Jill meets Marc
The departure lounge on the Ark Royal was nearly empty of people as Jilleen sat in one of the leather chairs to wait for the next shuttle to the resort liner. It was late in the day according to the clock hanging over the gate door marked with the number 3. She had come to the Ark Royal unintentionally after she missed the cargo shuttle back to Shangri-la after her last session. Instead of waiting till early morning to take the next direct cargo shuttle, she hopped on one that had numerous stops, the last being to the Ark Royal. She had not been sure about the timetable of the civilian shuttle routes, but the Ark Royal was one of the  hub ships.


What she had not counted on was on shuttle cancellations because of the impending departure of the Avalon and the other ships that would take part in the salvage operation.  It indirectly caused a disruption in the time tables. The ticket agent was certain that the last schedule shuttle to Shangri-la from Ark Royal was not cancelled or delayed, it would only be a couple of hours.

Jilleen occupied her time by writing in a notebook she purchased at the small shop near the lounge. She had decided to give writing a try to manage her feelings and memories. She made a few attempts, but the writing was not working out at the moment. She had nothing but a few thoughts written down inside the notebook.

She looked over toward the entrance when she heard the automatic glass doors slide open as someone else came into the lounge.