{"id":2744,"date":"2024-12-28T17:31:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T00:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2744"},"modified":"2024-12-28T17:31:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T00:31:40","slug":"reeves-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/28\/reeves-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Reeve’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman who piloted the ship was in her mid-thirties, close to two meters tall, with broad, strong features, jet hair, deep brown eyes, and warm, golden-brown skin. Despite being human, the ship she piloted was of a sort no other human had ever seen. Sleek, with no visible seams or joins, no hint of door or portal, it tore its way across light years through an artificial wormhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman who watched the customers coming and going from the cafe was fifty-four, 149 centimeters tall, with soft features in a pale, ivory face. Salt and pepper curls were carefully styled above pale, blue eyes. The plate in front of her sat half-finished, while she nursed her coffee. \u201cIt\u2019s bullshit, you know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young waiter raised the coffee pot in question and his eyebrows in surprise. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou asked how Reeve\u2019s Day was going for me. I just said it\u2019s bullshit.\u201d She moved her coffee cup over to hint at a refill. \u201cInstead of celebrating Howard Reeve\u2019s birthday, we should be celebrating \u2018Kahananui Day\u2019 instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He refilled her cup, no room for cream or sugar as she\u2019d indicated on his first round. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPatricia Kahananui. She\u2019s the technician that picked up the signal and convinced Captain Reeve to investigate.\u201d She took the refilled cup and wrapped her hands around it as if to warm them. \u201cIt\u2019s really too sad nobody remembers her sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid she \u2014 I mean, um \u2014 what happened to her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe readied a relativistic probe to send toward the signal. Not that anyone on the ship would live long enough to see what the response would be, but they were going to send it anyway.\u201d She took a sip of her coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe official story is that she climbed into the probe to make some sort of adjustment, and there was a communications error. Whether that\u2019s true or not, she was in the probe when it launched at a steady three gees acceleration for the next year according to the probe\u2019s time, with another year of three gee reverse acceleration. And a theoretical maximum of twenty hours oxygen on board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh.\u201d The waiter seemed at a loss for words, mumbled an apology and moved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alien ship exited the wormhole that closed behind it. One second there was nothing there, then a bright flash and a strange ship in low Earth orbit. The pilot waved her hand and lights on the smooth console shifted and flashed. She piloted this ship with subtle gestures, landing in the grassy patch behind a cafe. The ship set down amidst wildflowers and gawking stares of passersby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot exited a door that seemed to materialize from the smooth side of the ship. She walked into the cafe and looked at the crowd. There were a few stools at the bar, but all the tables were occupied, one by only one woman. She made a beeline for that table, and asked the woman there, \u201cMay I sit here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure. You look familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot sat. \u201cI do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman across the table from her nodded. \u201cYou from around here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot smirked. \u201cYeah, but \u2014 that was a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d the woman said, setting down her coffee and extending a hand to shake. \u201cMyra Jenkins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot shook Myra\u2019s hand. \u201cPleasure to meet you, Myra. Pat Kahananui.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myra laughed. \u201cRight, right. Did the waiter put you up to this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just then, the waiter came back to the table. \u201cWould you like to order, ma\u2019am?\u201d he asked Pat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree eggs, over easy, steak, rare, whole-wheat toast with lots of butter, and a pot of coffee, please,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myra eyed the pilot with suspicion until the waiter had poured her coffee and left. \u201cReally, what\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPat Kahananui. Patricia, actually, but I don\u2019t go by that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were named after the technician?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I was named after my mother\u2019s neighbor, but I am \u2014 or was<\/em> \u2014 a technician on a research vessel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUHS Aurum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile I appreciate the attempt at humor, Reeve\u2019s Day pisses me off enough. Seriously, now who\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReeve\u2019s Day? What\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBirthday of Captain Howard Reeve,\u201d Myra said with a sneer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy does he get a day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy thoughts exactly.\u201d Myra raised her coffee cup in salute and took another sip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m serious. Wait, what year is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat year? It\u2019s 572.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShit,\u201d Pat muttered. \u201cSorry, sorry. I didn\u2019t consider the relativistic effects of my little joy ride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been long enough that it should all be declassified by now. Alien signals from hundreds of light-years away, then signals from far closer. I picked up on them, then convinced Howie to send a probe. He didn\u2019t know I aimed it at the closer signal and packed enough oxygen and CO2 scrubbers to last me for a few days. I snuck in with the hope that the aliens would pick me up, and they did.\u201d She stopped briefly, as the waiter delivered her heaping plate of food. \u201cOf course, he wouldn\u2019t know about that part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe un-redacted story was the same as the official one. You crawled in to make an adjustment at the last minute, and there was a communications error that was undetected until after you\u2019d launched. It was classified as an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d Pat said. \u201cI guess Howie didn\u2019t want that on his record. I left him a note and told him he could declare me insane if he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, well, the official story is always just that. Anyway, relativistic effects would account for why you look so good for a hundred and seventeen, but if your story is true, how did you get back?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat removed a disk from her jumpsuit and placed it on the table. \u201cSecurity view of the Arrow, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A holographic image of the sleek ship parked behind the cafe filled the air between the women. The crowd around it took pictures and video, and at least two law enforcement officers were on-scene trying to maintain order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2014you\u2019re really her<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m, uh, just me,\u201d Pat said around a mouthful of steak and eggs. \u201cGod, I missed this so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, how come it took so long? Was it tens of light-years away?\u201d Myra asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, no. The relativistic effects were entirely from the probe, and the fact that I aimed for the signal, which had been deflected around a black hole. When the aliens finally picked me up after three days, I don\u2019t know how long that had been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat sipped at the coffee, savoring it with a soft hum. \u201cI spent about ten years on their planet \u2014 learned their language, their version of calculus, and the physics of artificial worm-hole generation, and spent the last year building the Arrow \u2014 then took off for home three hours ago and got here just before I walked in. So, rough guess, I spent eighty-seven years your time around that damned black hole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree hours? So, they\u2019re somewhere close?\u201d Myra asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSix-hundred-five light years away, give or take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn three hours?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWormhole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd no relativistic effects from travel in the wormhole?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNegligible. About the same as the difference between being on Earth and being in orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myra shifted in her seat, pushing her half-emptied plate to the end of the table. \u201cYou brought back the physics of faster-than-light travel, and a working prototype? Now, maybe they\u2019ll listen and give you your own day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t want it. But if today is Howie\u2019s birthday, it\u2019s the twenty-eighth of December?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, that was Saturday, but the holiday is always the Monday nearest. It\u2019s the thirtieth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat ate three quarters of her meal before slowing down. \u201cYou never answered me, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnswered what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did Howie get his own day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing the signal you picked up, he came up with a way to compress data for transmission. At first, it was just used for space exploration, but in time, it was applied to everything, everywhere. The one that gets trotted out the most is that stock trades happen in less than one percent of the time they used to take. Like gambling in nanoseconds is something to cheer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat looked at the small woman across from her. \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myra sighed. \u201cI teach middle school science. Not my first choice, but options for astrophysicists have been limited lately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A smile crossed Pat\u2019s face. \u201cWanna take a ride in my ship? We can swing by Jupiter for a bit, then we\u2019ll go set down at JPL and see if they have an opening.\u201d She laid a hundred-year-old fifty-dollar bill on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat won\u2019t work,\u201d Myra said. She pulled out some North American Credits and laid them on the table. \u201cI got your bill, in exchange for a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together. available at Reedsy The woman who piloted the ship was in her mid-thirties, close to two meters tall, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,228,209],"class_list":["post-2744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-science-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-Ig","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2745,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2744\/revisions\/2745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}