Deep Space Adventures - 15. DSA Chapter 15

“He was an inventor, wasn’t he?” one of the female reporters responded, “Yes, but more specifically he was an engineer and a physicist, and in January 1610, he was the first to see the 4 stars that orbited Jupiter, that he named & one is Sahndrol’s home planet of Ganymede in this Solar system,” I announced, as we entered the elevator, and scanned my security card, and pressed the button for level 3, where we stepped out into the Serenity Gardens Promenade.

“Wow!” one of the reporters stated as they looked around the landscaped promenade, which provides paved footpaths, garden benches, and a spectacular variety of plants, as well as the two cafes, garden ponds, the splash pool, giant chess set and the water slides.

After showing the reporters around the promenade, I showed them one of the VIP suites and one of the Executive suites, before heading up to level 2 to show them the library, and one of the smaller guest lounges, followed by going to level four, where I showed them a standard guest cabin, the shopping promenade, and the sports and recreation centre.

On level five, I showed them the two restaurants, one of the bigger guest lounges, and finally down to level seven, to show them the medical centre, and lastly the large forward viewing lounge. “That ladies and gentlemen is a sample of everything that we have onboard the Space Cruiser Galileo, in total we have 24 VIP suites, 28 executive suites, 102 standard cabins and 40 economy cabins, and we are rates for the holidays are by suite or cabin per day, not per person per day.

We have a total of 94 permanent crew, plus a team of 24 entertainers that are on rotation, but you will have to book one of our holidays to be able to enjoy all of this, we are just showing you an example of what we have available, oh! plus this…” I said and I pressed a button on a panel and the front window changed from black to clear, revealing that we were now in space, orbiting Earth.

“Wow, wow, wow,” the same reporter said, “This is absolutely spectacular,” another reporter stated, “Yes, it is pretty amazing isn’t it, welcome to space, and I hope you have enjoyed your short tour with us,” I said, as I pressed another button on the panel.

“Bridge, we are ready to return to Bermuda thank you,” I said into the intercom, “Very well sir, we will go around two more times then start descending,” came a reply, as I watched the reporters staring out the window at the Earth far below us, and I smiled as I watched them.

When we landed back at the Spaceport terminal, the reporters were given back their equipment, and escorted back to the jetty at the airport, and we watched as they dashed for their cars, with most of them already on their mobile phones to report what they have just experienced.

When I arrived back home, I was feeling a little tired for having to be a tour guide for the reporters, “How did it all go dear?” Mum asked me as I flopped onto the lounge beside my brother, who was watching cartoons. “Fine, no problems at all, and they were fairly stunned when I revealed in the viewing lounge, that we were actually in space orbiting Earth,” I replied, which made Mum chuckle.

“So, do you think we will be headlined in the news this evening?” Dad asked when he walked into the room, “No doubt about it, they were all on their mobiles as soon as they were off the jetty and heading for their vehicles. By the way, where is my protector?” I replied, “He is in bed and has the flu, so I suggest you stay away from him for a few days, I will be looking after him,” Mum replied.

“Oh! Well tell him to get well soon,” I said. That evening, as expected, we led in the news, with the reporter explaining that they were forbidden to take any cameras or electronic devises with us, and all they had was a photo they took of the Space Cruiser Galileo after leaving it.

A few days later, fairly early in the morning, Lord Durham arrived for the two trips to Mars, so as to protect me, especially now that Isaac is ill in bed, and Mum helped me to pack a small suitcase of clothes to take on the trip. Lord Durham had the list of passengers that would be joining us on the first maiden holiday voyage, with all cabins booked out.

Lord Durham informed us that he had invited 3 dignitaries who will be joining us, & will occupy three royal suites on deck one, while Lord Durham and I will stay in the Royal suites on the Space deck, and those extra guests are the Governor of Bermuda and his wife, plus the UN Ambassador for New Zealand, and the UN Ambassador for Canada.

The list of passengers, includes 6 Canadian, 10 European and 8 USA celebrities, who are occupying the VIP Suites, some high power business people, from the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany and the UK, who have booked out all 28 of the executive suites, and there are a variety of guests from the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, New Zealand, South East Asia and Western Europe.

The first holiday cruise into space was a total success, with the guest’s eyes glued to the viewing lounge windows when we orbited the moon, and Mars, plus Earth on the return journey. When we had returned to the spaceport terminal, I decided to return home, and I let Lord Durham know of my decision, so he could arrange transport for me back to the house across the bay.

Isaac was well on the mend from his illness, and together we watched the second launching of the Space holiday cruises from the front patio, and although none of the family were on board, Lord Durham decided to remain onboard the Space cruiser, to make sure that everything runs smoothly, which it did.

The publicity from the media trip into space, had brought a surge of enquiries about space holidays and it was decided to make the timetable to one trip every five days, with just a 1 ½ day break between each trip departure, allowing us to have more guests on a regular basis, but this still brought the bookings to as far forward as 9 months.

After some discussion between Lord Durham and my parents, it was decided to not accept any more bookings for at least three months, giving the crew the chance to have a break after nine months of continual service, then we would start introducing the 15-day cruise to Jupiter.

It was decided that each month, there will be two trips to Mars, followed by a trip to Jupiter, with a 1 ½ day gap between each cruise, then one trip to Mars. This timetable will allow for the crew to have a three to four-day break before the start of the next month of cruises.

When a message from my uncle arrived requesting that the Space Cruiser, make regular trips to Ganymede, Lord Durham brought forward the new timetable, to commence next month, which caused a few issues with existing bookings, but a good number of those guests, decided to book the 15 day cruise, instead of having to wait a bit longer for the 3 day cruise, which helped to bring the booking list down to 7 months long.

I suggested that we invite representatives from some of the space agencies on Earth, to be guests on the first cruise to Jupiter, and Lord Durham thought it to be a very good idea, and so all 52 suites were reserved for representatives of the five nations that have active space programmes.

With ten suites for each of the five nations, that would give them plenty of places for senior executives from each agency, to actually go into space, and they will be able to understand a bit more about travel in space. Within three days of extending the invitation to the five space agency nations, four had responded in the positive, while the CNSA - Chinese National Space Agency, was considering the invitation.

Meanwhile the National Aeronautical Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency, were both requesting additional places for the journey, as they have a large number of interested people wanting to take the trip. Lord Durham politely reminded them that the invitation was for ten people only, which was not well received.

Two days later the CNSA accepted the offer, and also requested additional places for their agency. A few hours after the last request, Lord Durham sent a strong worded email to all five Space Agencies, informing them that the requests for additional places for the trip to Jupiter is denied, and if there are any further protests, then seating penalties may be applied.

As expected, the CNSA, NASA and the RFSA all complained about these strict rules, and we have no right to penalise any of the space agencies on Earth, and so Lord Durham sent an email to just those three agencies. “You have not heeded our warning, and as such you have been penalised with one seat for your agency, any more complaints or correspondence regarding this matter, will result in cancellation of the offer all together.”

Thankfully there were no more protests, and Lord Durham sent an email to the ESA - European Space Agency and also to JAXA - Japanese Space Agency, informing them that they have an additional two places available for them, for the trip to Jupiter, and a reply from both thanked us for the additional places.