The Solar Wind (3 page)

  Ava sat next to Helena at orientation. “Good morning how was your first night? Did you like your roommate?”

“I hardly even saw her. Her name is Samantha. She works nights, and I work days. I think that we will only be seeing each other in passing. She seemed O.K. I think she’s around twenty-one.”

“Did you like your apartment?”

“It’s so small, but I’m happy that I have my own bedroom. I can lock it when I leave so at least I don’t have to worry about anything getting ripped off.”

“Do you think that your roommate would do that?”

“Who knows? You can’t really trust anyone here until you get to know them. The residents on Level 6 seem a bit desperate. I went shopping for food yesterday and I could barely afford anything.  There are only two stores on my level and I went to both of them. One had slightly lower prices than the other, but it was a hike. I was quite put out. I haven’t been this tired in my whole life. It’s also a good thing I learned some French in school, that’s all the food packages are written in and that’s all Samantha speaks.”

“I’m beginning to wish I had taken some French. I went shopping also and I couldn’t figure out what was what. I ended up buying mostly rice. I’m going to have to start learning some French. I saw there was a tutorial online.”

“Here comes the instructor.” Helena noted.  “I’m glad they are doing an orientation. I have tons of questions I need answered.”

The ITO instructor was a short, no-nonsense, clean cut kind of man. Despite his lack of enthusiasm, his presentation was extremely informative. The attendees learned about Orionis’ history and development. They learned about the twelve levels that comprised the station and that each level had a different purpose and function. The most important levels were the outermost first and second levels because they contained the precious oxygen and agricultural gardens as well as the innumerable solar panels. The import and export landing hangars as well as the cargo bays were also located on these levels. Therefore this is where the security is most tight and strict. As the levels progressed inward towards the nuclear power cells at the core, security still maintained a presence, but it was nowhere near that of the outermost levels. Orionis had a wonderful self sustaining reputation. Water and air were recycled. Nothing was wasted. Most documents were electronic, thus eliminating unnecessary waste. Residents were fined if they did not participate in the strict recycling programs for anything that did come in a paper or plastic package. Fire or anything with an open flame was strictly forbidden due to the consumption of oxygen.

Each station in orbit held a democracy, each lead by an elected president. Only citizens who have lived on the station for a minimum of three years could register to vote. The ITO strictly controlled all travel to and from the station. Residents who could afford to travel to the other stations for recreation could do so only after six months of continuous residency on the station. At the orientation, the ITO instructor gave an explicit warning to the new residents not to go beyond their spending limits. Residents who could not support their spending would be promptly prosecuted and shipped back to Earth. Although a working community, the station had many recreational activities. Residents were encouraged to use the various workout facilities on levels three and four. Memberships were actually free. This is because power cells are connected to most of the workout equipment, thus harnessing the energy created from repetitive movements. The station utilized this type of energy for simple things, such as lighting.

Orientation ended in the early afternoon. Ava and Helena wandered about the avenues becoming acclimated with their surroundings before heading back to their homes. Ava wanted to rest before her first day at work. As she made her way home she felt as though she was being watched again. This time, however, as she looked around, she did not see anyone gazing at her.

Ava arrived early to work at the OMC, eager to meet the physician whom she would be working with. The doors pushed quietly open as the nurses gave Ava the tour of the clinic and Dr. Brennan Grant stepped in.

“Ms. Amherst, welcome to the OMC.”

Ava approved of him instantly. He appeared to have a calm, soft-spoken, reassuring nature. He looked to be around fifty years old, a thin man just under six feet tall with plentiful salt and pepper brown hair and a goatee. He wore a simple white lab coat and stood in the doorway to his office wiping his glasses off on his lab coat.

“I’m pleased to meet you Dr. Grant.” Ava smiled. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“We are excited to have you; your resume and your work at the All Saints Medical Clinic on Earth is impressive.”

“Thank you. I had such a wonderful experience working for them before and after I graduated. I love the variety of patients you see in primary care.”

Ava and Dr. Grant sat in his office for a short time while he gave her an overview of the clinic schedule, job expectations, etc. Ava had always been a dedicated student and a hard worker. She enjoyed seeing patients, she consistently felt rewarded when she could help them improve and feel better. As she shadowed Dr. Grant the first few days she knew she had come to the right place. The other providers and staff were welcoming and she appreciated having such a pleasant physician to collaborate with. By the middle of the next week, Ava was ready to take on her own team of patients each day without difficulty.

As the days passed Ava became increasingly tired. It would be another week until she would be paid for the first time.  Health care providers were considered to be included in the more affluent members of society on Orionis and on average usually earned a decent living, depending on experience. The discussion of salary was disappointing, it would be less than Ava had hoped for because she only had less than two years of experience after graduation. She would have to stick to a strict budget with food for a while until things evened out. She had never experienced a time of prolonged hunger growing up. Food had never been overly abundant, but she never recalled feeling as starved as she had now. Eating mostly rice day in and day out kept you alive, but wasn’t appetizing, or nutritious. Ava vowed never to eat rice ever again once she could afford it. Helena seemed to be in a similar situation. She constantly complained to Ava whenever they were together about how hungry she felt. She would earn even fewer credits than Ava.

As the next week arrived Ava began to feel increasingly worn out. She had always been average; however she noticed that she had started losing weight. After work one day, Ava stepped on the scale, 110 pounds. This is not good Ava thought. She had never weighed so little. That night at home Ava took a shower and studied herself in the mirror. She looked pale and weary, almost emaciated. Her ribs and hips were clearly visible, her hair and eyes were lackluster and dull. She realized she appeared as most of her patients did to her; gaunt and spiritless. No wonder there wasn't any shortage of food on Orionis Ava thought; nobody could afford to buy what was available. Ava knew it would only be a few more days until she was paid, if she conserved as much energy as possible, perhaps she could make it to Friday.

Chapter 3: The Square

When Thursday arrived Ava set off for work feeling exhausted. As the day dragged on Ava put forth her best effort to maintain her composure. Over the past week she intentionally worked on charting through her lunch hours to conceal the fact that she never had much more than reheated rice to eat. She dreaded how embarrassed she would feel if her coworkers knew that she could barely afford to buy food. Only one more day she thought. As soon as the day is over tomorrow she could go directly to the store and buy some real food. Fortunately none of Ava’s patients or her coworkers sensed the discouragement she felt. She worked hard to keep it that way. She had not had what she would call a decent meal in a few weeks. At first, the inadequate amounts of food left her with the sensation of a ravenous hunger. As the time passed, she no longer felt the hunger so much anymore. She just became numb to it.

The avenues swelled like a sea of moving people as Ava slowly walked home from work. She normally walked with a sense of purpose when she moved about, observing her surroundings, but not today. No longer needing to put on a strong front; she let her gait slow and her eyes search the ground as she moved. The Square on Level 3 marked the half-way point home. It was a great intersection of several avenues lined with many stores and small cafes that enticed people to stop by with small tables both inside as well as outside to create ambience. It was one of her favorite places she had seen so far on Orionis.

As she entered the square she began to feel warm and sweaty. With each step she sensed something was wrong and getting worse. Ava was almost knocked over by the people walking in a steady stream around her on their way home. She could feel it coming, she knew if she didn’t sit down she was going to faint. But where? She knew better, she knew she had to do something. Her vision began to dim and the ringing that began in her ears drowned out the sounds of the crowds. It seemed like an eternity had passed. She stopped and tried to concentrate on steadying her breathing and staying conscious, but it was a losing battle. At that moment Ava felt a jolt as two pairs of strong hands gripped her arms, one person on each side of her. She couldn’t think or act as she sensed that she was placed into a seated position on a chair nearby. Someone was speaking calmly, a man, while someone steadied Ava in a sitting position on the chair. Ava couldn’t open her eyes and the roaring in her ears continued. She concentrated on breathing. Then, the pair of hands holding her up seemed to switch with the other pair and someone held a cool glass of water to her lips. Instinct had taken over and Ava drank in small amounts. As the warm sensation passed, and the roaring insider her ears gradually faded.  Ava’s vision slowly returned to normal. Her breathing slowed and she looked upon the two strangers that had come to her aid.

Ava found herself sitting at a small “outdoor” table at “Fruition” a specialty café.  A blonde woman stood to her left next to the table holding the half empty glass of water. Ava thought she resembled a beautiful angel. A man with black hair and very dark, expressive round eyes took a seat at the little round table towards her right. Both looked upon her with relieved faces. As Ava began to recover she looked upon the pair and tried to think of something to say, her brain cells did not seem to be working right now.

“Are you feeling better Miss? That was close. A few more seconds and we would have been picking you up off of the ground. Looks like you are starting to get your color back. Why don’t you have the rest of this water?” The blonde woman had a pleasant voice, a kind face, and smiled with sympathy at Ava.

Ava took the glass carefully with a slight tremble in her hands from the blonde woman who seemed to be standing guard over her. “Thank you, I’m so sorry to have troubled you. I’m grateful for your assistance,” she managed to reply as she recovered.

Ava did a quick assessment of her two new acquaintances. Her trained eye observed many things about the two of them. They both appeared healthy and happy. Neither appeared malnourished nor overly thin like most of her patients, or like herself. They both had full, round cheeks, not the sunken ones like she was used to seeing on a daily basis at work and in her own mirror.

The man looked as though he were in his early thirties. Ava could tell he was tall and well built. His skin was fair and had no blemishes. He had nice sized expressive dark chocolate brown eyes and full lips with straight white teeth. He had a perfectly proportioned straight angular nose, with high set cheekbones and a straight, strong chin. His hair was black, straight, thick and glossy; cut short in the back and gradually became a little longer on top.  Ava could tell he took good care of himself. She thought he was very handsome.  Although he was clean cut, he wasn’t dressed for typical office duties; he wore what looked like working class gear. He had on a heavy crew collar cropped leather bomber jacket half zipped up with a navy blue crew neck shirt, black pants, a utility belt that held various items and black boots. The jacket, still in good condition, looked very old. Ava had never seen much leather the entire time she had grown up. The use of leather for shoe and clothing construction had become rare due to the limited number of livestock left in existence.

Ava glanced at the woman now sitting to her left. Her soft, shiny, full, light blonde hair flowed several inches past her shoulders. Ava estimated her to be around twenty seven years old.  Her flawless fair complexion seemed luminous. She studied Ava with kind baby blue eyes. She also had full lips with perfectly aligned white teeth and a dainty well proportioned nose. Her attire consisted of a black sleeveless vest jacket, a crew necked mauve shirt, satin finished black pants and boots. She wore a small knapsack on her back. Ava noticed she had a glittering gold diamond anniversary band on her left fourth finger. How rare she thought. Jewelry, particularly diamonds were seldom seen in everyday life. Most of the precious metals were sold or collected decades ago to be melted down and used to assist with the delicate construction of the countless circuit boards and wiring needed for space migration and station technology. A majority of the jewelry and gemstones in existence were lost in The Great Impact, the rest were handed down through the generations. Only the most affluent people could afford to buy jewelry. The once time honored tradition of exchanging wedding rings was for the most part forgotten. Some couples had rings tattooed on, while others, including Ava wore nothing.  Ava considered herself lucky to have inherited a pair of small gold huggie earrings from her grandmother, each with three tiny diamonds that were pave set. They were not flashy earrings, but Ava was proud of them and never removed them. They were the only pieces of jewelry she ever owned. Looking at the ring she wondered if the woman and the man sitting with her were married to each other.