The Triple Helix
Chapter 3
Carter
Carter Jess’ NI tweeted in his inner ear alerting him to an incoming message.
Tapping his implant he heard a pleasant female voice say, “The interplanetary space shuttle ‘Tyson’ has arrived in the central core shuttle bay.”
He closed the schematic he was reviewing and called to his young co-worker. “Hey, Jimmy I need to run, my wife is landing, and it’s her first time in space. I should be there to greet her. Can you finish up here? I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Sure boss,” said the young engineer looking up from the circuit board he was soldering, “not a problem.”
“Thanks, man…I owe you one,” said Carter.
He ran out the door toward the nearest elevator.
Carter retrieved his lowgrav vest as he entered the small lift compartment and pressed the button that would take him to the central core.
About two-thirds of the way down, the elevator cabin rotated ninety degrees in preparation for entering the compensator ring that would transfer it from the moving spoke to the stationary center axel. The motion was unnoticed by the occupant because during the journey the gravity gradually went from one G, at the outer ring, to zero near the center of the spacecraft.
Carter told his NI to have his lowgrav vest take him to the shuttle bay.
When the lift doors opened, his vest hissed as the thrusters let out small puffs of compressed air and moved him along the shaft toward the shuttle bay.
It was a bit disorienting to him when he visited the central core.
He passed friends and acquaintances along the corridor that were oriented upside down or sideways relative to his position. People sometimes dropped out of the ceiling, (or perhaps it was the floor), and went about their business along this long central conduit that serviced the entire starship.
He passed a massive double door with the words, LOW GRAVITY MANUFACTURING FACILITY, stenciled upon it.
Just past this was a large transparent window where he could see men working around the enormous molecular assemblers. Molecular Assemblers were first conceived by K. Eric Drexler, a scientist of the late twentieth century, who had proposed “a device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision.” Drexler’s famous work Engines of Creation was required reading while he was an engineering student at Louisiana Tech.
Molecular assemblers were prevalent throughout the starship, but these particular machines were massive and produced exotic materials using mostly carbon and the alloys that required a low gravity environment to manufacture.
Lydia unbuckled her seat belt and floated into the aisle behind her co-workers. Tyson told the cabin occupants to activate their lowgrav vest and have their NI instruct it to follow the “passenger debarkation protocol” that appeared in their HUD’s.
She activated her vest and followed the small party down the aisles and out of the module.
In the shuttle bay, they were separated into two groups, male and female.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” said a pleasant looking young woman when the small group of females came to a stop before her. “Welcome aboard the Cosmos, beyond these doors you will pass through the decontamination chambers. It is a hassle, but we wouldn't want to contaminate a new world with our germs. Once we are in the next room, please disrobe and place all of your personal items in the locker with your name on it. Anyone with prosthetics, please remove them and place them in the separate container provided for that purpose. Now, please follow me.”
When they assembled in the locker room, the young woman warned them to use caution after removing their lowgrav vest and pointed out the handholds along the walls and ceiling they could use to pull themselves along.
Lydia removed her clothes and placed them carefully in the provided locker. Every movement caused her to lose her position, and she kept having to steady herself using the handholds attached to the cabinet.
Beside her, Sofia Lynd, a young astrophysicist, was stuffing her clothing into a locker. She looked down at her ample bosom and said, “Wow, I wish my tits would do this on earth!”
After the laughter died down, she grasped her left ring finger, twisted and pulled. A metallic carbon stump with nano-nerve connections protruded from her hand.
She was twisting the pinky finger on the same hand when she noticed the shocked look on Lydia’s face. “Water skiing accident,” she said. “The rope got wrapped around my fingers.” Then, with a wink, she placed the appendages in the container.
Lydia entered the next chamber, and an automated voice said, “Please avoid the urge to scratch, the sensation will be very brief. Raise your arms to the sides and spread your feet apart.”
When the door shut behind her, a heavy mist filled the chamber, and suddenly the air cleared as the gray fog attached itself to her body. She felt the nanobots working at the roots of her pubic hair, inside her nostrils and the follicles of her scalp. Just before the urge to scratch became almost unbearable, the sensation stopped.
“Move to the next chamber please,” said the automated voice.
“Place your feet where indicated.” Lydia used the handholds and placed first one foot then the other on lighted pads in the shape of feet. Metallic carbon sheaths appeared from the foot pads and entrapped her heels and toes.
A small platform rose out of the floor with lighted patterns in the shape of hands. “Please place your hands flat on the table before you.” Again her hands were surrounded by sheaths and held into place. A nozzle extended from the ceiling and stopped before her face. “Please open your mouth,” said the voice. Lydia opened her mouth, and the nozzle spritzed a purple mist into it. She felt the nanobots work between her teeth and gums disinfecting her mouth. Nanobot spray wetted her toes and fingers and cleaned under the nails.
Abruptly the pads that held her feet began to spread apart. They stopped about three feet from each other, and another nozzle rose up behind her from the floor. The tube stopped at the small of her back and sprayed a nano-bot enriched mist down along the crack of her buttocks, over her anus and paused to puff out the folds of her labia open with compressed air and spritz nanobots into the opening of her vagina. It continued spraying until it reached the small dimple known as the cleft of Venus. If not humiliating enough, the nozzle paused, moved upward and spritzed her in the navel.
The restraining sheaths released her hands and feet and the nozzle and platform retracted into the floor.
“Move to the next station please."
Lydia pulled herself into the next chamber using the handholds. Behind her, the door slid shut, and the voice said, “Please secure yourself using the available handles.”
Lydia grabbed the handles on either side of the chamber walls and was startled when sheathes encased them again. The walls moved and stretched her arms gently apart. Robotic appendages advanced to secure her ankles and spread her legs. Spray nozzles squirted warm jets of water that smelled of a mild disinfectant against her body. She heard the rush of escaping air and watched great globules of water being drawn toward drain ports and sucked from the chamber. A blast of cold air on her face kept her nostrils free of the spray. The shower stopped, and high-velocity warm air blasted her. The restraints released, the door opened, and the voice said, “Please move forward.”
Lydia pulled herself into the next room where two medical robots waited for her. Each had the upper torso of a humanoid and stood on a column from the waist down.
The robots reached out and took her by the arms and injected her with a dose of intravenous nano-meds. “Ouch,” exclaimed Lydia as she was roughly pushed along by the medical androids.
A young woman greeted her and said, “Hello Dr. Jess, you're finished.
Your gear and the clothes you were wearing should arrive in your quarters shortly. There's a uniform with your name on it in that cubicle." She pointed toward what looked like a small shower stall with hand and foot holds attached.
Behind her, she heard Sofía. “OUCH! Geez, I feel like I’ve just been screwed and didn’t even get a kiss!”
Lydia giggled and said, “I feel the same way.”
“That’s something they failed to mention during training!”
She pulled herself toward the small cubicle and slipped into her uniform.
It was white and embroidered with her first name, title, and Astronomy across the left breast pocket. There were comfortable flats provided, and a lowgrav vest was on a wall hook.
“Dr. Jess? Someone is waiting for you in the anteroom, first door to your left." said the same young woman that had greeted them. "When processing finishes, there will be a debriefing in the conference room.”
“Thank you,” replied Lydia and had her vest take her toward the anteroom.
Carter floated near the window looking out into the shuttle bay.
The projections of Tyson and Sagan paced about together while their cargos offloaded.
Sagan had his hands clasped behind his back focused on the floor, and Tyson's, hands steepled in front of him with the fingers spread. The two seemed to be discussing something of great importance.
He watched as Sagan stopped and raised his chin high, before answering. The projections looked so much like the videos of the two scientists that he imagined Sagan saying something like, “Billions and billions of stars are there for us to explore.”
His reverie was interrupted by the hiss of the door behind him.
“Wow, nice hairdo, babe!”
“Yeah, it’s all the rage back home,” laughed Lydia. Her hair floated around her in all directions. The ordeal of passing through the decontamination process had it resembling an experience with a Van de Graaff generator.
Carter floated over to his beautiful young wife and hugged her.
“You wear it beautifully!” he said.
“I bet you say that to all the girls,”
He held her by the shoulders and leaned back to look into her eyes. “You know, I’ve never made love to a girl in outer space before.”
Giggling Lydia asked, “You want to?”
“Hell yes,” he said, “I’ve missed you so bad I'm hurting.”
“Well, I’ll have to take care of that for you mister,” replied Lydia, “but right now I have to go to a debriefing.”
“I’ll tag along. I took off the rest of the day so that I could meet you.”
They made their way into the conference room, and Lydia laughed with some of the others while they discussed the ‘indignities’ of the decontamination process. Shortly, the most striking young woman she had ever seen floated in behind the last stragglers and made her way to a podium.
“Greetings, my friends and welcome to the starship Cosmos. I am your hostess and the starship’s First Officer. My name is Kei."
"On your first day aboard, we encourage you to explore the ship. Your network interfaces can direct you to your assigned quarters and will guide you on a pre-programmed guided tour at your convenience.”
Carter leaned down and whispered in Lydia’s ear, “I’ll be your guide, darlin’.”
“Many parts of the ship are still under construction,” continued Kei, “please avoid these unsafe areas. Your duty rosters will be posted tonight for your review. There is a direct link to my NI uploaded to your contacts list. Call me with any questions or concerns you may have at any time of day or night. Thank you, and again, welcome to the Cosmos!"
The small group clapped, and some stayed to mingle. Carter guided Lydia out and into the central corridor. He pointed out various ‘low gravity’ laboratories and experimental stations along the way. They arrived at an elevator that took them up the interior of a spoke and into the spinning ring that contained the living quarters.
Once more in gravity, they removed their lowgrav vest and walked hand in hand down a long hallway that reminded Lydia of the halls in hotels on earth. There were numbered rooms on either side.
Lydia looked down the corridor and saw that the floor curved upward and disappeared in the distance denoting the inner arc of the spinning ring.
“Here we are Mrs. Jess,” said Carter stopping in front of their door.
“Put your hand on the pad and look into that little window, we’ll see if they have you in the system.” Lydia placed her right hand on a panel with a glowing blue outline of a hand with splayed fingers. She looked into a small rectangular window above the palm reader and was rewarded with a hiss as the door opened. Carter scooped her up into his arms and carried her over the threshold.
The interior was undoubtedly more than Lydia had expected. They stood in a large living room with stylish furniture apparently arranged by a professional decorator. A small bar separated the living room and kitchen.
The kitchen was similar to those on earth, with a sink for washing and a molecular assembler set into the wall. Over this was a screen that displayed several menus. Under the sink was a slot used to recycle waste. Trash was whisked away somewhere into the bowels of the ship to a disassembler that reused the molecules.
Lydia walked around the space to become acquainted with her new home. Down a short hallway was a small guest bathroom and another small room that Carter used as an office. She approached a doorway that hissed open. Inside was their bedroom. To the right, she saw the master bath which had a shower large enough for four people. A tub, sunken into the floor, large enough to swim in, was at one end of the space.
“Well?" asked Carter from the living room. “What do you think of our spartan accommodations?”
“Eh,” she replied walking back into the living room, “it could use a woman’s touch, but I suppose I can make do.”
She gasped when she returned to the living room and saw that Carter had set the far wall to transparent and the beauty of the earth was visible through the skeletal girders of the space dock.
“That,” she said, pointing at the view, is breathtaking.
He grinned and spoke into the air, “Kitchen?” an audible tweetle responded. “One Red Muscadine, Post Vineyard, 2014 vintage,” her favorite, “make it four ounces at room temperature. Also, one whiskey sour, the way I like it, please.”
An audible, “Tweetle deetle," acknowledged the command.
Lydia heard the hum of the molecular assembler preparing their drinks in the kitchen.
Carter moved close and swept her into his arms. He kissed her passionately and nuzzled into her ear breathing in the essence of her.
He pulled her against his chest and with one hand cupped her buttocks and pulled her tight against him.
Lydia loved the feel of his hard body against hers.
“Okay, husband,” she said, “let me perform my wifely duties and then we can take the Grande Tour!”
Carter retrieved their drinks from the MA and, grinning mischievously, followed his wife into the bedroom.
“Bedroom,” Carter said into the air.
“Tweetle.”
“Privacy!”
“Tweetle, deetle.”
And the door hissed as it closed behind them behind them.
in my first attempt at
Science Fiction
Read Chapter One here
Love it! Talk about squeaky clean after decontamination 🤣
Gotta love that hygiene!
This story gets more interesting all the time, especially that decontamination process for outer space. Can't wait for the next one @beekerst! Keep it up!
Wow, thanks for the resteem! That was very nice of you!
Another chapter another idea.
More to come!
You have been resteemed by @resteemy, courtesy of @sunnieside!
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