New Fiction: Part One

"So... first time?"

"...yeah. Is it that obvious?"

"Sorry. Most people have this sort of... scared look about them, thinking of the damage they can do to themselves and others behind the sticks. It's a good attitude to start out with, but eventually you'll learn that just relaxing is better. You and the ship in perfect harmony, flowing past everything and everyone else, just another pebble in the stream."

"A pebble in the stream? Sounds nice, when you put it like that. Me, I'd call it 'Tossing a fusion bomb into a crowd of other bombs, trying desperately to steer and avoid 'em all whilst we're all overtaking light itself!'"

"Heh. That does sound scary. And I'll teach you how to do precisely that. Shall we start?"

"What, you mean fly into traffic, now?"

"Don't worry. I time my early lessons to coincide with the dockworkers' mealtimes. They're all grabbing their curries right now. We've got the entire dock to ourselves for the next half-hour. Avoiding those bombs already, eh?"

"Ah, well, we'll see about that when we get to that stream of yours."