Starship Walker

The Helmsman

The novelty of her new cabin, and a significant increase in the numbers in her bank account following her promotion, had thrilled Gillian. But the palatial bedroom was too spacious for her. She chose to sleep in a small second room because it felt cosy and secure. Lying in her bed on the first night in her new quarters, Gillian considered how the Captain and his officers had thought they were gently dragooning her. She knew the sudden visit to the Bridge, her promotion and her new accommodation was an attempt to lock her into her new role. But she didn't care whether she was manipulated or not. She had to be a Walker. Something was driving her to it.

Celia visited her and was impressed. "This is bigger than the cabin I'm in with my parents! But it's in a much nicer spot." Gazing through the windows out at the forest, she sat down, a little heavily, and grimaced with embarrassment. "I'm still not used to one-G!"

On the morning of the first Walk session after her incident, Gillian did not feel an icy pit in her stomach, and her hands were steady as she brushed her hair. Something within her had hardened, smothering her fears.

Since she was now just a few minutes from the Navigation centre, Gillian decided to collect her Walker skin suit so she could change in the privacy of her cabin, instead of the awkward struggle behind the medical curtain that Dr Morris had wheeled in for her. Her suit was a tight fit. It was time-consuming to slide on, and she felt silly and vulnerable as she wriggled into it. She wanted to avoid becoming flustered before a Walk.

Her two assigned marines followed her double trip to the Navigation Centre, back to the cabin with her fresh Walk suit and her return to the Centre without comment. As the little group marched down through the forest and across the meadows for the second time, with Gillian dressed in her figure-hugging suit, idling passengers snapped pictures of her.

Mr Dryen and Mr Rogers were waiting for her. McWhirter was also present. Gillian noticed how he gazed at her with open curiosity.

Mr Rogers welcomed her. "Good morning Gillian. How are you today?"

"Good!" Gillian replied.

Mr Dryen remarked, "If you want, Gillian, we can have a fresh Walker skin suit delivered to your cabin each morning."

"Oh!" Gillian was embarrassed. "Ok, thanks. I didn't want to make a fuss over it."

Mr Rogers added, "We've finished reinstalling and testing the previous version of the Walk software. It seems ok to us, but let us know if you spot something wrong."

Abel Yegg arrived in a wheelchair, assisted by Dr Morris, a few minutes later.

They reviewed the day's plan for a second time. Mr Rogers and his team had now completed sufficient mapping to make serious Walker navigation beyond the local bubble possible. In this new environment, Gillian was to conduct a simulated Walk of about ten light years, towards the bubble's closest boundary.

In the training session, Gillian would encounter macro-quantum structures, copied in from recordings of earlier walks, and added to the real cloud environment mapped by Mr Rogers and his team.

Gillian slipped off her shoes, stepped up on to the stage and slid the mask over her head. She held herself still for a couple of seconds, allowing her mind to become calm. She took in a breath, put her hands together briefly and let her breath out, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she was back in the dusty, dank place she had described as being like a musty old wardrobe.

This time, a green translucent arrow appeared in the lower part of her vision, with flickering galactic coordinate numbers that she found confusing. She turned until the arrow pointed straight ahead of her. The coordinate information figures spun in response.