Deborah Hockney by Jocasta's Gift

seemed oblivious to the apparent whispering that was going on and replied in a loud voice that echoed down the corridor.
    ‘Sure do, I think I know just the place; it has an excellent cuisine and a view that will take your breath away.’ After this declaration, the small group made its way, snakelike, along the passageways, with Ed shouting instructions from the rear, to turn this way and that until they reached the restaurant on the outer rim of the hotel. Their numbers had increased to twenty or more, as whenever they passed another hungry cadet or two, Ed invited them to join their group, with tales of delicious food and inspiring remarks about the view of both the Earth and Moon. Jocasta couldn’t help but wonder if Ed was planning a career as a tour guide.
    They filled their rumbling stomachs with plenty of choices made from the buffet selection; there was something to suit all palettes, and everyone was mesmerised by the incredible sight of the two glowing orbs hanging low in the sky; their very own home planet and resident moon.

    *

    ‘First visit is it?’ a waiter asked them as they sat gazing out of the large, long windows. ‘It took me a while to tear my eyes away from that spectacle when I first started working here. Had a few tumbles over chairs and tables, I can tell you, when I wasn’t looking where I was going. And a few rows from Chef for my clumsiness,’ he added with an amused smile. ‘But you make the most of it while you can; you’re going to be busy little bees when you get to Mars, you mark my words,’ he called over his shoulder as he moved onto the next table.
    ‘It must be time to try to find our way back to sleeping quarters,’ somebody mumbled through a half stifled yawn. With a few nods of the head and slowly pushed back chairs the tired group made their way back to the hotel’s maze of corridors.
    After a several wrong turns and abrupt stops, as invisible barriers stopped them from entering the restricted zones, they managed to navigate a path back to their respective quarters.
    ‘It’s a shame we can’t stay here a bit longer to enjoy all the activities,’ Nikki said to Jocasta as they parted at the door to her room.
    ‘Too right,’ replied Jocasta. ‘And if that waiter’s right, we’re going to be too busy to enjoy ourselves at all.’
    ‘Oh, there’ll always be time to enjoy ourselves,’ replied Nikki, ‘we’ll just have to be inventive.’ She winked at Jocasta with a sly expression on her face and Jocasta wasn’t sure, but she thought that for just a moment Nikki’s eyes had the look of a fox about them.
    Things were certainly going to be interesting, she thought to herself as she snuggled down into her bed. Having new friends with special talents might take some getting used to…

Chapter Ten

    After manoeuvring away from the orbiting hotel it took just a few hours to travel to the space station, where they would make the final launch to Mars. A huge imposing bulk of grey metal, over 30 kilometres long and intersected by dozens of loading bays, it made the numerous spaceships waiting to dock seem like small insects in comparison.
    This time though they wouldn’t have any time to explore as they were due to take off again within the hour. As soon as they had they been scrutinised by the in-house robots they were accompanied by the space station security staff to the highly guarded launching pad. The security robots stood, sentry like, immobile. Only their eyes moved slowly backwards and forwards, scanning the cadets as they filed past, noting and monitoring every twitch and scratch as they passed along the line.
    Jocasta felt uncomfortable under their scrutiny and was relieved that their few training days had taken place on the space hotel rather than here on the space station. She imagined that their comparatively easy going existence there would have been in sharp contrast to the discipline that would have been expected of them on a military controlled