The Oasis

Chapter 2

Ch 2 

Jake buckled his belts only after watching several others successfully do it before him. There were seven different steps to the process, and he was absolutely petrified of getting one of them wrong. After being unloaded from the bay, he had been scanned in to the manifest for the next descent. The orbital station they had docked with was in geosynchronous orbit with their destination far below. While shuttles were the main form of orbital transport on Earth, with the number of trips taken to and from the surface of Mars every day, shuttles were simply too costly. It had been decided early on that one of the first things to be constructed for the Martian base was the “Orbital to surface Electro-Magnetic Lift Station.” But in all honesty, everyone just called it the space lift.

                  Still, though connected to a line with multiple security measures to control descent along the way, going to and from the surface of a planet was never a seamless transition, and when dealing with hard acceleration, jet stream winds, and the occasional weather patch, Jake figured he could expect a bumpy ride. At least he took comfort from the assigned seating. The blonde woman from the unloading bay took her seat right beside him.

                  Jake politely smiled as she situated herself in the bucket seat. She didn’t notice. She was looking at the cacophony of straps with a confusion shared by many of the space lift travelers. Jake made a move to help but then stopped.                 

                  No, that’s rude. He thought. She’s a big girl. She can figure it out. I’m sure she doesn’t want some creep reaching over, uninvited, to help her buckle a couple seat belts.

                  She looked over at him, her gaze lingering for much longer than a glance.

                  Had she heard him? Jake panicked, trying to remember if he had thought anything out loud. That would be a great way to make a first impression. Babble your thoughts out loud as if no one could hear you. Way to go, Jake.

                  She bit her lower lip as she continued to stare at him.

                  Ok. She’s not creeped out. Maybe I’m just freaking out here. He thought. But what is she doing? Jake’s eyes lit up with fear. Oh, no. Is she checking me out? Crap, what do I do? He had never been very good with this kind of stuff. Why couldn’t he be like one of those suave guys on TV who rides a motorcycle and wears leather jackets? What would they do? Give a smoldering half-smile of ruggedly handsome charm probably. What should Jake do? Should he wink? Was that cliché? Which eye should he use? Both were perfectly fine, he supposed. But no! Not at the same time! That’s a blink.

                  Don’t just blink, Jake. You’ll look like an awkward robot or something. He thought. Ok, the right eye. With a smirk perhaps? No. Don’t push it too far. One step at a time here. Just wink, and………look away with feigned disinterest. Ya, that sounds about right.

                  “So does this one go in the second square buckle, or the first?” She asked, holding up part of her seat belt. It suddenly dawned on Jake. She was looking at his belt set up.

                  “Uh……ya, second.” Jake said, acting confident. The woman pushed the clip into the buckle and reached for her next one. She suddenly found that her belts were crossed.

                  “Oh, no. Wait.” Jake said. “I meant the first one. Ya.”

                  The woman nodded and switched the buckles around.