The dedicated rush hour delivery – Tales of the Courier.
The road remembers. Each twist and turn. Every hill and dip. The road remembers. The drop-off is just ahead and from there, the next pickup is scheduled. Just another routine delivery shift. 1courier grins. Routine is good. Routine is reliable. Twenty minutes later, and two more are in the books. Today, time isn’t important. The rush hour is just ahead. Deadlines go out the window when the rush is on.
With this in mind, refueling seems like a good idea. Especially before the rush hour. Chaos reigns when things get busy. And this one was bound to get busy. Having to stop during a rush would make things messy. He doesn’t mind being a busy mess, but doing messy business, is not in the cards. Couriers don’t build a reputation with mistakes. Therefore, he will need to focus on delivering accuracy as well as speed.
Shouldn’t be a problem if the traffic, among other things, cooperates. He thinks about all the testing and studying. It’s been a long road over the last few years. Then finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He pulls into the fuel depot and parks in the full service area. The auto fill pumps are new, but save time. The problem with seeing a light at the end of his tunnel is whether or not it’s an exit, or an oncoming train.
Rush Hour Delivery
The auto fill pumps are a new feature. The robot technology is cutting edge. He watches in his mirrors as the robotic arm removes his fuel cap and the second robotic arm places the nozzle in the tank. One minute later the tank is full. He hears the ding on the m-com link. He grins again. That would be HQ picking up the tab for the fuel. Now that’s how to prepare for the rush hour delivery shift.
Back on the road and the fun begins. The first few deliveries are standard ones. Then a strange pattern develops. The only routes, are further and further away. It didn’t feel unusual at first, but after several long distance completions, the pattern continues. This isn’t the strategy he wants to use. Staying within this zone is the goal. Short and consistent runs. The further out he travels, the longer it takes to return to this zone.
However, a courier has to accept the less than great deliveries on occasion. Particularly when trying to make consistent earnings. Perhaps that is why he accepted this one. He checks the m-com link again and immediately shakes his head no. Consistent earnings didn’t have much to do with this one. If they did, he wouldn’t have accepted it to begin with.
Tales of the Courier
The trip up the mountain will take twice as long as a normal delivery drop-off. As he contemplates the mileage, he tries to lock in on why this delivery seemed like a winner. It eludes him at the moment. Furthermore, this is a delivery he’s only been to once before. There is even a security elevator. However, the instructions look the same. Top floor, exit lift and wait. Wait. It isn’t the normal courier process, but it’s acceptable to wait on occasion.
Double checking the instructions helps to confirm that he’s on track. This is one that has to stay on track. There is no deviation once he arrives. He checks the details in the instructions again. Yes, it is a leave at the door drop-off. Not the way he prefers to do things, but the customer decides whether or not it’s a leave at the door delivery. 1courier just does the work.
It takes another five minutes to reach the top of the mountain. 1courier feels like time is running out. This is one of those deliveries. Done in stages, it always feels like it takes too long. However, he has arrived at last. Now all he needs to do is follow the drop-off instructions.
Dedicated Rush Hour Delivery
All he needs to do is follow the drop-off instructions. Therefore, he enters the structure and moves toward the elevator. The last time he was here, it took almost two minutes to make it to the top. That was saying something considering the elevator hauled ass upward like a rocket. He studies the sensation again as the elevator car rockets upward.
A few moments later he arrives at the top floor. Nothing to do now but wait. It won’t take too long. This much he remembers from the last time. The floor shakes but it isn’t startling. Once again, he has the experience from last time. After several minute an alarm sounds. It is followed by some flashing of the overhead lights. If he remembers correctly this signals the beginning of zero G. As if to celebrate his good memory the m-com link floats out of his pocket and lazily rises to the ceiling.
A moment later and the station door spins around to the room he floats in. He has arrived at the station. Checking the delivery instructions, he confirms that it is a leave at the door delivery. Even though it’s zero G it’s not his worry. Leave it at the door, is leave it at the door. A moment later he snaps the picture and signals the orbital platform that he’s ready to descend. Time to get back to the rush hour below. Orbital delivery might be new, but one of these days it will be a leave at the crater, moon delivery. A space courier special. 1courier grins, space courier has a nice ring to it.
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