The Solar Wind (6 page)

             
The crew welcomed Ava as the server arrived. Rowan had pre-arranged an impressive tasting menu of several courses for the group. As the server went around the table everyone ordered a drink. Ava had only had an alcoholic drink once before, a glass of wine at her wedding reception almost a year ago. Alcohol was very expensive on Earth; Ava could only imagine how much it would be here. She hesitated. She wasn’t sure what to do.

             
“They are going to bring everyone some hot tea. Why don’t you also have a drink? The Mai Tai’s should be pretty good here. Don’t worry, everything’s taken care of,” Wesley commented softly.

             
Not wanting to be the odd one of the group Ava agreed. “Okay, I’ll have one, only one though.”

             
After the drinks were ordered everyone settled down into a single, and then sometimes separate conversations. The crew was curious about Ava and Ava was curious about all of them and their travels.  The evening seemed to flow very well. The crew definitely appeared to be a lively bunch. They kidded and poked fun at each other and laughed a lot. To Ava they seemed like happy, intelligent, mature, and well rounded people. She almost felt as though she belonged with them. She vaguely sensed that she was fitting in and realized she was having a good time, the best since she had since arriving on Orionis. Ava spent a lot of time alone since Nathan’s death. Alexis and her family had been her closest friends. She longed to find a close network of friends to associate with.

The food tasted incredible. Ava hadn’t eaten so much food in a long time. The flavors and textures were amazing; she cleaned her plate with each course.

“Excellent choices, Rowan,” Wesley announced after everyone was done. The crew echoed his opinion enthusiastically.

The servers were now removing the empty plates and tidying up the table. He handed his card to the server who vanished behind the scenes with it and promptly returned. Ava couldn’t believe that he had paid for the entire group all at once. It was now near eleven o’clock and Ava started to feel sleepy after the huge dinner. She definitely wasn’t used to it. Everyone slowly got up and congregated outside of the front of the restaurant. Since it was so late there were very few people milling about in the Avenues. Ava began to worry and wondered if it would be safe for her to walk home alone; however she did not want to trouble anyone. Just then the entire captain and crew’s Personal Communication Devices, or PCDs as they were called, started beeping frantically. Everyone had one hooked onto their belts or personal effects.  Wesley pulled it off of his belt and one handedly pushed a few buttons on the device.

             
“Looks like someone has been poking around the outside of the ship and activated the security system. We’d better check it out.” He didn’t sound particularly concerned.

             
“I hope everything is O.K.” Ava didn’t want anything bad to happen to her new potential friends.

             
“I’m sure it’s just some security officer or someone else messing around. It’s late anyway, I’ll bet that you’re tired after being around all of us tonight.”

             
“No, I mean, yes I’m a little tired, but I had a really good time tonight. I hope that I will see all of you again soon.”

             
“I’m certain of it,” he said with a smile. “Naomi and Andre will see that you get home safely.”

             
“That’s so nice of you. I really appreciate that,” Ava said to them.

             
“Good night Ava.” Wesley started to walk away.

             
“Good night, thank you for dinner. Wait! What about your backpack?” Ava still had it slung over her shoulder.

             
“You keep it Ava, how about I let you know if I need it back?” He turned and then he and the rest of the crew were off, leaving Ava with Naomi and Andre.

Ava turned back to Naomi and Andre and the three of them set out in the opposite direction towards the lifts. As they walked Ava noticed Naomi and her husband holding hands. It reminded her of how nice it must feel to have someone to be close to in an unforgiving world. She felt happy for them and tried to push the unhappy thoughts of her past from her mind. It has been almost a year since Nathan’s death and she still missed him terribly.

“Did you like the menu tonight Ava?” Naomi asked pleasantly.

“Yes, it was delicious. It was so kind of you all to invite me to join you.”

“We were glad you could come. Perhaps next time you can invite your friend.”

“My friend?”

“When we were in the Square you mentioned that you had a friend on the ship that brought you here from Earth.”

“Yes. I did have a friend. Unfortunately I won’t be able to see her again,” Ava said sadly as she stared at the ground.

“Why not?”

“She had a difficult time affording groceries, even though I took her with me to Infinity. Then she wouldn’t accept my help. She told me that a co-worker suggested she visit a store on Level 11. They promised her that she would be able to afford the groceries there and she decided to go. I tried to stop her. I told her that you and Wesley advised me never to go down there but she went anyway. I even rode down the lift with her to Level 11 but she still didn’t listen to me.” Naomi raised a concerned eyebrow. “After she left I never saw her again. When she didn’t come back I checked the obituary list and it reported that she died of a cardiac arrest. I’m not sure I believe that.”

“Oh Ava, I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you did everything you could to prevent her from going down there. Whatever happened to her was not your fault.”

“What do you think happened to her? It’s unusual for a seemingly healthy twenty-four year old woman suffer a cardiac arrest.”

It was Andre who spoke next. “Level 11 is not a safe place for several reasons. Many of the businesses are fraudulent. Not to mention that illicit drug use runs rampant down there. If your young friend died of a heart attack she most likely overdosed on something, either willingly or unknowingly.”

“You think someone drugged her?”

“It’s possible.”

“What about the authorities, wouldn’t they do an investigation if they suspected something like that?”

“Not unless she was someone of great importance, or if she was very wealthy. The authorities on Orionis are extremely strict, but not when it concerns Level 11.”

“That’s outrageous. You mean to tell me that the law enforcement here would turn a blind eye to an unsolved death of a young woman just because it happened on the lower levels and she didn’t have a lot of money or connections?”

“Unfortunately it’s an unfeeling world we live in. The ITO is a corrupt system. So many people migrate to the stations only to get mixed up with the wrong crowd. Desperate people will do anything to survive. It can be a recipe for disaster. As the ITO knows with the station census, when one person departs, another spot opens up for the next person, and thus they can collect the next migration fee. It’s an unrelenting cycle.”

“I can’t believe it. That’s so unjust.”

“Unfortunately that’s life,” he added softly.

Ava didn’t say much the rest of the way home. She had such a nice time tonight, now the conversation about Helena had upset her.  She felt tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Helena was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. She knew she would have to let it go and learn to move on without closure.

Chapter 6: The Computer

Over the next few weeks Ava’s life on Orionis began to improve. She started to become used to her new routine and began to explore more of her surroundings. Work flowed well and by shopping at Infinity Ava started to put back on some of the weight that she had lost. As Naomi had said, Ava’s body became more physically acclimated to environment and she began to feel stronger. She saw her new friends only occasionally as they were out on various missions during the week, however they usually docked at Orionis at least once or twice a month. They had given Ava their messaging accounts that they could access from their PCDs and also their ship when it was in range so that they would be able to keep in touch with one another. Ava joined one of the workout facilities on Level 4 to kill time after work when she was most lonely. The memberships were free and it made it possible for Ava to be around people.

Ava had been dreading Wednesday this week for a long time. It was the anniversary of Nathan’s death and she started having difficulty handling it emotionally. She had tried many things to cope with the loneliness. She checked out a few affordable clubs that piqued her interest to see if she could belong. The writer’s club mostly consisted of people who wrote dark depressing poetry. The karate club frowned on Ava for not having enough stamina. Ava found the online gaming community even more isolated and lonely. After that Ava decided to give her search a rest and just stick with her workout class for the time being. On Wednesday Ava went to work, which fortunately, was always busy. The clinic always seemed to be a reliable relief to escape the isolation. Afterwards she went home. As she changed out of her work attire Ava glanced at her wedding photo on her dresser, the only one that she had brought with her.  It had now been one year since she traveled to be with Nathan during a sudden illness, only to be too late. As she looked at the two happy smiling people in the photo the sadness took over. She had to get out, she didn’t want to be alone tonight.

Ava grabbed her wrist wallet and practically ran out the door. As she walked she debated where to go. Ava and Naomi were becoming good friends although Ava had never told her or any of the crew about Nathan. She wished she could talk to someone now, preferably Naomi, about it. Naomi was married, she would understand. It was a long shot, but perhaps The Andromeda was docked. Ava decided to find out. New residents were not allowed to travel until they had lived on Orionis for at least six months. In fact, they weren’t even permitted anywhere near the hangars that housed the incoming and outgoing ships. However, anyone could observe the ships and check the docking records from the public observation deck. Ava gazed around the hangar and then finally to the large monitors with the green letters and symbols. No Andromeda. Ava meandered slowly back to The Square. She stopped by a kiosk and bought a small bag of popcorn, a popular snack on Orionis. She wandered to a small bench nearby and sat down.  Ava leaned over with her elbows on her knees and stared at the ground, mindlessly popping one kernel at a time into her mouth, chewing slowly each time. She observed the blur of footwear passing by anonymously until she noticed one pair of black boots approaching her slowly. As the boots came nearer Ava looked up and saw him.

“Wesley?”

“Hello Ava. How are you this evening?”

“I’m okay, thank you.” She was surprised to see him. “I didn’t know you were on Orionis today.”

“May I?” He gestured to the bench. Ava scooted over and he sat down next to her. “Yes, I stayed behind this week to negotiate some new contracts with Orionis. We’ve been working steadily for them for some time now. I maintain an apartment up on Level 3 for instances such as this.”

“You mean your crew is out there with your ship doing a mission without you? Aren’t you worried that something might happen to them?” Ava tilted the bag of popcorn towards Wesley, who retrieved a small handful of kernels. He must really have faith in them, she thought.

He laughed softly and sincerely. “I’d trust Andre with my life. He knows that ship as well as I do. There’s nothing to worry about. They will all be back Friday night as scheduled. You should go out with us this weekend.”

“I’d like that.”

“Ava, that’s not your dinner, is it?”

“Oh, no I was a little restless tonight. I just wanted to be out and about.” Ava smiled and tried to look cheerful, despite feeling the opposite and having no appetite.

“Well, I was just on my way to grab something when I saw you. Why don’t you join me?”

“I don’t know. I’m afraid I probably wouldn’t be very good company tonight.” She continued to look at the ground.

“You seem so sad Ava. Come and have dinner with me and we’ll talk.” With that he gently slid an arm around her shoulders and guided her feet and down the nearest avenue. They arrived at a dimly lit casual restaurant and Wesley asked for a booth in the back. The place was not crowded so they had plenty of privacy. Ava didn’t know what to think. She thought she would find being alone with him awkward, however it felt strangely comforting. He continued to make small talk with her until after they ordered their food and then he started asking questions.

“So, what has happened to make you so melancholy?”

“It’s kind of personal. You probably don’t want to spend your evening listening to me lament about my life.”

“Well, I’m willing to listen if you want to tell me. I spend most of my time on a ship with three couples in love. Believe me, I hear my fair share of drama. I can’t guarantee I can fix what’s wrong, but it might be good for you to get it off of your chest. And since this is your first consultation with ‘the Captain,’ I’ll waive the office visit fee.” He kept a straight face during his small speech.