Is it still home?
07 Jul 2020Korzhakov
"Archangel control, this is Hadley's Hope on approach, requesting a landing pad" I announce as I exit super cruise near my carrier. "Hadley's Hope, cleared to land on pad 7, welcome back boss, you going to offload and head back out again?" Yumi says over the comms. "No, were done here, inform the deck officer to prepare the carrier for a jump to Diaguandri as soon as I land""Bridge has received your order and will commence countdown once you are in your hangar" control calls back to me. "Archangel control, Hadley's Hope is on the deck, take me down" I reply.
I exit my vette and head to the bridge for the jump. I speak with the watch officer and make sure we are set for the jump. Then as I have learned how to do so well, I sit in my chair and stay out of their hair as they do what I am paying them to do. As I sit and watch the action on the bridge, one of the junior officers brings me a pour of single malt scotch, I nose it thoughtfully and think to myself that Bailey is getting to know me a bit well, she knows I like the peaty single malts, and this one is really good.
The jump sequence starts, the cloud, the lightning, it's still exciting every time I see it, and then a few seconds later we emerge in Diaguandri. Home again for a little bit. I head off to my quarters and grab Jean to let her know were back home and that we can head to our place at Ray Gateway when she is ready.
A half hour later, she arrives at the hangar with my cat Bella in tow. We board the "Warlock" my tricked out Mamba and we head off to the station. The short ride is somewhat quite and we dock at the station on pad 3. We head up to our place and walk through the door, but something is different. We own this place, we have made it our own in every way we can. My best friend lives in the apartment next door, we have friends and our favorite places here. But now it feels different, like were just visiting, despite having the only home we have shared here on Ray Gateway. We get changed out of our RemLok's and head over to our favorite pub for beer and nachos, and while we sit where we have many times, I relay to my fiance that this just doesn't feel like home anymore. Our carrier, Archangel, now feels like home. There is no denying it, the carrier crew is becoming more like family all the time, the places on board feel more like home than home does. I guess it's just a sense of belonging. But the carrier is now our home and probably will be for a very long time.
I plan on keeping the place at Ray Gateway, but now it feels more like a vacation home that our full time residence. Jean isn't quite there yet, she just arrived on the carrier a few days ago so doesn't have the same sense of family that I do with some of the crew. I know she will as time goes on and since she can work from anywhere, she can stay on the carrier until she needs to go to Mars to work on final pre production items for DeLacy.
We finish our dinner and stroll along the plaza like so many times before. It is nice to be back here, but my sense of purpose lies in orbit near the main star in the system. I knew when I purchased the carrier that it would change my life, but I guess I didn't think that it would be as profound as it has become. I can only hope the bonds grow stronger with my crew and the massive capital ship that I now consider my home.
I tell Jean that I want to do some shopping tomorrow for some more furniture and decorations for our quarters on the carrier. She likes that idea as she loves to shop. I also order a case of Lavian Brandy for the Captain of the Archangel, as I am getting to know her as well. She is doing a great job and is worth the rather large paycheck she gets.
Jean acknowledges my feelings for the carrier and admits she is starting to have feelings along the same lines after just a few days. I can only hope she takes fully to it, but only time will tell.