Nest Among The Stars

Unknown - Part 3

Released from the constraints of his safety harness, Michael jumped up and headed for the shuttle's exit.

"You are not dressed appropriately for this environment," Gabe advised.

"There are winter outer garments in the rear storage compartment. They are your size. I had a service drone place them there prior to your arrival at the sub-orbital facility. You will find other items as well that you might find useful."

"I'm all right for now, Gabe. It's only ten meters from here to the entrance. When I was a kid I'd play on frozen ponds in clothing that wasn't as warm as what I'm wearing now. Lower the ramp and open the doors," Michael responded, indicating he wanted both the shuttle's hatch and the hub's entrance to be opened at the same time.

Taking a deep breath of warm air before exiting, Michael sprinted down the ramp and across the short stretch of snow-covered field. Exhilarated by the sudden rush of cold air on his face and the physical activity, he stopped just short of the obtrusive concrete structure to bend down and scoop up a handful of snow. Forming it into a ball, he turned and hurled it towards the shuttle. It hit the now closed exit hatch with a soft 'whumpf' and disintegrated, leaving only a tiny white dot pointing out from the cold, composite metal surface.

"Got you Gabe, you're it."

The implant behind Michael's jaw released the words to Gabe who immediately cross-referenced their content with the action of throwing a snowball. Instantly, all possibilities inherent in the event observed, and as defined by the words spoken, were considered by the computer. Any records showing both the event and the words "you're it" being previously used in conjunction with it were brought forward for analysis in the present context. Gabe deduced that what Michael had done was a variation of a game often played by children. A suitable response was determined and implemented before Michael had even begun to smile at his own witticism.

"Although you have 'tagged' the shuttle rather than me, I will acknowledge being 'it' without digressing into an explanation of why it is impossible for me to ever actually be 'it'. Now that I have acknowledged the tag and accepted my placement within the game, please suggest the method by which I may transfer the 'tag' back to you, absent any direct ability on my part to throw snow in a spherical form?"

Shaking his head Michael thought of suggesting his disembodied and emotionless companion use a drone to try and 'tag' him back. Thinking better of attempting to elicit a human response from Gabe, he satisfied himself by simply ignoring the computer and walking into the hub. The door swished shut behind him.

It was warm inside the well-lit room. He'd never been in this out-of-the way facility before. Indeed, there had never been a prior need for someone holding military rank to be concerned with the operation of such a place.

As with most everything else on Earth before the exodus, the hub was maintained by drones, human technicians looking in only occasionally or attending on site in the rare event something might seem out of order, or in the even rarer event a human might be requested to attend by the automated system.

Michael was uncertain of what to do first. He stood in place, getting his bearings. Aside from the recessed ceiling lighting there were only a few insignificant looking control panels unevenly spaced within the four walls of the room. Predominantly red, blue and yellow lights maintained a steady radiance on the face of each panel with a couple of orange ones blinking at random intervals. The room was neat, no litter about, and devoid of drones. Nothing was out of place; there being nothing within the room that could be put out of place.

A large, red rectangle in one corner of the floor indicated the elevator platform that would take him down to the control room level. Michael stepped into the marked area and Gabe set the platform in motion before any instructions were given for him to do so. It descended fifteen meters to the only other level in the complex, stopping flush with the tiled floor.