Like a gentle breeze descending upon the land, Mark saw the happiness set into her eyes. The moroseness of the previous five minutes had disappeared and her expression reflected her new found sense of relief.
She knew, at last, that it was not to be. She would have to go without him, and that feeling of happiness had come from knowing that he would actually be happier staying behind.
Mark turned away. He wanted to tell her how much he would miss her, but he knew that this would not deter her departure.
Mark turned back to ALICE's sensor interface. He had been her chief programmer, and in many aspects, he felt like her father. She had been designed as the first people carrier, a Boeing 747 of the space age, to move Earth's retirees to EON, mankind's first retirement satellite set beyond the reaches of our native star, Sol.
ALICE would be lifting off soon, followed by BETTY a week later. They were programmed to leave the atmosphere at the point when the Earth's gravitational field would spin them into orbit around the moon - a quick checkpoint before they departed for the EON sphere, on the outskirts of the Solar System.
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I was bored and upon second reading, that is very painful stuff. Just ignore this post.
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1 comment:
If I may say so, I thought it was a rather commendable effort. :)
Does ALICE and BETTY stand for anything? I presumed that you were imitating the style of Arthur C. Clarke's HAL. :)
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