You Can't Take the Sky from Me

“So, your place or mine?” You ask the waitress as she exits the cafe. The city around you was an interesting sight. Towering skyscrapers dot the skyline while neat and orderly lanes of air cars went to and fro.

“Umm, do you live far?” Asked the waitress with a nervous blush. She was tugging at the hem of her shirt, a lime green wrap around tunic over burgundy chinos.

“I live wherever the solar winds blow,” you say with a grin. At the girl’s confused expression, you chuckle. “I have a ship,” you clarify and the girl’s eyes widen into something like awe. “Name’s Captain Michael Hazelton, pleased to meet you,” you say, finally introducing yourself.

“M-Meagan,” replied the now-named Meagan with a blush.

“Wanna see my ship?” you ask and Meagan could only nod in response.

^_^

“I almost didn’t believe you actually had a ship!” Meagan told you breathlessly as she stared in awe at your ship which you conjured while waiting for her shift to end.

Your ship wasn’t big, it was basically a space truck with 50 metric tons of cargo capacity but that still made it pretty sizable. After all, 90% of a spaceship’s design is about how to blast your arse into the stars.

The overall shape of the ship made it look like a NASA space shuttle had sensual, romantic sex with an F-14 Tomcat and this was the child. The middle section of the ship was rectangular with a rounded top and flattened bottom. The rear looked like the thruster module of a NASA space shuttle, complete with a dorsal fin for aerodynamics. Along the sides of the craft were variable-sweep wings like an F-14. These wings doubled as radiators as well as aerodynamic control surfaces. The front of the craft ended in a nose cone that, unlike the Space Shuttle, had it’s cockpit built into the nose cone. Ultra-strength transparent materials provided a view out of your cockpit for when landing and just because you wanted to see out.

The bottom of the nose cone opened into a ramp which provided access directly to the cargo bay, a set of stairs on one side of the ramp would take you into the hab module which sat just behind the cockpit in the nose cone. A walkway ran down the centerline of the cargo bay and would take you directly into the engineering section at the aft of the vessel where the ship’s drive core, fuel and water tanks, and kinetic barrier generator sat.

^_^

“So this is home,” you say as you follow Meagan’s delicious booty into your hab module. To your right was a queen size bed in an alcove between the bulkhead and your water closet. To your left was another, equally sized alcove between the bulkhead and the kitchenette. This had a lounge and a table which also had a deployable vid screen. The side of the lounge that was against the bulkhead had a recliner section and a fold-out windscreen against the bulkhead so you could put your feet up and watch vids.

Beyond the Hab module was the cockpit. A curved bank of consoles surrounded a comfy flight chair that could also recline like a gaming chair. With the various displays around the cockpit, it was rather easy to switch some to vidscreens and watch movies or play games when drifting through the empty void.

“Wow!” Meagan said softly. “This is amazing, it’s so cozy and it’s got everything you need!” She gushed. “Where do you keep your clothes?” she asked and you blink for a moment before using your god powers to make a subtle alteration.

“Under the bed,” you say, pretending you hadn’t forgotten that little detail. You also made a mental note to not mention the fact that the ship’s air filtration system was working by magic because you forgot the air tanks when you designed the ship. “How would you like to see the stars?” You ask and Meagan blinked.

“Don’t you need a flight plan or something?” She asked, suddenly nervous.

“Sure but I can make those up in a hurry, we’re just going into orbit,” you reply.

“Umm . . . I have another shift tomorrow . . .” She told you, looking passed you towards the door as she bit her lip. You moved aside so she had clear access and didn’t feel like you were trapping her there.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, how about we go get something to eat out in town?” You ask, giving Meagan a friendly smile. Meagan sucked in a big breath and looked you directly in the eyes.

“No, I want t-to” she stammered, her nerve failing her at the last second. You stare back and try to find any inkling of refusal.

“Alright then, I’d best take us up,” You say with a smile. “Take a seat there, the wall is going to become the floor for a bit while we’re going orbital,” you instruct, pointing to the reclining section of the lounge. While Meagan complied, you got yourself into your pilot's chair and began the process of getting airborne.

“Tower control, this is the Star Treader requesting an orbital vector,” you say into the com channel.

“Star Treader, this is Tower, what is the purpose of this orbital vector? Your flight plan has you staying groundside for the next two days,” The tower asked.

“Sightseeing,” you reply with a massive grin, anticipation almost causing you to vibrate in your seat.

“Vector granted, be advised that you are only cleared for 24 hours worth of tourism in Earth orbit, transmitting data now,” the Tower told you.

“Cheers mate, have a good one, Star Treader out,” you say as you kick the engines on and take to the skies.