Shuttle to AriesShuttle to Aries by Michael Sweeney Welcome to Haddon Station. We hope you have a pleasant stay." The android stewardess announced. Cliff stood and moved into the isle. A woman pushed past him as he reached for his carry on bag. Checking to make sure he hadn't left anything, he surveyed the recently vacated seat. Someone bumped into him from behind. "I'm sorry." Cliff looked down at the woman. She was slightly shorter than him and quite pretty. "I' a bit of a klutz." Cliff smiled. "That's quite all right. I'll let it pass." He hefted his bag over his shoulder and smiled. The girl smiled back. Cliff turned and made his way through the airlock. A slight electrical field raised the hairs on the back of his neck as his walked through the security field. "Welcome to Haddon station." An attendant android greeted him. "May I see your papers, please." The 'droid extended its hand past its desk. Cliff reached in his bag and pulled out his passport and ID. The attendant behind the desk rifled through the papers and passed them under a scanner. The scanner cleared the papers and gave a green signal. "How long will you be staying on the station, sir?" "Just till the next shuttle to Aires leaves." Cliff answered. The attendants face blanked for a second. Cliff waited patiently for the android to smiled again. "The next shuttle for Aires leaves in two hours at Gate 27. Please enjoy your stay, no matter how brief." The attendant handed Cliff back his papers. Cliff snorted and passed into the waiting area. Cliff looked around the waiting area and spotted the cafeteria. The place looked like it had seen better days and the stool squeaked as he sat down at the bar. "What'll it be?" The waitron robot asked from behind the bar. Cliff activated his menu and flipped through the holographic pages. "Gimme the meatloaf." The waitron nodded. "Well, aren't we Mr. Creative." It said and disappeared. Cliff shrugged to himself. "I like meatloaf." Looking left he noticed a large bay window with a view of Haddon World. The planet had been colonized for some time now, with the station being a secondary travel center. The famous fire domes were just visible from his seat. The super large domes on the surface of the planet glowed orange in the night. Cliff played with the computer pad on the bar and called up information about the awesome sight. "The famed fire domes of Haddon World. Constructed in 2A6-78 the original HaddonPark dome was made from a mesh of the fiber Endurium. Measuring ten miles in diameter and one mile tall, the dome contains a huge tropical jungle. Just after completion, however the dome began to leak oxygen through the Endurium mesh. Oxygen, being a catalyst, caused the methane naturally present in the planets atmosphere to ignite on a large scale. Thus causing the spectacular sight known the galaxy over. The domes were constructed and funded by..." Cliff shut off the speaker when the waitron appeared with his food. The pleasant aroma of reconstituted beef drifted into his nostrils. Cutting away and forkful, Cliff hungrily placed the food in his mouth. Immediately, he grabbed a napkin and spit out the food. "I assume the cuisine is somewhat lacking?" Cliff turned. The girl from the shuttle stood framed in the cafe entrance. Cliff wiped his face with another napkin and grinned. "First class travel. Fourth class food." The woman walked over and took a seat two benches down. A waitron appeared in front of Cliff. "Is there a problem, sir?" The waitron projected. "Well, of course there's a problem with the food, it smells real yummy and tastes like an Adalian megagoats butt." "I guess you have experience to back up that claim?" the robots metal face belayed none of the sarcasm in the machines tone. "One does not need any experience to know bad food when one tastes it." "And doe one know that ones tongue isn't simply defective?" The robot responded. "Listen, you sarcastic piece of tin, if I don't get another order of good food in one minute, I'm gonna rip you apart and sell you for scrap." "Don't you threaten me you maladjusted chunk of mutant protein! I'll get you another plate of food, but I don't have to like it." The waitron lifted up the plate and disappeared. Cliff shook his head and swore under his breath. "What's it take to get good help these days?" "Ever since they passed that Robot Rights Bill on Terra they've gotten kinda cocky. Robots, I mean. Terran's have always been cocky." Cliff half smiled and looked at the woman sideways. "And what were you adventurous enough to order?" "Just coffee." Cliff raised his eyebrows. "Really? Quite a risk there, don't you think?" The woman smiled. "No, not at all. Usually where the food is really good, the coffee is terrible. Whereas bad food, good coffee. I saw you throw up and figured they must has the galaxies best." Cliff laughed. "And how is it?" The woman raised the cup to take a drink. "Almost." She said and took a sip of the hot liquid. The waitron appeared again with another plate for Cliff. "This isn't meatloaf." Cliff observed. The waitron made a huffing noise. "That's right its a ham sandwich." "I wanted meatloaf." "But you didn't like the meatloaf!" The robot exclaimed. "That meatloaf was bad!" "Then why do you want it again?" Cliff's face went beat red. "I will take this sandwich, but I want you to know that I'm not going to leave a tip." The waitron huffed and disappeared again. "You really should try the coffee. Its very good." Cliff looked at the woman again. "I'm Rita. Rita Apensed." she said. "Cliff Tolberg. Nice to meet you." The woman picked up her coffee and moved net to Cliff. "So what brings you to Haddon Station, Cliff?" Cliff smiled remembering. "I'm on my way to Aires for a little vacation." "Is that your profusion or just a change of pace." the woman teased. "Just a change of pace. I'm from Antares. Researcher with the Nirva Corporate." The woman raised her eyebrows. "Research, eh? You must travel a lot." "No, mostly desk bound. This is the most traveling I've done since my college days." Cliff said before biting into his sandwich. "A real hell raiser, eh?" "No, just space crazy. And you?" The woman paused to drink her coffee. "I'm a free agent. Right now I'm traveling to various stations to sample the food." Cliffs face almost fell off. "Your kidding." The woman smiled. "Yes, I'm just a home body out for some air." "In the Haddon system?" The waitron appeared and refilled the woman's cup. "Got to start somewhere." She blew air across the top of the coffee. "Truth be known I'm trying to write a book. Figured I do a bit of first hand research." Cliff was surprised. "Really. A writer. What's the book about?" The woman gave a shy smile and turned away slightly. "Don't want to jinx it. Why should I tell you. Then you won't buy it." Just then the waitron appeared to remove Cliffs empty plate. Cliff eyed the robot and turned to the woman. "You should write your book about a sarcastic robot that gets its head ripped off by an irate customer." The waitron hovered for a second, snatched up the plate and was gone. "That was mean." The woman protested. Cliff waved her off. "Ah, he'll be a food hydrator in a month or so, if he's lucky. That 'bots not gonna last much longer." "Why do you say that. He doesn't look old." "Looks can be deceiving. I'd say that particular bot is at least seven years old." The woman tilted her head. "How can you tell?" "The way it talks and the attitude it takes. The way it moves. It's general sarcasm. Going to the junk heap." "Couldn't that just be bad programing?" Cliff looked at the woman. "Lady, nobody likes a sarcastic robot. No, that 'bots old. Probably been doing the same thing all this time. Gets nice and hostile." "Are you saying that a robot develops feelings?" The woman sounded disbelieving. "Well, very rudimentary ones." The woman rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I just got done doing three years worth of research showing that if left untended robots develop basic emotional states which affect their work. I wrote the paper myself and sent it to the Union Council Safety board." "Come on. Robot feelings?" Cliff turned fully to face the woman. "Yes, you saw it here. Haddon Station is a perfect example. The robots tending to this station are rarely serviced and probably never replaced. They just don't break down often and nobody cares." Cliff turned back to face the bar. "Left unserviced they could become dangerous. It took people long enough to get over the whole Frankenstein Complex as it was. It doesn't need to get proven." "I don't think that people see robots as monsters. And they're too useful. They do so much." The woman protested. Cliff looked at her again. "Exactly. They do so much. What happens if they decided not to do those things?" The woman laughed. "What you mean, go on strike?" Cliff looked away again. "Researchers and robotics engineers have wondered about automaton potential. How far can they go." "I'm confused. Robots with feelings going on strike 'cause the benefits suck?" Cliff raised his glass. "Yeah, something like that." "Isn't that the whole point behind artificial intelligence? To get them as close to human as possible?" Cliff took a drink of his water. "I guess we were so preoccupied with the 'can we do it', we didn't see the 'should we do it'." The woman stood. "So what did you say in that article to the Union Safety Board?" Cliff looked away again. "I suggested limiting robot use and relying more on simple computers without high intelligence. And to destroy the robots that show any signs of emotion." The woman threw a metal disc on the counter top. "Sounds like you got a job ahead of you." Cliff smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, well they ought to start with this place. These guys are a little too close too the edge." The woman laughed and walked out. Cliff sat in silence for a moment and turned to leave. Suddenly, the waitron appeared in front of him. "What? Hey, I told you I wasn't gonna tip you." He said. The waitron hovered there. "Move it or lose it, tin man." Cliff moved to the side. The waitron moved to block him. "Listen, rust bucket, I'm not impressed with you as it is, okay, so don't press it." Cliff moved to the side again. The waitron still blocked him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to piss me off. But I know better." Cliff reached out at pushed the waitron to the side. Stepping out into the waiting area, Cliff suddenly noticed the silence. Cliff made his way over to attendant robot while he thought out loud. "Its strange. I'd never noticed it before but there was always a hum in the background..." "And now its gone." The attendant robot nodded and scanned Cliffs passport. Cliff hurried through the security field and to gate 27. The shuttle was just boarding. An android stewardess ushered him to his seat. "We will be leaving for Aires in one minute. We are currently loading lemon soaked napkins for you pleasure." It announced. Cliff sat in his seat and began to get and icy feeling in his stomach. In his entire stay at Haddon Station he had only seen one human. And she'd been another passenger. Where had the staff gone? "Now disembarking Haddon Station, now the first fully robotized space station in the Union. Speeding up the service of travel for you, our customer." The android stewardess announced.