Chapter 2 - The First Encounter

James and Rachael meet their first person since becoming stranded beyond the wormhole, and they have a lot in common.

Verginius Star System 

Annaserria Asteroid Belt

Oxygenated Region

James and Rachael stayed out in the field for several hours after the phone died. They rested where they could, whenever they happened to stumble across a clearing amongst the maze of floating rock. They’d sit together and catch their breath, waiting until the chill began to work its way through their sweat-soaked clothes before moving on again. But mostly they kept running, jumping from asteroid to asteroid. Although his legs ached and buckled, and he felt tired enough that he surely must collapse soon, James kept pace with Rachael. Eventually he found he was enjoying himself again. They’d travelled so far by that point that the landscape had changed. Instead of pumice and dust, the asteroids were made of coal and metal, and crystals larger than a skyscraper. They grew in fractals, sprouting endlessly in all directions, and shone so brilliantly that James couldn’t help but break off a keepsake. 

The asteroids here were tougher, and less prone to breaking, so there was less dust polluting the air. The steams of water which snaked through the field were clean, and although Rachael advised against it, James drank eagerly from them. The water was hard, but cold and fresh, and for a while their homes were forgotten as they drank and swam through the floating rivers. They washed their hair and flushed out their clothes, and let the water sweep them up in its current. Swimming along with it, the pair winded through the orbits of a dozen large asteroids, occasionally balling it like snow to throw at one another. James would squeal and giggle and Rachael would laugh, and James thought that she had just the best laugh. 

Eventually the water began to feel too cold, and they were forced out. James took off his wet shirt, and to his surprise Rachael followed suit. James tried to avert his gaze, feeling it was his obligation. Rachael smiled at him, and took his shirt to tie it to hers. 

“A bra and a bikini are basically the same thing.” She told him, as though keenly aware of his trepidations. Honestly she probably was. 

“Yeah,” he said, nodding enthusiastically, “Exactly. And like, people just wear bikinis sometimes.”

Rachael laughed, while James tried to hide the fact that he was dying inside. Why did he say that to her? That was a terrible, terrible thing to say to her. But holy crap she was ripped. James probed his own abdomen, hoping that his flab had mysteriously vanished since last he checked. For a moment he considered asking for his shirt back, but no, that’d only draw attention to him. Perhaps she just wouldn’t notice?

The trip back to factory, or station, or whatever it was, which they’d taken to calling Homebase, seemed to take much less time than the trip out. Sooner than he would have believed, Rachael was leading the way back up the pipelines, leaping from one to another as though they were rungs on a giant ladder. They landed on the tarmac, still clean aside from the splotches of yellow paint, and there was the rectangular building. Inside, the factory was running as usual, and the kitchenette was just as they’d left it. 

“Guess we didn’t miss him.” James said, and Rachael began to open cabinets, one after another. They were stuffed with camping supplies, virtually identical to gear James had used many times before. A few self-inflating sleeping mats and pillows, some sleeping bags, a two-person tent, deck chairs complete with stubby holders, and spare clothes. She threw some of these to James, before pulling on a jacket and zipping it up. Disappointed, James stepped out to change. 

When he returned, Rachael had printed both a dinner of steak, alien fruit and vegetables, and arranged the camping gear against one wall. Taking a plate and cutlery, she slung a folded deck chair across her back, and led the way out. James grabbed his own and followed, finding her set up on the tarmac just outside the building. Together they sat back, ate, and watched the stars in case they moved. At one stage James suggested they look for constellations, but what patterns could you make out of six stars, arranged in a circle?

“I reckon we wait out here,” Rachael said, “We set up the tent and the sleeping bags, and we take it in shifts. That way there’s no chance to miss the guy when he comes to get us.”

“Surely he’d look inside before flying off again.” James said, “We’re assuming he’ll come by space ship, right?”

“Why not? We’re in an asteroid field contained inside a force field, I’d say space ships aren’t out of the question. But in any case, I’d prefer he can’t take us by surprise.”

They lapsed into silence after that, aside from a few comments now and then. James wanted to talk, but what was there to chat about when you were stranded in space with a stranger? There should have been plenty, he supposed. After the day they’d had, he definitely considered her a friend, but they still knew virtually nothing about one another. There were the default conversation starter questions, the sort every high schooler automatically asks one another when making small talk. What subjects are you taking? What are you planning on doing when you graduate? But these even more frivolous than usual. They were in a freaking asteroid field, surely their conversations should be just as grand as their setting. But James couldn’t think of anything, so they sat in silence, until eventually Rachael suggested he get some sleep, while she took the first watch. 

“I can go first watch,” James said, “If your tired. Or, like… I don’t mind.”

“I’ll go first.” She told him. 

“No, that’s okay, I can go, if you want. I don’t like, have to though…”

“James, shut up and go to bed.”

Leaving her outside, James ducked into the kitchenette for a drink and bathroom break before bed, brushing his teeth as best he could with a finger and fresh water. The tent sprung together on its own, without poles or pegs, when he’d dragged it outside and pulled it from its bag. The sleeping mat was a bit pathetic in comparison, requiring a few extra puffs from James before it would inflate completely. The pillow was likewise inflatable, and sucked, but at least he had one at all. James took off his shirt and belt inside the tent, and lay on his back. Above him, the violet force field shone through the fabric like algal bioluminescence through the surface of the ocean. It was a soft, patterned light, but James doubted he could sleep through it. But… in case he did manage to fall asleep…

“Hey, Rach?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“What? Rach?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Sorry. Anyway, do you know how long it takes once you fall asleep for it to get all REMy?”

“What?”

“Like, random eye movement, or whatever.”

“Rapid. And no, I don’t. How long does it take?”

“Oh, no I dunno. I was asking you.”

Rachael paused. James couldn’t see her through the closed fabric of the tent, but her silhouette ran its fingers through its hair. 

“Why does it matter?” She asked. 

“Just don’t wanna sleep too long, you know? Just long enough. So it’s fair.”

Another pause. When she spoke again, her voice had softened.

“We don’t have a clock, anyway. Just sleep for however long. I’ll wake you up when it’s fair. Trust me.”

“Alright. Goodnight, Rach.”

She sighed. “Goodnight, James. Have a good sleep.”

James rolled over and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again. If Rachael was going to come in and wake him at some point, should he put his shirt back on?

No, that’d be weird. He should try to look as not-embarrassing as possible, though.

Rolling onto his back again, James tried out various positions until he found one that looked particularly stoic. Yes, that would do nicely. 

Outside the tent, Rachael shifted in her chair, and for a moment James wondered if she would fall asleep too. No, of course she wouldn’t, not on her watch. She’d never let herself.

“Hey, Rach?”

“What is it, James?”

“It was really nice meeting you.”

“It was… nice meeting you too, James.”

***

When Rachael woke James, it was with the news that her watch had been uneventful. He dressed hurriedly and took her place on the deck chair, while Rachael flapped the tent door a few times to flush out some of his smell.

“So how long should I keep watch for?” James asked, “Like, how do I know how long it’s been?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Rachael told him, as she slid inside and zipped the door shut, “I won’t oversleep.”

James yawned. He hadn’t properly woken up yet, and felt as though he’d fall asleep again at any moment. With a sigh he stood up, figuring he’d go for a walk around Homebase. It was a long trudge around the perimeter of the tarmac, spotted with many yawns. His legs were stiff and aching, and when he collapsed back into his deck chair he found the walk hadn’t woken him up at all. Given that, and how comfortable the fold-up chair was, James was surprised he even lasted long enough for Rachael to fall asleep before he too passed out. She woke him several hours later with a shove and a sour expression. 

Not fancying more steak for breakfast, the pair 3D-printed some fruit and drank from the kitchenette sink. James was already growing sick of their diet, and hoped that whats-his-face would hurry up and get there already. Rachael still wasn’t inclined to wait around for him, though, so again the pair ventured into the asteroid field. It turned out to be a long, hard day, similar to the last one and just as futile. At some point they became turned around, and when the pair found themselves at the pipes leading back toward Homebase James insisted they stop for lunch. Rachael agreed without too much fuss. They ate more fruit, before sampling some other cans from the stack which filled the kitchenette shelves. The labels were written in some language that neither of them recognised, and although there were pictures, they were horribly pixelated and hard to make out. One dispensed a mound of translucent sludge, similar to porridge. Another, a thick black liquid that poured over the sides of the plate and onto the floor; it was only after this that they found a set of cups which slot into the 3D printer. 

It was fun. James still didn’t know what to talk about, but it was enough that he could hear her laugh. After lunch they headed out again, through the dust and the rocks, until they again returned exhausted and disappointed. They ate steak, and Rachael took first watch, while James crawled into the tent and was asleep within minutes. They swapped places after a while, and again James fell asleep on his watch. When Rachael finally woke him, she seemed more resigned than she had previously. They ate some of the porridge, finding it not to their taste, and then they started out again. They ran until they exhausted themselves, and returned to Homebase. They ate, they slept, they set out again. Each day was the same as the last, if you could even call them days. The stars never moved. At one point, Rachael considered keeping track of time with a tally, scratched into the rock near the square building, but she disregarded the notion. How would they even know when to mark the days?

Rachael kept up guard duty for a good five or six ‘days’, before lack of sleep wore her down to the point where they crawled into the tent together. By that stage they hardly ever talked at all, even as they stripped down to their underclothes and huddled up together in the sleeping bag. Looking back, James wouldn’t remember much of his time in the asteroid field, but he remembered that moment vividly. Rachael was absolutely stunning in his inexperienced eyes. He had never even kissed a girl before, let alone slept with one. They lay facing one another, very close, with James’ left arm under her head like a pillow. Her right arm stuck up, awkwardly, between them, but supposedly it didn’t bother her. Her hair was everywhere, and James had to hold still or else pull it by accident. People looked slimmer when they lay down, and James hoped it would help disguise his less than stellar features. Rachael didn’t need any help to look slim, and in that position she didn’t entirely fill her bra. It wouldn’t be hard to steal a glance; James purposely looked anywhere but there. If it had been a test, it was one he passed, for Rachael moved her free hand to his side, and with her eyes told him to do the same. Her skin was smooth and perfect. A freckle here and there, a stretch mark on the side of her chest. James’ fingers lingered there a moment, tracing its length. Then Rachael kissed him.

It was incredible. Beyond anything James had ever experienced. Joy, in its purest form. And there was that smile he loved so much. They made out until James’ mouth hurt, although Rachael showed no sign of fatigue. 

Finally, James broke it off, and whispered, “I love you.” 

Rachael said nothing, but stared at him with huge, green eyes, and he knew that she loved him back. 

And just like that, they began to enjoy their time in the asteroid field. They still ran out into the field, and exhausted themselves by dodging streams of dust and diving into water, although when they inevitably returned to Homebase, it would be wrong to say they were disheartened. They ate and drank and sat together, staring up at the six stars in the sky and imagining that they could see them move. They kissed, they lay together, and James’ hands slowly explored Rachael’s body, as fast as his inherit disbelief would let him. Over the course of several days, he moved into her shirt and upward, onto her breast. She let him pull her shirt off, then her bra. When they slept together, Rachael’s head on his arm, James would take off his shirt and somehow she still wanted to lie with him. Every time she let him take off another piece of her clothing, James thought that he could never grow bored of seeing that new part of her. Each new view was both forbidden and beautiful, a combination that thrilled him. And then, the next night, he’d grow bold enough to push his luck again; when Rachael consented, he was always surprised. 

He knew those days would end, those days of slowly exploring each other’s bodies, and he knew how it would end. And a part of him dreaded it, as much as he was excited for it. Even as they lay naked together, the final step, James hesitated. He knew that this was it. 

“I…” James’ voice cracked as he tried to whisper. He cleared his throat. Rachael kissed him, and smiled. She always knew what he was thinking, but she liked to watch him fall over his words. It made her laugh, and her laugh was beautiful. She rolled onto her back, and positioned him above her. James’ heart thundered in his chest. 

“Wait,” he said, “we can’t.”

He smiled vanished in the wake of exasperation. 

“What is it?”

“What if you got… you know…?”

“Do you think I have a STI or something?” she asked, clearly insulted.

“No! I mean, wait, do you?”

She hit him. 

“Sorry,” James said, “And, uh, I don’t either.”

“I know.”

Though he was pretty sure that was meant as an insult, James brushed it off. 

“I meant, what happens if you got pregnant?”

“We won’t get pregnant,” Rachael told him, “I’ve got a stick in my arm.”

James didn’t really know what meant, so all he said was: “Right.”

“It’s a type of contraception,” she explained, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, sorry.” He said, shutting up. It was only then, when the moment was truly upon him, when he realised how a lifetime’s worth of his mother’s favourite romantic comedies had left him drastically unprepared for the real thing. 

“Am… am I in?” he asked, hopefully. 

“No.”

He tried again. 

“What about-”

“I’ll tell you when your in!” she snapped. Then, with a sigh, she guided him. It was a bit more awkward than he’d expected, and James doubted he would have ever found the spot on his own. But when he entered her, James knew that it was the real thing. They paused for a second, both breathing hard from shock and pleasure. 

Then the world rippled.

“The fu-”

The asteroid, which had never so much as shuddered under foot, rolled violently as if sucked up into the passing wave. The tent, with James and Rachael inside, was thrown along the tarmac. They had never bothered to secure it, never seeing the need. Now it’s self-assembling frame collapsed as they rolled down the sudden incline. Rachael scrabbled at the flat ground, then at a shield-generator plinth which they collided with as the ground fell away, but she wasn’t fast enough. They fell, the ground disappearing altogether. Then, with a mighty clank of metal on metal, Homebase pulled taught on whatever chains held it in place, and swung back up to catch them. The pair landed hard and tumbled to a stop as Homebase drifted back into it’s original position. When everything was finally still, James and Rachael found themselves in a naked tangle inside the collapsed tent, and though they had banged heads at least half a dozen times, they had somehow managed to not break anything. 

“So,” James said, “Did that count?”

He didn’t understand much of what Rachael yelled in reply, but figured it best to retreat from the broken tent as quickly as possible. 

Exiting backward onto the tarmac, James straightened up and glanced around, wondering if his clothes might have happened to land close by. They were scattered about, but he found them easily enough. It was only after he’d pulled on his underwear that he gave himself a moment to glance upward. Above him, floating silently just outside the outer shield which enclosed the asteroid field, was a space ship. Bulky and as long as a bus, it had been painted black and a scuffed bus-yellow. Twin rocket engines jutted from its rear, and its surfaces were covered with solar panels, porthole windows and glowing heat vents, the largest of which was on the nose, below a bus-like windshield. 

James sighed. Of all the things to cockblock you. 

“What is it?” Rachael asked, furiously dressing inside the tent. James, realising himself, quickly finished dressing himself. 

“It’s a… space bus.” James said. 

As Rachael crawled from the tent, the space bus drifted down, and the violet force field parted to let it through. When it entered the air of the asteroid field, the ship’s engines began to roar. James and Rachael put their fingers in their ears and watched as the ship slowly descended. There didn’t seem to be anything holding it aloft - the only rocket propulsion engines were on its rear, and powering down - although it was surrounded by a shimmering cloud that caused the ship to waver like a desert mirage. James supposed it was another type of force field. Then it began to flicker, and failed, falling apart like a million glass beads, and the ship fell with it, hitting the tarmac hard enough to leave a crater, and shake the whole asteroid. The crash was so loud that it made James’ ears ring, even with them covered.

For a time nothing moved. Then, when their hearing began to return, Rachael led the way around to the other side of the miraculously intact ship, to an open porthole door, inside of which stood a man in a flight jacket. He had short, shaggy blond mane around his face, which nonetheless looked thin and tight. He looked thing, bordering on malnourished, although it was hard to see because he’d covered himself as much as possible behind his jacket, boots, trousers and gloves. On his head he had adorned an akubra hat, around which had been tied a snakeskin, and a pair of glasses upon which was mounted a tiny display. When he spoke, his South Australian accent made him sound a bit of a bogan, but when he leaped down from the ship and cracked a smile, he certainly seemed friendly enough. 

“G’day,” he said, stepping forward and holding his hand out to Rachael. He shook it enthusiastically, oblivious to her reluctance, before moving onto James. 

“You guys the people I’m here for?” he asked, “Sorry about the wait. Time dilation and all that. I got here as fast as I could, though I spose that’s part of the problem!” He laughed. 

“M’name’s Arty. Arthur Radigan. But call me Arty.”

James and Rachael introduced themselves and Arty, as though not knowing what to do with his hands, shook theirs again, clapping James on the back for good measure. 

“How’ve you been fairing here?” he asked, “Getting along okay? Find all the stuff I left? Is that the tent over there? You two been getting rough with it, aye?”

“We found your note,” Rachael told him, bristly, “Is this your definition of as soon as you can? We’ve been here for… god knows how long.”

“Ah, that,” Arty said, “I can tell you.” From his pocket he pulled a wireless computer mouse and using his denim jeans as a backboard, navigated the tiny computer screen reflected upon his eyeglasses. He had their answer within the minute. 

“About fifteen sols.” He exclaimed. “Imperial sols, not local. Though I dunno if Annaserria even has sols any more.”

“What about in Earth time?” Rachael asked. 

“Oh, uh, I dunno. Probably a bit more. Like, more than fifteen days. Nah, I don’t really know.”

Rachael ran her fingers through her hair, as she always did when exasperated, although seeing her do it in response to someone else was refreshing, James thought. 

“Good news is,” Arty said, laying a hand on the scuffed yellow hull, “It won’t take that long to get back. Not for us anyway. Time dilation’ll work in our favour, and we’ll be going via the Loop so we won’t have to go through as much immigration. Though I might need to get some new pipes…” 

He paused and thought for a moment. 

“That probably didn’t make much sense to you.” He said, “How abouts we go inside and I’ll catch you up.”

Arty led the way, marching through Homebase’s lone building as though he owned it. It occurred to James that perhaps he did indeed own the place, but when he asked Arty only laughed. 

“Nah, just re-purposed it.” He said, “This place was here when Annaserria was still a planet, however many f*****g years ago that was. When the planet was destroyed, the shields around the Atmosphere Emitter Station were so strong that this place stayed together. It used to be that the station made the planet go Earth-like, with water and heat and light and such, even though we’re ages away from the Ver- uh, the star for this system I mean. Verginius.” 

Stepping around a clump of dirty clothes just inside the door to the kitchenette, Arty made straight for the pantry and announced that he fancied a drink. He chose a can for the 3D printer, and showed it to them; it was the sort that contained the black gooey muck. 

“Kaneef?” he asked. 

“No.” Rachael told him, arms crossed. 

Arty turned to James and shook the can, enthusiastically. 

“Uh, sure?” James said. Arty grinned and inserted the can into the printer, grabbing two cups from the shelves to catch the output. The printer hissed to life and the piston pumped, and stalled. Whereas James and Rachael had waited at this stage, hoping that they hadn’t broken the damn thing, Arty pressed down a button on the side of the printer, releasing a hiss of steam. He two cups of sludge came out hot and glistening, and didn’t smell nearly as bad as they had when cold. Arty passed James his cup and he hesitantly took a sip, finding that it tasted like a very refreshing variation of soy sauce. 

“Right,” Arty said, jumping up to sit atop one of the benches. “Where you guys from, anyway? Brisbane?”

“Can we just cut to the chase?” Rachael asked, “We’re in space. It doesn’t matter if we’re from Brisbane or f*****g Ipswich.”

James laughed. “Have you been to Ipswich?”

“Yeah, your right,” Arty said to Rachael, “Sorry. Okay, so long story short, your in another galaxy.”

He paused, as though for effect.

James glanced at Rachael. “Yeah, we kinda figured something like that. Like, f*****g space, and force fields, n’s**t.”

“And it’s not like we haven’t had time to think about it.” Rachael told him. 

“Right,” Arty said, “Sorry. Time dilation, and all that. Well, more the fact that I was a couple star systems away. It was the best I could do, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” James told him. Rachael shot him a look. 

“So are we stuck here?” she asked, “We tried looking for a wormhole, or whatever it was.” 

“Ah yeah?” Arty said, Well, the wormholes, portals, whatever you want to call them, they do work both ways. SO if you go through a portal on this end, you’d end up on Earth. But they need to be submerged in water to become stable, which makes them pretty rare. The one here in Annaserria Asteroid Field only exists when a cloud of water drifts through the right place, so no wonder you didn’t find it.”

“So there are more portals out there?” Rachael asked. 

“Oh yeah. Tonnes. Well, two that I know of. But I’m just a random. There’s probably tonnes. Galaxy’s a big place. Anyway, the other portal’s on a planet called Sanif, in the middle of the jungle, and that’s where I’m gonna take you. Good news is that it’s controlled by Earth’s Embassy, so the plan is we go there, you two claim asylum, and they’ll send you home. Simple as that.” 

This time Arty’s words had the effect he wanted. Rachael opened her mouth, and shut it again, as though not entirely sure as to what she wanted to call into question. It was James who spoke first. 

“Earth has its own embassy? The, like, whole of Earth?”

“Yup.”

“Planet Earth, the planet, has its own embassy, in another universe?”

“Well, it’s the same universe, it’s just a different galaxy.” Arty told him, as if that settled the matter. James decided to just nod and leave the rest of the conservation to Rachael, who appeared to have gathered her thoughts. 

“What do you get out of this?” she asked. “Why would you help us out so much, come all the way here?”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to say.” Arty said, “It’s my job.” 

Pulling out the mouse again, his glasses lit up as he flicked through menus and interfaces for a minute, before pulling the glasses off and offering them to Rachael. 

“Put ‘em on, right, and now you should be able to see my identification and credentials and such around here,” Arty said, indicating the space directly to his right.

“This is just gibberish.” She told him. James, thinking how good she looked in glasses, took them from her when she offered and slipped them on. Arty’s vision was terrible, it seemed, but the interface was clear. The text which floated around his head comprised of English lettering, albeit with the occasional circumflex, but the words had been scrambled. 

“It’s not English,” Arty explained, taking back his glasses, “It’s Esperanto. Official language of Imperialis and the most popular language in the Empire, which is where we are now. Well, technically we’re in Pacifist Union space, and they speak Volapük but you get the idea.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it looks like gibberish,” Rachael told him, “So we still can’t trust anything you say.”

James glanced at her, not understanding her mistrust. Why would he have come all the way out here if he wasn’t part of the embassy? What would he have to gain? Thoughts of human trafficking came to mind, but it wasn’t as though there was anyone around to stop him taking them by force. Even if they were in some way valuable, it seemed an inefficient method of making new acquisitions. At the very least he’d expect Arty to be a bit more threatening.

The pilot raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not going to force you to come with me. Either of you, or both of you, are welcome to stay here. There should be enough food for a good while, and I can bring some back every so often to restock you. But fair warning, it’s a s**t way to live.”

Rachael chewed her lip in silence. 

“Have a think about it.” Arty told her, standing up, “I need to do some repair stuff on my ship before we fly out again, regardless. Shouldn’t take too long, but hopefully by then you’ve reached a decision.”