Taking Joy for a Spin
by Rado Dyne
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Table of Contents, Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Chapter 1: Suiting Up
Adrenaline runs a series of electric sprints through my body as I push myself down the corridor of the Lariat towards the suit bay. This will be our fourth outing with suits equipped with gravity-field harnesses but our first time using them for an actual recovery and claim-staking operation. G-field science is all over the system now, doing everything from providing thrust on small craft, to weapons and shielding, to flat-out letting folks on luxury craft act like they are planet-side all the time. “Good for the blood, body and brain,” goes the advertisement.
Medical staff love it. When you can make your own gravity, you can save a person from blood pooling up in the wrong places, and from pressure in the ocular cavity. All kinds of zero-G problems go away in some-G. Doesn’t even have to be up to planetary levels; every bit helps, up to a certain amount.
As the second engineer in a small crew, I’m responsible for teaching everyone the proper use of the harnesses, which replace old-style mass-ejection thrusters. Much safer, as you just dial the field up or down and direct it to push against much larger objects around you. I went to training, then I passed that training on, as much as is practical, to the rest of the crew.
“Joy! Help Erik get harnessed, he’s bonked his array again!” shouted Cap.
I caromed neatly off a nearby bulkhead and headed toward Erik. He was working his harness furiously while rotating slowly in place. Erik is one of the best climbers, second only to Cap, but slow on the nuances of a grav harness. Without touching him and getting caught up in his spin, I calmed him down and talked him through the steps to slow his rotation to almost nothing.
“I’ll never get used to this setup, Lor,” groused Erik.
Is my name Lor or Joy? I should explain. On a small ship with a small crew, everyone has a primary job they are known for, and a secondary job they can fill on demand.
Cap is... well, Cap. She’s also First Ice, the best climber. We call her Cap, and you better not make the mistake of using her given first name.
Erik is First Com, or communications. He’ll handle any elaborate radio work today. He is also Second Ice, just behind Cap in climbing skills.
Elom is First Med, second in command, but we never say Second Cap. We’d call him Doc if he wanted, but he doesn’t.
Merick is First Eng, Second Com, but engineering takes up all his time.
You get the idea. Ship’s shorthand and everybody calls out your first job like it’s your proper name. The only rule is the shorthand has to sound unique on comms/radio so nobody gets confused. With Merick and Erik on board that’s more important than you might think.
No problem with using a given name, as long as you’re not on radios or talking to Cap. I call Erik “Erik” as much as I call him Com. My parents named me Loraine, hence Erik often calls me Lor, and sometimes Joy. We all have other overlapping skills, of course. Those only really matter if somebody gets taken out of action or dies, but we’ve had a good run for a while now. We all keep track of who’s third- and fourth-best climber and so on, as that’s kinda our thing.
I’m First Joy, Second Eng. I have a degree in engineering that qualifies me as Second Eng, but I certified as a joy five years back. Being the joy is my passion. There is no Second Joy at present. In a small crew that happens, though I’d like to convince Abeni to take up the job. As it stands, I have the pleasure of keeping up morale. Mostly through physical intimacy, as well as talking and listening.
I’ve heard the name Joy was shortened from “joy-boy,” as there are no longer any masculinity requirements for the job. Call me Joy, ship’s hooker, courtesan, masseuse, righter of wrongs and improver of attitudes. Today, despite working in my capacity as Second Eng to check out everyone’s grav harness, they still call me Joy.
I’m also the only member of the crew besides Cap to have a private cabin, for obvious reasons. I keep alive the tradition of permitting folks to offer me a small gratuity afterward as well, just for the sake of propriety. I’ve been of service to everyone but Cap. I think she stays away due to her old — or, should I say, ancient — world values. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve invited her to stop by my cabin. Always a refusal though.
The last thing a Joy wants is for her advances to become a source of discomfort, but I really wish I could get her to drop by. What’s wrong with me? I always keep everything professional... with everyone else, but I just can’t help—
“Joy! Erik to Joy! Help!”
“Oh, uh...sorry. Once you get a lock on enough nearby mass, the harness should just fly itself. Think of it as a game. Keep your inputs minimal and you won’t turn back into ‘rotating planet Erik,’” I ended with a snicker as I reached out and shoved him, imparting equal but opposite motion on both of us, most of it spin.
“Now tap the control just enough to right yourself, then come back over to me.”
I expertly ended my spin, and stopped my lateral motion as well. Erik did likewise, with slightly more back and forth. Eventually a nicely stable Erik floated close to me.
“She’s having us pack way more traditional gear than we need for this one. I’ve got twice as much line and three times as many ice screws and punch anchors as we need for eight of us. It’s way more mass than we need to shuttle over,” said Erik.
“What? Cap? You know she’s a worrier and a traditionalist. She never lets us land on any berg without enough pro to get all the way there and back again. Plus there’s no weight in space, dude! With the grav harness, you can shuttle all that over in no time. Just don’t set it to spinning on the way over.”
“Very funny!”
Erik had started to drift just slightly, and I was exaggerating my eye and neck movements watching him.
“That’s just it. Do we really need a base camp for a load this small? I’ve got more oxy bottles than we can all use up in a day! Aw hell, it might get us out of a tight spot, assuming we’re going to run into a dozen tight spots.”
“I’ll come help you after I make sure all the harnesses are A-OK. Plus Trish and Maxim can do some hauling and loading. They are my top students, and I’ll get them checked out first, then send ’em your way. Remember, Cap is the one who made us all go old-school rock- and ice-climbing on Atlantis in full-G. I had to learn how to belay and use an ice axe all while being crushed by full planetary gravity. Stupid gravity! Who wants to climb anything when that harsh old mistress keeps trying to fling you to your death?”
“She made me learn to tie something called a prusik knot. When am I ever going to need to tie a prusik knot... in SPAAAZE...” he trailed off for effect.
“Oh well. Finish up and get suited. You seem to be in good enough control of yourself now. Here’s to finding a bunch of nickel, magnesium, rhodium, and Helium-3 on that berg! I’m stoked!” I said, shaping my hand like a glass and bringing it up to my lips.
“And not a bunch of worthless gold like last time,” finished Erik as he turned to go, hopefully a deliberate turn this time.
Copyright © 2022 by Rado Dyne
