Smells like seared steak, it took Larson a few spacewalks to get used to it. It made him miss an actual cold smoked steak that they used to have on Leviathan. They could use liquid smoke but no actual fire on the training ring.
"It’s atomic oxygen sticking to suits and reacting with the airlock, along with the potential polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons floating in space, charred food components for you humans" Poly told him.
"Thank you Poly, I appreciate your update" the hiss of pressurization being complete and sound reverberating back into his suit. The light went green and he started removing his gloves. He took the blue Thropic space helmet off the HUD lights dying as he positioned the helmet and looked at it for a second. From the craters of the abyss, to the infinite sea of space. Where will we find ourselves tomorrow my boy. The old Hallo movies Charlie, what was his name. Larson caught a reflection of his face on the helmet.
"Why I never" Poly responded.
"Ksat status" Larson ignored Poly’s torts, for an AI that was supposed to attune itself to him it seemed more aligned with his wealthy patron’s wishes for personality.
"It’s the same as it ever was" Poly retorted.
"Still, Ksat status, green?"
"Yes yes, you fixed it." Poly responded "We can always have a drone replace it if you need. Why the worry worry my lad?"
"It’s a sad sailor who doesn't know his ship."
"The Less Oufs is a station, really more a ring.." Poly started down one of his pedantic monologues.
"What can you tell me about our guest?" Larson said as he placed his earpiece in for direct communication with Poly.
"Well my good friend, she has quite the interest in space. The joint endeavor between Thropic and her father’s industry seem off."
Larson connected the guide wires to his suit to assist with the bulky take off and stepped more forward into the airlock. There was a whirling sound as the wires spun back to tension like a thin metallic web connecting to sections of the suit.
"Why is she here?" Larson couldn't stand the wealthy, they seemed to pop in to check on things more of curiosity than outcome.
"Oh yes, well I could conjecture, but based on your response and you’re about to meet her I don't know if it’s worth your time." Poly
The airlock door slid slowly open and in stepped a tall brunette with a custom space suit. Not bulky like the training work suit Larson was in, but slim and made out of expensive composites.
"Would you mind if we went out there?" the new guest said stepping in. Another whirl signaled the wires losing tension, as the suit assist disengaged from Larson's work suit and retracted.
"It’s a safety measure for multiple people in the..."
"I know" Larson huffed.
Sensing a bit of tension the new guest extended her hand. "I'm sure you know but my name is Cassandra O'Mailey" she said cheerfully.
"The view is really wonderful out there, I don't get much of it. Would be splendid to just take it in while we talk"
"Oh, what about" Larson huffed up a little.
"Ah that smell, reminds me of this night in Athens" Cassandra said stepping to the side as the airlock door closed behind her. "Well father can't be everywhere at once and always has a family member check in on joint ventures. I know I know, I can see it on your face. Charter, Contracts, all straightforward to you." Cassandra waved her hand in the air frivolously.
"Venture or your pilot?" Larson unclipped the hooks for the suit assist and the wires slowly pulled themselves back into the walls.
"A little of both" Cassandra said with the hint of a fox holding a rabbit. Larson went to pull his Poly ear piece out before he put his gloves on.
Cassandra gently put her hand on his. "Oh we can use that to chat."
"It’s not prosed.."
"Well we aren't going on a full walk, so the risk is low" she said as she placed his helmet on and turned it for him until it clicked.
The pair went through the suiting and depressurization routine and Larson soon found himself being led by Cassandra to a path that had been planned.
She walked around from the hatch to an area in the shadow of the station, looking down upon the earth. By a service area she found a clip and being in the more nimble of the two suits clipped them both in. She turned back towards the earth and turned the mag assist off on her boots so she just started to float free facing down at the earth. Larson turned and joined her doing the same.
"I take it you do this often...." Larson paused, "Do you come out here often."
"Her assistant says she does, you should just float for a moment. take it in." Poly responded.
Larson had been so busy on the training he hadn't had space for a free walk. He took a breath and looked down at the swirl of blue, white, and green called home. Around it the vastness of space consumed the glowing orb of life. Rows of satellites and reflectors flicked around the planet as tiny night lights.
"To be enveloped in it, very much like the depths." Cassandra's voice popped over the comms after a moment.
"I was sitting on a beach when I was little, looking up at the stars and you felt like you would fall into them."
"But now we can fall from them" Larson responded.
Cassandra kicked her feet back and forth like a swimmer on their back. Her body shifted back and forth without really moving.
"I think we are ok for now." she said wryly.
"How has the station been? I wonder if it parallels to your time at sea. That’s what the professionals say. The selection process."
"As all things, familiar and different. The training reminds me of when I first joined, the exercises like the flooding of the room. What things are counterintuitive in space."
"The Isolation" Cassandra probed.
"You’re not really directly isolated, there’s the crew. It’s mostly being cut off from others. But this isn't the Phantom Fleet, comms don't go black out here." Larson pointed at the constellations of communication and connection flying around the planet.
"I can only imagine, the response times in the straits, being off comm but also having the weight of the world above." the words hung between them for a moment.
"I wanted to come meet a true hero. Most people will never know what you did. The greats, Stanislav Petrov, with the early detection system going off saying they should retaliate. "
"It was more like Vasili Arkhipov" Poly chimed in.
Larson winced a bit.
They floated there looking down at the Earth.
The beauty of having Poly as his vestiage builder, is that it would capture moments like these. Larson thought at times what his other would be like, he wondered without the touch of the water what it would feel and think. Larson would save this moment.
"They are developing what they call a Quantum Forge, it’s really more of a Quantum Foundry. It will be able to change humankind’s relationship with the stars. The challenge is... short sighted" Cassandra sighed. "Every ship needs a captain, and it required the joint venture between the two rivals to allow this to get through UE regulations."
"So Poly tells me. So what of it?"
"If you see the world as zero sum" she said pointing at the planet. "The expanse of space will be the same. I don't know what they will have in store long term, no one’s played a game this far and long past being alive."
"Well, what angle do you have in this?"
"None, I simply wanted to meet a hero."
Cassandra spun forward and turned on her mag boots.
"That airlock reminds me of a great place we can get a steak up here." she said pulling him back towards the lock. "my treat."