As opposed to our way here, the hyper train had to run quite the distance across the white plains of the Antarctic region before it made it’s crossing over the sea to Megacity Brisbane. I hated to admit it to Lauren but I was quite happy to slowly start seeing good old daylight again. The short days this time of year in Antarctica were quite tiring if you weren’t used to it. Which is rather weird if you think about it as we’d been on a spaceship without sunrises before, but there we did follow quite a solid daylight rhythm. We spent most of the time on the train in the restaurant car. This time I wasn’t feeling tired at all so we could spend literally the entire trip here.

Sadly though, we did have different staff from last time. This other staff was a lot less chatty, yet not any less professional or friendly. But I did prefer the more personal service. I guess it also wasn’t helped by the fact that we were anything but alone this time.

For our food we just ate something light. We both opted for a croque monsieur as it was still relatively early in the morning. Lauren had promised that we could get some more filling food on the boat to our final destination. And as I trusted her completely, of course I believed her.

“What are you looking forward to most?” Lauren asked as she used her knife to spread a bit of ketchup on her croque monsieur.

“Hmmm… That’s a good question.” While I pondered her question I took another bite of my own food. “Maybe swimming when the sun is setting?”

“Hoho, that sounds pretty good, yeah.” Lauren smiled and ate her ketchup covered toast.

“What about you?” I asked in return?

“I think I just look forward to hanging out with my friend and my girlfriend to be honest. I don’t really need much more than that. The rest is just a happy extra. It’s been a very long time since I’ve hung out with Eva outside of work so it’ll definitely be fun to do that again. Satisfied with that answer?”

“Yeah.” I smiled back. “I think it’s going to be a great holiday.”

“Mhmm.” She nodded. “I think so too.” She then leaned in to give me a kiss on my cheek. “Although I could be anywhere with you and still have a great time.”

“Flirt.”

She smirked and just continued eating her croque monsieur.

Before we exited the train Lauren recommended stowing away our winter jackets as the temperature in Megacity Brisbane would be a lot higher than what I had ever experienced on Earth. She wasn’t wrong. While the station building felt okay as it was air-conditioned, the temperature outside was a nothing I had come up against on Earth before. Even though it wasn’t summer, it really put the coldness of Antarctica into perspective.

“And it’s going to be even hotter once we get to the island, but at least we have to wear considerably less clothes once we get there.” Lauren teased, whispering into my ear.

I pushed her away but blushed regardless. Lauren better wears the clothes we bought together, otherwise I’m not going to be a happy Luna.

A quick hover tramride later we arrived at Megacity Brisbane’s docks.

“Allright, our tickets say dock 226.” Lauren looks around. “That should be around here.” Her eyes land on a weird looking darkblue and white coloured boat. “That should be it.”

“Why is it shaped like that?” I asked as Lauren lead the way with tickets in hand.

“Do you mean why it has two hulls, kinda?”

“Mhmm.” I nodded.

“It’s called a catamaran.” She explained. “It’s a type of boat that has less water resistance compared to mono-hull boats. Apparently they also resist capsizing a bit too. But they mainly use them because they are power efficient.”

“Oh, I see. I take it you don’t know the hydrodynamic reasons for that?”

“Not really.” She laughed. “I was just curious and looked it up one day and that’s what I remember from it. If you want to learn the how and why more exactly, it’s better to research it yourself. You are the smart one of the two of us after all.” She waited for me to catch up and then grabbed my hand so we could walk towards the boat side by side.

As opposed to most entrances, this check-in wasn’t automated as there was still a human clerk there to take our tickets.

“Miss Davis, Miss Moore, welcome aboard. In the name of Saint Katherine Cruises I wish you a pleasant trip. If you need anything, please feel free to ask any attendant on board.” The man who took our tickets smiled.

“Thank you.” Lauren smiled back.

“Do you need anyone to help you carry your luggage aboard?” He asked almost immediately after.

“No, thank you, we will be fine.” Lauren took both our pieces of luggage and carried them up the slightly sloping ramp and into the ship’s main hull. The inside of the ship looked very luxurious.

“Wow.” I uttered as I looked at the wooden detailing. I also noticed that the floor was completely spotless, even though it was completely made out of wood as well. They must regularly resurface it.

“I spent a bit more on the boat ride as this is going to take the longest by far. Might as well travel in supreme comfort as we do. We have a private cabin as well.”

“How long exactly was this boat trip going to take?”

“Eight hours or so depending on the weather. But it should be on the shorter side as it’s all nice weather ahead.”

“You made it sound like we were going to spend days here.”

“I do think they use this boat on longer trips too. So you wouldn’t be too wrong guessing that from the accommodations.” Lauren walked down one of the hallways which snaked through the boat a little. It reminded me a bit of the corridors back on our ship. Albeit that this one has a lot more painting hanging from the walls. “This cabin should be ours.” She halted in front of a nice light gray wooden door. She then took out her holo stick and held it in front of the door which then swiftly unlocked before us. “Yep, it’s ours.”

We rolled our luggage inside of the room, but what I noticed immediately as I walked in was the huge window that was opposite to us, giving us a clear view into the huge harbor of Megacity Brisbane.

“Wow.”

“That’s the second wow in a very short time.” Lauren chuckled as she sat down on the huge twin bed.

“And it even has a bed so we can lay down AND look outside?”

“You missed the bed? It’s literally the biggest thing in the room.”

“I was too mesmerized by the outside world.”

“But yeah, that’s why I booked the cabin. You can always just rest a bit in the hang out areas on board but nothing really beats taking a nap in a bed if you want to.” She patted the bed, signaling me to come and sit down next to her.

When I did, the bed felt incredibly soft, although still firm enough to give me a good nights rest if I wanted to. I never really liked sinking in completely.

“And you know what the best part about these windows is?”

“No?” I shook my head. “

“People can’t see in from the outside.” Lauren smiled and brought her face so close to mine so that our noses were almost touching. My blush and slight smile was enough invitation for Lauren to cross the final distance and touch her lips with mine. She was being incredibly tender right now, not pushing for more at all. Just enjoying the moment and our softest of touches.

“We should probably not play it too rough, we can always do that on our island.”

“And what about Eva?”

“Luckily, she was smart enough to get us two separate sleeping cabins. Plenty far away so she would not be able to hear a thing.” Lauren booped me in the nose with her finger.

“Hehe.” Even though I had to laugh, my blush kept blushing even more.

“So, should we rest here for a little bit longer or do you want to go for dinner already?” She asked, putting her hand on my thigh. It was clear what option she preferred even though she didn’t say a thing.

“Well, I’m not too hungry yet… So I wouldn’t mind waiting a bit longer.”

Lauren grinned and started with another quick kiss. “That was the answer I was hoping for.” And then pressed her lips against mine for quite a while longer.

While we were softly making out in our cabin, the ship slowly departed from Megacity Brisbane’s harbor and it didn’t take long until we were out in the ocean on track for our destination. Although I wouldn’t really mind that being delayed by a little bit…