A flight to the moon now was as boring as a flight across country from New York to Los Angeles, unless it was someone's first space flight then there might have been a bit of excitement. To go on to Mars became as dull as having a layover in L.A. and traveling on to Japan or Australia. There was nothing to see except the blackened void of space, nor was there any sense of speed as there was on a jet airliner. Perhaps the only advantage was that space flights were not full because they were so expensive few could afford it. Therefore, only the wealthy were able to visit the resorts on the lunar surface or the red planet.
A return to the moon had occurred in the mid-2020s, and a permanent settlement was in place a decade or so later. The settlement grew with multiple nations establishing a presence. As faster space engines were developed reducing travel time from days to hours, larger nations even developed resort-type accommodations for their well-to-do citizens who could afford an "expensive vacation" as a means of financially supporting their lunar facilities. The moon then evolved into a base for the development of missions to Mars. Those came in the late 2030s, and by 2050, there was a small base on the red planet. Twenty-sixty-five saw a permanent settlement, and like the moon, in the next twenty years, those with means could visit there.
Faster space travel also had new companies forming on Earth that were joint ventures between airline companies and aerospace technologies corporations constructing "spaceliners" that could transport passengers to the moon and onto Mars. Though these spaceships could only accommodate twenty passengers, they rarely held more than a quarter of that. It made being a pilot on a spaceliner a pretty easy job particularly since all systems were automated. Paul Ward had only piloted manually once, and then just to see what it was like, after which he was reprimanded for doing it. The job paid extremely well, and because it was so automated, there wasn't even a co-pilot or flight attendant. Paul was responsible for everything. Fortunately, neither he nor any of the other pilots or ships had ever had a problem that the single pilot could not manage.
Today's flight had only two passengers, a journalist, and her boyfriend. Apparently, she was doing a story on the Moon and Mars resorts. As they stepped aboard, her boyfriend cleverly quipped, "Fly me to the moon."
Paul politely chuckled even though he'd heard that comment many times.
Once they cleared Earth's atmosphere, Paul figured it was time to play flight attendant. As he unbuckled his seat belt, the woman came floating into the cockpit. Technically, passengers were not supposed to come on the flight deck, but the reporter was really hot in her tight flight-like suit.
"Excuse me," she said.
"Yes, ma'am. Can I help you?"
"You can start by not ma'am-ing me."
They both chuckled.
"What can I do for you?" Paul asked.
"Just looking for space."
Another not so original remark. "Just look out of the window."
She smiled. "I wanted to see what the view was like from here. It's kind of boring back there," she said, gesturing with her thumb. "My boyfriend dozed off."
"You're not supposed to be up here." Paul grinned. "But the company would be nice." Particularly company that looks like you, he thought, now noticing that her suit was unzipped halfway between her breasts revealing a nice cleavage.
With an engaging smile, she asked, "So, can I stay?"
Paul gestured to the co-pilot's seat, which was there primarily for VIPs.
She took the seat.
"Please buckle up," Paul said.
So, she did. "I'm Cassie Nolan."
"Yeah, I've seen you on TV. Paul Ward. Pilot and chief flight attendant."
"Why
isn't
there a flight attendant, or co-pilot, for that matter?"
With a chuckle, Paul explained. "The ship is completely automated, so I have double duty as flight attendant. They considered including a dog as a co-pilot, but so far they have not."
"A
dog?"
Carrie questioned, wondering if he was serious.
"Why?"
"To make sure I don't touch anything."
She giggled. "Then why are you here?"
"I ask myself that all the time. But the answer is to make sure a
passenger
doesn't touch anything." Then it occurred to him to add, "That's strictly off the record."
Cassie waived her hand. "I'm not on duty. At least not until we get to Mars."
"And what will you do there?"
"Fluff piece on Mars resorts. Mostly the American resort. Something to stir up interest for people to visit the planet. Apparently, revenues aren't what was expected."
"That's a little beneath you, isn't it?"
With a shrug, Cassie said, "Yes. But I have name recognition and credibility, so they wanted me to do the piece. Besides, it's also a free trip to Mars."
"And for your boyfriend."
Paul caught her grimace.
"When he heard the network offered for him to come along as enticement for me to take the assignment, I had no choice but to let him come. I don't usually like to mix business with personal. People tend not to be as talkative with someone like him around."
"I get it."
"So, can you tell me why someone with loads of money would want to come to Mars for vacation?"
"Because they can," Paul answered with a grin. "If you've been to all the hot spots on Earth that all your other rich friends have also been to, you've got nothing to brag about."
Cassie chuckled. "I hadn't considered that aspect. Is there really anything to do there?"
Paul shrugged. "Inside the compound, the guest accommodations are luxurious. The food is surprisingly good. It's an exercise in living in a controlled environment. It can be freaky knowing you're breathing re-circulated air. You might be happy to have your boyfriend with you to, you know... occupy yourself at night."
She shot him a look. "Occupying myself how?"
"Oh, you know. The way men and women occupy themselves at night, uh... in bed."
"Ah. Is there anything special about doing it on Mars?"
"To be able to say you did it on Mars. Like the mile-high club."
She nodded her understanding. "Is there a club name for doing it on a spaceship?"
"Not that I've heard. Maybe you can come up with one."
"Have you ever done it in space?"
"That's against the rules."
Paul could feel her eyes boring on him.
"That doesn't answer the question."
"No, I guess it doesn't."
"So, what else is there to do on Mars?"
"During the day, they'll take you in a rover to see the landscape. It's amazing when you consider you're on Mars, but it looks a lot like many places on Earth except the sunlight is not as bright."
"Why is that?"
"Mars is further away from the sun than Earth."
Cassie nodded her understanding. "How long do people stay?"
"A few days. As long as there is an availability, and you can pay, you can stay as long as you want. But after two or three days, you'll be ready to leave."
"When is your flight back?"
"There's no one there now waiting to come back, so I'm there either until you're ready to leave or I'm needed elsewhere. Because of the expense of operating this ship the company doesn't fly it unless there are passengers."
"Must be tedious for you."
"I find things to do."
"Or someone to do it with?"
"That's also against the rules."
"Your company has a lot of rules." Cassie leaned over and whispered, "Do you follow all of them?"
There was a seductive tone to her voice. It was likely that if she were alone, she could be had. But he didn't want this to get out of hand. "You'll need to return to your seat and buckle up. We're about to land on the moon."
Cassie unbuckled her seatbelt and stood, holding onto the seat in zero-gravity. "How long is our layover?"
