Martin is talking to a small group of people on the beach when I arrive at the correct spot. He spots me as I am approaching and walks off the sand to meet me on the promenade.

“Hi Aidan,” he calls as he approaches a nearby bench and retrieves a synthetic suit to hand to me.

“This is my spare surf suit. It’s only short-sleeve, but we’re close enough in size that it should fit you fine. You can change over there.” He points towards the small changing cubicles and surf hut affair just a few metres down the promenade that I had noticed yesterday.

“Thanks, Martin. I’ll just be a few minutes then.”

“Great, I’ll introduce you to everybody when you’re ready.”

It takes me only a couple of minutes to change into the wetsuit. I have a little difficulty with the zipper on the back until I find that it has a convenient pull-string to make it easier to reach. There is a bank of lockers to one side of the changing huts and I find an empty slot to leave my clothes and shoes inside. It just seems so sensible to have a set of facilities on the beach like this, something that Sevrin City seemed to lack. To be fair, though, Sevrin City didn’t have surf like this and the beaches were more stones than sand. It’s actually odd that more people are not on the beach here.

The sun is high in the sky, but slowly descending towards the landward horizon. I’ve a thing for Thursdays. I love the time just after eclipse when the sun is just starting to drop from the zenith and the shadow on the rings is now slipping away. I’m still really not getting used to seeing Artan lying close to the horizon, but I have to admit that it looks somehow more spectacular and alien this way.

I walk slowly towards the group and notice that the sand isn’t as empty as I first thought. There are other groups further south and I can see what appears to be some sort of kite being flown about a kilometre away from us.

Martin draws me in to the group and makes a set of introductions. Everyone is around the same age as I am and all seem friendly enough. His final introduction is to the girl who is holding his hand lightly. “Aidan, this is my girlfriend, Cassie.”

Cassie is a little shorter than the other girls and her features give away her family even to someone who has only just met one of them.

“Pleased to meet you, Cassie. Are you Peter’s daughter?” I ask her as I take her hand and shake gently.

“Yes, you’re the new hire that’s starting on the project then?”

“I’m afraid so. You take after your father in height and looks to some degree.”

“I know. I don’t mind being a few centimetres shorter than average, but in our small community it does make me easily recognisable. Dad mentioned that someone was coming from the city to join the project. How is it so far?”

“Honestly, it’s still all a little overwhelming. After a long first day, it’s nice to come down here and relax,” I tell her.

“Well,” she continues, “I’m on school break for a few weeks now. I go back as a senior after summer break. Martin has found a job right here in Eastleigh at the centre and he is starting that in a couple of weeks.”

“One of my school friends came out with me on the ship. I’ll get her to come along and join us sometime. She’s missing her girlfriend and might appreciate some company occasionally.”

“Did you leave anybody behind, Aidan?”

“No, I was seeing someone, but we decided that it wasn’t working. Turns out I’m more interested in guys than girls.”

“Well, I’m afraid everyone I know is taken. I’m sure someone will come along.”

“I’ve enough on my plate with starting this job, honestly. I’m not sure I want to worry about finding a boyfriend just yet.”

“But you’ve enough time to learn to surf?”

“I’ve got to do something to keep my fitness level up. I’m not sure I want to go back to soccer and I’ve not organised a gym yet.”

“Come on down to the water. Martin has a board on the sand for you to start learning the basics.” Cassie takes me by the arm and leads me down towards the waterline. The sea is quite a bit calmer than yesterday, but the rollers are still more than a metre tall. The onshore breeze seems pretty steady but it is warm and tangy with the scent of salt and ozone.

“You did say that you can swim?” Martin asks as I approach him on the sand. He has a surfboard on the ground and is holding one end of a short tether that is fixed firmly to the back of the board. “Get used to doing this first,” he tells me as he drops down and wraps the band on the end of the strap around my ankle. The Velcro band is fastened tightly.

“Yes, I can swim. So, this keeps me and the board together?”

“Yes. When you fall off – and you will fall off many times – this will ensure that the board is always within reach.”

“I’m sure I’ll be great at that part,” I tell them both with a smile.

Martin, with Cassie’s assistance takes a good half an hour to go over the basics with me. He has me stand on the board right there on the sand. He explains how we need to paddle with our arms to get out to the right place on the back side of the breaking waves and then paddle very quickly to catch the crest.

Martin has me practice the ‘pop-up’ from my position lying down on the board dozens of times. He keeps making small adjustments to my position and the placement of my feet.

Once satisfied that I can do this on the firm sand, we float the board in a few centimetres of water and he guides me through falling off many times. It takes a little practice to get the hang of pushing oneself into a standing position quickly while still keeping your centre of gravity over the right point on the board to avoid it tipping over.

“Come on, let’s go out and give it a try,” he finally tells us. Cassie grabs her own board and the three of us wade out towards the surf and then lie down and start paddling. It takes quite a bit of effort to get out over the line of breaking waves, but we are soon sitting on our boards in the calm space behind the breakers.

“Okay, Aidan,” Martin shouts over the sound of the waves. “This is the hardest bit. You have to try and time your paddling to get to the top of the wave as it begins to crest. Then the momentum of the wave will carry you forward.”

“So, I just have to feel for the right time?”

“Yes, more or less. There is almost a regular pattern, but, of course, waves are never that regular. It takes a lot of practice and a bit of luck. We’ll stay in a line. Just go when we go.”

“We’ll probably crash.”

“No, you stay on the left side and when we catch the wave, we’ll both break to the right. Don’t even worry about popping up. You can just lie down and steer with your bodyweight for the first time. The worst that will happen is that you get rolled over a bit in the breaking wave.”

“Okay, let’s do this.”

We sit in a line, Martin next to me and Cassie a little further to our right. I actually am beginning to get used to the rise and fall as we feel the waves beneath us.

“The next one,” Martin calls as he starts to paddle forwards, down into the trough left by the wave that has just passed by. As the next wave begins to grow behind us, we all lie down and paddle like crazy.

We time it to perfection and the cresting wave catches hold of us and drags us forward. I sense Martin jumping up onto his feet to the right of me, but then he is gone. The sense of speed is exhilarating. I balance myself for a few moments then manage to make it into a crouching position. As I angle my body to the right, I turn to follow Martin and Cassie who are now speeding away far ahead of me. As I attempt to pop right up on to my feet, I lose balance and drop back into the face of the wave as it rolls me over and over.

I wait a few seconds and then strike up towards the light, bursting into the air within reach of the board. I manage to scramble back onto the board and turn to paddle back out to the calm water behind the breakers.

Martin and Cassie soon join me once more. “I think I was just too late trying to get onto my feet,” I tell them when we are finally close enough to talk. “I couldn’t hold my balance in the turbulence.”

“Yeah. Let’s rest a moment and then try again,” Martin tells me. “You’ve got the confidence now. This time try and pop up as soon as the wave takes you.”

Our second attempt goes much worse. I don’t even make it off the crest of the wave before falling off. At least I landed on the back side of the wave and didn’t get rolled about too much.

I’m determined to give it one more attempt though. On this third attempt I manage to make it onto my feet just as I start to drop down over the crest of the wave. It’s a bigger one than any I’ve seen today – or it looks like it from the top. I manage to hold my balance long enough to turn along the face of the wave and speed along for a few seconds before gravity and the boiling water wins again.

I’m rolled over and over by the breaking surf, battered by the sand below, the water above and my surfboard. When it finally spits me loose, I wade in to the shore and collapse on the sand with my board.

“Are you okay, Aidan,” Cassie calls as she and Martin jog up the beach to meet me. “That was quite a tumble.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a bit bruised, I think.”

“You did really well for a beginner,” Martin tells me. “Most people don’t make it onto their feet the first time. I think you must have a good natural sense of balance.”

“Well, it was really amazing. For just a moment I felt like I was flying. All I need now is practice, I guess.”

“Yes, we’ll be here for most days during summer break. Come and join us whenever you like,” Cassie adds.

“I will, but for now, I’m feeling a little bit battered and I’m starving,” I tell them both with a groan.

“I’ve a spare towel for you,” Martin says. “There are showers at the changing huts as well.”

Martin shows me where the facilities are and leads me round the corner to show me where I can store the board. The whole thing seems very organised. Once we are showered and changed, he shows me how to clean my suit and hang it up to dry.

“Use that one for the time being. I can suggest somewhere to get your own if you really get into it. The same goes for a board. I’ve several you are welcome to try. Different people like different sizes and with different balance points.”

“Thank you for being so generous with your time towards a newcomer,” I tell him sincerely as we make our way back down on to the beach. “It means a lot after coming so far from home.”

“Think nothing of it. Actually, we really don’t get many new faces out here. It’s a bit of a frontier town really.”

“You don’t get a regular flow of new researchers? I thought there would be at least a few every year,” I suggest as we find a place to sit near to Cassie and the rest of the group. There’s a large stone-lined fire pit and there are blazing logs. There appears to be some sort of grill being tended by one of the members of the gang.

“Well, we do get new faces, but they are most often people in their thirties with young families. Cassie’s family arrived about ten years ago for example.”

“Sometimes I fucking hate this,” I mutter to myself, deep in thought. Apparently, however, I’m loud enough for the two of them to hear clearly over the still breaking surf.

“Are you okay Aidan? What exactly do you hate?” Cassie asks me quietly. “Something is bothering you.”

“Hey, I’m sorry, both of you. I’m just over-reacting to the whole situation. Put it down to Quilliam-related AI issues.”

“Really?” Cassie asks.

“Yes, really. This was my only employment suggestion. Nexi spoke to me about it directly. If you know even a little of our family history – and it seems that everybody does – then you can perhaps guess how stressful the whole thing is beginning to feel.”

“I thought that getting a single job suggestion only ever happened once,” Martin adds.

“Yes, Martin, it did – until about four weeks ago when it happened to me.”

“You know,” Cassie begins, “I can kind-of see where you are coming from. You wouldn’t need to be paranoid to begin to feel like this whole thing is a set-up. It almost seems too perfect.”

“Yeah. It’s not that I feel like I’m being groomed or manipulated exactly, it’s more that I can’t get my mind away from the foresight of the AIs. It feels as if they know what is going to happen before it does and are manipulating the whole situation to make it a reality.”

“You need to surf more!” Martin declares solemnly.

“What?”

“I find it helps me to zone out of things. I feel like I’m transported to a different place when I’m on the board.” The thing is, he looks deadly serious as he says it.

“Martin,” I tell him with a barely suppressed laugh. “You sound like some sort of twentieth century drug-taking surfer or something. There’s a movie about it – I forget the name. It’s quite famous though.”

“Point Break!” Cassie yells. “You look just like the bad guy, Martin.”

“Will you two just try and be serious for a moment?” Martin asks when we finally stop laughing. “I mean what I say. Surfing – not just surfing, but anything that needs skill and concentration that’s not work-related can work as a very good counter-therapy. Play chess, climb mountains, surf. Do whatever works for you. Surfing works for me. It helped me get through the most hated parts of school life.”

“The guy in the movie was pretty hot!” Cassie tells him as she pulls him into a cuddle and kisses him on the lips. “And he wasn’t that much of a bad guy really.”

“How did you come to see this movie anyway?” He asks her.

“Well, it was about surfing. Just happened to be surfing and bank robbers.”

“Okay… So, can we watch it together sometime?”

“Yes, honey, we can indeed.”

“Actually,” I add after a moment or two, “I thought that the other guy was pretty hot too.”

“Then maybe we should all watch it together. There’s something for all of us. Two hot guys and they have surfboards.” Cassie bursts into laughter again that is only broken when someone shouts “Food’s ready!”