Chapter 3 - UNFINISHED

Jasper stood still as a post, and looking around the inside of the hangar.



**//describe the hangar



This was where the directions led, yet he saw neither office nor Okoye.



"You!" Behind him, a deep, accented voice boomed over the roars of freighters taking off. Jasper spun around to meet the speaker. He was faced with an intimidating figure towering over him. Jasper slowly began to back away from the giant of a man.



The man extended a firm hand and flashed a smile. Jasper stopped, surprised.

"You are Jasper, I take it?" The giant asked.

Jasper cleared his throat and extended his own hand.

"Mr. Okoye?" He asked, voice quivvering. The man placed his other hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Please, call me Virgil. I apologize for startling you earlier. You are now under my branch, are you not? Welcome to MIPS Freight. We are the people who move every single load of cargo from one destination to the next. From what Aga Safavi tells me, you are quite the-" Okoye was interrupted by a sudden pattern of beeps and flash on his data pad. Swiftly bringing it up to view, Okoye scrutinized the new inflow of information on the screen.



Before Jasper could ask, Okoye waved his hand.

"Apologies. A new transcript of shipments arrived." Okoye spun and strode towards the open hangar door.

"We must hurry - this is an urgent order." Okoye beckoned towards Jasper. "Come. This will be your training."



As the sun over Oban listed towards the horizon until slipping into night, the MIPS compound continued to bustle with the never ending haste of a shipping company. Jasper and Virgil became an addition to the courtyard crowd, dodging passerbys and tow vehicles. Jasper followed in the wake left by Virgil; the large man carved a gap in the stream of people.



The duo continued past the thoroughfare, making their way past Packaging Plants A through D, and onto the Merchantile Port tarmac. Despite the oncoming darkness, flood lights cascaded a holy light over the rows of spaceships. Individual tow vehicles zipped back and forth, headlight beams sweeping the tarmac like silent watchers as freight boxes were moved into the cargo bays of the spaceworthy birds.



As he was following Virgil to the first ship on the line, and string of thought hit Jasper like noa freight train: After dreaming about it happening for years, he was going to be a member of the crew on a space ship. His heart skipped a beat, and a smile cracked on his face.



Virgil whisled, the shrill noise piercing through the silent night. Moments later, the door panel on the side of the craft slid open with a hydraulic hiss, and a ladder extended outwards. A man clad in a blue and black flight suit stepped into the doorway. A mischevous smile spread across his face and there was a glint in his eyes. The man shouted down to the duo:



"Why hello down there! It's nice meeting you Jasper, really. I'm Fergus, and this is my ship!"