moving, although the movement was invisible to the naked eye. Apparently when stretched, each stratum of the material was not much thicker than aluminum foil.
Joel pushed against the wall, but it seemed firm. Miss Li smiled, “It’s very thin, but it is not aluminum foil. It’s stronger than titanium,” then she snorted and laughed as Joel gave the wall a firmer shove.
To get the basics of converting the room back to a seat, was pretty simple. It was really, just the press of a button. But it was also important to understand the compression elements. If you left a shoe in the wrong spot, it might be a crushed bit of leather when you switched back to a room, and obviously you wouldn’t be able to find it if you left it in the wrong place. “Good way to get kids to pick up their room” Cynthia volunteered.
“Yeah, my mom would love this,” Ryder admitted.
There were numerous other features, but Ryder really wasn’t interested in reading a manual. Besides, he had little miss know-it-all around to eliminate hours of tedious reading.
“Ryder did you see how this works?” It’s like a computer screen without a keyboard. Push the screen here and a virtual keyboard appears. See the menu button? That’s a real menu. You can get snacks and anything on it that you want.” Debbie went on and on.
“What about a cheese enchilada?” Ryder asked.
Debbie typed and searched, but couldn’t locate a cheese enchilada. She seemed to get more and more frustrated, pushing keys and conducting searches so fast that Ryder started to get dizzy. Finally, Ryder admitted, “I already asked Mr. Small. We’re limited to the menu items programmed in. The system doesn’t know how to make a cheese enchilada.”
Debbie glared at Ryder, then grabbed the nearest throwable object, which fortunately turned out to be Ryder’s pillow.
Five days passed quickly. On day three the Pegasus started slowing, rather than accelerating. Unfortunately for Randy and Athena, they were not in their chairs at the time, and wound up entangled on the floor, with Athena on top, as they shifted from the momentum. “This stupid plane,” Athena grumbled.
Randy said, “yah, stupid plane,” but he was smiling as he stood up.
“We need to get home!” Athena groused for the thirty or fortieth time.
Getting home had been a common conspiratorial topic when Mr. Small and Miss Li were not present. Randy had suggested commandeering the ship. Athena had suggested simply refusing to do or eat anything until Mr. Small and Miss Li agreed to take them home. Ryder had listened but countered, their arguments by simply asking, “And then what?” For himself, he wasn’t really sure what to do yet.
Debbie had wangled her way onto the bridge with the flight crew, who had remained noticeably absent throughout the flight. She and, surprisingly, Rebecca had shown a keen interest in the flight crew, and had both spent hour after hour with them. Ryder now heard Debbie’s voice over the intercom. “Everybody, it’s time to buckle up. We’re going to change speeds several times over the next few minutes as we prepare to land.”
The good news was that with Debbie gone, Ryder had a chance to talk with Cynthia more and more. He pondered Cynthia’s response, when he had asked her about their adventure. “So, what do you think?”
“I’m excited. I think this is going to be even more interesting than a year in Europe. I want to investigate their medical advances. I’ve always planned to go to medical school. Imagine what this could mean if they’re as advanced as Miss Li says they are.”
Ryder had thought about that several times since. Cynthia’s excitement about going to Demeter reduced his own anxiety. A year with Cynthia anywhere sounded appealing wherever they were. But Cynthia knew exactly what she wanted, and what she hoped to get out of the experience. Even Debbie seemed to know what she wanted, even if it did change every ten minutes. But what did he
Joel pushed against the wall, but it seemed firm. Miss Li smiled, “It’s very thin, but it is not aluminum foil. It’s stronger than titanium,” then she snorted and laughed as Joel gave the wall a firmer shove.
To get the basics of converting the room back to a seat, was pretty simple. It was really, just the press of a button. But it was also important to understand the compression elements. If you left a shoe in the wrong spot, it might be a crushed bit of leather when you switched back to a room, and obviously you wouldn’t be able to find it if you left it in the wrong place. “Good way to get kids to pick up their room” Cynthia volunteered.
“Yeah, my mom would love this,” Ryder admitted.
There were numerous other features, but Ryder really wasn’t interested in reading a manual. Besides, he had little miss know-it-all around to eliminate hours of tedious reading.
“Ryder did you see how this works?” It’s like a computer screen without a keyboard. Push the screen here and a virtual keyboard appears. See the menu button? That’s a real menu. You can get snacks and anything on it that you want.” Debbie went on and on.
“What about a cheese enchilada?” Ryder asked.
Debbie typed and searched, but couldn’t locate a cheese enchilada. She seemed to get more and more frustrated, pushing keys and conducting searches so fast that Ryder started to get dizzy. Finally, Ryder admitted, “I already asked Mr. Small. We’re limited to the menu items programmed in. The system doesn’t know how to make a cheese enchilada.”
Debbie glared at Ryder, then grabbed the nearest throwable object, which fortunately turned out to be Ryder’s pillow.
Five days passed quickly. On day three the Pegasus started slowing, rather than accelerating. Unfortunately for Randy and Athena, they were not in their chairs at the time, and wound up entangled on the floor, with Athena on top, as they shifted from the momentum. “This stupid plane,” Athena grumbled.
Randy said, “yah, stupid plane,” but he was smiling as he stood up.
“We need to get home!” Athena groused for the thirty or fortieth time.
Getting home had been a common conspiratorial topic when Mr. Small and Miss Li were not present. Randy had suggested commandeering the ship. Athena had suggested simply refusing to do or eat anything until Mr. Small and Miss Li agreed to take them home. Ryder had listened but countered, their arguments by simply asking, “And then what?” For himself, he wasn’t really sure what to do yet.
Debbie had wangled her way onto the bridge with the flight crew, who had remained noticeably absent throughout the flight. She and, surprisingly, Rebecca had shown a keen interest in the flight crew, and had both spent hour after hour with them. Ryder now heard Debbie’s voice over the intercom. “Everybody, it’s time to buckle up. We’re going to change speeds several times over the next few minutes as we prepare to land.”
The good news was that with Debbie gone, Ryder had a chance to talk with Cynthia more and more. He pondered Cynthia’s response, when he had asked her about their adventure. “So, what do you think?”
“I’m excited. I think this is going to be even more interesting than a year in Europe. I want to investigate their medical advances. I’ve always planned to go to medical school. Imagine what this could mean if they’re as advanced as Miss Li says they are.”
Ryder had thought about that several times since. Cynthia’s excitement about going to Demeter reduced his own anxiety. A year with Cynthia anywhere sounded appealing wherever they were. But Cynthia knew exactly what she wanted, and what she hoped to get out of the experience. Even Debbie seemed to know what she wanted, even if it did change every ten minutes. But what did he
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