A Long Way to Home - Part 2

by Dennis D. Kirkpatrick

"Carolyn, come on. We’ll be late."

"All right!" Carolyn answered, yelling down the hallway. "I’m coming." Adjusting her blouse and picking her datapad off the dresser, Carolyn hurried out of the bedroom and made her way to the front door. "I’m ready."

Christine huffed, opening the door to head out. "We need to get there before Beatieux and Sax opens. The debut is only in an hour and a half."

"Well then, let’s go," Carolyn huffed back. Looking around, she added, "Where is everyone else?"

"Already in the car, slow poke."

Carolyn just sighed, locking the door behind her. The rest of the women were in the PUV parked at the curb. Carolyn waved to the family women as she opened the vehicle door to get in. A barrage of conversation greeted her. "Carolyn, where have you been…Come on, we need to go… Mother, step on it. We’ll be late." Carolyn climbed in, scrunching into the back seat with her other two sisters, Catherine and Colleen.

"Move over, Colleen," Catherine complained.

"I can’t," Colleen responded. "Damn compacts."

"Colleen, watch your tongue," her mother scolded as the PUV purred to life. "It’s only a ten minute drive."

"Yeah, well, you don’t have a fashion debut at Beatieux and Sax, do you?" Colleen rebuffed.

"Please, Colleen, you’ll be fine," Isabella comforted. "Everything will be fine."

Christine turned to respond from the front seat. "I’m excited. I’ve never been to a fashion debut before."

Colleen sighed. "I just wish dad could have come. It’s tough enough without your own husband here."

"Well, your father does too, dear," Isabella responded. "Unfortunately, he was called in on a panel meeting for an upcoming IGS project."

"Did your husband Evan send another message last night?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes, he did," Colleen replied. "He hopes to be able to return from Titan in a week or so."

"Was he on Stevenson Station?" Carolyn asked.

"No, he wasn’t there for IGS, rather a business field trip to the THC’s main factory over Titan. I guess they are in the market for contracting his company’s machined parts." Colleen looked at her watch, still nervous. "Can we step on it, Mom?"

"Honey, there isn’t much that we can do. We’ll get there soon enough."

The women went silent for a brief moment. Carolyn looked out the window at all the white building of the downtown. Even in the regulated light of the colony cylinder, one still needed dark glasses to shield out the brightness.

Christine then broke the silence. "By the way, what was Papa's meeting about, Mom."

"Yeah," Carolyn added in. "I thought that Dad was set to retire in a few months. Their not trying to recruit you two again are they?"

"Well, he is, and no," Isabella answered. "It’s mostly a formality. The project is on Mars, and your father is the most skilled planetary scientist on station at the moment."

"What’s going on with Mars?" Carolyn asked.

"What star system have you been in?" Christine jested. "The Kurzenheim Disaster? The recent war developments?"

"Oh," Carolyn responded. "Well, yeah, I remember now. That is an absolutely horrible situation." Carolyn lets the conversation continue, while she looks back out the car window. As the building continue to pass by, Carolyn is taken aback at all that has transpired during her absence. "Almost five years of traveling the lonely reaches of the outer system," Carolyn thought to herself. "I feel like I've been away for too long. Like I'm not really here." She sighs, silently letting the brilliance of the downtown mesmerize her.

"Well, we are almost there," Isabella interrupts, as the PUV moved onto Central Main Street. The interruption started Carolyn out of her daydream.

"Mom, pull up to the front first," Colleen instructed. "I’ll get out and see you inside."

The mother just smiled to herself, barely hiding her humored spirit. "No problem, dear."

The reception was one of the grandest that Carolyn remembers seeing. She had even bumped into a few movie stars. As it ended up, they were more interested in her than she in them. Just then her mother weaved through the crowd and walked up to Carolyn.

"So, how are you enjoying yourself, dear," Isabella inquired.

"Well, I found out that Vanguard Pictures has paid for the rights to the Mnemosyne’s story." Carolyn pointed over to the left at a gorgeous, blonde female just a few meters away. "Katherine Grace, there, approached me and gave me her card. I guess she’s playing me in the screenplay due out next fall. Pretty wild, huh?"

"Well, imagine that. My daughter the subject of movies."

Well, as I recall mother, you’ve been in a few yourself."

"Bah, those were science documentaries on soil erosion and the Io lava flows, Carolyn. They weren’t a mini-series."

"Still, I would rather that it be a documentary rather than a mini-series," Carolyn sighed. "Mini-series can be made so melodramatic."

"I’m sure your right." Leaning in to confer in Carolyn, Isabella continued, "Something tells me that she won’t be dying that blond hair to match yours."

Just then, Colleen approached, accompanied by an elegantly dressed woman. "Mother," Colleen intruded. "I want to introduce Madam Aria Beatieux, owner of Beatieux and Sax."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Ms. Beatieux greeted, holding her hand out to Isabella.

"Oh, yes, it is a pleasure, Ms. Beatieux," Isabella responded.

"Please, call me Aria." The Madam turned her attention toward Carolyn. "…And you must Carolyn."

"Yes," Carolyn answered.

"Well, it is good to make your acquaintance," Aria continued. "I have read so much about your mysterious return and release from quarantine on the news. How are you feeling?"

"I am fine, thank you. Though, I am sick of hospitals."

Clasping her hand to her chest, the madam concurred. "Oh, yes, hospitals, here, can be even more brilliant in their dullness than downtown Elysée. It must have been maddening to be locked up for all that time."

"Well, yes, I guess," Carolyn responded, a bit shy. Attempting to change the subject, Carolyn continued, "So, did you enjoy the show, Aria?"

Aria turned to look at Colleen, who immediately looked a bit nervous. "Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Isabella, your daughter has a brilliant eye for the human figure and cloth. I particularly enjoyed the purple-black evening gown with the sequents and wide brow hat,… absolutely exquisite. I have always thought the more classic looks are the best. There just is not much to all those fusionist styles, all the diagonals and fashion space helmets, please. …And then there is Pierre and his new cubist styles, oh,…the bad taste. We may live in space, but, for Pete’s sake, this is a colony cylinder, not a space capsule."

Colleen sighed as silently as she could, but the madam noticed her relief. "Oh, Colleen, you shouldn’t worry. The debut went very well, and you are young. You have a lot to give and learn." The madam winked. "The callouses come with time."

"I know, it’s… well," Colleen stuttered, stumbling for the words.

"You are glad for my approval, and you should be," Aria confirmed. "You are setting a fine career for yourself."

Distracted away, Aria looked past Carolyn and then waved. "Oh, I see an old friend that I have been looking for." She turned back to Colleen. "We will talk more after the reception?’

Colleen nodded. "Yes, we can discuss the plans then."

"Very well," Aria acknowledged. "Isabella, it has been a pleasure. Carolyn, I would like to invite you for lunch in a week or two."

"Uh, ok," Carolyn agreed, a bit dumbfounded.

"Wonderful, your sister has talked so much about you, so we must. I will have my secretary call you at your home." Aria smiled with a wave and proceeded into the reception crowd.

"Well," Isabella exclaimed, her eyes wide. "You are quite the celebrity, Carolyn. …Invited to lunch by Katherine Grace and Madam Beatieux in one afternoon." She smiled.

"Yeah,’ Carolyn acknowledged, sheepish. She looked down at her glass, catching herself nervously flexing her pinky finger. "I think I need another drink. Do you want one too, Mama?"

[End of Part Two]

Authors Note: This multi-part piece on Carolyn is intended as a prequel to her stationing on Stevenson Station described in Carolyn's bio, published in the V1R1 issue. You can also read the previous part, Part 1, or the next part, Part 3, of Carolyn's prequel story .

Modified February 7, 2001

Jovian Chronicles is © 2001, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. Jovian APAworks is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.