-up before

leaving me to deal with the physical therapists and the mettle gravity braces.

The braces were tightly strapped to my joints so they could help me stay upright as I

walked. It resulted in me needing to work twice as hard to move my legs forward but it keep me from falling.

After an hour or two of ‘practice’, I decided I could walk enough to at least find my new place of dwelling, and so I did. Ditching the medical professionals and physical therapists, I wandered down the halls of the Deliga with only my hola map to guide me.

The pressure eased as I got used to normal -9.8 gravity levels.

I wandered through the halls taking

breaks here and there along the way yo catch my breath.

The ship was just as incapable from the inside as it was on the outside with sleek

silver walls and pale blue floor and ceiling lights along the edges of the walls that went

on forever.

However, the simple but elegantly done-up walls were hardly the kicker. It was only natural to get distracted by the bubbles of alien plant life growing wildly. Obliv had thousands of different plant varieties but its most fascinating species were by far the rapidly evolving fungus spices, however, I had yet to spot any fungus in the bubbles yet.

I took the time to spot and identify each plant I had studied over my journey before arriving near the living areas.

As I approached the living quarters I began to slip through a maze of doors that seemed endless. I questioned the accuracy of my map as I continued up and down the uniform halls before finally stopping in front of a door identical to the rest.

According to my map, this was going to be my quarters for the foreseeable future. My heart jumped at the thought of my official independence. This wasn't the first time I was living on my own nor was this my first time having something that was mine alone, but It was different this time. I had always been an only child and along with the attention from my

parents came the expectations.

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