Loose Ends: Cal & Howie

Chapter 5: Builder

Docking with the station was achieved a few hours later with a clunk. The pressurization sequence took about 30 minutes. Cal was used to hurry up and wait from his time in the military. He'd never been into space; ground patrol was his specialty, and he could admit he felt just a little anxious to be walking around in artificial gravity. The pressurization was fine; it was much more the stinging of the disinfectant spray that made him uncomfortable, particularly in the eyes, and it left a film on his skin that made him just a little stiff feeling. "So wait, what's my job?" Cal asked. Tommy moved forward without answering right away. "In due time. Why don't you get comfortable first? I'll give you a tour of the station." Tommy said Cal wasn't rushing to return to his tree house in the woods. "Okay," Cal said. Tommy could already tell that Cal didn't talk much— he probably went a decent amount of time without talking to anyone. He seemed to lack communication skills, not that it was his primary concern.

Tommy took Cal on the tour as promised, and Kipp was there to tag along. They showed all the station's standard amenities, excluding the more dangerous areas off limits to non-Gel-Squad members. Cal would be a fool not to acknowledge the wow factor... he'd heard of these stations. Who hadn't? But he'd never been so close to the stars before. Their tour was passageways on passageways of white walls with various two-tone details of light blue, a window here and there projected the view of space. Then, there were a few flickering lights due to a worn-out faulty power core that the Gel-Squad had acquired from a power facility almost two years ago. "So what happens when the core runs out?" Cal asked. He eyed the ceiling where the lights flickered.

"Well, we run out of power." Tommy said as if running out of juice were the only concern, "We've been trying to find suitable replacements, but we've decided just to leave... we'll return to the planet for the first time in two years and start a colony." Tommy explained.

"Have you considered using solar energy?" Cal inquired, if he lived on a station that supported the bulk of what was left of a dying population that's what he would do. Find alternative energy.

"We did at one point! But the station could hardly stay energized. Plus, we needed the extra power for a special project. This one big station used to be two stations! When the patrol first came here, they built these guys in orbit to keep an eye on us. And we combined them so we can have more room. We just finished the lower decks. And the temperature is much more comfortable now!" Kipp took over as Tommy opened his mouth; perhaps he was the better one to explain it anyway; the station was mainly his work.

"So, do you do all the engineering stuff?" Cal directed toward Kipp specifically this time. "Yeah, pretty much. I tried teaching some other people, but they don't know that much. They were shop owners and stuff. Do you know anything about mechanics?"

Cal rubbed his head as if trying to access the memories with a physical touch. "Uh. Yeah, I guess so. But my work involves less mathematics and more... following instructions. I had a rate in the military once. I built buildings and maintained ships. I was an airman."

"Woah! Wait? You're a construction worker?" Tommy paused their train. "Not exactl—" Cal started, but Tommy continued, he was ecstatic, and Cal couldn't finish his sentence before the Goo-Squirrel squealed loudly enough to cause both Kipp and Cal's ears to twitch as they winced in discomfort. "I've been looking for someone like you forever! Screw that other mission!" Tommy's tail moved, and he took Cal by the wrist and pulled him along; it was a little silly because Cal was much taller than him, and his pulls made it look like Cal was resisting, but he wasn't. "Wait—? Where are we going?" Cal asked as they moved toward an elevator. "Kori wants to meet you!"