“Understood.” Gabriel replied.
“And take that fucking thing off your head!” She snapped, reaching over and ripping the gel-strip off his forehead. Gabriel neither flinched nor complained.
* * *
Gabriel preferred the shower cold, the better to hurry up and start the day. Aster, however, insisted on a warm shower so they could take their time. The water ran in soothing rivulets across their bodies, and a cloud of vapour filled the intimate space. There was enough space for two people, though not enough to avoid sharing some skin.
“So what are you doing at work today?” Aster asked as she washed her hair.
“Probably just tests and refresher drills.” Gabriel lied.
Aster responded by sliding a hand down to Gabriel’s crotch. Her grip was gentle enough, but it made him stiffen up in more ways than one.
“Don’t lie to me, dear.” She admonished.
“What makes you think I’m lying?” he asked.
“You always get a message from work before disappearing.” Aster replied as she held him under the water, “they don’t call you in that early in the morning for routine stuff.”
“I don’t know what I’ll be doing at work today,” Gabriel answered, “and my security clearance would prohibit me from saying anything, anyway.”
“Of course, I understand.” Aster said, looking up at him, “besides, all that hazard pay you rake in puts food on the table.”
“Actually, my hazard pay is enough to buy us a small spaceship.” Gabriel replied.
“It’s an expression, idiot.” Aster said, flicking his temple with her finger, “If you’re this slow at work, your hazard pay probably isn’t worth the risks you take.”
“You do know that my hazard pay is on a pro rata basis, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I know, the longer you’re on deployment, the more you earn.” Aster answered, “That’s probably the only thing that makes up for you being away so much. Otherwise, my salary is more than enough.”
“I need to get ready for work.” Gabriel said.
* * *
Breakfast consisted of flavoured nutrient juice, with Gabriel downing an entire bottle to the dregs before changing into his midnight-black uniform. Once he was ready, he headed straight for the front door; but before he could leave the house, he was ambushed by three little figures still in their nightclothes.
“Morning, daddy!” His children chorused as he squatted down to greet them.
They weren’t quite peas in a pod, but they all had their father’s distinctive electric green irises, and some of his features. The oldest, seven year old Orion, was already a few inches taller than his two sisters and, apart from his mother’s curly hair, almost resembled a clone of his father. Rose, the older of the two little girls managed to lift herself onto Gabriel’s knee before making an adventurous attempt to climb aboard her father’s shoulders.
“Sorry, sweethearts.” Gabriel plucked his five year-old daughter from her perch and placed her carefully back on the ground, “daddy has to go to work.”
Couldn’t his children just get up earlier and greet him before breakfast instead of when he was on his way out the door? As nice as this little morning ritual was, it was holding him up and could make him late. The director-general hated unpunctuality, and so did he. In fact being delayed at all was downright irritating.
Somewhere in the back of Gabriel’s mind it occurred to him what a cold train of thought this was to have about his own children. All they wanted to do was say good morning to him. Even so, was it too much to ask that they do it earlier in the morning?
His aspiring mountain-climber daughter reached up and irreverently poked her father in the nose with her tiny finger. Gabriel flinched in annoyance. He wanted to scold Rose, but he looked down and saw the cheeky grin on her face, and the shimmering emerald eyes she had inherited from him. He pursed his lips, then tapped her nose back in playful retaliation. She wrinkled her nose and giggled in response.
Why in Terra’s name did he expect his children to know or care about routine and schedule, or punctuality? They were just happy to see their father every morning. They knew even less about what he did when he was away than their mother. And unlike Aster, they wouldn’t understand what had happened if he never came back. Every morning they had together could be their last.
On an impulse, Gabriel pulled all three of them in for a group hug, squeezing them close. His children squeezed him back, happy for their father’s affection. This really could be the last time he saw or hugged them in person, and Gabriel’s annoyance melted away as he savoured the moment of familial closeness.
He looked up and saw Aster standing at the far end of the hall, their fourth and youngest child dozing her arms. Their eyes connected and Aster smiled at him. Gabriel smiled back as he squeezed their children close. Then he remembered.
“Their monthly check-up is today, by the way.” Gabriel reminded her.
“At eleven o’clock sharp, I know,” Aster responded, “I’ll get them fed and drop them off at the medical centre, then I’ll go to work.”
“So what are they having you build today?” Gabriel asked out of curiosity.
Aster’s warm expression turned into a frown.
“You’re not the only one with security clearance, you know.” She responded seriously.
Gabriel understood, and he dropped the issue.
* * *
It was standing room only this early in the morning, with over a hundred people huddled together in each carriage of the mag-train. Some were engaged in hushed conversation, others stood in silence as they watched the news on the holographic viewing screens or occupied themselves with their smartphones. A few passengers cast wary glances at the towering figure in their midst, dressed in a night-black military uniform, stern and motionless.
Gabriel stared out of the window, ignoring everyone. He didn’t mind the wary glances or the nervous stares directed at him, as long as they stayed out of his way. He did sort of mind having to be around so many people, especially the background din of frivolous chattering. But he had to take a detour before reporting for duty, and his destination was best reached via mag-train. He would just have to put up with it for now.
The magnetic rail was built as an extension from each skyscraper’s superstructure, snaking from tower to tower, occasionally splitting or converging at various junctions. The mag-train itself moved at incredibly high speeds, taking it to the centre of the city in very little time. Its path also took it several hundred stories above the ground, giving the passengers a view from the carriage window which never ceased to amaze.
Asgard was named after a heavenly realm from the legends of ancient Earth, and with its gleaming forest of Spires stretching far away into the distance, the city more than lived up to the moon’s mythical namesake. Asgard City was a megacity of over 80 million people, an urban nerve centre connected to countless smaller settlements across Asgard’s surface, and serving as the administrative and economic capital for the entire sector.
The gas giant Odin seemed to hover directly above, looming large through the artificial ozone haze, an enormous blue sphere beside the bright white orb in the sky. The local star bathed the moon of Asgard in a flattering radiance, with Asgard City as its crown jewel, beaming under the morning light. And to think that this was just one hub-world among many. One could only imagine what Terra itself must be like.
Looking down revealed a rather less glorious sight. Just visible in the shade, occupying the lower tiers of the city and woven in between the skyscrapers’ foundations, was a vast, multi-layered complex of warehouses, factories, and housing. It was called the Undercity, where most of the city’s industrial base was located; it was also the sprawling home of the vast majority of the city’s inhabitants, stretching deep underground and hiding most of it from view.