AWAKEN - HUMANITY: Book One

Chapter 2: Port Pluto

Pluto was a hive of activity, the station was built into the heart of the mall planet, a huge structure of mixed builds, flat, small, tall, curved buildings looking more like a showcase city than a working port but that was how it was designed. To give the people who lived and worked there some form of normality akin to Earth, being a self-sufficient city gave the port that level of independence.

Deep towards the core were the gardens, underground fields of air pockets housing animals, fruit trees, small patches of crops and vegetables. On the far side of the planet were the power engines, the mechanical and electrical heart of the whole space port, managed and driven by the very blackness of space, harnessing the universe to power itself and more importantly the wormhole.

President Dannie Forbes stood silently staring out of her office window looking out across the tops of the low end of the city and the small, countless weightless taxis that hopped between the different areas. She wore a simple white all in one dress that hung off her shoulders coming to rest with the hem dragging on the floor. She preferred flowing gowns to the usual tight fitting all in one multi coloured jumpsuit, besides she was entertaining today and she relished the thought of wearing something more flamboyant than regimental.

The office was a standard square shaped room but twice the size of normal offices, she was after all the president, decorated with expensive carpet, leather chairs and a grand glass engraved coffee table. The walls had expensive modern and classical artworks, all originals, the walls painted a clean cream throughout the room. Near to where she was standing with a view to the outside was her oak desk, now considered illegal if bought due to the diminishing of the trees back on Earth.

A drinks dispenser propped up the far corner, looking more like an ornate and old style grandfather clock in design with a clock face digitised at the top, stretching from floor to ceiling with a small panel concealing countless buttons. This was for her own private use, a drinks dispenser she could request most alcoholic beverages even though they were illegal within the walls of her own City.

She was the one who instigated the ban.

There had already been old and more recent close encounters where people with too much drink or drugs inside of them tried to overpower the mainframe system. Through general hacking of the city wide routers. If they had managed to access and press the wrong buttons everyone would have been starved of air, blew up like a balloon and subsequently exploded. So banning such drinks and similar recreational activities like vaping was now prohibited throughout the complex.

She also tightened up the security systems both electronically and physically for all major financial and government led outlets including her own home as her ban was seen to be most unpopular especially to the lower ranks within the city.

The glass type wall protecting the city from the airless vacuum of space was thick and she had been informed it could withstand a small meteor shower but how did they know? It had never been tested, only through simulation. It was not something she wanted to test in reality either.

The president pulled her deep blue hair back into a loose ponytail tying a small ribbon around the top part, showing a slender jawline, bright blue eyes, slender nose to match the cheekbones and a pale complexion provided by living and breathing off Earth most of her life.

The door slid open with a gentle whooshing sound and her personal assistant, a slim, tall, jump suit wearing man entered, he coughed politely to announce his presence.

She spoke softly, her accent a mixture of English and American, "Has Starlight One parked?"

"Yes, the crew are departing for City Bay One and at your request Captain West will be attending the private recreational suite."