Joy Station’s numerous green signal lights illuminated the underside of the Maria as Hal gently brought her down onto the wide circular landing platform. The ship’s landing joints touched down on the smooth gray surface with a slight bump and Hal zipped up his jacket as he rose from the pilot’s chair. Performing the shutdown routine and locking all the consoles, he made his way to his cabin where his supplies sat packed, ready to be taken. He opened his slate-gray backpack and did a final provisions check, making sure his credits and empty bottles were safely stored within. Exiting his room, he bumped into Jeff who was carrying his own backpack in his arms. Before Hal could comment, Jeff interjected with an explanation. “The straps broke,” he said wearily. “Guess I’ve gotta carry it with me.”

  “What’s in there anyway?” Hal asked. “It shouldn’t be too heavy, we don’t even need that much.”
 
 “Oh you know, just bits and bobs really.” Jeff undid the buckle and opened the top of the bag to show Hal the contents. “Got my water pistol, my cereal and my spork. All my survivalist needs.”

  “Yeah, you’re ready for anything,” Hal grinned as Jeff re-fastened the buckle and they made their way to the ship’s door. “Right, we’re here for a week. I’ll take care of Holly, but I expect you to do your fair share of child-minding too, got it?” Holly was fast asleep in in a sealed plastic tankard within Hal’s backpack. “Right, let’s go,” he said brightly as Jeff nodded in agreement while opening the door.

  Joy station was a large, hexagonal construction that floated high in orbit above the small planet Jakut. It consisted of a large outer frame that spread around the entire station, with the main hub sitting in the centre, connected by a series of long, retractable steel tubes. In between the centre and the outer frame sat a myriad of connector bridges and structures, linking the whole structure together like a giant, metal spider web.

  They stepped out of the ship and onto the platform, the artificial oxygen of the station filling their lungs as a large, clear glass dome rose up around them, encasing the entire platform. A scratched metal post with a dented panel attached to it was standing near the ship, and Hal swiped his pilot’s license into the panel’s slot and typed in his code, causing the machine to emit a series of beeps and spit out a receipt which Hal promptly scrunched up and put in his pocket. A loud scraping sound began to come from down below their feet, and a few moments later the platform itself began to sink into the station, rotating as it began its descent down into the storage space. Jeff called out loudly as they spiralled down into the depths of the facility, his voice echoing sonorously off the paneled metal walls. They reached the bottom and hopped off the platform, giving the Maria one last glance before she and  the platform were whisked away into the endless labyrinth of shelves and compartments that was the storage space.
  “Right, first things first, let’s drop our stuff off,” Hal said as they made their way to the transport lounge. “I’m sure Morgan’s made our beds all nice and tidy.” The transport lounge was a long, low-ceilinged room with automatic transport carts waiting at a multitude of different gates, depending on where it was on the station you wanted to go. In the centre of the room was a large row of chairs, where passengers could wait in relative comfort while they waited for a transport to become available. Jeff and Hal placed their things on the ground in front of a pair of chairs on the end of the row, sighing contentedly. Hal checked the transport application on his info pad, the next transport would be there in twenty minutes. He had enough time to go and grab a quick coffee from the machine at the other end of the room, so he trusted Jeff with his belongings and set off to get his Comet Coffee.
  Jeff began to whistle to himself out of boredom, he had not brought the magazines and his info pad had run out of battery due to him playing games on it all morning and neglecting to charge it. Continuing to whistle, Jeff looked all around the room, trying to think of a way to keep himself occupied. The quiet atmosphere of the room was occasionally interrupted by a monotone female voice that came through the speaker system, announcing transport arrival and departure times. Twenty minutes can seem like hours if you’re bored. He spotted a fellow benchwarmer sitting a few seats down from him that was reading a newspaper so he shuffled along the bench, right alongside his new companion. He was a tall, stocky creature with pale orange skin that was covered here and there with a series of pimples and pock marks. His head was somewhat triangular shaped, reaching a pointed peak at the top, with a single tuft of hair poking out of the tip. His three deep green eyes watched Jeff closely as he moved in. Not wanting to make idle chit chat with Jeff, he raised his newspaper higher and examined it closely in an attempt to ignore the irrepressible human.
  “Hey there friend,” Jeff greeted his neighbour earnestly. “Watcha reading there?” He lowered his head to get a better look at the front of the newspaper. The alien didn’t reply, preferring to continue reading rather than respond.
  “You catch the game last night? Was good wasn’t it, I didn’t see it because I hate Waveball but you look like the type of guy who enjoys it.” Jeff didn’t let up in his attempts at conversation, undaunted by his companion’s lack of response. “You wanna get a bite to eat? I know a great place on Lane 6, they make simply the best Turkey Twisters. I mean you’ll probably get a bad stomach after but what’s life without a bit of risk eh?” He nudged him during that last part.
  The physical contact seemed to finally get the alien around to talking, as he lowered the newspaper and breathed deeply. “Look, I don’t care about you, your favorite sport, food, movies, or any of that crap. I’m just trying to read my newspaper while I wait for the transport to take me home, where I can tuck my kids in and then climb into bed and fall asleep with the comforting knowledge that I’m as far away from you as possible.”
  “What did you say your name was? I didn’t quite hear it the first time, some of your spit went in my ear,” Jeff said as he dug into his ear with his finger and wiggled around. “And speaking of beds, I’m knackered. Hope this transport arrives soon, I think I need a nap.” He held his hand out, a cheeky smile on his face. “I’m Jeff, by the way.”
  The alien just blinked at him blankly, not bothering to return the gesture. “I’m leaving,” he said gruffly as he tucked the newspaper into his coat and strode off, muttering to himself. Jeff resumed his whistling, raising his legs to rest across the now empty seat.
  Hal returned a short while later, carrying two steaming plastic cups of hot Comet Coffee. He nudged Jeff’s legs off the seat with his knee and sat down, handing Jeff one of the cups. Sipping the hot, frothy mixture he sighed contentedly to himself, loving the taste as the coffee washed its way down his throat. “Mmm, that’s good stuff right there,” Hal said dreamily. “I’m guessing you made a new friend just now.”
  Jeff was waiting for his coffee to cool down before drinking it, holding it steadily in his hands. “So now you’re psychic as well as a terrible cook,” he joked.
  Hal showed no sign of offense. He truthfully wasn’t too culinarily inclined. “Some dude joined me at the coffee machine, seemed to be in a bit of a huff.” He paused to take another long sip of his coffee. “Kept muttering to himself about today’s youth and something about irresponsible parents. I asked him what was up and he just looked at me as if I’d just told him he’d been fired, poor guy looked broken.”
  “Poor lad,” Jeff agreed before beginning his own coffee. “I just asked him if he knew what time the transport was going to arrive, and he got all hissy with me. Not my fault he hates his life.”
  “We all get those days. Anyway, it’s gonna be here in about ten minutes. Didn’t you bring your info pad with you? There’s a timetable on there.”
  Jeff pulled out his info pad to show Hal the blank screen. “Well yeah I did, but I sort of used up all the battery playing Aerial Flush. It’s great, you should try it. Anyway, I forgot my charger so I guess you’ll have to be my guide for this trip, Mr Morrow.”
  They sat in silence for a few minutes, until the rumbling sound of the approaching transport came within earshot. Hal and Jeff stood up, picking up their packs and tucking their empty coffee cups into their pockets. The long, box-shaped metallic grey transport hissed to a halt at the buffering stop, and the female voice announced that the transport to Lane 8 had arrived, and travellers should board as quickly and orderly as possible. Hal stepped forward and scanned his card into the scanner, which beeped three times in acceptance. The automatic doors opened quickly and they stepped into the slightly cramped interior of the transport. The transport was brightly lit with a sickly pale coloured light that occasionally flickered momentarily, and the walls were lined with uncomfortable metal benches that were torn here and there.
 
 Cryptic graffiti was scrawled erratically over the walls and the air was permeated by a strange pungent odour, giving the interior the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy backstreet alleyway. The transport was empty save for a few wizened elderly travellers who probably had no clue where they were, and a couple of robed Krastic monks who sat motionless in silence, their heads bowed in constant prayer. The Krastic were an odd sort, choosing a life of silence and piety that not many people seemed to understand. Jeff and Hal had heard stories and the odd offhand comment about them, but nothing too substantial. Not paying too much attention, Jeff watched the blank screens on the wall opposite him that flickered to life as the transport began to trundle along to the next station. The transport followed a gravity rail system, that confined it to a set path programmed by the Locomotion Board that was kept in place by long tracks of small gravity repulsors that held the transport just above ground and allowed it to move in whatever direction was programmed.
 
 The gravity rail stretched long through the connecting tunnels of Joy Station, making its way around the narrows and bends like water travelling down a pipe. Because it was confined to a closed space, television screens had been fitted to the interior of the transport in place of windows, to give the impression of a great outdoor journey instead of a dimly lit, industrial backdrop. The televisions could be switched over to a multitude of different backgrounds for variety, and on this occasion a wide expanse of lush green meadows were displayed, atop which herds of colourful cows could be seen, frolicking and grazing on the finely trimmed grass that shimmered in the early rays of the morning sun. Even Jeff thought that was an amazing sight, and he never usually took notice of such things. The cows were making him hungry though, something he felt a slight pinch of guilt for but he couldn’t help it.

  Hal plugged his earphones into his Info pad and began to listen to ‘Love is like a Burning Skyline’ by The Grim Twistys, bopping his head in tune with the music while gazing contentedly out at the magnificent (though entirely artificial) view.