Chapter 1 #2
"Get up, get up, get up, get up," Dani chanted under her breath, expressing her impatience as Mara stood and stepped into the aisle.
When there was enough room for me to get out, I stepped back a little so Dani could squeeze in front of me.
I let Jess and Lin out, and then we slowly shuffled towards the exit.
I looked down at where the stamp on my wrist had been. It had faded now, so it was invisible.
When I got to the sexy cat lady, I stepped a little to the side so I was out of the way of people exiting.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. It was a little nerve-wracking to talk to her, but the idea of trying to flag down one of the aliens running around outside the shuttle seemed much more daunting.
"Excuse me," I said quietly. "May I ask you a question?"
"Please," she sang. "I am here to assist."
"When you said wrist unit, what did you mean?" I asked her.
"The nanobots embedded in your epidermis layer," the sexy cat lady sang back at me.
"Just tap on them to activate the display.
You can pull up your map, the internal messaging system, and access some controls, such as remote monitoring for things you might want to build in the manufacturing bay.
You'll have more detailed controls on your room unit. "
"Thank you," I said, tapping on the invisible ink tattoo.
A holographic screen projected on the back of my wrist, flat like a phone, was lying there.
"The symbols have been set up to be recognizable to humans," the sexy cat lady said.
"So, navigating should be intuitive. For example, there is a little cog for settings control, such as if you want to have the screen project up instead of lying flat.
If you need any help, you can ask anyone in uniform.
You can also ask Masak if you can't find anyone. "
"Masak?" I asked. "Isn't that the name of the ship?"
"Yes, the Vaurelcar we are in is called Masak," she replied.
So the ship's classification was Vaurelcar and its name was Masak. It probably had some sort of onboard computer that was set up to handle requests. The thought of that filled me with relief. I would much rather talk to a computer than flag down a Norratar dressed like a French maid.
"Thank you, have a good day," I said and quickly rejoined the line of people exiting the shuttle.
When I stepped off the ramp onto the white floor, I discovered it was slightly squishy, pleasantly padded like a carpet with a foam layer underneath.
My friends were all waiting for me just outside the stream of people heading for the open door.
"We waited for you!" Dani declared as I walked up to them.
"Let's go find our rooms!" Mara said.
"We should do the tour first," Jess said, her phone in her hand. "Let's get to our room second. If we hurry, we can catch the first tour in fifteen minutes."
"You don't want to take some time to settle in?" I said, feeling dismayed at the idea of rushing around.
"Everyone else will be settling in, and there will be fewer people on the tour," Jess pointed out. "And if you go in your room first, you're going to vanish in there, and we won't see you until dinner time."
"Tour it is!" Dani clapped her hands. "Let's go!"
"Oh, okay," I said, smiling at her enthusiasm.
It was nice to be around my friends, and the anxiety tension started to melt away from my body, replaced by the burgeoning sense of anticipation and glee.
I got to hang out with my friends, doing whatever I wanted, exploring the solar system, for months.
I was a bona fide space adventurer. For not the first time since entering my late thirties, I felt a sense of deep pleasure for where my life had taken me.
I was financially stable enough to commit to going on this cruise.
I was emotionally stable enough to have a steady group of friends who appreciated me for who I was rather than what I could do for them.
The only thing missing from my life's checklist was a husband and a baby, and I'd already decided that I didn't need either of those things if I couldn't find a guy who met my very reasonable standards.
I hadn't been able to find one in the human dating market, so a singles cruise surrounded by a bunch of aliens who were specifically there to meet humans, with friends who would drag me around and force me to meet new people, seemed like a great idea.
"Let's go fuck some aliens!" Mara lifted her hand up for a high five, and Jess met her halfway with enthusiasm.
I gasped and looked around, only to see several of the Norratar staring at us.
"They heard you!" I hissed, trying to hold in my laughter.
"Good," Mara said. She grinned back at the aliens, and they all flattened their ears back at the sight of her bare teeth.
"Did you even read the pamphlet?" I asked, already knowing the answer, as we all moved towards the door, the other humans were streaming through.
She wouldn't have given them a threat display if she had read the pamphlet.
Then again, this was Mara, so maybe she would.
"There are several species on board that don't do casual very well. "
"I'll stick to the easy ones," Mara waggled her eyebrows at me as we entered a hallway filled with doors. Up ahead of us, a door slid open as a man walked past it, and he stopped, staring at the open door in surprise before going in. "You can go find Mr. One in a Million."
"I'm not that strict about it," I said. "He just has to be right for me."
"I thought he had to be tall, own his own home, have a dedicated hobby or passion he could share with you, be a good cook, be willing to try roleplaying, give good massages, be able to have intellectual conversations, want kids but be okay without them if it doesn't happen, and be willing to change something about himself for you," Lin said, holding up a finger for each trait she listed.
"I still don't understand the willingness to change part," Dani said. "Some people can't change. You just have to love them the way they are."
"Everyone is changing all the time," I said.
"You either grow, or you decay," Lin said. "There are pauses in life, sure, but staying stagnant isn't a real option. Stagnation is just unacknowledged decay."
"Humans aren't plants," Dani said. "I see what you're getting at, but I still don't think it's a good idea to make that a requirement for a partner."
A door slid open on my right.
I looked into it, seeing a large, comfortable bedroom stretched out in front of me, like a luxury hotel that was calling my name while whispering promises of privacy and solitude. My luggage was there, parked right next to my bed.
"No, don't do it," Mara said, grabbing my hand and hooking my arm through hers. "To the tour!"
"To the tour!" the rest of my friends repeated after her, and with laughter, we all headed deeper into the ship.