"Well, if the preparations are complete, we can discuss the rest on our way." said Nuan Qing. "We wouldn't want to keep our Alliance friends waiting."
I couldn't agree more. I was eager to stop this unpleasant conversation. It was getting worse with every word I was hearing about my job.
Nuan Qing and the accompanying embassy staff boarded the ship. I checked the surrounding area for one last time, and boarded the ship as well. The passenger hatch closed and locked automatically.
I had a look around inside the passenger ship. The ship was way more luxurious than I was expecting. It's interior had a gold-white color theme, and the walls were decorated with different motifs. At the corners and wall intersections, there were golden roses hidden alongside those motifs.
The passenger cabins were few of the most comfortable among all the ships in service throughout the Sol system. If I had enough resources available, I could live in one of these ships and never ask for a return to planet surface.
Overall, the only downside of this ship was the lack of a rotating habitat section that could make use of the Coriolis effect to create artificial gravity. So, in order to simulate gravity, the passenger sections were equipped with very expensive and power-hungry electromagnetic systems. Unfortunately, this required the passengers to wear special accessories during flight; and even then, it wasn't nearly as good as a "rotating ring habitat" in means of simulating gravity.
Throwing these thoughts aside, I was walking by passenger cabins; admiring the comfort of the vessel...
"Ladies and gentleman, this is your first pilot speaking. We have three minutes to lift-off. Please sit upright in the manuseats, fasten your seatbelts and follow security protocols at all times."
'Manuseats' was short for 'manuevering seats'. Those seats were found in every cabin, and were designed to keep the passengers safe during launch, landing and other high-acceleration manuevers. For the rest of the flight, everyone was free to roam around. The seats were connected to a special warning system in the cockpit. This way, the pilot (or the autopilot) wouldn't start a manuever before all passengers were in a safe position.
Speaking of which... I had to get to my cabin as well. There was a problem, though... I didn't know where my cabin was!
I started walking around randomly in the corridor. Suddenly, one of the doors behind me opened. I turned around. Nuan Qing was peeking from behind the door.
"Commander, is there something wrong? We will lift-off, what are you waiting for?" she asked.
"Oh... I..." I certainly didn't want to say that I was lost. "I was doing a final check before we left the planet surface."
"Oh, you guys are REALLY paranoid, aren't you." she said. "The previous guard I worked with was just like you, Commander."
"Is that so..." I tried to laugh, but failed. Miserably. It was awkward... Until she started laughing.
"Just come on, Commander. We need to get underway!" she gestured me to come closer as she said that. At first, I thought I misunderstood her.
"Okay, I-I-I will... get to my cabin now..." I was about to turn around.
"Your cabin?" she said with a questioning tone. "I thought you were staying with me."
It was that moment that I wished to be turned into a literal stone. What was that about? Why was I going to stay in the same cabin with the envoy?
"O-oh..." I said. Her only response was tilting her head. I hesitantly walked through the door, as she was holding it open for me.
"Welcome home, Commander." she said and closed the door.
Inside the cabin, there was everything one could ask for. Beds, computers, a working desk, shelves, a zero-g bath, a small food (snack(?)) storage, observation window and external camera monitors to look around the ship... This single ship cabin itself was probably more expensive than most houses on Mars.
I didn't roam around for too long. Both Nuan Qing and I sat down on manuseats and fastened our belts.
"Lifting off in about 15 seconds."
After a while, I started hearing the sounds of the ship's thrusters. I could feel some force pushing me down to my chair, then to the back of my chair. We were off of the planet's surface, and were now travelling to a parking orbit, only a few hundred kilometers above Martian atmosphere.
"One thousand fifty three kilonewtons of thrust from engine number three, our current speed is 457 m/s. Acceleration: 24 meters per square second."
The pilot kept reading those seemingly random numbers to us all the way to orbit.
"Ladies and gentleman, we are now in parking orbit. The transplanetary injection manuever will start in 11 minutes, so I advise you to stay in your seats unless there is an emergency."
"God..." I heard Nuan Qing's voice. She was sitting on the manuseat on my left. I turned my head to look at her. "I wish I could fast forward time." she said.
"Not a big fan of spaceflight?" I asked.
"It makes me motion-sick." she answered. "I am going to have a headache... again."
"I don't know if it would help, but if we had the manuseats installed next to the windows, you could look outside." I said.
"Not only that..." she said. "We are going to be stuck here, in this ship for 2 whole weeks. Can you believe that!"
"Earth is in a very bad position for a brachistochrone transfer orbit, so there is nothing the pilots can do." I said.
"A brak-ist-onk-ron-what? Ah, I don't understand you space-faring people..." she sighed. "But sure, if you say so."
"Besides, 2 weeks from Mars to Earth isn't that bad. In earlier centuries, people could barely do this same trip in 3 months, or perhaps longer." I continued.
"That doesn't make me feel any better, though..." she kept complaining.
"What would make you feel better?" I asked.
"Perhaps a little bit of... sleep? Yeah, that would make me feel incredible." she said, before sitting back in a relaxed position and closing her eyes.
*ding*
"7 minutes to interplanetary transfer injection manuever. Please remain in your seats unless there is an emergency. Thank you, and have a pleasant flight."