Storm Dancer- Chapter 1
Sorianna was staring out the window of the cruise liner as they left hyper-space. Seirajjh had to put a gentle hand on her shoulder to keep her from jumping up excitedly when the grey-brown planet came into view, as well as the long blue station floating in front of the planet.
"Relax, Sor. We're still a few hours away from actually getting there. Be patient." Seirajjh placated. He found it hard not to laugh, she was so jittery. She turned to face him, smiling brilliantly. "Yeah, but we're finally here! Tech transport takes so long, I was afraid that we'd never get here." She managed to avoid whining only because she sounded so cheerful.
But it was true, he reflected. He'd gotten spoiled, living with the Nehelin, traveling mostly to high-magic worlds. 'Ports were near-instantaneous, and when there wasn't one nearby, if you didn't want to walk or ride, you could either make one yourself or hire someone who could. But here, where the laws of physics he'd learned as a child actually meant something, travel was a bit slower.
Mind you, the cluster of beings that lived in this galaxy were less advanced than his people (were they really his anymore, with all that'd happened since he'd been born?), but they were fast enough, having discovered… well, they called it "hyper-space" here, which sped things up considerably.
"Just 'cause you get spoiled doesn't mean you should be so impatient." He chided, mussing her hair. She pouted jokingly, then turned back to the window she'd claimed as hers, her mischievous, half-mad smile returning. "Can you ask someone how long it'll take?" She requested, not turning from the window and it's view of the station. In any other context it would be called "large", but against the backdrop of the huge planet, even 5 miles looked small.
"Don't worry. There'll be an announcement soon, now that we're out of hyper-space. Just be patient." He's pressed close to her, watching the planet and station grow larger and larger. She moved beside him, too full of energy to stay still.
"I don't wanna wait, Seirajjh. Why couldn't we just 'port there like a sane person?" He sighed dramatically, patting her mock-patronizingly on the shoulder. "Don't insult people different from you, Sor."
*beep* Two Earth - Standard hours until docking at Babylon 5 *beep*
Sorianna managed not to jump this time, though she had the first seven times there'd been an announcement. But as close as he was Seirajjh could feel the slight tremor as she tried to hide her surprise.
"See, love? Told you there'd be an announcement." He assured her.
"Yeah, but two hours? That's gonna take forever. I don't wanna wait." She complained. Seirajjh could tell she was exaggerating, just trying to get a rise from him, but he knew she was also genuinely impatient. The trip here from Kalein to an actual planet in this system had taken nearly four days, and actually getting to this point had taken seven more. Still…
"Do you even know how long two earth hours is to you?" He inquired, poking her ribs. She shook her head, keeping her eyes focused on the window.
"It's about, oh…" Seirajjh did the math quickly in his head. "an hour and a quarter to you. Much less time."
"It's true. Less time. Still. I Wanna be there now. You sure we can't just 'port there?"
"It'd freak them out. They're tech-heavy, they have no experience with magic, let alone on the scale you use. So we wait"
"I hate waiting."
***
"We're here, Sor." He shook her lightly, until she opened her eyes. It was still odd to him, seeing her with a different eye color. The contacts were her idea, although he'd had to figure out how to do it with technology. She hated putting them in her eyes, but it kept her from being recognized. It wasn't too likely that anyone here would know about the Nehali of Nehal, but it was better to be cautious.
He'd suggested the hair dye. They both agreed that he looked odd with black hair, and that, with her eyes masked to a green near to his, she looked rather interesting with brown hair. They looked human. They mixed in well. Luckily they were both quick studies in languages. Sorianna was better at hiding her accent, though. Maybe something to do with Nehelin adaptability.
"It took a bit longer than they predicted," Seirajjh told her, "So it's good you took a nap. Apparently docking in Babylon 5 was delayed." She sat up from where she'd been laying with her head in his lap, brushing her hair back from her face.
*beep* Please proceed to the rear doors in an orderly fashion. Papers and IDs will be checked by Babylon 5 security staff. Please proceed to the rear doors in an orderly fashion.*beep*
Sorianna did jump that time, still half-asleep.
"Well, we better go. We're gonna have to find some way to slip out before they check IDs." Seirajjh helped her up, waited for her to pick up her bag, then slung his bag over his shoulder, and they headed for the door, filing in line behind the other passengers.
"So you didn't find a good source?" She asked, as they followed the line slowly. The taller man shook his head
"Ah well. We'll manage." And they headed through the door.
***
Sor nearly stopped dead. This was very different from the little cruise liner they'd ridden in on. Right now there was only what she assumed was normal debris and crates from unloading, along with personnel loading and unloading. But she could hear the bustle of people. And the air smelled fresh. Much nicer than on the liner.
She could see a doorway up ahead, and there was a pair of guards with some kind of equipment that she assumed would check Ids.
"So how do we do this? I could do it back home, but if we're avoiding magic…" She turned to Seirajjh and asked, leaning close to his ear to whisper.
"With our current resources? We can't. So we use magic." Sorianna looked up at him. There was a small smile on his face.
"So how-"
"Let me get it. It's safer if we pass as though we had proper IDs. So just follow the line. Here, get in front of me, and take this." He handed her a small square of… some material. It looked like the IDs the others had, but with their pictures on them. Then he slowed down and let her pass him. She kept walking, but turned back to face him.
"I though you said-"He cut her off with a hand on her arm, giving her a little push forward.
"True. But trust me. I can work this. When the security guy asks, just hand it to him. Smile. Be confident. I'll make sure it works." He smiled. It was always amusing to see Sor like this. She was so outside of her comfort zone. But she did trust him, and she kept up with the person in front of her.
"Is this a Metal thing?" She asked, less quietly. What she was saying wouldn't make sense to anyone else, so there was no need to hide it.
"Yes and no. It helps that I understand the tech. If I didn't know how it worked, I couldn't do it. But yeah, being a Metal wielder helps. No worries, love. Hard days are later. Now, we're good."
He could tell she was still nervous. She trusted him, that was obvious by the way she stayed in line, but she was still worried. But when they reached the doorway (he noticed she was careful not to look out and into the main room. Didn't want to get distracted.) and the officer asked for her ID she handed him the card and smiled an innocuous smile.
That's when Seirajjh worked the spell, spearing a flick of energy at the card so it'd register as "valid", clicking bits in the officer's machine so that it accepted the card. Seirajjh turned and handed the officer in front of him his own card, and worked the same spell. It was relatively simple, thankfully. He was out of practice with this sort of thing.
Sorianna passed through the doorway ahead of him after exchanging a few idle words with the officer, and spent the few moments staring in wonder, trying to keep her face calm.
"Welcome to Babylon 5, Mr. Alden. We hope you enjoy your stay." The Security guard had one of those I-have-to-work-with-people-all-day-and-keep-a-cheery-smile-on-my-face kind of smiles, but mostly, the man looked bored. Seirajjh smiled, nodded, and passed through the doorway.
Even he was surprised. The place was amazing. It wasn't the sort of technological wonder he'd grown up around, but it was very advanced, and more innovative than anything he'd seen before. He was definitely impressed.
The place was alive with activity. People coming and going. Conversations in hundreds of languages. Different smells, all the colors imaginable. Sorianna was staring in open-mouthed wonder, all restraint gone. Seirajjh took in the sights for a long moment before forcing himself away. He took Sorianna by the arm and suggested they get a place to stay before doing anything else. She agreed, and they headed to red sector.
***
Later that night (Well, it was night on Nehal at least. There was no real day or night on Babylon 5), once Sorianna had gotten more used to her surroundings, she and Seirajjh were headed down to the Zocolo (which was apparently their version of a bazaar or market). Luckily Seirajjh was there with her, or else she would have gotten lost, or confused, and wouldn't have been able to get anything done. She was happy to hold Seirajjh's hand and trail after him, looking around, watching everything and everyone she could.
She did, however, manage to not bump into Seirajjh's back when he stopped cold. She turned to face him, seeing what stopped him.
"Hey! Watch where yer goin'." There was a large, burly alien standing in front of him, looking rather irritated. Seirajjh looked up (and up again…).
"I'm sorry. Excuse me." Seirajjh managed to mumble. But there was fire in his eyes. "You think you c'n just say sorry and the problem goes away? I'll crush you!" Seirajjh took a deep breath.
"Well then, maybe I should point out that you were the one that stepped in front of me, and if you had been considerate of me, then I wouldn't have bumped into you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" And Seirajjh strode past the large alien. Sorianna gave the stranger a dirty look as they passed. Would have done more, but didn't want to act childish or get them into a fight. So she just glared at the tall alien.
"Hey! I'm not done with you!" The alien reached towards Sorianna, but she managed to evade, and she let go of Seirajjh's hand to dart through the crowd, avoiding the tall alien. She knew Seirajjh would keep up with her, but she didn't know the skills of this alien.
After she'd dashed through the crowd for a few hundred feet she turned, keeping an eye out for him, or anyone else who was looking to bother her. There was no one following her. "See? Even here people can be assholes. It's a place just like any other." Seirajjh had managed to end up behind her.
"Yeah, it does seem to be a tendency of beings. I don't know why."
"Fear, usually. Now, come on. We've got a meeting." And off they go, heading into the crowd.