Right, I was gonna go this at the start of the month but ended up being too busy.
This is my entry: I just tried to post this but it was it was too long, so I'm doing it in two posts. This isn't a "contest" as such, just a chance to flex everyone's creative muscles.
Hope you all enjoy it.
----------------------------
“CITIES OF GOLD AND YELLOW”
September 12, 2252.
Tom hated yellow.
He thought of all the colours on the spectrum, yellow was the least interesting. And now, he had spent the last three months staring at nothing but yellow. At least in a couple of hours time he would be on his way Orion 7 and peace and quiet.
Tom slowly guided the panel into place. He wasn’t used to driving the ME74 skylifter so he didn’t want to make a mistake. He had already made a small dent in a reinforcing strut at 11am that morning, but tried not to make a big deal out of it. He’d done worse, he thought to himself.
Still, he was proud of what he did. It felt good to know that what he was building was gonna make a difference in the universe. He’d lost his father fighting the Minbari during the Battle of the Line three years ago, and hoped that the massive space station being assembled beneath him would make sure nothing like that would ever happen again. Then Tom wondered what his orientation was. Was the station really beneath him? Or above him? Epsilon 4 was on the other side of the station, out of his view so he had no reference. He was most likely pointing downwards he thought to himself.
In front of him, the cavity was registering on his instruments and he adjusted the controls accordingly. The ME74 rotated slightly, changing the stars above his head. The heavy lifter was built from the same mould as a Starfury, albeit with hydraulic grappling arms instead of a weapons pod. RCS thrusters shunted the skylifter and the sizeable piece of hull plating it was carrying – three times its size – towards the gaping hole in the superstructure.
To his right, another of the great solar panels was being moved into place. Unlike the previous two stations he’d worked on, Babylon 3 would have its solar panels arranged in a ventral/dorsal pattern, giving it a shark-like appearance. Not that the other alien races would know what a shark was, or whether their respective home worlds had a similar creature living in the oceans – did the Narn Homeworld even have oceans? – it did give him quiet comfort that this station would appear to have ‘teeth’.
He saw four ME74s pushing the solar array towards the spin of the great station – yep, definitely on the dorsal side – and noted the speed. Jacobs was most likely pushing the lead ME74. Idiot. Coming in too fast. He remembered a similar time on Babylon 2 when Jacobs overcooked his approach and damaged part of the cargo bay. Stupid Scotsman. Took them ages to-
“Tom, watch your approach!!”
Tom suddenly turned his gaze back to his own instruments. Nothing was wrong. The plating was holding steady and he was still on target for the hull cavity. Proximity alarms were all normal.
“Samuelson you bastard!” Tom said, making sure he didn’t lose control of the skylifter.
“Just keeping you on your toes, kid”
Below him he could make out an EA transport heading away from the station and towards the jump gate.
“I’ll come back and pick you up in a couple of hours” Samuelson said. “Better be done by then”
“Hey this is my last one. I might take a stroll through the core while I wait for ya”. Tom looked at his gauge, only a few seconds more.
“Keep your hands off her you randy bastard”.
Tom smiled as he heard the coms click off. Everyone knew he had the hottest girl on the station crew. It was also a well know fact that the ratio of men to women was 8:1, so jealously, male chauvinism and enlightened self interest went hand in hand. The jump gate spiked and the shuttle disappeared into the vortex.
The panel slid forward and into the cavity with a satisfying beep from his nav computer, although if space had sound it would’ve sounded much more like grinding metal. Tom let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. Over the coms he heard what sounded like thunder, then worked out it was actually applause. He glanced out of his window.
The ME74 skylifters were flashing their running lights in unison, something the workers did as a sign of congratulations.
“Been watching you on the monitors, Tom”
Tom suddenly snapped out of uphoria as he heard her voice.
Watching me, he thought. She was watching me.
Girls don’t normally glance at him but this one was deliberately keen to see him. He felt so blessed.
“Thanks... Mel, I er... appreciate it”. Appreciate it? Are you mental?
“I’m bored here. Finished my shift early. Wanna come for a walk?”
* * *
The inside of Babylon 3 was huge. The cylindrical hollow cavity was covered in reinforcing scaffolding and ducting cables that would later be stowed and hidden away, but today were currently exposed for easy access.
Tom drifted through the hatch and stared up at the central shaft running the full length of what would one day become a garden. Sparks flares and died at random all over the chamber as welders went about their business. Dozens of workers in yellow uniforms floated over the scaffolding, moving from one area to another, like bees.
Great, Tom thought to himself. More yellow. He didn’t know why it got to him so much.
One such suited figure moved towards him. She smiled, and he instantly melted.
“You took your time” she said, taking off her gloves.
Tom couldn’t help but stare at her. Long flowing blonde hair, slightly pointed chin, beautiful blue eyes. Definitely not suited to be building a space station he thought. He grabbed her and pulled her close, giving her a kiss on the lips before she could argue. The motion made them both float upward slightly, but Tom absently raised an arm and grabbed a nearby scaffold to steady them. Workers wolf whistled and jeered. Finally, Mel pulled them both apart.
“My you are happy aren’t you?” she said, lowering her feet down to the ground, allowing the Velcro strips under her feet to find the corresponding grid lines which ran all over the insides of the chamber. The station wasn’t rotating yet so the Velcro was put in to act as a poor-man’s gravity field.
“Just finished the outer hull in Section G. Looks good.
“Did you do a good job?” she asked, stroking his ego a little more. He loved her Texas accent. He was sure she was the only Texan on Babylon 3, which made it even more special. Even since Mel had known him she had clearly noted his confidence was lacking, and vowed to build it up whenever she could.
“I did! I managed to get all the panels in place without any problems. Well, maybe a small dent but no one should spot until after I’m gone.” He hesitated, and Mel noticed.
“What is it?”
“Oh it’s nothing.”
“What?”
“I just wish... they’d picked a different-“
“Don’t say colour. God Tom, you’re still going on about that, aren’t you? There’s nothing wrong with Yellow. Besides it’s actually gold”
“Gold?” He hadn’t thought of that.
“Yeah, gold. A massive spinning city of gold in space. The Aztecs would’ve loved it. Don’t you think that’s a better way of thinking about it?”
Tom glances past Mel. A few of the workers were still watching them, probably hoping they would get into a fight and break up, thus putting Mel back on the market.
“I guess so...”
“It’s not yellow it’s gold. C’mon Thumb, it doesn’t look that bad”
“It- what? Thumb”
“Tom Thumb. Thought of it myself. Rather good isn’t it?”
Tom hesitated. Too long. Mel pouted and put on her best puppy dog face, somehow making Tom even more attracted to her.
“Aw but I wike it....”
“It’s not exactly... manly.”
Mel folded her arms. “Alright Tom... I’ll make sure you have a decent nickname by the time we reach Orion 7.”
She took a step back, the Velcro ruining what would’ve been a very sexy pirouette. “Oh I can’t wait for this. Three weeks break from welding and sexist jokes. Three weeks of sunning it on the southern continent. C’mon, lets go”
Mel pushed past him, heading for the hatch, the Velcro tearing under her feet as she went. Tom could tell she was eager to get there, and he had to admit he couldn’t blame her. He turned to look at the chamber one last time, the workers going about their business, a few of them smiling as Mel drifted quickly away, no doubt hoping she’d just broken up with him. Tom turned back and floated out of the hatch.
* * *
This is my entry: I just tried to post this but it was it was too long, so I'm doing it in two posts. This isn't a "contest" as such, just a chance to flex everyone's creative muscles.
Hope you all enjoy it.
----------------------------
“CITIES OF GOLD AND YELLOW”
September 12, 2252.
Tom hated yellow.
He thought of all the colours on the spectrum, yellow was the least interesting. And now, he had spent the last three months staring at nothing but yellow. At least in a couple of hours time he would be on his way Orion 7 and peace and quiet.
Tom slowly guided the panel into place. He wasn’t used to driving the ME74 skylifter so he didn’t want to make a mistake. He had already made a small dent in a reinforcing strut at 11am that morning, but tried not to make a big deal out of it. He’d done worse, he thought to himself.
Still, he was proud of what he did. It felt good to know that what he was building was gonna make a difference in the universe. He’d lost his father fighting the Minbari during the Battle of the Line three years ago, and hoped that the massive space station being assembled beneath him would make sure nothing like that would ever happen again. Then Tom wondered what his orientation was. Was the station really beneath him? Or above him? Epsilon 4 was on the other side of the station, out of his view so he had no reference. He was most likely pointing downwards he thought to himself.
In front of him, the cavity was registering on his instruments and he adjusted the controls accordingly. The ME74 rotated slightly, changing the stars above his head. The heavy lifter was built from the same mould as a Starfury, albeit with hydraulic grappling arms instead of a weapons pod. RCS thrusters shunted the skylifter and the sizeable piece of hull plating it was carrying – three times its size – towards the gaping hole in the superstructure.
To his right, another of the great solar panels was being moved into place. Unlike the previous two stations he’d worked on, Babylon 3 would have its solar panels arranged in a ventral/dorsal pattern, giving it a shark-like appearance. Not that the other alien races would know what a shark was, or whether their respective home worlds had a similar creature living in the oceans – did the Narn Homeworld even have oceans? – it did give him quiet comfort that this station would appear to have ‘teeth’.
He saw four ME74s pushing the solar array towards the spin of the great station – yep, definitely on the dorsal side – and noted the speed. Jacobs was most likely pushing the lead ME74. Idiot. Coming in too fast. He remembered a similar time on Babylon 2 when Jacobs overcooked his approach and damaged part of the cargo bay. Stupid Scotsman. Took them ages to-
“Tom, watch your approach!!”
Tom suddenly turned his gaze back to his own instruments. Nothing was wrong. The plating was holding steady and he was still on target for the hull cavity. Proximity alarms were all normal.
“Samuelson you bastard!” Tom said, making sure he didn’t lose control of the skylifter.
“Just keeping you on your toes, kid”
Below him he could make out an EA transport heading away from the station and towards the jump gate.
“I’ll come back and pick you up in a couple of hours” Samuelson said. “Better be done by then”
“Hey this is my last one. I might take a stroll through the core while I wait for ya”. Tom looked at his gauge, only a few seconds more.
“Keep your hands off her you randy bastard”.
Tom smiled as he heard the coms click off. Everyone knew he had the hottest girl on the station crew. It was also a well know fact that the ratio of men to women was 8:1, so jealously, male chauvinism and enlightened self interest went hand in hand. The jump gate spiked and the shuttle disappeared into the vortex.
The panel slid forward and into the cavity with a satisfying beep from his nav computer, although if space had sound it would’ve sounded much more like grinding metal. Tom let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. Over the coms he heard what sounded like thunder, then worked out it was actually applause. He glanced out of his window.
The ME74 skylifters were flashing their running lights in unison, something the workers did as a sign of congratulations.
“Been watching you on the monitors, Tom”
Tom suddenly snapped out of uphoria as he heard her voice.
Watching me, he thought. She was watching me.
Girls don’t normally glance at him but this one was deliberately keen to see him. He felt so blessed.
“Thanks... Mel, I er... appreciate it”. Appreciate it? Are you mental?
“I’m bored here. Finished my shift early. Wanna come for a walk?”
* * *
The inside of Babylon 3 was huge. The cylindrical hollow cavity was covered in reinforcing scaffolding and ducting cables that would later be stowed and hidden away, but today were currently exposed for easy access.
Tom drifted through the hatch and stared up at the central shaft running the full length of what would one day become a garden. Sparks flares and died at random all over the chamber as welders went about their business. Dozens of workers in yellow uniforms floated over the scaffolding, moving from one area to another, like bees.
Great, Tom thought to himself. More yellow. He didn’t know why it got to him so much.
One such suited figure moved towards him. She smiled, and he instantly melted.
“You took your time” she said, taking off her gloves.
Tom couldn’t help but stare at her. Long flowing blonde hair, slightly pointed chin, beautiful blue eyes. Definitely not suited to be building a space station he thought. He grabbed her and pulled her close, giving her a kiss on the lips before she could argue. The motion made them both float upward slightly, but Tom absently raised an arm and grabbed a nearby scaffold to steady them. Workers wolf whistled and jeered. Finally, Mel pulled them both apart.
“My you are happy aren’t you?” she said, lowering her feet down to the ground, allowing the Velcro strips under her feet to find the corresponding grid lines which ran all over the insides of the chamber. The station wasn’t rotating yet so the Velcro was put in to act as a poor-man’s gravity field.
“Just finished the outer hull in Section G. Looks good.
“Did you do a good job?” she asked, stroking his ego a little more. He loved her Texas accent. He was sure she was the only Texan on Babylon 3, which made it even more special. Even since Mel had known him she had clearly noted his confidence was lacking, and vowed to build it up whenever she could.
“I did! I managed to get all the panels in place without any problems. Well, maybe a small dent but no one should spot until after I’m gone.” He hesitated, and Mel noticed.
“What is it?”
“Oh it’s nothing.”
“What?”
“I just wish... they’d picked a different-“
“Don’t say colour. God Tom, you’re still going on about that, aren’t you? There’s nothing wrong with Yellow. Besides it’s actually gold”
“Gold?” He hadn’t thought of that.
“Yeah, gold. A massive spinning city of gold in space. The Aztecs would’ve loved it. Don’t you think that’s a better way of thinking about it?”
Tom glances past Mel. A few of the workers were still watching them, probably hoping they would get into a fight and break up, thus putting Mel back on the market.
“I guess so...”
“It’s not yellow it’s gold. C’mon Thumb, it doesn’t look that bad”
“It- what? Thumb”
“Tom Thumb. Thought of it myself. Rather good isn’t it?”
Tom hesitated. Too long. Mel pouted and put on her best puppy dog face, somehow making Tom even more attracted to her.
“Aw but I wike it....”
“It’s not exactly... manly.”
Mel folded her arms. “Alright Tom... I’ll make sure you have a decent nickname by the time we reach Orion 7.”
She took a step back, the Velcro ruining what would’ve been a very sexy pirouette. “Oh I can’t wait for this. Three weeks break from welding and sexist jokes. Three weeks of sunning it on the southern continent. C’mon, lets go”
Mel pushed past him, heading for the hatch, the Velcro tearing under her feet as she went. Tom could tell she was eager to get there, and he had to admit he couldn’t blame her. He turned to look at the chamber one last time, the workers going about their business, a few of them smiling as Mel drifted quickly away, no doubt hoping she’d just broken up with him. Tom turned back and floated out of the hatch.
* * *
