NOVEL NEXT 228: The Chaser
RORY
"Bye, Bits."
"Bye, Switch."
My husband and I kissed our kids farewell and made for the porter that took us to the landing platform where we met Rhianne and Susette. Gathering our copious amounts luggage, we caught a ship up to the orbiting Transfer Station above Uno.
The Chaser was waiting for us at the Transfer Station, exactly as planned, and stars above, was it a sight to behold. Just like something you'd expect from Mindy, it was lined with bright windows and gleamed in the light of the station.
With ooohs and ahhhs, we boarded, toting our floating luggage behind us on its hovering platform. We had tons of stuff, yeah. It was hard to know what to expect, and we needed to be ready for any and all conditions. We were only planning to see two eclipses, but along the way, we'd stop at interesting spheres to take in the sites and enjoy a long vacation.
The first task of the trip, however, was getting reacquainted with our old friend Mindy who greeted us with a box of Shurwinn chocolates, each shaped like a tiny planet. Amazing. What a beautiful gift it was, and it was a shame to destroy those lovely little works of art, but my taste buds sure admired them.
Mindy was accompanied by Juel, a hulk of a woman who she'd married and traveled the galaxy with for the last decade. Together, they'd invested in The Chaser, and were beyond excited to get their maiden voyage underway. Once we dropped off our luggage, we joined the other cruise participants for a tour of the starliner, and it was as impressive on the inside as it looked from the outside.
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Built to accommodate forty people, at that moment it only had ten guests and five staff, so Mindy was considering our tour to be a dry rehearsal for their bigger trips. Once we'd seen the media room, kitchen, library, conference rooms, and gym, they led us to the dining hall where the kitchen staff had laid out a buffet-style banquet.
We got the cruise at a five-percent discount because Mindy and Juel wanted us to answer questionnaires on every aspect of the cruise, including every meal, the accommodations, the tours, and all the stops we made. So, I paid special attention to how the dinner was laid out, the flavors of the meal, and the seating arrangements. My group had been placed at a table with four others, so we had a chance to get to know them and share stories about how we'd met Mindy.
Two of the folks we met at dinner (Trudy and Guy) had met both Juel and Mindy a year ago on Trauton 4, and the other couple (Brody and Mikka) had known them much longer and even been on two tours with them. Our group was the only one who'd never met Juel before, and we were seen as the old timers since we'd met Mindy two decades ago when she'd just gotten started touring in The Dream.
I had no trouble rating everything about the dinner five stars. There was plenty of wine and beer, and the steak and chicken tacos were perfectly seared. All of the toppings were fresh and the side dishes flavorful and filling. And best of all, there was caramel ice cream for dessert that was homemade that day. Talk about a treat!
That night, Slydar had a treat for me too. I'd known he was keeping something locked behind his telepathic shields, but I'd had no idea what sort of thing he'd been planning. If I'd known, I'm not sure what I would thought, but he wants to tell that story, so you'll have to hear about it from him.
I don't think I could write it down without laughing myself to death, so hold on to your hats, folks, it's about to get wild!