They talk a lot about the blackness of outer space. Yet, you only realize how black it is, when you open your eyes during a dark Earth night. What you notice is that the absence of light appears as a dark gray with a lot of colorful squiggles running across your vision. You open and close your eyes. And, you can't tell the difference. So, like with your eyes closed, the lack of optic nerve stimulation lets you see black. The lack of light stimulation lets your mind paint colorful shapes and dots on your vision. Only, when you consciously realize that darkness appears not as black to us, do you realize how marvelous it is to look out of a spaceship into the true and unadulterated black. You see black for the very first time.
Outside the window was the bright white space station approaching. The sunlight and radiation were unfiltered by Earth's atmosphere out here. The toned windows protected from hazardous UV radiation. Still the space station was sparklingly white and well defined. It was a cube, which had been tossed up into the air to hover around Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Its edges were unaligned to anything like the movie of a dice freeze framed, as the dice flew across the gambling table. There were two round docking mounds for space ships to attach.
There were two docking mounds, because the space station was a transfer station. Passengers would arrive by conventional space ship. They would be screened for travel to Titan. Then, they would transfer to an inversely propelled space ship. The atmosphere of Titan is filled with Methane. In order to ignite the Methane, one has to carry oxygen as fuel. On earth, we are trained to think of gasoline and the like as fuel, because oxygen is plentiful around. On Titan, methane is plentiful around. Oxygen is the rare partner for the chemical explosion that propels. Thus, a specially designed spaceship with oxygen as fuel has to descend through Titan's atmosphere to the base station.
Riley was the sole passenger on the small shuttle looking out of the window. Her blonde hair with a dash of dirt color was floating in the air. Without gravity, the hair had unfolded into a large bush. The air softly curled her straight hair. Movements rippled through her hair as coral plants wave under water with the current. In her youthful excitement about her first space travel, she had forgotten to consider her dress. She was wearing a white knee long skirt with soft round folds like a tennis player. She had pulled all the excess fabric of the skirt into one spot, wrapped it around the right thigh, and stuffed in between her legs. That way, she could squeeze her knees together and pin the extra fabric in place. Otherwise, the skirt would float open flashing the tall, trim black pilot, who fumbled over the controls for final approach.
Riley's mind was beautifully empty. She had graduated from high school a day earlier. So, all the thoughts about homework, tests, and academic subjects were tossed from her mind like a wilted bouquet of flowers that no longer served its purpose. Freeing her mind of friends and places that she left behind, she as able to be in the moment. She took in the sights of the space shuttle, space, and space station.
Most of all, her sensual awareness was particularly acute of the clothes that she was wearing. The white skirt was of soft combed cotton like quality. The skirt was brand new and had the sensation of crispness. The panties under the dress had bright pink rubber keeping it in place. The rubber ends around her thighs and the one around her belly made her conscious of her pelvis, butt, and toto. Even with her eyes fastened on the approaching space station, she vividly remembered the tiny pink bows fastened to her panties. The backside of her panties ran narrowly covering only a little wider than her ass crack. She was acutely aware of her ass in those new panties, as she had tossed out the old, worn, and comfortable ones to start her new life.
Her top was covered by a dark green t-shirt that said: "I am kind of a big deal." The bottom of the t-shirt kept creeping up on her belly. Her white belly was a mix of baby fat and Pilates workouts. The pilot had been careful to sneak an eye on it every once in a while. He had caught a glimpse as high as her naval button. Glittery jewelry that looked a tiara was hanging from it. Every time, she caught herself showing a slit of her belly, she'd quickly pull the t-shirt down and into her skirt. She'd check the face of the pilot looking away into space, always suspecting that he had glimpsed her a second earlier.
The bra under her shirt was like her panties rimmed by a pink line. The white fabric was dotted with small printed birds. Their color was alternating between light and dark pink. The bra pressed her breast into two bouncy round shapes.
Her look was finished by the black high heels with thin straps that ran across her naked foot. Her juice toes rested at the front of the shoes. The soles were a couple inches above the ground as gravity didn't press them down. The insides arches of her feet curved up wonderfully from the sole. Otherwise, the shoes stuck slightly to her feet, because the soles were smooth and her foot a bit moist. The high heels seemed utterly unpractical in the weightless environment.
She looked forward to meeting her parents at the research station. As little as the pay of academic workers was, they were unable to pay for her college. As spit poor as she was, she could not afford her own house and had to move in with her parents. The jobs on the research station were very limited. She was glad to be accepted as a lab assistant. Being a lab assistant would mean that she would carry out all the experiments that the scientists were too afraid to carry out themselves. Biological contamination was the main concern. So, she was at the bottom rung of jobs that considered the worker disposable. Still, having her first job out of college was exciting.
"Come dung, Miss. We buck up da space station," said the pilot with Jamaican accent. The spaceship vibrated as the safety screws drilled itself into the space station port. Riley's hair had tiny ripples running through her hair until the vibrations stopped. The pilot climbed out of his forward facing seat. He paused for a second. He got a good look of Riley's appearance. She looked had the pep of a cheerleader that had gone lazy on the coach for a couple months. Then, he unlocked the storage bin and handed the luggage to her. The luggage was a carry on trolley with Hello Kitty printed on it. The wheels were useful on earth. Here the carry on floated in the air on its own.
"Star, I do not have permission to board the space station. Only employees of the Umbrella Corporation are allowed to enter. You best put the luggage in front of you, misses, and hold onto it well," said the pilot. He reached with one hand each onto a metal grip in the floor. With a turn, he pulled a round metal plate out that was the size of a large manhole. Beyond the manhole was a large empty metal hold. The space stations sole purpose was to process traffic going in and out of Titan. As such, it had only minimal furnishings. Large windows provided an impressive experience of being out in space. The sign of the Umbrella Corporation was painted largely onto the walls.
Riley unclipped the seat belt that had kept her firmly in her seat. It was the last time that she would feel true leather. The research station on Titan conducted biological DNA experiments. Introducing any organic substances as innocuous as a leather arm band could pose a big risk. If the DNA of the dead cow or pig would get airborne, it could mix with experimental viral DNA to create dangerous unknown experiment outcomes. She touched the white painted leather seat one last time with her hand as she gently pushed herself off to float towards the luggage and the pilot.
The pilot held her shoulder to steady her. She held the top strap of her carry on. She crunched her abdominals to make a quarter turn down towards the manhole opening. Yet, without gravity as a partner, her legs moved up instead of her torso down. She waved with her free hand, as if she were gripping into thin air. Only her hand moved through the air. The pilot's dark hands grabbed her white wrist respectfully and placed it on the edge of the manhole opening. "Cool runnings," said the pilot with a big grin of his white teeth.
With her luggage in front of her face, she pulled herself towards the manhole. Her body didn't turn straight like the drag of water would have done underwater. So, her torso went through the manhole, yet her legs bumped against the wall. The bump had her impulsively react. She forgot for a moment to keep her knees clutched together. The skirt immediately floated out to put itself into the most comfortable position for the fabric. The fabric spread out like a wide lamp shade.
