24-03-2003, 02:02 PM
Voila la suite. Comme le seul num?ro demand? a ?t? le 67, le voici. :!: :!: Attention c'est tr?s long :!: :!:
67.
For a moment I pictured myself walking back to my dull little life and turning my back on such a fascinating trip. I deliberately shut off the little voice in my head that said ?you might get injured? What if you run short of water or food? It is so much safer aboard the Lonely Sun??
I willed myself forward and joined a group of excited youngsters already planning the journey. The swift-lift opened its doors and we stepped inside. A young woman raised her voice:
?The nearest Explorations Office, please.? The swift-lift beeped its acknowledgement and sprang into motion. The young people chatted the five-minute lift away and tried to frighten each other with horror stories about what could happen to a small group of people far away from their ship. My resolve did not falter and I followed the directions of the swift-lift with a firm step. The lift stop was not very far from the Exploration Office and we joined a group of about forty people waiting outside.
The line moved forward with remarkable efficiency as each person was admitted inside the Office. I began to get anxious as I neared the door and twisted my light grey tunic between my fingers.
The door finally opened for me and I entered the room. Many desks had been lined up against a wall and two or three people were walking along them, answering questions at each desk. The clerk behind the first desk motioned for me to come closer. How old was I? Twenty-seven, I answered.
I was allowed to move to the next desk.
I had to answer several general questions about my profession and my athletic capabilities. Each answer I gave seemed satisfactory and I swiftly proceeded to the end of the line. After a few moments I was admitted in a smaller room.
?Please sit down,? called a middle-aged woman from behind her desk. ?Marona hopes our meeting will bring light.?
?Lian will make sure it does,? I replied, answering her formal introduction.
?I would like to know a little bit more about your motives. Why do you want to go down to this planet??
I could tell at once this was where most of the candidates were eliminated.
?Well, I?m a writer. And I realised earlier that I needed more personal experience to add a realistic touch to my stories. Sometimes I get carried out by my imagination and the result is pitiful. Or I find myself stuck because I just don?t know what happens next. A little adventure could do me good.?
?Hmm? I see? would you be willing to write an unofficial expedition log? Of course the members of the exploration team will keep logs but their reports are quite boring. A story by an outsider might prove interesting.?
?Of course! If that is all it takes to get down there, I will gladly do it! In fact a wanted to take notes for my personal use, I will just have to edit them before publishing.?
?All right then. We will keep in touch.?
?May your feet bear you along colourful paths, Marona.?
?And the stars shine in your eyes, Lian.?
Once outside the Office, I walked by the line of people waiting to get in, who gave me the curious looks of people wondering what the officers had asked me. The swift-lift brought me near my quarters and the walk in the familiar corridors helped settle my nerves. The doors to the common area of my quarters block opened.
?May the morning light shine upon your soul, Lian!? my neighbour Deena blurted out as soon as my foot touched the carpet.
?And your heart open to receive its blessing,? I replied automatically.
?So, did you? Did you??
?Did I what? ?
?Did you apply for the expedition??
?As a matter of fact I did.?
?I knew it! So, how did it go? Do you think you?ll be picked??
?I don?t know, Deena. They asked a lot of questions, then they said they would let me know.?
?I?m sure you will go. Oh boy! Try and bring back something for me, okay??
Deena?s enthusiasm made me smile.
?I?ll try, I promise.?
I entered my room and sat at the desk. I pulled the interface hood over my head. For a very short instant I felt a little disoriented, but the computer quickly adjusted to my brainwaves and a second reality added to the room. I focused my mind on it, trying to forget what was around me, and the hood directly sent information and images to my mind. That was a very simple task for me because every child living here was trained to use this device at the same time they learned to read. It took me but a few seconds to find the data available on the mission.
The planet was called Andromeda delta D317TR17. It was a rocky planet with a breathable atmosphere, though oxygen levels were a bit low. There were very large oceans, much larger than any water expanse I had ever seen. The temperature was quite hot, around 40?C on average, so the mission was to land not far from the pole, if the readings taken from orbit were satisfying. The presence of oxygen on such a planet tended to indicate complex chemical reactions and possibly life forms. Yet, no technology had been detected and no great forest had been observed. So the mission had to find out where oxygen came from. The astronomical characteristics of the planet were a lone star system, which is quite rare, a quite elliptic orbit with a 281.2 days period and a slightly pitched rotation axis that created a 20.3 hours daytime.
The expedition ship was the Solar Wind, a new exploration vessel that could reach 0.2, twice as fast as our current speed. In addition, the ship could spread a great sail to benefit from the solar wind near the stars. It was a one-year trip. It would take 4 months to get there, 4 months to study the planet and 4 months to get back to Lonely Sun.
I pulled my mind out of those images, back to reality, and took off the hood. Yet, the images of this strange new world were still in my mind. I could not help thinking of this adventure. It was so exciting! I just could not imagine not being chosen as an observer!
It was too late for me to attend my fencing class so I took a good old book of Kientol to pass the time. Not everyone enjoyed reading books because hoods provide more realistic sensations. Yet, since our biological and chemical technologies allowed us to produce large quantities of paper, everyone could have several books. As an intellectual and a writer, I owned around five hundred books, which was well beyond the average quantity among my people. I thought reading was a very good intellectual training, and a good way not to take the bad habit of letting the computer think in my place. Around 25 o?clock I felt hungry and joined my neighbours in the common area where people usually cooked, ate, played and chatted.
There were four rooms and one common room in each level 2 quarters block. My neighbours were my friend Deena, Starshido, a grumpy old man that came and told us to make less noise every time I had a party with my friends, and Mr and Mrs Sayan, an old couple whose children had moved to an other sector of the ship. Yet, Deena was not there, she was probably sleeping because our cycles were not synchronized. On the opposite side of the circular room Mr Sayan was playing spherical chess with Starshido, and was winning as he often did.
On this side of the circular room, against the wall, was the counter with the sonic dishwasher, the food distributor, the oven and the cooking books and tools. On the counter I found a piece of cake and a note that said ?For Lian. I spared a piece of your favourite cake. Our hero will need all his strength to explore new worlds. Deena.?
I took some bread and some vegetables, and knelt at the oval table in the middle of the room. The cake was really delicious and I enjoyed it, watching the complex moves of the holo-pieces of the game. Mr Sayan had a real advantage but still the game was not over. Should I go and talk to them or should I wait until the game was finished?
To talk to them now go to 21.
To wait until they have finished go to 25.
Gosh! :shock: this damned program destroyed all my 'mise en page' again.
J'ai rajout? plein de saut de ligne qui n'y sont pas normalement pour que ce soit moins dense
Si vous ?tes arriv? jusqu'ici en ayant tout compris alors vous ?tes bon en Anglais
. Bon, la suite est d?j? disponible, l'attente sera donc moins longue cette fois. :roll:
67.
For a moment I pictured myself walking back to my dull little life and turning my back on such a fascinating trip. I deliberately shut off the little voice in my head that said ?you might get injured? What if you run short of water or food? It is so much safer aboard the Lonely Sun??
I willed myself forward and joined a group of excited youngsters already planning the journey. The swift-lift opened its doors and we stepped inside. A young woman raised her voice:
?The nearest Explorations Office, please.? The swift-lift beeped its acknowledgement and sprang into motion. The young people chatted the five-minute lift away and tried to frighten each other with horror stories about what could happen to a small group of people far away from their ship. My resolve did not falter and I followed the directions of the swift-lift with a firm step. The lift stop was not very far from the Exploration Office and we joined a group of about forty people waiting outside.
The line moved forward with remarkable efficiency as each person was admitted inside the Office. I began to get anxious as I neared the door and twisted my light grey tunic between my fingers.
The door finally opened for me and I entered the room. Many desks had been lined up against a wall and two or three people were walking along them, answering questions at each desk. The clerk behind the first desk motioned for me to come closer. How old was I? Twenty-seven, I answered.
I was allowed to move to the next desk.
I had to answer several general questions about my profession and my athletic capabilities. Each answer I gave seemed satisfactory and I swiftly proceeded to the end of the line. After a few moments I was admitted in a smaller room.
?Please sit down,? called a middle-aged woman from behind her desk. ?Marona hopes our meeting will bring light.?
?Lian will make sure it does,? I replied, answering her formal introduction.
?I would like to know a little bit more about your motives. Why do you want to go down to this planet??
I could tell at once this was where most of the candidates were eliminated.
?Well, I?m a writer. And I realised earlier that I needed more personal experience to add a realistic touch to my stories. Sometimes I get carried out by my imagination and the result is pitiful. Or I find myself stuck because I just don?t know what happens next. A little adventure could do me good.?
?Hmm? I see? would you be willing to write an unofficial expedition log? Of course the members of the exploration team will keep logs but their reports are quite boring. A story by an outsider might prove interesting.?
?Of course! If that is all it takes to get down there, I will gladly do it! In fact a wanted to take notes for my personal use, I will just have to edit them before publishing.?
?All right then. We will keep in touch.?
?May your feet bear you along colourful paths, Marona.?
?And the stars shine in your eyes, Lian.?
Once outside the Office, I walked by the line of people waiting to get in, who gave me the curious looks of people wondering what the officers had asked me. The swift-lift brought me near my quarters and the walk in the familiar corridors helped settle my nerves. The doors to the common area of my quarters block opened.
?May the morning light shine upon your soul, Lian!? my neighbour Deena blurted out as soon as my foot touched the carpet.
?And your heart open to receive its blessing,? I replied automatically.
?So, did you? Did you??
?Did I what? ?
?Did you apply for the expedition??
?As a matter of fact I did.?
?I knew it! So, how did it go? Do you think you?ll be picked??
?I don?t know, Deena. They asked a lot of questions, then they said they would let me know.?
?I?m sure you will go. Oh boy! Try and bring back something for me, okay??
Deena?s enthusiasm made me smile.
?I?ll try, I promise.?
I entered my room and sat at the desk. I pulled the interface hood over my head. For a very short instant I felt a little disoriented, but the computer quickly adjusted to my brainwaves and a second reality added to the room. I focused my mind on it, trying to forget what was around me, and the hood directly sent information and images to my mind. That was a very simple task for me because every child living here was trained to use this device at the same time they learned to read. It took me but a few seconds to find the data available on the mission.
The planet was called Andromeda delta D317TR17. It was a rocky planet with a breathable atmosphere, though oxygen levels were a bit low. There were very large oceans, much larger than any water expanse I had ever seen. The temperature was quite hot, around 40?C on average, so the mission was to land not far from the pole, if the readings taken from orbit were satisfying. The presence of oxygen on such a planet tended to indicate complex chemical reactions and possibly life forms. Yet, no technology had been detected and no great forest had been observed. So the mission had to find out where oxygen came from. The astronomical characteristics of the planet were a lone star system, which is quite rare, a quite elliptic orbit with a 281.2 days period and a slightly pitched rotation axis that created a 20.3 hours daytime.
The expedition ship was the Solar Wind, a new exploration vessel that could reach 0.2, twice as fast as our current speed. In addition, the ship could spread a great sail to benefit from the solar wind near the stars. It was a one-year trip. It would take 4 months to get there, 4 months to study the planet and 4 months to get back to Lonely Sun.
I pulled my mind out of those images, back to reality, and took off the hood. Yet, the images of this strange new world were still in my mind. I could not help thinking of this adventure. It was so exciting! I just could not imagine not being chosen as an observer!
It was too late for me to attend my fencing class so I took a good old book of Kientol to pass the time. Not everyone enjoyed reading books because hoods provide more realistic sensations. Yet, since our biological and chemical technologies allowed us to produce large quantities of paper, everyone could have several books. As an intellectual and a writer, I owned around five hundred books, which was well beyond the average quantity among my people. I thought reading was a very good intellectual training, and a good way not to take the bad habit of letting the computer think in my place. Around 25 o?clock I felt hungry and joined my neighbours in the common area where people usually cooked, ate, played and chatted.
There were four rooms and one common room in each level 2 quarters block. My neighbours were my friend Deena, Starshido, a grumpy old man that came and told us to make less noise every time I had a party with my friends, and Mr and Mrs Sayan, an old couple whose children had moved to an other sector of the ship. Yet, Deena was not there, she was probably sleeping because our cycles were not synchronized. On the opposite side of the circular room Mr Sayan was playing spherical chess with Starshido, and was winning as he often did.
On this side of the circular room, against the wall, was the counter with the sonic dishwasher, the food distributor, the oven and the cooking books and tools. On the counter I found a piece of cake and a note that said ?For Lian. I spared a piece of your favourite cake. Our hero will need all his strength to explore new worlds. Deena.?
I took some bread and some vegetables, and knelt at the oval table in the middle of the room. The cake was really delicious and I enjoyed it, watching the complex moves of the holo-pieces of the game. Mr Sayan had a real advantage but still the game was not over. Should I go and talk to them or should I wait until the game was finished?
To talk to them now go to 21.
To wait until they have finished go to 25.
Gosh! :shock: this damned program destroyed all my 'mise en page' again.
J'ai rajout? plein de saut de ligne qui n'y sont pas normalement pour que ce soit moins denseSi vous ?tes arriv? jusqu'ici en ayant tout compris alors vous ?tes bon en Anglais
. Bon, la suite est d?j? disponible, l'attente sera donc moins longue cette fois. :roll: