"I don't know if I can keep this up, Maggie."
"This whole operation was your idea."
"I'm pretty sure not."
"You told me, and I quote you, that you just needed some help getting over my fear of space flight, preferably without any brainwave stuff."
"...Do you have to say it in my voice?"
This is easily one of the top five creepiest things Joe has done since he's known her, and it's a pretty competitive list.
"What I'm trying to say is, if you hadn't asked me to help, we wouldn't be here."
"No, but look, I never said I was going on an interstellar cruise!"
"Interstellar," she corrected him.
"That's not the point!"
The man inadvertently raised his voice in public and immediately retracted it. Thank god he and Maggie hadn't gotten into one of the countless queues at the spaceport yet, otherwise his outburst would have gotten him more mean looks. However, he couldn't help but make a fuss. He shuddered at the thought of floating in space for three months without ever landing on land. He was sure that he would be in various states of fear throughout the voyage. How would this help his space phobia? If anything, it might make things worse.
Maggie only had to look at the look on his face to determine what was troubling him.
"Remember three days ago when we discussed possible treatments for your condition?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Remember which option we chose?"
"Sure. Well," he paused, trying to remember the conversation, "Cognitive behavioral therapy, right?"
There were some other options, most obviously medication, but Joe wanted to avoid anything that would directly mess with his brain chemistry. He wouldn't be with Maggie if it weren't for "the mysterious way he thinks," as his mother likes to say, and he doesn't like to do anything that might disrupt that way of thinking. It's not that he's afraid the girl will leave him, but it just doesn't feel right to change the part of her that likes him. That's why he specifically asked Maggie not to simply erase his phobia from his head, and the girl wanted to respect his wishes.
"That's right," she nodded. “This cruise is part of that.”
"Oh...which part?"
Desensitization, also known as exposure therapy. In short, you have to face your fears in order to overcome them. "
"Why……"
The process is much more than that, and there are certain steps and upgrades that must be taken in order for the treatment to be effective. However, this crude and basic explanation is enough for Joe to accept it, even if it does sound painfully cliche. In retrospect, he probably should have expected that overcoming his phobia wouldn't be easy... nor pleasant.
"Okay then," he summoned his courage. "let us start."
"That's great," the girl smiled happily.
"You're pretty excited about this, aren't you?" Joe sensed something else behind the smile.
"I must admit that although humans are interesting and curious, lately I have been wanting to observe some stellar sightings. So I am personally very much looking forward to this voyage."
"Of course you are. Who knows? Maybe I'll have some fun with it too."
"Your optimism is unfounded, but I'm grateful."
With the matter settled, the couple once again indulged themselves in the age-old British tradition of queuing, patiently waiting their turn to board the shuttle. This time, the spaceship is nowhere near as luxurious as the Silver Storm they rode on their way to the Lawyer's Planet. The plane they were traveling in now was the equivalent of a pre-space age double-decker bus, and it looked the part too. It was even painted bright red. It looks just as spacious inside as it does outside, which is to say, not spacious at all. At least there's plenty of room for luggage in the cargo hold. In fact, the briefcases and crates seemed to be real passengers and the people luggage.
Thankfully, Joe and Maggie didn't have to endure heavy traffic for too long. Their destination is not an interstellar cargo ship docked in the middle of the moon, but a luxury cruiser drifting in orbit. A little more than 15 minutes later, the ship appeared in view of the shuttle's exterior camera. Joe doesn't usually watch videos like this. What bothered him wasn't so much the near-infinity of space as the harsh reminder that the only things between him and it were pieces of metal and plastic. The less he looked at these things, the safer he felt. However, Maggie asked him to cheer up and not look away from the screen. So, he didn't, doing his best not to let his anxiety take over. He does an okay job, although that's mostly because the image on the monitor is dominated by the cruise ship the couple could be boarding at any moment.
The Queen Mary is a yacht-class ship, approximately 400 meters long, 150 meters high and 200 meters wide, including its horizontal wings. If it were a military vessel, a ship of this size would be considered a corvette, but this is definitely a civilian cruiser. Its hull was smooth and handsome, tapering towards the top and flat at the bottom, with a huge steel fin sticking out. The fact that it has a clearly distinguishable top and bottom sets it apart from the more utilitarian and ambiguous battleship designs. Not to mention it has real windows. And, quite a lot of people. On the side that Joe was looking at, there were about fifty or so, unevenly distributed on the seven or eight decks, including an observation dome on the top floor. The final sign that this boat was built for comfort is that its engines are mounted on the wings rather than on the hull. Although structurally less reliable, this significantly reduces the vibrations experienced by passengers while sailing.
The Quee
Ma
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, by dmaxcustom Show
Still, the sight of the yacht didn't have much of an impact on someone like Joe, who had already seen cargo ships. Sure, it looks much prettier than those flying super skyscrapers, but this smaller craft doesn't compare in size or scale to those interstellar cargo ships. On the other hand, the interior of the yacht is also impressive. The room was spacious, well air-conditioned, well lit, and as luxurious as Maggie's apartment when she first moved in. One would think that passengers disembarking from the shuttle bus were entering a luxury hotel rather than a spaceship. That's fitting, since Queen Mary was both. It has many entertainment facilities inside, including restaurants, casinos, swimming pools, synthetic parks and stargazing lounges. As an added bonus, the ship's interior lights are programmed into a day-night cycle to synchronize passengers' internal clocks.
After all, there can't be a traditional English breakfast or tea time without clear morning and evening.
Such distractions would have to wait until later, when Joe and Maggie arrived. Before the couple could settle into the cabin, the girl grabbed the boy and almost dragged him to the viewing platform. The spacecraft was positioned in such a way that the view from the reinforced glass ceiling was equally divided between the planet below and the universe beyond. It was a relaxing and romantic scene, and quite a few other passengers seemed to enjoy it too, reclining on the many lounge chairs on the deck.
To say the least, Joe was less accommodating than usual. It wasn't until Maggie promised him five times that no harm would come to him that he finally agreed to walk out of the hallway and into the room. The couple occupied one of the available lounge chairs and, at the girl's suggestion, the boy lay down with his head on the seated girl's lap. That way, he could stare directly into the unforgiving vacuum above him while maintaining Maggie's reassuring smile. It was a strange scenario from an outsider's perspective, but it seemed to work. After a few minutes of this, Joe calmed down a little. His heart was still racing, and his desire to get back to dry land was not diminished at all, but at least he wasn't twitching and shaking as violently as he had been at first.
That's pretty much how the couple spent their first few weeks of interstellar travel. Stargazing takes up much of their time, with Joe freaking out at various stages and Maggie doing her best to comfort him. In theory, this could allow a man to gradually acclimate to spaceflight until he becomes comfortable with it, but the girl isn't sure if this would work in practice. Although she is an expert in disrupting the brain and has an entire library of psychology textbooks in her head, she is not a psychiatrist. Such subtle approaches are far from her strong suit, though it only makes Joe's treatment of the intellectual black hole in her head all the more important. Of course, ensuring his mental health is paramount, but she doesn't deny that the learning experience is also welcome.
The voyage itself is rather uneventful, although that's intentional. It was a slow and easy voyage, during which the Queen Mary circled the solar system for four or five days before catching a ride on a cargo ship. Initially, it will make a few stops to pick up and drop off passengers, while passing a bunch of so-called "strange worlds" - planets that are interesting from orbit, but very uninhabitable. It wasn't until week three that the cruise ship showed its passengers something truly memorable. It emerged from the suitably large docking bay of a cargo ship, encountering the combined light of two pale blue stars dancing a cosmic tango with each other, also known as a binary star system. The yacht got as close to the celestial phenomenon as safety regulations allowed, with the result that from the starboard side, an endless orb of heat and light dominated the view.
By the way, Joe and Maggie's cabin is also on that side of the boat. The couple had been drinking since they first saw it. The girl was naturally ecstatic about all this, because she had never seen anything like it with her own eyes. She was a little uneasy as she couldn't get a clear view as the cabin windows automatically darkened, but she kept her complaints to herself. After all, as much as she'd like to bask in the unfiltered light of twin neutron stars, it's not healthy for a flesh-and-blood creature like Joe. Or herself.
As for the innocent young man beside her, he found himself unable to take his eyes off the heavenly scene. It was something he had seen many times before in various forms of media, but there was something magical about seeing it in person. Strangely, for the first time since boarding the Queen Mary, he felt relaxed. His mind was momentarily overwhelmed by how surreal his situation was. Between the extremely rare star formations before him, the extravagant luxuries surrounding him, and the cosmic girlfriend hanging on his arm, there was no room for him to dwell anxiously on issues related to the uncaring emptiness of space.
The quiet moment lasted for nearly an hour, and then the craft spun on its own, giving the other half of the passengers a good look at the cosmic phenomenon. The view outside the couple's window soon gradually gave way to a strange bright red gas giant. The view was indeed nice, but not as spectacular as the previous one. As the source of their fantasy disappears and the opacity of the tempered glass returns to normal levels, the couple returns to their normal selves.
"Gee. That's amazing, isn't it?" said Joe.
"Indeed," Maggie said, smiling. "My only regret is that I didn't have enough strength to see it up close."
"Oh, good. I'm sure you'll make it one day. Fourth and fifth grade or something."
The girl's smile faltered momentarily when Joe accidentally reminded her that he wouldn't be there for her if such a moment came, but Maggie leaned on her budding humanity and put those unpleasant thoughts aside for now.
"That's my hope too," she replied.
"Hey, what does level 5 look like?"
"It's a state of being that I can't understand and is almost a complete mystery."
"Wow. It turns out there are things you don't know!"
"Of course. I don't know everything," she frowned.
"But you can stand where I stand. Seriously, do you know how reassuring it is to have a girlfriend who knows everything?"
"Judging by your tone and overall level of excitement, I'd bet the answer is 'very'."
"Exactly! I never feel like I'm lost or that those things are always on my mind when you're around. I mean, it still happens, I just don't worry about you being around .”
"Why?"
"Well, take those weird sparks that pop up every now and then."
Maggie's eyes followed his finger as he pointed out the window. A few minutes later, in the seemingly empty space behind it, a tiny, barely noticeable white light appeared.
"Yes, those are the ones."
"What's wrong with them?" The girl turned her eyes to him again.
"I have no idea what they are, but I'm not going to let it bother me because I know you have it, and you're not going to keep quiet about things that I need to worry about."
Maggie's cheeks flushed slightly at the shameless trust. Of course, she knew Joe relied on her for a lot of things, but hearing him say it out loud made her really happy. So much so that she couldn't help but want to show off.
"Do you want me to tell you what those sparks are?" she asked cheerfully.
"Sure, let's hear it," he said, humoring her.
"They are a by-product of the spacecraft's kinetic energy barrier deflecting micrometeorites."
The last word was one that Joe had never heard before, but even he was not stupid enough not to notice its obvious meaning.
"You mean a space rock so small I can't see it?" he asked, just in case.
"indeed."
"Hmm. It seems like a waste of energy, doesn't it?" He scratched his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, why do you have to put the ship's shields up for this?" Could a pile of space dust build such a large ship? The paint scratched a bit? he said confused.
"The speed of micrometeorites can reach 25,000 kilometers per hour." The girl said.
"oh?"
"Even with their small mass, they can easily penetrate a ship's hull at such high speeds. Windows are particularly susceptible to this effect."
"oh."
"Without the kinetic energy barrier, every cabin on this ship would experience explosive decompression within minutes. As a result, all passengers on the ship, including you and me, would be pulled into the vacuum of space. "
",oh……"
With every word he spoke, Joe's expression and complexion became a little worse. By the time Maggie finished her little lesson, he looked as pale and frightened as he did on their first interstellar journey. It was only then that the girl realized that she probably shouldn't say this because it might cause the man's phobia to return. Fortunately, he finally controlled his anxiety after taking several long breaths. He still deeply regretted asking the question about micrometeorites, but he was able to think rationally.
"Well. Fortunately, the barrier is up, right?" he choked, his voice trembling.
"……indeed."
Maggie felt a strange sense of relief that her eagerness to spill the beans had not adversely affected Joe's treatment. She also felt bold because his reaction was proof that the treatment was working.
"Can we go to brunch?" he suggested. "I think I need some tea now."
"same".
The rest of the day passed leisurely without anything else happening. Except for the time Maggie was denied entry to the casino. Apparently she had been banned the day before for card counting. The girl was a little angry. If optimal success strategies were not allowed, then why wasn't that fact explicitly listed in the rules? She calmed down when she realized the problem wasn't her potentially illegal technique. The casino lost a lot of money because of her and they couldn't continue to operate without her. It was a bit of a shame, but she gave in at that point. As much as she enjoys calculating odds and winning at games, closing the place would be unfair to other passengers who also want to entertain themselves.
The next morning, the Queen Mary docks on another freighter, preparing for another wormhole jump. This was a bit unusual and a bit unfortunate since the yacht was only in the binary system for one day, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Cruise routes and schedules are determined months in advance, with crew members chosen for either short visits or very long visits. The former is the more attractive option. Even if passengers are disappointed they don't get to gawk at the binary system for long, they'll probably hate it if they're stuck here for the next 13 weeks.
So the Queen Mary was drifted to the freighter's oversized dock and secured in place with dock clamps. Shortly thereafter, the entire ship was notified that the wormhole was about to open, and passengers were asked to fasten their seat belts for their own safety. Maggie and Joe sat down in the cabin armchairs as instructed. Automatic straps and cuffs then gently but securely hold them in place, preventing their bodies from floating away when artificial gravity temporarily fails. After a few minutes, there is a distinctive "shhh" sound, followed by several seconds of complete sensory deprivation. Joe's wits returned as gravity kicked back and his back slammed against the armchair's cushions. He looked to his left and saw a blank look in Maggie's dull eyes, not a hair twitching. Joe calmly waited for their seats to clear, then walked over and gave the girl a big kiss on the lips.
For the couple, this once bizarre series of events is now commonplace, including that last part. For whatever reason, Level 3 entities cannot resist being expelled from their consciousness during interstellar travel, leaving the ship empty and essentially on autopilot. She would find her way back on her own in fifteen minutes or so, although Joe always sped up the process with a kiss. It's not necessary, but I appreciate it. This time, however, there's a slight divergence from "standard procedure" when Maggie wakes up.
"Are you feeling okay?" You're both back, okay? The man sounded worried.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied.
"That is how the matter?"
Instead of her usual half-smug smile, she had an expression of extreme discomfort.
"Looks like we'll have guests coming soon."
"...Okay? Who?"
"My," she paused, "my brothers and sisters."
"Ah...wait, wait." I thought you didn't have a family like us. "
The girl had previously explained that cosmic entities like her sprouted from the original creation or something similar, rather than being born from other such beings.
"Although a little misleading, 'brother and sister' is the most accurate word to describe our relationship," she insists.
"Oh, okay. Why is that a bad thing?"
"Because I'm not sure what the purpose of this visit is. All I know is that my siblings plan to board the ship when it enters the Midsummer system in eight days' time."
"How do you know this but not why they are here?"
The girl paused again, her answer simple enough for Joe to understand immediately, even if it wasn't entirely accurate.
"When I just got home, there was a message waiting for me. That's what it said."
"So, an email?"
"indeed."
"Can't you just use your brains to speak?"
"It's very difficult to communicate through the veil. Besides, that's not the point," she pouted at Joe. "I didn't want this meeting to happen, but there was nothing I could do to stop it."
"Oh, come on. I'm sure the weather will be nice. I mean, you're awesome and the apple doesn't fall far from you...actually no, the metaphor doesn't make sense in this case, no ?"
"Absolutely not."
"I'm not worried, though. I trust you to not let things get out of hand."
"…Thank you," she finally smiled, albeit a little.
"By the way, what are the names of your siblings?"
“…”
The girl's smile disappeared, and so did her voice.
"Maggie," Joe pressed.
"Uh," she yelled. "This is Kelogh 'the
yl. Kellogg: "The Devourer."
"Ah...well, now I'm starting to worry."
