In order to understand the story you must first understand the protagonist. Our story begins at Forever Station where Qan lives in modest accommodations well suited to her age and position.
A visitor from our time and place would recognise her as fifteen years old although she does not circle this Sun or indeed observe an exact 24 hour Earth day however her day is close to ours and she has lived over 5300 of them - her contemporaries would recognise her as 53 seasons of age.
Most people would actually not comment on her age because Qan is legally an adult. She has completed her formal education, lives independently and studies for a career in a more advanced field than her current junior occupation in entertainment coordination for visitors to Forever.
The name Forever is a historical reference to the construction of the Station in its earlier historical phase as a ferry to the world-ship Hub. In fact Forever and its sister station Tranquility have been independent for many generations and are maintained by an army of maintenance engineers that regularly transfer between stations learning new skills and methods. Forever has now become a minor trading centre on the edge of the star system known simply to locals as Alpha. Tranquility ekes out a more traditional living for its inhabitants by inventing new practical technologies to improve the functioning of the Stations in this sector. Hub remains a major population centre with a variety of industries and a major source of visitors to Forever.
Qan is aware of the history of this sector of space from school - that it was settled many generations ago and how her Station came into being. She often gives a short history of Forever to visitors from Hub who seem less focused on the past and more on the future. Qan is slim and toned from many hours after work spent perfecting her understanding of Forever's traditional dances but she can see by the shape of visitors from Hub that recreation is another tradition they lack.
Returning to her small apartment after an evening's dancing she enters and immediately her screens illuminate the room in a relaxing green. Her cheerful ornaments and awards mark her success in placing visitors in suitable entertainment where they have spent a lot of money and Qan has profited for her good judgement of character. Today most of her clients were clearly not interested in spending a lot of money but simply wanted to pass the time - Qan directed them to the nearest theatre and recommended a good place to get a drink of the sweet beverages that Hub locals prefer and tried not to judge poorly those visitors who would look at her agape as if they were not familiar with the appearance of a dancer's body.
Sitting down to her study, Qan once again considered her future career opportunities as an event coordinator for major trading fairs. This would require a refinement of her current skills to judge characteristics of a guest from a great distance, to find and sell a suitable package and to earn herself a generous commisssion of course.
This is an early draft of the scene-setting for Chapter One of Journey From Forever. Please don't judge me too early as it may be revised many times and will certainly be extended and continued. But it's half past 11 and I need my beauty sleep!
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