Free Jupiter's Reef by Karl Kofoed Page A

Johnny.
    “Me too,” said Mary, glaring defiantly at Alex. “Suffer if you want to, dear, but as for me I’m going to enjoy this vacation.”
    “That’s the spirit,” said Professor Baltadonis.
    It was almost comical to watch the three of them struggle to their feet and through Diver ’s hatchway. When any of them bent in any way they nearly fell in that direction. They were met by three stewards pushing tall contraptions that resembled chairs made of a light latticework of metal. They were covered with a nearly invisible material that looked like blue smoke under the lights in the loading bay.
    Alex surveyed the area as an attendant helped him into the chair. Diver was already being examined by ground crews. Behind it, brightly lit in the afternoon sun, was a green mountain.
    The scenery captivated Alex for a moment because it was so very much unlike the waterless rusted landscapes they had just left. On the slopes of the mountain in the distance were dots of color Alex assumed to be homes. They appeared crowded by the vegetation around them. Alex wondered how the residents dealt with so much life around them.
    He squinted to see the details more clearly while the attendant grabbed his arm and pushed it into a harness. Alex’s arm was stopped by the smoky material an inch above the metal.
    “Plastic smoke,” said Alex. “Can’t get any lighter than that. We just started getting it on Io.”
    “Practically no mass at all to weigh you down,” said the blond haired attendant. He smiled cheerfully at Alex. His name tag said ‘ELVIS’. “Okay to strap you in?” he asked politely
    “Do your worst, Elvis,” said Alex, looking back at the distant mountain. He noticed that Mary was looking at it too.
    “There you are, my love. The mountains of Earth. Blue skies.”
    Mary was already secured in her ‘G-Scooter’, as the ground crew called it. They showed Mary how to drive it by flexing her feet against the ground plate. Then Elvis asked everyone to pay attention to a uniformed woman who had just joined them. Alex recognized her as the one who’d talked to them on the viewscreen after they landed. She asked if everyone was feeling okay and if anyone required special treatment. Alex couldn’t help wondering why they were getting preferential treatment. And, as always, he had no trouble asking.
    The woman turned to face him and then, recognizing Alex, she smiled. Before she answered, her eyes gave him a cursory once-over. “Each ship is assigned a ground steward. In your case it’s me. You may call me Peggy.”
    Peggy wasted no time demonstrating the mobile armrests that assisted in basic chores like lifting baggage or signing one’s name. The armatures were slender constructions that she said worked by sensing and assisting muscle movement. The rest of the device was a tripodal wheeled assembly that, like the arm rests, sensed leg movement. Peggy told everyone to relax and behave normally. “You’ll find these G-Scooters are very intuitive,” she said. “Take a step and you’re on your way.”
    Though awkward at first everyone soon mastered the G-Scooters with some help from the attendants and managed to pick up their bags.
    When she was finally standing before the opening doors of the main spaceport, Mary felt like a caged animal about to go on display. But Peggy seemed to sense this. She moved next to Mary and began talking to her quietly. Alex tried, but couldn’t make out what she said to Mary, but it seemed to relax her. Mary looked over at Alex and smiled.
    Peggy then turned to face the Professor and Alex and asked if they were comfortable with their G-Scooters.
    “I guess so,” said Johnny.
    “Amazing,” said Alex, moving his arms up and down. “My hat’s off to the engineers who made these things. I guess you rely on these a lot, huh?” Peggy smiled. but didn’t answer.
    Alex looked at his companions. “It would be nice if we didn’t look like our luggage.”
    Everyone laughed except