Gravitational Constantly: A Novella (2 page)

The space port bar was as far as I had made it.
Cosmos
was not the only bar in the Port district, but it was the most extravagant. Since I had nowhere to go, and nothing to spend my money on, I decided to drink in style. There was a half-dome view into lunar orbit with a sliver of Earth visible. The view of the stars and drip of the alcohol made it seem like paradise. I'm sure Cosmos enjoyed draining travelers' pockets before they ever made it to the Tourism district.

The Moon was divided into four districts. The Port district facilitated all of the incoming and outgoing flights. There were plenty of bars and restaurants to spend your time, as well as last minute slot machines for any leftover coin. The Tourism district was full of hotels and attractions such as the amusement parks, space exhibits, and casinos. The Science district had research and development facilities, space radio-telescopes and was also where Jayce Godspeed worked. Finally the Residential district: living quarters for those who lived and worked on the Moon. These simple yet functional dwellings served their purpose. It wasn't easy to one-up the neighbors with an addition to your car garage, as no one had a car or garage. The districts were arranged in such a way to form a triangle, with the Port district in the center, Science in the north, Residential to the east, and Tourism at the west. Among Lunars, people who live on the Moon, Earth was often referred to as the South district.

It was in the Port district's
Cosmos
that I sat, having a whiskey sour at the bar while watching small shuttle craft go to and from outside the dome view. It was the appropriate drink for the occasion. Sweet with a little bit of a burn. It mirrored my feelings toward my latest escape from Earth's hold on me. I watched other new arrivals bewilder at the view with one another. I knew it was absurd, but I couldn't help but feel kind of sad that I had no one to share the moment with.

I finished my drink and looked for the smug bastard who mixed it for me, but he was nowhere to be seen. For no particular reason that I could put my finger on, I had a thirst. A mighty thirst. As I was goosenecking around, scoping out the place, trying to track down my conjurer of potent potables, I heard a voice like honey ask, “Will you have another?”

There must have been a shift change. She must have slipped in while I wasn't looking. The walking ego that had mixed my first drink had swapped places with this copper-skinned, mocha-haired, blue-eyed twentysomething. She wasn't dressed to kill, but surely to mortally wound. If stylish Earth women were worldly, then she was cosmic. She wore a teal blue dress that was cut in the shape of an oblong
y
that went just over her left breast and under her arm. My mouth went dry.

I nodded in defeat of speech. She giggled and said, “Well, what are you having?”

“Oh, um, Tom Collins. No! Whiskey Sour, I'm sorry,” I said, shaking my head.

She laughed and began mixing the drink. “The stars got you out of sorts?”

“Yeah,” I lied, “something like that.”

“Well here …” She slid the drink slowly across the bar. Sweat rolled down the cool glass. “This will loosen you up. Is this your first time to Luna?”

“Yeah.” I was a one-word giant.

“I thought so. You've got that look.”

“Oh,” I said as I took courage from a few quick sips. “I do, do I?”

Her eyes were playful, not serious. “As a matter of a fact, you do. Are you here for business or pleasure?”

I had another swallow of the concoction and took a moment to answer. “Neither, I suppose.”

“Oh, I see. We must have a wandering romantic in our company,” she said sarcastically, “how lucky for us.”

“No, I'm not that exciting, I'm afraid,” I said with a smile. “I just didn't have anywhere else to go, so I figured I'd come here.”

“Well Mr.—” She paused. “I'm sorry I didn't get your name.”

“Andy. Andy Wright,” I exclaimed as I feverishly shook her hand. I noted that my recently poured drink was gone.

“Well, Mr. Wright, you are either going to have a very short or a very long stay here at Luna,” she said as she refilled my glass. “Most folks either love it or hate it here.”

She placed the newly mixed drink in front of me and slowly turned to serve a new customer that had sat at the other end of the bar. “And what about you?” I asked, “Love? Or hate?”

She smiled back at me, raised her eyebrows facetiously, and continued down the bar.

...

A trip to the restroom afforded me the opportunity to clear my head from the booze. I suspected that the drinks being mixed by this new chic barkeep were dirty, however, I wasn't complaining. On the way back from the restroom, I stopped at the Tourism self-checkout kiosk. There was a hotel search feature, shuttle rental, and attraction listings. Most of the hotels looked suited for family vacations or too classy and expensive. After a few minutes of searching, I selected what looked like a nice hotel somewhere on the outskirts of the Tourism district. It wasn't convenient to the park or any other attractions, but I didn't care for any of that. I printed my reservation then folded and tucked it in my jacket pocket.

When I got back to the bar, I saw that business had picked up. It must have been late evening now because the place was booming. It's hard to tell time on Luna without looking at a clock. The space dome was a constant array of stars and blinking shuttles. All of the structures on Luna are under pressurized glass with special tinting, and the lighting is always a constant twilight—white light, but very soft. My eyes agreed with the lighting quite much. I had never liked bright or yellow light.

I approached the bar to find my spot on the end had been taken by some suit. He had a fit look and a fantastic haircut from the back. Just as I was striding up behind him, the doe-eyed bar tender saw me and looked up. He caught her glance and turned to face me. It was Jayce Godspeed.

“You see?!” Jayce beamed. “My feelings are usually right!”

“Jayce …” I said disbelievingly.

“You two know each other?” she asked from behind the bar.

“We met on the ride up this afternoon.” Godspeed looked to the lady barkeep. “Cara, this is Andy Wright.”

“I've already had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Wright,” Cara said smoothly.

Jayce looked back and forth at Cara and me and with a smile said, “Well, since we all know each other, how about we get a table and have a drink?”

“Sure,” I said with a bit of hesitation.

Cara mixed another whiskey sour for myself, a martini for Jayce, and justifiably so, a Cosmopolitan for herself. Cara turned to the other bartender on duty and said, “It's all yours, Tom. I'm entertaining guests this evening.” We took a quiet table in the corner and sat down.

Nervously, I asked, “Is it okay for you to sit with us?”

Cara and Jayce glanced at each other playfully.

Cara looked to me. “I think it will be okay,” she said with a smile.

“Cara runs the place, Andy,” Jayce said.

“Wow…” I looked around in amazement “…you own the place?”

Again, Jayce and Cara's eyes met, this time not so playful. It was as if I had said something taboo or asked a stupid question.

“No, Mr. Wright. I just manage Cosmos,” Cara said a little sullenly.

Jayce cleared his throat. “So, Andy, I see you didn't get too far since I last saw you.”

“Far enough,” I said, staring out the open dome view.

“Here is as good as anywhere,” Cara said with the hint of a smile on her lips. “… And better than most everywhere else.” Her full smile came to fruition. She sipped her drink as if it was the last drop of water in the whole world, slow and savoring the moment—thankfully.

“How has business been?” Jayce asked as he shifted his attention to Cara. He had a way of focusing himself on you, as if you were the only thing that mattered in the entire universe at that moment. His eyes sparkled and his facial expressions twitched ever so slightly at the excitement and anticipation of your reply.

“Dreadfully slow,” Cara said with over exaggeration. “The shuttles bring less tourists with every trip. It seems that Earth has already gotten bored of Luna.”

Jayce looked out the open dome view for a moment in silence. “You think so?” he asked with a smile. “Well, our new friend here has just arrived. You're not bored yet, are you, Andy?”

I finished my drink and sat the glass down with a
thud
. Slightly harder than I intended. “Not at all,” I said with a big stupid grin on my face. I looked again out the open dome view. “I think I'll live here.”

Jayce laughed as if he thought it were hysterical, and Cara smiled a little smile that I could have sworn seemed to make her look like she was blushing.

We had more drinks brought to the table and talked into the night, or whatever you call the hours at which a person sleeps in the constant twilight of Luna. It was easy to talk to Jayce and Cara, and not entirely because of the alcohol. They both had a general indifference to the world around them. We never once discussed politics, religion, or what was going on back on Earth. Cara told funny stories about celebrities from Earth who had come to Cosmos and left a drunken mess. We laughed about a famous actor who had staggered his way over to the open dome view after too many drinks and puked all over himself at the sight. There was also a well-to-do heiress that had a fear of flying, so on the way up, she had self-medicated with a muscle relaxer and martini and fell asleep. Her friends had to carry her off the shuttle when they arrived. They of course found their way to the finest bar in the Port district and began having drinks. The heiress awoke to find herself in Cosmos, looking out the massive open dome view and reeling from vertigo. She could hardly stand. The only way they could get her back through the open glassed terminal and onto the shuttle was a heaping helping of liquid encouragement. It made the tabloids apparently.

Jayce talked about his trips to and from Earth. He had met many characters in transition. Several of them had been entrepreneurs with new ideas for the tourism market on Luna. His favorites were a group of wide-eyed college kids that had come to Luna in search of the next big thing. Apparently, they had found it and had gotten it in their head to film an ad
outside
District space. Somehow they had sneaked in and stolen survey equipment in the Science district and were outside District space, filming their advertisement, when the gravity generator on their vehicle went out, leaving them all floating helplessly about, tethered to their rover. After radioing mayday, a search and rescue team brought them back safely, promptly sending them back to Earth, detained and awaiting trial.

The hour grew grave and the three of us were breathing fire. Jayce was the first to throw in the towel, showcasing his true strength of character.

“My first night back to Luna and you two are going to have me paying hell tomorrow!” Jayce exclaimed. “I'm heading home,” he said as his gaze stuck on Cara. “What about you, sport,” he said turning to me. “You
did
book a room didn't you?” he asked with a thunderous laugh.

“You know, I actually think I did!” I bellowed and slapped the table.

“We better get this one on a shuttle to his hotel, Jayce,” Cara said as she stood.

“It's a good thing I ran into you two,” I carried on while taking each of their shoulders with an arm. “Who else would take care of a hapless vagabond on his first trip to the Moon?”

They walked me to the shuttle junction, laughing and teasing me as I stumbled. The sights were a blur of amazement and disbelief. The other restaurants and bars were closing up and people were moving here and there. Shuttles on mag-lock tracks took off at blinding speeds, leaving the Port and heading to one of the other three districts. When my shuttle slowed to a stop, the door opened and Jayce and Cara unhanded me.

“Will you be alright?” Jayce asked.

“I'm sure I'll find my way. What could go wrong?” I said sarcastically.

“It was a pleasure, Mr. Wright. Welcome to Luna. I'm glad you are here,” Cara said. And then she smiled. A smile that might have lulled me to sleep that night if I had remembered falling asleep at all.

I sat down and closed the hatch door. The shuttle was big enough to seat four, with two seats, one facing the other. It was comfortable and quiet.

“Hotel,” I said, watching Jayce and Cara through the hatch window.

The shuttle began to hum and then jerked away so quick that Jayce and Cara disappeared from my sight like they had been a dream all along. I moved through several tunnels and then before I knew it I was under the pressurized glass infrastructure, gliding along the surface of Luna in between districts. I could see Earth now, giant and blue green. I thought for a second that I was homesick. Speeding along the surface of the Moon in the black of space, only the stars and the electric hum of the shuttle to keep me company, I thought for a moment that I had made a mistake. It only lasted a moment, because that was all the time I needed to think about it. I was now gliding through junctions and tunnels that connected to the Tourism district. After several moments of being in almost complete dark, I emerged in a much larger structure than the Port district. The Tourism biome was enormous. I could see lots of open space for parks and little shops here and there. There were flashing lights in the distance and what looked like the casinos and main drag. The amusement park was a myriad of giant erector sets, too far off to be made sense of.