Dispatch From Disneyland
Page 1 of 2

SpacePort

*The white zone is for loading and unloading only, please. All others will be towed.* The firm female voice emanated mysteriously from somewhere near the curb. In the back seat, Lil'John looked out the darkly tinted window of the family vehicle but could not notice any obvious speakers. A little perplexed John wanted to question his parents on the unfamiliar voice, but a hover-bot appeared outside and projected a message onto the front window detouring his thoughts.

:: Hello and welcome to the Orange County Walt Disney Space Port. You are stationed in designated unloading zone. For your convienence, a baggage handler is on the way and will help you to your departure gate. Thank you for visiting The Walt Disney Space Port, the Happiest Space Port on Earth (and the Galaxy). You have 4 minutes and 45 seconds unloading time remaining. ::

John's father leaned into the back seat and said in his requesting, no demanding voice, "Sit still boys. We don't want to lose you and ruin out vacation so early." His mother turned around too and gave him and his younger brother that piercing stare that they knew not to disobey.

But today was a special day for the Baxter family. It was to be their first trip into space together as a family. John and his brother had been dreaming about this vacation for weeks. They painted their wall to be a giant map of 'Space Station X' -- a giant vacation resort in space. They researched it's history, down to watching the Walt Disney films that inspired it, and viewing the holographic recreation of the original Space Station X exhibit at Disneyland. So sitting still really wasn't an option.

John grabbed his little brother by the hand and pulled him out of the family wagon and onto the 'white loading zone' curb. There looming in front of both boys rose the majestic space port. It was snow white, cylindrical in shape, but rose to a near point at the top. From there, giant spires pointed heavenward and periodically a small space craft would shoot upward trailing a cone of fire. Around the base of the space port twisted miles of clear transport tubing where baggage, other travelers, and helpful service bots, moved around the port till they reached their proper destination.

While the baggage handler bot moved the family's gear into a shipping container and prepared it for space flight, father was busy haggling with the local car storage bot, trying to get a fair deal for the estimated 14 day trip. Meanwhile, mother had moved into the terminal and was in queue to confirm their tickets and departure information. That meant John was free to roam.

"Bye Mom. I'm talking Lil'bro and going to the restroom," John pointed toward the restroom sign against the far wall of the terminal hoping his mom didn't notice the one located much closer, and therefore, less interesting. "We'll be back in a few minutes!"

Before his mom could answer he took off at a quick pace toward the other end of the terminal. His little brother had to run to keep up. All along the way John noticed amazing things: A hover-bot whose sole job was to scan for heart or back defects and recommend that space travel be denied or approved; an intergalactic weather report terminal (looked like a solar storm was due to hit Space Station X any day); and even a Crazy Larry Used Satellite and Space Craft kiosk. Unfortunately, Crazy Larry was out to lunch. John would have liked to stop and ask him a few questions.

Just before reaching the restroom area, John noticed a short hall leading off to the left. He veered that way out of curiosity and was quickly rewarded by a sight he never dreamed to see. There, in the launch bay, on the other side of a huge bank of observation windows, was the latest model in vacation resort space shuttlesm, the VX. The name on its side read DL2000, behind that each section was labeled to indicate its purpose, 'CMB's for sleeping, 'CMDC's for dining, and even a recreation zone, or 'CMRZ', (although the trip was only expect to take about 30 hours).