Starship Walker

The 1G Bar

"Oh dear," Executive Officer Joan Rubilio sighed. "I'm spending a lot of time with Mr Barry."

She and Gillian were in the 1G Bar, a structure built in the style an old English pub,  located in a pleasant grove of trees in the rim park. As in the Navigation centre, viewports dotted the bar's floor and stars wheeled below their feet. Beyond the grove, they could see across the meadows to the forest of the East Side.

It was one week after the meeting in Captain Xing's conference room. Captain Xing's action assignments were in progress. Gillian had begun her training as a Walker, and she was growing friendly with Captain Xing's officers.

"I've got two activities with Mr Barry. I'm working with him on the survey of passenger morale, and testing volunteers for more candidate Walkers." Joan made a face and sipped at her wine.

"What's your problem with him?"

"Overbearing, impatient, inclined to rush off and do things without discussion." Joan gave a rueful smile. "But apart from that, he's ok."

Gillian wanted to be sympathetic, but her new life was too absorbing. She was well into her short training course, redesigned by Mr Dryen and his committee. She spent much of her spare time relaxing with her friend, Celia Ho, in the Half-G coffee lounge on the lower East Side, Walking in the rim park and sometimes lounging in her cabin. These environments were comfortable for them. Occasionally, they visited Celia's cabin, but the attentions of Celia's attentive and solicitous parents were constraining.

The Executive Officer had invited Gillian and the rest of Captain Xing's committee for a relaxing  'how are we all progressing' drink. They were waiting for the others to appear; the Exec and Gillian were early arrivals.

Gillian had never entered a public bar before because she had been too young. This was a new experience for her. She said, "Mr Barry does seem to be a difficult person, doesn't he? Perhaps he has big numbers invested in this trip."

Joan nodded. "You could be right."

"But I wonder why he was the one who mentioned the possibility of waiting to see if Abel recovers?"

"Perhaps it was just a sham to make us think better of him?"

Gillian did not know what to think of this idea. "How's the wine?" she asked.

"Good. It's a light white, not too sweet."

"I'd like to try a sip."

"Not here, you can't. Too many people are watching."

Though Gillian, at an assumed eighteen years of age, was allowed inside the bar, ship's regulations still deemed her too young to drink. So she fiddled with a juice concoction that Joan had purchased for her. She was not even allowed to go to the counter by herself and spend a few numbers on something non-alcoholic.

Gillian knew that other people in the bar were staring at them. Her face appeared on the ship news channel almost nightly, along with advertisements for other young people to apply for Walker training positions. She kept her gaze on Joan.

As intense and anxious interest from the rest of the ship had begun to envelope her life, she was feeling pressured. Outside her cabin and the Navigation centre, she was always conscious of the stares and curiosity directed at her.

Celia had tried to reassure her that the passengers she knew were realistic, and did not expect her to perform a sudden rescue. Gillian had responded to her friend, "Are you going to apply for testing as a Walker? It would be wonderful if they accepted you!"

Celia had looked sad. "I already applied, but I failed the tests."

Gillian had nursed a dream of having Celia join her in her new life: someone familiar to share the pressure with her, and the occasional scare.