They left their quarters, and headed down a long narrow corridor, eventually they came to an elevator. The three of them waited for the elevator to stop, and the grey doors slowly slid open as they entered.
“Destination,” a voice spoke from a speaker in the elevator roof above them.
“Civilian departures,” Michael spoke into the speaker.
“Thank you.”
The doors slowly closed and the elevator gently whisked them off to their destination. He wondered how they would have coped on the huge primary bases of the E.D.F. without the complicated elevator systems that criss- crossed the base, and served as the primary mass transit system in all the different bases. Especially with the likes of Delta base, which housed nearly a million people. At any one time there were hundreds of elevators in use, and they ran in specially made elevator tubes across the entire base.
Each elevator could carry up to thirty people or five tons in weight, or any combination of the two. Michael also wondered how much of a logistical nightmare it would be, if the elevators weren’t there.
Ten minutes later they had reached their destination. The three of them stepped out into the bustling civilian departures area.
“Theo, keep close to me,” Jana said.
As they made their way through the throngs of people, they came upon a large archway some thirty feet tall, and over a hundred feet across. Above the archway, there was a white illuminated sign that read “Internal Departures.”
The three of them made their way into the internal departures lounge; which was much less crowded than where they had just come from. Together they walked across the length of the hall and came to a small desk, with an illuminated sign above it which read ‘Orion IV shuttle service.’
A young woman in a bright blue uniform white blouse, and blue hat looked at them; smiled, and then asked. “What is your destination?”
“The Orion plaza,” Michael replied.
“May I see your identification?” asked the woman.
“Sure,” Michael replied; as he pulled out three small cards, each of which contained a small photo as well as a microchip. He passed them over to the woman. Who examined the photos, and then placed the cards in a small electronic reader at the side of the desk. At once all the information came up on her terminal, name, age, blood group, doctor, employment status, place of residence; everything.
One by one the woman placed the cards into the reader. “You’re clear,” she said finally. “Theo is only four years old, under fives go free when accompanied by an adult.”
“Thank you,” Michael replied, glad that Theo’s birthday was in two weeks time, and not today; as the woman passed the cards back to him.
“The next shuttle will be docking in ten minutes; if you would like to wait over there,” the woman said, as she gestured toward a row of comfortable seats.
Michael acknowledged the woman with a curt nod, and the three of them headed over to the seats and sat down.
“How big is the E.D. F daddy?” Theo asked.
Michael looked a little worried at answering Theo’s rather probing questions in public, “I’ll tell you on the shuttle son.”
“Okay daddy, then what is the biggest ship in the Navy?”
“Like I said son, I’ll tell you on the shuttle,” Michael replied, this time getting a little exasperated.
“Who is in charge of the Navy daddy?”
“Would you like a chocolate bar?” Michael asked, trying to avoid Theo’s relentless questioning.
“Yes please,” he said excitedly.
Michael walked over to a vending machine on a far wall, and keyed in the selection for a chocolate bar; it was an Orion delight, one of Theo’s favorites. Michael inserted his payment card into the machine, and the bar dropped out, walking back over to Theo, he handed him the chocolate bar.
“Thanks daddy,” he smiled, as he excitedly un-wrapped the chocolate.
“Maybe you should work for the intelligence services son.”
Jana shot Michael an angry look, “leave him alone, he’s only interested!”
“Sorry I spoke,” retorted Michael, as he winked at Theo next to him.
Jana harrumphed, “when is this damn shuttle going to come?”
Michael wondered what the hell had gotten into her; but thought nothing else of it, women, he thought.
Just as Michael was finishing his musings, the shuttle airlock slid open and the passengers disembarked.
“At last,” Jana said with a sigh, as she made her way to the airlock, Michael and Theo in her wake.
Together they boarded the shuttle; the seats were arranged in four tight rows, with a small aisle down the middle, which led to the airlock door behind them. Another small door at the other end of the aisle directly ahead of them, led to the cockpit.
Over an internal comm. system the pilot said, “please keep yourselves strapped into your seats at all times, our destination is the Orion plaza. E.T. A is approximately thirty minutes, and we will be landing on pad ‘B’. Please make yourselves aware of the safety signs around you; they are for your information. Thank you.”
Theo, Jana and Michael all strapped themselves in with the supplied harnesses.
And with that; the airlock closed. There was a slight shudder as the airlock depressurized and released from the station. And the shuttle slowly began to depart Delta base, Theo turned to get a closer look out of the view port.
He could see the massive outline of the base grow steadily smaller. The constant arrival and departure of civilian and E.D. F ships could be seen; like small ants scurrying around a giant nest.
The lights of the station twinkled along the length of its superstructures, the numerous docking ports, arms, and service depots could clearly be seen, able to accommodate even the enormous battleships and carriers of the Navy.
The outer defence platforms could also be seen; the huge station glowed as the light from the yellow Orion sun, played along its numerous surfaces.
“What guns are they daddy?” Theo asked, pointing towards the defence platforms.
Michael leaned over, and looked to where Theo was pointing.
“They are the Rail-cannons,” he said “and there are smaller laser cannons dotted between them.”
“What is a rail-cannon, daddy?”
“A rail-cannon is a massive gun, about the size of a four storey building. They fire a huge shell, filled with high explosives; at near the speed of light, where it causes massive damage to a target.”
“Why is it called a rail-cannon daddy?”
“The name actually comes from a very old weapon that was once used on earth during the second world war. The weapon was so big, that it had to be carried on a thing called a railway line. The shells our rail-cannons fire are so big and heavy, that we have to use a special vehicle called an autoloader to load them,” Michael replied.
Theo sat back in his chair mulling over this new information, his imagination going wild as he imagined all the adventures his father must go on.
The shuttle neared the atmosphere of Orion IV. Theo’s questions apparently answered; for now.
All the view ports suddenly went black, as the atmospheric heat shields slid into place over them.
“I hate this part,” Michael said, as he looked at Jana.
“Don’t worry; it’ll all be over in a minute,” she replied, touching his hand reassuringly.
The shuttle quickly began to shake and rattle, like an old aero plane hitting turbulence. Michael tightened his safety harness as he was jostled in his seat a little; his pulse raised and nerves began to rattle. A few minutes later, the shaking had slowly stopped. And sunlight began to pour through the view ports as the heat shields slowly slid back up.
Theo remembered his questions again. “Daddy, how big is the E.D.F?
Damn; I thought he had forgotten, Michael mentally cursed. “Nobody knows the exact amount; the last audit done last year puts it at around three hundred and sixty thousand men all told. Of which one hundred and forty two thousand are made up of Naval and Troop personnel.”
“Wow, that’s a lot,” Theo said, his eyes widening with surprise.
“Not really; considering the size of the territory we have to protect, most people don’t think its enough,”
